vzuden

When inspecting and cleaning the connections I always add a little dielectric grease

Yes. 4 - 5 MPH higher than actual

Skydoc, Do all of your suggested maintenance items and the frequency of each apply to both first and second gen? Particularly the valve adjustment?

I took mine out, cleaned, and repacked them this spring. It was the better part of a day's work. They had a fair amount of grease from the factory, unlike the swing arm bearings which were almost dry.

"Don't have to.... she has them hanging from her rearview mirror." She has mine hanging from the receiver hitch of her truck:confused24:

I got my idea from Cadillac, where they ran fiber lines off the signal lights up to small fins on the top of each fender. Those were the indicators.. I think it was the same model that had the auto-dimmer on it??? In the '60's or maybe the '70's most of the luxury model GM cars had fiber optics than ran from the rear light assemblies to a plastic block above the rear window. The driver could see in his rear view mirror if he had light out. Worked well as I recall and now that the thought was brought up here I would think it should work well for our bikes.

You do not have a separate reserve tank. It is all one tank. the petcock valve has a high suction and a low suction. When it is in the on position it is taking a suction on the high suction tube. When the engine starts to sputter the fuel level is below the high tube. When you shift the petcock to reserve, you are taking suction on the low tube near the bottom of the tank. this will give you about 1 gal. of gas to get you to a gas station. This the best explanation so far. But I might add..... I always turn the fuel off when parking the bike. If one of the float valves sticks open it will drain the tank through the carb/float bowl into the cylinder and cause hydrostatic lock that can destroy the engine. I know it is rare but it happened to me once and that was one too many times!

Forget drywall. Just put up melamine. (I think that's what it's called). It's basically sheet plastic. Assuming you aren't looking for a complete perfect finish like an inside room. I think melamine is that fibrous hardboard with a plastic coating, isn't it? If it is what I am thinking of, it will blister and flake when wet repeatedly in wet environments. FRP plastic is the best, in my opinion.

I use that model of Tourmaster on my RSTD. You will like it. From experience - don't trust the tie strap on the bottom of the rain cover. It's no fun chasing it down on the freeway in traffic with a rainstorm beginning. Once I retrieved it and put it back on I wrapped it with bunge straps wih no further problems and everything stayed dry

i just bought a Wolo at O'Reily Auto Parts today. $27.00 and some change which was about $10.00 cheaper than Harbor Freight. Sale at O Reily ends Aug 27. A quick online search yielded $5.00 plus shpping more than what I paid (all were the same model) Tonight I ordered the mounting bracket and wire harness for it from member Carbon One. You can find his ad in Member Classifieds. I could make them myself but I have seen his products and they are first class and it saves me some time.

I like the sound of that also. Please keep us posted

good experience also with Jake Wilson for my tires

Glad to see this was resolved and sorry to hijack the thread but wanted to share a story. I lost the same part on my bike last summer just before a trip to Sturgis. I installed a bolt with washers from the local hardware store to make the trip. On Monday morning in Sturgis I stopped at the the Star tent to browse and saw a large display of chrome accessories. A young lady asked if she could help me and while I wasn't really looking for this part I mentioned I was missing one. She went to another guy working the tent and he came over to be sure he understood what it was I needed. After I explained he replied that Yamaha has never done a good job in supplying the mounting hardware for their accessories and there was no part number for these. BUT he offered to make a phone call to someone in their warranty department in California to see if they have a broken package/returned item or similar. The result was that yes, they did, and it would be shipped to them in Sturgis by that friday. I thanked him and said I would be back. On friday I was back at their tent but the part had not arrived and after calling CA it apparently was delayed. He took my address and phone number said he would ship it direct to my home. A few days later I got the package, installed it and everything was fine. Now the good part - all of this was at no charge. He wouldn't accept payment in Sturgis and I didn't have a way to track him down. My payment for this great service is to share this story with anyone who will listen. Thanks

This was my first rally also and am looking forward to the next. The bar was set high due to the hard work of the committee so hopefully all future rallys can follow their lead. Thanks to all

Great job! Really enjoyed it and don't be afraid to share some of what you edited out! Thanks

I just happened to come across this old post and I have wondered the same. These two items lift off in seconds and I see them for sale on Ebay fairly often. I have even taken them off and carried them into my hotel room when staying at a hotel with a poorly lit parking lot. They are kind of awkward and I use the hotel back door entrance and even take the stairs. I guess I kind of look like the theif but nobody has ever see me the few times I have done it. I realiize if someone wants something they will find a way but I don't see an easy way to secure them or even slow down a potential thief.

The 42S works well. I have had mine for a couple thousand miles. If I were to do it again I would use the pump with the positive shut off as described in the link. In fact, I may just replace the 42S and save it for a spare so I don't have to worry about shutting the fuel off

Mike, I have a question also. I just completed the registration form. Is it too late to pre-register?

Is there a drain plug for the 2ndGen carbs and if so, where the heck is it located Each carb has a drain. Each pair faces outward and slightly downward. You can see them in the V between the cylinders. If you look slightly upward past the two vaccum ports used when syncing the carbs they are at an angle and are a couple inches past the vaccum ports. On my '07 they are allen head. I could have sworn someone posted a picture of them but I just spent 30 min searching and I musy have dreamt it.

I like the sound and looks of my Baron Nasty Boy 4-2-4 pipes. Four mufflers/tailpipes lets everyone know you're not a V-twin

I have seen many references to the Carbtune on this site and obviously it is a preferred tool to use. But, I have used a set of 4 vaccuum guages for many years. They are mounted to a stamped steel housing and the 4 vacuum hoses have tiny valves in line to smooth out the pulses and steady the needles. What advantage does the Carbtune have over the vaccum guage method?

fuel pump is dying. search this site and you find a couple of things. when stranded you can switch to gravity feed to make it home. you can spend $300 for the Yamaha pump or $50 for an auto parts store pump. I used a MR Gasket 42S for $50 and it works fine

I had popping at idle a few weeks ago. I syncd the carbs and put a can of seafoam in it and the popping stopped. Not sure which one did it. The carbs were just a little off

Brian, that's part of my concern. I am 100% sure, without a doubt, the fuel petcock was off. I have been doing that for 40 years. When the day comes when I get a bike without a fuel shut off I will probably have to add one because I will always be reaching for it. There must have been enough fuel in the lines, fuel filter and pump to fill that cylinder. When I hit the starter button, I did it three times with the same result, it would not turn over. The starter engaged but that was it.

I am not sure what they did with the carbs when they had them off. they just said they were full of gunk. That was 2-3 years and 20,000 miles ago. I have been riding the bike everday since I got running on Saturday and it seems to be ok. Probably in the neighborhood of 250 miles so would a rod issue have shown up by now? It seems pretty quiet without any knocking or unusual noises. Since this happened I am really leery whenever I go to start it. I did find the carb drains and opened the drain and let the pump refill the bowl 3 times as was suggested. Its pretty hard to tell if anything came out since the piece of whatever was probably too small to see. I tried catch the fuel as it came out but it went everywhere. Thanks to all of you for sharing your experience and advice. I hope I can eventually get to the point I trust it again