RedRider

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?p=718777&posted=1#post718777 Started a new thread for the ride report and evalutation. RR

The Road Glide Ultra (RGU) ran perfectly. Got about 45 mpg on both the slab and the twisties. Fit and finish was excellent and everything worked perfectly. Very nice bike. Engine The RGU has a 103CI (about 1600cc I believe) that has lots of torque. Doesn't rev up like the Venture, but it wasn't intended to. If you whack the throttle at about 3000 RPM it would power nicely until about 4500 RPM. Very impressive power. It appeared the power band was from 3000 to 4000ish RPM. Idle was a killer though. The whole bike would shake. I understand this is on purpose since it would be easy to eliminate with some internal balancing. I didn't like it at all. Also, if you cruised at 2200 to 2800 RPM there was an irritating vibration. This was where you would be in 6th gear until about 75 MPH. Therefore, 6th gear was pretty useless unless on high speed slab. Road in 5th most the time. To be fair, the guy at the dealer advised to not use 6th until about 70 or so. As mentioned earlier, they know their products. When I got back on the Venture after dropping off the RGU, I couldn't tell if it was running at idle (had the Packer game on the headset). This is the smoothness I prefer at idle. Winner - HD for power, HD for mpg, Venture for smoothness. Wind Protection The cockpit on the RGU was very calm. No helmet buffeting, very little wind from under the fairing. Blocked wind from the hands very well. Winner - HD, although a taller windshield on the Venture would help. Storage The RGU has a cavernous trunk. However, the saddle bags are very thin. There are several cubby holes in the fairing that are nice to store small items. Winner - Venture due to wider saddle bags. Although a tank bag is needed for the small item storage (I always use one). Handling I was VERY impressed with the handling of the RGU. It has large diameter front forks that provide a confident feel of the front wheel. Since the fairing is frame mounted, the turning effort was minimal. Frame was solid and did not seem to flex. The RGU is very confidence inspiring in the turns. It would be really fun to take this to some tighter curves (think Smokey Mountain) and really see what it could do. Don't think it would be difficult to scrape the floor boards. It has a low center of gravity and low speed handling was effortless. Winner - HD Comfort This isn't really a fair comparison since I have modified my Venture to fit me. Stock seat on the RGU was painful. But so is the Venture stock seat. I could really have used a back rest too. I found the RGU to be very thin and the floor boards seemed to be tucked under the frame. It was somewhat difficult to reach the upshifter on the heal/toe since it was tucked in so far. As an interesing feature on the RGU, the toe and heal sections of the shifter are independently adjustable. Winner - Venture although it wasn't really a fair comparison. Overall Impression I was very impressed with the Road Glide Ultra. Good looking machine with solid power and a nice sound. Loved the handling and the ABS braking worked well. Didn't have a chance to take my wife for a ride to test the passenger comfort, but it looked to be fine. I just couldn't get past the vibrations. It drove me nuts when I was in town/stop-n-go traffic. The vibs at higher speeds was irritating although it could be eliminated by running a lower gear. Overall Winner for my kind of riding - Venture. The Venture is smoother, better ergonomically (although aftermarket solutions are available for the RGU shortcomings), and has shaft drive vs. a belt. However, the feature on the Venture that really puts it over the top is one of my favorites - IT'S PAID FOR. A great weekend to ride a great bike. Just isn't really my cup of tea for long distance riding. If most of my riding were short 100-200 mile hops, it would fit the bill very nicely. RR

Here are the pictures. RR

In a previous post, I mentioned getting a free one day rental from Appleton HD. The ride was taken last weekend and greatly enjoyed. I am starting this as a new thread since the topic has changed from 'what should I do with a free day of riding an HD' to 'What I did with a free day of riding an HD'. Also, want to provide my review of the HD as compared to the Venture. To begin with, let's review the dealer (Appleton HD). They are great. The sales folks on the floor were very knowledgeable of their product. There were a couple of esoteric questions they didn't know (fusing on the cig lighter - in case I needed to use my road compressor), but mostly, they knew their stuff. Their recommendation on a bike to take was also right on. Very impressive dealer. After looking at the selections (all the big bikes were available) and listening to their expertise, I chose a Road Glide Ultra. This is the same as the Ultra Classic but with a frame mounted fairing instead of a fork mounted fairing. The RG fairing was also about 8" further forward providing a much larger, less cramped feeling, riding compartment. Very nice. The RGU had all the bells and whistles. Radio, CB, Ipod interface - What?? No cassette??? ABS front and rear, 6 speed tranny, 103 ci of bone rattling power. The bike provided was totally stock. Rode the Venture up to pick up the bike Saturday at 11:00ish. They advised to just bring it back when I was done - even if it was after hours Sunday. Just drop the key thru the slot. Cool. Interestingly, parked next to a '90 blue Venture when I pulled in. Anyhoo, after the appropriate paperwork, they took me out to the bike and gave me an introduction - how everything works. I packed a change of clothing and various stuff in the cavernous saddle bags, threw on my helmet, plugged in my headset (yes, the plug is the same as the Venture), and took off. The Venture was resting comfortably under their overhang under the watchful eyes of a security camera. Really a nice setup. Wanted to get my money's worth out of this free rental, so I took off for BBQ. Original destination was Kansas City, MO. Unfortunately, a series of items prevented me from making it that far in time to beat closing at Arthur Bryant's BBQ. First - It wasn't an hour before I started squirming on the stock seat. Was also getting the little pain between the shoulder blades that is indicative of handle bars that don't pull back far enough. Couldn't ride more than about 100-125 miles before needing to stop and stretch. Frustrating. Added the Airhawk to the seat and that helped some. Also added the sheepskin and the seat/butt issue was mostly resolved. Nothing I could do about the back pain. Also, there were no highway pegs so not much room to move around the legs. Second - My 6 year old Zumo 550 battery quickly ran out of juice. It is never run without a hard wired power source, so I'm sure the battery is pretty much toast. So, I plugged in the charger to the cig lighter (had a cig lighter to USB converter). Unfortunately, you can't operate the Zumo and change it in this way at the same time. Oh well, I know where I am going - at least up to hitting KC. So I thought. Missed the split to HWY 151 from Hwy 61 south of Dubuque, IA. Therefore, added about 60 miles by detouring thru Davenport. That combined with having to stop too often meant KC wasn't going to happen. However, all was not lost. I found an amazing BBQ joint in Des Moines, IA. SmokeyD's BBQ (http://www.smokeydsbbq.com). They have won an impressive number of contests both locally and nationally. And it tasted like it. Had a combo of pulled pork and brisket and they were both amazing - especially the brisket. I WILL go there again. Found a cheap hotel just outside of Des Moines since I was not in any hurry to get back. Was on the road at about 7:15 Sunday morning under a clear sunny sky and about 45 degrees. Beautiful weather. Took the missed 151 back to Dubuque, crossed into Wisconsin, and then proceeded to head up the Great River Road. I figured there was enough experience on the slab, need to see how it works in some curves. Stopped at Dewey Nelson State Park just north of Cassville and took some pictures. Road along the WI River on Hwy 60 all the way to Columbus. Stopped in Fox Lake to show the bike to Scooter Bob, stopped by the house to show the bike to my boys, and then headed back to Appleton. Had to run past about 15 miles to get the mileage over 1000. All in all, a great weekend was had. The next installments will have pictures and an evaluation/comparison. RR

I will put together a full write up when I get a chance later today. The HD is a nice bike and performed flawlessly. However, the Venture will certainly be staying in the stable. RR

Heard about this from Scooter Bob yesterday. Get well soon, Larry. Positive vibes being sent from Wisconsin. RR

Yup, heading out in a couple of hours to hit BBQ. I certainly don't need to worry about being a changed man. My Venture has my favorite feature in a motorcycle - IT'S PAID FOR!! Don't expect to upgrade the Venture for another 5 or 6 years. Want to roll 200k on it. Then maybe a Triumph Explorer, or a BMW GS, or ....... Not likely a HD. However, I am really looking forward to the ride. Should be fun. RR

Well, looks like BBQ is the winner. Anybody up for an M&E at Arthur Bryant's - KC, MO (or KC, KS - there's one in each from what I understand)? Going to rent a Road Glide. Basically the same as the Ultra Classic, but with a fixed fairing instead of a fork mounted fairing. RR

OK, here's the scenario - My neighbor won 2 day rentals (that is qty 2 of a 1 day rental) from a local HD dealership. She doesn't ride nor does her husband, family, etc. She offered them to me. I have to use them this weekend or they expire. What to do? 1) As some of you know - I am a long distance rider. Should I go for BBQ? In Kansas City (1180 miles round trip). 2) Ask a friend to putt around the state for the day (paging Scooter Bob, Scooter Bob to the white courtesy phone)? 3) Should I just don some pirate wear, apply fake tattoos, put my wife in a tubetop, and go bar hopping? Decisions, decisions. RR

Sounds good. Let me know. RR

If it is still for sale - I know a guy that rebuilds/restores these. I expect he would be very interested. Based in Eastern Tennessee. Let me know and I will pass the word to him. RR

At 15000 miles I wouldn't change them either unless there is a bad feel to them. Didn't realize it was that low of mileage bike. Get that thing together an put some miles on it. RR

Saw on the news there was an accident involving a 50 year old riding an '83 Yamaha on the south side of Milwaukee (and no, he wasn't wearing a helmet - it doesn't look good for the rider). Hope it wasn't any of us. Anybody have an update? RR

Your reply beat me to this. The symptoms are of a front tire that needs replaced (and was mostly ridden on straight highways). How many miles are on this beast? Might be a good idea to replace the bearing anyway since you're in there. RR

Yes, you can. However, it may be difficult to find all the pieces parts if they don't make it outside the engine V when removed. Popping the carbs off isn't too difficult. RR

Had my rear wheel bearing go out on a 2nd Gen at 100k miles. Had just changed out the front but didn't think the rear needed it. I was wrong. Will now change them out every 50k or so. RR

Cool. Now I know where there is one to borrow if I need it. RR

Remove and clean the wire connectors on the base of the Stebel. If they get corroded, it will cause your symptoms. BTDT. RR

GAWildKat and/or LilBeaver - How about if the HD has a mechanical problem vs. a software problem. Are either of you able to recover the data? I got the same estimate of $300-$1500. Believe me though, I NOW have everything double backed up - 1T backup harddrive and an online photo backup (photos are the only thing I am worried about loosing). RR

I only use synthetic blinker fluid. Your blinkers won't last with this dino based inferior stuff. RR

And it has a cassette jute box!! RR

Join the AMA. http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/ RR

I am looking at this from a Venture - not sure if the RSTD is the same. There is a tapered cover over the lower tree/fork joint. You have to remove both forks from the upper triple tree (remove handle bars first). The upper tapered cover will then come off exposing the fork clamp bolts for the lower tree. This could be completely wrong since it is from memory - and from removing forks from a Venture. Good luck. RR

Well done MMR. RR

When reinstallling, lightly coat the axle with anti-seize to make you life easier in the future. Don't get it on the threads, obviously. With the pinch bolts, you don't need to worry about the bolt backing out. RR