M61A1MECH

I had that happen from time to time on my 98 Tour Classic, normally a good hard smack down on the seat right above the lock would do the trick, sometimes I needed to apply steady pressure on the key in the unlock direction while I smacked the seat. Try flushing the lock with a plastic safe contact type cleaner, then blow it dry with canned air and apply powered graphite to the internals of the lock and rub some on the key as well. Oils are not normally recommended for locks, the oil tends to gather dirt and dust which will further hinder the proper operation. Good luck , keep us posted.

Prayers up for your wife, expecting the best results.

The header pipes should bolt up with out issues, they both have the same motor (more or less), but the newer Venture style bikes 1999 to 2013 use larger diameter pipes, so that may require rejetting due to change in the back pressure. Also you would need to find or fabricate some type hangers for the muffler sections, the tail pipe sections are to heavy to just let them hang on the header pipes. On the original Royal Stars 1996 to 2001 that had 4 into 2 pipes they used a hanger that was part of the saddlebag supports, you may be able to find some of those systems for sale, but I am not sure if there is a place to hang the pipes on a bike that came from the factory with 4 into 4 pipes. Good luck in your search, if you come across a set of BUBs for Royal Stars they are great sounding pipes, but as they have been out of production for many years they are very hard to find. Here is a picture of a 98 Royal Star Tour Classic with BUB pipes.

the 2005 to 2010 Royal Star Tour DeLuxe was the same as the 1999 to 2013 Venture, except no trunk, no fairing and no audio system, the motor and carbs are the same. The 1996 to 2001 Royal Stars used smaller 28mm carbs.

Many years back I asked the Yamaha reps at Bike Week in Daytona what that was for and they told it was a deflector to fuel that could get spilled, it supposed to keep the raw fuel off the hot engine parts. It is supposed to be on the left side, One of the bikes on display that year someone had put it on the right ride, when I pointed that out to them they got all red faced and took the bike off display to fix it, the next day it was back with the deflector on the correct side. I also know that the wire part of that is there to keep you from putting your leg on the valve cover, because if you wearing shorts and your leg touches that wire, you pull back before you can close to the valve cover, it gets plenty hot.

Pictures of my drive way and canal across the way. The canal is normally about 5 feet below the banks, my house is about 5 feet above the road grade, so I am not worried about the house.

Down graded to a tropical storm and is tracking further south than the earlier projections suggested, we are still getting a fair amount of rain and wind, the center of it should clear the eastern coastline sometime Thursday afternoon. Should exit the state down around Cocoa Beach then track northward along the coast, so a few more days of wind and rain.

All battened down here, shutters up, food and water stores put up, just waiting for a bunch wind and rain, been through this many times over the past 50+ years here in FL.

Look up Dion, #djh3. https://www.venturerider.org/forum/profile/6542-djh3/

Here is one that I came across on the 1800 Goldwing forum. Interesting concept and not one you see everyday. https://www.gl1800riders.com/threads/2003-tilting-trike.478581/unread

Now he gets to spend almost every day with me at work.

Glad everyone is OK, that should buff right out and the fog light still works.

Welcome back, you ever find that perfect Vette you were looking for? I found mine.

Carbon One may still be making trailer hitch set ups, here is is a link to his add here on the forum. I still make wiring harnesses, here are links to my adds. If your trailer has an electrical connector that does not match the photos, I can custom build with a suitable connector.

If you do that and the bike ever needs to be towed on an open trailer, take the seat off or put a binder strap over it, because it will take flight and then you are buying a new seat.