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James Ardrey

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Everything posted by James Ardrey

  1. James Ardrey
    I found that the 130 and links was over kill and also experienced unstable over sensitive handling at highway speeds. The links alone are great. Due to the shortening of the rake due to the links the bike is less top heavy @ slow speeds, 2 up and backing up or any time I use my legs for propulsion. I have not experienced the 130 in place of the links, but you wouldn't get the lessening of top heaviness with just the tires. For whatever my opinion is good for.
  2. James Ardrey
    Mine was replaced @ about 68,000 miles just outside of warranty. I sent you a message.
  3. James Ardrey
    I talked to my Yamer dealer. They are the oldest Yamaha dealership in the USA. The owner said that touring bikes are dwindling in sales including Goldwing and wouldn't be surprised if Yamaha never replaces the Venture. They said the younger set wants cruisers and crotch rockets and fewer and fewer are touring any more. I think the Strat touring version is a possibility though. The new v'max and engine is for bragging rights asserting performance prowess against the competition. They have really never marketed the VMax either and probably don't care how many they sell. Cruisers, crotchrockets, dirt bikes, watercraft are where the money is. I think they knew early on that the 2nd gen was not going to make a dint in the Goldwing sales and just continued to produce a few because they were already tooled up and wanted to at least make back cost of research and development. I think they put a lot of time and thought into the 2nd gen. and initially were fishing for big game and it just wasn't meant to be. That is why they never promoted it. They didn't want to waste money on marketing. Not that we that ride them don't realize it is the best touring bike for the money bar none.
  4. James Ardrey
    My wife Debbie and I plan to go up on Saturday and stay in the motel my brother booked. i can't remember the name, but I know where it is. We missed last yr. so we are looking forward to it. We have been going since the 2nd one. Each yr. it get's bigger and bigger. This coming weekend is a great little Blues festival in Stillwater, Ok. My step son is playing there in his band- the Redriver Mudcats.
  5. James Ardrey
    Saw them in Sturgis year before last! A great show. Always been a Skynerd fan
  6. James Ardrey
    What you described re; overcharging stator is exactly what the mechanic stated as the cause of overcharging. Another voltage reg was put in to see if voltage reg was faulty. It had the same symptoms. After the stator was replaced and stereo worked flawlessly. I did have to replace the voltage regulator a couple of months later as the lights were getting bright and dim intermittently. When the voltage regulator was going out it had no effect on the audio system. I don't think the original audio brain was bad in the first place. As I said I think the stator was over charging and overwhelming the voltage regulator. I thought that was a fishy hypothesis myself although I can't argue with success. No problems since stator was replaced. I had never heard of a stator especially in the 2nd over charging, but the mechanic I use is a 20+ yr. veteran @ K &N Yamaha and is an excellent mechanic. He is the only one I trust w/ my bike more than myself.
  7. James Ardrey
    The dealership that I use for tires and where I bought my bike never had too much difficulty mounting an Elite 3. The mechanic would twist tighten a cargo strap around the tire and aired it up. I use Avon Venoms now and don't have to worry about it anymore.
  8. James Ardrey
    Sounds like a great plan Bill.
  9. James Ardrey
    While you are in the Taos area Angel Fire and Eagles nest are beautiful. One of my favorite mountain valleys with Eagles Nest lake in the back drop. Also Redriver is a pretty area. You can do the whole circle in just a few hrs. My wife and I went through Madrid on our way to Taos last summer. A quaint little town for sure. The Sagebrush Inn is a great place to stay and have reasonable rates in Taos. It is built like a Spanish Mission with courtyards, a great restaurant and a full breakfast is included in the room costs. They have a great club with live entertainment on the weekends. There is a new Comfort Inn next door and is now owned by them. The rooms are around 70$ a night. Not bad for Taos and order from the menu breakfast included. The Comfort Inn is probably considerably higher without the quaint relaxed atmosphere. They also have a swimming pool and hot tub. Have a great trip!
  10. James Ardrey
    I usually buy Valvoline 20/50 4 stroke mc oil @ my local oil and lube place. He was out of 20/50. He said that the Valvoline oil reps told him that there was no difference between 20/50 conventional and mc 20/50 and that valvoline was discontinuing mc oil. That the only difference was the label. He said that the synthetics were going to follow suit because there is no difference other than the label. I find all of this hard to believe. I tried to go onto the valvoline websight, but it is temporarily down for maintenance. They probably put conventional computer oil into there 4 cycle system lol! If anyone can shed some light on this dilemma please feel free. This world is becoming twilight Zoney! do do do do do do do do.
  11. James Ardrey
    Kind of scary! You seem very experienced @ stealing RSV's
  12. James Ardrey
    Prayers going out. It appears they are already working. Take care of yourself Kenny.
  13. James Ardrey
    Welcome to VR. I have told my wife about that Altus area and I plan to take a ride there soon. Will send you a pm when we plan the ride. Maybe we can all meet and ride some together. We live on Keystone lake just west of Tulsa. If you are ever in the area give me a buzz or a message here @ VR. :wel_ani3Tay:
  14. James Ardrey
    It was a great event. Thanks Bill and Linda for a great job and the wonderful hospitality. Debbie and I really enjoyed it. Got reaquainted and met some new friends too. We made it home about 7:15 pm last night. Ran into a little rain east of Springfield and mist around Claremore. Other than that it was an uneventful ride home. Ventureriders are great people by the way!
  15. James Ardrey
    Well Bill My wife and I are going to be there by tomorrow evening. We are coming from Mannford, Ok. Sorry for the late notice. It worked out at the last minute that we could attend. We are staying @ the Redroof Inn. We are looking forward to meeting you guys. This is the first Venture rider rally since Fort Collins, Co. See yall soon.
  16. James Ardrey
    I love my Corbin seat. It took about 2000 miles to break it in. I had a Mustang seat on my 97 RS and loved it with no break in time. My wife liked the Mustang better, but is satisfied with the Corbin. I now think that I like the Corbin better than the Mustang. Although everyone is built differently I believe the ergonomics of a seat is the most important aspect. The bar stool analogy supports my theory. A well designed seat strongly supports the hips. A soft seat that doesn't support the hips allowing them to sag is a major source of tailbone and back pain. Same with a hard seat that doesn't support hips will be equally uncomfortable. Most stock seats have a very flimsy frame that will break down over the course of a ride causing the hips to sag creating pain regardless of softness. The weight of an individual and build can increase or decrease these negative symptoms. Putting a quality aftermarket seat on a new bike is the first thing I do. I have never found a stock seat comfortable on 200 + mile ride. That's just me.
  17. James Ardrey
    I had forgotten these specs you quote. Pretty compelling argument for the first gen as the winner. I sure thought the rear end ratio's were different as well. Just the simple laws of physics convince me that the 1st gen is the winner. I really don't care. If I wanted a hotrod it wouldn't be either ventures. For long distance comfort and reasonable performance I choose the 2nd gen.
  18. James Ardrey
    I wasn't aware that there had been any changes in the 2nd Gen engines from 99 to present. If so what year did they change and what changes were made. I know there has been significant changes between the royalstar beginning in 96 to the current Royalstar tour deluxe. They now have the same engine essentially as the RSV. Back to the original 1st gen vs 2nd gen. The 1st gen had the vmax rear end ratio that made it higher torque. that may be what you are talking about re; gear advantage. If so disregard my comment about rear end specs.
  19. James Ardrey
    I saw Rush for the first time live in 77. They were the warm up band for Ted Nugent. They stole the show and they didn't want to leave the stage. I saw them again last summer for the Snakes and Arrows tour. They played for about an hour and a half took a 30 min. intermission and played for another hour and a half. What was cool is I went with the same buddies from High school that I went with in 77. It is amazing the passion they all still have for performing. They are down to earth humble guys. Neal is one of if not the best drummer that ever lived. The fact that he is a motorcycle touring nut just makes it even better. We also went to see Ted Nugent about 2 months later. Back to the future!
  20. James Ardrey
    Really sad and I pray that people in the line of fire literally find their way to safety and they get the fires out soon. I also pray they catch the SOB's that started these fires.
  21. James Ardrey
    Congrats! great ride. I don't think it is ugly at all. The only part I would like to see different is that soft tail flip on the rear fender. I will be anxious to hear what you think about it after some real time in the saddle.
  22. James Ardrey
    I found that when I added the leveling links that raised the tongue of my trailor that I had to increase the tongue weight to stop the trailor wag. Have you done anything to change your suspension that would account for the wag besides afore mentioned suggestions? A significant increase in rear shock pressure or riding one up as opposed to two up could theoretically change the tongue angle enough to get a similar response as me adding the leveling links. Just an added thought. Good luck!
  23. James Ardrey
    There are not enough detours to cover all the construction/non construction areas in Oklahoma. The orange barrell is going to be the state flower. The workers have banker hrs. and if you actually find a crew there are ten supervisors standing around and one worker actually doing something. I always know when I have crossed a state line in any direction. The road becomes smooth without potholes. It is embarrasing. People become desensitized to work zone areas in Oklahoma because there is rarely anyone there working the site. My rant is over.
  24. James Ardrey
    I talked to Craig yesterday afternoon. He advised me of the changes to any new shields. I really think that Clearview is making every effort to fix the potential result that happened to me. Another possible contributor to my windshield failing that I discovered in my own investigation. I changed out my front stock speakers for some infinity speakers about 4 yrs ago. I noticed when I was installing the new windshield support that the magnet that was much larger than the stock speaker magnets were against the steel windshield support and a little rubbing action had occurred. I think that in a shroud/windshield flex situation that the speakers could have effected the natural flex of the windshield support throughout the full length of the support causing increased stress towards the center of the windshield. The windshield fitted up and tightened down without any other indication that it could be in a bind but with the flimsy nature of the support I think it could be a factor. I know that many have put in aftermarket speakers and maybe should be something to be aware of. I replaced the Infinities with Pioneers from Bestbuy and although they have a much smaller magnet and both speakers weigh less than one Infinity they seem to sound just as good. I was impressed with Clearview from the beginning and with the attention Craig has shown it is confirmed to me that they are good people and want to put out the best quality possible. Thanks Craig!
  25. James Ardrey
    I like the retro look of the vision and aggressive lines. Nothing else out there like it . I have never ridden one. I sat on one @ Bikes, Blue's & BBQ in Fayetteville, AK last year at their Victory tent. It felt balanced and surprisingly less top heavy just sitting there mind you. The storage was surprisingly mimimal and a hitch would be a challenge and won't be made by aftermarket any time soon and a challenge to build custom. My brother rode to Sturgis this year with a group and one of them a woman was riding a Vision. She was too short to put the kick stand down without help. A scary story in itself. He said that the rider complained of excessive engine heat at lower speeds even in the mountains. It makes sense to me that having an aircooled engine surrounded by all that fairing and plastic could definitely create a heat problem for the rider and possibly for the engine as well.
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