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Yamaman

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Everything posted by Yamaman

  1. Yamaman
    ALL Customs? Not even the brand new VMax? That's incredible.
  2. Yamaman
    OK, Thanks for all the posts. After a thorough review and combination of the various suggestions, I have come up with the following listing of procedures, to be performed in this order: Drain the gas tank, insuring petcock is not clogged, and replace with fresh fuel. Replace the spark plugs Replace the fuel filter Check rubber caps on intake manifolds and hoses to #2 and #3 cylinders. Check all vacuum lines while idling by spraying with carb cleaner and listening for a change in the idle. Assuming all this doesn’t fix the problem, then perform the carb drain procedure, and/or the soaking with straight Sea-Foam procedure. If none of this works I will probably have to consult a professional (dang!) As far as the suggestion to sych the carbs, I figured I would have to take it to a mechanic to have that done anyway, once I got it at least running myself. Thanks and I'll keep you informed of my results.
  3. Yamaman

    Chaps

    Yamaman replied to BradT's topic in Watering Hole

    Here's a web site I have found in my searches that has some very good prices. I haven't used them yet, so I can't say anything about the quality or value of the items, but there are lots of customer reviews on many of the products. I have been considering purchasing these chaps for myself: http://leatherup.com/p/Leather-Chaps--pants/Mens-Advanced-Dual-Comfort-System-Leather-Chaps/41311.html Anybody out there ever buy from this web site?
  4. Yamaman
    Won't ride down the road at all. If I even think about moving the throttle, it dies. All it will do is idle with the choke fully on. I have monkeyed around some with the idle adjustment screw. Service manual is unclear about which direction to turn it. I have turned it fairly significantly in both directions with little to no effect. Also, as I read the manual, it seems that idle really should only be adjusted with the choke off and the bike in good running order, which mine is clearly not.
  5. Yamaman
    OK, this may take a while, but I'm going to start at the beginning and try not to miss anything, cause I'm not sure what may be important, and what isn't. Early this summer I was having some problems losing clutch fluid on my 2001 RSV. I kept topping off the master cylinder, but eventually I realized that it was leaking from the slave cylinder and ordered a rebuild kit. I ended up letting the bike sit for about 6 weeks before I had a chance to get together with my son (my semi-pro wrench) who lives in CA. We did the rebuild, got everything put back together, and wheeled it out of the garage to fire it up and take it for a test ride. It started right up, but after a short time running, I backed off the choke and it died. Started it again and the same thing. In spite of being plenty warmed up, it wouldn't run with the choke off. So I thought just a few cobwebs in the carbs, I'll take it for a run and blow 'em out. Well, in spite of running it for a mile or so through the neighborhood it never was able to run without the choke on. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I just parked it. Schedules were busy, one thing led to another and before long - it was November!!! Summers in Houston aren't the greatest time for riding, but this fall we've had some awesome weather, so I decided it was time to get the scoot running again. The battery had gone dead and would no longer take a charge, so I replaced it. (and purchased a Battery Tender) I figured maybe the air filters could use a look (why in the heck do they make them so hard to get to!!!) so I pulled them, and found that on one the plastic base had warped and had separated from the paper filter. Very bad! There were even a couple of leaves caught in it. No telling how much crud may have passed through and into the carbs. I replaced them with a new set of K&N's. Next I removed the tank and pulled the air boxes above the carbs. Nothing too obvious, but with no real desire to pull the carbs off, I decided to just spray them down real good with carb cleaner and put it all back together to see what I had. Putting those boxes back on it was another PITA! You can't see most of the boots and I'm really not sure I got them all seated properly over the carbs. Anyway, I went ahead and hooked up the tank and fired her up. Pretty much the same as before, or worse. It starts and runs with the choke on, but it never fully warms up to that higher revving state that it's supposed to reach with the choke on. If I turn the choke off it dies, and if I even begin to move the throttle, it also dies. And also, before I started all this I poured a full can of Sea-Foam into about 2/3rds of a tank of gas. My next thought is to look for the fuel filter to replace that. Any yes, the fuel pump clicks when I turn on the ignition and seems to be functioning. It will run at a low idle for as long as I want with the choke on. Like I said, I'm not really comfortable pulling the carbs off of the bike myself, so does anyone have any suggestions for a barely competent wrench, or should I just load her up and take her in to a pro? All ideas appreciated.
  6. Yamaman
    I don't see any way to get behind it. It's inside the fairing.
  7. Yamaman
    Thanks for the diagram. The one I can't get is bolt number 9. It just turns and turns - never comes loose. Doesn't make any sense.
  8. Yamaman
    First off - is it necessary to remove the lower fairings to clean/replace the air filters as stated in the service manual? If so, then is there some trick to getting the allen head bolt off on the inside of the fairing? The two on the outside come right off, but I've been turning on the inner one for a long, long time and it doesn't seem to be loosening a bit. Thanks.
  9. Yamaman
    My 2001RSV is using fluid in the clutch. I just purchased this bike in December. About two months ago I hadn't yet gotten into a good routine of checking everything, when after about a 30 minute highway ride, I hit some traffic, went to slow down, and I was not able to easily downshift the transmission. After some serious stomping, I finally got into the lower gears when I noticed that even with the clutch fully engaged the bike was still pulling forward. I was able to get to my destination where I opened up the clutch master cylinder to find it was pretty low on fluid. I topped it off and after a couple hours of cool down it seemed to be shifting okay, so I hopped back on to take her home. Again, after the 30 minute ride it was difficult to downshift, but I was able to make it alright. The next morning I bled the system and thought everything was fine. Unfortunately, after another 4-500 miles, the fluid level started to go down again, and it started to shift harder again. I topped it off again and did another more thorough job of bleeding the system. Since then I have added fluid two more times. That's a total of 4 times to add fluid in less than 6 months, riding about 2500 miles. So, clearly I'm losing fluid somehow. There are no obvious drips or leaks, i.e, no spots on the garage floor. So I believe that I am only losing fluid when the bike is running. Any thoughts or suggestions on where to look or what to fix? Thanks.
  10. Yamaman
    My new Avon front was just delivered today. Went out to look and try to make sure they sent me a fresh tire. Is this the 4 digit code inside a small oval at the end of a row that begins DOT? If so, mine says 0108. I'm assuming that's the first batch made in 2008 - is that correct? Thanks.
  11. Yamaman
  12. Yamaman
    Oh, I forgot to add that I was hoping others would post their thoughts on this subject. Do you think the cause of this mishap was the passenger weight or just rider inexperience, or both? Do others of you successfully and confidently carry passengers this size? Thanks.
  13. Yamaman
    This may be different for different size/strength/experienced riders, but unfortunately I found out tonight the hard way that my 260 lb son is too big. And for as big as he is, I'm only about 170, and pretty new to riding this big bike. Lesson learned the hard way. Once a week just the two of us go out to dinner together, and tonight on the way back home, we stopped at a stop sign, then as I started out, making a right turn, the Venture decided to go over, and as we all know, when it wants to go - it goes. The worst of it was that we curled around quite a bit and the fairing and right side fog lamps ended up against the stop sign pole. And what really surprised me was how much the right engine crash bar bent, and also how easy it was to bend back. I would have thought it would have had more strength than that. So the final tally is one bent fog lamp eyebrow, cracks in the headlight surround, some scrapes on the fairing above the headlight, a tiny scrape in the windshield trim, and some scuffs on the lower portion of the windshield. Also some minor scratches at the back of the right pipe and a scrape on the bottom of the saddlebag. She's not quite as pretty as she used to be, but it's nothing that will keep me off the road as I look for replacement parts, and somebody to repair the fairing. Oh, and most importantly, not a scratch on either my son or myself.
  14. Yamaman
    Thanks for posting this. I am in need of a new front and I had understood that moving to the smaller size was almost unanimously approved of here. It helps to see an alternative viewpoint. I will now have to rethink or further research my decision.
  15. Yamaman
    Do you have your quota? if not, there's plenty of rain here in Houston, and I ride 50 miles a day to work and back.
  16. Yamaman
    Thanks again everyone. I guess I'll go ahead with the Avon on the front, and then wait until the Metzler wears out to put an Avon on the back. Hopefully that will be later rather than sooner. (i.e., no throwing chunks within the first couple thousand miles)
  17. Yamaman
    Question is - Is it ok to mix tire brands? Not sure why I'm questioning this, but I thought I saw a post somewhere that it was a bad idea. Just bought my bike in December and the dealer I bought from put a new tire on the rear at my insistence, but I had no choice in what it was, and he put on the Metzler ME 880. Been reading all the good stuff here about Avon and also about the smaller MT90-16 tire size on the front, so now that it's time to buy a new front, I am leaning towards getting the Avon, but of course still have the nearly new Metzler on the back. Also, I can't seem to find the Metzler in the MT90-16 size anyway. Also, saw this link which looks like a best price: ($109.60 for MT90B-16) http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=33_61_72 Southwest Moto has MT90HB-16 for $111.95. Are these the same or slightly different tires? Also, I want blackwalls, not whitewalls. And these prices are close enough that if one provides better customer service, then I would go with that one. Thanks for any and all help.
  18. Yamaman
    I am so not believing this thread. I've struggled several times trying to get my cruise to set and just assumed it was something wrong with the control itself. I just bought the bike in December and it came with the leather wraps and fringe around the levers. Never imagined that would be the problem. I wasn't really sure how much I liked the fringe anyway, but I do like the leather wraps so I guess I'll just cut the fringe off. Thanks a bunch guys, and I'll let you know in a day or so if that solves my problem as well.
  19. Yamaman
    Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is RideOn. I googled it, but didn't get any hits that made sense in this context.
  20. Yamaman
    Thanks for posting this. I was thinking of starting a similar thread. I too have been getting around 30-32 with a max of 35, and have been darn disappointed with that. I just bought the bike in December, so I’m not sure what was done to it by the previous owner. (owners?) It has aftermarket pipes. (not sure which ones – any way to tell?) Don’t know if anything was done to the carbs. It does backfire quite a bit. I ride aggressively, but not insanely. I do about 75-80 per the speedo (probably reads 8-10% high) on the highway and most of my miles are a 26 mile one way commute to downtown H-town, about half in the HOV lane. Sounds like I need to take it in to the shop for a professional tune-up. Or if they go out of tune as fast as Kit says, then invest in some mercury sticks. I really was hoping to get at least 40mpg when I bought the bike. Seems to me that if a 3000 lb Honda Civic can get over 40 with a 1.6 liter, we ought to get at least that with an 800 lb bike.
  21. Yamaman
    So this brings up the question - Do most ride with or without ear plugs? I kept reading articles about permanent hearing loss from not wearing them. I always wear them if I'm going to be riding any farther than just around the neighborhood. But now I'm thinking, these articles may have been written for sport bikers without a big windsheild like we have on our Ventures. Does that make a difference?
  22. Yamaman
    Did I see somewhere where I could purchase the plans for this lift frame? I told my son that I was going to buy one and he asked if he could make it for me. He's an engineering student and enjoys welding, so I figured I'd let him have a go at it. Now I can't seem to find the post that mentioned the plans.
  23. Yamaman
    I actually did talk to them once when I was staying on that side of town. Gave me the same story at first about not wanting to work on a 25 year old bike. But then he looked at it and saw what great condition it was in and said he might be able to help. But it was running then, now it's not and I have no trailer, so that's too far away. I was really hoping to find a smaller independant type operator that doesn't have the big dealership overhead. Somebody that you can get a relationship with and will work with you, maybe even helping out with transportation, if it's not too far. Thanks for the input.
  24. Yamaman
    Just wondering if anyone on here can recomend a good (fair, reasonably priced) Yamaha mechanic in Northeast Houston/Humble/Kingwood area. I have a nice old 81 Maxim 650 that I'd like to get running again, and wrench turning is not my specialty. It was running good about two years ago, but I spent some time commuting between Houston and San Antonio and didn't get to ride it for a while. Needs carb work, fork seals, and some brake work. I tried the Yamaha dealer on 59 in Humble, but they won't work on a bike this old for some reason. Another option is to sell this bike and find a nice first gen Venture, but I'd really like it running first cuase I don't think it's gonna take that much. Any suggestions appreciated.
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