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If any venture riders in the UK are not aware - this bank holiday (Monday) Thanet is hosting its 4th annual Ace Cafe meet in Margate. We estimate around 45, 000 bikes will attend this event on and around the harbour. With live bands,bars and stalls its the place to be this Monday. I'll post some pics next week.
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Visiting our Son and family in Calgary. Kinley was 2 months old on the 24th. We brought along our riding gear, thinking of renting a couple of bikes for a day or two while here. Nothing but rain. We all went to Banff for the weekend and woke up to 2 inches of snow yesterday more this morning. Boy am I glad we didn't trailer the bikes. On the bright side, we've been spending a lot of time together. But, what's with the weather?
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HI Everyone, I'm new here- I'm a little bored with my Roadstar and found someone with with a Royalstar that wants to trade me. He came by my work, we rode each other bikes around the parking lot, so far so good. Tomorrow we are gonna take a longer ride at lunch and if things are as they seem, we will trade strait across. Both bike have around 50k miles. Is there some crazy maintenance I'll have to do with the Royalstar? ANything I need to look for? Both bikes have apes, and are quite customized. Mine has stretched harley bags, tricky air custom fenders, exhaust and his has custom wheels, fenders and stereo. I think I just want things a little simpler, just get on and go. I almost created too much of a custom bike. I always have scraping in the back of my mind with the bags and air, and it's loud as heck. And if my girl is on the back- oh geez- even more to worry about. Anyways, that why I'm here- doing my due diligence on this trade. Thanks for your time. Royalstar http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb34/retroactivefunk/b23cf8b8.jpg http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb34/retroactivefunk/06d6f78d.jpg http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb34/retroactivefunk/c804fbfb.jpg Roadstar http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb34/retroactivefunk/Bagger%20Project/7a30454a.jpg http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb34/retroactivefunk/Bagger%20Project/7b85a0d0.jpg http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb34/retroactivefunk/Bagger%20Project/f3ce208e.jpg
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Wondering if anyone here is taking 1st Gen Ventures on lond distance rides... and how long. I see/hear about newer bikes on long rides, but I haven't really of the 1st Gens.
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http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/reddog170/DSCF7068.jpg My neighbors had to get there HD trikes out. Nice looking bikes, my daughter loves them. Thought I would share.Shaun
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It seems that not all new owners of these bikes are getting the timely warning about how fast the stock rear brake pads wear out. Last Saturday we had three relatively new owners show up at the mini maintenance day who had not heard this - all three had between 12K-17K miles on their bikes, and the rear pads were shot on ALL of their bikes! At least two were actually metal-to-metal on the inside pad - can't say for certain on the third - his looked to be down that far when I inspected it, but I did not see the pads changed. Anyway - consider this just another attempt to get the word out to anyone who has not heard it yet - the stock Yamahaha rear brake pads will be GONE by 12,000 miles (especially the inside pad, which always wears faster)! If your 2nd gen bike has less than 20,000 miles on it and you do not KNOW that the rear pads have been changed to something other than stock Yamahaha pads, check them NOW! Goose (This is not a problem with the front pads - even stock front pads can be expected to last 40-50,000 miles.)
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Just curious, Has anyone made or thought of making a bike trailer out of a Jet ski trailer. The are light weight, most are aluminium. I was thinking of a double to haul two full size bikes. Trying to cut down on weight for some long trips I have planned. http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/Smileys/actions/undecided.gif
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I just can't imagine!!!! I really feel sorry for the kid!
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ok with all the knowledge in this room i'm sure a good answer to this question, my bikes sit in an insulated garage with no heat and sweat forms on the bikes other then heating it how do i keep the bikes dry. and yes the floor is concrete
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How embarrassing! Today a large group of us went to a restaurant in a neighboring state. About 350 miles round trip from my house. There were a mixture of bikes but mostly Harley's and the Harley's came with their usual attitude. Not all but of few. I ride the only bike there is... a Harley. I politely offered to show them another bike (my Venture) every time I heard that statement. The Victory riders, the Honda Goldwing riders, The Raider riders and yes the other Venture rider all took it without a rebuttal but not I. I was proud of my Venture. I was tailgunner of the 16 bikes because I had a working CB. Everything was fine and dandy until the last stop for gas. Everyone was saddled up and waiting for me to give them the OK. Well guess what. My battery died. I could just hear those Harley guys saying to themselves that Japanese piece of ___________ (I'll let each of you fill in the blank). Well 3 of the Yamaha guys got off their bikes and gave me a push and she started right up. Now we are going down the road and my stereo stars braking up and I realize I haven't heard the usual chatter on the CB. So I call and no answer. I turn off the CB and the radio cleared up. So now I can't figure out what happened to the CB. After a while since the leader had not heard from me in a while they decided to pull over to see if I was still with them and of course I was. I did not shut off the Venture as I was afraid it would not crank but it sat there and idled just fine. We decided since I was having problems and could not talk to anyone it was not wise to keep me in the rear and a member with a Harley turned on his CB and off we went. Well his CB did not work either so there we were again. After one more stop with me leaving mine running while we all too a break we headed home. I took the battery out of my 2001 and put it in my 2000 and everything seems to work as it should. So I'll probably NEVER live this one down with the Harley group.
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The link below should take you to the 10 most expensive bikes in the world. At least that is the title of the article. I thought it was interesting that from $90,000-$300,000+ each bike would only be good for a short ride if that. None of them lets me carry any stuff. Some of the bikes reminds me of one of my favorite thoughts - Just because you can build something does not mean that you should. http://motorcycles.about.com/od/buyingamotorcycle/tp/The-10-Most-Expensive-Motorcycles-in-the-World.htm
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Planning a trip to New England in mid July and want to take the bikes. Not interested in riding there from Florida ( the wife certainly isn't) plus prefer to maximize time in New England area. Have looked into the Amtrak Autotrain, but that is getting expensive with a sleeper room for our dates to the point that airfare and MC shipping would/may be close the same money. Plus with the Amtrak still need to drive the bike from DC to NH (and Back). Anyone here shipped their bikes from Florida to NE or thereabouts or can otherwise recommend a good MC shipping company? Would be shipping two bikes there and back, my RSTD and my buddy's LC1500. Thank You in Advance, Derrek rstddog
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I've read through midrsv's thread comparing the GL1800 to the VR and thought maybe it would help some that may be on the fence over a trade for a HD. I traded my 1988 VR and 2007 Sportster Custom for a 2011 HD FLHTCU (Ultra Classic Electra Glide) two weeks ago, and there are some pretty big differences in the two. I've only ridden about 200 miles (odometer read 11 miles when I signed the papers) on the Harley, but here is what I have noticed so far: At a Glance While the Venture is a good looking bike, it is distinctively 1980's. The lines and sharp angles, combined with "futuristic" (for the times) design of the dash panel, these bikes scream "Knight Rider." Of course, these bikes are 22+ years old, and the majority of them show their age. Mine did as well, but unless you were very close to it, or looking for blemishes, you wouldn't have noticed them. Overall, it was a older bike that I was proud to own. The Ultra is brand spanking new, and you can tell. There are no blemishes, and it has that new bike smell. Make that "were no blemishes." On the second ride, I didn't realize the muzzle of my 1911 was sticking out and it made a small scuff on the top of the seat. The paint is a sharper color than the VR, but I don't think the quality and craftsmanship are any better. Their is a lot to be said about the classic look of the bat wing fairing and passing lamps, though. I guess that is why the majority of other manufacturers have been copying them for a decade or more. Ergonomically Speaking My first few rides on the Yamaha were a bit tedious, but I had gotten very comfortable on the VR in the short time I owned it. I had been riding all my life, but had never even sat on a touring bike until I bought this one. The handlebars were very comfortable, and the gauges were easy to identify and read. If the sun was in the right place, though, you could get a slight glare on the instruments. The only thing I ever found a bit awkward was operating the cruise control. The remote for the radio system, and the PTT button for the intercom were both perfectly positioned, though. Both saw a lot of usage on my bike. The Ultra has a more classic design, and that makes the instruments much easier to read for me. There are no dummy lights on this bike, and this makes the dash look less cluttered. Honestly, though, a gear indicator would be nice for the six speed tranny. It does have a little "6" on the speedometer, at least. The handlebars are a more classic design, and a tad wider than the VR. This may make a difference for some, but not to me. The stock grips are more comfortable to me, but then again they are new. While the activation switch for the cruise control is no better or worse than the VR, the remaining controls are more awkward to me. They seem to be positioned too close to the grip to operate comfortably with the thumb, and I don't think there is a cancel button. Power is Everything This is a "apples and oranges" comparison, since they are totally different engines. The numbers that I have found are 97HP for the V4 and 95HP for the V twin. So, even though the Ultra has a extra 294cc's, the VR makes more power. Of course these are both theoretical numbers, measured at the crank. Dyno results for the Twin Cam 96B show 63HP at the rear wheel. I have no idea what the numbers are for the V4. I do know what the "butt dyno" has to say though, and that is the V4 is quicker, but the V twin has more torque. The roll on response of the 96B TC is much quicker than the V4, especially in a higher gear at highway speeds. I'm going to guess that this is due to the fact that the new bike is fuel injected rather than quad carbed. While this makes for quicker and sharper throttle response, and removes the need to choke the crap out of a cold bike, it does present it's own set of problems. This mostly comes in to play for the tinkerer, who likes to tune their bike periodically. It can still be done on the Harley, but requires a computer to do so. The cost for repairs is much higher as well. The exhaust setup on the VR is, of course, dual two-into-ones, and the HD has true duals. The latter means a less stifled engine. The V4 engine has that common, metric bike sound. Nothing special about it, unless that constant puff from a slightly out of tune carb qualifies. The 96B has that distinctive Harley sound. Not so much out of the box. The EPA has our bikes so over-regulated these days that even a big twin HD sounds like a Singer sewing machine from the factory. A set of 3.5" Rinehart slip-ons woke her right up, though. I know many criticize the MOCO for this and that, but if you don't like the sound of Harley Davidson at idle, then you seriously need to have your testosterone levels checked. Where the Rubber Meets the Road When talking about a touring bike, the following is where it's at; comfort and handling. Both of these bikes are top notch in their element. Even at 22 years old, my VR was super comfortable. With a seat height of 30.9", the VR is nearly 2" taller than the HD. As a rider that is on the shorter side of average at 5'9", with short legs (30" inseam), both are a bit hairy when at a stop. The VR, though, had front and rear air shocks that were super easily adjustable. The rider can set up the height of the bike before startup, and have no worries about stopping on the ride. The Harley is adjustable in the rear, but it is a much more involves process that requires tools to do so. Of course, lowering the suspension means diminishing the ride quality to some degree, so I ended up just dealing with the tip-toe stopping on both. In the area of balance, the HD wins hands down. The very first thing I noticed about the Yamaha was that it liked to walk at slow speeds, and even a little bit at cruising speed. A fork brace lessened this problem at cruise, but you just had to learn to handle the beast in a parking lot. Neither of these is a issue on the Harley. Once it starts moving you can almost let go of the handlebars. Both have comfortable stock seat configurations, but the seat seems much wider on the Ultra. This can get uncomfortable for a rider with short legs, but can be corrected by whipping out the checkbook.My son claims the passenger seating is better on the HD, even though he gave up armrests on the new bike. The floorboards for the rider are much more comfortable than the oversized pegs on the VR, and the riding position seems to be slightly more stretched out on the Harley. Creature Comforts Hey, it's a touring bike, it's supposed to have all the bells and whistles. If I wanted a hard core bike I would have kept the Sporty. Both bikes have about the same amount of storage capacity. The key difference here is in the operation of the saddlebags and trunk. The saddlebag lids on the VR have to come all the way off for access, where the HD lids are hinged and open to the outside, so you can handle your stuff without looking for a place to store your lids. The hard bags on the HD are very easily removed for access to the rear wheel and exhaust as well. The trunk on the HD opens to the side, meaning the passenger doesn't have to get off the bike in order to access your gear. It's hard to compare the electronics on the two bikes, because of the new technology that exists now. I can say that the speakers were shot on my VR. I ended up listening to the radio through the headset, which may as well have been someone singing into a tin can. The Harmon Kardon sound system on the HD is worlds above the Yamaha system. It still has the intercom, the CB, and the AM/FM tuner, but also adds in a weather band, a single disc CD player, and a auxiliary input for a IPod/MP3 player. The front speakers are larger than the VR, and there is a set of rear speakers of the same size. The audio controls are actually easier to access than the remote on the VR was. Also, the intercom is VOX, which is nice, but can cause some problems with the exhaust note of the V Twin. The passenger controls are split up on the HD, with some on each side of the tour pak. Overall Impression I'm still finding it difficult to compare these two bike to each other. The age difference, and the difference in the new technology just make them too different, even though they are similar in a lot ways. The older Yamaha was a little quicker, and maybe even a little more comfortable, but I was interested in a touring bike to take longer rides on in comfort. That, to me, really means having all the bells and whistles operating the way they are supposed to, in addition to a bike that is mechanically reliable without having to throw a lot of money at. While I considered throwing some money at the Yamaha, it dawned on me that no matter how well maintained it might be, it is still a 22+ year old bike with 50,000 miles on the frame and engine. It was also becoming difficult to find parts for since there weren't a lot of them made to begin with. Being a skin flint at heart, I had a very hard time justifying the $23,500 price tag on the new bike. I still have a hard time with that, even though I know I can afford it. It all boils down to each rider has to have what they want, as much as what they need. Hope this helps a bit, and I will try to add to it as I ride the new bike more. I know there is a lot that I have missed here, so if there is a question I will do my best to answer it.
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sorry , I've not been on lately , but I have a new job , I am working for Ken at Trick Lights , installing LED lites on bikes . We did the daytona bike week and saw Ruffy , Jricherd and Crazy Larry , than did the San Antonio expo , now getting ready for Bandara . Its very hard to get on site with Andriod , I am going to try Tap a talk ? anybody know off a better app. ? Trick Lights is a lot more fun than working on RVs , I get to work on other riders bikes installing LEDs lites , LED headlites and Custom Sound amps and speakers and I get to go to all the m/c shows ! I unloaded the 1st Gen when we got to daytona and used 4 gal of gas in 78 miles , Ouch !! but on a side note there is a lot of Hardlys than don't like me LOL Sorry Doodle I missed your MD but had to work
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Last fall I posted here that I was selling my bikes, but then came fall - winter and , well , you know how it goes... We park the Jeep in the driveway (because the garage is filled by 2 1st Gen bikes) and this week the Jeep was broken into and everything was rifled thru. It turns out that many of the cars on the block were broken into as well. Since I travel for my job and my wonderful wife is home alone - she is a bit upset (to say the least). Now the bikes really have to go. Make a serious reasonable offer and take them home with you. I'm in Winnipeg MB right now, but when I get home this weekend I'll post pics (after going to buy and install a motion sensor security light).
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OK...a little quickie contest. The attached picture is a collage of 16 bikes that I've owned over the years....it would be more but I don't have pictures of near all the bikes that I've owned. Anyway, the first person to correctly identify all 16 bikes and the year models within 2 years either way, will win a VentureRider lapel pin. Have fun.
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Two Ventures riding south on Hwy 27 in Broward county, with a few Harleys a Victory and a Yamaha Spider, about 10 am Yesterday. One Blue and one Grey/Beige ( about 8 bikes total )
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This is one of the strangest things I've seen happen to a headlamp. It's on the Harley, not the RSV. We left the house on both bikes at 3ish on Saturday with no damage (I know this because I personally cleaned the windshield and lights on both bikes before we took off), and came home at 7ish to find that this had happened. No signs of a rock hit or any other kind of impact at all from anything, and no real change in temperature extremes. It's actually a really beautiful spider web looking pattern, and it's cracked completely through the full depth of the glass. The only thing I can imagine is that it's a stress fracture that's been building since we had the new lights installed at the dealership over 2 years ago. Just thought I'd post this since it's such a pretty picture of the damage!
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Just noticed this morning that I have a small leak right under the engine...I haven't checked it out yet, but it feels like oil. How frequent is it for the newer bikes to spring a small oily leak. I am hoping it is either from the filter or the plug...just not tight enough. I will check out this evening. Wally
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Found this on YouTube today showing some of the Bikes on the Bricks in Flint last year. Starts out with the line up of bikes at the Harley dealer for the escorted ride downtown on Friday then shows the downtown Friday night and Saturday. Turn up the Volume and enjoy. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-KbV3PmMp0&feature=related]YouTube - 2010 Bikes on the Bricks - Downtown Flint, Michigan[/ame]
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Hi, Now this might be a crazy idea but I figured it was worth a shot. My buddy and I live in Calgary, Alberta and we are both getting really antsy to go for a ride so we are wondering what would be a good destination where we could fly to from Calgary, on Thursday, February 17, rent a couple of bikes, (Harleys most likely because I don't know anyone else who rents bikes) Ride Friday, Saturday and Sunday and fly back to Calgary on Monday. I am thinking Phoenix or Palm Springs California but I'm way open to opinions and suggestions for best bang for the buck for a short but intense three days of riding. Places, roads we could ride, dealers who rent bikes. All ideas/thoughts appreciated. Chris in Red Deer, (Calgary) Alberta -
It's coming to Cleveland last weekend in January. The last two years have frankly been disappointing. Fewer big bikes, fewer bikes overall. Couple of manufacturers absent, overall small show. Anyway, was wondering what this year's show has been like in other cities. For people that have gone this year, what did you think? How did it compare with previous years? Thanks in advance.
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Pictures of the goldwing
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On my hour long comute I saw no other bikes. Seems odd to me.
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Question what is the best way to get a key made for a Venture if you don't have anything other than a key and the bikes V.I.N.? Dealer or locksmith? Thanks for the input.............. Mark
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