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50 Ways to Save Your Life Motorcycle Cruiser's mothership, Motorcyclist magazine, recently published the following advice to an overwhelmingly appreciative response. We have decided to republish the list of living-saving techniques-in its entirety-for our own readership. Assume you're invisible Because to a lot of drivers, you are. Never make a move based on the assumption that another driver sees you, even if you've just made eye contact. Be considerate The consequences of strafing the jerk du jour or cutting him off start out bad and get worse. Pretend it was your grandma and think again Dress for the crash, not the pool or the prom Sure, Joaquin's Fish Tacos is a five-minute trip, but nobody plans to eat pavement. Modern mesh gear means 100-degree heat is no excuse for a T-shirt and board shorts Hope for the best, prepare for the worst Assume that car across the intersection will turn across your bow when the lightgoes green, with or without a turn signal. Leave your ego at home The only people who really care if you were faster on the freeway will be the officer and the judge. Pay attention Yes, there is a half-naked girl on the billboard. And the chrome needs a polish. Meanwhile, you could be drifting toward Big Trouble. Focus. Mirrors only show you part of the picture Never change direction without turning your head to make sure the coast really is clear. Be patient Always take another second or three before you pull out to pass, ride away from a curb or merge into freeway traffic from an on-ramp. It's what you don't see that gets you. That extra look could save your butt. Watch your closing speed Passing cars at twice their speed or changing lanes to shoot past a row of stopped cars is just asking for trouble. Beware the verge and the merge A lot of nasty surprises end up on the sides of the road: empty McDonald's bags, nails, TV antennas, ladders, you name it. Watch for potentially troublesome debris on both sides of the road. Left-turning cars remain a leading killer of motorcyclists Don't assume someone will wait for you to dart through the intersection. They're trying to beat the light, too. Think before you act Careful whipping around that Camry going 7 mph in a 25-mph zone or you could end up with your head in the driver's side door when he turns in front of you. Beware of cars running traffic lights The first few seconds after a signal light changes are the most perilous. Look both ways before barging into an intersection. Check your mirrors Do it every time you change lanes, slow down or stop. Be ready to move if another vehicle is about to occupy the space you'd planned to use Mind the gap Remember Driver's Ed.? One second's worth of distance per 10 mph is the old rule of thumb. Better still, scan the next 12 seconds ahead for potential trouble. Beware of tuner cars They're quick, and their drivers tend to be young and aggressive, therefore potentially hazardous Excessive entrance speed hurts It's the leading cause of single-bike accidents on twisty roads-some cruisers can make unheard of amounts of power. Use it on the way out of a corner, not in. Don't trust that deer whistle Ungulates and other feral beasts prowl at dawn and dusk, so heed those big yellow signs. If you're riding in a target-rich environment, slow down and watch the shoulders. Learn to use both brakes The front does most of your stopping, but for a lot of heavy cruisers a little extra rear brake can really help haul you up fast. Keep the front brake covered-always Save a single second of reaction time at 60 mph and you can stop 88 feet shorter. Think about that. Look where you want to go Use the miracle of target fixation to your advantage. The motorcycle goes where you look, so focus on the solution instead of the problem. Keep your eyes moving Traffic is always shifting, so keep scanning for potential trouble. Don't lock your eyes on any one thing for too long unless you're actually dealing with trouble Come to a full stop at that next stop sign Put a foot down. Look again. Anything less forces a snap decision with no time to spot potential trouble. Raise your gaze It's too late to do anything about the 20 feet immediately in front of your fender, so scan the road far enough ahead to see trouble and change trajectory. Get your mind right in the driveway Most accidents happen during the first 15 minutes of a ride, below 40 mph, near an intersection or driveway. Yes, that could be your driveway Never dive into a gap in stalled traffic Cars may have stopped for a reason, and you may not be able to see why until it's too late to do anything about it. Don't saddle up more than you can handle If you weigh 95 pounds, avoid that 795-pound cruiser. Get something lighter and more manageable. Watch for car doors opening into traffic And smacking a car that's swerving around some goofball's open door is just as painful. Don't get in an intersection rut Watch for a two-way stop after a string of four-way intersections. If you expect cross-traffic to stop, there could be a painful surprise when it doesn't. Stay in your comfort zone when you're with a group Riding over your head is a good way to end up in a ditch. Any bunch worth riding with will have a rendezvous point where you'll be able to link up again. Give your eyes some time to adjust A minute or two of low light heading from a well-lighted garage onto dark streets is a good thing. Otherwise, you're essentially flying blind for the first mile or so. Master the slow U-turn Practice. Park your butt on the outside edge of the seat and lean the bike into the turn, using your body as a counterweight as you pivot around the rear wheel. Who put a stop sign at the top of this hill? Don't panic. Use the rear brake to keep from rolling back down. Use Mr. Throttle and Mr. Clutch normally-and smoothly-to pull away. If it looks slippery, assume it is A patch of suspicious pavement could be just about anything. Butter Flavor Crisco? Gravel? Mobil 1? Or maybe it's nothing. Better to slow down for nothing than go on your head. Bang! A blowout! Now what? No sudden moves. The motorcycle isn't happy, so be prepared to apply a little calming muscle to maintain course. Ease back the throttle, brake gingerly with the good wheel and pull over very smoothly to the shoulder. Big sigh. Drops on the faceshield? It's raining. Lightly misted pavement can be slipperier than when it's been rinsed by a downpour, and you never know how much grip there is. Apply maximum-level concentration, caution and smoothness. Everything is harder to see after dark Adjust your headlights, carry a clear faceshield and have your game all the way on after dark, especially during commuter hours Emotions in check? To paraphrase Mr. Ice Cube, chickity-check yo self before you wreck yo self. Emotions are as powerful as any drug, so take inventory every time you saddle up. If you're mad, sad, exhausted or anxious, stay put. Wear good gear Wear stuff that fits you and the weather. If you're too hot or too cold or fighting with a jacket that binds across the shoulders, you're dangerous. It's that simple. Leave the iPod at home You won't hear that cement truck in time with Spinal Tap cranked to 11, but they might like your headphones in intensive care. Learn to swerve Be able to do two tight turns in quick succession. Flick left around the bag of briquettes, then right back to your original trajectory. The bike will follow your eyes, so look at the way around, not the briquettes. Now practice until it's a reflex. Be smooth at low speeds Take some angst out, especially of slow-speed maneuvers, with a bit of rear brake. It adds a welcome bit of stability by minimizing unwelcome weight transfer and potentially bothersome driveline lash. Flashing is good for you Turn signals get your attention by flashing, right? So a few easy taps on the pedal or lever before stopping makes your brake light more eye-catching to trailing traffic. Intersections are scary, so hedge your bets Put another vehicle between your bike and the possibility of someone running the stop sign/red light on your right and you cut your chances of getting nailed in half. Tune your peripheral vision Pick a point near the center of that wall over there. Now scan as far as you can by moving your attention, not your gaze. The more you can see without turning your head, the sooner you can react to trouble. All alone at a light that won't turn green? Put as much motorcycle as possible directly above the sensor wire-usually buried in the pavement beneath you and located by a round or square pattern behind the limit line. If the light still won't change, try putting your kickstand down, right on the wire. You should be on your way in seconds. Don't troll next to-or right behind-Mr. Peterbilt If one of those 18 retreads blows up-which they do with some regularity-it de-treads, and that can be ugly. Unless you like dodging huge chunks of flying rubber, keep your distance. Take the panic out of panic stops Develop an intimate relationship with your front brake. Seek out some safe, open pavement. Starting slowly, find that fine line between maximum braking and a locked wheel, and then do it again and again. Make your tires right None of this stuff matters unless your skins are right. Don't take 'em for granted. Make sure pressure is spot-on every time you ride. Check for cuts, nails and other junk they might have picked up, as well as for general wear. Take a deep breath Count to 10. Visualize whirled peas. Forgetting about some clown's 80-mph indiscretion beats running the risk of ruining your life, or ending it. Ride Safe Rod
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I'm posting this for another member West Texas Winds. He posted in the Metzler update thread and I thought I'd move it to a better location so it will give it more exposure. Here's what he posted: Somebody please help me I have checked all the switches I have teail lights but know brake lights Have i missed something All help is greatly aprensioned Thanks West Texas Winds I sent him a PM but I didn't know he had an 87 and I gave advice for the 2nd gens. Can anyone help him out? -
Last year the rear brake on my '99 RSV locked up. I could barely get to the shoulder. The rotor was too hot to touch. I end up beating the caliper off with a donated hammer and wood block. I pulled the pads-reassembled- and rode home on the front brakes. I had no luck solving the problem, so I bought a brandy new COMPLETE caliper-Installed it, and replaced the fluid. Done deal. This was last fall-didn't get a whole lot of miles before the snow hit. The other day I dragged the beast out of the shed for a new season. Yippee! Well today it happened again after 50 miles or so. This time I cracked the line and bled the fluid out... We don't need no steenkin' brakes. OK, so what the heck is going on? New caliper--new fluid--same problem. Do you think it's the master cylinder--poltergeists--or what? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks:confused24:
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O.K. I figured out why my battery is showing such low voltage and then hight voltage on the dash volt meter. The back brake light is not always going off. I am trying to make heads or tails out of the manual but I can not seem to find where the switch is for the brake light. I need to know where the pedal sensor is and the grounding point for the circuit. It appears that both the handle and the pedal cause a drain on the system and the light stays on most of the time after I let off the brake. After several giggles or a few jars on the road the light goes back off. I am wondering if it is a ground issue rather than a switch. If I knew where each of the switch parts were and where the ground connection was, I could try some more troubleshooting but I can not tell from the manual. Anyone else had a similar issue?
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I am looking around on EBay and trying to stay in the good graces of my wife by not buying bike parts this one looks like a good deal if you need one. For those of you looking to add that second break light be it on the top or as I prefer under the trunk this might not be a bad idea: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-HIGH-LEVEL-LED-3RD-BRAKE-LIGHT-LED-BRAKE-LIGHT_W0QQitemZ250226900848QQihZ015QQcategoryZ33713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem It's listed as a buy it now for 9.99 and 9.95 shipping it's 14" x 1.5" x 1.5 comes with double sided tape to mount it on on back glass, but 2 holes are also available for those who want to screw it on if needed on a trim . Take a look it might be what your looking for. It looks like a SOMA type of brake light and for the price it's not a bad deal. I'm doing a search in the parts section using this as a search "3rd brake light led -cover -decal -overlay" without the quotes. There are some other interesting light setups that can also be adapted as a second light. One of the ones I'm thinking of is use one from a pickup truck that has the cargo lights on each side of the brake light and use them as a flashing lights when stopped but I have to check the laws before I buy one. Another thing you can do is make your own custom mount by picking up a piece of angle aluminum (1 1/2 inch) and mount the light into it cut the ends and bend them to fit in between the helmet hangers bolt it in then wire it up. I did that with one I bought and gave it that brushed look by sanding it then painted it a semigloss black.
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I'm short a left side brake disc, for my spare front wheel. 1989, 1st gen. I bought a set, on E-bay last year, but the left one was Bent. Anyway, if anybody has one laying around, if interested in selling ???
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Getting ready to go to Panama City this sunday, this will be my longest ride so far. Went to Montgomery last monday, lot of fun! Took my bike in for the 600 mile service yesterday and noticed a noise coming from the rear, sounds like the tire rubbing on something. The dealers mechanic thinks it may be a brake caliper but Im not sure. The sound doesnt change when you apply the brake. Hope its not serious, I am supposed to pick it up saturday am. Also got my gps mounted yesterday, the folks at adventure gps in Decatur were great to deal with and had all parts in stock. Anyone know of a good ride around Panama City? My wife and I are taking 7 18 year old girls down for spring break so I know I will need to ride some to get rid of some stress!!!! They are all riding with the wife in her suv.
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Can anyone advise what the wire colors are for brake, lights and turn signals?
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I want to install an LED light bar under the trunk. Probably either the Rivco or the Diamond-R. However I have a Priority-Plus unit installed now, it makes the turn signals act as position lights (on all the time except when turn signal activated) and blinks the brake lights several times when the brake is activated prior to full-steady. I was planning to connect the light bar in the usual way to the tail and brake light wiring - tapping in after the Priority plus connection. Does any one know if this will work OK with a light bar or does the LED somehow react differently? I can't see why it wouldn't work but would appreciate comments from any of you who might be familiar with such set-ups.
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Copied from another thread..... Here's my position on shimming Squeeze. If the handle bar masters are going to slip or rotate on the tubing with shims, they would do it without the shim because of improper torqueing. 6mm bolts will give plenty of torque compression to make the masters stationary. The weak point will be the threads in the aluminum body due to over torquing , and that exists, shims or not. I understand what you're talking about in delinking. I hadn't thought about the rear master driving the 2ndGen front caliper. I wonder if it could??? The 2ndGen calipers I have are the 2 piston varity with the floating offside pads. I wonder if it's the right way to go??? Hmmmm.... Got to think about this somemore....
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Hi, Just ordered three sets of brake pads from Dennis Kirk for my 83 VR....I've searched for posts - found some good stuff on bleeding...is the actual change over much of a problem? It appears all three sets of calipers should come right off...guess I'm looking for any hidden issues. Thanks in advance, Rick
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Where is the best place to buy REAR brake pads for an 06 RSTD? ---Buzz
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I sold this bike to a friend and he is changing all brake lines and the Front Left Brake Line tied to Rear he can not find and was told that Yamaha no longer makes this brake line. Has anyone found a replacement from some other source.. I mentioned going to a car parts and sizing up.. And never hurts to ask if someone has found one to work. From what he tells me it is close to 2' long.. Joe in NJ -
I hope this post isn't being beat to death but here goes anyway. Just installed a 15 inch LED light bar on the rear of my 88 VR and it works and looks great. I am intent on improving rear visibility both during the day and at night short of wearing a yellow reflective vest. I am just curious as to how much amp draw one can expect the taillight circuit to handle without ruining the computer. I was looking for replacements for the two 1157 dual filament bulbs that might draw a little less amp, but have not been able to locate a suitable substitute. I suppose there isn't such a bulb. Each 1157 bulb draws 2.1 amps, I think anyway, and maybe 2.7 amps (don't know for sure) when the brake light is activated. Double that for two bulbs and that is perhaps as much as 5.4 amps. No wonder the voltmeter drops so radically when the brake light is on. Has anyone modified their scoots like I have and would they have any advice on how to reduce the rear brake light circuit draw just a tad? I did purchase two led bulbs and installed them. Even with two led bulbs and the 15 inch led light bar, the computer warning light was on.
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I'm planning to replace the brake caliper seals on my 84 Standard and when looking up the part numbers on Yamaha's website it shows "part # 31A-W0047-00-00 Quantity 2 " for the rear seal kit. I checked Flatout's and it shows the same thing. Anyone know why it shows 2 sets for the rear caliper? but only 1 set for each front caliper. Thanks
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Well Friends, I have finally decided to go ahead and start packaging my Speedway Proportioning Valve and Galfer stainless brake line to be sold to VentureRiders. I have done this franky because I got pissed off and decided that I just needed to "Just do it"! But before get to the details, I need to tell a story. I came to this realization after coming back from a week of riding with my friends in the Big Bend area of Texas.......where we left a close friend in the hospital in Odessa, TX with a collapsed lung, bruised ribs, a ruptured spleen and a slight concusion. This accident happened on a new Tour Deluxe that only had about 500 miles on it. And the sad fact was that my friend had just come off of a FJR and still owned a GL1800, but fell in love with the way the TD rode. However he was not yet accustomed to the rear brake. His close friend had told me that he had already locked up the rear several times so he knew about the sensitivity of this brake. And in hindsight, I know I should have spent some time with him the evening before our ride to reinforce the proper braking on this bike, but I didn't. Regardless that next morning we took off from Study Butte and headed down the River Road to Presidio. And after we left Lajitas, it was nothing but a fabulous road that just "rocked and rolled" all the way to Presidio. We were about half way there when we came upon a slight 50mph curve that broke right on top of a small rise and was basically blind until you toped the rise. Well Murph entered this curve in the right track (early entry) and came into the apex of the curve on the center line (out high). I guess it startled him and he hit the rear brake, slide for about 10 ft, let off the brake where the bike high sided and slammed him into the road where he slide into an unconscious crumpled pile on the shoulder. Well we managed to get him comfortable while we waited on an ambulance, where they cut all of his clothes off, stabilzed and loaded him up for an ambulance ride to Presidio where a CareFlite was waiting to take him to Odessa. So for the next 2 days until we got home, I was internalizing the entire episode knowing that it could have been prevented (1.) with the right information about this bike and (2.) with a modified rear brake. Murph was a seasoned rider that I have spent countless miles riding with him over the past years, but he just wasn't used to this bike. Well, in the past few months I have both assisted in helping folks build and install the components of my proportioning valve themselves as well as making the modification to the valve, putting it together with the Galfer stainless line myself and then sending the completed package to folks that have asked me. And for bikes that are local friends of mine, I have installed several sets myself. So now because of Murph's accident, I have decided to start putting kits together for sale. When all of this started I wasn't that interested putting these components together into a so called product. But when I did I decided to only charge for the cost of the components and only $10 for my time, which came out to $130 delivered. However because most of us like the ease of using PayPal, this eats into that $10 for $4.07. So I have just ordered the components for 5 more sets (one of which is already spoken for) of which I'm going to sell for $140 delivered to anywhere in the US, which I think is a fair price. The entire kit fits perfectly into a small 5.5" X 8.5" Priority Mail box. Yeah, I know that applying proper braking techniques of using more front brake sooner will certainly take care of this issue, but sometimes your right leg and foot has a mind of its own and does something stupid. And when the rear tire starts sliding on this big bike, it's not a very good feeling. Because if you don't get off of it soon enough, the rear is going to start coming around. Then if you let off too late the bike will high side, which is going to hurt. This adjustable proportioning valve will provide that 1 or 2 second of cushion when the brake pedal is jabbed before all of that brake fluid makes its way to the 4 pistons in the rear caliper. So I'll list this in the Classified Section tomorrow and let's see what happens, Rick -
This might sound stupid but were is the rear master cylin i looked in my repair book but it dosent show its location. I removed the chrome dcover behind the brake pedal but didnt see it is it on the left side maybe? i didnt get a chance tonight to look there yet
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ANY ONE KNOW IF THESE WILL FIT MY 87 VENTURE ROYAL? seen these on ebay this morning 83-85 Yamaha XVZ1200 Venture Lighted Brake Rotor Covers.
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Does any one have instructions for installing this light bar and which wires to connect so it works with brake and regular lights. Appreciate the help. Thanks.
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Well, yesterday I decided to take my new battery back to the store. It was pulling down to 7 volts during the initial starter inrush. It tested well on a load until the store turned it up to about 175 amp load. Then it fell flat on its face. Got another battery and gave it a 6-8 hour charge. Stuffed it in Mocha and hit the starter. WOW- starter has so much speed and torque I thought it was a different bike! BAD NEW BATTERY. Now I have a new fuse panel, new wiring, new master fuses, new 4GA battery cables, new grounds and a happy grin. I even put in an extra circuit from the battery to a relay for driving lights. The system holds 14.4 at idle, 14.6 at 2K and above. When I step on the rear brake it goes to 14.8 for a moment. Must be the anti-dive and the rear brake lights. Thanks to all who gave suggestions and told their tales of electrical woe. It all helped. I will take pictures of the problem areas I found and my cables and fusebox for our archives. Happy New Year JB and the now well charged Mocha
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Weather was 50 degrees, so I took the bike out for a WET ride. Everything going great and then my cruise went off all by it self and I could not get it on again. Shut it off turn it on, Nothing. Few miles further down the road as I kept pushing set, cancel, set, cancel, etc. I shifted my feet off the highway pegs and realized my heal had been resting slightly against the rear brake. Guess What. :whistling:Cruise works! What a relief thought I was going to have to tear into the switch or maybe replace it. Next time this happens, I think I check my feet first. Jay
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Ok, this is where I am. I have rebuilt all 3 brake calipers and the rear master cylinder. After plenty of bleeding, both the bike and me, I finally got the blasted thing to hold pressure. Went for a quick test run and everything was going fine and then the darn brakes locked and would not let go. I pulled out the ol` wrench and bleed of the rear and wamo`, I was off again. Did a few laps around the pond and then they where dragging again. This time I bleed of the left front, and then I was off again. OK, I check the rear master cylinder, made sure the little hole was clear, and tried it again. After several goes, sure enough they started dragging again….. So what do I do now? You guys have been a wealth of info and anymore would be great!!!!! Oh Yea, if it helps I have a 1985 VR. and the right brake (front) is working just fine. -
Has anyone tried adjusting the rear pedal height? Could the angle applying the brake have any effect on pressure causing the rear brake lockup? Is there any better control if the front brakes are used first and than add in the rear brakes?
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Looking to purchase new brake pads, are the Kevlar pads good to get and is a set of 3 for $31.00 a good deal?
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The first: I put the key in the bike and turned it to the "start" position and all that came on was the accessories. I had to turn the key back and try to get it to stay in between the "accessories" and "start" position to get the bike to turn over. Is this a problem that I can fix without having to buy a whole new ignition switch? I am hoping that something is just loose and can be tightened. The second: Not a huge issue but would like some advice. I would like to clean the carbs out and was thinking that I could do it the way I used to on my old Q-jet that was on my Chevelle; just shoot some brake cleaner down each carb and then run the bike to flush it out. I have done this on many different carbs and never had any issues. Is there any components on the RSV carbs that may be negatively affected by the brake cleaner? Thanks, Bubba
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