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Well, the checks I been waiting on finally cleared the bank. SPent 400 dollars with Flatout today, Chris called me at noon and told me that all parts are available in the warehouses, only one part needs to come from Japan. (I'll tell you about that later. Something to do with not wanting to take 10 minutes and make the clutch holding tool!!!). All parts should be in by the end of the week. Saved 25 bucks by having him hold the parts for pick-up since I only live 10 miles from there. These parts are just the internals, like all o-rings, gaskets, clutch springs, 2nd gear repair (gonna undercut my gears), water pump rebuild,etc.. Will post complete list if anybody wants to see it. Next week I'll order my exterior stuff, going to replace all the hoses, water route orings, thermostat, etc. Doing this once, and then be done with it! Flatouts website makes it easy to order, can print out the microfiche listings, that way you have a record of what you've got when it comes time to figure out what all those bags have in them!!! Oh well ,back to the grind! Dan

I decided to drain the antifreeze yesterday. Everything went well, drained the radiator, cylinders, etc. but when I got to the water pump I couldn't believe how hard it is to get to the drain plug out. Do I need a special wrench? Do I need to take the exhaust pipe off? If it is the exhaust pipe that has to come off then the bottom screw on the pipe is just as hard to get to. Am I missing something? What if I don't drain the water pump? Harry

http://by124w.bay124.mail.live.com/mail/ReadMessageLight.aspx?Action=ScanAttachment&AllowUnsafeContentOverride=False&AttachmentIndex=0&AttachmentDepth=0&FolderID=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&InboxSortAscending=False&InboxSortBy=Date&IsMessageSafe=True&MessageCodePage=20127&ReadMessageId=205b7e88-f7de-4d0f-817f-b534c7b12898&n=765958555 My wife sent me this and i dont think I will have lemons in my water or tea any more.

Had one of my drivers who crosses into the USA regularly, hand me a flyer that he recieved from the USA customs when he crossed into the USA last Friday. Attention Canadian citizens travelling to the United States by land or water. As of January 31, 2008, if you travel to the USA by land or water, a US law will require you to present: A government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license; AND A birth certificate or citizenship card; OR A valid passport: OR A Nexus or a Free And Secure Trade (FAST) card; OR For those 18 and under, a birth cerificate. Canadian citizens flying to or through the US must present a valid Canadian passport. www.canada.gc.ca 1-800-622-6232

since the south texas pgr ride capt, already made this public info. i guess it can't hurt to explain here, what has happened. my brother Ron,(rattlesnake), lost all of his worldly possessions, Tuesday night/wed morning, in a house fire.he and all his family, are safe and sound, thanks to the most generous, and caring townspeople in the world. the power company's wiring, coming into the house, shorted out and started the fire. firemen /neighbors, were on the scene, within 10 minutes, but couldn't put any water on the house, because of the live wires jumping and popping. ONE HOUR after the first of THREE phone calls, a serviceman, finally arrived and killed the power at the transformer. by then, it was too late. fifteen water hoses, couldn't save the house. like i already said, he has NO urgent needs, at this time, however a prayer or two might be useful, if you have any to spare. thanks for listening. just jt p.s. i forgot to mention , all his vehicles and bikes were move to a safe distance, thanks to ron's riding buddy raul! jt.

my rite rear cylinder leaks water out the exhaust and there is oily water around the spark plug and i have water in my oil but the weard part as soon as i warm up the motor it runs fine , i am thinking hoping it mite be the cylinder water jacket joint ? anybody ever take one of these out ? now the hard part , do i have to pull the motor to remove the rear head , to install a new head gasket ? moan !! mite be better to buy another motor , shipping is going to be he!! glad i went back to work , and before any of you 2nd gens say anything NO I AM NOT GOIN TO BUY A 2ND GEN so there :rasberry:

Leather with Lycra. They say that it is more abrasion resistant than conventional leather and yet stretches and holds its shape as well as being water resistant. Will be interesting to see what comes of it.

As of January 31, 2008, if you travel to the U.S. by land or water, a U.S. law will require you to present: a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's licence; AND a birth certificate or a citizenship card; OR For youth under 16, a birth certificate; OR A valid passport.Canadian citizens flying to or through the U.S. must present a valid Canadian passport. Canadians will also be able to enter the United States by land or water with a NEXUS or Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card. The Government of Canada will keep Canadians informed as the U.S. makes further changes to its entry requirements.

And thought..... what better place to post it than in the 'Watering Hole'. [ame=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4742152468547080205&q=hydro+power&total=271&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=5]WATER[/ame]

Water vs. Alcohol As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria. In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop. However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting. Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of ****. There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service. :rotfl:

91 Venture Royale, 43,000 miles. When I ride all day in hot weather, the next morning I have a little bit of coolant on my right exhaust just below the water pump. It burns off when I start up and the loss is negligable. Still It bugs me. I thought it was the o-rings in the plastic transfer pipe between the water pump and the thermostat housing. But, today I got down and looked and there is a little hole in the bottom of the water pump and there is a stain, as though coolant has leaked out the hole from time to time. This is the only place that looks like anything has leaked in the past. Anyone have a similar experience? Do I need to fix it?

OK, it's just like anything I work on. Carbs rebuilt, synched, new plugs, wires coming from Buckeye Performance, tires, stator, factory radio. NOW it's the water pump!!!!!!! Please give me an idea of the parts needed. It just started seeping from the weep hole, so I know the seals about gone. Recommendations, PLEASE!!!!!! Hopefully not a complete unit, over 200 bucks!!!!!

Ok, This may be a dumb question, but after doing a full tune up this spring, plugs, wires, boots, carb sycn the bike is running pretty good although I may be a bit rich as i do not need the choke to start, but that is a different issue. My question is what does it take to water proof these bikes? If i get caught in the rain I am usually fine for 20 miles or so before the bike starts running rough. If the bike is sitting at work and it rains the bike will be hard starting and run very rough the whole way home. I know that it has to be water getting into something as it will pop and spit until it is up to crusing speed and then it will seem to settle down until you come to the first stop. could it be hairline cracks in the coil packs doing this if they get spashed with water? Any Ideas would be helpful Venturing the wetlands

Guys, I am helping a friend remove some accessories to be installed on another RSV later. And he has a Trip Master tach with a water temp gauge. Does anyone know if this gauge came with a replacement thermo switch? Thanks, Rick

is it possible for a bad water pump to seep very small amount of oil into the cooling system. it is weeping water from the weep hole in the cover . i believe i had about 1/16th film in my over flow bottle. ant info would be appreciated. thanks lee

I have a 87 model and when it gets wet the tach drops to 0 and it runs like crap. This happened to me at Vogel last year when we started out on the tail of the dragon. We left the gas station and I hit a pothole that splashed quite a bit of water up on the bike. It started missing, spitting, sputtering and wouldn't take gas. As long as I don't give it much gas it runs ok and the tach registers, but when i accelerate, the rpm drops to 0 and it starts sputtering and popping. At Vogel I also had water in the gas when we drained the carbs, but after that it still ran ragged, so I let it get almost in the red and then shut it down. The next morning we left coming home and it didn't miss a beat, so I'm thinking since I washed her today and it started doing this again, I am getting water in something. I am suppose to leave at 7 in the morning going on an all day ride with some friends, but when I crank her up in the morning, if she is still acting up, then I won't be going. I didn't take the side covers off when I washed it and I didn't get much water on the engine, but I did spray the faux gas tank down so i'm thinking water got into something from the top. All spark plug wires and caps have been changed last year, so I don't think it would be pertaining to that. I have heard of the TCI getting wet, but what do you do to stop it?? if that is the case or any other suggestions would be appreciated. Even if I could get it dry to where I could make the trip tomorrow, I would worry about the cause later. Thanks

You know the little rubber boot for the odometer, well actually, trip meter reset button? Mine is falling apart, which it seems will allow water into the gage assy which seems not good! It's not separately available, according to the parts fish. What have you guys done to fix that, or is water entry not really harmful? Thanks, Jeremy

my water pump is making noise like there is something lose in side , rattling . anybody know what i need before i take it apart , it will be 5 days to get parts , i don't want to strip down before i get the parts . its not running hot , not hotter than normal:detective: thom

While on a ride Saturday evening, my light started blinking indicating my battery. When I got home, sure enough, several cells in the battery were low. I picked up some distilled water and filed it back up. The point I want to make is the next time you are tinkering with your bike, pull the cover off and look to see how full the battery is. And if is low, make sure you fill it with distilled water. You may have cells that are low and the sensor may not be picking it up because that particular cell is not that low. This will ruin a good battery if left too long low on water. RandyA

I just got thru reading an interesting article in one of my boat mags about the use of ethanol added fuel and water. California being one of those states that require ethanol laced fuel brought the article close to home. It might also apply to your state as well. Apparently Ethanol attracts water and octane is actually increased because of it. As long as the gas/ethanol/water stays mixed. The problem occurs when the H2O content rises to over 3% by volume. Then the water will seperate from the fuel/ethanol and settle to the bottom of the tank. Lots of ugly things can happen when it does. Poor running conditions to plain stalling, rusting tanks, loss of octane are a few. It you are storing your scoot over the winter months it might be prudent to keep the tank topped off...reduces air circulation...and use a dry gas product to keep things mixed. It's something I'm going to start doing......

I have a 06 RSTD, with 500 miles on it. I have noticed the front brakes squeal alot. I thought I might have sand in them, so the last time I cleaned the bike, I sprayed water up into the pads. No soap or cleaners, just water. Still squealing. Is this common, or do I have a problem the dealer needs to look into? BTW, I am having the 600 mile break in service done next week.

A big thanks to Cougar for his excellent work on this article. ETCHING the 6 gal RSV tank First of all this Job Sucks. I had purchased my 2K mm RSV last year with only 5k on it. You would think that the tank would not be rusty inside of it. (WRONG) The Previous Owner apparently never topped his tank off during our very cold winters in Iowa! That was one thing that I always did on my past bikes and never had a problem with RUST! So this is how I went about doing this project if you ever decide or have to do it. Here is a picture of my first Filter change about 4 months Before the ETCH Process http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/1.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/2.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/3.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/4.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/5.jpg #1- Drained all of the fuel #2- Remove tank #3- I brought the tank down to my local car wash put my Quarters in and flushed the tank out for about 5 Min's. BOY did a lot of rust pour out then! I figured that I had Over a full cup of RUST in my tank from the start. #4- Remove tank and place it on a towel up-side down #5- Remove the Sender (most likely it will be rusty) http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/6.jpg Mine was always reading (NOT FULL) every time I filled it up.... should have been my first sign! So I order a new one at Yamaha the part # is 4XY-85752-00 and the cost is around $56.00 . #6- Take that old sending unit and HACK it up! with a dermal and a pair of cutters http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/7.jpg what you want to end up with is this http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/8.jpg this will be your first (PLUG) Then you will place that part (the old sender) over the hole http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/9.jpg and bolt it on! #7- Now remove the fuel pet-cock and make a plate and bolt that on with the same screws that hold the pet-cock on. Use some gasket sealer or make a rubber gasket.. http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/10.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/11.jpg NOTE::: DO NOT USE DUCT-TAPE (it will NOT work) Now that all the EASY stuff is done! http://www.venturerider.org/kreem/thumbnails/12.jpg OK the FUN PART! , I used product called KREEM You will probably hear horror story's about the product , but I have always had pretty good luck with it.. Its far better then paying $1200 for a new tank. or I guess you could eBay one for about $125 and have it painted. What I did was WAX the tank real well, then I put a good amount of VASELINE all over the tank.. this will save your paint job. as it worked excellent for my project! (when all done with the project I went back to the car wash and washed the VASELINE all off with the high power soap and water) THE RSV Tank took TWO bottles of KREEM. My results are awesome and the Kreem Stuck Real well I also bought a minnow battery power pump at Wally-World for about 6 bucks and had the air line in the tank for about 3 days or so. Another NOTE: after I took off the Plastic and the Bib. there was also RUST around the top part of the tank where stuff bolts onto, I used some Auto Touch-Up Paint to stop the rust after a I cleaned those parts off to be rust free again. the bib and plastic Cover will cover the mismatched color anyways. ---------- these are some other people that have done this ----- Coating Your Gas Tank Interior: The kit is a 3 solution (bottles) program. Before you start, first degrease the tank with your own dish washing soap. I used regular liquid dish soap, then did it again with Simple Green. You would be amazed at the amount of rust and crap I got out of the tank just by doing this. This is a good time to drill out the breather hole in the tank neck. With all the gas fumes gone, I increased that little hole to almost ¼ inch and added another one, opposite, on the other side. This was discussed here many times. Now the hard part is to seal up the tank for the acid bath. These chemicals are NOT paint friendly and you have to be extremely careful using them. You cannot pour them in and out without getting some on the tank. The tank has to be covered with plastic & plastic tape to prevent contact. The pickup tube hole is easily plugged by taking a small piece of metal and drilling a couple of holes to line up with the ones in the tank. A rubber gasket under the metal plate does the trick. The hard one is the tank filler hole. I tried a few different methods with not great results. I even used an automotive expansion plug in the hole. Everything leaked. Finally, I took a double layer of heavy plastic bag and pushed in into the hole. Then I forced the gas cap in while holding the key open and slid it into position, released the key and wiggled the cap it to set the locking prongs. That worked. I was ready to start the kit. The first part is an acid bath that I kept in for about 24 hours with agitation every once in a while. Tilting it this way and that got the solution to all interior parts. There was still rust in the filler hole area, so I used an old toothbrush to get that clean. Dumping this out revealed a lot more gunk. This stuff must have grown in there because I was very careful with what went into that tank. A good rinsing out and draining was next. There was still a lot of water sloshing around in the tank even after through draining from both holes. I used an aspirator and some oxygen tubing to suck the rest of the water out. The next bottle is a conditioner/water remover. This was sloshed all around the tank to absorb the excess water and coat it with solvent to receive the tank coating. A couple of minutes of this and it was dumped and aspirated out. Finally, the white paint like, Kreem coating was dumped in the tank, and the tank sealed. The tank was rolled every direction possible to get this stuff all over in insides. The tank was opened up and aired per the instructions and then re-agitated for another coat. The Kreem was dumped back into it’s original container (about half came out). There was still some liquid inside and the tank was rolled around every hour and placed in a different position so the coating wouldn't puddle in one place. After a day of drying, this process of coating the tank with the white liquid was done a second time. After a good drying, the holes can be cleaned out and the petcock reinstalled. I have a nice clean white interior now. These tanks are bare metal. The only manufactures that coat their tanks are Harley and BMW. Go figure. Chuck C. ----- MORE----- I have used Kreem w/ v good success, but as with most things in life, the preparation is the most important part. Four important fine points to consider: #1 - Tank preparation: The inside of the tank should be completely free and clear of all loose particulate (i.e rust, dirt and sludge). Even more importantly, it must be totally devoid of any and all hydrophobic (oily) substances, including any and all traces of gasoline, oil and grease. To achieve this, I drop two 8" lengths of medium size linked chain into the tank, then pour a small bottle of liquid degreaser full strength in and slosh vigorously with all the openings capped off. Do this good and long, and don't forget to invert the tank and get all of the surfaces degreased up around the filler neck, as well as the very top of the inside of the tank. Next, add about 1/2 gallon of the hottest water you can get, and add this to the degreaser and the chains still in the tank (don't pour out the degreaser yet... leave it in there) and slosh it around again. The degreaser will emulsify (turn milky white) and hold all of the oils in suspension... this is a good thing. After you are quite certain that you've degreased all surfaces... give it one more slosh just for good luck. Then, pour out the entire mixture and fish out the two chains. After that, pour about a TBSP of hand dishwasher detergent and about a gallon of very hot water into the tank and slosh thoroughly (note: you can use automatic dishwasher detergent here, but as it is formulated to be very low sudsing, it is more difficult to determine when all of the residue has been removed via rinsing.) If you degreased properly in the last step, this wash should produce mongo volumes of suds... also a good thing, as suds are an indication (in this case) that the oily residues (read gasoline) have been successfully removed. Follow by as many cold water rinses as necessary to remove all traces of detergent. Only now are you ready to phosphate etch the metal in the tank with Kreem kit bottle #1 (Phosphoric acid). Although the directions call for a specific quantity of hot water to be added to the quantity of acid provided, IMO it is better to have a FULL tank of etching solution than to have the exact proportion of acid to water. In the case of an XS650 tank, this amounts to adding perhaps 3.75 gallons of HOT water (3.25 for early tanks) to the acid, as opposed to 2.5 gallons, which (I believe) is the quantity specified in the directions. Again, as in the degreasing step, it is vitally important to have the etching/phosphating solution come in intimate contact with ALL inside surfaces of the tank, including up and around the filler neck. Seal all the tank openings and slosh that bad boy around, but after you're through sloshing, don't forget to slightly crack open the stopper on the filler neck, or the hydrogen gas evolved from the chemical process will blow it out of the hole and across the room, probably splattering phosphoric acid solution on your nice new paint job (don't ask). #2 - Dewatering: The small bottle of solvent (Kreem kit bottle #2) is MEK (a close cousin to acetone) and is a very good water remover. After you have thoroughly rinsed the phosphate solution out of the tank, it is time to get things dried up and ready for the polymer coating step. Actually, "Dry" may be a bad word to use here, because the intention is NOT to get the inside of the tank dry from all liquid residue, but rather only to get all WATER residue out. The inside of the tank will still be wet when you are done with this step, but it will be wet with MEK, which is perfectly fine, because that is the same solvent which is used in the polymer to keep it dissolved. Caution: do not dawdle after using the dewatering solvent. IMMEDIATELY go on to the polymer coating step. If you wait too long before you go to the next step, you may "flash rust" the inside of the tank, which will require starting over. If the inside surface of the tank begins to physically dry out, you're taking too long and are in danger of forming flash rust. Get you ass movin' boy! #3 - Coating: Conservatively speaking, there is enough polymer in bottle #3 to do AT LEAST two (probably three) XS650 tanks. What this means is that, unless you have two or three tanks prepped all at once, you are going to not use all of the polymer provided in the kit. You must remove the excess polymer from the tank that you are working on. Follow the instruction very carefully here, rolling the tank around for a few minutes, then letting it set on one side, followed by rolling around again and letting it set on another side, repeating until you are secure in the fact that all interior surfaces have been thoroughly coated. After that, you MUST pour out any remaining polymer, or you will have a puddling problem. Even after you pour out the excess, you must continue the process of rolling the tank and then letting it set on alternating sides, while the remainder of the polymer still in the tank forms a non-moving film. #4 - Drying/curing time: Probably the one most crucial mistake leading to premature failure of Kreem coatings (after improper degreasing) is insufficient drying or curing time before putting the tank back into service. After you are satisfied that the majority of the polymer in the tank has skinned over, follow this procedure: Remove all stoppers from all openings, both top and bottom (filler & petcock holes). Turn the tank upside down (preferably on a hot surface like your black asphalt driveway at noon in July (January if you're in Oz) and block it in place so the filler neck is facing vertically straight down. Then, rig up a small air pump and hose and stick the hose into the tank from the underside through the filler opening, being careful not to allow the hose to touch the inside surfaces. An air pump from a fish tank fits this bill perfectly. Turn on the pump and let the forced air dispel the vapors from inside the tank, which will aide drying and curing. After a few hours, you will no longer be able to smell vapors coming from the tank. It is then safe to move the tank, but DO NOT use the tank yet. Move the whole rig up into your hot, oven-like attic and allow the air pump to run for another two days minimum, with the hose still in the tank. One day is probably enough, which is why I always do it for about a week just to be sure. It pays to watch the weather and plan to Kreem the tank on a day that is going to be sunny, hot and dry, if at all possible. If you add the above tips to the (already pretty good) instructions included with the three part Kreem kit, you will end up with a well sealed, carefree fuel tank for many years to come. Good luck! Bill in Yardley, PA I really hope nobody has to go through this Yucky Job,. but at least now some will have some idea of what will take place if ever you need to do this job! Jeff