New guy, new Royal Star

Hey just joining up as I just purchased a '96 Royal Star. Seems pretty much stock, though honestly I can't tell on the exhaust (backfires a little on decel, could be desmogged and debaffled). I would like your advice what I should start with for basic maintenance. PO says he took it to a shop which did the "20,000 mile service," whatever that means. It's got new Shinkos front and rear, and he says new oil/oil filter and air filter (I wonder if when the shop did the rear tire did they do maintenance on the final drive, and should I get in there and check that for myself?) I'd also like your advice, should I just get a Yamaha service manual or is there a better one? I think she's a beauty with only 19K miles on her and I plan to make it a daily rider along with my other bike. I'm not a new rider. My other bike is a '98 Valkyrie with 85K on her--best bike I've ever owned... so far Anyway, the Valk is getting old and the Royal Star will be her replacement (story to my wife). Thanks for your advice.

Tom, aka Kachow

Western Washington

Start with a carb sync/tune

Agree with the Carb tune...then enjoy!!

Tom,

Recommend you do pick up a service manual...just download from our web site. While you are reading about the 2nd Gen Venture in the Tech section, check out all the posts in each area. Take your time, lots of stuff to read. Also, at the bottom of each post page, you will see "suggested" threads that are usually similar to what you are reading. You can follow those way, way back...and learn lots of stuff.

Then, since you are familiar with bikes, go ahead and check the bike out. Brakes, rear end, fuel, plugs, etc.. Never hurts to start a maintenance baseline of that new to you bike. An added benefit, getting to know your ride is crucial when something happens.

Last, get out and put some miles on her after your initial checkout. You will find her to be a comfortable touring machine.

Oh, these V4's love to rev....don't be afraid to hit the limiter in your first 3 gears. That should get you over the speed limit....4th and 5th are both overdrives...and we rarely use 5th unless going over 65mph. Don't lug her....

BTW, Welcome to the group!

Tom,

 

Recommend you do pick up a service manual...just download from our web site. While you are reading about the 2nd Gen Venture in the Tech section, check out all the posts in each area. Take your time, lots of stuff to read. Also, at the bottom of each post page, you will see "suggested" threads that are usually similar to what you are reading. You can follow those way, way back...and learn lots of stuff.

 

Then, since you are familiar with bikes, go ahead and check the bike out. Brakes, rear end, fuel, plugs, etc.. Never hurts to start a maintenance baseline of that new to you bike. An added benefit, getting to know your ride is crucial when something happens.

 

Last, get out and put some miles on her after your initial checkout. You will find her to be a comfortable touring machine.

 

Oh, these V4's love to rev....don't be afraid to hit the limiter in your first 3 gears. That should get you over the speed limit....4th and 5th are both overdrives...and we rarely use 5th unless going over 65mph. Don't lug her....

 

BTW, Welcome to the group!

Thanks VideoAZ. I'm pretty impressed with the speed of this bike. It's geared so much taller than my Valkyrie, like about a whole gear taller. Not crazy about hitting rev limiters--they say the same thing (revving up to it ~ once a day) on the Miata forum--that Italian tune-up thing, which I still haven't done yet after three years with the car . Anyway, as you suggest, I'm establishing a base line for maintenance: going to change the oil and filters, so I know what's in there and when changed. I can see that the service the shop did included new brake pads f/r, so I''ll leave those for a while. The fronts are surprisingly weak (the front rotors look almost new too) and the rear brake is awesome...again I'm comparing to my big Honda as a reference. Thanks again for the welcome and the tips for further reading. I'll look for that manual to download...was going to ask if there's one but some object to that sort of thing--getting freebees.

Seafoam. Nuf said:biker:

Surely would like to see some photos of this bike! Hint! Hint!

Well, can't figure out how to attach pics. tried the paper clip thing, "upload failed," then the insert image button, still no joy. The pics are of course jpegs. Help!

The bike is a sweetheart. Summer is such a great time to get used to a new ride. I'm now on my third tank of gas. First one I got 32 Mpg, the second only 28. I guess that's 30 avg. eh? Is that kinda low for a RS? On this second tankful I might have spent lots of time farting around with it idling. My Honda flat six only does 30 Mpg, so I'm used to gas hogs, if that's what to expect from this Yamahog. I treated my second tank with seafoam, think the PO let her sit for the whole winter. I can see she's running better already. Got so many questions...here's a couple: do the timing chains, which I can slightly hear, need tensioning periodically or is that something to leave for higher mileage? (I'm just coming up on 20k) Also, are the tensioners the kind you just loosen and let the spring reset the tension or is there more to it? Thanks for your advice.

Tom, aka Kachow

Well, can't figure out how to attach pics. tried the paper clip thing, "upload failed," then the insert image button, still no joy. The pics are of course jpegs. Help!Tom, aka Kachow

Most likely issue is your photos are to large, try resizing them, somewhere on the page where you up load them it tells you the max size.

​My RSV gets 45 on my commute and 40 riding two up on trips. So I think there may be room for improvement. For me driving faster than 60 mph starts drinking gas exponentially. But then you get to the ice cream store faster.

Most likely issue is your photos are to large, try resizing them, somewhere on the page where you up load them it tells you the max size.

Okay, thought that might be it on the pics...thanks. Two owners ago debadged her, and the guy who sold to me had purchased a tank badge for the right side, which I just replaced, but the left still is blank. I already removed the passenger seat/floorboards, as the wife won't get within 10 feet of any bike o' mine. I'd love to see 40 to 45 Mpg, but that's probably not going to happen with the exhaust (debaffled) and the carbs no doubt jetted (prolly still out of sync). I'll look at doing the carb sync soon.

Glad I could help.

Love the old original Royals, I had a 98 Royal Star Tour Classic, put a full set of BUB pipes on her sounded great, never did get very good gas mileage, but loved every minute of the 96,000 miles I rode her.

Okay, thought that might be it on the pics...thanks. Two owners ago debadged her, and the guy who sold to me had purchased a tank badge for the right side, which I just replaced, but the left still is blank. I already removed the passenger seat/floorboards, as the wife won't get within 10 feet of any bike o' mine. I'd love to see 40 to 45 Mpg, but that's probably not going to happen with the exhaust (debaffled) and the carbs no doubt jetted (prolly still out of sync). I'll look at doing the carb sync soon.

Nice bike

I'll tell you something, these things grow on you the more you ride them.