Why should I get a Tour Deluxe?

Hi to all. I currently ride a Honda ST1300. It's a great bike, but I am having trouble getting used to the riding position (even with the risers). Before the ST I had ridden cruisers for years (39 year riding experience). I am considering moving back to the cruiser world, but want to keep the V-4 for smoothness.

I am just interested in hearing from the Tour Deluxe crowd on what you consider the strengths and weaknesses of the bike.

The bike is not for everyone, but I would never trade it in for anything, I love the ride, the power..MMMMMMM nice. and a very smooth ride

Bad points, yes there is a few..

1. First thing I would do is get rid of the OEM brake pads, they squeal.......

2. the well known Yamaha WHINE.... sucky gears. they also can be fixed to a point. or you do what I did... Got louder pipes...lol

The wife wants me to get a Venture, told her she would have to give up her side of the garage for another bike becaure I'm NOT getting rid of the TD

Hi to all. I currently ride a Honda ST1300. It's a great bike, but I am having trouble getting used to the riding position (even with the risers). Before the ST I had ridden cruisers for years (39 year riding experience). I am considering moving back to the cruiser world, but want to keep the V-4 for smoothness. I am just interested in hearing from the Tour Deluxe crowd on what you consider the strengths and weaknesses of the bike.

I was looking at Road Kings when my RSTD fell into my lap. At the time, my appreciation was largely limited to the money I saved. Since then, I've come to appreciate the beauty of Roxie (my bike).

At first, I found the size and especially the weight to be a problem. Muscling the bike around was tough. I've shaped up, but I also now realize what a benefit the weight is. Roxie is rock solid when on the super slabs where she gallops free. With a changeout from the stock tires to the Avon Venoms, she acts nimbly on curves and parking lots. Well, as nimbly as you can expect from a big bike.

The V-4 is a dream. When sync'd, there is hardly any vibration. I don't get sleepy hands or much fatigue from vibration.

Also, the cruise control is a serious blessing. Good bye cramping wrist! Or rather, good riddance! I will say that when I ride with other bikes, the way it does cruise control can be an issue. Most of my friends have throttle locks, which means their speeds vary on hills. With a speed-based cruise control, I lag or overtake them. Not a problem, but it is an issue.

I have found the windscreen to be very effective for my wife and I. I don't feel the buffeting that others mention. However, the large size of the screen does make it susceptible to strong cross-gusts. I've felt some "sailing" when I go over the tall coastal bridges, but that is pretty rare for me. Generally, I am very pleased with the windscreen.

My stock seat was extremely comfortable. It fit me well, and fit my wife well too. But I am planning an ironbutt ride, so I had a modification by a member here. That made the seat even more comfortable. On 300 mile days, the seat is simply not an issue. I'll let you know about 3500 mile weeks at the end of this month. We might backtrack to San Diego to do the 1500 mile ironbutt home to Houston. That will be a great test. LOL

What else? Um, brakes work great. The saddlebags are a good size, and most of the space is usable. I like being able to take of the sissy bar for a tougher look, but I don't often take off the windscreen (I like it).

The handlebars work perfectly for me. Just the right reach and height. It's like they designed the bike for my stature and posture.

Oh, the stock tail light was a problem. In stock configuration, the brake doubles as the only running light. I added some LED lights to the turn signals, so now I have three light points in the rear. That's much better for my peace of mind.

I've added a GPS holder for my Garmin handheld (GPSMAP 60CSx). The gimbaled water bottle holder hits the tank, which is annoying. I added an airhorn.

OH! The bike seems to have an overly short range for a touring bike. For me and my riding style, I need to be looking for gas at 120 miles.

I recommend you ride the bike before you buy it. Some RSTD's have a "whine" out of the clutch that is annoying. Mine is moderate, and I ignore it. If I had louder pipes (but I love the quietness of the bike), it'd mask the sound.

I hope this helps a little. I bought the bike on price, but keep Roxie because I love her. :-)

I recently read articles posted by an ST-1300 rider on another web site. His comments were the first bike went over 85K with Zero Problems, and he bought a second one, and that one is over 90K with Zero Problems.

This fellow claimed he rides about 20 to 30K every summer. Frankly I have been seriously considering this as my next bike. But, ??? I'm pretty happy with my current rides.

Maby a few bucks spent on modifications of your ST-1300 would be a wise economic choice.

Best bike I've found ever! My only disappointment was the seat which I found to be to hard on my bony hind end. It may have been due to the Honda Shadow 1100 I had before the RSTD! That seat was the best stock seat I've ever rode on. Keep in mind this is relative! Others have commented on how good their RSTD seats are and I believe their opinions are just as valid!

Tires and brakes seem to be the only other complainants I've heard about! I've put Avon Venoms on mine after the stocks wore out and plan on switching to a car tire when the Avon wears out. My brakes do squeal, which can be rather embarrassing at times, and I will switch them out (front) once they wear out!

Some have mentioned lowering kits but at 6' 2" with a 32" inseam that does not seem to be an issue for me. I also have no problem seeing over my windshield but there are great articles here on cutting them down to an adequate size!

You will love the cruise control, the easy maintenance required, and the handling!

The bike needs little in the way of accessorizing. I've put in a cup holder, foot pegs, and an led tail light! I will be adding speakers in the near future and that will be about it!

Gas mileage, for me (again relative) is about 38 and when I haul a trailer about 36. I plan on messing with the carbs here in the near future to see what improvemnets I can make on that. Again there are great articles here on that subject!

Good luck on yours!!

At 5'9'' I find the riding position on the RSTD ideal. The comfort level is as good as it gets and I find the stock seat acceptable for the rides I've made so far (500 miles).

I can plant both my feet firmly on the ground which is important to me. On an ST1300 that was difficult.

The fairing/adjustable windshield on the ST is better than the setup on the RSTD. But overall the RSTD wins for me on rider comfort.

I seriously considered the ST1300 before I bought the RSTD. Biggest reason I went with the RSTD was the price. Since then I've spent a bunch of money on the RSTD upgrading the seat, added leveling links, brake lights, passing lamps, gauges, horn, intercom, threw out the dangerous stock tires, etc. One big factor to go with the RSTD was the extra room for the passenger along with the passenger backrest. Now mamma doesn't like to ride that much since I bought her the convertible. I may have been money ahead to go with the ST1300. I've got to say the RSTD is a great touring bike. Smooth, stable, reliable, more than enough power, cruise control, simple enough to work on. I only wish it had more range, and anti-lock brakes.

Two questions: does your ST1300 have the anti-lock brakes? If yes, do you want to trade? I say that in jest, I think....

Being as the Venture is basically a built up TD and I have a Venture, personally, I'd go with one of Yamaha's twin engine bikes over the TD... I prefer the torque and lower RPMs at crusing speeds than the high RPM and lack of torque of their V4.

Yes, the TD is faster, but if you know what you are doing, you can build up one of their twins that will smoke a lot of bikes out there... You would also be surprised at how smooth Yamaha's A/C twin engines actually run too... I never have problems with vibrations or numbness after riding all day.

I love my Roadie... it has it's own personality, and something I've heard many Roadstar people say... I've never heard any TD or VRS people talk about the personality of their bikes...

For some reason, when I am on the highway with the Roadstar, I feel like I am cruising... when I'm on the venture, I feel like I'm off on a race...

As far as weaknesses, Yamaha has a lot of typical under engineered points...

Clutch springs, shocks typically kind of weak and usually benefit from heavier oil, stators fairly low output (not so bad on the TD though) what I call butter bolts.. they tend to round out or round off or break when tightening, their ignition switches could be better made, brakes could be a little better designed, just all small stuff, but I feel like Yamaha does cut some corners in the name of saving a buck...

Don't get me wrong though.. I'll NEVER give up my Yamaha's... just the quirks you wish they did better at to make an even better bike than they already do.

1. First thing I would do is get rid of the OEM brake pads, they squeal.......

Interesting comment. Sorry to hi Jack this thread. I just picked up an 03 RSV and the brakes squeal bad. Im sorry they do bad glad I see this is a common issue. Recomended replacement pads?

Interesting comment. Sorry to hi Jack this thread. I just picked up an 03 RSV and the brakes squeal bad. Im sorry they do bad glad I see this is a common issue. Recomended replacement pads?

It appears that EBC pads are frequently recommended. There are several threads in the VentureRider.Org > Tech Talk > Second Generation Venture Tech Talk section on Brakes.

Here's one with the EBC part numbers.

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33588

I'm still a few months away from having to worry with less than 2k on my new RSTD.

I've owned a few bikes in my time, some good, some not so good. The good ones stayed around for quite awhile and racked up the miles, the bad ones didn't last more than a couple of months. I've had my TD since Feb. of '05, can't say it's the best there ever was, but it's certainly a very good bike. Easy maintenance, easy to put a lot of miles on in a day, and (in my opinion) easy on the eyes.

Sounds like you have been riding for a LONG time and know what you want out of a bike. Maybe you could talk one of our members into a quick test ride to try one on for size. Heck, come on down to South Carolina and take mine for a spin, but no, you can't keep it, I'm still enjoying it way too much.

My wife and I really enjoy our rstd. After replacing the stock seat, o.k. for me but pillion was hard on her, 3 or 4 hundred mile days are no problem. I put slip on exaust on so I don't hear the clutch wine. If I would have put them on before changing the seat I might not have heard the whine from the back seat either All and all its a good solid bike, lots of room and plenty of power.

I recently read articles posted by an ST-1300 rider on another web site. His comments were the first bike went over 85K with Zero Problems, and he bought a second one, and that one is over 90K with Zero Problems.

 

This fellow claimed he rides about 20 to 30K every summer. Frankly I have been seriously considering this as my next bike. But, ??? I'm pretty happy with my current rides.

 

Maby a few bucks spent on modifications of your ST-1300 would be a wise economic choice.

I have just about every comfort modification available for the ST (larger windshield, folding highway pegs, drivers backrest, seat modification, electronic cruise control, added wind protection). The riding position isn't BAD. Just not the same as a cruiser. I did a 2300 mile trip last summer and survived. 500 mile days were not unbearable. But my old cruiser with a Mustang seat got me 700-800 mile days without great fatigue.

BTW, thanks everyone for the great information.

Two questions: does your ST1300 have the anti-lock brakes? If yes, do you want to trade? I say that in jest, I think....

My ST is a 2004 and has 18K miles. Not the anti-lock brake model. The best thing about the ST is the fuel range. Always get at least 43-50+ on the highway and with a 7.7 gallon tank, it's a long haul between fill-ups. Now about a trade . . .