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5 th gear almost a waste

casabroker

By casabroker
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casabroker

casabroker

Posted
Posted

Just amazed that 5 th is so tall. Any upgrade in the road it's 4th or 3rd and 5th only level or downhill above 70. I know I can put the v max rear end in to change that. But the lack of hp and the tall gearing is making me think twice about keeping my 96 Royal Star. It's showroom and runs great but!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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wes0778

wes0778

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Sooooo, just don't shift to 5th at less than 70... :stickpoke::stickpoke::stickpoke:

 

 

All joking aside, yes 5th is geared tall, but if you are having issues with it falling on it's face at 60 or so, you may have other problems. My '98 will accelerate happily from 40 in 5th if I don't give it too much throttle.

If you haven't already; do a carb sync, check the air filter (yeah, the tank has to come off) run a half a can each, of Seafoam, in two tanks of gas, then change the spark plugs. If that doesn't help, check the carb diaphragms for holes.

Oh,(may be a dumb question) are you sure it is running on all 4 cylinders? I'm told these engines will run well on 3 cylinders.

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wes0778

wes0778

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I too have to 07, can't wait to get to 5th, and lay back and cruise. 60-65

 

The Royal Stars (Tour Classic and Tour Deluxe) are a little different than the RSVs.

Gearing is the same, but the horse power is about 2/3s that of the RSV. So it IS a little lack luster in the acceleration in 4th and 5th when compared to the RSV. That being said, the Royal Stars WILL still go through 90 in 3rd and set you back when you shift into 4th at 96.

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V7Goose

V7Goose

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Posted
Just amazed that 5 th is so tall. Any upgrade in the road it's 4th or 3rd and 5th only level or downhill above 70. I know I can put the v max rear end in to change that. But the lack of hp and the tall gearing is making me think twice about keeping my 96 Royal Star. It's showroom and runs great but!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You might want to look into things just a bit more before arriving at such a rash conclusion.

 

Based on only the simple statements you provided, without any knowledge of what year or model of bike you actually own, I am prepared to flatly say that you have something major wrong with your bike. In fact, your description sounds just like an RSV that has one plug wire removed.

 

Just for comparison, I can tell you that I have no trouble at all pulling the majority of 10,000 foot passes in the Rockies around 60 or 65 MPH in 5th gear with the bike fully loaded for touring. I rarely have to kick it down to 4th in those conditions unless I am slowed by other traffic. I do, however, tend to use 3rd or 4th gear when going DOWN the other side, just to hold the speed down! My bike is a completely stock 2005 RSV (not counting the addition of lots of lights and gadgets!).

 

Good luck finding your problem,

Goose

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V7Goose

V7Goose

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Posted (edited)
Hey Kent...He DID say '96 Royal Star. :) I'm going to send you some new glasses...the really thick ones. :doh:

No, no glasses needed, but maybe a new brain. I clearly saw the statement about the '96 Royal Star, but his post sounded more like he was comparing a newer RSTD or RSV that he recently purchased to the old '96 that he was going to get rid of. At least that is the way it sounded to me. Just another example of why I hate making any assumptions at all about what someone is saying in these posts. I guess that fact that I own an RSV causes me to think about them first when reading these things. My apologies to all if I misinterpreted the post.

 

If in fact the '96 is the bike he is complaining about, I'll readily agree that it is going to have less power than my RSV, but still sounds like big problems if he can only use 5th gear on level ground or down hill!

Goose

Edited by V7Goose
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Dave77459

Dave77459

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Posted
The Royal Stars (Tour Classic and Tour Deluxe) are a little different than the RSVs.

Gearing is the same, but the horse power is about 2/3s that of the RSV. So it IS a little lack luster in the acceleration in 4th and 5th when compared to the RSV. That being said, the Royal Stars WILL still go through 90 in 3rd and set you back when you shift into 4th at 96.

I thought my Tour Deluxe was just like the RSV, minus the bloat and queen seat?:think:

 

Dave

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V7Goose

V7Goose

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I thought my Tour Deluxe was just like the RSV, minus the bloat and queen seat?:think:

 

Dave

Dave, your drive train is just like an RSV. But Yamahaha used the Tour Deluxe moniker on some of the late 90s Royal Stars also, and those engines had smaller carbs, among other differences. I am ASSUMING that wes0778 was talking about those earlier Tour Deluxe bikes.

Goose

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Yammer Dan

Yammer Dan

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Whew! I'm glad you clarified, because I couldn't imagine how more my Midnight would smoke all'y'all if it had half again the HP! :stirthepot:

 

Dave

 

I can see you haven't attended the 101 Class on "1st Gen Education" Several classes were held in Ashville this week. I'm sure someone down that way can help you out.:whistling:

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BigBoyinMS

BigBoyinMS

Posted
Posted
I'm sorry to say, but the 5th Gear Ratios between '96 and the later 2Gen ARE different ...

 

...and it's an even higher ratio than a 2nd Gen! I guess with the lower HP and a higher ratio it would be pretty anemic.

But I still like the early Royals... I think of them as a Venture powered Road Star. :big-grin-emoticon:

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wes0778

wes0778

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I'm sorry to say, but the 5th Gear Ratios between '96 and the later 2Gen ARE different ...

 

 

 

Ok, I'm wrong again, about ratios, but I know how my '98 runs and it is FAR from anemic! Ask at least one HD Sportster!!! :thumbsup2:

 

I still say the original poster may have something robbing his bike of running like it should!!!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!:stickinouttounge:

 

Oh and yes I am talking about the late 90' Tour Deluxes, not the '05 and up ones.

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Squeeze

Squeeze

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Posted
...

I still say the original poster may have something robbing his bike of running like it should!!!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!:stickinouttounge:

 

...

 

I believe you're right. A missing Cylinder could easily cause the Lack of upper End Omph.

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craigatcsi

craigatcsi

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Alright, how does one figure out if all four cylinders are firing if it runs okay on three? I had the plugs changed and carbs balanced and the plugs looked fine. My 07 RSV runs a lost as bad as he stated. I run 95% in 4th gear on the highways. I only use 5th if on flat ground and above 70mph.

 

Craigr

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V7Goose

V7Goose

Posted
Posted (edited)
Alright, how does one figure out if all four cylinders are firing if it runs okay on three? I had the plugs changed and carbs balanced and the plugs looked fine. My 07 RSV runs a lost as bad as he stated. I run 95% in 4th gear on the highways. I only use 5th if on flat ground and above 70mph.

 

Craigr

Reading the plugs when they were changed should have shown a difference if there was a problem, but I do not know what you looked at or what experience you have reading plugs - I have seen guys who could not see the difference until I carefully explained it with two plugs side-by-side.

 

The first and easiest test is just to touch the header pipes on a cold start. To do this, you need to reach in behind the chrome shields and touch the very top of the header pipe right next to the exhaust valve. And you only have about 30 seconds to do this test, as those headers will burn you VERY quick if the cylinder is firing OK.

 

Stand on one side of the bike and use the tip of your finger to alternately test both the front and back pipes on the same side - they should start getting hot at the same time. As soon as you feel the heat, move to the other side and do the same test. Remember, you only have about 30 seconds before you will get burned from anything more than a quick tap of your finger if the cylinder is running right and you are touching the pipe in the right place. If any of the pipes seem to be heating up slower than the others, then you have found the first problem. Now the tougher part is to figure out why - could be ignition system, coil/wire/cap, bad plug, carb problem, or valve problem.

 

If you still are not sure after the finger test, then you can try spraying carb cleaner in each of the vacuum ports at different RPM to see if the engine sound changes (it should speed up). Or a similar test is to use insulated plug pliers to pull each plug cap up at different RPM points to see if that changes the RPM (it should slow down). Those two tests can find problems that only show up at higher speeds on a hot engine. :080402gudl_prv:

Goose

 

Oh, I just thought of one other easy test that you may or may not want to try - an RSV running on only three jugs generally will not hit 100 MPH in 5th gear (I think it peters out around 80 or so), but on all four it will quickly bury the needle at 120!

Edited by V7Goose
Another Test
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casabroker

casabroker

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I just had the valves checked, one out of spec. carbs synced, new iridium plugs all dealer work. The bike runs great. Only 31 k. It's lack of hp and crappy gearing. Pulled a trailer, and double up for 1400 mi last month. Don't think 3 cylinders would work too well. Valkyrie could be in the works.

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wes0778

wes0778

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Posted (edited)
Dealer worked on it .. That's not necessarily a good Thing ....

 

+1 on that!!! Local dealer had no clue on how to do a carb sync and wanted me to pay them $225.00 to learn how to do it.:shock3:

But they HAD done one "last year". :stirthepot:

 

Wish you lived closer, I'd let you ride mine for comparison...

Edited by wes0778
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V7Goose

V7Goose

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Posted

The OP has made it clear that he already has all the answers - no point in trying to convince him otherwise. It was my mistake to assume he might actually want some help with a serious problem. I guess he just wanted some place to complain. My bad.

Goose

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royalstarjac

royalstarjac

Posted
Posted (edited)
I just had the valves checked, one out of spec. carbs synced, new iridium plugs all dealer work. The bike runs great. Only 31 k. It's lack of hp and crappy gearing. Pulled a trailer, and double up for 1400 mi last month. Don't think 3 cylinders would work too well. Valkyrie could be in the works.

 

The early Royals are geared extra tall. You can't be afraid to wind them out.

They have plenty of power if you keep the revs up.

You can also go with a D3000 ingniter module and a Big Air kit.

 

If you want gobs of torque in any gear, get a GL1800!

Edited by royalstarjac
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