I am thinking about buying a late model Venture. Five year warranty, and a friend has had a couple of them and put well over 100k on both of them. I want something that will last a long time, can carry some stuff, comfortable enough for a long road trip, and can occasionally make a passenger comfortable. Please share your opinion of the Venture, and I would love to see some pics! thanks <iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GRN_hp_Bksc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I like 'em a lot, and have gotten close to buying one several times. I like the V4 engine sound, Yamaha's reliability, shaft drive, plenty of cargo room, and the ergo's seem like they fit me and the passenger well. The things I don't like about them are: cassette player (seriously?), carbs, a CD changer on the newer models that takes up too much room in the saddlebag, and the general cheapness of the appearance in the dash area. I imagine it would be a beast to get around in the garage daily -- my FJR is tough enough to get turned around inside. The Ventures have been around for a really long time now, so getting replacement parts shouldn't be a problem. Are there any "known issues" about them, or has Yamaha pretty much worked all of those out?
the Venture definitely needs some updates. My understanding is you can unplug the CD player and leave it at home if you need that space for other things.
That's a pretty cool thing to know! It's a shame that dealers aren't training their sales staff about this kind of stuff about their inventory.
I just bought this venture Friday. More pictures to come, as I spent most of the day washing and waxing. I haven't driven it tons yet, but I have had a Tour DeLuxe in the past that I put about 13,000 miles on it, and about 100 miles on this one. The Tour DeLuxe is similar, the lower half is exactly the same, where the Venture has trunk and fairing, the Tour DeLuxe had a quick remove backrest and windscreen. I took two tours on the DeLuxe, one to Niagara Falls/Toronto, and the other out west to the Badlands/Black Hills. I loved the motor, it has plenty of power, even with the weight of the bike taken into account. The Venture adds an insane amount of luxury compared to the DeLuxe. The ride is smooth, stable, quiet. Virtually no wind hit me on the highway, and I could listen to public radio, loud and clear through my full face helmet with ear plugs. The seat is about 18" wide, and 14" deep, with the passenger section being around 15" by 15". I do like the Yamaha cruisers up to the creation of the Roadliner/Stratoliner. They are just weird. Other than those models I always felt Yamaha paid better attention to fit, finish and detail on their bikes. The paint and brightwork looks great on both the Royal Star models. The Tour DeLuxe I had bought new, the '99 venture is used. Front and rear fenders are metal, fuel tank, and sidecovers too. The bags, fairing and lowers are plastic. The mirrors are chromed plastic, and I think the rest is all chrome metal. The Venture and Tour DeLuxe both have electronic cruise control, which is unbelieveably convienient. The 5 speed transmission and 1300cc V4 motor are paired well. The shaft jacks a bit, but nothing crazy. I remember when riding through South Dakota with my brother on his Ultra Glide, I was keeping up about 5 to 10 mph over the speed limit, when my brother kept falling behind. No doubt his bike could keep up, but he wasn't comfortable at that speed (around 85mph) whereas I was perfectly happy at that speed on the Tour DeLuxe. I only went up to around 70 to 75 on the Venture so far. The motorcycle is heavy, and the taller you are the better. It is a very enjoyable bike overall. The ride home was hot, maybe a shorter screen for summer is in order. The bike has tipover bars front and rear, and it is quite easy to hook up highway pegs from Kuryakyn to suit your needs. On the cassette deck, yes ancient, but at least it includes an aux hookup that you can plug an mp3 player into. My newer cars don't even have that feature, and one still has a cassette deck also. I saw a mod online where you could remove the cassete deck, and you would have a spot to store your ipod, wallet or whatever. To me it's like this: a standard is like your family sedan, a sport-tourer is like a Audi TT, an adventure bike like an Impreza STI or Lancer EVO, then the Royal Star is like a '72 Buick Rivera, boat-tail and all. <a href="http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Hatleyrocket/Motorcycles/?action=view&current=2011-07-22182922.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/H/Hatleyrocket_Motorcycles_2011-07-22182922.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
that's a good looking bike. Thanks for sharing the pic with us. I hope you will post more of your impressions and pics as you spend more time with the bike.
Old photo, but still a favorite. This is my 2008 Venture that now has 80,000 miles on it. (My fourth Venture.) Not the most advanced bike, but a great bike none-the-less.
Heres mine at the Aerostich VBR Rally in Duluth,MN And here it is at Big Spring in MO I have over 80000 miles on mine. With the v4 it is pretty smooth. I had the cruise control and the rear shock go out and were replaced under warranty. No problems since the warranty ran out and I fully expect it to go 150000 miles or more. A great site for more info is www.venturerider.org.
Well, I put on about 900 miles since I bought it two weeks ago. That is about twice the mileage I have put on the KLR in an average year. I rode to work twice so far, a 140 mile round trip. The first time I really missed having a coffee on the way up, so I added a silly cup holder to the right handgrip brake mount. So the second time up I wore a 3/4 helmet, and it worked pretty well. With the cruise control set I could release the right handgrip, and take a sip whenst I wanted. The other addition was highway pegs. Most Venture owners have them, they are similar to the ones I used to have on the Tour DeLuxe. <a href="http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Hatleyrocket/Motorcycles/?action=view&current=2011-08-01062020.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/H/Hatleyrocket_Motorcycles_2011-08-01062020.jpg" border="0" alt="Coffee &amp; Highway pegs"></a> I ordered some full face helmet intercoms for the venture, so my wife and I could talk while riding. They work pretty good, though I need to do a better job affixing them to the helmets. The sound is fairly clear, and loud enough to hear. The intercom is a full duplex, we can hear each other constantly, that means any cough, sneeze or throat clearing. The passenger can turn down her volume independently. The push to talk buttons are only for the CB communications, which each rider and passenger have. When the CB is on, it will cut out the radio when pressing the PTT buttons, where as when talking via intercomm, I have to turn the radio down myself. I thought the intercomm would use the PTT buttons, but they don't. In the long run I am glad they don't, it is just easier to speak and be heard than to grab at a button all the time. The bike is still heavy, I am still getting used to it. I like the features on the bike, and the only thing I would like to get as of yet is the trunk rack, I am still saving for that one. The riding position is pretty neutral for me. I sit with my thighs about level and my shins about plumb. The controls aren't those forward type, it is a natural sitting position. The large floorboards give me lots of room to adjust my feet. With the highway pegs I can stretch my legs straight out, put my feet on the pegs, or heel on floorboard, and toe on pegs. This also allows me to alter the angle that my pelvis is at, to relieve hot spots. The seat puts you into one positon, it has gotten more comfortable as I have ridden it but the only way to change position is to roll your hips around. The bike has very long legs, and I hope I can get the miles on it that others have. The cruise is fantastic. The radio is more of a pleasure than I thought it would be, and my wife loves it too. In addition to all of that I think it looks great. I like the classic styling. Here are a few pictures, after it was washed and waxed. <a href="http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Hatleyrocket/Motorcycles/?action=view&current=100_4963.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/H/Hatleyrocket_Motorcycles_100_4963.jpg" border="0" alt="Left rear"></a> <a href="http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Hatleyrocket/Motorcycles/?action=view&current=100_4955.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/H/Hatleyrocket_Motorcycles_100_4955.jpg" border="0" alt="front left"></a> <a href="http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii22/Hatleyrocket/Motorcycles/?action=view&current=100_4961.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/H/Hatleyrocket_Motorcycles_100_4961.jpg" border="0" alt="right rear"></a>
Are those the original seats? The Ventures I've sat on all had a pillow-top seat on them. How do you like these? 'fooz
These are the factory seats for a '99 and '00. The pillow top seats came out after that. I believe that the midnights have these seats also up to a certain year. I like them, but I wouldn't mind trying out the pillow tops. T
I went and looked at a couple this past weekend. I'm definitely interested in them. I got a chuckle out of the cassette deck on a 2012 bike.