The white horse

[Blackcloud12]

I've finally done a couple things to the Silverado. I put on the Barons XXX filter. Love it! Actually takes up a little less room than the stocker. Also sounds like it's gonna suck in errant birds! LOL
The only downside is that now I really need to start rolling my pennies to buy the Freedom duals; the intake is louder than the exhaust!!

[Blackcloud12]

I received my Big Ed seat today!! Pretty stoked about that! Can't wait to try it out! Definitely has a nice feel just sittin on it in the garage!

Now I'm seriously weighing Baron 14" apes......

[Sharpman66]

I have the Mustang rider/passenger combo and love it! How does the Big Ed compare?

[Blackcloud12]

Not real sure- I went from stock to the Big Ed. I've read that the Mustang puts your further forward than stock, and the Big Ed slides you back a bit.

[Blackcloud12]

So I had a chance to sample the Mustang- it sits you about an inch further forward than the Big Ed Tour seat. Also slopes to the back a little more- in my opinion anyway. I do like the define ridge at the back of the Mustang better though.

[MikeyC]

The bug has hit

[Duke]

Yes Mike, and it will never end.

[Father Pobasturd]

I like intake roar.

[Lug Nut]

ED seat then Road wing shock next

[Blackcloud12]

Sooo....I have the Big Ed seat on. Maybe I amped it up too much in my mind before ordering it- but I gotta say I'm not super impressed. I don't know that I really feel any further back, the rear ridge of the seat is just as vague as the stock seat, and the front feels too narrow- like now I feel perched on it.
I'm gonna throw the stock seat back on, ride a loop, and then try the Ed again.
Maybe I was expecting more??
For reference I am about 6'1", 195, and typically wear a 32-34 inseam.
Now I'm wondering if I shoulda just went with the Mustang; we sold the hell out of those back when I was at the dealership.

[Shores]

I felt the same and returned the ED I had. Felt like I was sitting on the front narrow part and at 180 pounds I would bottom out and hit the seat pan on moderate bumps. I got an Ultimate and love it.

[Blackcloud12]

I think I'm going to order the mustang to try out quick- we'll see how that goes. I am leaning towards returning the Big Ed though.

[2time]

I have a regular ED seat collecting dust in the garage. I likeD the first one I had in my first r*...sold everything when I ‘moved up’ to Harley. When I saw the light and came back to a beautiful proceeds of divorce midnight silverado I once again bought an ED. Not sure what happened in the few years between them but I now find the stock seat better. My wife has an Ultimate on her Heritage Softail which appears to be a better seat for what use looks are in assessing a seat.

[Lug Nut]

Need to break in any new seat... Took 150 miles on a new ED seat for it to be comfortable for me

[Blackcloud12]

So I still have the Big Ed; I have a Mustang arriving tomorrow. I will do a comparison test with both of them and see where it leads me. I'm also planning on talking to Mike at Big Ed about the "standard seat" too. Maybe losing .75" of height would be ok to get the feeling I think I was expecting.

[Shores]

It is my understanding that the Ultimate is softer and more comfortable than the Mustang.

[Blackcloud12]

I had a thought on doing a front wheel swap.....and forgive me for soap boxing for a minute.....but everyone seems to gravitate towards the HD wheel. While their at it people add the HD bags. IMHO- why do people put a bunch of HD $shit on their Yamaha's?? Just buy the GD Harley. That said.....the Eluder or Venture have nice looking front wheels that appear that they should work. Brake rotors are the same diameter. I wish I was still at Yamaha and could pull the bearings and/or seals off a shelf to compare them. I think it would be a cool swap and keeps everything Yamaha.

[SuperG]

I agree - putting HD stuff on a Roady just doesn't feel right. Of course, to each his own - but I rather enjoy the fact that the bike is *not* an HD. Half the bikes sold in the US - hell everybody and their mother has a Harley. I've always loved the look on peoples face when I tell them it's Japanese - and Japan can build a boat-anchor of a bike as well as Milwaukee and then some.

[Brad_G]

The only problem is those bikes have only been out a couple years and sales have been marginal from what I've read. So parts availability beyond new retail is pretty slim. I agree with what you're saying, but if I can customize a bike to my liking for 1/10th of the price why wouldn't I?

[Lug Nut]

The Harley parts are cheap and easily available. I look for OEM Road Star hard bags and couldn't find any less than about $500 plus brackets. I found a set of 2013 Harley Davidson Street Glide bags in perfect shape with hinges for $80 and ordered eBay brackets for $34. I also would have rather had the Royal Star Venture saddlebags and tour pack is a combo but again the tour pack when I could find one was $600... I got a Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Tour pack complete with everything for $232 shipped to my door. I did complete custom rims on my bike but I had those in the garage LOL. Basically I am not trying to look like a Harley at all I just want good quality components for a cheap price because i'm a cheap bastard. Any the aftermarket bags and tour packs I have seen are pretty much flimsy or extremely expensive

[Blackcloud12]

I guess I never considered that aspect- I would have figured that HD parts would be really expensive! Really funny that it's the Yamaha stuff that is holding its value.

[Jaybo]

There are far more Harley accessories than there are Roadstar stuff. HUGE aftermarket product support for a much larger market. Harley riders put bigger or custom rims on their bikes and a stock Harley wheel can be had for a good price if you look around. I think I paid $150 for my 19" HD wheel including shipping. and I have a 18" HD touring wheel that I paid $50 for from a salvage place. I liked the 19" more however and used it instead.

[Chromepony]

I had a thought on doing a front wheel swap.....and forgive me for soap boxing for a minute.....but everyone seems to gravitate towards the HD wheel. While their at it people add the HD bags. IMHO- why do people put a bunch of HD $shit on their Yamaha's?? Just buy the GD Harley. That said.....the Eluder or Venture have nice looking front wheels that appear that they should work. Brake rotors are the same diameter. I wish I was still at Yamaha and could pull the bearings and/or seals off a shelf to compare them. I think it would be a cool swap and keeps everything Yamaha.

I'd rather walk down a dirt road holding some R/S handlebars than ride a H/D !

[Duke]

It's all about the ride and what you are wanting out of your bike.
It doesn't matter what parts you use to make it your own machine.

There's no doubt about it, the Road Stars are gems, and it's sad that Yamaha quit making them and the accessories.

[Blackcloud12]

So a little backstory- I have been having some lean surge issues lately when cruising lower rpm. It's been rather frustrating; also occurs when I would down shift for more rpm- so I started thinking it was more to do with a part-throttle situation. It also would occasionally hiccup and backfire in the intake.
Two days ago the bike cranked over pretty hard. It had only been sitting for about 5 days; so I knew my battery was on it's way out.

SO....the batter that was in it was not the stocker- but it was only a 12 series battery rather than the stock 14. Only had 190cca- no wonder my bike has been slow cranking!!

I bought the stock Yuasa YT14B-BS. back to 210cca. What a colossal difference!! Fuel pump sounds better, bike cranked way better/faster- and my lean surge is gone! I can lug way down and the bike just powers out rather than chugging like it used to.

I thought typically once the bike was running the battery was out of the equation; but I suppose if my battery was slowly dying it could have become more of a load to the system.

Anyway- its like I have a whole new Roadstar- one year later!!

[SuperG]

So a little backstory- I have been having some lean surge issues lately when cruising lower rpm. It's been rather frustrating; also occurs when I would down shift for more rpm- so I started thinking it was more to do with a part-throttle situation. It also would occasionally hiccup and backfire in the intake.
Two days ago the bike cranked over pretty hard. It had only been sitting for about 5 days; so I knew my battery was on it's way out.

That's odd that the battery would be the culprit - but stranger things have happened.

On my bike, the only surging is just a tiny bit around idle. Because the thing has most of it's torque at very low rpms, it's just too tempting to putter along in a too tall a gear. You can get away with short-shifting murder on these bikes - if you don't goose it while putt-putting. Lol.

[Blackcloud12]

New little addition. I know it might be kinda silly, but I think they look pretty sweet.

[Blackcloud12]

Sorry it loaded 90 degrees off. It’s a portrait pic but off my phone.
Whatever. You get the idea.

[Blackcloud12]

So I stumbled a Barons cable kit for ape hangers brand new for 100 bucks. Had to buy that.
I have the Baron Kong Jr arriving this week! Can’t wait to get them on the horse!!

[2time]

Yes...jump on those, the bars are the easy/cheap part of that conversion.

[D-Fresh]

You've got a serious case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) my friend!!!

[Blackcloud12]

LOL I think it might be a side effect of not being able to do much else since everything is closed!

[GreenMachine]

I hear that! I’ve been tinkering with my bike more in the last few months than I have in the last three or four years combined.

Your bike is looking good!

[Blackcloud12]

It appears UPS was kind enough to deposit my bars at the house today. Stay tuned for new pics. Hopefully that swap won't take as long as I think it's going to......