A couple of buddies and I went for a ride Saturday to a dealer in a town about an hour and a half away. When we pulled up I noticed a used Venture sitting right up front, so I threw my leg over it and started it up. It had aftermarket BUB slip ons which sounded really sweet. The salesman came out and offered me a ride......can't pass up something like that, so I headed for the freeway. I must say that I really liked the handling and comfort. I wasn't very impressed by the shaft drive though. Just seemed too different. I was also unimpressed by the performance. I had to rimind myself that this is a "touring" bike.
Anyway - it's a 2006 with 24k miles Midnight Venture. Very well taken care of. The dealer is selling it for a friend of theirs and the guy is asking only $8600. I think it's a pretty fair price considering the miles and condition of the bike.
I didn't make any promises. Came home and told the boss about it. She really likes the Venture, but said I would have to part with my Roadie.
I'd love to have a Venture for the comfort, but I'm not ready to get rid of my R* just yet......maybe when I get old (I'm 60 now).
Just thought I'd share.

I would really like to own a touring bike. Especially a reliable one. I so want to ride from south Texas to Alaska and I don't really think I would make it on the roadie. The ventures seem like very comfy rides and that's a pretty good price.

I like the Venture also except that it is still not EFI. It has four carbs and you would think Yamaha would have gone with fuel injection by now. I believe it would improve the performance. Just my .03 cents.

To my understanding the engine is a "de-tuned" V-Max motor. I do agree that EFI would make it run much better. I'm sure even Curt would have a fit getting all 4 of those carbs tuned

Kinda makes me wonder what they did to de-tune it.

Seriously looked at a Venture before my 07'. Sat on it and immediately fell out of love. Felt cramped. Nice setup but no room. Gonna stay with a proven ride.

GP

Great bike. I don't know if you "baby'd it" because it wasn't your but don't let that bike fool you. They haul butt. I have a friend w/ one and he can outrun me and cruise at 100 if he wants. Its smoooth ......

You have to twist the throttle on them and they respond. That's my experience with one anyway. I like it.




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fastjohnny wrote:
To my understanding the engine is a "de-tuned" V-Max motor. I do agree that EFI would make it run much better. I'm sure even Curt would have a fit getting all 4 of those carbs tuned

Kinda makes me wonder what they did to de-tune it.

I think they changed the cam and timing.


W. Coyote

I work with a guy who has one. Very nice bikes. Thought about getting one myself but went with the roadie instead. They may not have the torque of a roadie but they sure will scoot in high gear! The v4 is just alot different than our v-twins. I still think about it every now and then though...

I had a Venture before I bought my Roadie. Great bike. I got rid of it because it is too big for solo rider (my wife would not ride). It has a lot of power for 1300cc. Not great for low speed handling (top heavy) but impressive at highway speed. Once you get the RPM up to the sweet spot it will purr like a kitten all day. It's like the RoadStar, bullet proof.

hrdbrgn wrote:
Great bike. I don't know if you "baby'd it" because it wasn't your but don't let that bike fool you. They haul butt. I have a friend w/ one and he can outrun me and cruise at 100 if he wants. Its smoooth ......

You have to twist the throttle on them and they respond. That's my experience with one anyway. I like it.




.

I didn't baby it at all.....I did notice that it gets up to 100 MPH rather quickly, but just didn't have the "seat of the pants" kind of oomph that my R* has (although it's definitely something I could get used to).
I had no problem with low speed maneuvering. Seemed pretty easy to handle, actually.
Do I sound like I'm trying to talk myself into it???