jimm

I do love the clean lines you get from removing the pillion seat - looks really cool. Not that I'd get away with doing that though seeing as how my better half has now decided that she decided that she loves it (she'd never been on a bike before). She's now worse than me...insisted that I got the small front fender trim cos 'it needed it'. Jim

I'm just south of Bedford between the M1 (J12) and the A1 - if you're ever heading down this way, I've got the RSTD bars fitted. Happy to meet up if you want. And I'm interested in the Yammie engine bars as well (I posted on thread with the pics of your bike) - ground clearance etc..

Nice bikes both Mine's black, but I do like the red too. Are those the Yammie engine bars? I've fitted Ledrie engine bars and I'm really unhappy with them as they ground about the same time as the footboards do...stupid design. How much clearance have you got? How much do the boards hinge up before the bars touch the ground?

I've fitted the RSTD bars and for me the difference is huge - much more comfortable position and not a stretch any more. Yes they do have more pull back than the stock bars, about 4 inches I reckon. IMO is really is worth doing - I thought I was getting used to the stock bars, but it just changed the whole ride for me when I got them fitted. You can try rotating the stock bars, but I didn't find that was any help...they were just too low and too far away ! Fitting the RSTD bars is pretty easy, you'll need to order part # 1D6-26110-01-00 from your dealer. He may try and tell you they're not bike bars, but a jet ski bar, but don't worry about it ...its the same bar, just we don't get the Royal Star Tour Deluxe in the UK. This part # is different from what you may here US folk talking about. About 130 quid from memory. You'll find the bar ends from the stock bars won't fit the RSTD bars, so in theory you'd need to order RSTD bar ends too....except you can't as they don't seem to be available to UK dealers. This means you can't use the stock grips anymore... However... What most folk do when they do this is to change the stock grips for the Kuryakyn ISO grips or similar. These don't need bar ends, and they look heaps better, and its actually cheaper to do this than buy the bar ends for the RSTD bars (if you could buy them that is). You don't need to re-cable and provided you're half way handy, it'll take you about an hour to do. Don't think there are any 'gotchas' when you're doing it...just watch that the bars don't drop on your tank when you slacken off the pinch bolts !!!

Think we might plan a trip around Scotland next spring..do the west coast and the islands, Mull, Skye.. Done the RSTD bars, O2 mod, Roadhouse slip on, sorted the licence plate, picked up some removable Held saddlebags, added rear pax floorboards, eventually got the back rest bits so that's on...ummm...now that's she's been on it, she can't get enough of it. Not sure this is such a good thing

And after much ado, its now fitted. The way guy at the dealer did it was to fit the side arm supports before you tighten up the bolts. This gets you a few mm more width - once the bolts are tight, the arms go on and off OK. I still reckon its not as good a fit as it should be - you shouldn't have to do this if the tolerances are correct; you've effectively got a shear loading on the bolts and the captive nut now.

Just tried to fit the Yamaha back rest on my 2009 Midnight Star 1300 and it doesn't... The locating holes on the side arms are about 3 or 4mm too close together, so once you've got the forward slot engaged, the rear slot won't slide down over the rear one. This is the genuine Yamaha accessory from the 2009 catalogue and its a slightly different design to what was in the 2008 catalogue, so it looks rather like Yammy have got their part numbers and/or parts screwed. Or its just plain wrong... Took it back to the dealer and they double checked all the part numbers and it all looks right and the paperwork that came with the sidearms all refers to the 1300/950. Dealer has taken pics and is going to get on to Yamaha...watch this space This part is also supposed to fit the 950 - we tried it against one in the showroom and its got the same issue so its not going fit that either. You could make it fit by grinding the forward locating slot in 3 or 4 mm, but when you're paying £££'s it should fit [wanders off muttering under breath] Just an FYI... Jim

Yep...that's about it 3 circuits anticlockwise, then 3 clockwise. Except on my 3rd clockwise circuit...no sign of examiner. Did 4th...still no sign. On circuit number 7, I spot him wandering out of a newsagent waving goodbye to whoever he had been chatting to. Then it got tough, of course....had to show him an emergency stop, so he said he would step out and signal me when...except he did it so far in advance I stopped about 150 feet before him...so he had to get me to do another one...by which time I knew where he was, of course....and I was only doing about 20 ....that was really hard... Yep it was tough...you really had to screw up big style to fail. But if you DID fail.. this was not good. I didn't but I knew someone who did...never lived it down

Hi Stu, Yep, picked up last Thursday Been a bit busy with silly grin all over face! Done about 200m so far, but I work away during the week so I'm in withdrawal at the moment. Home now, so might sneak out tomorrow instead of working... Bike is great, really really nice, but taking it kinda easy for now as I haven't ridden for best part of 30 years, and the weight is taking a bit of getting used to again...low speed handling and all that...but its coming back ! I think its mostly the fierceness of the thottle in 1st and 2nd that's taking getting used to, and reading comments around, that seems to be common theme, so the O2 Mod is high on the list. I'd also picked up that Alchemy Bikes are stocking. Also got the RSTD bars on order...being a shorter a**e at 5'8 its a bit of stretch. Bar ends don't seem to be available in the UK unless you order in from the US, so may look at Kury ISO grips as an alternative. 3/4 of a back rest is sitting in my study awaiting the 4th part....other half is insisting on having it...thinks she's going to slip off backwards... Sounds like a great trip North...I'm an expat Scot...whereabouts did you get to? Friend of a friend of friend of mine who runs bike training courses teaches using the rear brake against power to control speed in low speed maneuvering. Keep the throttle / clutch constant ... Jim

This seems to be the XVS 1300 admiration thread...! Did the deed today... 1 x XVS 1300, collecting next week Interested to see the pics of the hard panniers - looking at getting them so we can go touring a bit, and like idea that they come on and off easily, and that you can pack them like a case when you need to....just can't quite swallow the price tag of nearly 900 quid for the Yam ones. I agree re the 950 bars. I think its partly a height thing too - I'm 5'8 as well, and I find I'm sitting well forward on the seat on the 1300. If I sit back in the seat properly, its noticably more of a stretch. That couple of inches more pull back would be good to have. When I was in the dealer today feeding them the dosh, I had them messing around rotating the bars up a bit, and that seemed to help a bit. Then I had the mechanic ummming over the 950 bars about whether it would work or not - there's not a lot of slack in the cables with the bars right over. Anyway, going to reserve judgement until I've spent some time on it. ... and roll on Thursday ! Jim

OK, so how come it is that the minute you ask something you find the answer the next minute? Just been having another browse through Alchemy Bikes' website, and, well, there they are I expect find another silly Q to ask soon...

New to the forum, its a good 'un, done lots of reading...so TY for all the previous! Not had a bike for many years [mumbles a number and coughs], and I'm about to sort myself out a Midnight Star 1300A. Its a little thing, well not so little, but looking at the demo machine in the dealer, the rear plate is a bit of an eyesore. Sticks up like a sail because it mounts above the light cluster... I guess its a splendid 'regulation' UK rear plate, as that's what the dealer has to fit. But there has to be a better way. Not sure of the legality, but you do see some nice neat plates on bikes. Also, when you look at the pics in the brochure, they've got these nice little chrome plate mounts, but I can't find anything like this in the accessories lists, and Googling has drawn a blank. Just interested in what other people have done as far as mounting UK plates. Thanks, Jim (apologies for the dupe post, hit the wrong button :/)

New to the forum, its a good 'un, done lots of reading...so TY for all the previous! Not had a bike for many years [mumbles a number and coughs], and I'm about to sort myself out a Midnight Star 1300A. Its a little thing, well not so little, but looking at the demo machine in the dealer, the rear plate is a bit of an eyesore. Sticks up like a sail because it mounts above the light cluster... I guess its a splendid 'regulation' UK rear plate, as that's what the dealer has to fit. But there has to be a better way. Not sure of the legality, but you do see some nice neat plates on bikes. Also, when you look at the pics in the brochure, they've got these nice little chrome plate mounts, but I can't find anything like this in the accessories lists, and Googling has drawn a blank. Just interested in what other people have done as far as mounting UK plates. Thanks, Jim