General maintenance advise help please on my 1st gen 84 xvz1200

OK so I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on some items for my 1984 Venture XVZ1200, and would appreciate any/all advice from you all

 

1st - Tires, decided to go with the Shinko 230's seems all around good reviews. Might try the 777's next time

will change them out myself and take em in to get balanced, and will change all the brake pads while doing it. I've already flushed the system with DOT4 fluid

 

2nd - final drive oil change, Thinking to go with Bel-Rey Hypoid gear saver oil, basically because i have no idea on final drive oils and Googled reviews and it seemed good ??? and don't think it has ever been changed on the bike

 

3rd - change out the plugs, seems standard NGK's should be fine?

I don't have a manual for info but will research the web for the gap spec

 

4th - Need to change the battery, last year it slowly started going down over time, now unless it's been on the tender for a few days it wont start. Did notice it was real low on acid in the cells so just going to buy a new one instead of trying to rejuvenate it.

Any reason one from Walmart wouldn't be fine to use ??

 

5th - Basic oil and filter change, was going to use Castrol Actevo 20w-50 semi-synthetic oil for no other reason than the guy I bought the bike from was using it and gave me a few quarts and pretty much everyone around here stocks it for around 7 bucks a bottle

Also he put a Fram oil filter on it, was going to go with a mobile1 M-105 filter (that's supposed to be the crossover for the Fram he used) instead of the Fram. No idea why he switched it from the stock filter system:scratchchin:

 

6th - clean the air filter up, did it twice last year with a nice soak in a solution of simple green/dawn dish soap & warm water then re-oil it, seemed to work fine ?

 

Already flushed the gas i stored in it with Seafoam for the winter with fresh straight gas, filter from last year still looks new so don't think I need to change that....

or do I ??

 

As far as the forks, think I'm going to find a good reviewed shop and have them do a complete job on em. don't know how I feel about my level of mechanical abilities to do more then just seals on it myself

 

Other then that just put it all back together, got it all apart in the garage this last week after work getting ready to do the work - was a great reason to have a few beers and cigars after work every night

 

Thanks in advance for any/all help and advice

Also if any of you have knowledge of a good trustworthy bike shop in the Reno/Sparks Nevada area I would appreciate the info

 

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Ill do my best and try to.take.these in order. I went to Dunlop Elite3 from Metzler marathons. So far so good and no more feathering/cupping. There are many good choices and it might depend on how/where you ride and what you meed your tires to do. I want a tire to last and still have reasonable grip.

 

EBC HH pads really do work quite well to.stop these obese machines.

 

I dont have the manual handy but the factory recomended NGK at the factory gap is ideal for a stock bike, and very cost effective. They have been great for both my Vmax and Venture. I have stick coils (COPs) so I run a different gap.

 

Cheap Yuasa batteries suck, Ive been lucky to get anything more than a season out of one. I spent a little more last year and got the least expensive AGM battery I could find from a motorsports shop and Im very happy. Its got good zing and this is year two and still starts like new. I avoid buying anything from walmart, its really hit/miss IMHO. There are pretty fancy spendy batteries out there but the basic AGM is working fantastic.

 

NEVER use a Fram. If you have one on the bike get rid of it today. I have a stack of NAPA Gold filters (made by WIX). There are other good filter choices but Fram aint one of them. Im sure someone will expand on other quality choices.

 

As far as oil, simple Rotella 15-40 non-synthetic diesel oil is a highly popular choice for Vmax and Venture. That you can safely buy at walmart. I think T4 is conventional but cant recall exactly. I know some folks run semi and full synthetics, others CO oil leaks and other issues with synthetics in older engimes. Like tires you will hear many varying and passionate opinions. I have had my best luck running exactly what the factory calls for with regard to synthetic or conventional oils in all my cars and bikes. I know the conventional Rotella is an overwhelmingly popular choice and using it I can see why. Its cheap and works great.

 

Is your air filter a K&N style reusable gause filter? They do flow better but the CV carbs are very sensitive to resistance of the intake/air filter assy. A free flowing filter may actually hurt performance. I had to do some dialing in on mine to make it work right, Ive been through my carbs and not stock. I use a reusable filter because I live miles down a dirt road. I suggest trying a paper filter if you have one and see if you can feel a difference in performance and MPG. I suspect the paper filter may work better but YMMV. Your care of the reusable filter is appropriate. I spray mine with the green, then let it sit in the sink a while, then spray it out with the water. I dont submerge it in the green, just spray it good and let it sit 15-20 min before rinse. I gently shake the water off and sit it on a shop towell and lightly oil after dry. Get all the pleats but dont get carried away with the filter oil. It doesnt take much.

 

Your fuel should be fine. Avoid ethanol when you can but if the bike has to sit then absolutely avoid ethaanol tainted fuel. When it sits over winter get the tank as full as you can. Both my Venture and Vmax fired right up after being stored outside all harsh long South Dakota winter, so its okay. I hate to store bikes outside and next year Ill have a garage! But if it worked for me under these conditions you should be good to go. If it sat with ethanol in it and in the carbs you may be in for some headaches, the corn squeezings tend to gum stuff up and draw moisture in to wherever it is. If you find its a problem let us know and we'll go from there. Again, never ever store with ethanol. Both my Vmax and Venture run best with the LOWEST octane pure gasoline. I will use premium if its the only pure gas and ethanol as a last resort. Sometimes its all you can get, just dont store it with that stuff. Your filter should be fine. If you store with pure gasoline you should not have to flush or anything, just drop the battery in and go. When storing long term I so use a few oz seafoam.

 

For.the forks, I have done mine. First and foremost NEVER EVER EVER..... EVER use aftermarket seals or any fork parts. ALWAYS use OEM yamaha parts here. Make sure your tech uses only OEM. These are bushing forks so it might be prudent to get bushings as well as the seals and dust covers, only OEM. I cant overstate that enough. There are youtube vids out there showing replacement of the Venture fork parts. Watch and see if you feel like it falls within the scope of your ability. Boats.net is one good place to get a deal on genuine Yamaha parts. The dealership prices are high bit deals to be had online. Did I mention to use only genuine Yamaha OEM parts in the forks, good! Read up on Progressive fork springs and see if you like the idea. If you do them now is the time to do it. Better handling and no need for air or anti dive systems with progressives, they run about $100 online. Im not sure what your budget is but its worth mentioning. I did them and its well.worth it YMMV. While into the forks make sure your steering head bearings are properly adjusted, its critical for proper handling. There is ayoutube vid on that and I hope someone can link it, I cant on my phone. I tried to separate this into sections for ease of reading but often when I post it forces into one giant paragraph, I apologize in advance for that. I hope this helps and invite others to correct me if I got any of it wrong. This is all stuff I have done on mine, and my Vmax and works awesome. If it works Ill take one of those cigars!! Haha. I hope this long winded response helps.

Edited April 16, 2018 by CaseyJ955

In the interest of full disclosure, I am an Auto Zone employee.

 

Rotella 15-40, T4 is conventional, T5 is a blend and T6 is full synthetic. Shell has had some pretty good rebates in place for a while. Check on line and see what they are offering when you buy your oil. I tend to wait for AZ's employee discount weekends and stock up on my consumables like oil, Sea Foam and StarTron(an enzyme fuel treatment to help with ethanol issues).

 

I like AZ's ETX AGM series batteries for my bikes. I've been using them since well before I was an employee. I abuse my batteries and still get 3-4 seasons from the ETX batteries. If you take care of them, they'll probably last a lot longer.

 

NGK spark plugs in all my Nippon engineered hardware. Stay away from Champion. I've been told by many that there is no benefit from going to a platinum or iridium plug on these bikes but I've never tried it so I have no empirical data on that.

 

I stick with OEM paper filters. I ran a K&N filter on my Maxim 750 for a while but it was way too lean and I did not want to rejet the carbs so, back to paper.

 

I'll be going with progressive springs the next time I have a few dollars to spend. My forks don't leak oil but they don't hold air for long.

OK, here we go!

 

1. Tire brand is a personal choice based on driving style, etc. I'm a Dunlop E4 fan myself. The main thing to consider is make sure the weight handling capability is high enough for your 900 pound bike plus driver and passenger weight. Speed rating is up to you and how fast you plan on going and not as important as load capacity.

 

2. Final drive oil, you want to use 80 weight or 90 weight, myself I prefer a synthetic with an older bike and I sometimes use the Bel Rey brand, more so with shock oil...

 

3. Yes, NGK works fine in our bikes. The gap should be around 0.035" I personally spend the extra money on the Iridium plugs as they do last longer. It's a known fact our bikes eat plugs...

 

4. As far as batteries go, as John Arbuckle once said, you get what you pay for!! Walmart batteries will work fine as long as you don't mind replacing them every year or two. A lot of us go with an AGM battery as they are stronger, delivering more cranking power. Unless you have already switched your battery lines with heavier gauge wires and switched over to a 4 brush starter, you're going to find when hot the bike will not turn over very fast, and an AGM helps out a little. Also, chances are the Wally World battery will not let you use the electrolyte probe on it and the battery Icon on your CMU will flash. AGM's and sealed units will also not let you use the probe, but the good news is there is a modification to eliminate the probe and turn the light out!

 

5. Can of worms!!! 15W-45 or 20W-50 is fine, synthetic or Dino. The most important thing, DO NOT use any oils with any kind of friction modifiers in them unless you like your clutch to slip!! We have a "wet" clutch, and any modifiers will cause the clutch to slip! Actually, using cheaper diesel oil works out fine!!!

 

6. That is your personal preference! As long as there are no holes in the filter or it is not plugged up then go for it, I guess. The main thing is these bikes do not run very good without a filter...

 

If you need it, there is electronic copies of the service manual, he owners manual, and wiring diagrams available for free on this site in the Technical library!!

Thanks for the info guys....

I'm going to look for an AGM battery (Chaparral's says the AGM they offer doesn't fit the bike, so does the Bike Master site ???)

Any advice on where to get one please ??

As far as I know other than the trickle charger add on, the electrical is all stock set up

 

I talked to the local Yamaha shop guys today, and though they all kind of hemmed and hawed and gave me a (your and old loon still riding that bike) kind of look they said they would rebuild the forks but wouldn't really do much else on a bike that old..... Not totally sure about this as of yet. Not sure if I'm comfortable rebuilding them myself, though ok with just redoing the seals myself though... hmmmmm

 

The air filter is a K&N, and has a sticker that seems to imply it's a stock item ?? I'm totally ok with swapping it out for a paper one if that's a better choice, and really like the idea of tossing the paper one and putting in a new one when needed instead of the cleaning/oiling process with the K&N one anyway

 

The Castrol Actevo oil the guy I got the bike from used seems to be ok ?? it is a semi synthetic oil, and I'm ok switching it out with standard type, and Ya agree on the Fram being crap, that's why I was thinking the Mobile m-105 filter

 

As far as tires.. it has the Bridgestone Spitfire 11 F's on it and they have lasted over 8000 miles but just seemed a bit off if that sounds right, we (wife and I) pretty much ride mostly hwy 80 and 395 within 8-10 hours riding distance of Reno NV we do like the Feather river area (hwy 70) and up around Antelope lake and lake Almanor areas in CA, as well a Topaz lake at NV and CA border though we would like to do a 395/44/299101 run from Sparks here to Oregon this year (quick N Dirty weekend run - maybe a 3-4 dayer if I can get a Fri & Mon off work) and only decided about the 230's cause of the reviews

Try Auto Zone, that's where I get mine. The Auto Zone ones are made by DEKA which are manufactured in Pa. There is a member here, Earl, Skydoc_17 who is a distributor for them who will give you an excellent price on them delivered to your door! Sorry, I forgot the number of the battery, something like STX 1800 or maybe 1200. I'm an old fart and suffer from CRS (Can't remember s...)!

 

You can either PM or call Earl to order. I also believe he is listed in the member vendor forum. Earl sells a lot more than batteries too!

K&N are not stock on these but a new K&N comes with that sticker to make a tech aware it is of the reusable nature and not to throw it away. If you do go with paper then toss the K&N on Ebay, It should net a few bucks, thats where I got mine. A local powersports shop should have an AGM battery to fit, or be able to order one up. When I get home in the next couple days I'll be happy to look at group size and part # of mine, maybe easier than by application. For fork seals, you still have to slide the fork lowers off to replace, snapping in the other parts is easy at that point if you choose to go that way. There is a good youtube vid, ill link later when im at my comp and not on my phone. Its not really hard but there is some labor involved.

As far as the forks, think I'm going to find a good reviewed shop and have them do a complete job on em.

Before deciding to spend a lot of money on rebuilding Mk I forks look into getting a set of Mk II forks on eBay and a pair of Mk II or R1 calipers. The Mk I brakes are really weak so a lot of guys find it worthwhile doing that upgrade.

Lots of good advice, I would mention that I've stopped balancing wheels and use Counteract balancing beads. No more weights hammered or stuck on freshly polished or painted wheels, always in balance, they work great. I've been changing tires with the zip tie method and using the balancing beads, no more damaged wheels and cuts the cost of yet another set of tires way down.

 

Tim

The manual says DOT 3 is the correct brake and clutch fluid . . . Just sayin'

 

A quick search suggests that DOT 4 can be used in place of DOT 3, but, not the other way around.

DOT 4 is slightly better with a higher boiling point.

 

My Ninja's came from the factory with DOT 4