The little guy on the vespa said.....

...."smile, things could be worse".

So I smiled, as sure as hell things got worse.

Let me tell you about the last six months of "worse". I'm not complaining, I will survive....I think..

Two years ago a good friend of mine, also a Vietnam vet passed and left me his 84 xvz 1200 which he had left out in the Arizona sun for five years. The understanding was that I would give it a look see and take one last ride for him. Well the look see took twelve months of time on a limited VA disibilty budget along with a understanding wife.

Finally, the day came when I kicked the old girl over and she coughed and puked back to life, she only had 19k on the odometer and I had a lot of faith.

Time passed and we developed a firing problem, so I figured since I had to replace or move the CDI might as well go ahead and remove and test all the electrical, then give her a much needed paint job and new windshield. So I stored all the goodies safely in the house until they could be tested or I had enough money to replace them. I was gleaning lots of wisdom and ideas from videos put out by Puc-Pic and Tec info gathered right here on venturerider.org..things were moving slow, I was gathering parts when I could afford them after a lot of shopping and aound, but not being able to ride was killing me even slower.

And things did get worse; on the afternoon of December 7, 2017, my wife said, "Joseph, the Damn house is on fire.!!", she was right, and it was indeed on fire in a very big way. I tossed her and the animals out the front door (not sure what order they got tossed) and had to go back in and grab my sons pooch that wanted to view the whole thing from the inside where he somehow felt safer.

We got out with our bare feet and the clothes on our backs. The next morning the individual we were buying the place from informed us his insurance had lapsed and we could expect no financial compensation for our losses, which by the way, was everything we owned or had collect over our entire life time.

Things could be worse right? Yes the could!

The old 84 got pushed away from the flames, I sat on her seat, put my arm around a sobbing wife and could only watch in shock as my entire world went up in smoke. Fourty eight hours later we were relocated in a fifth wheeled trailer owned by a dear friend who, along with his family opened their doors and hearts with no questions asked.

But...things could be worse, right?? Yep!

Four days after the fire I woke up feeling kinda weak, an ambulance was called, I was rushed off to the VA hospital here in Tucson. On the second day of admission my doc informed me I had congestive heart failure and was probably operating on about 25% of my heart, however, I could regain a fair portion of the missing 75% with proper diet and exercise. I told him I would indeed exercise every minute I could by means of the 84' xvz plan. He said he didn't care which plan I used as long as i got results. Roger that.

After going back and being admitted two more times things have settled more towards the normal. Father's day has come and gone, all four of my daughters checked in with love and my teenaged son was by my side. Can't get any better than that.

We've since relocated to a bigger house, that fifth wheel trailer got real small after a few months if ya know what I mean.

Life IS short, and, things can indeed get a whole lot worse. This was a life lesson for me, and it showed me how blessed I am to be able to move forward despite the losses, and it's mostly due to family, friends and complete strangers.

Sure, things can get worse, and never pay attention to that little guy on the Vespa, he obviously knows nothing cause he aint riding a Yamaha, much less a 84' xvz.

Oh, and by the way, I've rekindled my search for those affordable electrical parts needed to warm the heart of my old '84. So if ya come across any, give me a shout.

I swear to God I just saw a little guy on a Vespa driving by....Oh, and lookie there, desert rabbits aren't the only thing my big ol Mastif likes to chase and eat....just saying..

Dang! Joe sounds like you had a very bad year. Glad things are looking up for you. OH BTW the little guy on the Vespa his name is Murphy.

Prayers Up for you and your family as you continue in recovery from the fire and from the heart issues Captn'!! Sorry to hear about the double wammy!! THANK YOU for your service and effort in maintaining our very special free way of life brother ,,, just know your efforts havent fallin on deaf ears or hardened hearts = YOU are appreciated!!

About those electrical parts needs,,,, perhaps a detailed list of exactly what you are looking for would help.. You just never know around this joint, I have heard of folks even donating parts just to help a friend get his bike back in service - I know,,, sounds crazy but it does happen on occasion. Besides,, how we spose to know what your looking for if ya dont tell us?

Concerning the assistance you have found thru the video's.. Due to recent personal developments I have trimmed back some on sharing my untrained opinions out there in cyber world BUT,,, if you find need of something you think I may be able to help with in the way of advice,, I would be more than happy to produce and post up something for you if it is within my range of expertise.. Probably an even much better way to gain real professional advice though would be to just post the questions here first as I know there are some guru's still hanging out here.. Also,, dont forget about VR Facebook.. I am not a Facebooker but I do know that there are numerous VR guru's that hang out there too!!

WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOU GOT ER GOING AGAIN AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY OF READING THAT!!!

Oh yea,,,, 's please!!!!

Puc

Personal Developments =Probation for 90 Days BE more like it

You may be interested in watching these old Yamaha training videos. There are 12 of them on the internet.

Joe,

I'm going to change the direction of this thread for a second...

Regarding your scoot....

Check out this post going on now...some good info for you to do some sleuthing on your problem.

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?136816-Dead-on-side-of-road-carry-over-from-watering-hole-Need-all-the-help-I-can-get

I sent you a PM...

david

Maybe it's time to reiterate something many of us have learned.

Yes we are a motorcycle focused 'club', at least it started out that way back in the early 2000's. Soon though, the members found out that only relating to each other about motorcycles and motorcycles only, that the air would get stale and their own interest waned. So humor was added and it wasn't long before tears were also shared, and through all that we came to realize that we were family.

Maintenance Day was born, because we discovered that although words could help a fellow man, actions spoke much louder and from that more MDs were produced. Within the forum things also grew and we shared not only MC but many other things, hence were have a prayer request forum where we can post things or happenings that we need help with, that is more than us humans can deal with. We also have forums for other things, take a slow look at the forum list, it's plentiful!

So when and if we have sorrows and troubles, we know we can come to our Venture family and ask for assistance. I hear that this is one of the quickest forums for response to requests for help and understanding. I for one want to keep it that way.

When we start cutting each other up and take issue with something that might not seem quite right according to rules, we are not building up, but tearing down. It would be best to have the moderators handle those issues, not that we are so good at it maybe, but just because! Just send us a note and things will be dealt with. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?218-Moderators , just another forum.

Something attracts riders to this forum, and it isn't bickering that is the attraction. Stick around a while, and discover what it means to be part of the best riders forum on the internet.

Hey you guys,

Thank you do much for the welcome and the good words of encouragement.

Sure, I was a little butt hurt my self, I took a moment to back up and smile to resist the urge to blast a person in a verbal way that would probably be as misunderstood as my first writing he tried and failed to digest.

I am here to stay and plan to be onboard for the long run. Again, I thank each and everyone of you for your kindness and I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future. Nuff said...

What I need as far as parts are concerned I've listed below. I'm willing to pay any reasonable price that I can and I appreciate all of you more than the written word can grasp.

CTI/CDI box

Plug wires

Plug caps 5k resistor type

2 coils

Probably front seals and springs (they leak worse than government security)

I'm looking for some progressive springs if anyone has any laying around. I think Cow-Puc was supporting them in a big way. I have to air them up continuously or I look like a low rider scraping the bottom. I'm not sure about the other electrical parts because I haven't had a multitester since the fire so I'm not really sure of what's what yet.

I've pulled the entire body off and am using my time to get it ready for a paint job. So, this is where I'm at and no matter what else happens I'm determined to have her up and on the road 90 days from now, that's my goal and I'm gonna make it happen. This bike is a 1984 xvz1200. Again, thank you all, you ARE a great group, huh..😁

@Captaineasy520

Glad you're here to stay. Please excuse us flame-throwers for ruining your post. You will find loads of help here to finish the tribute to your friend. PM me your address, I have an extra multimeter that I will send to you. Thank you for your service. I am also a Vietnam vet, but was only in country (Saigon) for 33 days.

:thumbsup2:

Fork seals, cheap, putting them in yourself from what I hear... Is Priceless. Now as far as Coils and wires I may be able to help you out there. I had bought a set for my bike and have the old set and I know there is at least 2 good coils... the wires From what i know are good along with original caps. I have got a few things going on this weekend so I will try to test the wires out over the weekend. The TCI there is a couple on Ebay but there may be a member here that has one for the 84 I think it is different from the 83.

And thank you for your service brother. I still stuck around the green machine for more years than I should have and we finally came to the parting of ways.

Thanks for your help.

Joseph Davis

9160 S. Avra

Tucson AZ 85736

If anyone else wants it feel free to pass it along..

Hey you guys,

Thank you do much for the welcome and the good words of encouragement.

Sure, I was a little butt hurt my self, I took a moment to back up and smile to resist the urge to blast a person in a verbal way that would probably be as misunderstood as my first writing he tried and failed to digest.

I am here to stay and plan to be onboard for the long run. Again, I thank each and everyone of you for your kindness and I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future. Nuff said...

What I need as far as parts are concerned I've listed below. I'm willing to pay any reasonable price that I can and I appreciate all of you more than the written word can grasp.

CTI/CDI box

Plug wires

Plug caps 5k resistor type

2 coils

Probably front seals and springs (they leak worse than government security)

I'm looking for some progressive springs if anyone has any laying around. I think Cow-Puc was supporting them in a big way. I have to air them up continuously or I look like a low rider scraping the bottom. I'm not sure about the other electrical parts because I haven't had a multitester since the fire so I'm not really sure of what's what yet.

I've pulled the entire body off and am using my time to get it ready for a paint job. So, this is where I'm at and no matter what else happens I'm determined to have her up and on the road 90 days from now, that's my goal and I'm gonna make it happen. This bike is a 1984 xvz1200. Again, thank you all, you ARE a great group, huh..

CaptN, do us/you a favor and take a peek at the intake manifold on the #2 jug on your scoot. This would be the front cylinder on the left side of the bike - left side when sitting on the bike. Locate the nipple on the manifold where you would hook the vac line up to if you were syncing the carbs.. The 83's have plugs covering all 4 of those nipples but the 84's have a vac line that goes up to a vacuum control module on that nipple. Does yours for sure have the vac line attached so it is in fact an 84? Also, does anyone know if there is a way of telling the difference between the 84 and 83 TCI by looking at the unit itself?? All of my Ventures except my first one have been 83's and I think I may still have the TCI/coil rack left over from my 84 in a parts tub - was wondering if there is anyway to verify by a visual? @Flyinfool , bongobobny , Freebird , Prairiehammer ,,, need some GURU

In an attempt to get this thread back to the basics of how it was intended, a lot of posts have been deleted. Some bad and some good. If you posted a "good" one and it was deleted, that is just because it made no sense after some others were deleted.

Just explaining. Please don't open another discussion regarding the issue. Let the thread proceed as it was intended to.

CaptN, do us/you a favor and take a peek at the intake manifold on the #2 jug on your scoot. This would be the front cylinder on the left side of the bike - left side when sitting on the bike. Locate the nipple on the manifold where you would hook the vac line up to if you were syncing the carbs.. The 83's have plugs covering all 4 of those nipples but the 84's have a vac line that goes up to a vacuum control module on that nipple. Does yours for sure have the vac line attached so it is in fact an 84? Also, does anyone know if there is a way of telling the difference between the 84 and 83 TCI by looking at the unit itself?? All of my Ventures except my first one have been 83's and I think I may still have the TCI/coil rack left over from my 84 in a parts tub - was wondering if there is anyway to verify by a visual? Flyinfool , bongobobny , Freebird , Prairiehammer ,,, need some GURU

In an attempt to get this thread back to the basics of how it was intended, a lot of posts have been deleted. Some bad and some good. If you posted a "good" one and it was deleted, that is just because it made no sense after some others were deleted.

 

Just explaining. Please don't open another discussion regarding the issue. Let the thread proceed as it was intended to.

Any thought on the ? above Don?

Also, does anyone know if there is a way of telling the difference between the 84 and 83 TCI by looking at the unit itself?? All of my Ventures except my first one have been 83's and I think I may still have the TCI/coil rack left over from my 84 in a parts tub - was wondering if there is anyway to verify by a visual? Flyinfool , bongobobny , Freebird , Prairiehammer ,,, need some GURU

Indeed there is a difference "visually" between a 1983 TCI and a 1984 TCI. One must be able to read the label applied to the TCI, though.

The 1983 TCI Note the black label and "26H-*".

The 1984-1989 TCINote the green label and "41R-*".

Cowpuc, you need to stop referring to me as any type of Guru on the first gens. There was a time when I could have probably helped but it's been about 20 years since I've owned a first gen and that, along with old age, has wiped out much of what I remember about them. Sorry my friend, hopefully one of the others can help.

Indeed there is a difference "visually" between a 1983 TCI and a 1984 TCI. One must be able to read the label applied to the TCI, though.

The 1983 TCI http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=113181Note the black label and "26H-*".

 

The 1984-1989 TCIhttp://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=113182Note the green label and "41R-*".

THANKS KEV!!

I have a brand new set of progressives for a 1st gen. in an unopened box! PM me and you can have them at cost. Free ship. I'll find my receipt.

Hey you guys,

Thank you do much for the welcome and the good words of encouragement.

Sure, I was a little butt hurt my self, I took a moment to back up and smile to resist the urge to blast a person in a verbal way that would probably be as misunderstood as my first writing he tried and failed to digest.

I am here to stay and plan to be onboard for the long run. Again, I thank each and everyone of you for your kindness and I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future. Nuff said...

What I need as far as parts are concerned I've listed below. I'm willing to pay any reasonable price that I can and I appreciate all of you more than the written word can grasp.

CTI/CDI box

Plug wires

Plug caps 5k resistor type

2 coils

Probably front seals and springs (they leak worse than government security)

I'm looking for some progressive springs if anyone has any laying around. I think Cow-Puc was supporting them in a big way. I have to air them up continuously or I look like a low rider scraping the bottom. I'm not sure about the other electrical parts because I haven't had a multitester since the fire so I'm not really sure of what's what yet.

I've pulled the entire body off and am using my time to get it ready for a paint job. So, this is where I'm at and no matter what else happens I'm determined to have her up and on the road 90 days from now, that's my goal and I'm gonna make it happen. This bike is a 1984 xvz1200. Again, thank you all, you ARE a great group, huh..[emoji16]

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

I see Kevin beat me to the punch on the numbers for the TCI!! Another quick way is to follow the vacuum line from the "boost sensor" which is below the coil pack right next to the TCI. If the vacuum ends up at the carbs it is a 41. If the vacuum ends up on the manifold it is a 26. That is what made the '83 the oddball, it uses manifold vacuum as opposed to carb vacuum for the rest of the years. Because those vacuums are 180 degrees out of phase the '83 advance works backward from the other years. The boost sensor is the same unit...

I was going to check for some coils myself and also send you a Harbor Freight multimeter but I see you may have some coming already!

I believe my bike is an 84. Fortunatly I sent a picture to a friend of mine months ago in hopes he might have one in his junk pile, I was able to get the TCI box info with one short call. He said the box on my bike read;

IGNITION UNIT

TYPE TID 14-28

41R-10

Does that help or identify it as a 84.

Thanks again for all your help.

Yup!! 41R-10 is definitely an'84! The later units were a -11, the difference being an insignificant change in the response curve for advance. I'm not 100% positive but I believe the -11 was for the 1300cc MK2 '86 - '90...

There were a couple mentions in your OP, so I am wondering why you decided the “CDI” was bad?

“Time passed and we developed a firing problem, so I figured since I had to replace or move the CDI might as well go ahead and “

Perhaps my question is misfiring when, at H.W. speed, idle, can you remember throttle position?

Patch

Hey you guys,

Thank you do much for the welcome and the good words of encouragement.

Sure, I was a little butt hurt my self, I took a moment to back up and smile to resist the urge to blast a person in a verbal way that would probably be as misunderstood as my first writing he tried and failed to digest.

I am here to stay and plan to be onboard for the long run. Again, I thank each and everyone of you for your kindness and I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future. Nuff said...

What I need as far as parts are concerned I've listed below. I'm willing to pay any reasonable price that I can and I appreciate all of you more than the written word can grasp.

CTI/CDI box

Plug wires

Plug caps 5k resistor type

2 coils

Probably front seals and springs (they leak worse than government security)

I'm looking for some progressive springs if anyone has any laying around. I think Cow-Puc was supporting them in a big way. I have to air them up continuously or I look like a low rider scraping the bottom. I'm not sure about the other electrical parts because I haven't had a multitester since the fire so I'm not really sure of what's what yet.

I've pulled the entire body off and am using my time to get it ready for a paint job. So, this is where I'm at and no matter what else happens I'm determined to have her up and on the road 90 days from now, that's my goal and I'm gonna make it happen. This bike is a 1984 xvz1200. Again, thank you all, you ARE a great group, huh..😁

Short story CaptN.. I missed the draft for Nam by a couple year's (I am 63) and by the time it came around for me to join and go fly an F4 Phantom (a dream from longggg ago) over there it was all over so I remained a civilian.. I did lose numerous older friends in that God awful mess though and still hold an extremely high regard for all of you men/women who served in Southeast Asia.

Fast forward to 1987, married with children who were desperately showing signs of needing biker bonding time with their dad, I picked up a Blonde 84 Venture Royale in pieces out of an estate sale with 28k miles on it for 600 bucks.. I was spinning wrenches on scoots at the time and new exactly what I was looking for in a bike to put a ton of cross country miles on with my kids, one at a time in tow, in an affordable manner.. The kids named our Blonde beauty "Big Girl" shortened to B.G. shortened to "Beeg". Beeg came with no second gear and a bad stator = 500 bucks was a fair price IMHO. A close friend owned the local Yam shop and other than agreeing with/reassuring me that the missing 2nd gear had zero effect on drive train longevity and simply suggested me taking along a short piece of fuel line to blow pressure into the fuel tank thru the tank vent if one of my 4 kids and I lost forward motion if the fuel pump failed was reassuring that I was on the right track for a very inexpensive way to see the country with the kids and get the bonding done.. IT WORKED AMAZINGLY WELL!!

A few short years later, with just under 285k miles on her, Beeg brought my oldest daughter and I home from a west coast trip with a very noisy crank bearing(s) (could have been a balance shaft - never opened her up to check) and as we crept down our road after 5 weeks of touring, another Venture (an 83) appeared in a neighbors front yard with a for sale sign on it. Beeg's side Blonde side covers were placed on that Maroon 83 and have adorned the 4 other 83's that followed. Those cracked and stickered covered side covers from Beeg now have well over 1 million well earned miles on them that myself and my family and our Ventures accumulated..

I removed lots of parts and pieces off Beeg thru the years, some I used - some I gave away.. Many years ago I stuck a bunch of parts in a box and shelved them and your call to duty rang deep with me and set me on a course to find that box so my family and I could join you in getting your/our friend and your/our brothers bike back to CTFW (did you know?? that phrase = CTFW which stand for Chasing The Front Wheel was actually "coined" by another brother of ours who served in Nam too - yep,, it's true,,, that was "Yammer Dan" = my friend mentioned in my signature area below!!)... Spent some time doing some digging this evening and LOOK what I found!!!!!!!

I have no way of knowing for absolute sure that this TCI is still good but I can honestly think of no reason why it should not be.. It has been stored high and dry for many years and other than a crankshaft that rattled like those steel balls in the bottom of a can of paint,, Beeg ran PERFECT inspite of her high mileage!! Those wires on the Coils are OEM as are the Caps.. I took some pics and am including them here to show you that indeed,,, this is an actual TCI for an 84 but I also snapped some close ups for the lop eared gear head varmints here who were recently talking about the specs for the caps on the MK1's.. As I mentioned in another thread,, all my MK1's came stock with 5k ohm caps if my memory served me correctly,,, well looky looky,,, my memory aint completely gone !!

I did have to seperate the TCI from the coil rack to see its label. I did so without using a hand impact to give the TCI all the help I could to being good when it gets to you.. I simply used my "T" phillips - worked perfect.. I reinstalled the TCI after taking the pics.. I would be honored to ship the whole rack, TCI, coils, wires and advance control modual your way free of charge @Captaineasy520 if you still need them? Just give the word and I will stick the whole thing in a box and, using the following addy - send them out:

Joseph Davis

9160 S. Avra

Tucson AZ 85736

Is this correct?

I wish I had a set of Progressives to send you as I would include those too.. I thought I had an extra set but havent located them - if I do find them I will let you know here so your/our fellow club members cease looking.. Personally CaptN,, I think when you open up your deceased brothers bike, you will be shocked at the "ink pen" springs Mom Yam chose to use in those forks (ink pen springs is a phrase that I coined - dont blame Yammer for that one ).. I found early on that those springs that sack out just from sitting are responsible for most blown seals IMHO.. I would suggest that you try installing Progressives with 1" of preload behind them so the fork sag comes back to reasonable. Pump the fish oil that Mom Yam used in the forks out and reup with 12.5 wieght Belray or equivalent (I will look,, maybe I also have Fork Oil I can toss in). Polish/clean the tubes with forks fully extended, clean the seals real well with either the edge of some 35mm film negative or pick up a Motion Pro seal cleaner = you slip either between the seal and the tube and wipe the seal edges clean). Add no air and see if the seals still leak BEFORE you pull the front end down - ya never know,, ya may get lucky..

Look over your project now real closely and see if there is anything,, ANYTHING else that you can see that you may need.. If so, please let me know here before I ship this TCI rack out (may as well take advantage of our Postal Service and get as much bang for the buck as possible:happy34:)...

Sorry about the long post but I really want you to know from the horses mouth how much I would LOVE to know that ol Beeg is out there helping someone and it would be a DOUBLE plus if that someone was a friends fallen buddy's bike..

Let's get er done!

Puc

Puc

Well cowpuc.. Seems to me I remember reading a few words a friend of yours wrote not to long ago. Guess he knew who he was vouching for!

Shoot man good thing your house is bolted to a foundation> Can just imagine you trying to post it via U.S. Mail

Wow, I don't know what to say. I'm humbled, impressed and overwhelmed by your generosity. Thank you so much, I'm sure my 84 will now be CTFW much much sooner than I had ever hoped it would be. Almost every day that I am able I try to complete a different task on her. I've cleaned her tank, added a few driving and fog lites, corrected a noisy speedo, cleaned and polished covers on the block, checked every connerctor I could, started the tedious job of eliminating oem fuse box with more modern connectors and fuses. Done some needed body work, cleaned the frame and sanded, cleaned and preped all the plastic in order to give her a decent paint job. Now ill dig up a carb rebuild kit for the four carbs.

You asked about the firing problem I was having at the time I started stripping the body down to get at the TCI and coils.

It developed what sounded like a misfire on the #2 cylinder. I pulled all the plugs to check them out and found that two were champion and the other two were Both. Don't remember the numbers and really wasn't interested, I just went to a parts house and bought new one per the manual.

It still had the miss but was acting a little better. I didn't like the hesitation it had devolped so I pulled the filter and synced the carbs the with a pair of vac gadges. Took a while but I got the hang of it..ran good for a while and then got worse. Sounded like one more cylinder was failing. Took it for a short run and had to baby it all the way home. The spark became very week, and began to sound like a old Chevy that had it's plug wires rotated 90'.

That's about as far as I got before the house fire put a hault to everything.