A few maintenance questions

[Karl C.]

Okay I just got my venture and it is an 83. I am going to change the oil and I understand that the tranny shares oil with the engine. After reading a few things on the net I have decided, even if momentarily, to use rotella 15-40. I have used this oil before in cars and liked it very well but I do realize this application is not a car, open for thoughts.... In all my autos I run amsoil and like it very well but amsoil here is starting to get hard to get ahold of... but I do not want to change a bike over to a synthetic due to not knowing what kind of oil was used before and if it might change things with internals. If someone can give you some insight on this I would most definitely be happy.

 

I am going to go with the E3 plugs and will let forum know how that goes.

 

Now what I need is some mirrors. My bike came with no mirrors and the dealer wants 105 apiece. I found a place on line that advertises that they are half of what a dealer charges for used ones but gee there price was 145 a piece for a used one... I have seen a set on ebay for 40 but they were ensribed with the last owners pilot and navigator name.... i missed the auction but I guess I could of gotten new mirror for it..

 

Also is Yamaha the place to get the raditor hoses? Mine setup for quite a while so I feel real confident they will be go at any given time or when I get the furthest from home...lol..

[buddy]

First off welcome to the family....

 

 

Rotella T 15w40 is rated for motorcycles and will not break you pocket book either , a lot the folks here have used Rotella T 15w40 well over 50,000miles on their bikes I like it very much myself.. I used Amsoil in the past as well Mobil 1 10w40 motorcycle oil too but I rather save money and use Rotella T 15w40 instead. Also use wallie world ST 7317 oil filter as well. I always had better luck buying my parts from www.flatoutmotorcycles.com for my cycle parts.

http://www.flatoutmotorcycles.com/fiche_select.asp

[Karl C.]

Buddy,

 

Thanks for the info... I alwasy heard, in the car world, that if you use rotella in a car you better be ready to change the oil filter real soon... they say it keeps the inside of the engine real clean... well you have to figure if it keeps inside of diesel engines clean then it should be good..

 

I have alwasy read that on certain bikes mobil 1, due to additives, will mess with some of the clutches... dont need that either but personally I am not a mobile 1 fan...

 

once again thanks,,

 

Karl

[Squidley]

Karl,

1st off welcome to the forum, lots of info here. Make sure you know about the search bar up top along the header as you can find anything posted on the site through it. I have used the Rotella T in 6 of my 7 Ventures with no issues. My new '08 when I had it went to Synthetic as soon as it had it's 1st oil change. I would not switch over to syn as your gaskets on that bike are 27 years old and I would bet $100 bill that they would start leaking as soon as the syn cleaned out the sludge in the engine.

The hoses are subjective, depending upon how the bike was stored and cared for. Yamaha is the only way to get them, but I have ordered through Zanotti H/D in Butler PA with very good results and prices.

Factory mirrors are nice on the Venture, ebay is the best bet, if you ask some of the members here have parts bikes and might let a set of them go. I would look at spending $75 to $100 for a set and that would be a fair price depending on condition. Let us know if we can help you out further, enjoy the site.

[GigaWhiskey]

The rad hoses ain't cheap either and there are plenty of them on that bike. I changed all of mine a few years back. The hoses seem to be in perty good shape, even considering the age. The big long one on the right side (when sitting on her) had some chafing going on.

 

I think you are paying for the name, they come from Yammy and the bends. You want those bends.

 

I would swear those mirrors got to about $400 a piece a few years back, unless I misread something. Nice to see them at $105, lol.

[timgray]

I run mobil 1 in my 83 with zero problems. you have to buy mobil1 that has no friction modifiers though.

 

Also, mirrors can be had cheaper, pull the black plugs on the clutch and brake cylinders and install standard bike handlebar mounted mirrors... they screw right in.

[CdnDave77]

My '83 had a cracked mirror on the right when I received it... and the left was completely missing. I was more interested in getting it on the road than sticking to the original factory mirrors so I bought a standard chrome pair of aftermarket motorcycle mirrors at a local shop, re-tapped the one mirror mount for a left hand thread (10 mm I believe), and mounted them as seen in the picture (sorry, the then-2yr-old in the pic is not for sale... kinda attached to her).

 

Total cost was about $22 Canadian.

[Rocket]

Factory mirrors are nice on the Venture, ebay is the best bet, if you ask some of the members here have parts bikes and might let a set of them go. I would look at spending $75 to $100 for a set and that would be a fair price depending on condition. Let us know if we can help you out further, enjoy the site.

 

Squidley, Partshark.com (Flatout's newer internet sales) is listing, New Mirrors at $61.22 Each.

 

GigaWhiskey, they did previously get up there in $$. But they were much cheaper in Europe, when I got my new ones. 2 mirrors + shipping, for less than the cost from Flatout at the time. They sold @ 20% over cost, before changing the internet sales over to partshark (which I think is still at the same % over cost).

[friesman]

I just broke my right side mirror last week on my 85 Brownie (sigh....dont ask...) and I checked around quite a bit before ordering from PArtShark at around 62 bucks. Ive used them before, I trust them and their service is generally real quick.

I thought about ordering a used one from someplace on ebay but then you dont know if they will stay adjusted properly at hiways speeds as some swivel with the wind. The price really wasnt that much different so I decided to go new and not have a worry.

 

Brian

[BigBoyinMS]

Buddy,

 

Thanks for the info... I alwasy heard, in the car world, that if you use rotella in a car you better be ready to change the oil filter real soon... they say it keeps the inside of the engine real clean... well you have to figure if it keeps inside of diesel engines clean then it should be good..

 

I have alwasy read that on certain bikes mobil 1, due to additives, will mess with some of the clutches... dont need that either but personally I am not a mobile 1 fan...

 

once again thanks,,

 

Karl

 

Rotella, along with motorcycle specific Mobil 1 and Amsoil, has one of the highest amounts of Zinc which is great for our bikes and any NON catalytic vehicle. It's just best to not use it in any catalytic vehicle in case any oil gets by the rings.

[warthogcrewchief]

I've been using Rotella T for my '98 Trooper for about a year now. Great Stuff! I have reservations using it in my VR because the oil also coats the clutch plates. I've heard that oil such as Amsoil causes the clutch plates. I usually stick with Valvoline or Castrol 20W-50 Motorcycle oil (depending which is cheaper at the time).

[Karl C.]

I've been using Rotella T for my '98 Trooper for about a year now. Great Stuff! I have reservations using it in my VR because the oil also coats the clutch plates. I've heard that oil such as Amsoil causes the clutch plates. I usually stick with Valvoline or Castrol 20W-50 Motorcycle oil (depending which is cheaper at the time).

 

see that is why I am looking at the rotella t is because it is supposedly good for a wet clutch system and also the tranny. My v65 sabre the sabre forum pretty much liked the rotella t also. I looked for people that had used it for a long time and got good feed back.. The only oil I have heard a bad feedback on is the regular automotive mobile 1 syn in a honda nighthawk..... clutch slippage started to occur in quite a few of those so I hear. I honestly was looking for an oil that I could use in both bikes and not have to worry about what uses what oil..

 

as far as the mirrors go I will check the Partshark.com...

I still havent exactly traded for the bike.. a friend of mine has the bike and I am supposed to trade him a very, very nice honda nighthawk for it.

I guess I would like to ask the forum about this.... 1985 honda nighthawk 700s. very nice bike under 15000 miles. doesnt appear to have been wrecked, recently tuned, carbs synced, sounds very good, equal trade for a 1983 venture, looks are ok, fairing needs to be put back together in a real way instead of pieced together with screws, starts very easy but seems carbs need cleaned out, no sounds in the motor, shifts great and has about 49K miles on it... Would i be better off selling the honda and then looking for a touring bike our does the trade sound good or bad or even or ???? I would appreciate any and all input... oh and it also need a back tire real bad...

[Monty]

Karl,

 

I use Rotella 15w40 in my RSV, and I also used it in my '83. I like it alot, and they seem to shift better with the Rotella.

 

That '83 is nearing the mileage where the 2nd gear issue is going to pop up, unless it has already been fixed. Do a search on this forum for "2nd gear issue", and you'll see what I mean. 2nd was pretty bad in my '83, but I just skipped 2nd. The '83 has enough power that you really can do without 2nd if you need to. Late '85s and up didn't have this issue.