tony h Posted October 12, 2006 Share #1 Posted October 12, 2006 Ok, I know this isn't a Venture but you all have played with other bikes in your days I'm guessing. I bought a '78 Yamaha 400 for $1. yup, ONE DOLLAR Got it running a few months ago and it is just the perfect Learner bike. Anyway the one issue that bothers me is the way this thing dives at the touch of the Front brake. I have already drained and filled the forks with 10-30 motor oil as recommended in the manual. Still dives. At that time I was surprised to find that the Springs pop out of the upper fork by about 1" telling me that they are not 'tired'. ( the bike has 8K miles on it.) So, any suggestions? I was thinking of preloading the springs with some PVC but I'm not sure I would be able to push it all down into the fork to get the Snap ring back in place that holds the whole mess together. Is this just the nature of these good ole' bikes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bigin Posted February 21, 2007 Share #2 Posted February 21, 2007 Wow, a bike for dollar. Hard to know about this. Memory of my 250's and 350's was they were a little soft and did do the dive thing under braking. These were before anti dives came out. In an effort to firm up the front end I have washers in one of my Ventures on top of the stock spring which measures out to spec, but then you have the issue of getting the caps back on. I am currently experimenting with a couple of extra ounces of fork oil (15wt) in each fork, less compressability the more oil, but less fork action. Worry about the seals taking the added pressure, but for the past 800 miles it has improved the stability. I think I would first confirm the springs are up to the task though, they could have lost their tension. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony h Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted February 21, 2007 I was going to give that a shot...Adding some spacers. I'll fight down the Cap and see if it helps. This dopey little bike is a blast. I have to get back to trying to resolve the front end. It's scary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timk Posted February 21, 2007 Share #4 Posted February 21, 2007 Why not just get a new set of springs. Not sure of the model you have, but if it's a RD, you can probably get them at Moto Carrerra.com. I have a couple of 76's, and mine don't bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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