cowpuc

I am probably reading this wayyyyy backwards but this sounds like a simple grounding issue,, like you got corrusion at a ground connector of a loose ground wire.. If it functions properly when running an external ground wire and ya didnt wanna fool around tracing connections,, cant you just ground it externally of the harness

:sign yeah that::sign yeah that: Sky!!! If it's got line-bored journals that the cam rides in instead of actual bearings this a VERY important IMHO.. I've rescued 100's of scoots that have sat unran for years and by doing exactly as Sky mentions here, never had a cam journal smudge and fail IF I opened em up and pre-lubed em.. Not sure on the Venture/V-Max V4 topend if this is the case but on a lot of lined bored topends (Honda 750's, XR's, Yamaha Inlines and so on) the cam journals are NOT oil supplied directly from the pump. There are small countersunk passages on the journals themselves that capture oil and bleed it into the journal. I have also restored/repaired top ends that the PO ignored doing this and I ended up with the bike, after the fact, with oblonged journals (LOTS of cam slop) = ruined head because of it.. Seen em bad enough that as soon as fired em up they would knock the points out of spec (Honda 350) and even one that came to me with a camshaft that had broken in half cause it siezed completely in the journals... Once that Aluminum saddle smudges from lack of lube its only a few spins from siezing.. GOOD POINT SKY,, IMHO of course..

Numerous companies use drip plugs for oil level checking.. You just upright the scoot, remove the plug and fill till oil drips out. If it were mine and someone had rigged it like your talking I would just pull the large plug they filled the hole with, drill a hole thru the center of it and tap it out and put a small bolt with a crush washer on it to use as a drip plug.. Some companies (Honda) even use drip plugs on the top end's to be used for pre-lubing/checking oil pump.. If you get a chance, check out a 1980's thru mid 2000's XR80 - XR100, right above the spark plug will be a 10mm oil drip plug. So many of those little scoots got their top ends (cam journals) fried from people letting them sit and then starting them up without pre-lubing (a lot of scoots have cams in them that ride on aluminum journals that if started dry without pre-lubing they will smudge the journals in a matter of seconds at start-up) and/or people dont realize that on a tip over it easy to get air in the oil pump and it needs to be re-primed before start up.. Ya just kick it till oil drips from the drip hole and all is good.. Also not sure if the RSV uses a float switch to monitor oil level like the 1st Gens?? One of my bikes got enough hard miles on it that it was on the perverbial, never do an oil change = just add oil routine.. With that scoot I never looked at the site glass, I would just hammer it once in a while in 1st gear and if the oil icon flashed I knew it was time to add a quart.. Worked great!!

I am so sorry for your tremendous loss and share in your grief my brother.. Hanna sounds like she was an amazing person with the type of relationship with her Dad that so many only dream of. Please know you, your family and the families of the others who also suffered the loss of family members at such a young age are in my prayers.. Good thing our loving God can hear prayers from the heart cause I am speachless in sorrow here my friend.. PRAYERS UP BROTHER,, PRAYERS UP! Puc

John I am typing this while eating breakfast and chasing my 2 year old grandson trying to keep him from smearing scrambled eggs onto my keyboard so I gotta make it quick.. There is a good chance the roller follower that engages the indexer at the end of the shift drum is messed up,, may even be an issue with the little spring that holds the arm the roller is on is messed up. Before I started pulling the engine to split the cases to check shift forks I would remove the clutch basket and get a good look at that apparatus..

Just looked up "Lachut" in the Dictionary that came with my copy of The Code.. Surprised none of you other lop eared varmints didnt think of that.. Lets see,,, says here = "One with strong desire to gobble ice cream", warning signs in early American history used the term "lachut" to announce an out of ice cream status", "common term used to warn hikers to watch their step when hiking and following kids who hiked before them eating ice cream cones = "watch for lachut rocks on canyon rim". ,, don't know sqwat about the :canada:version of The Code or the dictionary associated therewith but that's how the (we REALLY gotta do something about this teeny flag waver dude,, it's getting harder and harder to tell the difference between the Stars and Bars he's wavin and the British one for these old eyes ) reads!

Death Valley in the moonlight of a full moon = WOWZY WOW WOW WOW unforgettable!! CTFW = Chasing The Front Wheel and/or some dirivitive thereof

Got that right my friend,,, just checked out the current OEM,, down to 256 from 603 !! https://www.yamahapartsnation.com/oemparts/a/yam/59b01bfe87a86610ac04eca9/rear-wheel Here is an interesting point too.. Check out the current price of the rear wheel Don = 260 bucks!! That is also wayyy down from 576 shown on the original parts sheet and for sure that cant be because of competition like in tire supply.. Strange...

Here is a little better picture from that same thread showing the rear tire back then at 603 bucks

Actually he was quoting me right from Mom Yam's parts book and showed me the numbers.. If you refer back to this thread https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?132424-Tires that was an earlier discussion about tire pricing, there is an actual picture of the parts list showing the price of the rim at 576 and tire at 603.. Hold on,, I'll see if I can duplicate that listing here.. Yep,, got it,, should be showing up in a pic below? I know brother,, that was a while back, a lot of water over the dam since then = with the new Honda running the same tire, lower prices? Anyway,, back during that time frame 500 bucks for a tire was about the highest price tire I knew of,,, in answer to Neil's question.. Here's a picture of the parts quote from that thread and from the time frame I was referring to,, looks exactly like the page that factory guy was quoting from in answering my questions back then,,, a longgg time ago on a galaxy far far away

Not sure where it's at now price wise and not even sure what brand of tires we were talking but when we looked at and rode the new Ventures out at Sturgis I spent a fair amount of time yakking with the factory guys out there. One of the things I noticed right away at the unveiling at Americade in New York was the odd sized tire they chose to run on the rear end.. Being one who used to go thru a few tires a year I was curious of the cost of the new breed of tire on the new Yam I was compelled to inquire at Sturgis = I was shocked to find be quoted over 500 bucks for a new rear tire (this quote was for one (1) tire). A little more checking revealed that a person could actually buy the wheel itself at all most at the same price !! No idea where that stands now Neil but someone here may know.. I do know this,, even Carbon Fiber tires rated at +200mph for my R1 are not close to that number!!

,, , but on the other hand,,, maybe a good old fashioned bidding war - sold to the highest bidder - bidding war would liven things up a bit.. With the bike market being as soft as it is and if Becky is wanting it gone before winter maybe our first ever VentureRider Bike Auction would service her needs perfectly. Carl could ask her to pick a date that the bike needs to be gone, then pick an auction close date for bids a couple weeks before that date. Keep the bids open for all to see to keep the going on.. Could do the same with Blondie.. I know of LOTS of estates that have gotten cleared in this way by auction services. The major downfall for the families who are selling the belongings of the loved one who has passed on is that the selling auction services REALLY sock it to em in fee's and commissions, something that doing it "in house" would eleviate. Another avenue may be a Raffle of sorts but there may be laws standing in our way of doing such a thing ( @Freebird ?) plus, a Raffle would be a lot more time consuming IMHO.. Sheesh Randy,, now look what you started

Speaking of Whale Watching,, here is the pathway (C Vid) for a Whale Watching spot in California one of my daughters told us about. This was after the fact of our CTFW days but still an AWESOME ride that would be TREMENDOUS to do on a scoot!! Also, I cant help but wonder if a later season scoot trip back into Shelter Cove (AMAZING spot in it self) might actually reveal some Whale sightings!!!! Speaking of late/early season snows,,, one of the kids and I got snowed in while camping on the North Rim one year and had to wait till the after noon hours to get the scoot out of the woods - that was in mid-June.. Yellowstone also got us one time in an early September tour with the same results.. Another time Tweeks/Tip and I bumped into some hikers doing the Pacific Crest Trail on the Sonora Pass Summit. This was in late June and they had just hiked thru snow to get to us. Their plan was to have the hike finished by Sept. 1 as (their words) alot of the passes can and do snow shut starting in September = ,, maybe doing some investigative research on hiking the PCT and season for doing so would help in your decision making of the best route down and back during the off season brother!! Northern U.S. (north of that line I was talking about) in the late fall is a BEAUTIFUL time to ride though if your dressed for it IMHO.. LOTS of adVenture out there even in just trying to stay warm ,,, DEFINITELY farr less other bikers on the road if your the type to not into sharing the road!!

About the only brand that I can think of that a lot these varmints aint played with would be in the Car Tire category but I bet a Dark Siding report wouldnt be on Ultimate's agenda.. ,,, ,, how about a good set of Chin Shing full knobbies like my KX500 liked to gooble up Seriously though,,, I think Avons would be the least reported on tires I have seen around but even those had a following for a while...

+3 on the Shinks!! We LOVE and revere your reports on Ulimate @VentureFar,, always from the hip, call em as you see em and ULTIMATELY very accurate!! A square shot at the cheaper tire's by a lop eared from the hip, call em as you see em varmint like yourself would be treasured!! Keep up the good work brother and keep the faith! Puc

:sign yeah that: One of the HUGE things I love about our little +60 mpg Hyundai Ioniq mini motorhome is that it's cruise control remains operatable from 16 mph to 114 mph. For many thousands of miles I had to use a throttle lock on my 1st Gens to get that kind of cruise control performance. I actually liked and appreciated those throttle locks so much that I even put one on Maggie, my Yamaha R1. If the guru's dont respond shortly with a viable electronic cure for your cruise control you might give a throttle lock a try. They do have a learning curve but not that bad IMHO. I even use mine while slow riding Tweeks thru crowds at rallies and wanting to take video's of the people doing crazy stuff

My personal rule of thumb is, for CTFW living out of saddlebags and tenting it, draw a parallel line across the country from the bottom of Michigan and Sept 1 thru July 1 stay south of it if you want the best chance to not get snowed in.. I think if I were gonna do such a trip October to November I would hug the west coast, stay on the west side of the Rockies and hug the ocean.. Probably run around the west side of Mt. St. Helens, down to "The Dells" in Oregon on the Columbia, head south staying in the lower elevations, back over the coast after getting around Portland, follow as much of "1" as possible down to Stewards Point California. Ride east out of Stewards Point on Skaggs Creek road (WOWZY WOW WOW WOW = this is must do every time we get out there = its like a bicyle path thru the Red Woods - BEAUTIFUL CTFW opportunity and fresh new pavement!!) out to Geyserville. I am not much for City driving and have done Frisco several times without being to impressed so I would set my sites on going around the bottom of the Serria Nevada's and spending time in Death Valley N.P. in the coolness of the fall months when its not 120 degree's out there.. If you happen to catch the park during full moon time, pull the fuse on the headlight (or unplug it) and run running lights only = UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCE!! Like riding on a different planet!! From there I would grab Joshua Tree NP on my way down to Organ Pipe Cactus N.P. and cross into Mexico there.. I carry a couple quarts of xtra fuel strapped under my tent carrier on the back of Tweeks,, I just use empty oil containers,, when I fill em I squeeze em down to allow room for expansion.. I know Menards here has sealed fuel cans for such security but I also know that there is an after market company that sells pretty nice fuel containers that are saddle bag ready. I am positive that @VentureFar (wassup my dear brother!! Hope all is well!!) has a TON of experience with these.. Cant remember the name brand he uses but he will be able to tell you - trust VentureFar = if he says NO LEAKS no SMELLS = it is so!.. Have fun, ride safe! Puc

WOWZY WOW WOW WOW,, you are 100% correct @Condor!! That place REALLY gets lit up after dark!! Makes me think of the Sturgis Rally on steroids when the sun goes down!!

Thanks for the reminder my brother!! Got er done! Also thanks again for doing this in memory and honor of our friend and brother, BongoBob.. Sure miss em! Puc

prayers up sky!!

Sheesh @videoarizona,,,, I have absolutely NO idea how I missed your post here brother,,, Trooper/Tip and I were probably out wandering around the country trying to figure out our way home.. My apologies my friend!! Indeed we did sneak your scoot out for some fun while you were sleeping off an awesome CTFW journey from AZ to our home in Michigan!! To follow up on the video(s) of us out tortu,, demoing the amazing 2nd Gen iron steed as you mentioned,, here is a couple them. First one will be of the slow riding fun we had with it,, second one as proof of what kind of company you keep (lop eared varmints who will sneak your bike away for some fun when your snoozin). Third one will be of us on Tweeks showing the basics of how we slow ride and the exact techniques we used in slow riding your fully loaded with gear, 2nd Gen = DEFINITELY user friendly that 2nd Gen was/is.. Not sure what size tires you had on it at the time,, I can't remember if you had dropped to a smaller front tire as mentioned in this thread? I got a sneaking hunch that you had OEM sizes on it and truthfully,,, I thought it did a GREAT job,, IMHO of course! Another opinion concerning the topic of discussion here,, because I run full weight (always have my touring bike set up for x2 up CTFW fun at full pack) on my 1st Gen, I always make sure that my tires are a full, when cold, air pressure according to the tire carcass rating on the tires I am running. Doing this pretty much guarentees that I am running on the radius of the tire which I like the feel and handling charachtoristics of.. Running lower than stated air pressures will give me more contact area and a different feel in steering and such. Back in the day when doing a fair amount of dirt play in the dunes of Michigan (Silver Lake), it was common to catch me running 3 or 4 pounds of pressure on the tires on my MX bike to make em squat and gain traction.. Thing is,, worked GREAT for dunes but dangerous on the street, IMHO of course.. Here's those vids..

:sign yeah that: After checking the Cables and Fuses carefully for corrosion and engagement like Vaz mentions I would stick it on a battery charger and bring it to a full charge and try it, then toss some jumper cables on it if needed to see if that will get er started. After getting it started I would toss an ohm/volt meter across the battery cables to make sure your scoots charging system is doing its thing. At idle = 12 volts, off idle (2 grandish) I would be looking for 14.5 volts.. IMHO, starting the bike every week and letting it sit and idle will drain the battery. If your gonna start it just to keep it operatable you gotta rev it occasionally in the process to keep the battery charged. If you just let it idle you can drain the battery with results similar to what I am reading here.. Maybe a Battery Tender is in your future?

:sign yeah that: Right there with ya Roller!!!! Prayers Up for all in the possible path of this one!!! Stay safe my friends!!

Way I figure it brother is ya can't expect them to even care one way or the other whether you respect them or not once they have lost all respect for themselves ,, did I say that right ,,,,,, IMHO respect for all things external of ones self begins with respect for ones self,,, ,, probably still not making sense,,, oh well,, at least I tried

Tweeks, Tip and I CTFW down to Big Bend N.P. a few years ago and then did another one just this year to see what was happening about the wall in El Paso. IMHO, the climate has changed significantly (at least along the border,, thinking the Cartels aint none to happy with the U.S./Mexico relationship right now) between now and than..