GilliganJ

Hey Gang, I have been riding a 1st gen 84 Venture std for 28 years and 100,000 miles and loved almost every minute (except for breakdowns and fuel leaks) but its time for a new ride. I found on Craigslist a beautiful dark blue 07 Venture Royal Star with 28,000 miles on it in immaculate condition. HOWEVER when I traded bikes with the owner and took the bike on some nice twisties my experience with the steering was HORRIBLE, it was so light and twitchy, squrrley, falls to the inside of the turn whatever the definitive term, I had to countersteer so hard that it was impossible to carve a smooth line in say 15 to 35 mph corners, to the point where it was NOT fun to ride.The bike would start to stabilize above 50 mph or so. I realize this was a new unfamiliar bike for me and there is a learning curve. The bikes owner said it has felt the same since he bought it new, He just put a new tire on the front and has matching Avon's running 40 Lbs of air front & rear. The bike is perfect in every other way and I would love to buy this bike IF this problem is fixable with New steering head bearings, different tires or air pressure, aftermarket steering damper, whatever it takes. What do you guys think? if this is (As the owner implied) is just the way it is and always has been. Is this how your rides feel to you? When I got back on my dearly beloved "old beater" and rode home, within 2 blocks I decided NO SALE on an otherwise sweet ride, and go start looking at Kawasaki Vulcans or something instead. Because I cant imagine having enough fun to get this new bike to 100,000 miles the way it is. Maybe its just me But I have rented / ridden other unfamiliar bikes and have NEVER felt any other ride this twitchy. PLEASE HELP with all the worldly sage advice and experience you all might be able to provide!??? Because I would really like to buy this bike! IF its fixable! AND THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE!

Well actually when my friends future wife decided he didn't want to ride a motorcycle anymore so he let me take it for a test drive for a year and almost 10,000 miles as he continued to make the payments on it, then when HE finally decided he didn't want to ride motorcycles anymore he sold it to me for what he owed on it ($3,000.00). I could have bought the exact same Burgundy 84 venture std. at the local dealer at that time for $1,000 more than what my friend owed on his as Yamaha was still trying to sell the overstock and the credit union would still give it a new bike loan since it had never been licensed, but since my friend was willing to let me test drive his as he continued to make the payments...well lets just say after another 100,000 miles as my only bike for the last 26 years I STILL have no regrets on the choice I made! Especially after the sticker shock I get when I see how much they want for new Goldwings!

I have been using the Mobil 1 Automotive the kind(s), Either The 10/30OR the 20/40 they sell at Costco in my 84 Mk 1 Std for close to 100,000 miles and 20 years without any problems even 2nd gear has never been a problem. The guy I bought it from was running Pennzoil Automotive...NOW that was a problem (clutch was real chattery) but since Mobil 1 the tranny shifts like butter and the clutch is always smooth. But that just my 2 cents worth

:bighug:THANKS!

:rotf:NOW THAT was funny right there! , I don't care who ya are!

As long as the tank is out, take a good look at that STUPID factory formed fuel line that snakes around the tire front of the back tire on the swing arm from the tank outlet on the right side to the fuel filter / pump on the left side. I FINALLY replaced that brittle, leaky SOB with some steel brake line formed with a tubing bender. This experience is what led me to my 2nd out of state U-Haul Solution (Referenced in my previous post) from Incredible Highway 36 between Red Bluff and Eureka CA. That road is just not as much fun with my once again dead scooter in the back of a U-Haul instead of on it! To say nothing of the $700.00 truck rental bill. At the risk of repeating myself... :225:I HATE FUEL LEAKS!!! and :fingers-crossed-emoHere's to NEVER having another! BUT believe it or not I STILL LOVE my '84 100,000 mile Venture! It Just fits me perfect!

I sure wish they had invented E-Bay and this website when my '84 developed pinhole leaks in the tank that started leaking as I was riding the South Rim of the Grand Canyon about 15 years ago. It smelled like I was dribbling a pretty good steady stream and I was as I used a half tank in the 45 miles from Cameron to the village. My friend is a park ranger there, we laid the bike on its side tried to patch the holes with JB weld before we hiked to the Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon and spent the night, hiked back out the next day, spent another night at his house in the village, stood the bike up after 2 days of curing and within an hour the tank was dripping gas again. Had to drive to Flagstaff to rent a U-Haul truck to get the bike back home to Seattle This was the 1st of several U-Haul solutions I have (Enjoyed???) over the years and all of them have been from leaking gas problems! So ANYHOW when I got back home I searched and researched the issue, I was hoping I could find somebody to braze in the leaks with brass as I had gotten successfully done on a dirt bike tank with the same problem, NOBODY was willing to come close to this tank with a torch though but I found a radiator shop nearby that said they could line the tank with the same stuff they used to line the fuel tanks of Boeing 747's for $75.00, I thought that sounded good. I reinstalled the tank 2 weeks later after curing and it lasted for a year before it started leaking again! I took it back to the radiator shop and they relined it again. That was maybe 15 years ago and so far so good. After pulling the tank a couple of times I got pretty good at it but it is still a P.I.T.A.! which leads me back to the first line of my comment...SURE wish the had invented E-Bay back then (whenever it was) cause it sure would have been easier (probably cheaper too) to just buy a new tank if I could have found one not at the stealer-ship. P.S. As I was dribbling that trail through one of the world most beautiful places I had visions of a little fire trail following me right up to my buddy's house as the forest caught fire in the wake of my 45 mile long trail of (smelly) tears. And that my friends is why I am paranoid about riding my bike out of state ever again! :225:I HATE GAS LEAKS!

I wonder if that had anything to do with Installed communications wiring in the helmet that conducted the lightning and it looks like the photos showed the possibility of the radio antenna acting as the lightning rod. For the FIRST time in the nearly 30 years of riding my Venture, I am glad I dont have ANY installed Audio / Communications on the bike or in the helmet! Not that I ride in lightning storms a lot but here is proof that ANYBODY could get caught out in a fast approaching storm!

I just saw the video on the news WOW he is one lucky guy! Whoever he is! even if its not who HE is. But he could be!

Unless of course its a choice of what road to take, Then whatever the choice its always the perfect one!

As I was motoring along on my '84 Std I was really enjoying the ride when I noticed the only thing detracting from a perfect ride was that I seemed to be bouncing along like I was on a Hobby Horse this caused some weird thought process to begin something like.. so how old IS this fork oil? near as I can recollect it was from the last blown fork seal maybe 10 years ago, and could that have something to do with my dampening issues? Witch leads me FINALLY to my question for the resident experts! What are your recommendations for Fork Oil weight for an 84 Venture with 100,000 miles and progressive springs and how many CC's per leg do I need? or is it better to measure down from the top of the fork for oil level? But as I just finished typing all of this I had ANOTHER Thought! "search the forum and I may have my question already answered and I did! So never mind!, HOWEVER I am not about to waste all this typing with a simple delete key so here is my redundant question in all its glory! (I hope this didn't earn me to many "ignore" ratings!)

I got the Kuryakin ISO grips with the wrist thingy to replace the worn out foam grips I have on my 84 MK1 the rubber insert between the chrome cover is real nice and cushy, and the adjustable throttle boss is perfect and looks way better than those plastic ones. HOWEVER to make it so cushy the inside that goes against the plastic throttle is ribbed rubber with not as much contact patch as the old foam so on hot days the grip kept coming unstuck, I finally got a BIG tube of grip glue and really filled that sucker up (to fill in the voids between the ribs) and after a year it FINALLY seems to be stuck! sure hope I don't ever have to remove it! The right side grip has stayed on since original its just the twist grip side that comes loose.

If so you may be able to find development motivation with Zackybilly1 over on the GL1800riders forum his thread http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?304851-I-modified-my-Wing-cat-is-out-of-the-bag&highlight=zack is now 581 posts long and quite an entertaining read if you have a lot of spare time that may appeal to other creative minds like TZ Tom's

A Couple of years ago while driving south of Salt Lake City, UT saw an older crew cab pickup (with about 5 kids) pulling a LARGE 5th wheel trailer with a LARGE boat on its own trailer bringing up the rear he was going uphill on the I-15 at maybe 10 mph!

:bighug:I just scored! Snaggle Clause sent me a BEAUTIFUL set of mufflers for my 84 MK1 Std that is going to be the shiniest thing on the whole bike! (They just came today) WOW! THANK YOU MIKE! In other words I FINALLY got a real decent deal online from a real decent guy, seems like every other online deal (E-Bay) that I ever made in the past I got burned, of course that's because it was before I found this VentureRider Forum! In Other words...I Be A Happy Camper!