flyday58

Well, good news. Since the rewire and new fuse box, my voltage is now showing 14.05v at idle, and 13.95 at 3000 rpm and up, so much better. Let the bike run till the fan kicked on and never missed a beat. I'll put it all back together tomorrow and take it around the neighborhood a bunch of times before Venture -ing out for a real ride. If all goes well I'll let y'all know. Thanks to everyone for the assistance. Again.

A little history, or thread link for us J-C-Ls? Thanks. Richard

Well, got the fuse panel replaced - thanks to skydoc_17 for the kit - and wires on the six- and eight-pin plugs replaced. I'm also going to convert to COPs as soon as the Vmax guy gets the harnesses done. I know the coils took a lot of water so I'm getting rid of them, hopefully that cures the farting the engine does at idle (although in bike years it's twice as old as me, which would cover the farting:backinmyday:).

Thanks, took it apart yesterday and it looked brand new, but I didn't check the screws. I'll do that when I get home Sunday. Also went back and checked the pickup coils for the ignition. The Book shows "O" orange as the ground, but the schematic clearly shows black as the ground. They all checked out at around 120Ω. Just going back over this because of the bad readings I had before.

So far: Checked my truck batteries and both read 12.5 volts with my meter, so suspect the meter is good. Thanks to BlueSky. Diodes check good. Stator reads .4 to .5 ohms 1-2, 1-3, 2-3. Bike running at 2100 rpm, stator reads 52 volts 1-2, 1-3, 2-3. My battery to solenoid lead has corrosion under the sheath near the crimp for the battery connector, but not on the red primary wire, just the copper mesh lead. Red lead shows 0.0 ohms. Found a couple wires on the TCI harness cut through the insulation, specifically the gray and black wires. Repaired. Battery is on a 2A charge till late tonight to get a deep charge as Jeff suggested. When I get home I'll have it load tested. Jeff's test procedure didn't specify whether to plug the regulator-side of the RR up or not, so tested the stator both ways. Same results, except the RR got noticeably warm when plugged in. Suspect that to be normal. Quick test run after wire repairs and stator checks yield the same results. Around 13.4 volts at idle decreasing to 13.1 on throttle up and then rising again back at idle. If I run around 4000 revs then chop the throttle, the volts temporarily rise to almost 14 before decreasing back to around 13.4. All I can get done today. Leave tmro for 5 days so will get back on it Sunday. Hope y'all all have a good week. Richard

Yep, that's why I said if everything else checks out that I'd change it. Jeff, thanks for the link, it's exactly what I need. Running out of time, they actually want me to come to work so it will be next Sunday before I can get back to this. Will keep everyone...ya know...

All the diodes in the regulator checked good, but the book says if all else looks okay then change it. Will check for corroded wires, connectors, bad grounds and so on, but barring that is a bad regulator more likely than the alternator? I know less than 14 volts is a bad sign. And thanks for the clarification on the ignition bypass. True dat. Went through a lot of headaches on the air-cooled 70s Yamaha twins that usually led back to low volts or a low battery. It's why I started pulling bulbs to get the bike back home yesterday. And I wasn't having this problem before the fork rebuild etc so I'm going back over all that. Thanks for all the replies!

Um...solved the washer issue. Took off the left side muffler/ pax foot peg support to get at my voltage regulator for another post and there was the washer. It's a spacer for the muffler mount bolt and fell out when I took the right side off to change the rear wheel. Guess the PO did something similar but put it on the caliper bracket instead of the muffler mount. It's back where it belongs.

It never ends, this shinola. Wanted to do a 50-miler today to start working up to a road trek, weather cooperating, up in the 50s. Left the house, went two miles to a gas station. As I was coasting up to the pump she just unceremoniously up and quit. Like I hit the kill switch. After the fork rebuild, triple tree grease job, clutch slave cylinder replace and assorted small jobs it also did this after it warmed up the first time. Just sitting in the driveway idling, then it just died. Ran the battery down trying to start it, so put the charger on and it fired off again after a couple minutes. Figured the battery had gotten down in the cold and down time since before Christmas and that it didn't leave enough juice for ignition. Then today it happened again. I have started my flyaway kit and had a socket set and a combo screwdriver in the trunk, so removed the top cover to look at the fuses and connections again. I know I have a broken spade on the ignition fuse, but it also controls the starter, which spins just fine. Tried wiggling wires and anything I could reach while cranking, no luck. Decided maybe it was a charging issue so I unplugged the headlight, put everything together again and suited up, just in case, hoping that maybe there would be enough volts without the headlight to get back home. She fired up, so I hopped on and prayed that the 3 lights between me and home would be green. They were, and I made it a mile before she quit again. Pushed it to a school parking lot, and this time I pulled the tail light bulbs. JUST TO GET HOME Y'ALL!! Anyway, she fired back up and I made it within 3 houses of home. Do-able. I've looked at everything including: the emergency cutoff switch, the side stand switch and relay, the wiring to the fuse block and TCI (Ignitech), I have a Radioshack digital meter but I'm beginning to suspect its voracity. Rode around the block for about 10 minutes with it hooked to the battery. I get 13.5 volts idling, then it drops to around 13.1 around 3000 rpm. Dash gauge shows the drop, too. I checked the resistance on the pickup coils and got 136, 272,272, and 267 ohms respectively, book says should be 110± 10%. So those are way off. Think I'll cruise by Radio Shack and see if they can check the accuracy of my meter... So there you have it, sorry for the long post. I've looked for corrosion and loose or broken wires. Battery is right at a year old and freshly serviced with acid. Still suspecting it's a charging problem the way the voltmeter is acting. I haven't check the voltage regulator yet but that's my next step. Thanks for your help! Richard

Hello all. When I flew out of Guam in the 90s we always had a flyaway kit in the belly in case we broke down somewhere downrange. It included common items to get you back to home base without having to wait for parts, or get them from JAL, ANA, EVA etc. at a much higher price. Mechanics were abundant, parts not so much. The time is approaching for me to put this thing on the road, and I don't mean the 40 mile test rides I've been doing. I mean like you gen-you-wine over-the-road guys and gals. Getting older I'm not as Venture-ous or Venture-some as I once was, but if I'm not gonna ride long-haul... So with that in mind, I'd like to get an idea what y'all have in your flyaway kits. Tools, parts, fluids, BLTs. Was gonna post in the Watering Hole but more interested in 1st gen-specific stuff. But any info is appreciated. Richard

POs. :bang head:

26H-W0098-00-00, "push lever seal kit", $18.90 from partzilla. The whole cylinder is 1FK-16381-10-00, "push lever comp.", $69.52. Both fit 83-93 Ventures. i initially did the seals, but the body was bodged enough I guess it wouldn't completely seal. Just installed the new cylinder. Richard

Thanks Randy. Makes sense as, with the washer, the bracket doesn't go all the way onto the post. Probably added by the PO. Come to think, the rear did seem to be overly warm after riding. I just ass-you-me'd if was from the heat of the engine and tranny. I'll remove and check it. Richard

Back here on the pivot mount for the bracket on the right side of the swingarm. How many washers or spacers?

Thanks to both. Had rerouted behind the lower triple tree and was coming in to post. Thanks Kevin and Marcarl.

Oh, and my swingarm may be fubar. Noticed in your (Kevin) pic the pinch bolt doesn't close the gap completely at the axle. Mine does. Sorry for sorta hijacking...

Ah, also pertinent to me. On the caliper bracket, the parts diagrams don't show any washers/spacers where the bracket slides onto the pivot mount on the swingarm. I've had one washer on the pivot but yesterday found another laying on the ground under the swingarm. Only takes one, right? Two or none seemed to cause misalignment. No clue where the extra washer came from.

I'm with Gary on the gear indicator. I also had a slow leak on the clutch slave cylinder in the same area. Clutch fluid down a little after every ride.

Resurrection time! I've had my speedo cable off and on a couple times working on the instrument cluster/dash/gauges with no probs. But I'm finishing up rebuilding the forks, and now the same routing is catching on the lower pinch bolt blivet when I turn the forks to the left. Never did this before that I noticed. Bike is still off the ground on jacks and catches when near full left turn. There's no bracket, clip, or hole to run it through. Looking at the indent for the cable in the plastic cowling inner panel below the cluster, if the cable sits properly in that indent then it has to run where it is. Only now it catches. I may have to use a zip tie loosely fastened to hold the cable out of the way. Just bugs me that it never got in the way before. I'll take some pics later, but it's 25 degrees in the garage. In southern Miss that means schools are closed, the interstate is sanded (no salt), all flights are grounded, and the trash don't run.

Darny darn, I was hoping to pick up a spare 83 cheap! Always glad when someone gets one of these sorted.

US 90 from Pascagoula to Waveland in Ole Miss sees lots of bikers all times of the year. Saw four trikes yesterday in Ocean Springs, westbound. The major bridges are new since Katrina, and the highway has been repaved most, if not all of the way to the Louisiana line. St Michael Catholic Church in east Biloxi survived Camille and Katrina and has beautiful stained glass windows from floor to ceiling. It's worth a look, it's a round church with a roof shaped like a seashell. Also known as the Fisherman's Church. Most restaurants are chains and big-box since the hurricane, and my family is on a gluten-free diet so we don't eat out much. Sorry I can't help there.

I had a slide diaphragm come loose from the slide. Was able to reglue it and it's been fine since. Most here will suggest a fresh set of plugs to begin with. I've also come to realize it's such a complex motor that just 'cos it's running well now doesn't mean it'll fire up the same tomorrow. Lots to go wrong.

Success. For me, anyways. Had to locate here due to triple tree interference. MKII may have clearance, MKI didn't. At least not mine. Anyway, done.

Thanks Pete, think even I can manage that. Watch out for those Rainier Beer crossings, I know they're still lurking out there somewheres. Saw one dart across the highway in Puyallup once... Richard