BlueSky

I'd still put some seafoam or my favorite, Gumout for high mileage engines with PEA, in the gas tank. I think it's an infrared, not laser thermometer. I used to call it that too.

The Yamaha specs say that the (84 & 85) Gen I MKI is 736 or 756 lbs depending on whether it is an L or DL model. The Gen II is 869lbs. So, that is 113lbs or 133lbs right there. Add the differences in your bodies weight and what you were carrying and you didn't have a chance without considering the gearing. My 89 is supposed to weigh 783lbs. But during my misspent youth I lost a lot of drag races and all of them were fun!

I suspect it was a mixture that they came up with, probably diluted battery acid (sulfuric acid), or hydrochloric acid or something like that. Muriatic acid that is available from a builders supply co. such as Home Depot or Lowes and is used to clean concrete or bricks is dilute hydrochloric acid. What those acids will do to aluminum, I don't know?

That is what I have used since then, but it isn't anywhere near as strong as the acid they used in the AF base shop.

When I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Bliss in 1968, I used the auto craft shop at the fort and the nearby Air Force base. The shop at the AF base had a 5 gallon bucket of carb cleaner. It must have been an acid mix because when the cover was removed it smoked. Anyway my 65 Chevelle was running fine but I disassembled the Carter carburetor and soaked it in that mix. Wow! What a difference in how it ran afterwards and I thought it was running well before. I wish I had recorded exactly what that carb cleaner mix was because my carb looked just like new afterwards.

That is scary to me. If I get the bike truly upright so the reading will be accurate, I'm afraid the bike will fall on me while I'm on the floor trying to read the level. I'd for sure have to restrain it in some way so it wouldn't fall on me. I have a mirror. I'll give that a try while I'm astride the bike. It would appear that since it doesn't have a center stand, I need to buy one of those jack adapters from Carbon One and a motorcycle jack if I decide to keep it. I'll be riding all of my bikes and will try to decide which two to sell or at least that is what I'm telling the wife!

That size is probably the ideal size for scooting around town easily.

Now you know that photos of that new scoot posted so we can enjoy them are mandatory!

I went for a ride on the new to me 2007 RSV. After putting a half bottle of Gumout in the tank, it starts instantly on full choke but takes a while to warm up and idle with the choke off. It ran great. Feels like all 4 cylinders are pulling just fine. I have an ignorant question. How do you remove the cap from the rear brake master cylinder? It isn't obvious to me how to do it. And another question is what is the best glue for resticking the rubber pads on passenger foot rests? Both are a little loose. The loose pads are the only thing I've found so far that needs repair. Knock on wood! I also need to figure out a way to hold the bike up straight so I can check the oil. Ideas on how to do that I would appreciate. I miss the center stand.

I found out when I went to check out the 2007 Venture that it is really hard to get a temperature reading on the front cylinders exhaust pipes due to the chrome covers or heat shields.

Looks like there is another crack in the engine where the bolt threads in??

For inspiration.

The amount of weight needed has to be enough to balance the tire. There is no set amount. I'd look the tire over really well making sure it was round and no lumps and if it looks okay, I'd add another ounce of beads. Oh, did it help when you added the second ounce?

Wow! Fantastic Condition! What a find!

You will have a difficult time hitting me in Wilmington NC. Snow is a rare event here.

will these work? https://charlotte.craigslist.org/mpo/d/2003-harley-davidson-road/6576580055.html

I registered the 2007 Venture today. NC makes you pay sales tax on their book value unless you buy from a dealer since so many buyers were providing super low prices on what they bought for sales tax purposes. Anyhow, I had to pay sales tax on $5200. When I bought the bike it didn't seem to run exactly right, like maybe there was a little carb plugging. The owner had advertised that the carbs had been cleaned but I found out when I looked at it that the cleaning took place last year. Anyhow, yesterday I poured a half bottle of Gumout for high mileage engines (with PEA) in the gas and ran it for while. It ran ragged for a while until it warmed up. Today after sitting all night with the Gumout, if fired right up and didn't miss. I think the carbs are okay! It has been rainy so I haven't ridden it yet since I got the tag and insurance. Hopefully tomorrow!

It's basic electrical circuits that there is a voltage drop over a resistor. The voltage to the spark plug will increase using a 5k ohm cap versus a 10k ohm cap. And since the Gen I's use copper spark plug wire, the inductive effect of that wire is miniscule. The coil works by building up a field in the primary side which induces a field in the secondary side and when that voltage is shut off, the voltage collapses causing the field to change in the secondary side and providing a voltage/spark to the spark plug. This inductive action will ring back and forth decreasing each time. I'm not an elec eng. Maybe flying fool whill chime in and tell us more about this event.

Thanks Mike, I just happened to see the craigslist ad a few hours after he posted it. The owner said he tried to sell it last summer for $5,000 and nobody called, then lowered the price to $4,000 and nobody bought it. So, this summer he dropped the price to $3,000 because the bike wasn't being ridden much and he wanted to stop paying insurance and taxes on it. It didn't appear to be because he had to have the money because he and his wife were retired and had a lovely home on about a 2 acre lot with about 30 large pecan trees, a really nice place.

I don't know if this video will help but?

Is the fuel filter clean?

Since the rear tire essentially wears flat across the tread, a dual compound tire should be excellent for the rear. On the front, cornering wears out the soft compound on the edges and it ends up with this narrow strip of harder rubber in the middle. When I bought a 2004 Kawasaki Concours back in 2011, it had a worn dual compound tire on the front that had a 1" rib of hard rubber in the center with the edges worn out and that tire made the bike more difficult to ride a low speed by increasing the tippiness and the old style Concours is a really top heavy bike. New tires made a major improvement in the low speed handling.

Well I did it. I bought it. The owner bought it new and now he is in his 60's with health problems so he sold it. He is a really nice guy. With his help I managed to load it into my 8' trailer by tilting the ramp back and using pvc pipe with a rope inside the pipe to hold it in place so it would not rub the trunk. The owner insisted that I ride it before I bought it which is very unusual. Here is a couple photos of it in the trailer. I had to drive 2 1/2 hours each way to get it. He said it was completely stock except for the back rest and he added the rack on the trunk.

I can't remove the tailgate/ramp on my trailer due to the way the hinges are attached so I can't have the rear wheel that close to the rear. I don't want to load it diagonally like I did with my 89 because the front of the trailer only has the tongue extending from the body and the weight of the 89 twisted the trailer bed. My trailer is rated for 1600 lbs but it is a light duty trailer bought from Lowes. I may have to turn the front wheel and remove the trunk.

Well, according to the specs on BikeZ, it is 104.5" long, 8" longer than my trailer. So, a uhaul will have to be rented. When I hauled my 89 Venture home, it was within 1" of the tailgate and I ended up loaded it diagonally to make sure the tailgate/ramp didn't rub against the trunk. I wonder if I could remove the trunk and turn the front wheel to make it fit.