BlueSky

Yep, it looks badaxx but those rear tires without fenders would really wrap you up with water if it rained on you.

If you remove the air cleaner, you can look down the throats of the carbs while you blip the throttle. The diaphragms should react to the changing vacuum by pulling the metering rods out and springs pushing them back in the jets. If they are all reacting in unison, they should be okay.

Sounds great for me. Actually better than Tuesday. I will be able to attend a retiree luncheon on Tuesday.

Maybe check for corrosion at the spark plug cap/wire connection and the other end of the wire. It is a typical problem for the copper wire to corrode where it is screwed into the cap. some snip 3/4" of the wire off and screw it back in. New caps can be obtained from ngk.com for $2.60 plus shipping. Copper wire is available from some auto parts stores.

Load test the battery. Your local auto parts store should do it for free.

The Gen 1 Ventures 83 thru 90 have a weak 2 brush starter. Installing larger battery cables helps but the real fix is to install a 4 brush starter from a 91 or newer XVZ1300 engine. It could come from a Gen1 91 - 93 or the RSTD bikes or the Venture 99 and newer. Supposed to be a bolt in. You can find these starters on ebay from $50 and up.

Depends on whether you are using the stock springs or progressives. The progressives have more and larger coils so they displace more fluid raising the fluid level. I do not know what the correct level should be with progressives but it would be lower than with stock springs. Probably if you do a search you can find some suggestions from other Mk II owners who have made the switch to progressives. I bought some progressives but have not installed them at this time.

Sounds like you handled the situation appropriately. I'm glad you were able to get out of that situation safely. People on drugs get desperate and you don't know what they are capable of doing. When I was working in Homestead, FL on the night shift I stopped at the Walmart around 7:00 am. Not many people were there and I usually park way out away from everybody. There wasn't another vehicle within 15 spaces from me. When I came back to my truck, a guy driving an old car parked one spot away from me and rolled down the passenger window and looked me over. I kept an eye on the guy while I put my bags in the truck while trying to psych myself up for what I might have to do, which was to pull my Ruger .380 out of my pocket holster. But after looking me over for a while, he rolled up his window and went into Walmart. No way to know what he was thinking but I'm sure it wasn't legal. He might have been thinking about asking me I wanted a home theater system like what happened to my wife also while she was in Homestead. She had stopped at a strip mall and when she came out two Hispanics in a beat up old car asked her if she would like to buy a home theater system cheap. She ignored them and got into the truck and drove away. Burglary occurred so much there that all the decent homes or apartments were in a guarded fenced area. One of the plant workers was mowing his grass on Saturday and a car pulled up to the curb. A guy got out, pulled out a gun and demanded his wallet. He took the wallet and drove away.

I should be able to make it. I'm retired so it doesn't matter what day. Thanks

Fuel pump contacts seem to be a common issue.

My 89 manual says 409 cm3 which is the same as ml or 13.8 ounces with a level of 6.8". But, if you installed Progressive springs it should be less.

Just a wild thought. Could it be possible that the gas tank is not vented properly and when the bike sits while hot, the gas expands from the engine heat and forces gas into the carbs when you hit start that turns on the pump?????

Could you check the fuel level in the carb(s) when hot when you try to restart to see if it happens when the fuel pump turns on or are they flooded before the fuel pump starts running? Sounds reasonable to me that if the pump is causing too high fuel pressure it could cause the carbs to overflow. But, I'm not a Venture expert like some of the owners on this site.

I've been trying to rationalize the expenditure to buy an RT. There is a local 2010 BMWR1200RT with 25k miles for sale for $10,500. But, I just can't do it. Before Christmas, there was a 2007 very low mileage Honda ST1300 for sale for $6600. The owner kept dropping the price until just after Christmas when he dropped it to $4,000. I wanted to buy it but the wife said I had to sell a bike or two before buying that so I missed out on that deal. That was an incredible buy. So, if you are patient and watch craigslist you can stumble on a great deal sometimes.

Honda ST or CTX

I've read lots of horror stories about rear gear failures and servo assisted brake problems. For a few years in the early 2000's, they had servo assisted brakes. if they fail it could cost up to $4k to get it repaired. I think the part to fix it was about $2600. But, there are videos on youtube showing you how to rewire it to delete the servo assist and ABS. Prevention from what I read was brake fluid flush at least once a year. Do some research and decide for yourself. In the latest testing that I have read, the test riders preferred the RT to the K1600. I think the ride position is more upright on the RT than other Sport Tourers.

Yeah, it's probably a design improvement having the whole cap/wire/unit sealed. Because as most of the 1st gen owners know moisture gets into the cap/wire joint and corrodes the wire and eventually causes a problem. The good part is that caps are $2.60 ea at NGK.com and copper wire is cheap. I suppose we should be using a touch of dielectric grease on the joints.

The Venture carbs are so sensitive to changes in airfilter resistance, I wouldn't use a K&N filter. Additionally, I've read in many places that they don't filter as well as a paper filter. Just my

Puc, you are a 62 year old teenager! Don't forget that as a 62 yr old you are now eligible for the $10 lifetime National Park Pass!!!!

These bikes do not have sophisticated computers with a zillion sensors that allow the ignition advance to be continualy adjusted for conditions. If it is tuned for 87 it should run better on 87 than on 91 but I doubt you would ever notice a difference. But I suspect the ignition advance curve on these bikes is not that precise. That is one thing that is appealing with the ignitek. Ignition advance is programmable to a certain extent and it may be possible to get more hp and/or gas mileage with a little tuning.

Best wishes for a successful surgery!

NC started requiring a motorcycle endorsement in the 80's I believe. If you had been riding for a certain period, you could be grandfathered and not take the test which I did. If I ever let it lapse, I'll have to take the test. After looking at the very short test course, I would have to be riding a tiny motorcycle to pass.

120/90x18 converts to MR90 in the Dunlop tire size. Looking at Dunlop tire spec charts, the 130/70 has a load rating of 63H with a diameter of 25.28" The MR90x18 has a load rating of 71H and a diameter of 26.46". I'd go back and have the tire replaced with the correct size.

It varies from state to state. A class C driver's license is the standard license for a car in NC. In NC above 26,000 lb GVWR or GCWR requires non‐commercial Class A or B

Look at it this way. You learned a lot of good stuff during the test. Watch out when you drive in the USA because we don't get tested to pull a TT!