spartikus

Nice folks thank you for the responses. I missed shift yesterday from second to third instead dropped it to first and the bike got all excited Didn't seem to hurt it though. heh. Next outting I'll try some kickdown passes. Next summer I'll be doing some 600km long haul rides in bad traffic so I Want to be able to get around yahoos I don't feel comfortable behind. As for joining I have intended to. No excuse except sheer procrastination

Was riding today with a Ducati and some other crazy sportbike. Obviously I don't expect the Venture to compete with those bikes for raw power and torque but was wondering where the bike comfort level was. I was cruising for a couple hours at about 4500 RPM in 5th gear which was about 120-130 KM/h. I've read that these engines wind out pretty nicely, but would you cruise much faster than that? I don't think I would need to go much faster but when I want to pass someone who is being unsafe or poses a risk to me I want to do it in a hurry. Can I drop down to 4th and wind the bike up to 7000 RPM? Thanks in advance

I've had the bike 2 weeks. Rode it around the block a few times as I am a new rider. Couple of buddies offer to take me out for a real ride (As I need to be accompanied by a fully licensed rider to be legal until I do my road test). Great.. They show up, I promptly go to turn around and lay the bike down.. No big deal rookies do this and I have no problem admitting it. Here is the kicker, I watched several videos of guys explaining hwo to safely lay the bike down and get it back up again. Every single one of them says let the bike go. It's 800 lbs and when she's going shes going and thats that. So what did I do? Instinctively put my foot down to push back. I have bad knees and she just popped like a cork on a bottle of champagne new years eve. I sucked it up and still went riding in excruciating pain. My knee is the size of a softball right now many hours later and several ice packs later. The lesson here? When she's going she's going. Let her go. Bike didnt have a scratch and just sat on the pegs. My knee however? Not so robust. Can't say it enough to new fellow riders. I know it's natural instinct to try and save the bike at low speeds or a standstill (which is what I basically was at) but don't. Break yourself of that instinct because your knees and legs are way more fragile than the 800 pound chunk of metal between your legs Other than that was a beautiful ride.

Good call Neil thanks. Im coming down with a cold and not thinking clearly heh. Hope your cold cleared up. Lotta nasty going around this Fall with the crazy weather.

Availability and they operate on the exact same principle. IMO it is an easy wiring job but dont want to frankenstein the bike for future owners to try and figure out. Finding the relay unit is still available $180 from most bike parts suppliers but $100 from online vendors. + $30-$50 shipping

I stand corrected.. :/ Hmm. Could probably yank the wires required and just wire in a standard relay. Will do some more research. thanks again

Really Gary? The electrical diagram just shows straight up connection to hazard and turn signals. I dont see the tie in to starter circuit. I'll go relook. Would utterly shock me though.

I have tried to research this bot not quite clear yet. The flasher/hazard relay can be replaced with a standard 12V flasher relay from canadian tire? Use the electronic one not the thermal one as they require load on the wire. Thanks in advance.

Thanks guys. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't some other Rotella variant folks were using. I use the 15w40 diesel stuff in my old cars too. Great stuff.

I am aware of the great oil debates I have read nothing but great things about Rotella T 15w40 in these old bikes. I don't think putting the new T6 synthetic in is the way to go but the Original Rotella T 15w40 is ok right? It has the JAS/MA cert on the back and seems to be what folks can agre eon as a decent oil. My riding will be mostly limited to long highway rides. Any thoughts?

Closing the loop on this. I think I had several issues that were combining here. Anyways before I got it to fire I did the following: - Cleaned contacts for all 12V lines. - Replaced the spark plugs - Turned down the fuel on the carbs ~40% The old girl cranked up right away. Ran a little rough for a couple minutes as it burned off all of the fuel that had been dumping in there. Now it runs like a top. I tossed a half can of seafoam in just under half tank of fuel. Ran it for 20 mins. Drove it around the block. Runs great. I put a little seafoam in the oil and ran it for another 5-10 and now I'm letting it rest. I'll let it sit for a few hours to give the seafoam a chance to work then I will bring it up to temp again and let it rest. Likely do an oil change tonight. Bike runs awesome. Brakes are good. oh yeah and... I HAVE SECOND GEAR!!! Or at least I appear to, will see how she behaves under load and hard pulling. I want to thank everyone who provided assistance on this. Sure appreciated the support. A special thank you to Neil who made it his personal mission to get me all of the info I needed and was a rockstar helping a noob like myself through the pitfalls. Man I got to say it's been 20+ years since I've ridden any kind of bike. An 800lb cruiser is going to take some real work to get used to. Drove it around the block a few times and I can see I really need to get comfortable leaning and cornering. Good times. Thanks a million folks. Mark

Just the main cables Neil. 1 main power feed and 1 main Neg feed. I have removed all shenanigans from the fuse block. (with the exception that I still have the splice in place that the PO had to the rad fan so that it is always on. I assume either his thermostat sensor is shot or he was running hot) I'll put a switch on the fan to remove it from the equation for sure. I would really hate to think that this is a bad ignition switch. It sounds like a real pain in the backside to drill out the bolts that hold it in. Not like the last 4 days haven't been a huge pain in my ass The real stupid thing here is that the bike was starting just fine before the brake wiring fell apart. I know the accessory fuse was blown after that but I can not say for sure it wasn't blown before. Anyways at this point it sounds like a 1.5V drop to the fuse block is not cool and it would certainly put me back up over the 9V during cranking. Can anyone positively confirm for me that 11.3 at the fuse block is not cool? On these bikes I don't know what kind of V loss due to wiring is acceptable. *EDIT* Just FYI. It occurs to me that the cooling fan is actually a non-issue as the voltage loss of 1.5V is before it even gets to the fan. There is a difference of .1V between the power to the fan and the power at the TCI (11.4V vs 11.3V). I'll still remove the fan from the equation by tossing a manual switch in between it and the fuse box.

Thanks Bongo. I did test the voltage and continuity on the engine stop switch but I cant for the life of me recall if I got 12.8 or 11.3. Is it safe to say from your post that the 1.5V drain is not normal then? I'm used to old muscle cars and having that kind of voltage loss through the old wiring is total normal but obviously on a bike with an electronic ignition control that expects over 9V when cranking and I'm getting 8.4... that 1.5 loss is potentially messing with me. I'll take a look at the price of the aftermarket unit. New in box is worth something to me

Would I be insane to temporarily jumper 12V from the Main fuse to the TCI just to see if I get spark again Neil?

Battery is being fully maintained between test sessions. At the battery 12.8V At the 40A fuse 12.8 V At the ignition 2 wire plug (R and Br) 12.8V At the fuse block 11.3V on all 12V leads At the TCI 11.2 between R/w and B but when cranking drops to ~8.3-8.5V Two ground connectors (left side to frame and right side to lower part of crankcase) tested thoroughly no corosion, rust or broken connector.

Hmm.. Interesting. Would I be completely insane to jumper from the 12V 40A fuse to the R/W on the TCI and try cranking just to see if I get spark again? Again I am no electrician but I am definitely getting 12.8V out of the main fuse but only 11.3 into and out of the fuse block. That drain of 1.5V somewhere could definitely be an issue. Also any thoughts on what a good price is for a used TCI? A couple I have a line on right now.

TCI voltage is 11.3V While cranking it drops to ~8.5V but seems normal that it would drop under load with the starter pulling the majority of the power. I was out in the garage until 11:00 last night with the multimeter. All measurements are coming in on spec. I am a total rookie with bikes but from what I am reading it sounds like a bad TCI :/ Want to check the secondary coils on the ICs but the primaries were all about 3.2 Ohm What does a working used TCI sell for generally? Sounds like most guys keep a spare around when they can find em.

Thanks venturesome. I will double check but I did do a coil test and was getting 116ohm on 3 and 113 on the last coil. That is withinspec I believe (110 +/- 15%) I'll double check the connector though

Thanks to Neil's help I did some further testing: - 11.3 V between the TCI R/W and B leads with ignition on. (had to clean up the fuse block grounds a bit. Rest of the grounds seem fine.) Going to test the resistance on the stator sensors next.

*EDIT* Wow, typing 140 WPM without my morning coffee = almost unreadable Thanks for the responses all. Just to be clear I did not pull the ignition stuff out of the TCI. I disconnected the B/W lead only. I didn't know I should ground it though. I'll check that. The PO had soldered a bunch of the fuse box up. As part of trouble shooting the issue I replaced the fuse box with a new AGC one. I'll replace it again with a mini plug but didn't have one available at the time. The kickstand sensor I didn't test but it correctly shows on the computer readout up or down. That being said I'll try jumping the wires (I'll confirm on the electrical diagram first) as that is one interlock I havent tested yet. Whatever the PO did to the brake wiring was actually working fine if I could just figure out where he had that 12V lead tied in. Anyways, as part of my troubleshooting I am going to see if I can get my hands on a 2 wire rear brake switch as that is what the bike should have I believe. Thanks again for all of the suggestions guys.

I have been on an epic journey the last 3 days playing with my new bike and posted a crap ton of details on another forum but hoping to get more sets of eyes here Alot of these details I have been typing over and over for several days so I'll try and just keep it to the facts at hand. Thanks in advance for any help or advice. The bike: - 1984 XVZ1200 - Hadn't been on the road in 4 years (or started) - Got it running in a few hours. Ran awesome and started no problem - Changed oil (twice, let it run for 29 mins and changed again) just to be safe The Issue: - After knocking a wire loose putting on the plastics the bike will no longer start. It turns over, all the accesories light up, headlights work, signal lights work, hazard lights work but no brake lights and wont start. - Putting the plastics on the bike (they came to me in several boxes) I bumped a black wire that a PO had obviously jury rigged into something near the front of the bike. The wire came loose in my hands before I could trace it to where it may have been attached up front. It lead down to the rear brake switch which is a three wire switch (should only be two wire I think) and a PO had basically butchered up the wires down there I think making the three wire switch work on a circuit designed for a 2 wire rear brake switch. - Before I knocked the wire loose the bike started and idled like a champ. All brake, hazard and turn signals worked perfectly. What I know: - The kill switch is not the problem tested many times with multimeter 9 ways from Sunday. - The Tip Over switch is not the problem. Tested an equal number of times. - Pulled the B/W plug from the TCI to bypass the interlocks perdiod (That stops them from interfering with the ignition yes?) - I have 12V to the coils when the ignition is on - I have no spark to the plugs cycling the engine with the starter - The bike started and ran great for the 30 minutes I had it running and it wasn't until the wire fell off in my hand that it wouldnt start and the brake lights didnt work. What I "think" I know: - The bike should have a 2 wire rear brake switch not a three (based on the fact that the three wire switches are for bikes with venture cruise. My bike has a cruise control but it is just a throttle lock installed by a PO) - A 2 wire front brake lever (which is what my bike has) shows a closed circuit in the free position and an open circuit when the lever is actuated. This is different from the 4 wire lever circuit. - A PO had jury rigged the yellow wire from the rear brake switch over to the Yellow wire going to the rear tail light - A PO had taken the brown wire lead from the rear brake switch and run it up to something at the front end of the bike. (this is the wire that fell into my hands and started this whole mess) - A PO had spliced the brown and Green/Yellow wire coming back to the rear brake swithc together (I think but I am not positive as the electrical tape job and wiring mess was impossible to see as I pulled it apart). He then put a lead from the Br and G/Y wire he spliced together and wired it into the Green lead from the rear brake switch. My querry(ies): - I HAVE BEEN MAKING MY EYES BLEED FOR THREE DAYS TRYING TO FIGURE THIS OUT HALP ME!!! - Whew ok now that THAT's over with As I stated the bike was running like a top until that wire came loose. Sure it could be coincidence but I sure would like to get this figured out. - Does anyone know what the hell he might have plugged that brown wire lead from the rear brake switch to at the front of the bike? I'm guessing the computer monitor but man not interested in risking the CPU with a guess. Any thoughts, suggestions or anything gratefully appreciated.. Even if it's just you telling me to go have a beer Thanks in advance folks, Mark