WIZ

Just finished removing my whole stereo system and CB. I installed a blue tooth marine stereo and custom made a storage tray to replace the cassette deck. Sorry the first picture is upside down I tried to flip it but couldn't, don't understand why it is upside down the original picture isn't. Ron

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Ron

I know this is an old thread but I'm having the same issues. Went to go for a ride Thursday and battery was too weak to even run the fuel pump. My bike charges between 14 -14.2 amps while riding so i know the charging system is ok. It had been two weeks since my last ride. I checked the battery voltage and it only showed 4.68 volts. The battery is only about a month old so I took it to have it charged and tested. It tested ok. I checked with my meter and showed .06-.07 amp draw when placed between the negative wire and the negative battery post. I then pulled fuses one at a time and found the draw to be on the 10 amp back up fuse. I then split the fairing and found the draw coming from the red/green wire that feeds the srereo. I removed the wire from the white plug and plugged the plug back together. I set the clock on my bike and turned the switch off to make sure it was still keeping time correct. It is, so does that mean the trip mileage will also be backed up? I don't use the stereo on my bike since I got my sena headsets. So as long as the clock and mileage are backed up I'm not concerned with the stereo. Thanks , Ron

Bob you were right I received my replacement rectifier from Rick's and installed it yesterday evening. My volts at idle are 13.8-13.9 and when revved they reach 14.1 with my driving lights on. Ron

Talked to our local yamaha service tech and told him my numbers, he told me that they were well within range and should be fine as long as they stay there. I took the bike out for about 120 mile ride today. The warmest part of the day the volts stayed right at 13.8-13.9 volts. When the temperature cooled down the volts went up and stayed at a steady 14.2-14.3 volts. For now I'm just going to ride it and monitor the volts. Thanks to all who offered their help. Ron

I did test the stator and rectifier the results are in the original post. I called Rick's again today but they wouldn't let me speak to the tech, they told me I need to contact the company that I purchased the new rectifier from to verify if it is normal for there rectifier to drop voltage when revved. Is the .2 to .3 loss between the rectifier and battery acceptable if the volts at the battery are in range or do I need to dive into the harness to try to find it. Ron

I contacted Rick's and there tech told me that it sounded like the rectifier went bad and took my battery with it. I installed a new full charged battery. I tested volts at both the battery and rectifier. It seemed that if I had the ground on the rectifier ground wire and the positive on the battery I would get a higher voltage, so after reading some posts on here I added another ground wire to the rectifier ground and frame. It showed a .2 volt increase after adding the ground. My current number's are idling: 14.08 at battery and 14.53 at rectifier, when revved 13.88 at battery and 14.24 at rectifier. I have unplugged and cleaned every plug that I can find, cleaned all of the controls on the bars and checked the ignition switch. I am still trying to find why i'm losing .2 to .3 volts from rectifier to battery but am stumped as to why the volts go down when revved. Is it possible that because i'm getting 14.53 at the rectifier when idling that the rectifier is shunting extra volts when revved since it is a the top of the output it is designed for. Ron

When I installed the new stator I soldered the three wires under the seat for the stator. The readings on the three wires at the rectifier is about 25 vac at idle and they go up to about 150 vac at high rpms and they are all three are pretty much identical. When checking them from the ground it shows open. Thanks, Ron

The rectifier that charged at up to 17 volts was the old original rectifier that I had laying around from my issues back in may I just stuck it on to try after the new rectifier I got would drop voltage as I increased rpms. It was only on for matter of seconds. Just wanted to verify that my stator was charging and not dropping voltage as rpms were increased. The Rick's rectifier I took off was only charging about 10.5 volts. Thanks, Ron

I had charging issues back in may and came to the conclusion my stator and rectifier were bad. I replaced both with Rick's. This past weekend my issues returned when my bike wouldn't start. I charged the battery and was able to get it home. When I test the stator it is putting out about 150 amps and around 3000 rpms. I ordered another rectifier to install while waiting on my warranty replacement. Cleaned all the grounds I could find and installed the new rectifier. It charges 13.8 at idle but drops to 13.2 when engine is reved. I put my old original rectifier on and it charges 14.5 at idle and goes up to 17 when reved. I don't understand why with one rectifier the volts go up when reved and the other the volts goes down when reved. Did I get a bad rectifier or what? Thanks, Ron

Just got home from the WNY Rally. Had a great time meeting some great people and making new friends. Looking forward to next year. WIZ

I just changed mine ealier this week. You have to take the two bolts out of the driver's floor board to allow it to drop down out of the way so you can get the bolt out. Took me about fifteen minutes to change mine. WIZ

I just had an issue with my phone cord it would charge in some car 12v outlets but would intermittently charge plugged into my bike. Purchased a new Samsung charger now I can play music and run phone GPS through my sena headsets and actually gain battery charge on my trips. WIZ

I had 130,000 miles on my bike when I changed the bearings. I did get to ride it after the steering head bearing change, it helped quite a bit. The instability I had was the bike not wanting to track straight especially around trucks and other traffic at higher speeds above 70. If the bearings were dry or not loaded properly they will wear much quicker. Wiz

When I did the quick check on the steering and swing arm bearings they both appeared to be ok with no rough or grinding feeling to them. But when I tore it down to replace them, both showed significant wear. After replacement the handling was greatly improved. Since this post my rear shock went out, I only noticed a small puddle under my bike one time but the next ride I could feel the pogo feeling from the shock. I ordered and installed a hagon shock, the bike now handles better than it has since I have owned it. The quick checks are good checks but if you are having issues don't rule out the possibility that the bearings are worn enough to cause your issues. Wiz

I don't normally post on here much, but after my findings I wanted to share. Earlier this year I installed a 130 front tire on my 99 Venture. The first trip was on back roads and loved the slow speed handling. My first trip on the highway had me reconsidering. It seemed very unstable so I started researching posts to find the problem. I started with the steering head quick check and it seemed to be OK. I was riding with my brother and we got our speed up to around 100 mph and I got into a death wobble. It about 1/8 mile to get it under control. (I don't typically drive like this speed) I then ordered steering head bearings and replaced them. They were bad. I checked the swing arm bearing next and they were also bad so I replaced them. Both helped a lot. But since I wasn't sure about the service history of the bike, I went ahead and replaced both wheel bearings. I didn't notice any of these problems with the 150 tire but they were magnified by the 130 tire. So for some of you that have tried the 130 tire and changed it because of the handling, you may want to check your bearings closer. I did the quick check on the steering head and swing arm and both checked out but when I tore it down both sets of bearings still had grease on them but when I cleaned the races both showed significant wear. And after replacing, bike handling was much improved. Wiz

Not sure if Steve (M61A1MECH) in the classifieds makes a harness for first gens, but when I installed my hitch and wiring on my 1999 venture I purchased a wiring harness that plugs into the original bike harness without cutting and converts tag wires that you can connect to with your trailer plug wire that goes from a 5 to 4 wire set up. definitely worth sending him a pm he makes a nice harness. Wiz

Here is the link for the headlight I purchased the price went up since I purchased mine. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B018LXCS0C/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Here is the link for the driving lights they also went up since I purchased mine. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B013OVKT8E/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are all three day- maker lights ordered off of amazon. The total for all three lights was around $155.00, the difference it made is well worth the money since i drive a lot at night.

I just finished installing Day-Makers on my bike last week. Wow what a difference! The appearance of the bike is much improved and visibility is awesome. The last picture was stock headlight with diamond cut driving lights.

Had the seat on my 1999 Venture done by Rick. Had a chance to ride it for the first time since getting the seats back on. Rode for 125 miles and wow what a difference, no shifting or repositioning required. Thanks Rick for a great job.

I know this isn't a fall ride but I’m trying to plan a week trip from Maryland up route 219 to route 150 into Canada to see Niagara Falls the first day. We then plan on heading east to Maine. Looking for suggested routes to take and avoid as well as places to visit and sights to see along the way. The only other thing we have planned for the trip is to visit some of the light houses along the coast. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks,

I'm planning a trip from MD to niagara falls and then across to maine the week of July 13th thru 17th. Looking for any suggested routes to take and routes to avoid, also looking for suggestions on sights to see along the way. Any response would be greatly appriciated.

I have read many post about how good Michelin commander 2tires are but they don’t make a 150/80/16 front tire. Just wondering why no one has used a150/80/16 commander 2 rear tire and reverse it for on the front. I am due for tires this winter and am planning on trying this combination on my 1999 venture. I already have leveling links on, which helped the handling a lot. So from what I’ve read I don’t want to go with the narrower tire on the front.