Bob K.

Then the root problem is that the bike won't go into neutral, not that the neutral light won't come on. I say that because some of our discussion seems to be going in the direction of checking your neutral light wiring, but your neutral light works just fine when the bike goes into neutral, right? These are the same symptoms I'm currently facing, so I'm watching this thread intently. - Stiff clutch handle when cold. Measured clutch engagement throughout entire travel of the clutch handle. Works fine until I ride the bike hard. - Clutch handle becomes soft as if there's air or steam in the lines. - Have to pump up the handle several times to switch gears - Can't find neutral, even if I rock the bike. I can go 1st to 2nd, or 2nd to 1st--harshly, mind you--but can't catch neutral. - Clutch begins to engage strongly when the handle is just a couple millimeters off the handgrip - Returns to a stiff clutch with full range of engagement with the handle as soon as the bike starts to cool down. Rinse/repeat.

O.k. Following in case fluid/air turns out not to be my problem either.

Mine just started doing the very same thing. I suspect a heat breakdown in the fluid or air in the line that expands when the motor is hot and heats up the fluid, and contracts as it cools down. I'm going to start by bleeding and adding new fluid.

You scared the cr@p out of me. I just spent $100 on new saddlebag lids for my '93 based on the logic that "there's only one color scheme for the '93 so if the saddlebag lids are blue-ish in the pictures and came from a '93 then I don't have to probe the eBay seller to ensure I'm getting the right color." Then you pop in with this other '93 paint scheme!

For archive's sake, here's a place folks can get 1st Gen pain codes for bikes with OEM paint: http://www.venturers.org/Tech_Library/?action=article&cat_id=001004&id=308

I just finished up a 1,300 mile ride where I used the cruise control extensively. Oddly enough, operation has improved immensely. I'm not getting the same cyclic acceleration and deceleration like I was before and the cruise holds rather nicely even on reasonable rolling terrain. Whatever it was, it worked itself out. Perhaps the speed sensor or a component in the pump was dirty and just needed exercising.

No, it's not fixed. The problem occurs on flat ground, too.

No luck today. I performed all maintenance manual troubleshooting steps for the vacuum pump again. Everything worked nicely...activated the vacuum actuator fully, turned the throttle, held the vacuum, released the vacuum. I also disassembled, cleaned and lubricated all the switches in the right handgrip cluster. The problem persists. I spun up the speedometer cable with a drill but couldn't modulate the RPMs on the drill finely enough to watch and operate the cruise system in a useful manner. The system seems to modulate the throttle quickly and nicely, even going up and downhill, up to about 59 mph. Even on steep hills, it'll roll on the throttle pretty hard to maintain 55 mph. As soon as I set the cruise between 62 mph and 75 mph, the system seems sluggish to recover when going up hill (i.e. hesitant to roll on the throttle), and it lazily rolls off the throttle going downhill (which causes the bike to speed up too much and then abruptly decelerate). It's just sluggish all around about 62 mph and above. My next option is to disassemble and check the vacuum pump. Again. Or replace it. Or, find a rotary tool that spins counterclockwise and can be very finely controlled so that I can bench test the system accurately. Or, find a 3rd cruise control unit. Or, inspect the speed sensor.

Great ideas, Patch. The vacuum hose and vacuum actuator work well and are in fine shape. I can pull a manual vacuum on them and it'll hold indefinitely. The actuator cables are adjusted well and the slightest vacuum will actuate the throttle linkage and begin turning the throttle grip. Excellent idea to spin the speedometer cable with a drill. I'm going to go try that right now. What speed sensor test are you referring to? I'm aware of this one but it's in the Venture cruise troubleshooting procedure, not on pages 7-166 & 167 in my book. I don't see speed sensor tests or speedometer cable tests anywhere else in the book. My speedometer needle was slightly wobbly before I performed maintenance. Last year I disassembled, cleaned, and greased the front wheel speedometer mechanism & the speedometer cable. The speedometer needle on the gauge now runs very smoothly and linearly. Has anyone else ever driven the speedometer cable with a drill? I was surprised...it makes a noticeable noise in the cluster. Not the common 'moan' or squeal from a lack of lubrication but rather just a rotational vibrating sound.

Yes, they seal. I reconditioned mine with a wintergreen oil & alcohol soak. I soaked the rubber in a jar for 24 to 36 hours. It re-plasticizes them. In a few cases, they over-expanded and were too large to fit back in, but I found that they tended to shrink a little bit if I let them sit out for a day or two. You can do an internet search for "wintergreen rubber recondition" for the process.

I've answered my own question with some responsible searching. The "speed sensor" is a reed switch inside the instrument cluster. https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?128643-Cruise-control-not-working I've been through the entire service manual cruise control troubleshooting procedure...twice now. No smoking guns. I disassembled and cleaned the cruise control switch at the right handgrip. We'll see if that does something.

I noticed the same thing in my troubleshooting. If I stab the cruise control connector and spin the front wheel, it varies from 0 ohms to 4.7K ohms rather than infinity. I'm using a Fluke digital multimeter so I'm presuming that's a digital fluke (no pun intended) rather than the reading one might get while using an old analog needle multimeter.

I found a mis-identified wire in the cruise control troubleshooting procedures on page 7-150. Holler if you think my connector is wired incorrectly or if you think I've made a mistake. The wire colors on my cruise control unit connector are: The wires on the cruise control Set/Resume switch are: The troubleshooting step for checking the function of the Resume/Accel position on the switch incorrectly says to check the blue with green stripe. The correct wire to check is the green with blue stripe. On my bike, the blue with green stripe has constant 12v power, which gave me the false indication that my cruise control switch was malfunctioning. Once I checked the green with blue stripe wire, the circuit properly changes from 0v to 12v when the Resume/Accel switch position is activated.

Cables have been lubed and checked and double checked. Speedo unit in front wheel was removed, cleaned, and regreased. Speedo cable was regreased at both ends and along its length. The service manual says #61 is the speed sensor. Is that a little black relay up behind the headlight somewhere or is that something inside of the dash cluster?

I used Castrol 5w-40 synthetic because it's the same juice I had laying around for the motor. Works nice.

It all goes together pretty easily if the forks are off the bike. Grease was the trick I was taught, too, if the inner forks are still on the machine.

My '93 Royale developed an odd cruise control behavior. Up to 59 mph, it operates normally and holds speed well. At 60 mph or above, it will slowly increase speed over the course of 20 seconds until it reaches about 7 mph above the set speed. Then, it'll abruptly decelerate to about 5 mph under the set speed. It repeats this constantly. This is exacerbated by hills but also occurs on flat roads. So far, I have: Disconnected and inspected the connector to the cruise control module Replaced the cruise control module Applied battery power to the pump to check for fine and gross vacuum function Replaced the vacuum air filter Checked the cruise vacuum actuator for leaks Checked the cruise vacuum actuator throttle cable freeplay Removed, cleaned, inspected and re-greased the speedometer mechanism in the front wheel and the speedometer cable. I've been through the service manual troubleshooting procedure but haven't yet discovered the problem. Any suggestions on how I might track down this gremlin?

I'll put that on my OneDrive if you'll permit, Zagger.

Here you go. 1983-1985 Yamaha Venture Service Manual https://1drv.ms/b/s!Av4sLhrHRtHyhRAwg7aKcuZYJONI 1986-1993 Yamaha Venture Service Manual https://1drv.ms/b/s!Av4sLhrHRtHyhQ7wR4kO2vGpdTcE If you have other things (like the 2nd Gen manuals) that you'd like to upload, send me a PM and I'll see how we can get it uploaded to my OneDrive.

My original seal had the rubber seal bonded to a metal mounting band. It was on so tight that I had to remove the metal band by scoring it with a Dremel tool cutoff wheel and then prying it apart with a screwdriver. The new band is a zero-clearance fit, so I'd be surprised if you accidentally left an old metal band on. I don't think you could get the new band over an old band. The new band needs to go on far enough to get the snap ring back on behind it. Yours looks like mine did.

The gear teeth look near perfect to me, Doug. Maybe even a touch better than my '93 driveshaft (41K miles). When I removed the driveshaft from the final drive and then tipped the final drive upward (i.e. pointed the opening downward), gear oil poured out of the oil passages. The entire capacity drained out of the final drive onto a piece of cardboard in just a couple hours. That, anyway, is how I confirmed my oil passages were clear.

Good question! No, I don't. I'll check for that.

The LEDs bulbs I purchased are advertised as 12v-only dimmable bulbs.

The Kriss Starlight Driving Light Module controls and dims my Motolight driving lights, not my headlight. It's designed to dim, no modulate. I have a Signal Dynamics module filling that function.

I installed a Kriss Starlight Driving Light Module years ago. It's designed to dim driving lights so that one can use high wattage bulbs and not blind oncoming traffic. I used it for years with standard halogen bulbs in my Motolights. I recently switched to LED bulbs (550 lumens, 7watts each). They run at full power just fine, but they don't dim. Instead, they wig-wag back and forth just like police lights. Anyone face the same thing and have a solution?