luvmy40

I got the new tires done, mounted, balanced and back on Beauty. That Harbor Freight tire machine is well worth the price! I also changed the oil and installed the spin on filter adapter, changed the final drive oil and synced the carbs. I am surprised she was running as good as she was, the carbs were way out of sync. I had planned on flushing the coolant, mounting the new horn, and servicing the desiccant dryer for the CLASS as well but with the heat and the fact that I had to do everything three times because I was in the throws of a heat stroke and just doing stupid stuff all day, I didn't get that far. I found a few more imperfections to further burst my bubble of minty euphoria. Nothing major, a few well done repairs and a broken mounting tab on one of the lowers that I should be able to fix easily. The irony is that I have a brand new lift table in the shop but I had to do all this work in the driveway because the lift is occupied by a partial ton down Maxim 750 at this time. I secured the center stand to the front cross bar with a ratchet strap, pulled the front wheel and lowered the front end to the ground making plenty of room to pull the rear tire without removing the rear fender or the luggage rack. BTW, what's the trick to getting the mufflers off? I got the right side off but I could not get the left one off to save my life!

I can't really see what #1 is but #2 looks to be a vacuum port where you would connect the vacuum advance. I don't remember what year bike you are working with, but the '83 boost sensor would connect there. Probably want to use a restrictor as that port looks to be about 3 times the diameter of the port on the stock carb.

These retail around $40.00 USD

I picked up a WOLO Bad Boy horn and relay for the '86 today. Has anyone mounted one on a Gen 1? If so where did you place it? I'm thinking I'll just fab up a mounting bracket that runs straight back from the OEM mounting point and mount the WOLO unit in the recess of the lower fairing next to Cyl. 4

The desiccant gel, spin on oil filter adapter, oil filter and ACF50 all arrived today. I picked up a WOLO Bad Boy horn and relay at AZ on the way home. I will pick up a 10 x 10 pop up awning from a buddy tomorrow and then the sweating will commence!

I think you're correct Puc! This stuff is super slick. I ordered a 32oz. bottle yesterday and it was on my doorstep when I home this afternoon.

The odd thing is it's much easier to get the '86 up on the center stand than the '83.

I ordered the Nelson Rigg DE400 All Weather Cover and the UV-2000 half cover. By their(Nelson Rigg) sizing chart, I need the Large defender and the Medium UV-2000 so That's what I ordered. That is by the measurements from their sizing chart. I ordered from Amazon so the return/exchange will be easy if they don't fit. It'll just be a frustrating delay.

Another difference made itself known this afternoon. I was aware but really hadn't thought about the fuel petcock having a reserve setting. On the ride home from work at 70 mph on the freeway, she suddenly lost power and was bogging like she was fuel starved. I looked at the fuel level gauge and it was at half a tank. She never stalled, just wouldn't run over 3500 rpm. My fist thought was the fuel pump had died. Then I remembered the reserve petcock. I pulled over to check the petcock position. Sure enough, it was in the run position. I tried to switch it to reserve and it wouldn't budge. Then I remembered the factory tool kit in the right side bag had a pair of pliers in the case. Switched to reserve, started her up and waited for a break in traffic. When I hit the throttle, I almost cried. she bogged down and barely started to move. Then, all of a sudden I was hanging on for my life as the after burners kicked in! Evidently the reserve tank is half the main tank. I'll just leave it in the reserve position from now on. BTW, I got 36.7 MPG on this tank.

I forgot to mention the cruise control! I'm not sure i like it. It's much more cumbersome to work with than a simple throttle lock. It also feels like it adds resistance to the throttle twist.

Dennis Kirk has the 140/90/16 Challenger rear for $67.88 https://www.denniskirk.com/kenda/k657-challenger-tire.pfp542207.prdf?rs=642221 The challengers are not available in 120/90/18 for the front.

Well, the right size for your rear tire would 140/90/16 but I suppose a 130 would fit. I ran the Kenda Challengers on my XJ bikes and they ride nice but wear fairly quickly. What kind and how much riding do plan on? One Up, weekend kinda thing or two up, loaded road trips?

My '83 had all the aftermarket chrome including the huge rear skirt and crash bars which adds considerable time to removing the rear wheel, so that will probably be a wash.

I didn't mention the brakes in the OP because I did not want to compare them to the delinked brakes on the '83. However, if memory serves, the original linked brakes on the '83 were better than what the '86 is showing me now. I'll wait to pass judgement on the '86 until I flush and bleed the current brakes. I have a feeling the brake fluid is as old as the tires, which are 18 and 19 years old. The pads are GTG and the rotors are pristine. I will be delinking the brakes this winter. No question. I'll probably upgrade the clutch as well. Also forgot to mention that the clutch pull is so light that i thought at first it was not working. It does work perfectly and she shifts through the gears nearly silently with no clunk at all at any speed up or down.

You have no idea how many hours and gallons of gasoline I have wasted checking out Face Book and Craig's List adds that show a nice picture that turns out to be 20-30 years old and what they actually have is a pile of parts or a basket case rusting next to the driveway. Keep looking though. It finally paid off for me when I found a truly beautiful specimen of the '86 Royale variety on FB Market Place fairly close to home.

I just picked up an '86 Venture Royale after riding the '83 Venture Standard for 4 years or so. Aside from the cosmetic differences, here is what I see at first blush as far as performance comparison. The '83 1200 is snappier with more aggressive acceleration and more agile. The '86 1300 is more stable at highway speeds, though the '83 is far from unstable. The '86 runs cooler, at least the temp gauge on the '86 stays much further down in the green than the '83. Maybe different temp range on the gauge? The acceleration and stability may have as much to do with the fact that the '83 has a short wind screen and the '86 has the factory spec screen. I know the '86 is slightly heavier so that would have some slight effect on both. Other than the displacement, are the engines identical? Cams, timing, valves, etc? As far as the Royale amenities go; I can take or leave a radio on any motorcycle. If it's there I'll use it sometimes. If it's not there, I don't miss it. I love an intercom system for road trips. It remains to be seen if I will prefer the wired intercom over the Team Ride bluetooth system that I used to run.(batteries are done and not replaceable in that cheaper system) I need to transfer the head sets from the 33 year old matching helmets to our modular helmets. I hope the mic boom is long enough to work with them. I'll likely never use the CB but it is a nice insurance policy for backing up the cell phones in emergency situations. The CLASS is a major plus! I love being able to quickly switch from one up soft suspension to two up loaded settings. BTW, the '86 either has progressive fork springs installed or the factory springs were better than those in the '83. The front end is much stiffer than the '83, even with little air pressure. The larger capacity luggage is a major plus, but not being able to quickly remove the trunk or side bags is a major minus in my book. Not a deal breaker by any stretch but still a bit of a downer on what, in all other areas is a fantastic ride. I miss having the stowage area in the main fairing but I'll get used to using the smaller bags mounted on the fairing. They are not waterproof, as it turns out! They may be improved with an application of Camp Dry. Well, that's what I see at first. I'll see how different doing tires and other routine maint. is this weekend.

This is the external noise pick up on the control head next to the spkr/h.ph. selector. It's what provides feedback for the automatic volume control.

I'm going to cut a piece off the hood of my Frog Togs. I never wear it anyway.

I ordered 75 grams of the blue to pink gel on amazon for 10 bucks. I should have ordered the big bottle for $26, Oh well.

Take it to PPG or Sherwin Williams Auto paints and they will color match it.

They are far from the most difficult I've done, but I've never worked on the Magna so I can't give a comparison. I would highly recommend sourcing a factory service manual.

I've had good results cutting out old wires and re potting new ones on vintage coils. It is a good bit of work so you definitely want to make sure the coil itself is good and the problem is only the wire.

It does, however have nearly everything to do with engaging and disengaging the clutch plates.

Cheese cloth would not be waterproof. I'm thing something like Gortex but I don't know if that would let the sound pass properly.

When the desiccant gel gets too old it starts crumbling and can cause clogs in the air lines. The manual says the OEM gel is clear when dry and pink when saturated.