luvmy40

Yamaha's factory service manual specs 3.5L/3.7Qt for oil change with filter. Obviously that's too much, though someone stated earlier that it would probably be correct if the transmission galley was drained as well.

Thanks!

They were probably more old and busted than yours! Every time I think I see a body plastic on ebay that I need, it turns out to be in worse shape than what I have. I did talk to a fellow out west who posted up on craigs list that he had a full plastic kit in purple for sale. He swore it had no breakage and he wanted $300.00 plus shipping. He never called me back with a shipping quote though.

Does that change anything in the rebuild kit. I'd think not as only the No.2 carb has the sensor port.

That's what I was hoping to hear. Nothing wrong with the float valves in mine.

Has anyone tried this ignition module? http://www.regulatorrectifier.com/catalog/1984-1985-1989-Yamaha-XVZ12-Venture-1200-CDI-Ignitor

I was able to get good color tune on all 4 cylinders so it is hitting on all four at idle. I seems to be even smoother at mid to WOT.

I found these carb rebuild kits ob fleabay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-Carburetor-Carb-Repair-Rebuild-Kit-Yamaha-VMX12-V-Max-XVZ1300-Venture-18-2879-/311680431557 Any idea what may be different from the 83 1200 carbs? I.e. will any of the components fit my carbs? I can't seem to find any rebuild kits that are speced to fit the 83 carbs.

Found the rubbing noise. It was not the brakes. Not sure if it's always been there and I just did not notice it or what. I can't imagine what could have changed to bring it on suddenly as I have done nothing at all to the front end since getting the bike. It was the mounting screws for the front fender chrome extender rubbing on the tire intermittently. There's a nice groove in the tire right at the tread line. Not deep but certainly there. She seems to running fine now except the fuel efficiency is terrible. 33mpg on the last 2 fill ups. I'l probably do a proper rebuild on the carbs this off season. All I've done to date is a thorough cleaning with new pilot screws and bowl gaskets. I hope it's not the TCI. Would the Boost circuit effect the mileage this drastically? I haven't checked to see if that is working properly.

So the electrical issue was indeed a blown fuse. Fixed(and new horns installed[no relay, too lazy today]). I also pulled about 1/3L of oil to get to about 2/3 sight glass. She's not smoking anymore so it must have been oil burning on the exhaust as suspected. I'll take a good long ride tomorrow to verify that all is well. Next issue. I topped off the rear brake reservoir as I had been getting intermittent warning lights for it and now the front brakes are dragging just a little. Just enough to make noise but I can't feel the drag. Here we go again.

Well, I keep at least 5 gallons of oil on hand. Usually in gallon jugs but with 3 bikes, 5 gallons is a slow season.

They won't even run and EGA test on it? I'm pulling the plastics and and sensor port screws so they don't have to worry about snapping them.

I like to bench sync with slivers of business card. You can get pretty close if you're careful. I set my pilot screws to 2-1/2 turns but had to make pretty severe adjustments to get a good burn with the color tune. I didn't take notes but I'd guess mine range from 2-4 turns after tuning. I do plan on having the local Yam shop run it on their EGA ASAP. I'm very interested in seeing how close I got it.

I've been running Shell Rotella T 15/40 in my wet clutch Nipon engineered bikes for years. No problems as of yet.(Hopefully this is not an issue with the oil its self.)

That's a very real possibility. see my thread http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?124299-What-did-I-do-to-irritate-the-motorcycle-gods

Yes, I drained it first. Drained on center stand. No I did not drain the transmission. It's possible but not likely that the o-ring is pinched or the spring/washer are wrong. I keep a pretty close eye on that as I've been changing oil with these types of filters for many years. The smoke seemed to be coming from the exhaust rather than off the muffler, but it was dark so it's possible that it was not from the engine per se. I haven't had time to really look at anything yet. I'll pull the air filter and do a visual inspection some time this weekend. As far as the electrical issues go, I did attempt to install new horns the other day. One did not work OTB so I took them off and in the process, found a bare wire on one horn line. It's extremely possible that it shorted out during me puttzing with it and I blew a fuse. Again, I'll check that out sometime this weekend.

Well, I certainly filled it past half way on the glass. The XJs want a full sight glass and I filled to the manual's spec of 3.5L which did fill the sight glass completely.

No, it's definitely engine oil. She 's pissed at me for some reason. See my post in The Watering Hole.

I just finished the valve adjustments, cleaned, tuned and synchronized the carbs and got the Venture all back together. Did about 150 mi. shake down then changed the engine and final drive oil. Another 60 mi. ride and parked her last night. This morning there's a puddle of oil under the old girl. I'm hoping it's a just the plug seal in need of replacement. Tonight I start her up to move vehicles around and the front bling lighting, the volt meter, tachometer, neutral indicator and bright light indicator are not working. Then I notice copious amounts of smoke coming from the exhaust. This bike has never smoked even a little bit. The last time I had a bike smoke like this was when I first got my Katana. The PO had "Cleaned" the carbs and left one of the main jets loose and it worked its self out completely and was dumping raw fuel down the intake. I guess I'm pulling the carbs again to make sure I didn't do the same thing. Will it never end???

I know I should be used to it and expect it since I keep buying 30+ year old motor cycles, but it's frustrating! I fix one issue only to find three or four more. My Venture has an oil leak now. It was seeping a bit around the No. 1 cylinder valve cover. It still is even with new gasket and bolt seals, but it"s not enough to justify the puddle I found under her this morning. I just changed the oil and everything seemed to be sealed up just fine after but something, somewhere is leaking. Hopefully it's just the drain plug gasket that needs replaced. I won't have time to look for the issue for a few days.

Late to the game as usual--- My '83 handles like a dream at low speeds and is as stable as can be at highway speed. The problem is there is only about 2" travel on the fork tubes and she bottoms out if I look at a bump in the road. My local Venture guru told me to install progressive springs and ad an extra 50cc of 10w oil, no air. So, who make st the best progressive springs? Is the 12.5w oil recommended for the newer bikes or is it a general "upgrade" I should consider? Thanks!

I got the old girl up and running, finally! I'll schedule some time for this get together. I might even figure out how to RSVP on the VR calender. Maybe!

I just noticed the spec for compression on the 83' 1200cc venture is 142 psi -156 psi per the Yamaha service manual. My compression numbers were mostly above those(150-190psi) when the valves were severely out of spec and are all above that(185-190psi) now that the valves are in spec. Is this a typo/mis translation/bad conversion? What are you Other MK1 1 12TK riders seeing for compression numbers?

Changed the engine oil and final drive oil. Finished reinstalling all the bling parts and figured out everything I need to address this winter.

My Venture was purchased sans tool kit so I have no final drive dip stick. Can anyone give the measurements for on so I can make myself one? Thanks, Rich