7 lakes

I would suggest a complete tear down, thorough cleaning and replacement of all rubber parts. Pretty much the only thing that goes wrong with a carb is dirt or old rubber, so do those and you're like new again. Most tail chasing with carbs could be avoided by starting this way. Tim

Feels great, huh!?! Amazing how a minute of riding makes you forget an hour of frustrated wrenchin, isn't it? Couple of hours on the bike and all you'll feel is pride. Way to go, man. Tim

Check your local dealer for those too, i got them from my dealer for about 2 bucks apiece.

Another way to look at it is "I've conquered everything this bike has thrown at me. All it can come up with now is a puny, easy to diagnose and fix, everyday garden variety radiator leak." C'mon man, yer winning! All it can do now is pee at ya! Besides, if ya really were gonna give up, you wouldn't have posted here so we could talk you out of it, right? And any minute Puc will be along with an inspirational video ... Congrats on the new gig, how great is it gonna feel riding to work on your newly tamed beast! Tim

How old is the tire? They have a life span after being mounted and run, maybe check the date codes on the tires? An old stiff tire can't flex fast enough for the profile changes in high speed rotation and will feel lumpy at speed like a low profile auto tire on a cold morning. That can mimic an out of balance condition. If it only feels rough at high speed I'd be concerned about the tire. Tim

I would suggest assembling with actual brake system assembly fluid, it will lube things really well but will not absorb moisture from the atmosphere like brake fluid, if you slather everything with brake fluid in the open you're introducing moisture into the fluid and to the inside of your system. Tim

I would suggest getting familiar with a site like yamahapartsmonster.com where you can use parts diagrams to get factory part numbers, then google just the part number. Often you'll find a hard to locate part in an obscure place or find a great deal. For instance last summer I found brand new, in factory packaging, the chrome insert for my 84's stator cover on eBay for 15 bucks because it was listed as Yamaha part 12345678 with no image other than the Yamaha sticker with the part number. Listed right next to lots of ugly old ones at much higher prices. My bike originally had the cb and stereo in the fairing but not needing it, and preferring instead to have storage there, I was able to piece together the glove box, lid, gaskets and chrome handles for about 40 bucks total including shipping. All parts brand new, the lid and handles in factory packaging. Took a couple of months of running same part number searches with coffee very morning. Folks like pickers, storage buyers, scrappers, garage sale pros etc who aren't bike people will list NOS parts they come across in bulk, by part number only. Many times I've found new NLA parts this way, I once bought impossible to find 78 XS1100 rubber parts from a woman who thought they were for a Yamaha piano, she wasn't aware that they made "motorbikes". Also, perusing those exploded parts diagrams is a good way to get familiar with your bike. Tim

Not to add to your misery, but you need to service the internals in the clutch hydraulics and probably the brakes too, from the look of your photo. The condition of the internal surfaces and wear parts of the clutch and brake are going to be just as bad as the fluid was. Draining nasty old fluid and filling with clean new fluid will be a temporary help at best.

Well, fun is like a good dog, sometimes it finds you and sometimes you have to go lookin. It'll be fun when we fix it, right? Hey, how come there aren't any mechanical smilies? I need a big hammer ... Tim

With the clutch pressure plate removed, you should be able to push the end of the rod, that pushes against the plate, back in with your thumb without opening the system. Not easily , but you should be able to. Sooo ... hammer not good. So the old clutch was slipping, you replaced the clutch pack, right? What did the old fluid look like? Go here https://www.yamahapartsmonster.com/oemparts/a/yam/5004252bf8700209bc7880f8/clutch and find parts 19 and 22. 19 is the thing you should be able to push in and 22 is the ball behind it. Are they still there?

You're very welcome! This is fun. Yes, that's what I was trying to get across, once there isn't any slack between the lever and the master piston it should feel like your hands on either end of a steel rod. Since these systems aren't really pressurized at rest, there will always be a minute portion of the stroke that is "wasted" in pressurizing the system, but it should be so slight that it takes effort to feel. Tim

That's interesting. Do you miind walking us through the sequence of the problem, what you were trying to solve, what steps you took, what occurred when, etc.? Were you replacing the clutch? What did you dissasemble? Tim

That dark stuff in the fluid is powdered rubber, the rubber internals are active wear parts. Its built into the rubber compounds and is symbiotic with how they continue to seal effectively as they age and wear, like the trade-off between a tire being stickier or lasting longer. That residue, your description of the fluid and your mileage tell me that its past time to service the clutch internals. Figuratively, if they were tires, you're rolling down the road on bald tires which although are still holding air and rolling, have nothing in reserve and are looking for the right (wrong) time to let you down. It be time for hydraulic kits. Tim

Good advice. If you don't have a stethoscope a short length of heater hose held to the ear works pretty good too. Just don't let anyone get a picture of you using it, you end up looking a little crazy. Tim

I've had moderate success with repairing moderately cracked boots but have come to the conclusion that its a temporary repair at best. A liquid rubber product like flex seal, applied as a complete unbroken layer to the entire exterior can work, but it doesn't stop the real issue which is the boot rubber deteriorating from age and heat. It's difficult to get two things to stay bonded when one of them is literally decomposing. Ive never seen a successful repair of a completely broken boot, but maybe someone else has? If you can get liquid rubber, tape off the gasket surfaces and coat the heck out of the outside, the idea is not to seal individual cracks but to essentially create a laminated outer layer so that the cracks become irrelevant. In a pinch, your local hardware store probably has liquid masking tape in the electrical section, it can work well for sealing cracks. Clean the old boot really well with alcohol (not acetone or lacquer thinner) before applying anything. Tim

The return action in this hydraulic clutch is in the clutch pack spring, if the lever is depressed with no return force present then it functions like a disc brake system and the slave piston will move out to the limit of its travel and stay there. Squeeze it again and you're basically squeezing a brake lever, it should be hard as a rock. You don't really need to bleed it, you just need to provide the return action and shove the slave piston back into starting position, just like you would if you were putting new pads in a brake caliper, and then install the clutch pack. Assuming no other issues you should be good to go. I'm assuming this started when the lever was depressed while the clutch spring was out, right? Hopefully? Tim

So what did ya think about the heat problem?

Well it most likely wasn't the basket, that doesnt look too bad. I dont have any experience with skydocs kit, I've never found the need for altering stock setups in a street application, but I'm not a Venture expert in particular. Skydocs kit has great reviews and isnt likely to be your issue, but strictly from a diagnostic perspective , if I were working on a customer's bike "blind" and all I knew was that the stock setup had been altered, the first thing I would do is return to a stock configuration and diagnose from there. But again, with everything I've read here about the kit it doesnt seem likely that that's your problem. If may be air in the hydraulics, it may be time to rebuild the clutch master, worn internals can result in a portion of the stroke being used to pressurize the system instead of applying movement. Worn cups don't seal well until flared against the cylinder wall, and you could easily be using the first little portion of your application stroke to establish pressure, instead of applying it. I've had this show up after replacing a hydraulic component and bleeding the system, sometimes the really really fine rubber powder (That black stuff at the bottom of the master cylinder) provides sealing assistance and when you flush it all out you lose some seal. You won't even know it's happening but you can lose enough action to make a difference. Try observing the movement of the clutch when operating the lever, once the little bit of slack is taken up any movement of the lever should result in immediate movement of the clutch; take up the mechanical slack between the lever and the master piston then while feeling the clutch with one hand move the lever gently with the other. You should be able to ascertain where the strictly mechanical slack between the lever and piston is, and beyond that there shouldn't be any hydraulic slack, and movement of the lever should immediately result in movement at the other end. Kind of a hard thing to describe, but you should be able to tell when the system actuates relative to where it should. Man, I wish I had my hands on this thing. Tim

The part number for the first 1st gen clutch basket (Primary Driven Gear to be precise) is 26H-16150-00-00, the 2nd gen is 26H-16150-10-00, the position of the additional "10" in the reserved section of the part number I believe indicates "first revision", if the part were not backward compatible you would expect a new part number not a revised one. Usually when I see that I take it as an indicator that the new part will fit the old bikes but the old one may not fit the new bike. No guarantees of course. Considering what those things go for, I'd pull the old one off the bike and compare them carefully, if the new one doesn't match up then you've got the old one out, cleaned up and ready to be dressed. Assuming it needs it of course.

Not a genius, just been around long enough to screw up a lot of stuff. But hey thanks anyway! I'm even careful to make sure that a clutch stack goes back in the basket exactly the way it came out if it isn't being replaced, just rotating a plate can cause stickiness. A sticky new one if ran long enough can wear itself in and eventually release ok but now you have uneven wear on three plates and when the stack wears enough it can cause chattering or rough engagement. Which the installer will then blame on the brand of plate he used, which "never felt right and wore out quick". Angled wear that can't be seen by eye is enough to cause a symptom. Dressing the basket is easy but a time consuming task best suited for a long winter evening. If you have a new basket I'd throw it in there and see what happens. Can't hurt, I woulda done it with the new stuff and saved the old one for having ready the next time just as SOP. Good idea to check that same contact area corner on the new basket to make sure the casting is nice and smooth there, some times the casting will have a sharp or rough corner and anything that can catch your fingernail can catch a plate. I've had some that needed a little attention with 400 wet paper before I felt they were smooth enough. I've dressed new plates too when needed. It helps to think of these parts as like engine parts that work best after they've seated to each other under lubricated load, except these don't have enough load to accomplish the seating, they'll just work like crap for a long time. You need to "approximate the wear-in" yourself by making sure everything is smooth at the contact surfaces. I'm really curious to see a close up of the old basket. Tim

How did the clutch basket look when you had things apart? The contact areas on the basket, where the plate tangs drive the basket, can get roughed up / worn into / deformed by the old plates, its really important that the new plates slide smoothly in the basket. The plates can hang up on the basket and cause your symptom, with new plates come tighter clearances between the plates (more oil drag) and between the plates and the basket (less tolerance for irregularities). If you don't specifically remember the contact areas looking nice and smooth, with square corners, I'd pull the cover and take a look. Probably be hard to judge the surfaces with the plates in, but look at the edge of the contact surfaces, the outer corner of the contact area, and if you see or feel with a fingernail a bead or raised edge on any of those corners then the basket needs to be dressed. That raised, pressure peened edge will cause a new plate without a matching depression to hang up. This is one of those little things that can drive you nuts, the old plates can work fine cause they're worn too, but new plates with sharp corners appreciate properly dressed surfaces to wear into. I've had new plates that needed the tangs dressed too before they would slide smoothly. It can be helpful to visualize that the clutch just relieves spring tension, it doesn't act on the plates, they need to float smoothly to work properly. Tim

Score! I agree, you stole that rig. I would have paid that for the sidecar.

Lots of good advice, I would mention that I've stopped balancing wheels and use Counteract balancing beads. No more weights hammered or stuck on freshly polished or painted wheels, always in balance, they work great. I've been changing tires with the zip tie method and using the balancing beads, no more damaged wheels and cuts the cost of yet another set of tires way down. Tim

I couldn't agree more. The minute, subtle movements required to cruise in a straight line, combined with the uneven side load of head bearings can make a really slight defect very noticeable. Ive seen a couple of bikes that had damaged hearings that would feel just fine when turning from side to side at a stop, but under load felt like crap and couldnt steer a straight line. A damaged ball can work just fine until it rotates into that one position where it doesn't . Head bearings are like brake internals, they're usually neglected until there is a noticeable issue. And in my opinion there is no such thing as a dry bearing that needs grease. I call that a bearing that needs to be replaced because it was run without adequate lubrication. Tim

Sounds like it bound up and when you braked, it relieved it. Scary.