MiCarl

He broke the number 1 rule. Instead of looking where he wanted to go he looked back at the other bike - turned toward it.

My reaction to a number of those was "how did it lose traction". Then I thought about some of the tires I've seen come into my shop..... Had one guy wore the rear tire on his Gold Wing clear down to the air.

I do not believe the MKI and MKII use the same hitch. I know the hitch on my MKII attaches to the saddle bag mounts, which are different than those on a MKI.

They're pretty similar. If you can do one you can do the other.

Spring -> Washer -> o-ring. Your intuition is correct. The order is handy because the o-ring holds it all on the needle as you assemble. BTW, it's a fuel needle, backing it out makes the mixture richer.

Yes, that squealing is telling you that you have metal to metal contact in the speedometer drive. It's wearing fast.

I believe that there are others available that would fit, but not be an exact color match. 2C9-2835J-00-P0 should fit. Metallic black rather than whatever black the midnight used.

You have to split the rack L/R to get the bowls off. Rack needs to come off to do that. Short cuts are rarely worth it anyhow. Here is how I'd approach this: 1) Pull the spark plugs, disconnect the fuel pump and make sure you can crank it by hand. 2) Pull the carbs out and disconnect the TCI. 3) If the starter still won't spin it fix that issue. 4) Do a compression test. 5) Reconnect the TCI, Install (NEW) spark plugs into the ignition wires and ground the plugs. Check for spark. 6) Do a proper service job on the carburetors. Of course if any of the steps doesn't work you'll need to look into why. ** Ask for help at each step rather than getting mired down in the total job. **

I think you're saying you want the controller to run the LED driving lights except when the driving lights are turned on. And you're worried that when you power up the driving lights it'll back feed to the controller. Put a rectifier diode between the controller and the driving lights. That way when you turn on the driving lights it won't back feed and cause issues with the controller or other lights. Diode should hold up better than a relay.

Plugs are 18mm. I use a thin wall socket and short extension. I don't think I use the universal but do have a flex head ratchet that I likely used when doing them. Heat shields don't need to come out if the extension isn't overly long. I lift the plugs out with one of those magnets on a stick. If the #1 is dumping fuel there will be fuel in the #1 cylinder, until it drains into the crankcase. You're going to need an oil change too. BTW, float still moves up and down like you're used to, the bowl just opens to the side rather than down like you're familiar with. Make sure the o-rings on the bowls are in good condition, since they have to actually hold the fuel in rather than keeping it from sloshing out they're more important than you're used to.

If you pull the plugs and crank it with the starter you MUST disable the ignition system. You don't want to make a fireball.

Your cranking problem could be engine hydrolocked due to a cylinder full of gasoline. If you get one cylinder to fire and another is full of fuel you're likely to ruin the engine. Pull spark plugs and turn the engine over by hand to clear any gasoline. Remove the cover on the left side of the crank case that says Yamaha. Centered under it is a plug that covers the end of the crank. Remove the plug and put a wrench on the crank to turn it. Only turn counter-clockwise.

Yes, but only as far as Northern Ohio. I don't do humidity well. Plus, you'd be a bad influence. I've got one ex-wife and that's enough.

There are more deer than there used to be and they're moving into the suburbs, probably cities too. I live about 3 miles from the Detroit city limits and it's not uncommon to see 2 or 3 in the back yard, most at once was 14. It's a rare day we don't see any. The only time I came close to hitting a deer with a motorcycle was just four miles from home on a suburban freeway. It's also getting to be stupid season for deer. They're less cautious than usual. I'm surprised you haven't heard of motorcycle - deer collisions. I hear of a lot of them and am amazed at how often the rider is un-injured. Turkeys on the other hand seem to be frequently fatal. I'm extra careful at dusk this time of year.

I wish you were my neighbor. I think we'd get on well, most of the time. The clearance in the speedometer head is so tight I can't imagine getting any general purpose grease in there. The nice thing about the spray lithium is it's carried in a solvent which makes it thin. In fact, my current can seems to spray mostly solvent. It still took a bit of effort to get the grease worked completely through the bearing.

I took my speedometer out of the cluster to work on it. Too many delicate parts in there for me to be comfortable just spraying or pumping stuff into it. I found that the drive didn't have much clearance to the bearing (probably a good thing). I used a NEW cable sheath (someone stuck me with a tachometer cable years ago). Sprayed a little brake clean into the bearing, spun it a bit, packed tissue inside the speedometer, attached the cable sheath and blew through with compressed air. Repeated until I felt I'd got the grime out. Then after it had a chance to dry I filled the sheath with lithium grease, attached to the speedometer and hit it with the compressed air. Took apart, spun it, repeat. I did that until the new lithium grease began to appear inside the speedometer. Put a little lithium grease on the gears and put it back together. It's been quiet as a mouse since, but haven't put many miles on it. BTW, when the needle starts jumping it's either the cable or the bearing is worn out.

Mine did the same this past spring. If we're right you'll be pulling the instrument cluster. Consider replacing the lamps in the cluster while it's out. A week after I did mine I had to pull it all back apart to install $10 worth of lights.

I'll go one further. I've got a friend (former Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor) that likes to say "Any damn fool can ride 70 mph but it takes skill to ride below 5 mph". The Venture is a very difficult bike at slow speed. Get your experience on something else. Your weight won't be an issue once you know instinctively how to ride properly. I wonder though if your legs are long enough to keep it upright. My inseam is 32" and to me that seems about a minimum. Remember, roads aren't perfectly flat and sometimes you'll stop with your feet over low spots.

What Du-Ron said EXCEPT work it into 5th gear. You've got more mechanical advantage in the higher gear.

The nearest Waffle House is almost 50 miles from me. I wonder what my zone color is.

There's a reason that the old Honda parts fiches are organized by model/SN instead of year.

After all those years waiting two new Ventures in the same summer?

Wow! That's quite a catch.

Looking at the parts fiche it appears that the Royale should have a CLASS system. Also looking at the fiche it appears that radio and CB were options on the base Venture. The base motorcycle will have Schrader valves to air the forks and rear shocks. Not sure exactly where they'll be though because my '89 is a Royale. I think the front will be somewhere near the ignition switch and the rear might be near the passenger foot rest. Is that a Schrader valve I see to the left of the ignition switch in your first picture?

Venture, Venture Royale. Only two variants there were. Only difference was accessories.