VstarAl

Good day! I know this thread is a bit dated, but on my 2007 Venture I am experiencing a similar situation. In the fall of 2018 I noticed that the coolant in the overflow tank looked like chocolate milk. I removed the overflow tank and cleaned it thoroughly. After that I drained and flushed the cooling system. The coolant that I drained looked normal, I did not notice any milkiness in it; the only milky coolant was found in the overflow tank. Since it was near the end of the riding season I changed the oil and oil filter, and I noticed no coolant mixed with the oil (thankfully). Fast-forward to April 2019. A few weeks ago I was riding the bike home from work, and partway through the ride I noticed a bunch of coolant sprayed on the right side of the bike. After I got home and inspected the situation, I found the hose between the radiator cap and radiator had burst. (Thankfully I was able to make it home without having the bike overheat.) When I removed the radiator cap, I noticed some splotches of milky-looking coolant in the neck. And when I looked at the overflow tank, the tube that dipped into the overflow tank looked it it had pure oil on it, and the coolant looked quite dark. There are a few rubber tubes that extend to and "dangle" at the bottom of the chassis beneath the driver's seat. The end of one of those tubes is very oily, and the other two are dry. I'm trying to figure out where on earth the oil is getting into the coolant. This issue sounded very similar to the one at the beginning of this thread, and I read the suggestions on this thread, but am wondering if it'd be possible to get even more specific as to where to start troubleshooting with the symptoms described. The bike has about 57k miles on it and it runs fine. (If it'd help, I can snap a few photos and attach them.) Thanks!

Thank you for the replies/ideas. After running the engine for a bit, all of the exhaust pipes leaving the jugs felt hot, so I believe all four cans are popping. Here's an update: I took out the K&N filters and reinstalled the stock air filters, and the sag/pop/backfire issues went away. I sent an E-mail to K&N asking them where to go from here. I went with the K&N filters because I figured they would last the lifetime of the bike. But, I do not want to modify the airbox/carbs just to get the K&N filters to work!

I have an '07 Venture, 25k miles, stock engine/exhaust setup, carbs settings have never been modified (except being balanced a couple of years ago). A few days ago I changed the spark plugs and replaced the air filters for the first time. Instead of installing paper filters, I installed K&N filters. After putting the bike back together and taking it for a test ride, I noticed a (somewhat negative) performance difference. When accelerating through gears 1-4, or if I cruise around 40 MPH in 4th gear, there is an occasional sag. Overall, the bike still accelerates well, but the sag is more prevalent when holding a steady speed. Highway performance is good; cruising at highway speeds is smooth, and passing is no problem. Also, when decelerating, there is more popping, and an occasional backfire (when decelerating from highway speeds). The bike has never backfired before. Mileage is still around 40 MPG (I rode over 600 miles since the plugs/filters were changed). I thought the K&N filters were a direct replacement and no carb mods would need to have been made. Has anyone experienced this before? I still have the paper filters, and when I make time, I will put those back in and see if the performance goes back to the way it was. Any other suggestions on what I could check? Thanks!

Good Day: I have an '07 Venture and was searching for the thickness specs of the brake rotors. (I found the specs for the 96-'01 Royal Stars, but not specific to the Venture.) I plan on replacing my front tire this weekend, and if I had to replace the rotors, I would do so at the same time. I have 19,700 miles on the bike. I already replaced the rear tire and brake pads around 14,000 miles. Thanks!

I bought a new '07 Venture a couple of weeks ago. After I rode it home 113 miles, I noticed coolant splattered below the right rear cylinder. I thought perhaps the dealer spilled some during assembly and it blew onto the bike as I rode. So I cleaned it off and all was fine. I rode 20-30 miles a day for about a week with no coolant leak. I then took it for a 60-mile trip, and at the end of the trip, I noticed coolant splattered in the same area as before. Thinking this was not normal, I took it to my local Yamaha shop (I purchased the bike from a dealer 90 miles away) and asked if they could take a look at it. It turned out the clamp on the return hose between the cylinder and radiator was not in the correct place (it was located way up on the hose and not clamped near the end of the hose like it should have been). The dealer moved the clamp to the correct spot. The next day I took the bike for a 100-mile ride, and no coolant leaked. The dealer said that was a screw-up from the factory.

I used a "Headlight Rainbow Strobe" on my 2000 Vstar Classic. It makes subtle but noticeable colors around the edge of the headlight. The center of the beam is not affected. It does add distinction to your headlight. The goal is to make your bike distinctive, something that would make other drivers take notice. http://www.customdynamics.com/headlight_rainbow.htm