bongobobny

Hmmm, can't seem to find Dano's ad, but I will PM him. In the mean time, here's a link to repairing the starter clutch from out tech library... http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?5944-Starter-Clutch-Repair

Yah! Sometimes the pinch bolt area needs to be pried open a little to get the axle to slide in...

Start with the clutch and/or brake levers not completely disengaged, or the associated switches for each lever being loose. That seems to be the common issue with CC...

Yup! Sounds like the starter clutch issue to me! A member, Dano, does a really great mod with these and it is fixed better than ever!!

Yah! WELCOME!! Besides what was already mentioned, it is a known fact the '83, '84, and '85 temperature gauges read high to begin with. Is it pegging out or just coming close to or touching the red?? if it is just reading near the red, that is unfortunately normal; the bike is not really overheating, the gauge is misreading. Here's a link to a current thread in the watering hole with LOTS of info on overheating, yes or no. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?119421-Over-heats-at-every-light Sooo, I have to ask, is your fan coming on at all? At extended stops only?? All the time?? If all the time then unless the sensor is bad or the relay is stuck you ARE indeed overheating, flush your cooling system, check your thermostat, etc. Here's a link to the battery electrolyte level sensor override... http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?489-Battery-Warning-Bypass Also a known fact with the 1st gen MK1 is the brakes ARE anemic at best!! There is a reason they upgraded the brakes on the MK2 ('86 - '93)! If you keep the stock MK1 system, as suggested upgrade to Stainless Steel lines, makes a big difference! Also, you do know that your rear brake and one of the front brakes are linked together, right??When you hit the front brakes you are applying only one caliper on the front. Also, on the MK1 the hydraulic anti dives also rob braking power. On the MK2 they went to electric solenoids driven by the brake lights for the anti dives. There are two debates going on, one dealing with de-linking the brakes, the other on whether the anti dive is worth the effort to even have. It is very common for MK1 owners to swap out the front forks, or at least the lowers, with MK2's so that they can use 4 piston calipers, either MK2's or much better, calipers from a Yamaha R-1 or R-6! The rear caliper can be swapped out but the stock one is basically OK seeing as MOST of the stopping is done with the front brakes. The swap over to 4 piston MK2 is a little more complicated but doable. Bring on the questions and problems, we will handle them one at a time...

Yup! Sounds like one of the solenoids isn't closing properly...

What kind of weeds are you going to eat?? Are they yummy like cattail roots??

OK IMHO, and it is just that, an opinion, it's not going to sound any better, the real culprit is the totally inadequate 4" speakers. Changing them to better aftermarket speakers helps some, but only when you are standing still, and even then they still are lacking. Speaker SIZE is the answer there!! There are little "Black Boxes" out there that plug into the auxiliary line that give you bluetooth functions. I am ass u me'ing you want to integrate your smart phone into the audio system. If THAT is the case all you really need is a cable that plugs into your phone's headphone jack on one end and into the 3.5mm aux jack on the other. Inside the fairing that line has a plug and jack, and adding a "Y" connector at junction. Now you have an extra "AUX" jack inside the fairing you can plug into making for a much neater looking install than having your cassette door open to access the jack. (I drilled a hole in my door and put a rugger plug in the hole to access BEFORE I found out about the Y adapter thingey) The problem with the phone to aux jack on some smart phones is the system is mono, but with MP3 players, etc it is stereo. If your smart phone has a stereo headphone "earbuds" connection you're all set. Now by "Marine" radio I am once again ass u me 'ing you are referring to a water resistant AM/FM radio and not a radio that specifically receives "Marine Band" signals. Can't for the life of me see why you would want to listen to boats while driving your motorcycle... Best of luck with the install!! WE WANT PICTURES ALONG THE WAY!!!

PS to Dennis (Double Trouble) the most important thing to learn about 1st gen's is they are faster and handle LOTS better than a 2nd gen, but they are not as comfortable...

OK in chat last night we came up with a couple more possibilities! First, from Cowpuc, are you sure you are running on all 4 cylinders?? These bikes actually run surprisingly well on just 3 cylinders, and being you just got the bike, it may have been running on only 3 cylinders. Best way to check is when the bike is cold start it up and carefully check each exhaust for equal heating up. If you want to do it more professional get a heat sensor and look for equal temperatures. That would make the bike run hotter in general because it has to work harder. A second possibility is you probably need to sync all 4 carburetors to each other. This is done with either 4 vacuum gauges or a device called a Morgan Carb Tune which is 4 vacuum monitoring devices all bundled into one neat hand held device. Unbalanced carburetors also make the engine work harder thus increasing the running temperature. Now remember, when at a stop, your engine temperature WILL rise a few degrees or so because there is no airflow through the radiator. That's the main reason for the electric fan, to pull air through for cooling when there is no air being forced through. Now to Puc's observation! There are TWO sensors on that tee, one is a variable output that drives the gauge to read equivalent temperature, and the other is a fixed on or off to turn the fan on of off. Yes, if the wire comes disconnected for the variable one the circuit for the meter is disconnected and the meter reads zero because there is no current running through it. Yes, it is easy to accidentally knock off that wire while doing something else in the area, and many of us have done it!! With the fan switch sensor, if either the output wire to the fan relay comes disconnected, or it looses ground, the fan simply will never turn on! Oh yes, the most important part that Puc brought out WELCOME TO VENTURERIDER!!!

Yup!! Good point Puc, after I posted I remembered that as well!!

Oops, forgot to tell you where your thermo switch is! It is located on the right side of the bike close to the top and near the radiator, mounted on a T unit which is part of the radiator hose. I can't remember if you can see it or not with just the engine side cover removed or whether you have to take the right upper fairing off as well... There IS a downloadable Factory Service Manual in the First Generation Read Only Technical Library! http://labs.trunkful.com/vrmanuals/8385servicemanual.pdf

Ummmm, there is a chance that the bike isn't really overheating!! A known issue with the MK1 ('85 - '85) temperature gauge is that it reads high! Is the fan kicking on at all?? Maybe the cooling system needs flushing. And yes, even in Florida you should use anti freeze, not necessarily to protect from freezing, but the anti freeze coolant mixture will tend to prevent overheating as well. The stuff sort of resists boiling much better than water does. Make sure you use coolant compatible with aluminum. Also, there is a product out there called "Wetter Water" that enhances the cooling system's ability to cool. Getting back to the fan, if you let it idle after it warms up, it SHOULD kick on after several minutes in hotter temperatures such as in Florida. There are several ways of testing the fan. One of the most effective tests is to locate the thermo switch and jumper a ground to the Blue/Green wire, this should automatically turn the fan on even without the bike actually running, just the ignition turned on. If it doesn't, you either have a bad relay, a bad fan motor, or a wiring problem. If the fan kicks on, but neve4r kicks on no matter how hot the engine gets, then the thermo switch itself is bad, or it has lost it's "Ground at the black wire. A quick continuity check to ground should verify if the ground is indeed at the black wire. Also, there used to be some aftermarket switches on Ebay that operated (turned on) at a lower temperature...

Hey KIC, are YOU the reason when I went out this afternoon I found a flat on the rear of my car?? It was fine yesterday...

Yup, NEVER happened!!:photographing:

excuse my French Did you disconnect your battery over the winter? If so then the audio system has turned itself off. If the battery went dead over the winter then the same thing happened. The display will be blank if this is the case. Consult your owner's manual for how to turn it back on. You simply press the "Audio" button to turn on. The Audio button is the one on the left of the three buttons below the display. If you press and hold the same button for a few seconds it turns the system off. The fuse for the radio is in the lower front fairing on the right side. It is a 10 amp fuse that is on the side of the fuse block. This information is also in the owner's manual. Here is a link to the owner's manual, hopefully you can translate it into French... http://labs.trunkful.com/vrmanuals/LIT-11626-16-15_18.pdf

He sort of did, Jeff, see his thread in the watering hole...

That'll do it Kic'ster...

Unfortunately, the Wagner grille is now rarer than hen's teeth...

Well, yeah you don't need the risers, your arms ARE a little longer than mine! My arms are more Raggy sized...

Yes Heather, normally not the pickup coils but through the years there has been a case of two of one of the coils going south. They need to be checked with an ohmmeter for continuity and proper value, just like a coil. What's worse with the pickup coils going bad is the problem sometimes is thermal and hard to detect except the bike quits running when warmed up. I think I've only heard of 2 or 3 cases of pickup coil failure since being on this site in '05, and a year before that on Venturers. Yes, I agree with you, the most likely failure source is the TCI.

And Toronto, and Mississauga, and Woodstock, and...

Ebay for fender. 1 can of seafoam to 1 tank of gas, drive it like ya stole it, these bikes like it!!

I'm thinking a LOT of us want details!!!

Yah! Very little clearance between rear seat and frame. Me thinks it will take some serious fabrication to lower..