bongobobny

My bike grew an extra appendage so now I have zero low-speed handling issues...

OK, a word or two on the front forks and anti-dive. On the MK1 (that is the '83 - '85 Venture and Venture Royale) the anti-dive solenoids are a hydraulic system that moves the plunger to restrict the flow of shock oil so the shocks stiffen up when you apply the brakes. As the name says, it slows down the dive of the front end when braking which helps handling while braking. On the MK2 ('86 - '93) the hydraulic power robbing solenoids were replaced with electric solenoids that are triggered via a relay when the brake light comes on. Switching to Progressive brand front fork springs does indeed stiffen up the suspension so that the dive when braking is not as drastic. The anti-dive system still does restrict the front shocks but is not as noticeable as with the stock springs. So, let's talk front brakes! The stock MK1 front brakes are anemic at best! They are a 2 piston system that got replaced with more efficient and more effective 4 piston calipers! The spacing for the caliper bolts on the MK1 is 86mm whereas the spacing on the MK2 forks is 100mm. Now, there are even better calipers than the MK2 calipers that will bolt right onto the 100mm spacing. These calipers are from either a Yamaha R/1 or R/6 made in the very late 90's and early 2000's. There are two versions of the R/1 and R/6, blue dots and gold dots. The gold dots are preferred as they have anodized aluminum pistons as opposed to the blue dots which have steel pistons, which are prone to rust and sticking. So, if you want to improve your braking power, ditch the hydraulic anti dives in favor of electrical ones and get better calipers for the front as well. Actually, all you need is the bottoms for the forks as the uppers and guts are virtually the same on the early MK2's, and compatible with the different guts for the later MK2's. Now, you do know that the rear brake and the one front caliper are linked?? If you are having difficulty bleeding the one side of the front brakes, it is because you are using the wrong brake. Some people like the linked brakes, others do not and convert the brakes to a more conventional non-linked system. There are definite advantages and disadvantages of both linked and non-linked brakes and it is up to you to decide which system you prefer. If you decide to switch out the fronts for better brakes, you will also have to change your rotors as the MK1 and MK2 are not compatible size wise. The MK2 rotors are slotted and cross-drilled for more efficiency, and bolt right on to the MK1 rim, which is the same rim. I see others have already advised you about the air flow differential that you will need to address if you want the bike to have any kind of decent performance. You can orifice the output with washers as Zagger mentioned, or you can play with re-jetting the carbs, which ends up being a trial and error affair. You can monitor your mixture with either a CO sniffer on each exhaust looking for that perfect 5.1 exhaust mixture or with a color tune plug which lets you look at the color of the exploding mixture... For the fuse block, contact member Skydoc_17 who is one of our vendors here, he makes a ready made kit to replace your fuse block! He is also a great source for lots of other parts!! Just tell Earl Bongo sent you!

Yes, I'm old too but I sort of get this game! Life is all about options!! I think the game sort of defines your basic character! Maybe not, but who am I to decide?!! OK, million dollars, Ultra cool and expensive auto (I can name at least a half-dozen worth over a million), and I opt for the 100 duck sized horses, as even a normal sized duck can do more damage than a duck sized horse! Wait, one at a time or all at once?? Can I carry??? Next question...

If you look at his video you will see he put a conical K&N on, not the replacement K&N cartridges they make as a replacement for the OEM filter...

Hey Sapper, good to hear from you! We will indeed be praying for you!

Well, Pirelli is a tire name that has been around for a long long time with a very good reputation as a performance tire, especially in the automotive sports car racing, so if you were happy with them, then why not go with them again, especially if they fit your pocketbook? How any brand of tire performs is purely a personal matter as no two rider's style is the same...

Sorry, not what I would call a touring bike...

Wild problem, I'm on the carb wagon, just don't have any definite answer for you...

The bike will run fine and rev up, it is when it is under a "load" when the proper advance comes into play... I will admit I didn't look at the videos yet...

Lenny, it really has little or nothing to do with the denomination! I have known Pastors from independent non-denominational churches do the same thing, especially in rural areas! The point being, there are small churches, as Rev KS pointed out, that just plain can't afford to pay for a full-time pastor, so they do the best that they can! Sometimes they will "share" a Pastor with several local churches, something my old church did so that 4 different churches take turns covering services for another small church or group for the month. We used to do that (and to my knowledge my old church still does) for a county nursing home. The bottom line being one Pastor can indeed cover two or three local churches but it is very time-consuming and needs coordination. It's like church 1 gets a service at 8:00, church 2 gets a 10:00 and church 3 may get a service at noon or maybe 6:00 PM or whatever works! As KS mentioned the real trick is with the special cases such as shut-ins, counseling, etc...

I assume you rerouted the vacuum line for the "boost sensor" (vacuum advance sensor) from the carbs to manifold vacuum? The '83 only was set up to work with carb vacuum and the advance is 180 degrees out of phase with all the other years, so unless that aftermarket TCI is specifically for the '83, unless you change the vacuum over it will try to retard timing when you actually need it to advance...

Ahhh, that changes things! I went by the title of the thread thinking you had an '83! As far as the YICS, as I mentioned it was a feature that worked better on paper than in reality, and so to reduce manufacturing costs, it was eliminated on the MK2. Good old cheaper, better, faster... Yup, any more oil than halfway up the site glass will get thrown out as blowby! With the carb boots, did you replace the base "O" rings and clean the mating surfaces?? There should have been no need for using RTV, but hey, if it fixed your vacuum leak there so be it! Your twinkie acts as an oil cooler so yes it can indeed develop oil leaks!

Yes, as you discovered, the B/W line is a kill line for ignition! Ground will appear on that line if either you try to run with the kickstand down, or the bike falls over. Myself I would leave those features active for safety reasons but that is your choice...

Other than hearing it run, there is really no issues to watch out for other than minor ones such as brakes, leaky clutch slave cylinders, etc. Any old bike is going to need maintenance and will have some kind of issue here and there. I would say the two major issues are the carburetors and the ignition module, hence "hearing it run." Carburetors can run several hundred dollars to properly service them if they need rebuilding, with parts alone costing in excess of $100 per carb for parts alone, but that would include new everything pretty much. If it starts and runs reasonably well then probably just a treatment of a carburetor cleaner such as Seafoam or Berryman's, and a good synchronization of all four should be all that is needed. Stock ignition modules are no longer available as new, and used ones are a crap shoot, but there are a few aftermarket ones out there for a couple hundred dollars. You may or may not have problems with corrosion on any and all electrical connectors but for the most part, nothing that a good dose of contact cleaner and reseating the connectors can't cure along with sealing the connector shells with dielectric grease to keep moisture from causing any further issues. You may experience a leaky hydraulic slave cylinder for the clutch, and the best way to fix it is to just replace it with a new one. It will cost you less than $50 for a replacement. They are not that difficult to replace. The hard part is getting the old one physically out and the new one in position. It's sort of a twist, rotate, shake, swear, and get frustrated, and then all of a sudden it magically falls out! Stators can fail but not that often. Replacement is fairly easy, and you do NOT have to remove the motor to replace them. Fuel pumps rarely go bad either. The bottom line is ANY 20-year-old bike is going to require some form of maintenance as rubber hoses rot, electrical connections get corroded, etc. With ANY motorcycle, always check the date code on the tires! For your own safety, you should NEVER use a tire that is more than 6 years old! This is a recommendation by all tire manufacturers for any kind of vehicle! Congratulations on your choice of a Venture touring bike! They are one of the most durable and dependable ones out there, and a real joy to ride! They are a tall bike, though, so if you are inseam challenged I would strongly consider if that will be an issue for you. Myself I am 29" and could not flat foot my 1st gen. I lived with it though as I loved it that much! It is a touring bike with the heart of a sports bike! Good luck with your search, you may want to look in the classifieds here as there are usually a couple of good ones for sale here...

That's wonderful news in two ways! Great that you will be closer to family, and great that God has found a need to be filled by you!!

Been a few years but yes, it is two kits per caliper, one kit for each side of the caliper on the front. The rear caliper is different from the front and is the same caliper used on the 2nd Generation Venture rears. Can't remember if the pads and kits are the same or not, it's been about 10 years since I did a 1st gen. Your brakes are the same for all MK2 which is '86 through '93. Now, before you spend all that money on the front calipers, I am going to highly recommend you REPLACE those calipers with calipers from a Yamaha R1/R6! They are much more efficient and cheaper to rebuild, and they bolt right on easy peasy! You want to get them from early 2000's as they changed later on to a version that won't bolt on. There are two versions, the "blue" dot and the "gold" dot. You want the gold dots as their pistons are anodized aluminum as opposed to the steel pistons on the blue dot ones. You will notice an improvement in breaking with the R1/R6 calipers as well! As far as the rear goes, the stock is fine, just remember the information I gave you about the 2nd gen calipers. Member Skydoc_17, Earl is a good person to buy parts from, he is honest and reasonable, besides being a heck of a good guy...

There are some wide blade aftermarket handles for the clutch and brake that I use and am happier with the feel of over the stock ones...

No, the YICS sets above the "twinkie." It is a plastic tank with 4 vacuum lines coming to it, one for each cylinder. How it works is it smooths out or equalizes the vacuum, sort of...

Of course!! I'm just wondering how the process will work, where to send my DD214 to, etc...

That's EXACTLY how we feel about it!

Vacuum leaks? With the age of the bike start by replacing ALL of the hoses. Another biggie is the seal around the center of the YCIS chamber, it develops leaks. Do a bead of sealant around the seam or do like some have done and eliminate it, as it works in theory but in actuality not so much...

Yes, unfortunately, we only have a couple of days left of our Western New York "spring break." The "S" word is back into the forecast again. We came close to 70 yesterday...

David, never EVER think that others are more deserving of you!! You SERVED this nation, and was willing, if needed, to give your life for the freedoms that sometimes I feel others have but may not deserve these days! (No, I still believe this country is the land of the free, but when people abuse their freedoms I begin to wonder...) I don't care if you were a reservist, national guard, etc, you still were willing to serve your country regardless!!

Are you receiving monthly disability checks, Dick? If not I strongly urge you to sign up for them! You are eligible for them and more so DESERVE them!! Be warned, it usually takes about a year for your claim to be processed, but the good news is you are paid from the date you applied, not the day it is approved!! I ended up with a check for over $12,000 when my claim was finally approved, and then when I applied for re-evaluation I got a check for over $20,000!

I just got an email from Snaggletooth and he brought me up to speed. Back in 2014 he had a heart attack and another in 2016 when they did a couple of stents and installed a pacemaker. Well, somehow he wasn't monitored as well as he should have been, and adjustments were not made, so this February he had heart attack number 3. Also, due to some artery issues, he is also suffering from kidney damage. He is on the mend but still has a long way to go yet so please continue to pray for him! For those that know him, you know Mike is a really decent guy and a pleasure to know. You may or may not know that Mike is also deaf! I did not know this until about 3 or 4 years ago when he told me. I have neve met him in person but we have been conversing for years through PM's and emails and I feel as we have become close friends! Mike is a very hard working and enthusiastic person and I'm glad to know him! He promises to keep me up to date, and if he can't then I'm sure his Daughter Ashley will let me know!