Jump to content

frankd

Supporting Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,140

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by frankd

  1. frankd
    On the 83, all of the bars are on until 40-52 miles, depending on how fast you are going. It appears the first bar goes off when 1 gallon has been used. The red light comes on when 3.95 gallons have been used (U.S. Gallons). When I was riding this bike, I'd note when the alarm came on and within 40 miles, I'd stop for gas. If it took a bit to find a station, sometimes I'd put in 5.0 or 5.1 gallons...kinda close for comfort because the tank holds 5.2 gallons. On my 89, the steps are a little different and it gets 40MPG@75MPH, and about 43-44 MPG for average riding. Usually the first bar goes off at 53 miles or so, the 2nd about 77, the third about 88. The 4th bar goes off about 107, the 5th about 125, and the last about 153. On the way back from our last trip, by noticing when the last bar went off and the alarm came on, I 'calculated' that I'd be able to buy gas 1 town south of my mother-in-laws. I figured this would be right at the 5.0 gallon point....no problem. What I failed to notice was that a strong headwing had come up. We were travellling about 75 MPH with the cruise on (interstate) and 2 miles before the exit, I noticed that the speed was dropping slightly and the bike was sounding a little strange. I pulled onto the shoulder and rode it slowly in 5th gear as far as it'd go...another 1/2 mile. The ground was flat for a bit, so Barb and I pushed it a little. When we got to a place where a hill started, I was inspired to think of something else. I tilted the bike to the right, turned the key on, and rocked the kill switch. Holly Toledo, the fuel pump stoped trying to pump, the carb bowls were full!!!!. We rode right to the bottom of the ramp for the exit, over a mile. I repeated the tilt and pumped a little more, but the pump didn't shut off. Thankfully the carbs were full enough that we were able to get up the hill on the ramp. When we got to the road, we coasted down to where the road got flat again, and then pushed to the gas station. We were within 500'!!!. A very nice young man stopped and said "I've got some containers filled with water, (he was having overheat problems) we could dump the water and bring some gas back. We did. I put a 1/2 gallon in the bike, pumped the carbs full, and rode to the station. I filled the bike to the top. From 100% dry to 100% full, the bike held 5.25 gallons. If the carbs were still full, I'd say the tank held 5.2 gallons. Frank D.
  2. frankd
    These fuel pumps don't have electric motors running them, they have a coil of wire that is energized which creates a magnetic field. This moves a diaphram that pumps the gasoline. When you hear a click, the coil has been energized, and compresses a spring. That spring applies pressure on the diaphram, which creates fuel pressure. When the fuel is used, and the diaprham is at the end of it's stroke, a set of contacts inside the fuel pump close. This applies voltage to the coil again, and the diaphram moves to the other end of it's travel (and the contacts open). This cycle is repeated over and over, but because the carbs. eventually get full and the needles block the fuel from the pump, the diaphram also stops, even though voltage is applied to the wire feeding the fuel pump. When enough fuel gets used, the fuel pump diaphram pumps replacement fuel, and moves. Now when you shut off the petcock, the pump will create a vacuum on the inlet, and this will prevent the diaphram from moving to the end of it's travel and closing the contacts again, so the pump quits making noise. Back in the old days when cars had carbureators, some hot rodders used electric fuel pumps. They worked the same way...click, click, click. My buddy had the cam lobe that moves the mechanical fuel pump wear out in his Corvair, so he installed a Stewart Warner electric pump. However, the electric pump would wear out the contacts and stop working. He would take it apart on the side of the road, and clean the contacts up, and then replace it ASAP. The fuel pumps in 1st Gens. seem to last though. I don't think I've ever heard of anybody having to change one on a 1st Gen. To tell if it's the pump or a wiring/relay/TCI problem, I'd measure the voltage on the wire to the pump. If there is voltage there and you have problems, it's the pump, or the fuel filter or screen in the tank is clogged with crud. If the voltage to the pump goes to zero, you have a wiring/relay/TCI problem. If you don't have a meter you could use a small light or a test light.
  3. frankd
    On my 83, I mounted my detector on the front brake master cylinder with velcro. When the weather got nasty, I just put it away. I haven't installed it on the 89, but I've been thinking of it. I used it for a car trip last week, and it did alert me a time or two. Frank D.
  4. frankd
    I just thought of something else....Just before I pulled my 83 apart to fix 2nd gear, if the temperature was in the mid 90's I could be driving down the expressway and the temp. gauge would come up to just below where the fan would come on. When I did the 2nd gear repair, of course I cleaned the grease and crud off of the outside of the motor. When I put it back together, the temp. gauge read quite a bit lower with the same conditions. Now this makes a lot of sense.....in addition to being water cooled, air flowing over the motor does absorb a lot of heat, and if it's crudded up, the air doesn't really touch the motor. Have him make sure his engine is reaqsonably clean, including the bottom. Frank D.
  5. frankd
    Also, the temperature gauge calibration for the Mk I's (83-85) is different than the 86 and later bikes (Mk II). On the Mk I, the fan comes on just as the gauge gets to the end of the green. Now the Mk II's don't run any cooler, the gauge just doesn't go up as high. On a Mk I, the only thing you can do to get any cooler is to make sure the fairing vents are open. ON a Mk II, you can also close off the vents on the side panels, and that keeps some of the engine heat away from your legs. There used to be aftermarket plates that would fit cover the side panel openings (Mk I), but you won't find them anymore, and everytime I'd put mine on and leave on vacation, it'd get cold out and you'd want some engine heat. Of course, if I left with the plates not in, it'd get hotter than h$ll. Frank D.
  6. frankd
    In addition to the fluid change, something else you can do---seeing that you are pulling a trailer, your clutch has more load on it, and it will be more inclined to slip. If you ride in 4th gear instead of 5th, this will decrease the load on the clutch. Also, limit how much throttle you apply. We all like the way these bikes run at full throttle, but with a weak clutch and a trip you want to go on, be easy on it and the last of your clutch will last a lot longer. Frank D.
  7. frankd
    A heavier oil pressure relief spring will not increase idle oil pressure. It may help a little at cruise RPM, but these bikes don't seem to need more oil pressure. I've got a gauge on my 83, and on a cold start the oil pressure goes up to 90-100 psig. However, at very hot idle, it's only about 6-8 psig. This bike has 140,000 miles on it and I'd think if it needed more oil pressure we'd know by now.
  8. frankd
    If you have the shaft drive coupling lower than the body of the shaft unit, I understand that MkII's can leak out of the shaft coupling. Some think that this is how the coupling is lubricated, but it's not--the grease lubes the couplng. There is a vent above the normal shaft fluid level (80W-90W) and if you let the coupling get low, the lube can come out. Make sure you grease the coupling with molybdenum-disulfide grease, and check the shaft unit lube level after you get it back on the bike. BTW, most of us grease the front (U-joint) coupling with the same grease when the shaft goes back in. Some use moly grease on the tire to shaft unit coupling, but I use Bel-Ray waterproof grease. Frank D.
  9. frankd
    Sorry you had to trailer it. Three times I've had stators go bad (2 grounded, 1 shorted), and each time the bike was able to travel many miles home without the battery going dead. The first time I was in Branson MO. when it went bad. We were also attending the Venture Rally in Harisonburg AR. This was probably in 2000 or so, and it was my 83. By watching the voltmeter, I could see that with the radio OFF, as long as I wasn't traveling slow, the battery would charge a tiny bit. Three days later, we left for home 600 miles away and made it just fine. I did notice the voltmeter down lower than normal soon after it happened so the battery wasn't dead before I knew I had problems. Heck, I even rode the bike to work all week with the bad stator until the replacement arrived. THe trick is to not sit a stops with your brake light on, and stay out of traffic as much as possible. Then it happened a couple of years ago on my 89--It's a Royale, and with it I turned off the radio, intercom, CB and cruise control and at highway speeds it started to charge the battery slowly. On this one I almost ran the battery dead before I noticed it was hardly charging. Then the stator on the 83 went bad again. My brother charged the battery up and then rode it up to my house 190 miles away. The battery was about fully charged when he got here. I just cautioned him to keep the driving lights and radio off. What I'm saying that most times when a stator goes bad if you turn everything uneeded off and stay out of traffic as much as possible, you can keep on going. But you have nothing to spare....it only charges a tiny bit.
  10. frankd
    If you're sure you have all the air out of your brake lines, then disconnecting the anti-dive units will make your brake levers a lot firmer and they'll engage with less lever travel. However, the right front brake won't stop much harder. Because of the different position of your fingers now, you may be able to pull a little harder. Also make sure you don't have frozen caliper pistons. To do this, look at your brake pads and make sure they are wearing evenly. Then colapse the caliper and pump it back up a couple of times. If the piston is binding or frozen you will feel it. NOTE Frank D.
  11. frankd
    Yes, that's all it takes. I seem to remember putting a short bolt with a copper washer into the anti dive valves to keep the dirt out. Does your brake lever go all the way to the handlebars OR is it too hard to pull? Frank
  12. frankd
    A 5 pin din is a 5 pin din no matter where it's used. That means that yes, it will fit a Honda (if it use a 5 pin din connector). Now, the new Gold Wings have the plugs wired a little different than the Yammie, so when you replace the connectors, just wire them the same as you find them. Frank D.
  13. frankd
    When I bought my 83 new, I also was never impressed with the front brake. I lived with it. While I was fixing 2nd gear, I did a lot of other mods, including braided brake lines and because I already had Progressive fork springs installed, I disconnected the anti-dive. This made a night and day difference. Now I had a very firm front brake lever, and it worked....real good. Now my front brake was very effective and would flat out stop the bike. BTW, I left the brakes linked. However there are other things to consider. Look at your right front disk brake pads and see if they are wearing evenly. If they arent, maybe you have a frozen caliper piston. When I bought my low mileage (meaning it sat unused for a long time) 89, the brakes took a lot of pressure to stop fast. You had to grip the front lever with all of your might, and the back (and left front) also took a lot of pressure. I found that I had frozen pistons in the back caliper and the right front. Fixing this made the brakes a lot better, but not good. It still took a firm squeeze on the hand lever and a hard push on the rear brake pedal. But at least it was safe now. I rode it this way for a couple of years, and then a month ago, my wife and I rodea little aggressively through the Smokies (including the 'Dragon again), and with the hard usage the brakes started getting better and better. Finally I had a panic stop in Myrtle Beach and this made a big difference. It looks like my brake pads never seated. Now my 89 has what I'd call good brakes, and they are still linked. Make sure you are using good pads, EBC Double H brake pads are supposed to be the "grippiest" accoding to their ad. If you have a problem with your brakes not working as designed, de-linking won't help. You may not like the idea of linked brakes, but fix the problem before you delink them. Frank D.
  14. frankd
    DO you have the original tool kit? I use the spark plug socket that comes in the original tool kit.....one end has a rubber piece that grips the plug. That's the end I use to start the plug. BTW, you do have the plastic piece that sits on top of the motor (heat shield) raised up don't you? If you don't have the factory tool kit, I suppose you could use an 18mm deep well socket and then take a piece of paper or cardboard to wedge the plug in the socket. Then put an extension into the socket and use that to install the plug. Frank D.
  15. frankd
    I use Yamabond or Hondabond (they are identical), but other sealants will work also. I just changed the stator on the 83, and it had been on for about 10-11 years and didn't leak. It was sealed with a Permatex sealant (black). The important part is to clean the wires and grommet with brake cleaner or some other de-greaser before you apply the sealant. The last 2 stators I've installed I used Hylomar on both sides of the gaskets. Hylomar is a non-drying sealant that Rolls Royce uses on jet engines. It was intended to be used without a gasket, but I decided not to chance it and used a gasket also.
  16. frankd
    No, the Shindengen R/R is thicker thaN THE oem, so mounting it in the original location won't work. I'm not home, so I can't look and see if I do have pictures of mounting it where Earl did his, under the travel trunk, but I don't remember having them. I'm still running the OEM unit, because before my trip last month, I didn't have time to dream up a mount for it. Some have mounted it in the left fairing but I've got a few extra things in there alreardy (horn relay, power supply for GPS, etc) and I'd have to move it down the the forward bottom of the pocket. If you don't have the original radio installed, it's much easier. If you pull the cassette, you have to add a jumper that tells the radio that the cassette isn't running, and I have the wiring diagram at home. Mounting it in the left fairing there wouldn't be a quick job (in my bike) though. The black panel under the fairing isn't flat there, so a mounting plate/system would be needed. Another possibilityh is on top of the air box, if you don't have the TCI mounted there (I don't). I don't think I'd mount it in the fairing lowers. They are pretty light weight, and the regulator would strain the mounting tabs, plus you'd have to wire it so you could get to the plug so you could disconnect it when youi pull the lowers (sync the carbs, change spark plugs, etc). Things are packed pretty tight on the 1st Gens. Frank D.
  17. frankd
    If you remove the cats you will also get a check engine light on any OBDII vehicle. The computer compares the output from the O2 sensor in the exhaust manifolds and the O2 sensor(s) after the catalytic comvertors, and if the converters are NOT consuming enough oxygen, then the computer thinks the convertors are bad and turns on the check engine light. The car will run OK with this fault, but you can't pass an emissions test with the check engine light on. If you have a bad miss, unburnt fuel will be dumped into the convertors and burned there. THis will create a lot of heat in the converter and can cause it to fall apart. Heck, they sometimes fall apart without a miss. My 1997 Taurus has a weak convertor. If my wife does too much city driving I get a check engine fault (bad convertor) and the car has a loud exhaust. I'd 'assume' that the convertor has fallen apart inside. Now we drove it 550 miles yesterday and the check engine light went out about 15 miles after we left home and stayed out the entire trip. After we get back home, it'll probably come back on in a week or two. To get it to pass the last test, I took it on the highway and the light went out. Then I went for the test and it passed OK.
  18. frankd
    Well, I lifted the bike with the floor jack, and put jack stands under it. This took all the weight off of the centerstand and allows me to move it by hand. My son straightened the link again, and then re-installed it. It's not hitting anything, so I'll "assume" that it was originally bent when the 83 frame broke, and now needs to be replaced. I also checked the shift linkage. There's quite a bit of play where it goes through the left engine case, and the shifter itself is also worn quite a bit, but what do you expect after 29 years and 140,000 miles. I also saw that the shift lever wasn't adjusted correctly, so I fixed that. Frank
  19. frankd
    Yes, that's the part I'm talking about. According to the Yammie parts fische, 83-93 are all the same. Let me determine is something on the bike is causing it to bend OR if it is just weaker because of the damage it sustained when the 83 frame broke. Thanks for your offer, and I will get back to you in a bit and let you know if I do need it. Thanks, Frank
  20. frankd
    The big question is why did it overheat?? Brake usage on the Parkway isn't that much, so I doubt that you overworked it. As has been suggested by others, maybe you were riding the brake pedal OR you overfilled the master cylinder. If the answer to these is NO, then your rear calilper is probably binding. Sometimes you get by with retracting the pads somewhat, pumping the pedal, and then repeating a couple of times more. Without a center stand, it'll be hard to tell if this helps though. Seeing that the bike is in warranty, maybe you might want to find a local Yammie dealer It looks like there are several Yammie dealers around there. Frank D.
  21. frankd
    I've been working on the 83 Venture for the last couple of months. My brother has been riding this and a lot of problems developed, and he brought it back for repairs. This bike has 140,000 miles on the clock. The stator was bad, so I changed that and now it charges fine. The clutch was slipping a little, so I installed one of Earl's kits and how it's great. The right half of the fairing had a lot of broken/cracked tabs as did a lot of other plastic, so I dug out the Plastex kit and went to work. New plugs made it run a lot better, and I also pulled out the TCI module and checked it for corroded diode leads....still looks perfect, and the diodes are fine electrically. I installed a new rear tire, and fought with the mess that the old formula Ride-ON left. I serviced the driveshaft and also changed the oil in the shaft drive unit. I'm sure I fixed several other things that are slipping my mind now, but it was ready for a test ride. Now, when Mark brought it to me, he told me that the low brake fluid indicator has been on for quite a while. He says he filled up the rear master and it had been empty and the fault went out. I bled the brakes, including the top line near the top steering bearing, and I've haven't been able to get what I call a good brake pedal. It has a lot of free play, although when it does finally apply the brakes, the pedal is firm....no more air in the line. I looked at the rear master cylinder, and I can see where the paint has bubbled off. It looks like that's where the brake fluid went, although nothing is leaking now (it might leak during winter storage). I suppose I should add that this bike has braided brake lines, and the anti dive has been disconnected, so the brake pedal was high and firm when Mark took the bike. I've got to decide how to take care of this. Another thing that became obvious....the shift lever has a lot of play in it. Yesterday when I watched my brother shift, I saw that he's not at all gentle, but pushes and lifts the lever aggressively. Anybody have any idea where to look for something in the shift linkage wearing out?? Then I"ve got to figure out what's not correct with the center stand. The small link that the spring attaches to keeps on bending. This bike isn't really an 83 anymore, because when the 83 frame broke where the center stand and rear shock attach, I installed all of the 83 pieces on an 84 frame. From the beggining, I 'assumed' that there was something different here and I just lived with the fact that the center stand didn't come all the way up when it was not being used. I looked in the Yammie parts fische, and 83 to 93 all use the same part numbers for the center stand, link and spring....no changes made when they redesigned the frame. My son and I inspected the center stand and link, and my son saw that the link was bent. We removed it and straightened it out, and then re-installed it. Then the center stand released all the way up against the frame like it was supposed to. That was until I put the bike back on the center stand and then the link bent again. I've got to determine what's bending it. I want to get this bike out of my garage again. Frank D.
  22. frankd
    I have a small tree growing up through the deck attached to my house. This deck is only a little bit above the ground, so I can't get underneath it to get to it. The only way I see to get anywhere near it is to remove some of the deck boards and reach down. Anybody have any idea how I can get rid of it? Frank D.
  23. frankd
    What exactly do you mean by 'REAR BEARING'? If you mean the rear bearing on the intermediate gear assembly (or where the universal joint is connected), I'd suspect that the intermediate gear clearance might be different now, causing some howl. The Yammie manual has a proceedure in it to adjust this clearance. Or did you mean a bearing in your shaft drive gearbox? Frank D.
  24. frankd
    Everything you've listed will be identical, except the sidecovers (if that's the plastic you are thinking of). Now the side panels will work, except you will also have to change the frame braces (they unbolt---easy to change). THe lower sidepanel mount on the 83 has uses a grommet on the frame brace, and the 84 and later uses a rubber piece to latch the lower side of the side panels. Frank
  25. frankd
    There are a lot of differences between an 83 & an 84, but most everything is interchangable. Let us know what you want to replace and it'd be better to go from there.
×
×
  • Create New...