frankd

When you put the new thermostat cover on, make sure the bolts pull it into the housing properly. I had a problem with my new cover, it bowed and really didn't move the O ring into the housing properly, and this made it leak. I ended up making custon washers that ended up being shaped like the area around the bolt holes that spread the force of the bolt out better. Now it's dry under my 89. Tomorrow I'll try and find the pictures to show this better.

Here's a tip for when you get ready to do this - first, pull the drive hub/fingers from the rear wheel (which you should be doing to lube the drive fingers anyway), and use that hub for your helper to turn the gears/drive shaft while you hold the drive unit and try to insert the drive shaft into the u-joint. After you get the drive housing back in place, you can finish greasing the drive fingers and putting the hub back in the wheel. Since I hadn't done this before and I had already greased up the drive hub, I just wrapped a rag around a 2x4 and jammed it into the drive splines to turn the gears. Goose, You don't have to get this carried away to line up the front splines. Until you get the splines lined up, the shaft unit bolts won't go into the swing arm. This means you can rock the shaft unit back and forth and the shaft will move enough to line up. It really isn't very difficult.... Now I have to admit that sometimes things get a little onery, expecially with Mk I first Gens, and these DO need the rear splines lubed every 12-15 thousand miles because thay don't have a rear spline seal. On my 83, I used to install the driveshaft into the U-Joint splines first. I only had the rear spline to hold on to and sometimes it took quite a bit to get it to go into the front. Then I'd put the shaft drive unit on. After the first time I did this on my 89, I realized that it's much easier when the driveshaft is installed in the shaft drive unit, and put in as a unit. I'm pretty sure your 2nd gen shaft drive is just about the same. Good to hear that 80K is OK. My 89 only had 30K showing when I bought it. I pulled the shaft at about 40K, and it still had quite a bit of grease in it. I'd figured that I'd go another 35-40K, but maybe now I'll extend that. Frank D.

No John, that's fine. The Yamaha spec. is 14.5V plus or minus .5V----My 83 gets all the way up to 14.15 V, but my 89 goes to 14.5V. Both bikes have the OEM voltage regulator. Your stator and regulator are working normally. When you jump started it, did you put the negative jumper cable on the negative battery terminal, or ground it to the bike's frame? If you connected it to the bike frame, try starting it again with it connected to the negative battery terminal. If it starts, your battery is probably shot. If it doesn't, the negative battery lead connection to the engine block (right side) is loose, oxidized, or corroded. Frank D.

The left side of motorcycle tires usually does wear more than the right because roads are crowned and this pushes harder on the left side.

Clive, Glad you found the problem, even if it is the hardest thing to repair. A bad regulator would have been a lot easier to replace. I also bought my last stator from Rick's Frank

I second what Carl said about getting it warm. I'm not trying to make this a 2nd gen jab, but do 2nd gens have voltmeters? I know there are a couple of options to change the display on the speedometer---is one of those a voltmeter? On 1st. Gens, there is a voltmeter on the instrument cluster, and on my 83 the voltmeter started dipping down for a few minutes and then jumping back up to normal many times before the stator quit for good.....over a period of several months. Finally, failure became peramanent. The stator was grounded, and at first it was an intermittent ground. Now that I think of it, it happened with 2 different stators seperated by 10 years. I bought the 83 in April of 83. Before the stator cooling oil warranty recall was performed, I was riding to work and the voltmeter went down and then back to normal 4 or 5 times before it went down for good. Then the bike went to the dealer so he could install the modification and replace the stator under warranty. Also, I looked at the 2nd gen wiring diagram. The red wire coming from the regulator goes goes through the main fuse and then to the battery positive terminal. A bad ignition switch will not cause charging problems....sorry. I don't know what type of main fuse the 2nd gens use, but the 1st. gens use a replaceable fuse link that is mounted with screws. I did find loose screws on my 83 causing a voltage drop. If the 2nd gens use the same system, make sure the link is tight. If there isn't a voltmeter option for the display, rig up a voltmeter hooked accross the battery terminals, and take it for a ride. However...be careful how you hook it up because if the lead connected to the positive terminal grounds, it will burn up and do some damage to anything it touches. Maybe you can find a safer place to connect the positive lead to (like the radio power lead or something like that). If it is charging OK (over 14V), take it for a ride and see if it quits when it gets hot. It does sound like you may have an intermittent stator ground if the the regulator plugs are not burned up. Did you check the stator for grounds? Connect one lead of the ohmeter go ground, and the other to any of the stator leads (with the plug disconnected). You should read an open circuit (NOT grounded). This test is not in the manual and it is important. Frank D.

The OEM rectifiers/regulators used on Ventures are pretty reliable. I have seen one go bad, but I've seen a lot more stators and stator/regulator plugs go bad than R/Rs. To completely test the stator, first you need to make sure that it is NOT grounded. Connect one lead of your ohmeter to the engine case and the other lead to any of the stator wires. If you measure a ground, your stator is toast. Most, but not all stators ground when they go bad. The other test you need to do is to check the AC voltage output of all 3 pairs when the engine is running. Consider the 3 stator wires to be labeled A, B, & C. Measure the AC voltage between A & B, A & C, and B & C. All 3 should be nearly equal. Another excellent way to test the AC output from the stator is to connect a 75 Watt, 120 volt bulb across each pair. The lamp should light identically for all 3 pairs. The reason I'm telling you about this method is that my brother brought the 83 to me bacause it was hardly charging. The regulator tested good, and the stator was not grounded. All 3 pairs read a touch less than .5 ohm. The AC voltage output seemed to be OK when the bike was first started, but then appeared to go down quite a bit. When I connected the light bulb, 2 of the phases (or pairs) lit the light bulb fairly bright for about 15 seconds, and then 2 of the lights got a lot dimmer. The 3rd phase stayed the same. This test made it obvious that the bike needed a new stator. The regulator is a little harder to test. If you have an analog ohmeter, use it. If you have a digital, make sure you select the diode test position. Then measure between the 3 stator leads to the red leads. Then reverse the meter leads. You should see 3 diodes (conduct in one direction, open in the other). Repeat the same test between the stator leads and the black wires. You should see the other 3 diodes. The regulator that I had go bad lost one of the diodes. If you have all 6 diodes and a good stator, your bike will charge.

You may already know this, but there is a connector underneath the seat, on the right side near the front of the rear tire. How long does it take to bleed down? Frank D.

When I had the same thing happen to my 1st gen (the 83), I went out and purchased a vacuum bleeder/tester. Some say that you can just let it sit for a bit and the air will work out of the master cylinder, but I've never tried that. http://www.harborfreight.com/brake-bleeder-and-vacuum-pump-kit-92474.html (I'm not saying this is the best deal around, merely an example of what I'm talking about) Frank D.

Bob, Please send me the order info also. Frank D. ka9j@arrl.net

Prayers sent Frank D.

I also re-use the old O ring until it gets nicked or damaged. I've only had problems with 2 since 1979 when I started riding my XS-750 which uses the same filter and housing. I have found that the O rings that come with the Fram filters (please no comments about using Fram cartridges) have a slightly larger diameter than the Yammie O rings, and they are a pain to install. I install the OEM O rings by coating them with oil and placing them in the filter housing and installing it on the bike.

Joe, Sorry about not visiting while we were in Charleston, but our time there was filled. Barb's always been pretty close with her cousin there, and we all had a lot of catching up to do. We probably should have visited by going up to Myrtle Beach together. On the way out of town, Barb took a couple of pictures of your new bridge....I didn't post them, but it sure is an eye-catcher. If your friend in Plainfield would like a ride on a 1st Gen, then I'd be happy to accomodate. Just send me a private message and I'll ship my phone number to you. Frank

These pictures were taken at Hilton Head

Pictures 1 & 2 are from Cherokee N.C. Pictures 3-5 were taken from a mountain in South Carolina. 6 & 7 are of the Myrtle Beach bike rally.

Here are some pictures from the trip..... The first 3 pictures were taken @ American Pickers Nashville store. Pictures 4 & 5 are of the 1919 Indian Scout on the Cherohala Skyway. Picture 6 was also taken on the Skyway. Pictures 7 & 8 were taken on the scenic loop north of Gatlinburg TN. Picture 9 taken on U.S. 441 between Gatlinburg & Cherokee.

My wife and I just got back from a 3500 mile trip. With the cruise locked on an indicated 75MPH (72 MPH on GPS), I usually got 40 MPG. On a couple of tanks when I was running slower in the Smokie mountains, I got about 45 MPG. The last tank on the way home, we picked up a strong headwind, and we got about 38 MPG. This was on my 89 Royale with 54,000 miles on the clock. I haven't checked the diaphrams yet, but they may have been done when the bike came out of storage 4 years ago (or maybe not). My 83 probably was a touch better on mileage, especially at lower speeds, but then I'd say that was because of the YICS and most everybody else says that it didn't have any effect. Frank D.

About 6 weeks ago, I changed the stator cover gasket again. While I had it apart, I inspected the mating surfaces on the cover and the crankcase for imperfections. I did find a small scratch on the bottom of the crankcase, but I don't think it was in the correct possition to be causing my leak. I smoothed it with 200 grit emery paper. Then I cleaned the surfaces with cigarette lighter fluid (Naptha) and applied Hylomar to both surfaces. I put a new gasket on the engine side, and installed the cover, using a torque wrench to tighten the bolts. On the middle gear cover, I put the gasket on dry. The reason I haven't said anything for so long is that I've thought I've had this fixed twice before, but both times getting the motor hot in traffic started it leaking again. Well, I've got about 4,000 miles on it now, including traveling in 95 degree weather and also getting stuck in Atlanta traffic and having the fan run quite a bit. I just got on my hands and knees and checked.....the engine is dry---the leak appears to be fixed.

Barb and I got home Friday night from a 15 day, 3500 miles long trip. We rode down to the southern tip of Illinois and visited friends, then the 4 of us rode to Nashville. Our friends left for home, and we continued to our daughter's house near Mufreesboro TN. A couple of days with the grandsons, and also took our son-in-laws new Concours for a ride---but it started to rain pretty hard right after I left, so I headed back home. Nice bike though, sure is fast. We left our daughter's house and headed to Cleveland TN, where he jumped on some of the back roads. When we were enjoying the Cherohala Skyway when we came up on an old motorcycle doing all it could to climb the grade. We passed him and noticed that it was a 2 cylinder flathead V, but that's all I could tell for sure. We pulled off on the next overlook, and the other rider did also. It turned out that the bike was a 1919 Indian Scout, and the guy was touring on it!!! We continued on the skyway and turned onto North Carolina 129 just a bit south of where it becomes the Dragon. When we got to the Dragon, there were very few bikes (it was almost 6PM on a Tuesday), and that the police were running hand held radar further north near the straight section by the lake. There was one Venturerider.org member on a red 2006 Venture (I've forgoten his name...sorry). We still enjoyed another trip down the Dragon, or at least as much as you can with an 89 Venture 2 up and the bags packed to capacity. We never saw the cops, but because of the time of day probably they probably gave it up. We had dinner at a neat restaurant called "Hearth and Kettle Restaurant" (great food and prices and a sign by the register that reads "You never see a motorcycle parked in a Psychiatrists parking lot"). Then we rode through Pidgeon Forge and spent the night in Gatlinburg. It started to rain lightly just as we got to town, but we didn't get too wet. In the morning we walked around Galtlinburg and also rode the loop north of town---beautiful. Then we headed south to Cherokee N.C. and then southward on back roads to Hendersonville N.C. and then south into S. Carolina to meet up with Barb's cousin and his wife. They ride a new BMW 1600 GTL. We rode around with them on his favorite back roads, and then loaded both bikes back up and headed for Charleston S.C. On the way to Charleston, his legs started cramping on the BMW and he wanted to try our Venture, so we swapped for a bit. This was our 2nd ride on a BMW, we test rode one last year. The one last year had the short seat on it and it was terrible. This one had the tall seat, but actually it was only a little better. After 50 miles, I my butt was telling me that it wanted the good old Venture back. As I said last year, the BMW has tons of power, great brakes, and handling. The throttle by wire makes it a bit awkward to start without slipping the clutch too much or killing the engine. Something I noticed on this ride is that there is a lot of drive-line lash that makes itself known with a big "CLUNK" whenever you back off the throttle or roll it back on---way more than the Yammie. We got to Charleston ok, and the 4 of us plus Barb's other cousin and his wife (who live in Charleston) had a great visit with lots of laughs. Barb and I rode up to Myrtle Beach for the bike show on Saturday---it was mostly Harleys with a couple of Gold Wings and some crotch rockets thrown in for good measure. The only Venture I saw there was mine. On Sunday morning, we headed down to Hilton Head to see how the rich folks live and then south into Georgia. On Monday morning we rode south and touched Florida just east of the Okefenokee swamp. Then we headed up to Atlanta and visited other family for a couple of days. My cousin told me about Georgia route 52 between Elijah and Chatsworth. A beautiful road to ride if you are in the area. We headed up into TN. and spent a couple of days at our daughters again and headed home Friday. It was a great vacation and trip. We saw a lot of beautiful scenery, rode a lot of curvy roads, and the bike ran great. Even with a tropical depression off the coast near Charleston the most rain we had to deal with was a few drops on the windshield and then it was gone. Now it rained a couple of times hard, but we were stopped for the night already or we were at our daughter's house. Many times on this trip I looked up and gave thanks. Frank D.

Here's what Avon says about Venture tire pressure. I usually add 1 or 2# for the front and about 3-4# for the rear when taking long trips with a passenger and full bags. I get about 22-24Kmiles on a set. BTW, the other link to Avon about motorcycle tires is good also. http://www.avon-tyres.co.uk/motorbike/xvz-1300-t-d-venture-royal Frank D.

First off, I said the plug wires should read about 24,000 ohms, not 24 ohms!!! Don't get concerned if one reads 26K (26,000), but if one reads 500K ohms or more, you have a problem. The reason that all 4 cylinders have equal low vacuum even though they are 4 completely different systems is that the carbs have been synced and that means they were adjusted to have equal vacuum---so now you have low but equal vacuum in all 4 systems! I just had another thought.....while you have everything apart, do a compression check. Make sure the throttle is open, and if you don't have access to a compression gauge, you can do a poor boys check. Remove all 4 spark plugs, and ground all 4 plug leads (or unplug the TCI if that's easier at the time). Hold a spark plug in a plug hole, but do NOT thread it in. Crank the engine and note how it sounds when it blows the plug out of the hole. Check the other 3 cylinders and see if they are relatively equal. Now don't get shook if one is low, just let us know and we'll go on from there. Frank D.

Disconnect the light bar and see if the noise disappears. That's the only way you'll tell

6 inches of vacuum is too low---normal is a little under 10 inches. Check for vacuum leaks as suggested above. If you find and repair any leaks, you will have to re-sync the carbs! After you are sure you don't have any leaks, adjust your idle adjustment screws for maximum engine speed which will also be maximum vacuum. All 4 should be able to be adjusted for maximum speed, and this would prove that all 4 carbs have clear pilot jets. Have you checked the float level? Take an ohmeter and measure from each plug wire to ground. They should all read about 24K ohm. This will verify that you don't have an open plug wire to coil connection or a problem at the plug cap. If you still havn't fouind the problem by this point, another reason for low idle vacuum could be retarded ignition timing. If your stock TCI gives good spark on all 4 cylinderss, install it. This will eliminate any programing errors with the new TCI. Install the stock boost sensor also. I know you've checked a lot of these things already, but try again and let us know exactly what you find and we can go on from here. Frank D.

Shaun Barb and I will be in Mufreesboro visiting our daughter this weekend, so if you want to get together and show me some of your favorite rides, that'd be great. Either that, or if you're going to sync. your carbs this weekend, PM me your address and I could come over for some bench racing. We'll be arriving Friday afternoon, but we'll probably be busy then (our grandson is having a concert at school). As of right now, we have no concrete plans for Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Tuesday we're heading to South Carolina. Frank D.