frankd

Jeff, I have to admit that I never considered that the heavier coating could be thermally conductive. It doesn't matter though....I ordered a 'conventional' stator by Rick's because I've used them in the past and had better life than the last one. Frank

Has anybody tried the Electrosport Industries stators with the blue coating? My thought is that the thick coating would make the windings run hotter, and reduce their life. https://www.ebay.com/p/Electrosport-Industries-ESG254-Stator/220599259?iid=302566899606&chn=ps I see that Electrosport also makes a Venture stator that has a normal coating.

Here I was riding along enjoying a great Tennessee road, and I noticed that my voltmeter was pointing to 12V instead of 14V where it normally points. I powered down all the unnecessary items (driving lights, radio, cruise, Garmin) and it slowly started to rise. A little later the things started to look normal then bad, then normal then bad. When I got home, I measured the stator to ground and it was indeed grounded. I dug out my maintenance record and see that this stator only has been installed for 23 months and about 10,000 miles. This is way to quick for a stator to go bad. When I changed it last time, I verified that there was oil coming out of the end bolt and the rod that is behind the nut is installed. This short lived stator came from Powersports 911 and was supposed to be 'long life'. Does anybody know of a brand of stators that is more durable? Frank

The front audio cable in my 89 has developed an open wire. It started out just intermittant, but now it's open about 95% of the time. This is the cable between the radio chassis and where you plug in your rider's helmet. Seeing as the bad spot was near the connector (the one on the tank cover), I decided to open it up and repair it. The connector wouldn't pull apart, so I had to carefully cut the rubber boot, and when I got it open I could see where they had epoxied the connector and boot together to support the wires. If I have to fix my old cable, I'll buy a 5 pin din female inline connector. Before I do that, is there anybody out there that has an extra cable from a parts bike? I'd be glad to buy it. Frank

To fill the rear brake fluid reservoir, I use a turkey baster. They're available everywhere (Wally World etc) and I mark the bulb 'Brake Fluid' to keep it from getting used for something else. Cheap and it works great. When I was on the road and my brake warning segment of the display lit up, I picked up a small container of brake fluid and the small fluid applicator that I found next to the turkey basters at WallyWorld.

Thanks for the info....I saw that yesterday, but when I saw it was called "neutral switch asy" in my pea size brain I 'assumed' that it was the switch for the green neutral light. I should have realized that because the bikes only have one gear cam that it could only have one switch for the light and the gear indicator. duhhhhh. I will let you know what I accomplish. I intend on putting it back together with the chopped middle gear cover installed and leave it on until I get the leak cured. I think I remember that you've got a parts bike or two. I'll send a picture later on what I did to the cover so I could see a few things better.

Like a lot of us, I'm going to work on the oil leak behind the middle gear cover. I believe that mine is the shift shaft seal causing this but while I'm in there I think I'd like to change the O ring on the gear indicator switch. The trouble is, I've been staring at the parts sheets for quite a while and I can't find the switch anywhere. Does anybody have any idea where the switch is pictured? Is the O ring in the same place? I could just reach in my Oring kit and pick the best match, but since I've got a parts order going in it'd be easy to buy the correct part. I know that most of the time this oil leak is caused by the stator wiring, but in my case it isn't. I've got a middle gear cover that I've cut away the un-needed portion and when I install it, I can see the wiring isn't causing the leak. Frank

Watch this video and see what Ford's experimenting with. They have test engines running, and they estimate 37MPG on gasoline and 42 MPG on diesel fuel. Frank

Mike, Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you're getting a bit better, but healing is a long, slow project when you're not young. Barb and I will keep you in our prayers, and wishes for a Merry Christmas also. Frank

You could prove that it's the clutch (which I also believe is the problem) not releasing by moving the bike to a location that will allow it to move forward safely. Then put it in first gear, pull the clutch 'in' and crank the engine. If the bike jumps forward, you'll know the clutch is NOT releasing. If it starts and then the clutch releases as soon as you release the lever slightly, you probably need to bleed the clutch slave cylinder. If it makes gear noises, your transmission is trashed. Just be safe.....be ready for it to move forward just as you hit the starter!!

It's been a while since Barb and I have had time to go on a bike trip, and this sounds real good. Excellent chance we'll come. Frank D.

Here's a bit more information on it. It sounds like they made some good improvements, but I'd hope not all of them will have the dual clutch transmission. https://www.autoblog.com/2017/09/24/2018-honda-gold-wing-motorcycle-leaked/

Today (Friday 9/15) and tomorrow, Sloan's Motorcycle in Murfreesboro TN. has the new Yamaha models for test rides. Barb and I got there about 11, and 2:30 was the first slot we could get to ride the new Venture. It was only about a 10 mile test ride, but both Barb and I like the bike. It was the smoothest V-twin I'd ever ridden, it turned and stopped great. Most everything was great. Of course, it didn't have the rush of the First Gen Venture, but it accelerated pretty good. I did hear a tiny bit of gear whine a couple of times, but nowhere near what my First gen has. It was in the mid 80's and Barb did complain about the engine heat when we were at a stop light waiting. Then we got on the inerstate and she said she still felt a lot of heat, but up front I didn't. I didn't particularly like the way the front and back looked, and in talking to other riders we all agreed that it was strange looking. Maybe you have to look it in the eyes to appreciate it. I also rode the new FJR 1300. I rode it solo, and once I got used to that wide tank and narrow foot pegs, I really liked it. It handles great, stops on a dime and it's reall peppy. You crack the throttle for a lane change and you're going 95 MPH. My son-in-law has a Concours, and I liked the FJR a lot better.

I 100% agree with BongoBobby.....you have shorted stator turns. I had a Venture stator that was intermittent and I used another test to show that my problem was the stator having intermittent shorted turns. Disconnect the R/R and take 3 115VAC lamp sockets and 3 identical 75 watt 115 V incandescent light bulbs. Connect the 3 lamp sockets to the stator leads by connecting each lamp socket lead to one of the stator leads. When you're finished connecting them you will have 2 socket leads to each stator lead. Install the light bulbs and start the bike. At idle, the lamps will glow dimly but at about 3,000 RPM they get pretty bright. Each lamp should look identical to the other two. With my intermittent stator, I could see two of the lamps getting brighter and dimmer without changing the engine speed. If you do this test, your lamps will show different brightness, but won't change like mine did because yours isn't intermittent.

The most probable place for a front fork air leaK are the Orings inside of the "air joint" p/n 26H-2319A-00-00,front fork parts fische #68 [TABLE] [TR=class: ariPartInfo ari_row_odd] [TD=class: listTD ariPLTag, align: center]( [/TD] [TABLE] [TR=class: ariPartInfo ari_row_odd] [TD=class: listTD ariPLTag, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: listTD ariPLDesc], These Orings are item 70 and their part number is 26H-23188-00-00 [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TR] [/TABLE] You'll have to loosen the fork clamps and slide the forks down so you can get the air joints off and replace the Orings. You probably won't be able to use soak to look for bubbles on the air joints because of their location and the fact that it could be the lower orings that wouldn't collect any soap. [TABLE] [TR=class: ariPartInfo ari_row_odd] [TD=class: listTD ariPLTag, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: listTD ariPLDesc][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

My first Dekka AGM lasted just shy of 5 years. I usually get 4-5 years out of a conventional battery.

Actually a video of what you are doing would be helpful. Or if it'd be easier, hook up the test light and take a picture and post it. If you have an incandescent (regular light bulb) test light, you probably are doing something slightly wrong. With all the cables off of the positive battery post, there is no path for any current at all.

When you take the negative lead off the battery and touch one test light lead to the battery and to the negative battery cable and the light comes on, you DO have a current drain. Next disconnect whatever cables you have connected to the positive battery terminal and the test light (still on the negative terminal and cable) will go out. Then touch the leads you removed from the positive terminal to the positive terminal one at a time to find out which wire is drawing current. Let us know what you see and we'll go from there.

When mine first started, I noticed that when the bike was partially warmed up and at medium throttle, I could feel it go out and back into gear. This was at 77,000 miles. By the time it got to 82K, 2nd was pretty well unusable.

I've been using synthetic in both of my Ventures for a long time. I use Mobil just because it was available.

I agree with CowPuc.....It sounds to me that you picked up some water in the non-ethanol gas. Ethanol gas will absorb some water, so it probably finished getting the water out of your carb and that's why it ran better and better as you ran it.

The most likely cause of your problem is that the carbs are gummed up with crud from old gasoline. You're message heading says only spark to 1 cylinder, and then in the body of the message you say that it's only hitting on 1 or 2 cylinders. Did you check for spark on all 4 cylinders? Take an old sparkplug, and put it in each plug wire and make sure the base is grounded to the engine. Crank it over for a couple of seconds and see if you do have spark. Check this on all 4 cylinders. If you really only have spark on 1 cylinder, you probably have a TCI (Transistor controlled ignition) module that bit the dust. Frank D.

It's fixed!!!!! I stumbled on a video on YouTube that talked about the MAF being dirty and causing the engine to run real lean and also to give you the reading of lower barometric pressure. I'd already looked at the MAF and it appeared to be clean (only 16,000 miles on clock) Hmmm. That meant that the barometric pressure was a calculated number, not from a sensor. I cleaned the MAF and when I started it it was a different sounding engine and the O2 sensors were both in range. I took it for a ride and the indicated barometric pressure reading went from .72 up to .95. I think it's still a little lower than it should be, but it's in closed loop and running good.

I just received the Ford Service manuals for the E series, and it shows that the only engine that has a barometric pressure sensor is the diesel engine. My Actron scanner shows the barometric pressure, so something is telling the PCM what the pressure is. Same with my 06 Freestar---it also shows the barometric pressure but there is no listing for an external barometric pressure sensor. RST Dog found the following for me.... Ford Workshop Manuals > E 450 V10-6.8L (2008) > Sensors and Switches > Sensors and Switches - Powertrain Management > Sensors and Switches - Computers and Control Systems > Barometric Pressure Sensor > Component Information > Locations which indicates that the 6.8L does indeed have a barometric pressure sensor. I wonder if.... 1)There are 2 different emission systems on these vans, 2)Is there a chance that the barometric pressure sensors in this E-450 and also my Freestar are actually in the PCM. Anybody have any idea on who I could contact in order to find out more information on this? I've been asking about this on Fordforum.com. Any other sites where I may find some help??

I'm looking but still can't find it. The only thing similiar I found was the turn signal flasher that's kind of underneath the emergency brake pedal. Yesterday I looked on Rock Auto to see how much it cost, but I couldn't find any listing for it. Maybe they don't sell that item.