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V7Goose

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Everything posted by V7Goose

  1. V7Goose
    Enough play to actually "make a slight clunk clunk noise" is real bad. I often find the steering bearings on bikes I inspect too loose, but the movement is slight enough it is difficult for the owners to detect even when I show them how to do it. I'd certainly find out what is wrong and get it taken care of before another trip. Goose
  2. V7Goose
    I have had excellent experience with them. Goose
  3. V7Goose
    I have posted here many times that Loctite must not be used on ABS plastic. In fact, it must be avoided even where the screws just pass through the plastic and into a metal bracket, such as the saddlebag lid mounts. Unfortunately, not everyone has seen those older threads, and some just do not believe it. Last time I posted that, the kind gentleman who I was trying to warn just told me how stupid I was to post the warning. Oh well . . . Best of luck getting that repaired - I do not know how long that stuff will continue to eat into the base plastic and weaken it for any repair. Goose
  4. V7Goose
    Silicone self-bonding tape is great stuff - we were using it back in the military in the '70, and that stuff could not be removed without cutting - the bond between the pieces is so complete that it just becomes a single thick layer of rubber. And the more you stretch it, the better it bonds! A 5" piece is stretched to well over a foot when it is applied. It is not very good for wires smaller than battery cables because you just cannot get a good stretch to seal the tape, but not too many other limitations. But the new commercial stuff generally available to civilians today is not near as good as the stuff I used in the military. Still good, but I have occasionally had trouble getting it to bond well or stay in place over time. But I would never buy from a place like those trash distributors (shamwow and the like). If you want to try the tape, just check any hardware store. It is not that hard to find anymore. Goose
  5. V7Goose
    I ride all year - just live in North Texas now, so that's not too hard, but the six years I lived in Omaha did take some adjusting! My motorcycles are my PRIMARY, and preferred, form of transportation in almost ANY conditions - that means every day to work with almost no exceptions (until I retired a couple of years ago). Rain and cold is not really a bother, but snow can get touchy, and ice is just nasty in any vehicle. I will admit that in Omaha I stuck with the sidecar rig when there was ice on the ground snow in the forecast. Even the family rode all year - we always enjoyed taking the bike to get the Christmas tree, made it a special adventure every year. Goose
  6. V7Goose
    I have not heard of any significant problems showing up with the diaphragms on any 2nd gens. I do work on a lot of them, and I haven't seen any problems, but I do not routinely pull out the diaphragms for inspection. Goose
  7. V7Goose
    Well, if they didn't charge you a restocking fee, you are ahead of some members! Goose:rotf:
  8. V7Goose
    I have never done any business with Pinwall, so I do not have an axe to grind here - but I don't think I would be quite as happy as you are that "They have treated me well". They are charging you a restocking fee because they sold you something that THEY advertised wrong and cannot be used on any "2006 Yamaha Royal Star Venture". Where's the fair treatment in that? In your original post you said they advertised a part to fit a "2006 Yamaha Royal Star Venture XVZ1300TF" - my check on the Star web site for parts catalogs does not show any 2006 model of anything with the designation of "XVZ1300TF". It looks to me like the last year that Yamaha used "XVZ1300TF" was 2003. For several years they do show RSVs using both "XVZ13TF" and XVZ1300TF" , and while I do not know the difference, the ignitors all show the same three plugs and same part number. Of course, since they clearly identified the bike by a correct year and model name, that model number could have just been a typo - but then they sent you a part that did NOT come from that listed year and model of bike (or from any "Royal Star Venture" ever made, as far as I can tell), so why do they feel it is OK to take more of your money to correct their mistake? I hope you eventually get the part you need for a fair price, Goose
  9. V7Goose
    Yes, I have been using Vonage for at least six years - their prices have gone up, tho, and I have to argue with them every year to get a decent price for the next 12 months. Service has been perfect, but I am ticked off at their price games. Been looking at alternatives too. Magic jack has its problems, but I still might switch to them if I don't go with Skype. My main focus is on being able to use the computer for Fax and being able to have multiple phones throughout the house, just like with POTS (plain old telephone service). Vonage is the only one that I know of that does that very easily for the home user. Goose
  10. V7Goose
    Nothing is wrong with it - Unless the bike has been sitting for a day or two, or you have been running it with the gas shut off, you will never hear the fuel pump. It only runs when the pressure in the line drops. Under normal engine operation you will not hear it over the engine and exhaust noise. Goose
  11. V7Goose
    A quick glance at the Yamaha parts catalog for the 96 Royal Stars seems to show that all four of your main jets should be 95, and you pilot jets should be #20. I went back and re-read your first post and finally understand that is exactly what you said was in there. I did not understand that the other jet sizes were just what you saw in a different posting. So I agree - your jets look stock size; therefore, I'd assume your carbs are the correct ones, too. I think all you need to do is make sure everything is clean and all the rubber boots are properly attached when you put it all together. I would also check the current settings of the mixture screws and make sure they all seem to be set close to the same. Goose
  12. V7Goose
    Yes, a carb not seated properly could cause that problem. I'd double check your carb part numbers and jet sizes against the Yamaha parts breakdown. I do not have personal experience with the early Royal Stars, but I thought they had smaller carbs and all the same jet sizes, where those jet sizes you listed sound like stock RSV jets to me (haven't tried to look them up - just sounds familiar). The part number for the carb body is stamped right on them. Correction - those jet sizes are NOT for the RSV, just like you said; they are all bigger. But I cannot say if they are right for your bike. Goose
  13. V7Goose
    A single vacuum gauge is not much use, IMHO, even if you buy an aquarium valve to use as a restrictor. While it is technically possible to check just one cylinder at a time, decide which one to take a wild guess on making an adjustment, then recheck them all before trying it again, If you actually care about getting them within spec, you'd probably run out of gas before you could ever get everything in sync. In fact, I personally think it is not worth the effort to even try a sync with just two gauges instead of four. I know we have a few people here who feel they are just fine doing a sync with only two gauges, but there is just too much interaction between all the carbs for me to be satisfied with it. In an emergency I could get them reasonably close that way, but I generally would not waste my time with any vacuum reading unless I had a tool to read all four at once. As I said above, I don't think you should worry about the temp readings you got - I do not believe they are correct. I think there is almost no chance that one cylinder on a water cooled engine could be running that much hotter than the rest. If it really is, a plug reading between the two rear cylinders should show an obvious problem. But of course it is always safest to not use any vehicle when in doubt. Goose
  14. V7Goose
    Two big questions for me, but probably not material either way. You do not say what tools you were using or explain what "the hand" would be; however, as others have already said, fluctuation on a vacuum gauge is normal. Any single cylinder vacuum reading will have huge pulses at idle speed on ANY engine unless there is major restriction in the vacuum line. I have explained this in detail in older threads if you need the mechanics behind it, but the point is that this does not sound abnormal. The temperature readings are probably wrong. I do not know what tool you were using, how you were using it, or how careful you were being to be EXACTLY the same on each cylinder. HOWEVER, in my experience trying to take the same types of readings with a good quality hi-temp IR thermometer on this bike, it is virtually impossible to get reliable readings this way. Even with a laser sight on the tool, very slight movements in the aiming spot of only 1/4" produce wild variations in temperature readings. Furthermore, the rear cylinders always read much higher than the front - two reasons for this: The front cylinders run much richer, AND it is not possible to get the IR readings from the exact same spot on the headers. So my point here is that I wouldn't get too worked up over the temperature readings unless you have compared them side-by-side with another identical bike. I would put a lot more faith in the fingertip test on a semi-cold start for pilot jets, and an engine chop/plug read for main jets at 3,000 RPM. Goose
  15. V7Goose
    Chris, give me a call - my phone number is in my profile. I can answer all your questions, and I'd be happy to meet you at that dealer to check out the bike with you. The engine whine does not affect all of these bikes, but a few of them have it so bad that ownership is miserable - you really want to be sure you feel the bike you buy is acceptable to you, since it may or may not be fixable. Welcome to the group, Goose
  16. V7Goose
    Watch out, Sir - any thoughts outside of the acepted "group think" seem to be actively discouraged and attacked around here these days. But if they do jump on you, just try to ignore them. We are glad you are here; all ideas are welcome. Please keep contributing. Goose
  17. V7Goose
    The cylinder drain plugs are a somewhat unique situation - they are just soft rubber held in place by the fin covers. As they get old they loose a small bit of pliancy and slight shrinkage from the cold can cause them to weep. Pressure in the system can just push them back against the fin cover and cause them to expand and seal the hole. That (and probably the heat, too) is why they do not leak when riding - only after sitting for a cold night or so. Goose
  18. V7Goose
    No, I had not seen those. From you description, I thought you were talking between the cylinders on top of the engine case. Those pictures are underneath the engine, so that could be coming from anywhere. The most likely cause is a leaking cylinder drain plug on the right side. If it is leaking from a plug on the left, the lean of the bike would drip that right on the ground, but a leak on the right side would run all around the engine and drip from whatever it ended up on down there. Oops, correction - I forgot you have a trike - no lean. I looked that the pictures again, seems like that is the left frame rail by the side stand mount - probably a cylinder drain plug on the left side. If you remove the fins, it should be obvious which plugs are leaking. No matter - just replace all four and be done with it. Goose
  19. V7Goose
    Any leak form one of the cylinder drain plugs can only be on the lower outside of that particular cylinder. If you have coolant anywhere in the middle of the cylinders I'd say it must be coming from one of the return lines. I seem to recall that there is one that runs vertically up from the center of the case (but I can't really imagine why there would be one there), and a big one that runs along the right side of the frame under the tank. Each of these lines has several small rubber sections clamped onto some metal pieces, and every joint is a candidate for a leak on an older bike in cold weather. Goose
  20. V7Goose
    Yes, your plugs are due for replacement, more from age than miles. I recently replaced the drain plugs in my 05 with 100,000 miles - one was weeping just a drop or two over several weeks after the night temps began to drop close to freezing, and I saw signs of minor weeping from one of the others after I removed the fins. The old plugs still felt very pliable and showed no signs of age or even compression marks around the outside. so putting a dime over each (thinner than a penny) would have probably taken care of them for another 5 years or so. But replacement is not expensive. Replacing them is simplicity. Just pull them out by screwing an old spark plug into the center. Have your thumb ready to block the hole, then just pop the new plug in. Quite easy to do without even losing a teaspoon of coolant from each jacket. Goose
  21. V7Goose
    Starting in 2005 Yamahaha began using a unique three-pin bulb for the front signal lamps. The only possible reason I have seen for this is to force you to pay big bucks to them for a stupid and unnecessary replacement. Instead, buy a normal 1157 two-pin amber bulb and just remove the lower pin by popping it off with a knife blade or filing it (just rub on a concrete curb). The single remaining high pin is properly positioned to install the light and hold it in place fine. Goose
  22. V7Goose
    We have discussed this a lot in older threads, but here is one that should answer your questions: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49445&highlight=tach Goose
  23. V7Goose
    That is certainly a candidate for the miracle review committee. I cannot even suggest any possibilities. There is a clutch switch that works in conjunction with the neutral switch to cut out the ignition and starter, but no friggin way it could ever have any effect whatsoever on the radio or lights, or the voltage available at the headlight fuse. If you didn't actually find and fix the cause of this problem, methinks you will get bit again when you least expect it. Oh well, I'm glad it is fixed! Goose
  24. V7Goose
    Well, a ground issue certainly answers most of the symptoms, but that should have shown up back in test 3 where you measured the voltage between the brown/black wire and front forks. The voltage reading between the negative terminal and the frame was a good test, but I would have expected just the reverse reading that you posted - the higher current drain from the lights with the key on should have generated the larger voltage over a bad ground connection. But even with a bad ground somewhere, you should have a full 12 volts on the inside fuse connection for the headlight fuse when the key is on, so that .6 volts is quite strange (but it could explain the lower reading between the battery and frame). Have you actually removed both cables from the battery and scraped them clean? Even if there is no corrosion showing, they could have contact problems. It is not that uncommon on car batteries for a thin hard glass-like layer to build up over the entire inside surface of the battery cable connector, which can cause these types of problems. When that happens, scraping the soft lead with a knife blade sounds like scraping a rock until the coating is removed. If you haven't already done it, take off both cables and scrape both contact surfaces on the battery terminal and all connectors. After you do that, let's double-check the voltage at the headlight and ignition fuses. Both of those are an effective straight connection to the BROWN/BLUE wire in the same ignition switch plug with the RED wire, so when the key is on you should always have 12V on the inside contact (closest to the battery) for those fuses in the fuse box. Make that test three times, once with the black meter lead directly on the negative battery post (not any of the wires connected to the battery, but directly to the soft lead post, once with the black meter lead on the frame (make sure not on paint), and once with the black meter lead on the engine. If there is a ground circuit problem, that should show it. Finally, if you do not have 12 volts at the fuse box with the key on, go back to the two-wire plug from the ignition switch and test for 12V on the BROWN/BLUE wire with the key on. Make this test from the back of the plug that does NOT go to the switch. In other words, you are testing for 12V that has gone through the plug once on the red wire, through the ignition switch, and then back through the plug on the brown/blue wire. Goose
  25. V7Goose
    There is a ton of information here in many older posts on this subject - here is one recent one: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=53960&highlight=vacuum Many people love the Carbtune, but I think it is a terrible tool, and I have offered detailed reasons why I hold that opinion in many of the older threads. JC Whitney is no longer a good source for the vacuum gauge set - their price got stupidly high several years ago, but those sets can still be purchased for about $50 from several places on the web. I know that a couple of different sources have been identified in older threads on this board; try a search on "vacuum gauges". Here is one reasonable source: http://www.sportingforless.com/servlet/the-carb-sync-gauge/Categories Goose
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