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V7Goose

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  1. V7Goose
    Sorry for the thread hijack, but I thought a couple of points on bearings might be valuable since they were brought up. I absolutely agree that you can find lots of stuff on the web, and even save lots of money on some good stuff. But there are a TON of cheap crappy Chinese bearings out there. Even some of the expensive ones will fall into that category, but ALL of the un-boxed and dirt cheap ones will let you down. If you care about the application and how long they will last, stick with quality name brand bearings like SKF, NTN, Federal-Mogal or Timken. For example, an SKF bearing in my pool motor will last 15 - 20 years, but several discount bearings have died in less than 5 (and yes, they were rated for electric motors, which require a certain tollerance). But if you go to a shop that specializes in bearings (or bolts, for that matter), you will always save bucks, even on the quality brands. Goose
  2. V7Goose
    This information pretty much agrees with what I have said, except that I could find no place on the NGK site that said not to gap their plugs. I just wanted readers here to know that the iridium plugs can (and SHOULD, IMHO) be gapped if the measurement is off. In fact, if someone decides to try and get maximum life out of those expensive plugs, they likely will need to be adjusted once as the ground electrode wears. Obviously, if they come out of the box gapped correctly, there is no reason to mess with them. Personally, I don't find the price of any special plug even close to any of the benefits I believe (and that ain't many). I gave up on over-priced special plugs back in the 80s and have never looked back. Ever since lead was removed from the fuel, I like standard plugs, changed anywhere between 20,000 and 30,000 miles. But that's just me; if you like 'em, you might as well use 'em!
  3. V7Goose
    Most plugs come gapped with the most common gap for them, but that does not always apply to every engine (per NGK's own web site). In addition, they do specify a gap for those plugs, and they do NOT mention anywhere that they should not be adjusted. More importantly, any normal plug can have the gap accidentally changed by simply bumping the end. All plugs with a normal ground electrode are safe to gap. In fact, no matter if they are standard plugs, platinum or iridium, the gap should ONLY be adjusted by bending the ground electrode near its base, never by inserting something between the two electrodes. Goose
  4. V7Goose
    I can change the number of votes in any option, but I cannot remove the names of people who have voted. Goose
  5. V7Goose
    Ed, the mess on that left rear carb is normal for these bikes. But also good to clean it up. I periodically spray some engine cleaner up there and hose it down real good when washing the bike. If you do pull the carbs, you might as well set the floats. If all you do is remove the float bowls, there is virtually no way you can mess anything up. And pulling the bowls not only lets you check/set the floats, but it will give you some idea on how nasty those carbs might be inside. Unfortunately, it still sounds to me like you may have plugged jets or passageways. If so, there is no way to ever get them cleaned out without stripping things. If they are completely plugged, no fuel will be flowing through them, so no fuel additive could ever help. So you might want to try and find someone local with enough experience to help you go through them; after all, pulling the carbs is enough work I'd only want to do it once! At a minimum, while the bowls are off, liberally spray carb cleaner into each jet and passageway you see. Then let it sit for about 30 minutes and spray more. Put the plastic nozzle tube right up to the jets to force as much stuff into them as you can. There is some possibility that might clean them up a bit without taking anything else out. One other thing you should check and report back here - your problem absolutely could be caused by the mixture screws being too far in. Although this is very unlikely, you never know what someone else might have done. CAREFULLY turn each screw in, just 1/2 turn at a time, and count how many turns until the screw just touches (do NOT tighten it). Write that number down, then turn the screw back out exactly where it was when you started. Adjusting those screws is not something you should try without experience, but if you let me know where each carb is set now I can tell you if it is in the right range or not. Goose
  6. V7Goose
    What makes you think those plugs don't need the gap set? I'm not suggesting they are incorrect now, just responding to your comment about "no gapping." Goose
  7. V7Goose
    Based on this, I'd look at fuel pump, fuel filter, or gunk in the main jets (but I'd also put in new regular plugs). Can't hurt none to do the float levels since you are there, but I'd be real surprised if it helped those symptoms. The only thing that would match would be floats too low, and there is virtually no way that can just develop on it's own. Goose
  8. V7Goose
    Sure do envy you Bill! New Mexico is a great state - I lived in Albuquerque for a few years in the late 70s, and I find just about everything north of White Sands fantastic. I also lived in California for many years in the 60s and early 70s, and I wouldn't go back to that stinking granola freak show for anything! But to each their own - I'm just envious of your description of your place in NM and wish I could live there! Enjoy, Goose
  9. V7Goose
    Taking the lowers off sure makes the job easier. You can get to the two 10mm bolts on each air cleaner housing with a long extension and a U-joint or wobble, but getting the bolts back in is a REAL fun little game. Trust me, the three screws on the lowers is the easier way to go. Goose
  10. V7Goose
    I'm having a blast watching all the replies to this thread! We all get to look at the same two pictures without any other information,and the responses range from good to rich, carboned up, too hot, etc. All I can say is the majority of opinions here MUST be wrong (since they are so different)! There certainly is no guarantee that my opinion is not one of the wrong ones, but I'll repeat it anyway - those plugs look perfect. The color is just what they should be, including the ground electrode. There is NO carbon build up, and the little bit of soot on the end of the plug body is absolutely normal. Plugs are read ONLY by the color of the insulator and electrodes, with attention paid to uniformity and any surface deposits. If the engine is running so hot or lean that you don't have light black soot on the base of the plug body (the same surface as the entire head of the cylinder), you would probably have major engine damage before long. Of course, I am assuming the plugs were pulled after normally shutting down the bike at idle, so they don't give you a true picture of what is going on at cruising RPM. But they look good enough to suggest all is well there too. Good luck on guessing who to believe! Goose
  11. V7Goose
    Well, the first thing they say is you are missing two plugs! The color is good, but that first one seems to have something on the back side of the insulator - probably just the picture, but it looks strange. The gaps also look a bit wide, but again I expect it is just the picture and the type of plugs. Ya really can't tell a lot without looking at all four plugs, and since you are gonna have them out, I'd just change them at the same time. Even if you don't think the plugs are ready for changing, why wouldn't you do it anyway and just keep those for a backup set? If you feel the need to read the plugs because something doesn't seem right, putting new ones in is the only way to be certain you don't have to mess with them again while you hunt down whatever else is going on. I had an almost new pickup back in the 70s with a V-8 that started doing something different after a fill up on a road trip - wasn't real pronounced, but I could feel the engine somehow when I never could before. I suspected bad gas, but when I pulled the plugs I found one of them "whiskered" - a piece of carbon lodged between the electrodes. I had read about that possibility, but never expected to actually see it in person! Goose
  12. V7Goose
    My vacuum gauges are not home made - you can get the set from JC Whitney. They used to be under $50, but they price on them has gone way up in the past couple of years. Guess they got too popular! I generally check the carb sync at every oil change - I think that is what is called for in the service schedule. It doesn't often need to be adjusted, but checking is easy and doesn't cowt anything if you have the tools. Goose
  13. V7Goose
    Ace carries a good selection of both stainless AND chrome in metric. Goose
  14. V7Goose
    Here is an old thread with some info for you: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=988&highlight=windshield+vents Goose
  15. V7Goose
    Based on this comment and a quick look at the shop manual, it does seem as my assumption on what triggeres the fan was wrong. From what I can tell, the "thermo unit" seems to be mounted just to the left of the filler neck at the top rear of the radiator. But the "thermo unit" is the high temp sender. The manual states the "thermo switch", which controls the fan, is mounted in the thermostat housing. Of course, the manual just MIGHT have an error - there are one or two in it! The identifying key would be how many electrical connectors are on each "thermo thingie" If it is just one, it is the high-temp sending unit. If it has two leads, it is the fan switch. Hope you find it. Goose
  16. V7Goose
    Neat trick, since water is heavier than gas. That's why even crude oil makes a slick on top of the water. Goose
  17. V7Goose
    Don, I am very sorry to hear about the accident - there is no doubt that the stock tail light is poor - in fact, it is completely unacceptable to me. Additional rear lights, some higher, are a critically needed addition. But to your initial question - I don't know where you saw any advice that said LOWERING the rear of this bike would improve the handling (I don't recall seeing that posted here). More importantly, NOTHING could be further from the truth for this bike. Changing the height of either end of a bike will change both the rake and trail, which absolutely will change the handling. Whether that change is better or worse all depends on how the bike is designed and the change you are looking for. Raising the rear (or lowering the front) generally makes a bike handle faster and feel lighter; lowering the rear improves straight line tracking but makes the handling feel sluggish and the bike heavier. At the risk of repeating what is in about 10,000 other threads here, I will briefly recap a couple of other points dealing with tires. The stock Brickstones are the absolute worst possible tires for this bike (LOTS of reasons I won't cover here); the front is so grossly misshapen and overly fat that the bike virtually never runs more than 3/4 of the way past center line, even in spirited cornering. The profile of this tire tries to force the forks to full lock the instant a turn is initiated, and that problem is most evident at slow speeds. The stock Dunlop tires are not near as bad for this, but they still are only a mediocre tire. Any good tire in stock size will greatly improve the low speed handling and make the bike feel MUCH lighter, even without raising the rear. My personal preference is for either the Avon Venom or Dunlop E3. In general, I no longer recommend the change to a narrower front tire. There is a lot of information in other threads about using a narrower front tire, particularly one by me title something like "Recap of front tire size". I suggest you look those up. Goose
  18. V7Goose
    If you think it is perfect at stock height, I don't know what word you will use when you raise the rear with Leveling Links. Trust me, you really need them. Goose
  19. V7Goose
    You are correct about the reason for that test to fail - without the float needle being open (and no back pressure on the inlet line), there was no way the fuel in the external tube could have ever fallen completely to the correct level. I was simply trying to force the gas into the line to verify it was really there in the bowl (obviously it was), and to see if I could then get a repeatable level in the hose that would be at the lowest jet point. I figured if I could achieve that, I would be comfortable that the fuel was then flowing back and forth in the tube, having overcome the normal forces that restrict fluid from moving in a small tube or whatever original problem I had. Then I could drain it and start over. But since I could not even get a repeatable level that way, there was no point in starting over. I didn't want to take the time to go over all those mundane details in the already long post. In fact, I was simply making a weak attempt to be a little funny while also letting other readers know WHY I did not tell them to check the level with the external tube before tearing into the carbs. If you would look at either my tech article or the shop manual, you would see that Yamaha DOES provide the correct measurements for setting the floats on the bench (the "dry setting" you keep referencing), and that is exactly where I set them. The biggest significance in my tech article is to explain how to do this correctly, as the Yamaha shop manual has a number of errors. It is, in fact, flat wrong in part of the specific instructions on how to measure the floats. Thanx for your comments, Goose
  20. V7Goose
    Nice theory, but I can't see how it could be - the float bowls are always open to the atmosphere through the jets. But thanks for trying. I hate to just shoot down ideas when I can't explain it, and I would really like to learn what was wrong. Goose
  21. V7Goose
    Don't do that Dave! Venting the filler neck makes it easier to fill the tank to the very top, giving you more miles BEFORE you hit reserve. But it doesn't do a thing to change how much gas is left at the bottom of the tank! Goose
  22. V7Goose
    Well, your symptoms are certainly classic fuel starvation, but it sounds like you already identified that, as you have done most of the logical things. Just a few other suggestions - tank vent, kinked fuel line, plugged jets, or REALLY unlikely, floats too low. And we have had a number of cases with intermittent fuel pumps, so don't write that off yet. You can fully check the entire fuel supply to the carbs just by pulling the fuel line off the back (right side, just under the frame) and putting it in a big bowl or coffee can. Then start the bike and just let it run until the bowls go dry while watching for constant fuel flow into the can with sufficient volume the whole time. This will normally take several minutes - heck, I can get two or three miles on my bike before it starves if I forget to turn on the gas! So if the fuel pump never stops and you constantly get plenty of gas, you can safely focus on the carbs themselves as the cause of your problem. At that point I think I'd just immediately jerk the carbs and reset the floats and clean the jets. Goose One other thought - if the fuel supply is really OK, maybe you have multiple problems? One plugged carb would not be all that noticeable on this machine, but if you already have a bad coil or plug somewhere, then one of the carbs on a working cylinder plug up, well, that might be it. Unlikely, since you say it runs OK cold, but I'm just throwing out ideas. Pretty hard to actually troubleshoot it without touching it! Could also be some really nasty gunk in the tank that is completely plugging up the petcock, like a piece of paper on a sink drain.
  23. V7Goose
    Sorry to hear about your problem. I frankly have no idea how the "wrong oil" could have done that, so without really understanding what is on the sight glass, it is hard to suggest a fix. And I have never tried to access the sight glass, or even thought about it, so I can't help with cleaning it that way. Here are a couple of suggestions, but please realize I have not done it myself, so I cannot either guarantee it will work, or even that there is not some slight risk to putting something other than engine oil in your crank case. I don't THINK any of these things will hurt a thing (as long as you do not start the engine until you get good oil back in there). If the oil pan can be dropped without pulling the engine (remember, I haven't looked at it, so I don't know), then I'd just start that way. Should be easy to do, then just spray carb cleaner in there. But if you can't get the oil pan off, then you might consider a few more unlikely things: I haven't even looked at the engine or oil pan to see if this is a viable option, but I'd at least explore the possibility of fishing a long WD-40 or carb cleaner plastic tube up through the oil drain plug and trying to liberally squirt a bunch of that stuff in the general direction of the sight glass. You might also think about putting a gallon of WD-40, Seafoam, or other solvant based cleaner in there and rocking the bike side to side to let it wash over the glass. Might seem a little expensive, but way less than pulling the engine. And besides, I'd just drain the solvent into a clean oil drain pan and re-use it later. Good luck getting it sorted out for low bucks! Goose
  24. V7Goose
    [ATTACH]31592[/ATTACH]
  25. V7Goose
    The main bike fuse is 30A, so that is the minimum you could safely use. Goose
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