Auld

Tool kit? I've got a spark plug tool and a couple of cheap wrenches, but I don't carry them. I've got my own, which is much better. It has all the even mm wrenches, plus 17 and 19 and 22; pliers; tape; screwdriver with multiple heads; LED flashlight; wire cutters; hex wrenches; some loose nuts and bolts; magnetic pickup wand; mirror on a stick; some popsicle sticks (you never know when you'll need one ); white grease tube; and some other stuff which I can't remember right now. I always carry this in the left saddlebag with a small, 12VDC air pump and tire patch kit. I've used the tools several times on trips, long trips and even around town.

I'm looking to buy a trailer hitch for my '83 Venture. Any one got any ideas? Leads?

Well, I got there. I was frustrated and in a hurry. And maybe even stupid. I got there and searched and found the answer to my question: What does the Reserve Lighting Unit do? Now I understand it, and I see that my problem is NOT the RLU but soldering on the CMU, which is almost always the problem on a 30-yo bike, isn't it? Maybe I'll just aim my blow torch at the CMU and do all the solder joints in one blow. Or maybe I won't.

I've been here off and on over a few years, and I always find it so difficult to find 1st Generation Tech Help. I've been there before, but I don't understand why it is so difficult to find. I keep looking at the left column hoping to see something, but No. I have an electrical question about my 1983 XVZ12TK, but I don't know where to post it.

Thanks for your suggestions. I tried Ultra Copper and it worked just fine. That is, I could feel there was no leaking around #3 cylinder exhaust just inches from the cylinder. But then I heard another which I couldn't find. Took it to Yamaha Sports Plaza in Portland OR. Head fixit man there showed me there was another leak about a foot down the pipe where it goes into an exhaust collector thing. Too hard to get to for me. I tried the other day, but it would obviously take more disassembling that I am willing to do or capable of. So, I'll have to live with it. And way too expensive to have someone else do. The guy said it wouldn't affect the operation any, so that's that, I guess.

Great suggestions. I'm going to try the Mega Copper, possibly with a copper wire wrap. I'll let you know how things come out.

I've got an exhaust leak right out of the rear cylinder on the right side. Took off the clamp and saw the metal ring somewhat rusted, so it doesn't fit tightly any more. I would like to fix this without taking the whole bike apart. Someone suggested JB Weld. I've used it before in different applications, but not in such a hi-temp spot. Will it work where the exhaust is coming through at its hottest? Is there some kind of RTV caulk that will stand these temps?

I tried taking the kill switch apart. It is true you can get to the switch, but I couldn't get to the contacts without possibly damaging it beyond repair. Of course, now that I don't use it, it wouldn't have made any difference if I had destroyed it. And I agree with Ozlander: the only time you use it is when you accidentally hit it. I've done this too many times myself and then wondered why the bike wouldn't start. Why do bikes have them nowadays, anyway? My understanding is that they are there in case the throttle jams when it's open. In many bikes, the ignition key is not handy, down on the fork or some remote place. Not a problem with a Venture.

It was the Kill Switch. Apparently the kill switch was intermittent. I soldered on a bypass wire, and now the kill switch can't kill anything, so the bike runs fine. I bought a new kill switch on eBay, but it had the wrong connectors. To hell with it. I don't need one. The ignition key is right there handy, the bike has a tilt kill switch, and I can always put the kickstand down. Thanks for all the advice I received in this thread.

I still have the problem of the bike suddenly not firing while I'm riding. The tach still flips upward when this happens. If it happens while I'm stopped at a light or something, I have to put the bike in gear and move it a bit before I can start it again. I have checked the odd non-OEM ground connection, and I thought that was it for a while, but removing the ground does not prevent the bike from starting and running fine. I have tried bypassing the starter cut-off relay and the side-stand relay, and neither of these has any affect on the problem. It's not the ignitor, because I've tried another one, and no change. I'm now thinking the that it could be the pickup coil. This is the only other electrical thing I can think of. (I thought of a bad fuel filter, but can't think why that would cause the tach to jump up.) How hard is it to get to the pickup coil to replace it? Have you ever done this? Again, I appreciate all the helpful advice I've received so far.

I think the CPU soldering may be the problem. Oddly, sometimes when I switch to low beam after riding a while, the problem is not present. The white light on the dash is not involved here. It's always off, so some circuit knows the low beam is working, and some other circuit doesn't. I'm guessing the CPU solder, now that I've had some messages about a similar experience. Thanks. And I do know how hard it is to get to it. I replaced some of the dash indicator bulbs recently. It's a ***** to get to even that place, but getting further, which resoldering would require, is going to be worse.

The headlight indicator in the monitor on my 1983 XVZ12TK is always on when I use low-beam. The headlamp itself is on and it shines brightly, but the indicator in the monitor LCD is on and, of course, so is the flashing red LED. On high-beam, no problem. I want the red LED to warn me of real trouble. I don't want to become so accustomed to its flashing that I ignore it. So, I use high-beam all the time and crank the lamp down with the manual up-down knob to a reasonably level just to keep that annoying red LED from flashing. What I can't figure out is why this should be so. I've changed headlamps, and no change in behavior. If you have a clue, I'd love to hear it.

Well, cap screws is certainly the right answer. Wish I had posted this before doing all that cutting. However, in the end I got the switch installed, and it all works now. Now I wonder, how was I to know that? The switch didn't come with mounting hardware, which is listed separately. At any rate, if I had given it a bit more thought before breaking out the grinding tools, I would have saved myself a lot of time.

1983 Venture XVZ12TK My key failed to turn the ignition main switch, and I could feel that the pins in there were totally trashed. Nothing was going to fix this but a replacement of the whole ignition. The old part number was 26H-82501-00-00. The new part number is 26H-82501-01-00. It finally arrived and what a surprise. The new part is designed in such a way that it cannot be installed without some major mechanical work on it. The two bolts that hold this main switch in place are in a recessed cavity, like a little volcano with a hole at the bottom for the bolt. (See photo Original Part.) I had to use two long extenders on my 3/8" drive to get to it, because it was so far up in the front end, but get to it I did and removed these bolts. However, when it came to installing the new switch, this recessed cavity is much narrower. Sure, the bolt will fit in there, but there is no way to also get in there a #10 socket or an open-end or box-end wrench, or even the points of needle nose pliers. None. Nada. Nix. I spent three hours cutting down three sides of the volcano walls on each side. (See results of this not-very-pretty work Replacement Part.) I used my drill with regular drill bits and a special side-cutting bit. I used my Dremel with cutoff wheels, grinding wheels, and even two dental bits that I obtained from my dentist some years ago. I even used a saber saw. Someone, somewhere didn't think about having to install this when they designed the replacement part. If I knew who to forward this information to a Yamaha HQ, I would certainly do so. Anyone know how to do this? Really, if this new ignition switch is common to a lot of years of Ventures, the pain will be spread a long way. I wonder if they use this part in new bikes, and if so, how to they turn the bolts? Comments welcome, especially if you can tell me how to get this info to Yamaha HQ.

Thanks for all your suggests and help. I may have fixed it, but I can't be sure until I ride a lot, because it is (was, I hope) an intermittent problem. What I did: I bypassed the contacts on the Starter Cutoff Relay. If it or any of the switches that activate it are flaky, they are no more. The relay itself is resting in a tin can in my garage. This means I have to be careful about starting the bike. The sidestand will no longer prevent the bike from starting, nor will the neutral switch. I also mistakenly bypassed the Sidestand Relay, which meant that the Fuel Pump relay was always activated, and no fuel moved anywhere. But I figured that out after another, better, look at the diagram. The Sidestand Relay is still removed, so it cannot be affecting the TCI. After I took away the bypass of the Sidestand Relay, I took it for a 20-25 minute test drive before putting all the faring back on. Not a hiccup, and while that is good news, it may not be the end of the story, because I have gone five straight days in the past without any problem. We'll see. I will post further when I have more news. And thanks again, all of you. Oh, and I also made sure of a grounding wire I found on the right side of the frame. I think this was an add-on ground, and I don't know where it came from. It was a wire with a circular lug between the rearmost bolt holding the side faring and the frame. The point of contact was painted, and while the bolt itself should have provided a good ground, I scraped the paint off the frame at that point and tightened it well.