Jump to content

DesertRider

Expired Membership
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    72

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by DesertRider

  1. DesertRider
    Welcome to the site mlew. I've also got an 83 venture that I'm always needing this or that for. In addition to the resources on this site, and the other places already mentioned, I also buy parts from : http://buckeyeperformance.com/ Rick is easy to work with and knows 1st gen ventures inside and out so he can help you one-on-one when you're not sure what part you need for your aging venture. https://www.bikebandit.com bought from these guys several times. OEM & aftermarket parts. They also do paypal and amex payments if you need which most parts places do not do.
  2. DesertRider
    Glad you are at your daughters instead of on the road. It sounds like a bearing to me too but there are better wrenches than I here. I hope you get it fixed without too much trouble Frank.
  3. DesertRider
    There aren't any such punch marks on this one. I heard about the punch marks on the other forum years ago when I was at about 70k miles. I am actually just shy of 95k miles, pretty hard miles, hence "approaching" 100k. I kind of wonder since the original owner had it for the first 17 years or so of it's life and he had it into the dealer every time he turned around for everything, for all of his routine maintenance, all of his oil changes and all that time if they may have done it on a recall or something for him but I guess there's no real way to tell other than it hasn't happened yet. Sure hope it stays that way another 10 years for me since something serious like that is the only thing that would make me part with it. I'll try not to worry about it again until I hit 120k. !
  4. DesertRider
    While I'm waiting on my coolant bypass-valve parts, Ill ask a question on another wore-out topic. Wasn't the 2nd gear issue on 1st gens fixed under a factory recall in the 80's, or under an extended warranty for that particular issue ? Or did the bike have to actually be experiencing the problem before they would fix it ? If it has been fixed in the past, is there any way at all to tell ? I bought my 83' about 8 years ago and am approaching 100k miles, fairly rigorous miles, most of them by me, and the tranny is as solid today as it was when I got it with 41k on it, so I am thinking that maybe 2nd gear was already done years ago by owner #1. Owner #2 only had it for a couple of years before selling it to me. He knew owner #1 and said that #1 had everything done on it by the dealer since day-one in 1983, even all his oil changes and tires, etc.... I am owner #3.
  5. DesertRider
    Hi Gary. I'm really sorry to hear about your mother-in-law, I'll keep all of you in my prayers, I know how hard it can be. I am glad to hear that you're working again after being unemployed for so long, I know all too well how difficult that must have been for you as well.
  6. DesertRider
    Ok, I just discovered the little "thanks" buttons and clicked them. Since my new O-ring and screw won't be here till next week, I'll probably go ahead and ride it to Santa Fe, about 135 miles each way, to see my son and granddaughter this Saturday. That plastic valve has had years to come loose and has never leaked a drop and I don't see it happening now just because I'm aware of the missing screw now. As tight as it is in there, I'm really more concerned about being able to get it out for repair at all next week !
  7. DesertRider
    thanks again snaggletooth. I guess I should have learned a little more about simple things to check like this before now but that's the way it is when you have a machine that's so dependable and well built that it runs mile after mile, year after year with little or no problems ever surfacing. Just to be sure, is this the coolant drain plug you were talking about trader ?
  8. DesertRider
    Thanks snaggletooth. I just placed an order with skydoc_17 for the o-ring & screw upgrade kit for my valve. A nail goes all the way into the hole, probably 3/8" to 7/16" deep before it stops so there isn't any broken screw left in there. I'm hoping the threads are still good in the hole. I know that screw has been out of there for years and I never really gave any thought to why that hole was there. With trips to Nevada, Ca, Co and all over NM, I guess I'm lucky I never lost that valve on the road.
  9. DesertRider
    I never owned one but even after 30+ years they are still a fine looking machine. Way better looking than the average sport bike of that era.
  10. DesertRider
    Was out window-shopping on ebay earlier and ran across a couple of real nice looking old XS11's. I don't think I've seen any that looked quite this good before. If they were a couple thousand miles closer I might even be interested in one for a backup ride if the bids didn't get too much higher. There's a blue 1980 here, and a 1978 Midnight Special here.
  11. DesertRider
    thanks fellas. I didn't see the waterpump drain but Ill take another look in the daylight tomorrow. I think Ill take a closer look with a magnifying glass and make sure whether or not the set screw is missing in the valve too. Been holding like that for lots of years but would sure hate to lose it all on the road somewhere. If I eventually need to replace the valve, where is good place to buy it online ?
  12. DesertRider
    I found this thread about the correct positioning of the coolant bypass valve with a couple of images of the valve that snaggletooth posted (thanks snaggletooth) and thought I would check mine since I checked the fan already and it's working. I found that my valve needs to be turned a little further to be fully in the off position, but what I also saw was that there is no plug in the small holes on the top and left of the valve and I know there never have been since I've owned the bike any way, 10 years or so. The valve in the other thread shows a screw plugging the left hole but I can't see the top. Also, I've only drained the coolant in this thing twice in the past 7 or 8 years and I drained the old coolant by pulling the hose off the top of this valve. Should I pull the bypass valve to drain old coolant, and how does the valve come out of the valve-body for draining? Turning the valve always makes me nervous. It's hard to turn and really creaks and I'm always afraid of breaking it.
  13. DesertRider
    It's been several years since I've seen or heard my cooling fan come on. I've been kind of concerned about it since I'm making trips to see my son, about 260 miles round trip, most weekends. I've been trying to catch it running for some time now and finally today, I cranked it up and just let it idle for about 20 minutes, without hearing it come on. Just when I was going to give up, I felt a blast of hot air coming out near the front cylinder on the side I was standing on, looked at it because it was almost too quiet to hear it but it was running. Only ran about 30 seconds then shut off again. My temp gauge hangs around in the coldest part of the scale all the time even when it's fully warm so it doesn't help very much. Besides replacing my temp gauge, I wonder if it might be worth it to put an LED on that fan circuit so you know it's working on hot days.?
  14. DesertRider
    I used to have one of those wooden-bead seat covers that was made for a cage seat, that I had trimmed down to fit my 83 venture years ago. After several years use, it finally fell apart. I've been remembering how comfy that thing was and was thinking about making another one. Today while in Wallyworld, I spotted one for $8.97 and bought it. This one is shaped a little different from the other one I had and it fit my venture seat right out of the bag without having to do a thing to it but weave 4 bungee cords through it to hold it to the seat. I did some riding on it this afternoon and it's sure more comfortable than the stock seat by itself, and yes, there is definitely a noticeable cool and steady flow of air down-under. It was cooler than usual here today and the cool flow of air underneath got downright chilly. It's not the most attractive seat cover on a bike but for 8 bucks, it does one heck of a job.
  15. DesertRider
    I completely agree. I joined in a couple of months ago when I was doing some front end work on my 1st gen and found both the advice and the good 2nd-hand parts I needed all right here.
  16. DesertRider
    Not that there's anything wrong with the fine old tried and proven 1300 engine, but with the first decade of the 21st century almost gone already, you would think it was past-time for them to change a little more than the paint scheme. Maybe put a few more horses and cubic-inches under the hood and add a 6th gear. As somebody else said, they may discontinue it as it's now known. If so, maybe they'll do a full-dresser off the big displacement stratoliner line, sort of like what Kawasaki did with the new Voyager using a big displacement Vulcan as the base. They sure like to keep ya guessing don't they ? As for me, no matter what Yamaha does, I'll probably have to squeeze a few more years out of my own old but true 83' 1st gen but I can still dream about having a new big displacement RSV when I grow up .
  17. DesertRider
    I wonder if a pair of hard saddlebags and a trunk would tame the new VMax any ? Now that Yamaha has committed major resources to keeping the VMax around long term, I wonder if they might have any kind of engine "upgrade" in mind for the reliable but dated 1300 on the RSV ? How about replacing it with a slightly de-tuned 1679cc engine that sort-of resembles the one on the new VMax ? :thumbsup2:That would turn the RSV into a real sport-tourer.
  18. DesertRider
    I was up late tonight doing a little casual research on the web and ran across an article with some pretty interesting facts about things like what oil manufacturers viscosity numbers really mean, sulfur and zinc content, and some other good tips about our engine oil. It was a pretty good read for me so I thought I pass the link along. http://www.cycleconnections.com/articledetail.asp?TypeID=23&ID=345
  19. DesertRider
    I got my bike back yesterday, thanks for the tubes Dingy, just what I needed. Compared to the stock springs, the progressives are really firm, like 2x-firm and the front end sits up noticably higher now. Actually I like the firm ride and probably will leave it like it is, I always thought the stock front end was too squishy for 300lb biker like me. Now I just need to get the rear brakes bled do something about the speedometer and I'll be in pretty good shape.
  20. DesertRider
    Thanks snaggletooth. If it turns out I have to replace the tube, from what first gen. year models will work on mine ? Mine is an 83 standard. I see a few on ebay but none from an 83 model. Any better place to look other than ebay ?
  21. DesertRider
    I'm having my front forks resealed and new pregressives put in. The guy doing the work for me called me last night to say one of the fork tubes has a scratch on it. He's taking it to a machine shop today to have it "polished" out. I'm not sure what that means but wouldn't a scratch be a groove, not a raised ridge ? How would "polishing" help ? He's pretty confident, but not 100% sure, that it can be polished out so I was wondering , if it can't be polished out enough, and it's not too bad, would it be worth while trying to fill it with Locktite 660 and then polishing it down even ? Anybody ever try a filler on a fork tube scratch ?
  22. DesertRider
    Howdy. I have an 83 venture standard bought in about 01'. My original speedometer quit working last winter cable snapped, popped the speedo needle off and with a new cable it doesn't work at all. Found another cluster on ebay and bought it with the understanding that the speedometer works. Put it on, and speedometer stays on Zero but the odometer works and seems to be counting the miles pretty accurately. I removed the cluster and opened the cover and the speedo needle seems to be free, not stuck, and always returns to zero if moved a little. How could the odometer & tripmeter be working when the speedometer isn't ? I bought it fairly cheaply so it's not worth shipping back. Thanks in advance. DesertRider
×
×
  • Create New...