Prairiehammer

If you let a puddle of the MEK sit on the ABS it will melt it. But just wiping the MEK will clean and prime the ABS. It will soften the surface of the ABS but the MEK will evaporate before hurting the ABS. Just use a little at time on a corner of a rag. I used a syringe once to apply MEK to a crack in my trunk. Worked ok, but the MEK melted the syringe and the plunger. A drop of MEK from a teeny, tiny natural hair artists brush will allow you to apply just what you need where you need it. The MEK will wick all the way to the end of a TIGHT crack just by capillary action. Hold the crack together for a minute and the crack will be welded closed. On large cracks and edges where the ABS is missing, use the MEK to prep the crack and edges for the ABS cement.

It might be in the plumbing section with the ABS cement, but I found a quart can of MEK (Methyl ethyl ketone) in the paint section of the local Menards. BTW, make sure the ABS cement is for ABS only and not for ABS/PVC. And no, PVC cement doesn't work well on ABS. MEK is a powerful solvent. Be careful using it around any plastic and painted surfaces. It will melt ABS and strip paint.

While some will maintain the fiberglass resin (polyester resin) can be used to repair ABS, many others have shown that fiberglass resin is not a long term fix to cracked ABS components. It just doesn't stay stuck. Use the ABS cement, the self adhesive metal mesh patches and the fiberglass mesh, but forego the fiberglass resin. Embed the various reinforcements in ABS cement, not resin. And use MEK solvent as a primer for the ABS cement. Straight MEK solvent will wick into tight cracks and actually solvent weld the ABS cracks without the use of ABS cement.

Here is a diagram of how the stock RSV mufflers are constructed internally. Perhaps a clue to how to restore the mufflers?

Do you Second Gen guys feel left out? Do you wish that there was a drawing of your Venture to color? Well, chin up Bunkie, here ya go. I even left off the eyebrows and the tank badge for you folks who have removed yours.

Do you have the service manual?

That is correct. But the 1983 TCI needs the vacuum source from the carb (above the butterfly) to work properly. If you change the vacuum source, you will have to change the TCI to a 41R series.

Firstly, the slightly over half way up is not overheating. With a marginal cooling system that is normal. A good condition cooling system will run only slightly cooler. Secondly, the fact that the revs increase as it gets a tad too warm, indicates a lean condition. Two likely culprits: a vacuum or air leak in the induction system; and or a partially plugged pilot circuit in one or more carbs. Lean condition will cause the slightly higher than normal temperature and then the overly high revs will tend to raise the temp. Vicious circle. Begin by searching for a vacuum or air leak by spraying carb cleaner around the carb boots, the "Boost Sensor" and it's hose, the synch port caps, etc. Any sudden increase in idle speed indicates a leak. Lower the idle speed to under 900 rpms. Check the pilot screws (idle mixture screws) for their current settings. Do this by screwing a pilot screw in until it GENTLY bottoms, counting the number of turns to seat the pilot screw. On a normal engine, it is typical about 2½ turns in to seat. Note also, when you GENTLY seat each pilot screw, whether the engine idle speed changes; the idle should drop. If it does not, then you have found a dirty pilot circuit. The idle picks up when that faulty cylinder starts to fire consistently because it is starting to transition to the mid range fuel delivery. A poor carb synch will also contribute to your over revving. Probably number two carb is open more than the rest at idle. Number two cylinder is also where the vacuum advance (Boost Sensor) receives its signal. If you pull the vacuum hose from the number 2 synch port (removing the vacuum signal to the Boost Sensor) and PLUG THE PORT, when it is over revving, does the idle speed drop? Finally, is it a California intended Venture? What is the full VIN?

The "Royale" emblems are just stick on with double faced foam tape (in fact, ALL the various emblems, badges, name plates on the plastic are applied using 'trim' tape). Perhaps the PO decided to put all the Royale features on the Standard, including the Royale emblems. So you have Yamaha factory audio system complete with CB? Do you have CLASS air suspension controller and compressor?

Only the 1988 Standard is "two tone gray", Salt Lake Silver and Antony Gray. That color was only used one year for the US market Venture. Salt Lake Silver/Anthony Gray was used on the 1989 European market XVZ13TD. Again one year.

Thank you for the information on your Venture. Very helpful. But, your Venture is not a Royale. It is a 1988 Standard.

Simple Green reports: Simple Green products have been successfully and safely used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: Aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green or Crystal Simple Green can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times of All-Purpose Simple Green and Crystal Simple Green with unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green/Crystal Simple Green residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation. Look at the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) of the cleaners and you will see the strong chemical contents of them. Just a FYI from the manufacturer.

Actually, the Venture gauge is pretty accurate, albeit, not especially linear. But, the fuel gauge sending units do suffer with age. The wiper on the sending unit sometimes gets dirty and the resistance coil that the wiper runs along sometimes becomes deformed to the point that the wiper does not make contact with the resistance coil/winding. There is a section in the service manual concerning the fuel gauge sending unit and the proper ohm reading through the range of operation. Back in the day (1985, yes, I keep the records) my 1983 Venture Royale attained high mpg of 53 and low of 46 mpg, solo. The same bike, but loaded and two up attained 42 to 39 mpg. All US gallons and miles.

On a 1986, the anti-dive has no connection to the brakes. The oil you observe is fork oil. (or someone is messing with you and squirting oil on the forks). There is a good chance that the leaking fork oil contaminated the brake pads. Replace or attempt to clean the pads AND rotors. After you fix the leak.

You are welcome to ride along, but I'm not sure our proposed route is on your way. We plan on leaving my place @0600 Friday morning. Here's the route so far: https://goo.gl/maps/kKylM

The four brush PLATE will physically fit, but your starter won't work. There are four 'poles', meaning four field coils on a four brush starter. Entirely non compatible electrical theory. There are only two poles and two field coils on a two brush starter. If you go to all the trouble to remove the starter to mod the brush plate, you are more than half way toward installing a four brush starter. The four brush are not expensive used. Keep an eye on eBay. Often sold for $50 or so.

Well, THAT went over like a lead balloon. But, if anything I am persistent. So here is a line drawing of the First Gen MKI. Download, print and color. (You do know how to color...right?)

WALLEY, when you get the bike compare the VIN with the engine number. The VIN is on two locations: stamped into the steel of the steering head and on a white label on the lower frame beneath the brake pedal. The VIN will tell you (and me) what the year is as well as a build date. The engine number should match the VIN, ie, if it is a 1992, the VIN should read as "JYA1NLE0(x)NA045(xxx)" if it is a US49 state version and the engine number should be 1NL-045(xxx). If the bike is a California intended market Venture, the VIN will read "JYA1UNC0(x)NA011(xxx). The last three numbers of the engine should match the last three digits of the VIN.

That sounds like a plan. Meet you at "That Fifties Place" in Dwight (IL-17 and I-55) about 0815? @rbig1 will prolly have to eat and pee by then. Do you think we will get to Don's on time with this route?: https://goo.gl/maps/Fw4Xb

Sure thing, Rick. Be at my house at 0700 Friday morning. Unless you want to come up Thursday evening for supper and you and rbig1 can share a bed.

"...6mm Allen head socket with a long reach to access the damper bolt itself." http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?57207-Changing-the-Fork-Oil

Berryman says their Chem Dip is safe for rubber and plastic. Their Chemtool may not be. Go to the link I posted for their site.

Rick, Rodney and I talked on the phone yesterday and he is going to ride over to my place on Thursday, stay the night here. We plan to be leaving together bright and early Friday morning. I mean EARLY, like 0700 or earlier, because we are planning to go 'cross country' (no Interstate or Turnpike) and still want to get to Don's in time Friday afternoon to set up our tents and make it to the Quaker Steak before all the Canucks take all the tables.

I thought you might want to save a bit of money by buying just the 1986 needle for $8 or so, instead of the $17-$20 for the 1983 needle and seat. The seat does have an O-ring, but to replace that O-ring, one has to remove the seat from the carb body. Some needle and seat assemblies include the seat O-ring, but some so do not. If the seat is removed from the carb, most likely you will also squash the net filter. The net filter is included with the seat on some, not included with other seat assemblies. Then there is the matter of the O-ring on the seat chamber cap. When the seat is removed from the carb, the cap is necessarily removed. The O-ring on the cap may be damaged when the cap is forced out of the carb by the seat. The seat is all brass. On the 1986 needle the tip is Viton ("rubber"). The Viton tip assists with seating the needle tip securely against the seat. Perhaps that Viton tip is the difference between the 1983 and the 1986 needle? The only modification needed MAY be to simply clip a corner off the needle spring clip to facilitate sliding the float on. Some of the needles have a closed loop spring clip and the prevents the float from engaging the needle.

Mike, Don't hold me to this, but I think if you replaced the 1983 float needle valve with the needle valve for the 1986+, that the 1986 needle will work with your 1983 float valve seat and 1983 float (also not available), BUT you may have to reset the fuel level and cut off part of the new float needle wire clip to accommodate the 1983 float. It appears from my research that while the 1983 and the 1986 float valve SEAT are the same size (1.5mm), the float valve needle is slightly different in length. Thus, if you put the 1986 float valve needle in place of the 1983 float valve needle, the actual fuel level in the float bowl will be different. Note that the fuel level spec for the 1983 is 14mm± 0.5mm, whereas the fuel level specification for the 1986 is IIRC 16.5mm. Again, don't blame me if it doesn't work out. YMMV.