van avery

BKUHR you originally suggested possibility that the TCI needed the diodes replaced. With the reading I gave above do you not think that is part of the problem? Syn'd carbs several times now When I cleaned the carbs I did pull the block and cleaned the jets and tried to open and clean every hole I could find. Not sure which port went to the diaphrams. It's been a year since I cleaned them. Put about 1000 Mile on since then. Never have felt the bike was running "right". A couple weeks ago I sprayed WD40 around the carbs and intake manifold and did not get a increase in rev's. I replaced the diaphrams a couple of weeks ago. Is there a way to induce a vacuum on the back side of diaphram check for vacuum leaks between the diaphrams and slider connection? In the manual it say's to fill the the slider and diaphram with gas to check for leaks. There is an additional hole at the bottom of the sliders that is not plugged with the small "washer with a nipple" on the needle that sticks through the small hole. Guess you just put finger over that hole. Question is won't that hole relieve the vacuum? Begining to think I should pull the carbs and clean them again might have missed something. Have not checked temp on back two exhaust pipes. I will check that. Thanks again guys for the help. Jerry

I did put things back together enough to start the bike back up with the existing TCI that belongs in that bike, and w/o the air box on. Noticed that when I rev the bike the right rear carb slide is moving much more than any of the rest of them. Really I don't see the rest of them moving much at all. They all move freely with approximately the same amount of resistance when pushing them back with a finger. Doesn't seem right?? Also, remember previously when I get blowback when trying to start the bike, the right rear is the one that normally "spit back". I did plug all the YICS vacuum ports independant of each other as suggested. I'm still working on getting the TCI out of the donor bike due to stripped screw heads etc. Sprayed them with Pt Blaster for the night and will pick up in the morning. Figured I would install the TCI out of the donor bike and run the same tests and make sure the bike will still start before I cut up the TCI box and try to replace the diodes.

Thanks for the input guy's. Spent the morning tearing the old girl apart. Tested the TCI and went ahead and pulled it out plan to mount it on the air box. I have a donor bike that I'm not sure if the TCI is any good but I plan to pull it off the old bike shorthly. That donor bike sat outside for several years, moisture here about 20 miles or less from the gulf might be a problem. I'll plug the old YICS connections seperately since I've got things apart anyway. The method I used was written up in the other "venture" website. Below is a picture of the plugs I pulled out the last time did not pull them this time. I used testing procedure from "FROG MAN" from 5-27-2007 "TCI problems yes or no ?" below my readings are in green. A couple of the readings are out of the bounds See item 5 one reading a little high and then See Item 9 are high but are consistant. Would this be a problem? Many times we over look the simple and expect the worst TCI failure. Most ignition failure causes are connection issues and not the TCI. Here are the steps I use to trouble shoot an ignition problem on a first gen with suspected TCI problem. 1. Remove battery and battery compartment. 2. Unplug both connectors from TCI box 3. With a digital ohm meter connect the black neg lead to the black battery cable. Do not connect to frame or chassis for a ground. Now measure with the red lead of ohm meter to a frame bolt or engine bolt. You should have O ohms or slightly higher.The ground connection to chassis is good.Now we are ready to measure TCI connectors. I had 0.2 OHMS 4. On the smaller 6 pin connector measure the black wire. It should read 0 ohms or slightly higher. This is the gnd output from TCI to the pickup coil center taps. It may be easier to insert red test probe into the back of the connector plug to take these readings. NOTE: The ground comes from the TCI. You won't have a ground connection on the stator side with connector unplugged. The main ground to the TCI comes in on the output connector from the frame and loops through the TCI to the pickup coil input connector then through the pickup coil connector along lower frame next to stator. I had 0.3 OHMs 5. Now measure the Orange,Gray,White/Red,and White/Green wires one at a time. These are pickup coil inputs to TCI.They should read 115 -125 ohms normal. If you don't have this or loss of one or more the most common cause is connector failure. (see white connector plug along frame above stator and clean contacts). My readings were 124, 115.5 , 126.5, 115.5 respevtively 6. The Black/White wire is the Emergency Inhibit line. If it measure 0 ohms or has a low resistance the bike willl not start. Normally this measurement is done with the battery hooked up via jumper cables and ign switch on. Various sources through energized relays can inhibit this line. Such as emergency killl switch,side stand relay,tilt switch.clutch switch,etc. 7. With battery unhooked lets move to the 8 pin plug. measure the black wire should be 0 ohms system ground. I had 0.2 OHMs 8. With the battery unhooked move the black lead of ohm meter to the Red + battery cable and turn on ignition switch. We are now going to measure the resistance back through each Primary Ignition coil to the battery positive lead. 9. Measure the Orange,Gray,Yellow, and White wires. Each should read 2.5 to 3 ohms ref the red battery lead. I had 3.4, 3.4, 3.5, 3.4 These are the induction output wires that fire the energized ignition coils, The Red/White wire is 13.8 volt supply line and should read 0 ohms. I had 0.7 OHMs Thats it for the dc continuity test of connections to TCI. The Black/Yellow,Black/Red wires are from the pressure switch and should only be measured with engine running. The pressure sensor converts pressure into voltage which varys the timing advance with changes of pressure caused by rpm increase. These timing changes can be viewed with a Oscilloscope measuring the pickup coil input pulse and the corresponding output pulse for each cylinder.This is not something you need to worry about now. If all is well to this point and the obvious has been checked including Spark plugs and plug wires it's time to check the TCI. Before removing it (a patience trying task) I would plug in a spare unit. Every first gen owner should have a working spare or know where you can borrow one. If the TCI is defective remove from bike, open the case by removing the 4 phillips screws exposing the soldered side of circuit board. place in oven at 100 degrees for 30 minutes to remove any moisture in module. You can remove any corrosion from solder side of circuit board with gentle strokes of an old tooth brush and an electronic contact cleaning spray. If you have soldering ability and a low wattage iron resolder all connections below the heatsink nuts on the circuit board. These are the contacts leading to the out side connectors. The heatsink nuts hold the switching transistors that fire the ignition coils. Resolder the 3 terminals of each transistor. with a magnifying glass carefully inspect the remaining solder connections on the board. Anything that has a dull color or hairline crack should be resoldered. You have now fixed probably 95 % of TCI failures. Actual componet failures are rare and can only be accomplished by electronic techinicians with specialized desoldering stations and a schematic of the TCI. Not to mention parts availability for a 20 year old technology. Watch used TCI's can be bought on Ebay ocassionally for $50 bucks. 10. The best way to check a TCI is on the bike but I have plans for bench testing later. __________________

I have an 83 Venture xvz1200. I just cannot get it running correctly. I’ve put around 1000 mile on it this last year. Under heavy throttle with the rev’s under 3000 RPM the bike “burp and belches” until the rev’s get up higher around 3500 RPM. Also, at idle it will tend to “stumble” a little lower several times them die. It starts fine some times and then doesn’t want to fire up. Put on trickle charger and later it seems to fire up fine. Some times when trying to start it up after it refuses to start, I have a major backfire. Sounds like a 3006 shot. Mileage is poor, around 28 MPG. It does not run as smooth as it should, nor have the power it should. Seem like it does smooth out around 75 MPH. History: Bike sat for about 6 years before I bought it. The gas tank I was told had been drained but not the carb’s. Little wd40 and battery charger and new gas and lots of sweat got it running. Changed the oil and the filter and changed the coolant. I have replaced Battery and replaced cables from solenoid to starter and the ground line from battery to block with 4 ga soldered ends. Did not replace the braided cable from Battery to the solenoid. I just had to replace the Voltage regulator /rectifier as I started seeing 17 Volts at the battery. Now I get about 13.8 VAC from the stator leads and 13.6 VDC at battery, running at 3000 RPM. Pulled and cleaned the carbs last year. Sync’d them early this year and went to maintenance day and re-synced them there. Disconnected the YICS by joining the vacuum lines together on the left cylinders and again on the right cylinders. Replaced the fuel filter last year and have run couple cans of Seafoam through the system (½ can per tank of gas). And replaced the plugs twice and replaced the wires and caps early this year. Other items re-soldered the CMS (Twice) and most of the time I don’t have warning signals anymore. “Brake and lights” are the ones I see every once in a while. Have not messed with the TCI but did pull and test the pressure sensor and it checked out. Checked the float levels on the carbs per the “manual” and each had a gas level between the 3/8” and ½” shown in the book below the diaphragm centers. I’m considering pulling the carbs and cleaning them again. Getting real close to taking it into a shop, but hate to give up. Open for suggestions?

Good to see that the scavenger hunt is "on the right track" again :rotf:

How about this time we go a picture of you , your bike and a 1950-1959 vehicle. Should include what year and model vehicle you find. Even a 1953 tank would qualify. Good hunting. Hopefully next time I have the 83 Venture running and will get it in the picture. But if I used that bike the color would not have matched this time.

I fixed it The pic's were too large and the site did not take them. I reduced them and they are out there now.

Ok guy's here it finally is. Michelle Hutchings and an old man. If I look scared it because she has never been on a bike before.:cool10::cool10:

On page 4-8 of the XVZ 1200 manual I found a way to check the float levels without removing from the bike. Basically hook up a clear tube to the drain line from a carb. Run the bike a minute or so then open the drain by opening the screw. The gas level should be (0.55" =/-.20") below the carburetor piston valve center. I cut the back end of a ball point pen cartridge to hooh my clear tube to the drain line. This is better than removing the carb's. Good luck:fingers-crossed-emo

I've got a german shepherd the same way if there is a storm or gun shots he tends to go a little nuts. The vet told me to try a thing called THUNDER SHIRT, It's like swaddling a baby. Make them feel more secure. Was about $35 bucks. Seems to have settled hojm down some. http://www.thundershirt.com/ Good luck mine has tore the trim off the back door trying to get away. We have not have any real rain since January, No real thunder storms either so have not had a good test yet.

Recieved patch the other day looks great thanks for doin' this for everyone.:cool10:

Great job, I too have got to give you Kudos for imagination. And it is exactly what I wrote. Far as I'm concerned you got it go ahead and set the new target.

OK , since it is the end of the school season and people are having trouble get a mascot. I'll change the target. Let's go for a picture of a statue with you and your bike.

Have you tried the VR Assistance. It's on the home page. Look for someone in that area with a trailer. Good luck

Yes it will work, the moscot on your bike and you standing close will work.

Marcarl I think I see what you a talking about on the back side of the case. I looked at mine and the knuckle is already up. this is on the front shaft. What I'm seeing looks like there is not enough room to turn it down (on the inside). Here is a picture of my heel toe shifter. bongobobny, yours is still a shift lever like what I took off. With the heel toe shifter it is a direct connect to the shaft, that why the shift pattern is backwards. Thanks again for the input.

Alright, thanks for the OK.:cool10: How about the next target being a High school human mascot in his outfit sitting with you on your bike. Good luck on the hunt.

Thanks guys. On the first "quote" the bearing was broken out of the donor bike I took the shifter off of the bearing was seized up. I really like the shifter and I'm pretty gentle with it. On the second "Quote" which linkage gets turned over the front one or the rear? It did not look like there was enough room to "flip it over". Also do you access this by draining the oil and then removing the left rear motor cover? Or do you need to drop the exhaust? By the way I met a guy yesterday with I believe he said a 90 model venture that he has turned the odermeter over 4 times. Lives in Pearland Texas and rides with the Blue Knights. Told him about the site. Hope he joins in. Thanks for the information and the help, guys.

If it helps here is a picture of Tracy in uniform at another function. He is the founder of our BRAZORIA COUNTY CAVALRY. We honor all or service men and women and our first responders. In the picture attached we were honoring a WWII vet on his birthday. Tracy was saying the ending prayer.

OK first try at this. The guy on the left is off duty Sheriff deputy that works at the Brazoria Texas jail in the background. razor wire and guard tower is on the left. Not a state prison so may not work. Lucky I did not telll him about this before hand he wanted to cuff me for the picture, but didn't have them with him.

I've got a 83 standard that running pretty good but still has a few quirks. I've got new diraphrams on order hopefully they will get it running right. It was setting up for 6 years before I picked it up. Thanks to the tech help on this site I've got most of the items fixed. I have a donor bike I took floor boards and heel toe shifter off. The shift is now backwards. does anyone out there know the right way to correct it? Do you need to turn the linkage between the two shift shafts over? And if thats the answer do you access that linkage throught the left side transmission cover or do you need to drop the exhaust crossover? Again thanks to all that have given the tech information in the past. This is a great site and some great people.

Guess that makes me 21 1/2 . It's great to be young again. It is fun riding the 83 venture. But nice to have a more reliable bike every once in a while and Momma like the wing's back set better.

Please put me down for 1 - 5 3/4" patch. Thanks