zagger

You can probably figure out which model you have from this: http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/yamaha/yamaha_xvz1200td_l.htm Doesn't the Royale version have a shiny nameplate somewhere that says "Royale" ? Not sure that I'd guess that the handlebar won't fit. I'd be surprised if Yamaha made two different splines and tube OD's for the two venture models. zag

Cowpuc beat me to it - I was just going to post the same link! If your bike has the "fix" noted by the mark on the case, then your deal is twice as good! zag

Since the ultimate failure is to have the gears skip and mash on each other, it's a good idea to do the fix before real damage occurs. If you like the bike, then do the fix. It's not optional if you decide to keep it and put on serious miles. While it's not a minor job, I thought that it was interesting and not something that should be avoided just because it looks scary. I can barely remember having done the work several years ago. Anyway - that's my pep talk! zag

"I picked this up for 450.00 and it has 28,000 miles on it" A VERY good deal! You won't see the 2nd gear issue with only 28K miles. Mine had 44K miles when I bought it, and it had no signs of having 2nd gear issues. However, the wear on the two little retainers was very obvious - 0.12" thickness (measured on a worn set) worn down to a bit less than 0.1" in the center area. Maybe you could ride it for a year, then tackle the "troubles". zag

Looks great! zag

Fixing the 2nd gear problem is a bit of a job, but one that can be done over a week or two (evenings after work) during this coming winter. I did it right after I bought my 83 several years ago. Does require pulling out the engine - but that gives you a chance to also take care of any little issues that need attention after 32 years on the road! Not really a big deal. When I took mine apart, it seemed pretty clear that 2nd gear hadn't ever actually skipped but the wear on the two retainers was obvious and I replaced them. Zero problems with the engine or gears since I've owned the bike. My suggestion: just do the fix when weather shuts down your riding and when you feel ready to tackle an interesting project without any time pressures. The second gear problem isn't a matter of chance, or bad luck. It's just a couple of little semi-circular retainers that will be badly worn and need replacing. Oh well, there are worse things in life! zag PS I bought my 83 knowing about the potential 2nd gear problem and fixed it before even riding it. Then did lots of other mods just for fun. It's a fast and very photographed bike.

"Has anyone ever relocated the gauge dash or replaced the needed stuff with something else?" I've done quite a few mods to my 83, including substituting a speedo from a different bike and and adding a digital tach. An aftermarket tach isn't too challenging but the speedo does require finding one with a compatible cable and cable housing. "Also I saw someone else removed the brace that runs over the engine. it that brace needed or is it there just to hold the covers on?" For the size and weight of the bike, the frame didn't seem overly strong - so I left the two side braces and even added to them just to make them more interesting to look at. No idea if the frame would survive without them but I decided it wasn't worth the risk. I think that the only parts which are still stock on my bike are the wheels. zag

Wish I could join you. zag

I know the UP quite well since I grew up in the Houghton/Hancock area on the Keweenaw peninsula. If you have any extra time, you might find it interesting to head up to Copper Harbor located at the end of the peninsula. Hwy 26 along the north shore of the Keweenaw is a good ride and Brockway Mountain Drive is also a good run and gives some spectacular views - some sections of the road might be fairly challenging. If you are interested, there are lots of old copper mines in the area and some have tours. The Quincy mine, located just outside of Hancock, is one of the deepest mines in the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy_Mine). At any rate, simply zooming east to get to the bridge will miss some of the best riding in the midwest and some interesting sights. Hope you enjoy your trip. zag

Nothing nice about the Chicago route. 200 miles extra on nice roads through the UP will go by fast. Plus you get to cross the Mac bridge. zag

I did the 2nd gear fix back when I first got my 83. I believe that this problem & fix are well documented elsewhere on this site. My 2nd gear wasn't a problem but I wanted to make sure it didn't become one. Good winter project. zag

Are you sure that the calipers are working correctly? If one piston inside the caliper is stuck, the braking action would be seriously reduced. My 83's brakes seem plenty strong (they are delinked), as good or better than a Honda cruiser that I also own. zag

What's a recepie? zag

For whatever it is worth: I have Metzler 880's on two bikes ridden by me for a total of approx. 75,000 miles. No problems with any of the 880's over the years. I don't pull trailers but I have done plenty of long trips at highway speeds with the bikes fully loaded. Plenty of aggressive acceleration/deceleration/cornering. Tires last a few thousand miles but I don't keep tabs on the total miles since wear depends on the type of riding - when the tread is gone, I get a new one. I inflate to the mid-30's psi but I don't regard checking tire pressure as a precision measurement! I think I might have heart failure if my tires ever started tossing off pieces! zag

Black tape? zag

Excellent idea to use a light to check 12V circuits on an older bike! Voltmeters need almost no electrical current to register a voltage. It is easy to be mislead into thinking a circuit is good when it actually cannot provide the current needed due to corrosion, dirt, or whatever. I'm going to try to remember that trick! Thanks, zag

IMO, the smoke coming out of the exhaust looks like burnt oil, not steam from a water leak. If the engine hasn't been run for months or longer, it is entirely possible that a little engine oil got past the valve seals, coated the piston and inside of the head, and was blown into the exhaust system when the engine started. This oil will start smoking pretty good when the engine and exhaust system warms up, but eventually the oil will be consumed and the smoke will stop. Yesterday I started up an old bike that sat idle for a couple of years. Once the exhaust was hot, it started pumping out lots of white smoke (like yours). I switched it off, let it cool (with smoke drifting out the exhaust pipe), and started it again. More smoke, but volume was decreasing. Let it cool again. Ran it today and smoke was nearly gone. Since it doesn't have a serious oil leak past the valves, I'm guessing that I won't see more smoke during normal use. The abnormal smoke simply comes from oil that slowly leaked past the valves during the extended storage time. Gas tank rust: I had to loosen and clean out lots of rust in the gas tank of my '83. The inside surfaces of the welded seams in the tank are particularly prone to getting rusty. After cleaning out as much rust as possible (just get creative with wires, chains, etc.), I sealed the inside of the tank with a coating called Red Kote (http://www.amazon.com/Red-Kote-Quart-Sealer-Diesel/dp/B009X0JOSM). Works well but is very smelly and should be used outdoors! As I vaguely remember, I diluted the Red Kote with a little extra MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) to make it a bit less syrupy. Good luck, zag

Not sure if this is the issue, however you should know that hard front braking compresses the front fork and has the effect of reducing the front wheel "trail" measurement which also reduces your normal front wheel stability. Of course, a heavily loaded bike will compress the front fork even more when the front brake is applied hard. Even if the front end never reaches a truly unstable "negative trail" condition, the reduction in the trail will make the handling much more sensitive and more likely to produce a wobble. Of course, this is assuming that you don't have problems with your front disks, etc. which might also produce an odd handling sensation. zag

My Memphis shade deflectors use a separate mount to connect to each fork - not to the fairing (this is on a different bike than my venture, so don't look at the sig pic). Each plate has two holes which are held by two screws and machined parts which are part of the fork tube mount. Placement relative to the batwing fairing is up to you. In my case, the lowers really helped to raise the airflow and prevent buffeting. Hope this helps. zag

I've never had any problems with the gears over the 8 years I have had the bike and I couldn't find any evidence inside the gearbox that the gears had skipped in the past before I bought it. I did the washer update simply because the problem seemed to be well understood and I wanted to avoid future problems if possible. The two half washers were obviously worn where they contact the shaft - maybe a quarter or a third of their thickness was worn away. Pulling out the engine and splitting it open to access the gears fixing everything and reinstalling the engine, is obviously not a project which can be done over a rainy weekend! Regarding vboost: attempting to implement the automatic vboost function with servo motor, etc. would be quite a project and, in my opinion, not worth the effort. Finding the valves on ebay and rigging up some way to manually operate them is pretty simple if the area around the intakes isn't too cramped for the valves to be added easily. My bike has lots of space in that area but it is quite far from a stock configuration. zag

Kisa, If you cannot locate the correct Yamaha part, I suggest that you use a silicone hose with the correct inside diameter. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/silicone-hose My venture is very customized, so standard hoses would not fit - every hose was replaced with a silicone one. Silicone hoses seem to resist kinking (collapsing when bent) quite well. Good luck. zag

You might want to consider adding the vmax "boost" valves. These valves effectively double the air and gas by allowing a single cylinder to breath through two carbs. The full boost only is effective at high rpm's but I've found that the std. engine seems to run a bit better at all speeds by having the boost valves just cracked open a little. This is easy for me to set since I use a ratcheting bicycle shift lever on the end of the left handlebar to set the boost valve position and the first click (valves open slightly) is where I normally operate the engine. If you maintain the stock housing over the engine, you might not have room for the carbs to sit on top of the valves - but maybe you can modify things a bit. My bike is modified so much that adding these valves wasn't a problem. Just a thought. zag

Yes, it has been quite a few years since I did that fix, but I believe you are pointing to the right one. I had to improvise a press to remove the spring pressure so that the ring and two split ring halves could be replaced. My 2nd gear wasn't skipping yet, but the split rings had fairly deep grooves where they contacted the shaft. Here is a picture of my press - it only had to work for about 30 seconds. I survived so, please, no smart remarks about the method! I believe that the top piece of plywood had a hole centered on the shaft to allow replacement of the split ring and ring. I kept them as hard-won souvenirs and made them into a small hanging mobile for the shop (along with some other engine bits from other bikes). zag

anyone move the controls forward? I moved the controls forward about 24". No problems with the operation or feeling. I used ball joints on the ends of the extended linkages to avoid alignment problems. An example: https://www.google.com/search?q=ball+linkage&es_sm=91&tbm=isch&imgil=a4Afz_eMQwvByM%253A%253BvZKVczn51VvFQM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.tradekey.com%25252Fselloffer_view%25252Fid%25252F3580632.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=a4Afz_eMQwvByM%253A%252CvZKVczn51VvFQM%252C_&usg=__-DDk3YQO9_SPo4a2OZVmyHWNlQ0%3D&biw=1781&bih=898&ved=0CEwQyjc&ei=jy1lVZL8CcbosAW2toCIDA#imgrc=a4Afz_eMQwvByM%253A%3BvZKVczn51VvFQM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimgusr.tradekey.com%252Fo-B3197135-20091025225946%252Frod-end-clevis-ball-joint-linkage-part.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.tradekey.com%252Fselloffer_view%252Fid%252F3580632.htm%3B200%3B162 The shift linkage needed a secondary rotating pivot to produce the correct motion (the foot control has a linkage to a rotating piece which has another linkage to the actual shift lever). Works fine. zag

True enough. If the tach stops working and the engine starts running rough at the same time (regardless of choke position), then I also vote for TCI problems since that is where the tach gets its signal from. It should be fairly simple to determine if the spark is absent on the questionable cylinders. If the rough operation when warm is determined solely by backing off on the choke and can be reversed by increasing the choke (thus every plug is obviously firing), then I vote for gas issues since the choke affects only the gas (and the tach operation may be an unrelated issue). Perhaps I'm not completely clear on what action causes the rough running - backing off on the choke, or simply warming up. The original posting of the problem doesn't clearly identify cause and effect - at least for me.