jeffg

Thanks for the replies. I knew about the electrical differences as there are more accessories on the 85 than on my 83. I'm mostly concerned about the body work. The 85 has some electrical issues and it hasn't run at all for a few years, so I'm thinking of it as a parts bike..

Do this BEFORE removing the spark plugs. Don't ask me how I know this (didn't learn this on the Venture) Jeff

Agreed, the 65H is the load rating. You can safely use a tire that has a higher number for the load rating. As for tire brands, that is like asking what is the best oil to use. My tire selections for my bikes depends on the bike that the tire is used on. Granted, the heaviest bike that I currently have running is a 1977 Honda 750 Automatic, which is a 550 lb bike. IRC Durotours are holding up just fine on it and on my 1973 GT550. However, my 1972 Kawasaki H2, which is hopped up and putting 90 HP to the ground through a 120/90-18 rear tire requires the Bridgestone Spitfire. Any other tire that I've tried on the H2 was missing fairly large chunks of tread within 1000 miles. the Spitfires last about 5-7000 miles depending on how hard I ride it. Jeff

well, between work and lack of available cash, I didn't get too much done on the 83 over the last couple of months. I DID, however, get all the parts, finally, that I need to fix the rear brakes, so that will be getting done as soon as I get home from the 2 stroke meet this coming week at Deals Gap. Anyway, my job as a cable guy has me running all over the county, so I see quite a few bikes and cars for sale. I was offered a 1985 Venture Royale for a very small sum. The bike has had part of the plastics removed for some electrical work. The plastics are in fantastic original condition, completely unlike mine. My question is, will all of the 85 venture Royale plastics fit on my 83 standard Venture? If so, the plastics are worth the asking price as it less than the cost just for the paint and bodywork on my 83. I'm not concened about the 83 not being the original color. The 85 is either a dark burgundy or dark brown...light wasn't great when I saw it. Thanks in advance, Jeff

NC blocked truck traffic over 30 foot on US 129 leading into the dragon, not TN. TN just posted signs saying that there are dangerous curves ahead.

Randy, I'll start this by saying that I'm biased in favor of the Dragon. I go at least once a year and I spend a week there every May for the annual 2 stroke bike meet. If you've never ridden the Dragon, you'll want to make 2 trial runs at slow speed...under the speed limit. 1 run each way. Then you can go through and enjoy the ride. Best times to ride on a weekend are before 9 am or after 5 pm. Fewer police. There are places to pull over if you feel that you either need a break or if you feel that you are holding traffic up The Cherhola is a must and if you have time, visit the Bald River Falls just before you get into Tellico Plains. If you are into fishing, the bald river dumps into the tellico river right at the falls. With the falls at your back, go 100 yards down the tellico river to your left and its a great trout hole Rt 28 is a great ride. So is the ride from Cherokee NC to Robbinsville. I've never ridden the Blue Ridge.

I'll check that. Thanks

Thanks Randy, that makes me feel better that there isn't an oil pressure indicator on the computer. I don't think that the bike is using any oil other than what is dripping out as the only visible thing coming out of the exhaust so far has been a bunch of acorn shells Plus the motor isn't making any noises, and I have run it for well over an hour so far, so I am comfortable assuming that it has sufficient oil pressure. I remember reading, in several places here, about not overfilling the oil. There really isn't a lot of difficult stuff to do on the bike other than the bodywork, which is why George is going to do the prep work. I really suck at body repairs, though I am pretty good with a paint gun. Other than the TCI, everything so far has been a bunch of little stuff, but nothing that I can't do fairly easily once I have the info on what's wrong and what attaches to what. Between the Forum and resources here and the parts fiches I downloaded, I have been able to get most of the things figured out. The questions that I've asked are what I haven't been able to easily find answers for. I think that the bike's biggest issues are that the previous owner didn't take care of it, neglected maintenance, and that it's got 30 years worth of corroded electrical connections. I do know that the original owner took care of it, but didn't ride it much. The mileage showing on the odometer is the actual mileage. This Venture has a LOT more stuff on it and a lot less space to work in than the old 2 strokes that I'm used to working on. Tracing lines, hoses, and wires is taking me a lot longer than I'm used to on a bike. I can rebuild the whole top end of the Suzuki with the motor in the frame in just a few hours, and the main wiring harness of my '72 Kawasaki has a grand total of maybe a dozen wires in it. The Venture is more like working on a car than a bike, at least to me...and it doesn't have all the bells and whistles like CLASS and the audio system.

Thanks Gary. I remember when I pulled the "drain" plug on my first bike. I got lucky and was able to find, in the gravel parking lot, the little steel ball that was the neutral detent. I didn't want to take a chance on that happening to me again.

I've probably rebuilt 20 bike engines and 3 or 4 VW aircooled engines using Yamabond or the Threebond equivalent. I just put it on one side. A lot squeezes out which is why they say keep it a little bit away from the bearings. Make sure that the mating surfaces are smooth, clean and dry. Once I get the old sealant scraped off as best I can with the gasket scraper, I use a Scotchbrite pad to clean up the surface and then brake cleaner to degrease. If you get it clean, you won't have a leak.

I had that happen to me once also. I wasn't hurt in the wreck because I had 2 tons of Ford LTD around me when the right front wheel locked up. Definitely NOT something I would want to happen on a bike!

A friend of mine has one of these on his bike... http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/fuel%20cell.jpg Bought it at Summit Racing. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/JZP-290-103-NF/ Allen has it mounted on a rack on the back of his bike, but it's small enough that it should easily fit in the trunk of the Venture.

I've found this forum to be extremely helpful...payment was made last weekend and I'm now a supporting member. Slowly but surely, I'm knocking out the to do list on the 83 Venture. Unfortunately, new things are getting added to the list too. It's also a little inconvenient for me to work on the bike during the week. My garage is chock full, so the bike is at a friend's house. All the pictures here have been resized small for quick loading even on dial up or smartphone users. As of now, including purchase price, I've got about $450.00 invested in the bike. The newest thing that got added to the list is another oil leak. grrrr. Attached is a pic of where it's coming from. It's leaking at the plug just behind the sight glass for the oil level. I've snugged it up a little and the leak has slowed down. According to the microfiche, it's part # 4H7-15189-00-00 (15 on the diagram). What the diagram doesn't show is if there is anything under the plug. If I pull this plug to replace the o-ring, am I going to have parts come flying out at me or am I going to have to re-align something, or am I simply over thinking the issue. http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/venture/oil%20leak3.jpg Next on the original list was electrical. The fuse box was shot, so I replaced it. I just need to get a buss bar for the accessory circuit. Currently I just jumpered the only wire attached to the buss to the accessory fuse (green wire on new fuse box) I need to cut a piece of aluminum to the size of the original fuse box, drill it for the hold down screw and then attach the new fuse box and buss bar to it in order to securely mount it in the stock location. http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/venture/fuse%20before2.jpg http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/venture/fuse%20after2.jpg On the original list was brakes. They were shot and the rear master cylinder was frozen. Got the rear master cylinder cleaned out and working, fortunately without the $70.00 rebuild kit, and now I just need to get the system filled and bled...ran out of brake fluid last Sunday when I was working on the bike and the auto parts store was closed by the time I found out that I needed more brake fluid. Also on the original list, but something that I didn't think was overly important is the computerized monitor. I know that it's somewhat important because of the oil pressure and other indicators, but since everything appeared to be functional, I didn't have it high on the priority list...until I noticed that the headlight wasn't working all the time. I thought it was a dirty dimmer switch or a loose connection. Reading on here that the headlight runs through this monitor, this has moved up on the priority list. I'll pull it apart and resolder everything. Hopefully that will get it working correctly. If not, the bike is getting a mechanical oil pressure gauge and the headlight will be straight wired through a relay. I know the idle speed is low. The bike has developed a miss in the front left cylinder at idle, but it clears up once the RPMs hit about 1500. I have new spark plugs and wires for it now...just have to put them in. http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/venture/dash%20error2.jpg My friend George, whose garage the bike is in, will be doing the bodywork soon and I'll do the painting. I just have to decide on the color. It's currently Harley Davidson Orange. I hate orange. I'm leaning towards a medium/light blue or grey. http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/venture/body%20parts2.jpg It looks pretty rough without it's clothes on http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/venture/naked%20venture2.jpg I want to get this bike done and rideable by the end of March. I have 2 other projects that I want to get done before summer... My 73 Suzuki GT550 needs a top end and a repaint.... http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/venture/gt5502.jpg And George's son has a 72 Kawasaki S2 that I need to go through and get running... http://www.3cyl.com/jeff/venture/s22.jpg

I had the exact same issue. Find my post on the 3rd page if this forum for a pic of how It's supposesd to go back together. I think the post is titled starter gear question.

I have front/rear brake pads and a new lower radiator hose on the way. With those, giving the master cylinders a good cleaning, and a set of tires, I think the bike will be mechanically sound. Then it's on to paint and reassembly of the bodywork. On second thought, I'm going to put it together so that I know where and how all the parts fit (I wasn't the one who took it apart) and then I'll take it apart again and paint it. Jeff