New Shinkos arrived!

The Shinko 777s I ordered, originally for The Beast arrived yesterday. They will now be installed on Beauty and I ordered a set of Kenda Kruz for The Beast.

I wanted to get Kenda Challengers but I could not find them sized for the Venture. I went with the Kendas for the boy because he won't put 1/4 of the mileage on the bike I do. His daily commute is only 12 miles round trip and with a young child he doesn't get too many opportunities for road trips. The ride quality of the Kenda Challengers was very good, they just didn't last very long. He'll probably change them on the calendar long before wearing them out.

Anyway, This weekend I plan to to do a complete inspection on Beauty and replace both tires at the very least. Probably pull the desiccant cylinder and see if the gel is reusable. I assume I can buy replacement gel from Yamaha if it's broke down too far to dry and reuse?

I'll change all the fluids and install the spin on oil filter adapter, that is if it gets here in time. If not I'll save the oil change for next week. The battery is supposedly on 1 year old, but I'll check that as well.

I do not know yet if the fuse block has been upgraded. If not I'll probably tackle that this week as well. Maybe a new horn with relay?

Then The boy and I need to do his tires and address the leaky o ring on the left anti dive unit.

Hmmm... This could be a long weekend!

I don't think that dissectant (SP?) wears out. Ijust absorbs so much moisture then stops working. Dry it out in the oven at low temp until it goes back to it's normal color. Pink?

Other than that...I'm following your posts with interest. Love seeing a VR come back to life, especially one in such good condition.

When the desiccant gel gets too old it starts crumbling and can cause clogs in the air lines.

The manual says the OEM gel is clear when dry and pink when saturated.

When the desiccant gel gets too old it starts crumbling and can cause clogs in the air lines.

 

The manual says the OEM gel is clear when dry and pink when saturated.

Didn't know that...good to know. Thanks.

Maybe hit a junk yard and find some canisters.

https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Indicating-Silica-Industry-Standard/dp/B013L31PQ0/ref=zg_bs_3013604011_28?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JAVZE8CEF22HK43HVK1C

I don't know what the diameter of the crystals are....or if it matters. but above link may have some ideas...

I ordered 75 grams of the blue to pink gel on amazon for 10 bucks. I should have ordered the big bottle for $26, Oh well.

The desiccant gel, spin on oil filter adapter, oil filter and ACF50 all arrived today. I picked up a WOLO Bad Boy horn and relay at AZ on the way home.

I will pick up a 10 x 10 pop up awning from a buddy tomorrow and then the sweating will commence!

I got the new tires done, mounted, balanced and back on Beauty. That Harbor Freight tire machine is well worth the price!

I also changed the oil and installed the spin on filter adapter, changed the final drive oil and synced the carbs. I am surprised she was running as good as she was, the carbs were way out of sync.

I had planned on flushing the coolant, mounting the new horn, and servicing the desiccant dryer for the CLASS as well but with the heat and the fact that I had to do everything three times because I was in the throws of a heat stroke and just doing stupid stuff all day, I didn't get that far.

I found a few more imperfections to further burst my bubble of minty euphoria. Nothing major, a few well done repairs and a broken mounting tab on one of the lowers that I should be able to fix easily.

The irony is that I have a brand new lift table in the shop but I had to do all this work in the driveway because the lift is occupied by a partial ton down Maxim 750 at this time.

I secured the center stand to the front cross bar with a ratchet strap, pulled the front wheel and lowered the front end to the ground making plenty of room to pull the rear tire without removing the rear fender or the luggage rack.

BTW, what's the trick to getting the mufflers off? I got the right side off but I could not get the left one off to save my life!

No trick. I just twist and pull.

BUT, that said...the last time I had troubles pulling a muffler, the gasket (?) was torn and that made it difficult for me to get the muffler off. I had to order a new one..

FYI.[/color]