New Kid on the Block

Hello, I am considering buying a barn find on CL. I am a past Cavalcade owner which I loved but thinking a Venture this time. So the guy wants $1,000 or b/o, I know this is short money, and can prob grab for $800. It has 65k on the ticker and he says it has a charging issue.

1989 Yamaha Venture Royale 1300 Fully dressed with cb, cassette, cruise control and air ride suspension. 60k miles has charging issue.

Any thoughts of what I may be looking at to fix? I do my own wrench btw. Thanks, Brad

They have a plug on the left side with 3 wires that come from stator. Connector will corrode and burn up . Stator not that hard to replace.

Dan I can't believe you forgot the Seafoam. Welcome to the site Brad.

The connectors Yamaha used for the stator and regulator/rectifier were marginal at best. Decent chance you just need to solder some wires together.

Worst case probably looking at a stator or regulator/rectifier. Maybe battery too if it's been sitting around dead. $300 or less for parts.

Body panels are rare and pricey. If it's cosmetically good you can get your $1000 back selling parts.

Only common flaw is the shafts on the pinion gears at the middle gear and final drive are known to break. They don't render it immobile, but moan under accel or decel from the extra lash. Middle gear is relatively inexpensive but labor intensive. Final drive is low labor but large money for new parts.

The air suspension (CLASS) controller will only function with the key in the ACC. position. It's common for them to throw an E4 code if solder connections on the connector break. Pretty easy fix, but don't tell the seller.

Carl said it a little better.. I'm feeling lazy tonight. Oh yeah ask about the Sea-Foam. I still use it but mix it with some other stuff. Can't reveal that I don't want to get called stupid again.. Welcome. Best 12 bucks you could ever spend!!

Carl said it a little better.. I'm feeling lazy tonight. Oh yeah ask about the Sea-Foam. I still use it but mix it with some other stuff. Can't reveal that I don't want to get called stupid again.. Welcome. Best 12 bucks you could ever spend!!

Dan that won't stop them:whistling:

Only common flaw is the shafts on the pinion gears at the middle gear and final drive are known to break. They don't render it immobile, but moan under accel or decel from the extra lash. Middle gear is relatively inexpensive but labor intensive. Final drive is low labor but large money for new parts.

Wow! Carl I thought that my 86 and 89 were pretty much bullet proof but now you made me want to sell them! Are they really that bad?

Dan, I hope that I wasn't the one that called you stupid. I don't believe in the almighty power of Seafoam but I would never intentionally call anyone stupid.

Ray

Welcome aboard Brad!! Sounds like a decent enough deal to me! As mentioned the issue could be the connector. A great replacement battery is the DEKA brand which is an AGM, and one of our members, Skydoc 17, Earl, is a distributer and gives us members a great price. As mentioned the stator is relatively easy to replace. There are good aftermarket R/R's available as well. There is plenty of technical info on this site as well as many very helpful prople.

To test the stator, disconnect the connector and with an ohmeter yo should see a low resistancfe between any two wire combinations. Each wire to ground should see infinity ohms (open). Switch the meter to AC volts and start the bike. You should see around 40 volts AC between any combination of 2 wires, and they should all be very close in value. If not the stator is bad (like you saw 34V, 21V, 33V).

I called a guy stupid once. But I was looking in the mirror.

I called a guy stupid once. But I was looking in the mirror.

I stand corrected.

I am guilty of that as well.

Ray

Wow! Carl I thought that my 86 and 89 were pretty much bullet proof but now you made me want to sell them! Are they really that bad?

 

Dan, I hope that I wasn't the one that called you stupid. I don't believe in the almighty power of Seafoam but I would never intentionally call anyone stupid.

 

Ray

Wow! Carl I thought that my 86 and 89 were pretty much bullet proof but now you made me want to sell them! Are they really that bad?

 

Bad? Listed all the problems that can turn up after almost 25 years. List is pretty short for that.

Except for the pinion shafts breaking its pretty easy fixes too. Not all bikes will break a pinion shaft, but no use buying one that is broken.

Don't fear it brad I just bought mine a 88 royale with 37,000 for $1600 have about $600it into it and have a great bike

Dan that won't stop them:whistling:

All that time in the gym a little of it went to working on my left hook....

Sea-Foam is not a Cure All but if used as you should will eliminate 90 per cent of carb problems. And a GOOD Sea-Foam soak can work wonders on neglected carbs.

I've also done the looking in the mirrow thing and my friends can call me anything and it doesn't upset me. Much....BUT

OK I'll go back to my corner now.

Hey Brad did ya buy it???

Hey Brad,

Welcome to VR.ORG! Here is a check list I compiled a while back.

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=65738

This is found in the First Gen. Tech. Section under "Known Problems".

Check the stator for output at the connector on the left side of the bike behind the side cover. If the stator is good, CUT the connector out of the system, and hard wire the stator leads to the harness leads. If the stator is bad, replace. Use the check list to check out the rest of the bike. If the plastic is unbroken, then the mechanical/electrical items can be repaired. If the plastic is busted up, AND the stator is bad, this is a $400.00 bike. ALL of the plastic parts are no longer offered by Yamaha so used would be the only replacements. I do have a ton of good plastic, if that would help.

I personally would offer no more than $600.00 for the bike if the plastic is good (stator is bad), and bump up to $800.00 as my limit. This would be a great project bike for $600.00 with good plastic.

Happy hunting,

Earl