New Member With Comments on 2004 Venture

[fredfloon]

New member…just bought a 2004 Midnight Venture through Ebay last month after riding a ’91 HD Electra Glide since 1994. I wanted to share some initial impressions of the bike (note, after only 750 miles) and getting it ready to ride.

First off, this is a great site: most of the work I’ve done on the bike has been inspired/made possible by the excellent examples made right here. Kudos to all who’ve done the grunt work of posting advice, capturing the maintenance procedures, taking pictures of the procedures, and posting them here. Well done!

This is a neat bike, too. Unlike the HD—where you can do your own maintenance but it’s hard—I can do much of my own routine maintenance, and maybe some not so routine stuff, too, if required. I like the high build quality, the great chrome, and the high end parts that went into making the bike. It’s a quality piece of machinery.

This bike is huge, it’s a monster; it makes the Harley look like a sports bike in comparison. Top heavy, too, it took me awhile to get used to it. HD carries its weight down low but as a penalty it scrapes the floorboards with little lean effort. The Venture has more than an inch of clearance on the HD, which contributes to its top heaviness, but makes it much more maneuverable, and I have yet to scrape a the undercarriage. Lots of power and smooth on the road. I was impressed from the start by the bike: very solid, very high quality parts and assembly. Made for the long haul. A design that dated from 1999 but space age compared to the ’91 Harley. Four cylinders and four carbs compared to two and one on the HD. Different power generation, too: all that nonsense you read about Harleys making their power down low with torque is true: they are torque monsters, making useable power from low RPMs. The Venture makes plenty of power but via revs vice torque. I found I had to be careful not to lug the engine, but after I bit I caught on. Doesn’t help that the bike doesn’t have a tach (fixing that via aftermarket add on), and how expensive would it have been to add a clock somewhere on the dash? I rode today and it was 22 degrees: engine temp gauge would have been very nice (BTW, the secret to riding in the cold is electric gloves—you heard it here first).

I believe the big reason the old owner got rid of this bike is because it was due for its 16k maintenance. I suspect he make a visit to the dealer, who took stock of the situation, and advised him that the damages would be usual 800 bucks plus the cost of a new tire. The rear tire was shot, even though the e-bay site had described the rear tire as being in good shape and “changed this riding season,” whatever that means. Good shape for Zimbabwe, maybe, unsafe to ride on in the USA. So, including new rear tire, one large, at least, to keep the black bike running. I think he didn’t need to spend the money and decided to sell it and cut his losses. My good luck, at 16k it’s not hardly broken in.

Specific thoughts:

Fluids: I changed the engine and final drive oil. I read with interest the ongoing discussion regarding oil weight and brand. This one’s a no brainer for me: I use the oil that Momma-Yama recommends in the owner’s manual (Castrol 10W-30), but I prefer synthetic. Ditto for the final drive, used Castol synthetic 75W-90. Thanks to the great instructions I got here, also had no problem replacing the coolant, although it took awhile to get everything pulled apart. Glad that’s a job for every other year! I used a 50-50 water coolant mix I found at the local auto parts store (Prestone), guaranteed to be silicate free.

Rear tire/rear end: as I mentioned, tire was shot, wear bars showing all around. Replaced with an Avon Venom…wanted a Dunlop Elite 3 but couldn’t find one that was not back ordered, and I’m a VERY IMPORTANT GUY in a hurry. BTW, I ordered one of those Carbon One jack contraptions: pure magic, and the best money I’ve spent to date, and you can’t safely do the maintenance without it. I pulled off the rear tire so I could do the 16k maintenance myself: wasn’t certain if my local shop could do it, and I wanted it done right. Got myself some Honda Moly Paste 60 as recommended here, and lubed the drive shaft (no issues getting the drive shaft back into the U-joint, maybe I was lucky), and the rear wheel…clutch fingers? Sure enough, they had not been lubed out of the factory and were dry/rusty…easy enough to do.

Brakes: Never had a bike before in which the rear brake wore faster than the front brakes. Doesn’t seem natural to me, but that’s how it was: front brakes good for another 10k at least (replaced prior to?), rear brake pads shot and unevenly worn, just as this forum had . I cleaned up the rear caliper (just like I read about here) and swapped the pads (ditto) and will ride the bike for a few days until the replacement pads arrive. Question: is the rear brake a bit under gunned for the stopping duties on a 900 lb-ish motorcycle? Does this explain the rapid wear?

Plugs: no drama, old ones looked great at 16k, leading me to believe that they could have stayed in for another 16k or more, but I swapped them out anyway. Also a no brainer for me: I used exactly what the manual specified, cost about $2.50/ea at the local auto parts store.

Carbs: smelled of gas with fuel economy in the low 30s…sounds like a carb synch was in order. Pulled out my old Carb-stick (Stix?) that I used on my ‘79 BMW R100 RT (great bike!): only two carbs. The HD, of course, uses only a single carb, so the Carb-Stick had not gotten much work in the past decade or so. Bike was badly out of synch, both between 1-2 and 3-4, as well as between the two banks. Noticeable improvement in tractability after the effort, although the idle fell way off. Cranked up the idle but the bike didn’t feel right so I re-resynched the carbs. Sure enough, the change in idle speed upset the synch, so did the entire process over again, making certain the idle and synch were adjusted in tandem: this is a dynamic process. Waiting on next fill up to see how the fuel economy is doing. I’m pretty sure it can’t be any worse than it was.

Windshield: Very tall, almost too tall for me, and I’m 6’5”. Fully agree with the comment on this forum that the tall windshield in the dark when it’s raining is unsafe—it is. Next purchase will be either a new ‘screen or saw blades to cut it down. That will have to be replaced BTL (before too long).

What’s next: Rear shock groans, but doesn’t leak, I need to put in the two ounces of brake fluid down the Schrader valve and see where that takes me. Other than that, I think it’s about ready to go, unfortunately, winter’s here, so in depth evaluation will have to wait for awhile.

[straycatt]

how expensive would it have been to add a clock somewhere on the dash?

 

It's there, you just need to know the super secret Yamaha access code.

 

I agree that it's a great ride. I've got maybe, 1K miles on mine and I'm in love, though it is a hard bike to get used to.

[RandyR]

Welcome to the forum Fred. Yep, these are great bikes. Try to make Maintenance Day at Freebird's next summer so you can meet a lot of the members.

 

re: back brakes. Well, you can lock up the rear wheel if you try hard, so I just think the design isn't quite what it should be. But rotating the pads is a 15 minute job, so is no biggy.

[Yammer Dan]

VERY IMPORTANT GUY in a hurry.

Should have got a 1st Gen!!!!

Welcome and good luck with Scoot. It will be a pleasant surprise. And we can help with maint. I think you already got that now just got to ride it!!!

[OldBear]

Congrats on the new bike! You'll quickly learn to love it's ride and power and the handling cames after a while (I came from an FJR and the weight DID take some getting used to. For the clock, try holding the "select" button in...it SHOULD bring up the clock!

 

Good Luck with the new bike and welcome aboard!

[wes0778]

What’s next: Rear shock groans, but doesn’t leak, I need to put in the two ounces of brake fluid down the Schrader valve and see where that takes me. Other than that, I think it’s about ready to go, unfortunately, winter’s here, so in depth evaluation will have to wait for awhile.

 

I could be wrong, :think:but I was under the impression that it should be 1/2 fork oil and 1/2 ATF, not brake fluid...

[Bummer]

...

Question: is the rear brake a bit under gunned for the stopping duties on a 900 lb-ish motorcycle? Does this explain the rapid wear?

Nope. In fact, lean too hard on that back brake and it'll throw you on the ground and stomp on you. Unlike the fronts it's a four piston caliper. The rear brake, and/or too quick a downshift into too low a gear, will stop the rear tire NOW. Not good.

 

Mostly I think this is a matter of relying on the rear brake far more than the fronts (pure speculation). I know I use the rear a lot during low speed maneuvers, which probably eats up the pads even faster.

 

In an attempt to lessen the effectiveness of the back brake some of us have installed a metering valve. I'm currently experimenting with putting one of the front brakes on the rear. I put four piston calipers on the front and have the old two piston calipers in a box, so I thought I'd give it a try. There are complications involving the master cylinders so I don't know how this is going to work out yet. Once I know how it works I'll let everyone know in the Second Gen Tech area.

 

V7Goose is putting together a FAQ in the Second Gen Tech area that you'll want to read if you haven't already.

[bongobobny]

As was mentioned, there is a clock in the odometer, but then you can't read the miles, so I improvised and velcro'ed a cheap clock on to the dash. Velcro'ed so it can be removed when washing the bike...

[MiCarl]

 

Mostly I think this is a matter of relying on the rear brake far more than the fronts (pure speculation). I know I use the rear a lot during low speed maneuvers, which probably eats up the pads even faster.

 

From what I see in the shop there are plenty of riders out there who don't even know there is a front brake. They stomp on the pedal, just like in the cage.

[Ponch]

:BLUE:

 

There are options for clocks. I use the clock in the dash and a multi function gauge that has a clock in it. When the trip meter kicks in to alert you that you're running low on gas, I leave it on and observe the other gauge/meter.

 

 

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv87/dawarren77377/Bike%20shots/090408A.jpg?t=1261400774

 

http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv87/dawarren77377/Bike%20shots/090408D.jpg?t=1261400848

 

Ponch

[FreezyRider]

As was mentioned, there is a clock in the odometer, but then you can't read the miles, so I improvised and velcro'ed a cheap clock on to the dash. Velcro'ed so it can be removed when washing the bike...

 

WHAT?????

That's news to me! How do you access it?

[Skid]

Yep its there. Someone had to show me how to find it too....

[Venturous Randy]

Great indepth post Fred. Welcome to the group and we appreciate your comments. After you get some seat time on your 2nd gen, if you get the opportunity, take a ride on a 1st gen, particularly an early one like an 83. It will give you a better understanding of the heritage of these great bikes. Shifting an MKI (83/85) thru the gears at 8,000 rpm's on a good running bike will surprise you for what a heavy 1200cc bike can do.

RandyA

[ctraylor]

I read that you used Castrol 10W30. I tried to use this and my clutch started slipping. You must use the kind made for motorcycles or your clutch will slip. It took 3 oil changes before my clutch stopped slipping in high gear.

[Bummer]

WHAT?????

That's news to me! How do you access it?

Push the Select button for at least two seconds.