Opinions on upgrades

[Guest black knight]

Hi everyone, I am considering doing the following upgrades to my 2006 midnight venture.

 

1) piston kit-bored out to 1400cc

2) dyna 3000

3) V-max gears

4) V-max cams

5) pilot and main jets upgrade

6) full exhaust upgrade

7) clean up heads

 

This will bring the V-4 back to what it should be, I would like some feedback from you guys and any suggestions would be appreciated.

[BuddyRich]

Better upgrade the front forks too, Its gonna be hard to keep the front wheel down.

[Thom]

cheaper and easier to buy a 1st gen :rotfl::stirthepot:

[Squeeze]

1400 cc is a waste of Money, if you're going to bore go for the real Deal - 1500cc

 

Vmax Gears might fit to the overall Performance of the Engine

 

Cams are good, but what about the Valves ?? They desperatly need to bigger than 2Gen Size

 

Jets might be a good Idea, but with that Motor, either 1400 or 1500cc, you need way more Mixture dellivered. Even these stock 32mm Carbs are too small for the 1200cc Motor. Custom EFI would be in order.

 

proper Exhaust is a must on such a Setup

 

clean up Heads ? Don't know what your meaning

[eagleeye]

I guess that I really don't understand. You bought a venture, which is a big ass touring machine.

If you want a hot rod, you need to start with something under 400 lbs, and then build a hot rod.

 

Having said that, this just goes to show that we all are different in what we want.

 

If you want to build a venture hot rod, I say --------HAVE FUN----------

and build it.

But, I wouldn't worry about the front end comming off of the ground.

 

 

Steve

[Squeeze]

I do not understand why you do not understand ...

 

 

The 2Gen is not so nice in my Eyes, but i sincerly understand when somebody wants his 'Big Ass Touring Bike' beefed up to a Point where the Sportsbikes shrink in the left Mirror ...

[Guest black knight]

Guys I'm not looking for a super bike in a Venture, I just want the low end and mid range power back that was lost when the venture was detuned, I love to take long trips and enjoy the open road, but when the need comes to get up to speed, I want to get up now and I feel the venture really lacks in this department. I realize it is a big heavy bike, but that does not mean we can't enjoy a little more power in the low end, the potential for this engine is there, we just have to make a few changes to feed the beast.

[Squeeze]

Well, the List in your first Posting doesn't imply that you're just seeking SOME Horses .... :rotf:

 

your List said me .... somehow 140 to 150 hp ...

 

With a good tuned Motor and my Suggestions 170 hp.

 

Of Course, these Horse are on the Clutch.

[2WHEELSFORME]

Might as well put in NOS also. Or even look at a turbo charger. Both those prob cost about the same as what your talking about. Hey maybe go get a VTX-1800 or Vulcan 2000 and bolt all your Venture stuff on one of those and then go with the NOS. I know the turbo charger can be had for the 1800 motor.

[Redneck]

From what I understand the v max cams won't fit in your engine and I have never seen or heard of any after market cams for the venture engine. Even if they would they will not improve low and mid range power they will decrease it as will the open exhaust and big carburetors. Those things will make more high end power and potentially alot more high end power. How often do you run your engine between 6 and 9k rpm? Thats where your power gain will be and your throttle response and torque at 2 to 4 k will suffer and thats where your engine spends most of it time.

[Guest black knight]

Keep the feedback coming guys, what can I do to get more low end and mid range power, that is what I'm looking for, top speed is not what I want, I need your advice so I can proceed properly. As far as getting a different bike, that is not going to happen, I will make improvements to get my bike where I want it to be. In my opinion where the Venture should be.

[Squeeze]

From what I understand the v max cams won't fit in your engine and I have never seen or heard of any after market cams for the venture engine. Even if they would they will not improve low and mid range power they will decrease it as will the open exhaust and big carburetors. Those things will make more high end power and potentially alot more high end power. How often do you run your engine between 6 and 9k rpm? Thats where your power gain will be and your throttle response and torque at 2 to 4 k will suffer and thats where your engine spends most of it time.

 

 

Respectfully, this is BS ...

 

The Cams fit, Pegscraper rides them. They have a higher Lobe and therefore more Mixture will be delivered in the Combustion Chamber.

 

If you make up a Engine it will gain over the complete RpM Range. With the setting of the Overlap between Intake and Ex- Cams, you can design what you prefer, either Torque or top End Power. Of Course, in a specific Range and the Cams have to be milled on the Borings, so they can be turned it the Position you want them to be. A Guy who wants his Engines bored, will know that by himself or the Guy whose doing the Job will know that.

[eagleeye]

2 to 4 k will suffer and thats where your engine spends most of it time.

 

I guess that evryone is different, but that is not where my 86 spends most of it's time.

I always try to stay above 4. Seems like that is where is shines.

 

Steve

[wizard]

It all sounds great to me, ain't nothing wrong with more cubic inches.

Leonard

[Redneck]

Respectfully, this is BS ...

 

The Cams fit, Pegscraper rides them. They have a higher Lobe and therefore more Mixture will be delivered in the Combustion Chamber.

 

If you make up a Engine it will gain over the complete RpM Range. With the setting of the Overlap between Intake and Ex- Cams, you can design what you prefer, either Torque or top End Power. Of Course, in a specific Range and the Cams have to be milled on the Borings, so they can be turned it the Position you want them to be. A Guy who wants his Engines bored, will know that by himself or the Guy whose doing the Job will know that.[/quot I may be mistaken but I don't believe pegscraper is running vmax cams I think he is running vmax intake with vboost. Changing the cams to higher lift and longer durations will absolutely not improve performance over the whole rpm range it will improve the top end and decrease the low end performance. You can change the characteristics of any cam profile by changing the cam timing but not a substantial amount. I am not an expert with the venture engine but I have been a mechanic all my life. I have done extensive experimentation with small block chevrolet engines in street rods and my circle track race car. If 1 camshaft would increase performance in all ranges there would not be 1000 different cam profiles for the small block chevrolet. Component matching is the key to getting the best performance in the desired rpm range on any engine. Bigger is not always better. As for vmax cams in a venture engine I do not know for a fact weather they will fit or not I was told they would not fit I would like to know for sure. I have heard of people putting them in the 1200 first gens but not in the 1300 second gens.

[Redneck]

2 to 4 k will suffer and thats where your engine spends most of it time.

 

I guess that evryone is different, but that is not where my 86 spends most of it's time.

I always try to stay above 4. Seems like that is where is shines.

 

Steve

Your talking about a different animal your first gen is programed to run at higher rpm and is geared lower than a second gen.

[pegscraper]

Indeed, the V Max cams are a drop in fit. I have them and I know of a few others who do too. I don't know where the notion that they won't came from. Any aftermarket cams for the V Max will also fit ours. Webcams and PCW Racing both make some.

 

I'm with you here, BK. A 1300cc engine ought to be making more power than this one does. It has a lot more capability. I get real tired of the questions about why do we think we need more power. I like plenty of power. What difference does it make whether I'm on a touring bike or a sportbike? There was a day when Cadillac made the fastest cars on the road, and they were putting dual quads and triple deuces and full dual exhaust on their engines. Many of the guys on this board are old enough to remember this. I don't know why the concept of a hot rodded Cadillac is so hard to understand.

 

V Max cams are a bare minimum. They're not really all that big anyway, and the stock cams here are way too small. Swap in the V Max springs while you're at it. If you don't go any bigger than stock V Max cams, the bottom end does not suffer at all. The stock cams are so small that half the potential powerband is below idle speed. (It gets a bit academic.) V Max cams bring the low end of the powerband right up to idle speed. Any bigger than that and you would start to lose low end power.

 

More displacement isn't going to gain much because the stock carbs are barely big enough for 1300cc as it is. More ccs mean that they're even more inadequate. What really needs to happen is to put the 35mm V Max carbs on the bike. It'll be a job getting them to fit in the frame and under the tank though. The next real step is to use the D3K for the V Max rather than the one made for the RSV. The one made for our bikes is better than nothing, but the spark advance curves aren't very good and the rev limiter is too low. The V Max unit has real performance curves in it, and will allow higher rev limits, which, with the V Max valve springs, you can really use. It will take some cutting and splicing of wires to get it done, but it will bring the most out of the engine.

 

By "cleaning up the heads", do you mean porting? I'm a big believer in porting heads. However these ports look really good for stock castings. If you're going to do that, you ought to put larger valves in too. V Max valves are 1 or 2 mm bigger. They also require new valve guides as the V Max valves have a 5.5mm stem and ours are 6mm. And if you're going to go to that trouble, you may as well put even larger than V Max valves in. Get them from the same companies that make aftermarket cams.

 

All that said, all I really have over a stock RSV is V Max cams, V Max rear gear, an opened up airbox with carbs rejetted to match, and the D3K (the one made for our bikes). I'm making about 15 rear wheel hp more than a stock RSV. You might start there and see what you think.

[Freebird]

As has been said already, you can spend a lot of money and some of it will buy you some HP but it will take a lot of work and experimenting with jetting and etc. before you ever get it dialed in right. You really should try the VMAX rear before doing anything else. I haven't done a lot to my bike. I've tried various mufflers, K&Ns and I have the VMAX rear. The VMAX rear made the biggest difference by far.

[Freebird]

Pegscraper, I'm still not sure that because you have them that they will be a drop in fit in the RSV. I'm not sure if Yamaha changed anything on this engine or not.

[Freebird]

Pegscraper, I'm still not sure that because you have them that they will be a drop in fit in the RSV. I'm not sure if Yamaha changed anything on this engine or not.

 

OH...and I'm even more anxious to meet you now. I would like to line our bikes up and put them to the test. See how much that extra 15 HP has bought you against my RSV.

[86er]

Man, ain't this crap fun!!!

 

Y'all keep on arguin', I'm just havin' a blast watchin'! Who needs dinner theater?

 

 

[pegscraper]

V Max cams will fit the RSV. I once had a set of RSV heads setting on the bench. They are the same thing as mine with two exceptions. Mine don't have the air tubes in the exhaust ports for the AIS, and the intake manifold bolt pattern is different as they tried to prevent bigger carbs from being installed. As you might know from my carb swap article, I figured out how to get around that.

[Squeeze]

Respectfully, this is BS ...

 

If you make up a Engine it will gain over the complete RpM Range.

 

 

 

With the setting of the Overlap between Intake and Ex- Cams, you can design what you prefer, either Torque or top End Power. Of Course, in a specific Range and the Cams have to be milled on the Borings, so they can be turned it the Position you want them to be. A Guy who wants his Engines bored, will know that by himself or the Guy whose doing the Job will know that.

.....Changing the cams to higher lift and longer durations will absolutely not improve performance over the whole rpm range it will improve the top end and decrease the low end performance. You can change the characteristics of any cam profile by changing the cam timing but not a substantial amount. I am not an expert with the venture engine but I have been a mechanic all my life. I have done extensive experimentation with small block chevrolet engines in street rods and my circle track race car.

If 1 camshaft would increase performance in all ranges there would not be 1000 different cam profiles for the small block chevrolet. Component matching is the key to getting the best performance in the desired rpm range on any engine. Bigger is not always better. As for vmax cams in a venture engine I do not know for a fact weather they will fit or not I was told they would not fit I would like to know for sure. I have heard of people putting them in the 1200 first gens but not in the 1300 second gens.

 

I wrote, that if you make up an Engine, this seriously does not take only changing the Cams. If there is bigger Displacement and more Airflow, then the Cams need to changed to improve and adjust the Motor for best Function and Goals to achieve.

 

Well, last Time i looked, this 350cui small Block Engines have had just one Cam ... so there's the need to have thousands of different Cams...

 

As you may know, the Venture has four of them, two Intake, two Exhaust. If you vary the Overlap, which means the Point where the EX Cam is opening the Valves and the IN-Cam is also opening their Valves, just can use the pumping Effect for setting the Motor on best Low- and Mid range Performance or best Top End Power.

 

Of course, since there is no variable Valve Timing System, this means, aiding one Side means suffering the other End. Therefore, stock Cams are always a Compromise for best overall Performance and just bored to a somehow fixed Point in the Range of the cheap and easy setting while mounting on Production. If you mill these Holes up to slotted Holes, you can turn them to some other Point and another Overlap.

 

You're right on 'bigger is not always better', but these Engines have a Lot

hidden Power inside. A Friend of mine is building Motors and EFI's. He's a V4 Specialist. I know what he has done in the Past, and he has done a Lot of crazy Things nobody normal would do. He did saw a Vmax Crankshaft where the Con Rods connect and welded the Pieces back together, 1.5 mm wider than stock. This elevated the Stroke of the Engine 3 Millimeters. After balancing the Crankshaft, the Motor gained 35 hp and ran fine for some 3000 Miles, it did break on the Dyno while putting out 240 hp. But he know this would happen some Time, he just wanted to know how long this would last. As he had already a Steel Crankshaft on the Way, it wasn't a big Loss. He used this Motor on a Vmax Street Bike with a Lot of Road testing the EFI and occasionally some Drag Racing.

[stardbog]

Keep the feedback coming guys, what can I do to get more low end and mid range power, that is what I'm looking for, top speed is not what I want, I need your advice so I can proceed properly. As far as getting a different bike, that is not going to happen, I will make improvements to get my bike where I want it to be. In my opinion where the Venture should be.

 

What About downshifting. Venture is diferent then V Twins, and fifth gear is real overdrive. You can't ride Venture 30 MPH in 5th gear, And how big diference make extra 15-20 pony's

[KiteSquid]

Does anybody know if a past, present or even the next generation of V-Max motor will fit in our frame???? Maybe with some modifications to our bike or the motor???? buying a salvage title v-max may be the best bet!!!!

 

THAT would be FUN!!!!!!

 

What I am trying to point out is instead of trying to modify our motor, why not start with a hot motor to begin with and modify it with parts that have been tested by others and are already in production...it cuts the engineering/tweaking time and cost down.

 

 

BTW I put 150 HP of Nitrous on a 1986 Corvette I once owned.........so more power in my bike would be a nice thing....