Peculiar

[Keemez]

Hey folks- an odd thing I think I noticed; perhaps somebody can clear it up for me. I'm fairly new to the Venture (just upsized out of a 750 Vulcan last summer) but not to motorbiking. Can somebody tell me; were there optional colors for the wheel rims somewhere along the MKI-MKII line? In the owner manual and in several of the photos I've seen on the site here, it looks like the circumferential rim (except the outer lip and machined spoke faces) is black. A few owners seem to have had theirs powder coated or otherwise painted to match custom paintjobs on their fairings, etc. And then there's mine- the whole wheel (again, excluding the actual machined surfaces) is more of a matte silver finish that looks like what you'd have from beadblasting aluminum. When I took delivery of my 93 in July last year it was quite dirty so I spent a fair amount of time with a 3M wheel on the die grinder trying to clean it up good, but it didn't look like the wheels had ever been black before. Any idears? Just curious- I didn't do any real research on it because I know the fine folks here will answer in short order anyway.

[Yammer Dan]

That is strange. Never noticed it but mine are from 83-86 might be later ones.

[bongobobny]

Yah! To my knowledge all the rims are the same but what do I know, I'm just the 800 lb gorilla in the room.

 

I ended up using a buffing wheel with my rims while changing the tires. Brought the shine back, and then I masked and painted the black area gold to match the bike. Previously I ised a black magic marker to hide the chips in the paint. I have seen them corrode pretty bad and actually lift off the black...

[Condor]

When I took delivery of my 93 in July last year it was quite dirty so I spent a fair amount of time with a 3M wheel on the die grinder trying to clean it up good, but it didn't look like the wheels had ever been black before. Any idears? Just curious- I didn't do any real research on it because I know the fine folks here will answer in short order anyway.

 

Yeah, the 1200 MKI's's came with the black trim and the 1300'MKII's were plain.

[Keemez]

Alright, here's the next challenge then. At which point did Yami go to the slotted brake rotors?

The photos in the owner manual show the slotted rotors but the wheel rim is still shown black. Generally the photos in the manuals can be cross-year applicable and it wouldn't matter if an "old" wheel was shown in a 93 manual. But the pics are very clear.

[MiCarl]

My 89 MKII 1300 has black which appears to be original.

 

I have seen a wheel that was not black. I think it was on an 88 cream colored parts bike I sold to Dingy. Hey might pop in with more info. I think the paint on that one was more of a gold.

[Condor]

Alright, here's the next challenge then. At which point did Yami go to the slotted brake rotors?

The photos in the owner manual show the slotted rotors but the wheel rim is still shown black. Generally the photos in the manuals can be cross-year applicable and it wouldn't matter if an "old" wheel was shown in a 93 manual. But the pics are very clear.

 

The slotted' rotors appeared on the MKII. The big problem is that the fork and wheels are somewhat interchangeable, as long as the rotors are kept with the appropriate calipers. Who knows...maybe they changed from year to year after the 86 came out?? I know that my 87, 90,91, and 93 all have the brushed aluminum finish. My '83 and '84 are black. I did read Marcarls post that his '89 were black and looked original. Maybe it's a Canadian thing??

[MiCarl]

Looking at the parts fiches:

 

83 - 88 Low Gloss Black

89 Low Gloss Black OR Light Yellowish Gray

90 Silver OR Light Yellowish Gray

91 - 93 Silver

 

Colors were the same on standard and Royalle models.

 

Looking again at my 89 it's got a black on front and the rear appears to have never had a color (silver?).

[Keemez]

Hmm. Well, that would tend to suggest that the wheel photos in the (93) owner manual are an 89 model then, which supports my cross-applicable theory from earlier. Interesting- you'd think they'd make just one or mmmmmaybe two colors for the sake of simplicity.

 

For those of you who've opted to do powder coat, how much did that process run you and how well has it held up to road debris, brake dust, etc?

[Condor]

Looking at the parts fiches:

 

83 - 88 Low Gloss Black

89 Low Gloss Black OR Light Yellowish Gray

90 Silver OR Light Yellowish Gray

91 - 93 Silver

 

Colors were the same on standard and Royalle models.

 

Looking again at my 89 it's got a black on front and the rear appears to have never had a color (silver?).

 

I stand corrected. Just went out and looked at the '87...again, and they are black. My bad... Now has anyone ever seen a 'yellowish/gray'?? Thanks for doing the leg work and looking it up Carl. I don't have the 1stGen Parts listing.

[Marcarl]

The slotted' rotors appeared on the MKII. The big problem is that the fork and wheels are somewhat interchangeable, as long as the rotors are kept with the appropriate calipers. Who knows...maybe they changed from year to year after the 86 came out?? I know that my 87, 90,91, and 93 all have the brushed aluminum finish. My '83 and '84 are black. I did read Marcarls post that his '89 were black and looked original. Maybe it's a Canadian thing??

Just so everyone is aware,,,,, MarCarl has an 85,,,, and it's the fastest and bestest. Maybe MiCarl has an 89.... and oh ya, Marcarl's wheels are black with silver trimmings and clean mostly in the spring only.

[MiCarl]

Just so everyone is aware,,,,, MarCarl has an 85,,,, and it's the fastest and bestest. Maybe MiCarl has an 89.... and oh ya, Marcarl's wheels are black with silver trimmings and clean mostly in the spring only.

 

I don't know why they always confuse me with the good looking guy with the fastest bike.