The saga continues, got her on the road though

[dz]

Well, I went and picked her up yesterday. 1989 Venture Royale. I should have known better though, I went out with a partially dying battery (would not hold a good charge) and somewhat paid the price. I had the radio on (stupid move) and didn't realize it had stalled, while sitting at a long traffic light. Went to go and whoops, nothing. Had to push it through the intersection and a few hundred feet lol. Had people honking at me to tell me their displeasure, even though there was another lane for them to occupy. This was after a few hour trip so no complaints, got it started again and took it straight home.

 

Flushed all of the brake systems today, now nice clean fluid and firm levers. The dealership I got it from must not have realized it was a linked rear master cylinder because the front line and proportioning line were not bled at all but the rear brake line was. They had adjusted the master cylinder stroke so the brakes would constantly drag so I had to lengthen the stroke of the master cylinder. So no parts required, and no more dragging rear brakes. Did a slow panic stop only using the rear master and it works as intended.

 

I have a really choppy idle, above 2000 rpm's she takes off like a rocket and is very fast, under that she's really lopey. I have a set of 4 carburetor diaphragms coming in tomorrow and plan to replace the plugs so hopefully that will help some. I know I am going to have to sync. the carbs. but I need to get some gauges first. Oh and the steering bearings need to be tightened some or replaced, but works fine for the moment. Overall even not running 100% I am happy that I got her, and was able to ride comfortably longer than I ever have before.

 

I am going to upload a video shortly as well.

[skydoc_17]

Hey D,

Congrats on your "new to you" VR! Your ride home sounds like a few I have taken with a new to me VR! If you can get over Altoona, Pa. way, I would be happy to Sync. those Carbs. for you. Or even help with the Carb. Diaphragms. That battery problem is a pretty easy fix. You might try a dose of Seafoam for that choppy idle problem.

Good luck with your new bike!

Earl

[Yammer Dan]

Get some Sea-Foam in it. Syncing will probally help a lot. Those plug wires are probally 22 + yrs old.

[bongobobny]

Member Dingy was selling special wrenches to get at the steering head to tighten it and it works good. You might want to contact him to see if they are still available. Of course with the age of the bike, the grease has probably solidified. You may want to consider replacing tour bearings down the road. Good time to do that is when you get around to rebuilding your front forks and upgrading them with progressive springs!

 

Congratulations on purchasing a true classic motorcycle! Any old bike is going to require maintenance and attention but it will be well worth it!!!

[dz]

Well, the saga continues again. I had her out for about 90 miles on saturday, trouble free miles at the time. I've replaced all of the carb. diaphragms, all new spark plugs, and a half can of sea foam to the tank with new fuel before I went. I am getting a little bit of blue smoke coming from the right exhaust at any RPM's, so it looks like this winter I am going to pull the engine out and freshen her up. She runs sooooo much better now, so smooth and I didn't even balance the carbs. yet. I almost think she was running on 3 cylinders before. Every carb. diaphragm had holes in them and someone tried to glue them up which made them hard to expand and contract like they are supposed to. I blew my buddy away on his katana 600, I took it up to 65mph and let off to let him catch up. She has soo much more potential than when I first got her home. And she must really like me too because there is a trail of antifreeze running down my driveway, marking her territory, originating from the thermostat cover/housing. I've already ordered new seals and a new cover (figuring the plastic has probably warped from all these years and I could see it has leaked before from the stain). Is there any substitute to the yamaha thermostat, being that a napa thermostat is only around $9 while the yamaha one is shy of $30. Overall I still really love the bike, its the longest trip I've been able to drive on a bike so that really makes me happy.

[Venturous Randy]

Before you worry too much about smoke, make sure you run all the Sea Foam out of the fuel system first. Sea Foam will also cause a little smoke.

RandyA

[dingy]

Member Dingy was selling special wrenches to get at the steering head to tighten it and it works good. You might want to contact him to see if they are still available. Of course with the age of the bike, the grease has probably solidified. You may want to consider replacing tour bearings down the road. Good time to do that is when you get around to rebuilding your front forks and upgrading them with progressive springs!

 

Congratulations on purchasing a true classic motorcycle! Any old bike is going to require maintenance and attention but it will be well worth it!!!

 

 

I still have quite a few left.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=3326&title=steering-head-bearing-ring-nut-wrench&cat=6

 

Gary

[Snaggletooth]

 

And a handy tool it is!! Installed new All Balls in the neck while I had the forks off and it made setting the new bearings a snap. Had some wobble last year and it's gone now.

 

Congrats on the new to you bike. It just gets better as it goes. As stated clear out all the gas that has been Sea Foamed and that vapor might just clear up.

 

The NAPA thermo works fine. I've had one in mine for a few years now and it runs at just about the same temps as the OEM. As long as you're digging in that area take a few minute and put in a new o-ring in the drain valve. If it's not leaking now....it will. Skydoc_17 has a kit listed in the classified for a few bucks. Works fine.

 

 

Enjoy the bike.

 

Mike