New guy bought a Venture yesterday, few questions

[jurob]

1984 Venture Royale. Picture makes it look nicer that it really is. Missing tour pack and few mounting tabs for the plastics. Also there is a medium length crack in the fairing below the mirror. Best thing is I paid $700 dollars and it only 13,1xx miles. Radio works (1 speaker), cruise works analog/digital gauges work and air suspension also.

 

Original owner passed away 2 years ago and spent most of the time in his garage being banged up. Purchased 2 years ago by the seller I got it from and he only put 400 miles on it.

 

I was originally looking for a gl1200 after getting rid of my Electra glide classic and road king in the past two years to play around on the cheap, but I felt the price on this bike was too good to pass up.

 

It does not get good gas mileage and does not seem to have a lot of power or I thought it was going to feel stronger than it does. Seems to run fine, but lacks resposiveness off of idle when starting from a stop.

 

Plugs, filter and oil were just changed by the previous owner. He has been running sea foam in the tank for the last fifty miles in preparation to sell the bike. Plug wires look bad with tape and the such so I want to change them. Almost feels like it only runs on two cylinders and the two rear header pipes do not get very hot.

 

It got about 26.5 mpg on the first tank for me.

 

Obviously my biggest gripe is the power and mpg. Since I will start first with plug wires, do these bikes have individual wires to plug from the coil that I can replace or are they built into the voil and require cutting? If I can just buy wires, who are the best retailers for this bike?

 

Another gripe I have is the front brakes are inadequate. Previous owner did pads on the front and back, bake brakes are great fronts feel like they are glazed. Maybe they are glazed or is this the nature of the beast? Are new rotors available?

 

I know the pegs are adjustable, but not enough for me. Who sells a nice highway peg so I can stretch out on long rides?

 

This motor puts off some heat going down the road, wow was not expecting that yamaha routed the hot air to hit your legs while driving. Can the 2 holes on each side of the fairing by the rear cylinders be covered or are they required to properly cool the bike?

 

Tks and I'm sure I will have many more questions.

[img]http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p75/jurob_2006/photo5.jpg[/img]

[jurob]

Forgot to mention, I rarely see old wings and cannot recall seeing an older venture on the road in years. Riding out of my neighborhood was venture in front of me at the light. Pulled beside him and told him you don't see many of those bikes on the road, haha. He had a real nice 87 or 88. Said he loved his bike, maybe he's on this site?

[Yammer Dan]

It will have plenty of power if you get it running right. There are Plug wires set on E-Bay for about 35 bucks I think. Need to have Copper core wires and resistor plug caps. There are covers for those rear holes probally getting hard to find. There is also a vent made that fits there but they go high dollar on E-Bay. The brakes should be better than that. Get that old worn out fluid changed. The 12 bucks for this site could be the best money you will ever spend. We can help you get it going right and they are Great old bikes. Run circles around that Hardley. Wish you lived closer would like to spend a day on that one just to show you what great bikes they can be.

[Trader]

Without a doubt this forum is the best thing since sliced bread!

 

You can see multiple threads by me asking all kinds of dumb questions....and nobody even insults me! (too much)

 

I love blondes.. I have an 83 blonde waiting for me to do some work on it. It's been sitting a year now.

 

I would be willing to bet that the lack of power is because you are only running on 3 cyl.

Don't be surprised....It wasn't until I got my 84 and I felt the difference that I realized I must only be running on 3....it still runs that good!

 

When these run right.....they are powerful and fast!

 

The front brake lever only activates one caliper...the foot pedal squeezes the other caliper and the rear combined. That could explain the lack of front brake. You may need to bleed the system???

 

Let it cool off, then start it and feel the headers on all 4 cyl. You should be able to feel the difference if one is not firiing.

 

From there you get to check if it is carberation or electrical.

 

Run a few tanks with heavy doses of SEAFOAM, change the plugs and wires and see what happens.

 

If you still have problems...ask away!

[Rocket]

1984 Venture Royale. Picture makes it look nicer that it really is. Missing tour pack and few mounting tabs for the plastics. Also there is a medium length crack in the fairing below the mirror. Best thing is I paid $700 dollars and it only 13,1xx miles. Radio works (1 speaker), cruise works analog/digital gauges work and air suspension also.

 

It does not get good gas mileage and does not seem to have a lot of power or I thought it was going to feel stronger than it does. Seems to run fine, but lacks resposiveness off of idle when starting from a stop.

 

Plugs, filter and oil were just changed by the previous owner. He has been running sea foam in the tank for the last fifty miles in preparation to sell the bike. Plug wires look bad with tape and the such so I want to change them. Almost feels like it only runs on two cylinders and the two rear header pipes do not get very hot.

 

It got about 26.5 mpg on the first tank for me.

 

Obviously my biggest gripe is the power and mpg. Since I will start first with plug wires, do these bikes have individual wires to plug from the coil that I can replace or are they built into the voil and require cutting? If I can just buy wires, who are the best retailers for this bike?

 

Another gripe I have is the front brakes are inadequate. Previous owner did pads on the front and back, bake brakes are great fronts feel like they are glazed. Maybe they are glazed or is this the nature of the beast? Are new rotors available?

 

I know the pegs are adjustable, but not enough for me. Who sells a nice highway peg so I can stretch out on long rides?

 

This motor puts off some heat going down the road, wow was not expecting that yamaha routed the hot air to hit your legs while driving. Can the 2 holes on each side of the fairing by the rear cylinders be covered or are they required to properly cool the bike?

 

Tks and I'm sure I will have many more questions.

 

 

Plug wires are seperate from the coils, so can be fairly easily changed. Put new caps on too.

 

Stainless Braided flex lines for the brakes make a huge improvement. I can stop in about 250 feet from 70 mph on the 83. I also have the EBC Prolite rotors on the 83.

 

As for plastic repair, I use Plastex, but some others use ground up abs plastic & acitone.

[jurob]

Trader,

About the brakes, makes sense now. I just thought I had incredible rear brakes.

[jurob]

I was pulling plug wires. If I pull the front right it dies. If I pull the others it makes no difference. Actually idles fine (as far as I can tell) with all wires removed minus the right front, but won't rev past 2500.

 

Plugs are new, but don't have a slim 11/16th to remove it to see if they are fouled.

 

It runs pretty good. If I never had other bikes I would think it was ok, but it does not have the power that they are known to have. Never realized these bikes would be such a pain to work on with the fairing.

 

I do have spark at all wires, but it concerns me that it will stay idling with only the right front wire on.

 

Power is definitely down off idle and have to give it more throttle than what should be normal to get moving. I would not be able to keep it running from a stop by feathering the clutch with no throttle even on a slight decline.

 

Ideas?

 

Tks for the warm welcome, I will be A paying member soon.

[Venturous Randy]

Running on one cylinder? Wow, I have seen them run on two, but not one. Yep, once you get the bugs worked out, you are going to find the bike almost scary fast up to about 8,000 rpm's.

I suspect you not only have electrical problems but carb problems, especially plugged pilot jets.

Just keep us posted on your findings and you will get lots of help. Also, with carbs messed up the bike may run a lot hotter.

RandyA

[paysaw]

Dont give up on this bike.If you get it going right it will surprise you. These things have power for days.

[Dano]

Start with replacing the plug wires and caps ( http://www.buckeyeperformance.com has the whole package for a decent price, including correct wires and caps), these bikes WILL pull the front wheel when they're running right, I've done it several times with my 84.........

 

Go to Lowes and see if they have the thin-walled 18mm socket to pull the plugs (NOT 11/16ths!) along with a u-joint and 6" extension. Do a compression check on all cylinders, check for vacuum leaks around the carbs and boots. You will also need to synchronize your carbs, all these instructions available right here.

 

Good luck and come back with the info.....

[jurob]

Not giving up. Going to pull the carbs next week and clean them out and sync. Got to find a sync tool. Had one about 8 years ago when I had a 74 cb750.

[greg_in_london]

Have a look at some of the write-ups about stripping the carbs before you do it - there is a separate casting for the jet blocks which you will want to remove to clean throughly. While it is apart you will want to change the o-rings around the emulsion tube and the rubber bungs at the bottom of the jet block. You'll get away with re-using the gaskets unless you are very unlucky. For the diaphragms we have a good source and you can do those with the carbs on the bike.

 

The issue on these is clogged drillings, not sediment, if that helps.

 

About the brakes - they're a special adaptation for the American market. The front (one disc) and back brakes are linked, with a widget that reduces the braking to the back as you decelerate (so you don't lock it up) and a reducing valve near the headstock so the front doesn't bite too hard. The front lever operates one disc so you don't have any confidence in it and leave plenty of stopping room.

 

You improve the brakes in all the usual ways - stainless steel hoses, new pads, bleed the system, new fluid and then it's a matter of choice. If you're happy to control your own brakes, you can remove the proprtioning valve and connect the back brake banjo directly to the master cylinder. If you want to separate the front and back, put a 14mm/5/8" master cylinder on to the bars and re-route the pipes accordingly. You'll need a shorter banjo bolt for the back master cylinder of course as it will have one less union connection [if you disconnect the front brake from it]. I don't think I would remove the reducing valve to the front if it is still operated from the back, though. That's the only bit that actually makes sense.

 

Having said that, some people seem to like the linked system.

[84ROYAL]

Congrades on your new to you bike. They are a lot of fun to ride.

[Yammer Dan]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Venture-Royale-XVZ13-Spark-Plug-Wires-XVZ1300-XVZ-/390337335843?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ae1eb1223

[jurob]

I spoke to the previous owner to get more info. His family owns a auto shop and he had one of the techs rebuild the carbs. He removed and reinstalled the carbs. He had the same problems of decreased power and approx 27mpg. He mentioned that he had to turn the idle screw all the way or almost all the way to get it to istart and idle in the 1k range.

 

I pulled the plugs today and 3 looked good, but the back left was fouled. I check the idle air screw on the fouled carb and it was completely closed. I set it to 2 1/2 turns out and also set the rest to that also. I didn't count the other 3, but they were in the 2 1/2 range before I set them. Also put new plugs.

 

Started and sounded better. Idle went up to 1500 and I dropped it to 1000. Power is definitely there, but it won't rev smoothly to wot, almost surges.

 

I've got plug wires coming and will sync soon. Hopefully that will fix my wot drivability. Other than wot it runs very good. Ive read that I should be in the 2 1/8-2 1/4 turn range and will do that in a few days.

 

Sound like I'm on the right track?

 

Also, the heat coming from the side plastics is unbearable going down the road. Is this the nature of the beast or is my motor lean? Biggest complaint about Harley big twins is the heat, but my other harley's that ive owned don't come close to this. Is there a fix for this?