just bought 83 venture royale!! looking for help

[dozer520]

wells guys just bought my first venture. been a bike fan since i was a kid and my first boss had one of these. thought it was awesome then and still do. i been getting acclimated to the site. there's lots of info on here and have to say i'm real impressed to see a group of people so willing to help each other out! thanks for letting me be a part of this. i guess i'm ready to test some of my wrenching skills to get this thing safely ready for the road.. it's got 30,000 miles on it and the paint was redone 2 years ago. visually its looking pretty good but i have a few of the gremlins that are common. i've been gleaning off the threads but i thought i'd start my own and maybe list the things i've noticed and we could work together on getting them reslolved.

 

i was told the 2nd gear issue was resolved at the dealer already and i haven't noticed any issues.

 

FIXED - 1. starting issues, especially when the bike is warm. gonna check out battery and charging

 

FIXED -2. front end suspension seems off. saw oil on the brake caliper. feels uneasy in turns. it takes the bumps really hard up front, but feels okay on a smooth road

 

FIXED - 3. the air suspension monitor seems to not be functioning. i only see "psi" on right side

 

FIXED - 4. seems to idle a little rough, you have to choke it slightly to get it to idle at 1000-1200rpms. then idles okay

 

part in the mail - 5. the pipe stubs on the front side of the exhaust crossover are broke on both sides.

makes it pretty loud

 

FIXED - 6. rear trunk has the small cracks around the front holding tabs, making it a little wobbly

 

FIXED - 7. felt like the clutch was slipping when i took it out to open it up at high rpms. may have felt like an engageing issue, not sure its the fibers, maybe master cylinder?

 

FIXED - 8. seemed like neutral was a little hard to find when the bike was hot

 

i'm hoping to get the starting / running issues resolved and then keep working on the list. here's a pic to give you a vision

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu148/DOZER520_photos/DSCN3465.jpg

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu148/DOZER520_photos/DSCN3468.jpg

Edited February 19, 2012 by dozer520

[dingy]

wells guys just bought my first venture. been a bike fan since i was a kid and my first boss had one of these. thought it was awesome then and still do. i been getting acclimated to the site. there's lots of info on here and have to say i'm real impressed to see a group of people so willing to help each other out! thanks for letting me be a part of this. i guess i'm ready to test some of my wrenching skills to get this thing safely ready for the road.. it's got 30,000 miles on it and the paint was redone 2 years ago. visually its looking pretty good but i have a few of the gremlins that are common. i've been gleaning off the threads but i thought i'd start my own and maybe list the things i've noticed and we could work together on getting them reslolved.

 

i was told the 2nd gear issue was resolved at the dealer already and i haven't noticed any issues.

 

1. starting issues, especially when the bike is warm. gonna check out battery and charging

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46890

 

2. front end suspension seems off. saw oil on the brake caliper. feels uneasy in turns. it takes the bumps really hard up front, but feels okay on a smooth road

 

Fork seals need replaced, only get OEM,In My Humble Opinion. See Skydoc17 about progressive springs. See Condor about better fork brace. Tires will cause bad handing.

 

3. the air suspension monitor seems to not be functioning. i only see "psi" on right side

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=493

The 'PSI' is not electronic, it's printed. Thread deals with E4 error, but this has been known to fix other problems.

 

4. seems to idle a little rough, you have to choke it slightly to get it to idle at 1000-1200rpms. then idles okay

 

Seafoam carbs, may help.

 

5. the pipe stubs on the front side of the exhaust crossover are broke on both sides.

makes it pretty loud

 

Weld them or find one on Ebay. I may have one avaliable this winter, I am thinking about putting a Marks chamber on mine.

 

6. rear trunk has the small cracks around the front holding tabs, making it a little wobbly

 

7. felt like the clutch was slipping when i took it out to open it up at high rpms. may have felt like an engageing issue, not sure its the fibers, maybe master cylinder?

 

Cluth spring could be bad, could be wrong oil in it. Get ahold of Skydoc17 for replacement spring.

 

8. seemed like neutral was a little hard to find when the bike was hot

 

Could be related to other clutch issue & clutch needs bled or seals replaced in master or slave.

 

i'm hoping to get the starting / running issues resolved and then keep working on the list. here's a pic to give you a vision

 

See highlighted answers.

 

Gary

[utadventure]

Welcome to the forum!! These bikes are great.

 

1. Might upgrade to an AGM battery. May need to install a larger positive battery cable. Make sure the grounds are good.

 

2. Rebuild the forks. Ditto the Progressive springs and the Condor brace.

 

3. Ditto

 

4. Do the Seafoam, make sure the carbs are sync'd and then adjust the idle screw

 

6. The '84 I redid last year had the same issue. Unless you're planning on regularly removing the trunk, I'd install some U bolts to secure the trunk to the rack and move on.

 

8. Might want to check the oil, may need a change.

 

Dave

[tufftom4]

Air ride controller only works when the key is in the accessory position it will not work with the key all the way on.

[dozer520]

what's AGM stand for? assuming glass mat?

 

you guys are great!

 

what's the condor brace? heavier brace than the oem one above the fender?

 

i see a sticker on the forks that says "progressive suspension" so i think that has been done..

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu148/DOZER520_photos/DSCN3471.jpg

[utadventure]

what's AGM stand for? assuming glass mat?

 

you guys are great!

 

what's the condor brace? heavier brace than the oem one above the fender?

 

i see a sticker on the forks that says "progressive suspension" so i think that has been done..

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu148/DOZER520_photos/DSCN3471.jpg

 

 

AGM - Absorbed Glass Mat

 

Jack (Condor) - has made some heavier fork braces. Well worth the investment.

 

Dave

[dingy]

Couple of pictures of Condor's improved fork brace.

 

Gary

[cabreco]

I recently bought my 84 myself and have fixed some of the issues you stated. To add to Dingy's list

 

2. front end suspension seems off. saw oil on the brake caliper. feels uneasy in turns. it takes the bumps really hard up front, but feels okay on a smooth road

Lift the dust caps & run a trimmed 35 mm film negative around the fork seals. Mine did the same thing & this cleaned out whatever junk that was causing my leak. It may save you some aggravation! Check the neck bearing (Dingy sells a kick ass wrench) I had clunking & sloppiness on turns. Got a wrench from Gary & the problems disappeared!!!

 

3. the air suspension monitor seems to not be functioning. i only see "psi" on right side

If your not getting any display check to see that you're getting power to the unit. BTW in case you didn't know, it only works when the key is clicked to accessory position. Worse case scenario Ebay!

 

6. rear trunk has the small cracks around the front holding tabs, making it a little wobbly

You have a few routes to fix this. You can use weld-on adhesive or use a plastic welder. (I preferred to plastic weld with a hot air welder from harbor freight)

 

8. seemed like neutral was a little hard to find when the bike was hot

Slave Cylinder rebuild is really a joke to do, getting the slave out was the frustrating part.

 

Welcome & good luck. Great bunch of riders here. Best $12 bucks I EVER spent. I can honestly say joining this forum made getting my bike road worthy VERY EASY!!!

Edited February 3, 2012 by cabreco
Neck Bearing

[GaryZ]

what's AGM stand for? assuming glass mat?

 

you guys are great!

 

what's the condor brace? heavier brace than the oem one above the fender?

 

i see a sticker on the forks that says "progressive suspension" so i think that has been done..

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu148/DOZER520_photos/DSCN3471.jpg

 

Your description of how it rides, the leakage, and the Progressive stickers suggests to me that there is/was too much fork oil used. Too much fork oil would cause binding of the action and force oil out of any weak seal.

 

Progressive installation instructions say to assemble the fork, collapse the fork, and fill to approximately 5" from the top. I filled mine to 5.5" using 10 weight. My forks work great!

[Condor]

Couple of pictures of Condor's improved fork brace.

 

Gary

 

The ad for the fork brace in classifieds. PM me if you need any further info....

[jasonm.]

Slipping clutch...make sure the reservoiir is NOT full to the top. half full is required to allow for HEAT expansion. Also if past 60k on it...the plates just may be worn out. Also , stiff front can be many things. Simplest is the previous owner just put the wrong weight oil in. 10 or 15w is what most use. Leaking of course should be fixed with new seals and cleaning up any scratches. Heck you do not need oil on your brakes. Cracked plastic...Devcon Plastic Welder . I am speaking from 20+ years with mine.

Edited February 3, 2012 by jasonm.

[Yammer Dan]

BLUE!!!:crying:

[reddevilmedic]

poor yammer! lol!!! also, worth mentioning, is the fuse block upgrade form skydoc also.

[Venturous Randy]

With it being an 83, the six clutch springs can be upgraded and most llikely will solve the slipping problem. This is an easy fix and can be done with the springs and a gasket. The oil does not have to be drained.

Randy

[dingy]

With it being an 83, the six clutch springs can be upgraded and most llikely will solve the slipping problem. This is an easy fix and can be done with the springs and a gasket. The oil does not have to be drained.

Randy

 

Since he has the 83-85 barnett style clutch, Skydoc17's PCW spring upgrade will not fit.

I mentioned this in 2nd post, my bad.

Gary

[bilko1]

5. the pipe stubs on the front side of the exhaust crossover are broke:rotf: on both sides.

makes it pretty loud

 

I have one you can have.

pm me and we can get it going.

or call me my cell is in myprofile

Bilko

[dozer520]

went over some of the starting issues today...

i noticed a stack of small washers on the ground terminal that was aiding in giving a poor connection. i removed the washers. got the leads and terminals all cleaned up and bolted it all up. it seemed to help. i could get the bike started without a jump and let it idle 5 min and it sould restart which it would never do..but the starter seems to crank very slowly...

 

also it seemed like i was reading 13.2 ish volts at 3000rpm where now i was at 14 volts at 3000 rpm which i think is good...

 

so took it out for a 25 mile test ride and when i got back the bike would not start on its own again. i removed the battery and hook my f250 battery up to it and it would barely crank it as well. i basically had to reinstal bike battery and give it a jump with the truck battery to get it going but it seems very labored in its cranking...

 

i'm wondering if its a grounding issue??? so will the ground wire mod to the starter that you guys posted help this starter to crank with authority?? or do i have a bad starter? it seems the charging system is working and there's no way its normal that a truck battery couldn't turn this puppy over...

 

let me know what direction to head. hopefully i can try this grounding trick and fix it..

 

again, sincerely, thanks to you all and is there something up with the "blue"???

[twigg]

went over some of the starting issues today...

i noticed a stack of small washers on the ground terminal that was aiding in giving a poor connection. i removed the washers. got the leads and terminals all cleaned up and bolted it all up. it seemed to help. i could get the bike started without a jump and let it idle 5 min and it sould restart which it would never do..but the starter seems to crank very slowly...

 

also it seemed like i was reading 13.2 ish volts at 3000rpm where now i was at 14 volts at 3000 rpm which i think is good...

 

so took it out for a 25 mile test ride and when i got back the bike would not start on its own again. i removed the battery and hook my f250 battery up to it and it would barely crank it as well. i basically had to reinstal bike battery and give it a jump with the truck battery to get it going but it seems very labored in its cranking...

 

i'm wondering if its a grounding issue??? so will the ground wire mod to the starter that you guys posted help this starter to crank with authority?? or do i have a bad starter? it seems the charging system is working and there's no way its normal that a truck battery couldn't turn this puppy over...

 

let me know what direction to head. hopefully i can try this grounding trick and fix it..

 

again, sincerely, thanks to you all and is there something up with the "blue"???

 

The ground wire mod on the starter is a complete fix for this problem. Upgrading the cables helps too.

 

The other way to fix it is to fit a later V-Max or 2nd Gen starter. They are expensive.

[dozer520]

okay thanks for the heads up. i'll get on it tomorrow morning and try to tackle the starter grounding mod and report back.. thanks

[rstacy]

The other way to fix it is to fit a later V-Max or 2nd Gen starter. They are expensive.

 

I fixed mine with the second gen starter. Bought it on Ebay for $45.00.

All of the other suggestions are good and I am sure that the ground wire is a great and free fix but in my opinion, the 2nd gen starter is the ultimate fix. If I am going to remove all of the necessary parts to get to that starter, then I want the improved 4 brush starter as a replacement.

Edited February 4, 2012 by rstacy

[dozer520]

2nd gen starter, as in xvz1300 starters? what years are 2nd generation?

 

what years on the vmax starters?

Edited February 4, 2012 by dozer520

[cabreco]

I fixed mine with the second gen starter. Bought it on Ebay for $45.00.

 

I didn't know the royal star starters fit! Cool cuz if I'm not mistaken they have 4 brushes right?

[friesman]

I didn't know the royal star starters fit! Cool cuz if I'm not mistaken they have 4 brushes right?

 

yes they do

[Squidley]

2nd gen starter, as in xvz1300 starters? what years are 2nd generation?

 

what years on the vmax starters?

 

Tom,

 

The 2nd gen starters we speak of are from the new body style which started in 1999 to the present. Just for clarification on the years, the 1st gen MKI are the '83 to '85 years with the 1200cc engine. The 1st gen MKII if from '86 to '93 1300cc engine. Your starting issue is not uncommon and is a combination of a lousy starter design on the 1st gens that wasn't fixed until the early '90's with the installation of the 4 brush starter from the factory. All the other earlier 1st gen starters were 2 brush and weak to say the least.

 

One of the biggest helps is a battery cable upgrade. The stock wires were too small to handle the amount of current needed to spin the 2 brush starter when the bike was hot. I used to make the upgrade kits which consisted of 4 gauge wire, 1 that went down to the engine ground on the right side of the engine, a short one from the battery to the starter solenoid and then from the solenoid to the starter itself. The upgrade of the cables would help tremendously. I have a 2nd gen starter on my '86 and it works great.

 

Just to help you navigate the forum, incase you didn't see it, is a search function in the upper right hand portion of the forum pages. Type in what information your looking for, grab a beverage and some popcorn and start looking. You'll keep yourself busy for a month or so.

 

Welcome to the site and enjoy yourself here, you wont find a better bunch of folks that will share their knowledge more freely.

[dozer520]

anybody know about the vmax starters?? are they 4 brush setups? what year vmax?