There must be some darned fine mechanics on this site.

[uncledj]

I've always considered myself a pretty good mechanic. I'm a commercial / industrial HVAC tech, and I'm one of the better one's you'll come across. This isn't just my ego talking, it's confirmed by the respect I get in the National company I work for, as well as my piers in my Union Hall, as well as those in my local area who know me. I think I can figure out anything, fabricate anything, and repair anything.

Every once in a while I need to be put in my place.

This old Venture is trying real hard to do just that. (87 Standard)

I've been following this site for about 4 years now, and am doing many of the things that I've read that others do to their bikes, and am finding out just how difficult many of these repairs are.

Kudos to all of you, and thanks for all the great advice / info I've gotten over the years, and you have my utmost respect for making them sound so easy.

I don't get a chance to ride nearly as much as I'd like to, since with my trade, I'm usually working long hours / 6 days during much of the prime riding season, and this year has certainly been no exception.

I'll be going on a road trip with friends at the end of August, typically putting 1,000 miles + over the 3 day trip. I know that doesn't sound like much to most of you, but for me it's a bit of an event.

In any case, I'm having an issue that caused me to break the bike down somewhat and I figured it'd be a good time to play catch up on some of the things I should have done in the past.

What I've done over the past two weeks, in the evenings after work, when I've been able to get home before 9:00, is to replace the carb diaphragms, all of which had small holes. That was the only easy task.

I also replaced the spark plug wires, which wasn't too bad, but the right front one was a PITA.

I also changed the final drive fluid, but didn't grease the ?spline?....how important is this?

 

The issue that started all this was the exhaust issue where I was getting quite a bit of exhaust flow and noise, some backfiring out of the drain hole on the left side muffler. I thought I had a miss, but after changing the diaphragms and wires, I pulled the exhaust all apart and examined what I could see of the inside of the mufflers and the collector. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

I didn't actually pull the collector off, but pulled the front pipes off and the mufflers off and saw no cracks, nothing loose, no evidence of exterior leaks.

I put the front pipes back on and started it with the mufflers off and it seemed to run well. No backfires from either side, and it ran relatively smoothly.

Put the mufflers back on and the sound's still there. I'm convinced that the left side muffler has something blown out inside of it. I don't know how the inside of the muffler is configured, and don't understand how it could develop such a problem all of a sudden, but I can think of no other explanation.

So that brings my first question.....are there aftermarket mufflers available that will fit this bike, or does anyone know where I can find a good used replacement.

 

Second question is with the clutch slave cylinder. It's been leaking for a couple of years now, causing me to refill the reservoir once or twice a season. I want to rebuild it, but it seems to be tucked in behind the ? output ? casing, making access difficult. If I pull the two bolts that hold it, how difficult will it be to remove and rebuild?

 

If I can get the muffler situation resolved, and the slave cylinder rebuilt, all I should have left to do is to change out the brake fluid (never been done and looks nasty in the window) ...and I'll feel comfortable that I've done my due diligence to keep this old beauty maintained.

 

Any advice with these issues from those of you "in the know" will be much appreciated.

 

I know this was long winded, thanks for staying with me to the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Barry.B]

If you play around enough after taking the two bolts out it will come out but it takes some doing to get it .You might even lose you temper once or twice. You may not think it but it will come out and putting it back sometimes is just as hard.

 

Barry:)

[Snaggletooth]

You said a mouthful. I fully agree. The skills shared here are the finest you can find.

 

But, on greasing the splines..... you proabably should get that done. If it's never been done before it's well worth the time to pull it down and check. Some have been in sad shape from lack of attention.

 

I pull mine with every new rear tire install. I used Moly the first time ( and it was dry) I did it and that has paid off well. Hasn't been dry since. Just a quick clean and touch up with fresh moly.

 

When you did the diaphragms did you follow up with a carb sync? That may clear up some roughness and back firing as you have changed the airflow with the new diaphragms.

 

As far thas the clutch slave, if it's been leaking that long you would be better off replacing it with a new one. Not too bad on cost, around $70.00 to $75.00 bucks. They are made out of low grade metal and subject to pitting. Waste of money once they pit up. You won't stop the leaks with a kit.

 

So a couple of quick projects to keep ya busy.

 

 

Mike

[MiCarl]

Snaggletooth is correct: Replace the slave cylinder. Sounds like your time is worth way more than the $75 or so. I managed to clean mine up, but it was quite time consuming. I wouldn't do it again.

[BuddyRich]

Have you synced the carbs lately? That will cause backfiring. Mufflers usually rot from the inside out. Condensation, something your pretty familiar with by now...lol.. Seems I remember something about after market mufflers somewhere on this site.

[Venturous Randy]

It would be very difficult to be able to confirm whether you have a loose baffle in the collector by looking in the pipes. Maybe on some, but I had to cut mine open to fix it and confirm where the problem was.

The slave cylinder can come out real easy, or it can be difficult. You have to take the middle gear cover off to be able to get to it and make sure you have an allen head wrench that fits real good. It may be very tight and you do not want to round out the hole. As far as rebuild or replace, I have done both and replacing with a new one is better, as the cylinder usually gets pitted.

As far as greasing the driveshaft, the 86 and up should lube the rear splines from the rearend oil. The front splines are not as critical, but should be greased. You also need to grease the splines on the hub.

RandyA

[Flyinfool]

And if you aregreasing the splins on the hub, it is just 1 more big snapring to get at and grease the pins and bushings. My bike was 19 years old when I got it. The pins were never greased from the factory or till I did it. They were bone dry and rusty.

You want to use emery paper to clean up the pins and I used a stainless bore brush (yes for a gun) in a drill to clean the bushings.

[uncledj]

I went ahead and ordered the complete slave cylinder assembly, and have my eye on a set of mufflers on e-bay.. I need to compare the pics to what I have now before I go ahead with the order.

I'll grease the rear spline and bearings as well.

I'll see if I can find a moderately priced carb synchronizer and get that out of the way also.

 

A project I'd like to do this Winter would be to change the valve cover gaskets as well. They leak a bit....not a problem, but should be done. It doesn't look like there's much clearance to lift the covers off; especially on the rear head.

How tough a job is that?

[Snaggletooth]

Valve covers are not all that tough, but time consuming. Your best friend for removing the cover bolts would be a box end ratchet wrench. It's tight in there and the box end will make the job easier. The trick to removing and replacing the covers it take your time and look at what room is available and how to use it. It's kind of one of those "Ship in a Bottle" things.

 

Now to make it easier, make sure to buy the valve cover gaskets for a 2nd gen. They have a lip that runs around the outside that makes installing them much easier.

 

This is a point of arguement with some but to save the headches of having to redo the project again, replace the rubber stopper plugs on each and everyone of the valve cover bolts. That adds to the price of the job a bit but I found a new set of them for under $3.00 each. You will need 16 of them. Eight to a head.

 

When tightening those bolts you need to remember they are shouldered. They will only go so tight. You can't crush the rubber plug any farther than the bolt will allow. Some have broken the bolts trying to over tighten them.

 

So again, have fun,

 

Mike

[KIC]

 

When tightening those bolts you need to remember they are shouldered. They will only go so tight. You can't crush the rubber plug any farther than the bolt will allow. Some have broken the bolts trying to over tighten them.

 

Mike

 

Hey...quit spreading nasty, but true rumors about me.....

[jburrell]

I went ahead and ordered the complete slave cylinder assembly, and have my eye on a set of mufflers on e-bay.. I need to compare the pics to what I have now before I go ahead with the order.

I'll grease the rear spline and bearings as well.

I'll see if I can find a moderately priced carb synchronizer and get that out of the way also.

 

A project I'd like to do this Winter would be to change the valve cover gaskets as well. They leak a bit....not a problem, but should be done. It doesn't look like there's much clearance to lift the covers off; especially on the rear head.

How tough a job is that?

/QUOTE]

 

If you check on this site you should be able to find the torque settings for every bolt on the bike. If not IM me and I will email you a copy.Also see if any of us are in your area and perhaps you can swing by and get them to do a carb sync. Its not that hard and doesnt take long.

 

jb

[Snaggletooth]

Hey...quit spreading nasty, but true rumors about me.....

 

 

But... but... but.....

 

Ok no treats for you. But KIC, the thing is...... you weren't the first and I'm pretty sure you won't be the last.

 

You were just kind of there when it happened right?

[Yammer Dan]

And I'm betting you will still have noise if you replace mufflers. I would bet on exhaust collector.

And I thought I warned some folks about overtightening those bolts... must not of my memory ain't what it used to be..

 

 

Where is Marengo? Not on my map. Its almost as old as...

[KIC]

 

Where is Marengo? Not on my map. Its almost as old as...

 

Marengo is located at 40°24′5″N 82°48′37″W (40.401341, -82.810382)

 

See how helpful we all can be ???

[dingy]

I'll see if I can find a moderately priced carb synchronizer and get that out of the way also.

 

You are the closest person to me on this site that I know of. Was Freedird before I saw where you are located.

 

I have a carbtune.

 

Gary

[uncledj]

Marengo is about 45 minutes North of Columbus, off of Interstate 71. Marengo is my mailing address, but I actually live just outside of Sparta, which is about 10 miles West of Mt. Vernon on Rt. 229. I live out in the "boonies" and that's how I like it.

Thanks for the carb sync offer, but I've ordered a Carbtune of my own, which I'll need to learn to use.

Skydoc had synced my carbs for me at the maintenence day in 2010, and it seemed pretty quick and easy for someone who knows the routine. Back in the day I've done it with an old mercury manometer, but don't know what happened to it, so with the carbtune, I'll be back in action. At this point I have 4 - 4 cylinder bikes, My Venture, a Honda Nighthawk CB700sc, an old Honda 900 custom that needs brought back, (low mileage, but sat for years) and an old Suzuki 600 Katana, same situation. I'd like to get the 900 custom going this Winter, don't care much about the Suzi, but it's doing no good sitting there so I should give it some attention as well.

Point being, I'm sure I'll have other uses for the Carbtune in the future.

At this point I've ordered a new clutch slave cylinder assembly, a left side muffler I found on e-bay for around $50 , and the Carbtune.

Now I just have to wait for it all to arrive.

I'll be working out of town this weekend anyway, so everything will be on hold until at least the middle of next week.

I sure hope I have no further issues, since my two regular, running bikes are the Venture and the Nighthawk, and I've promised to lend the Nighthawk to a buddy to ride on the upcoming road trip.

Thanks everyone for the sage advise,.....I'll keep ya'll updated as the situation progresses.

[KIC]

Hope this helps. Had to break it into 2 parts to get it to upload.

 

Good luck.

[Yammer Dan]

You are the closest person to me on this site that I know of. Was Freedird before I saw where you are located.

 

I have a carbtune.

 

Gary

 

 

:duck:If you hurry you can still put the place up for sale and move to the other side of the State!!!!