Few things with my 87 venture royale

[Adavidson56304]

I am a first time venture owner. I just bought an 87 venture royale. I absolutely love it so far. I thought this site was very cool when I found it. Its great to be a part of this.

Now, down to business, I hope you guys can help me. My bike needs some work before I can get it out for a few rides before snow flies.

 

The air compressor has a bad solenoid. The rear shock won't fill up. Is this repairable?

 

The temp gauge on the dash is not working, it stays at cold. Any common problems? Where is the sensor?

 

What I believe is the low brake fluid in the front master cylinder warning light is on. The front is full. Common problems, where's the sensor?

No glass in the rear. How full do I fill the rear?

 

And not so pressing, I'm going to remove the cassette player, I will be putting in a mp3 jack, but I'm looking for more ideas of what to do with that space.

 

Any information would be great, thank you

[Flyinfool]

Congrats on the New to You ride.

Sorry I cant help with your specific problems.

 

But we do have rules on this site.

Pictures are required of new toys or it does not exist or didn't happen.

[Adavidson56304]

Thanks, I'll see what I can do for pics.

[bongobobny]

Air compressor solenoid. You can take it apart but are you sure the problem is the solenoid? Could be corroded connector or broken solder connection on the controller main connector.

 

Temp gauge. The sensor is on the right side towards the front and around the fairing sub frame. The wires can come unplugged fairly easily. Also the gauge itself can go bad as well as the connection to the dash.

 

Brake sensor. It is a float with a magnet and a reed switch inside the resovoir of the master cylinder. There are 2 wires that have butt type connectors to them. You can disconnect the wires and then short them together to test the circuit to see if the reed switch is good or not. Fairing removal is necessary to do this.

 

Cassette. The earky Standard (not Royale) versions have pockets where the the radio goes. They make great glove boxes. Yuo may want to try to fabricate sides for the cavity where the cassette goes and find a blank cover from a Standard and cut out an area to use as a cover for your boxed out area so it will match. You could always hinge it.

 

What you want to do is go to Forums, First Gen Tech Library - Read Only for an electronic copy of the service manual, wiring diagrams and all soerts of helpful "how to" write ups.

 

Welcome to the site!!!

[dingy]

 

Brake sensor. It is a float with a magnet and a reed switch inside the resovoir of the master cylinder. There are 2 wires that have butt type connectors to them. You can disconnect the wires and then short them together to test the circuit to see if the reed switch is good or not. Fairing removal is necessary to do this.

The rear master also has a reed switch in it. Two wire butt connection is on frame rail on right side near master cylinder.

 

On the front switch, I think you can get to this connection through the head light bucket. This might be easier than removing fairing.

 

The master cylinder reed switch cables are one white wire & one black wire on each circuit.

 

As what Bob said, either front or rear can be unplugged and harness ends of wires shorted together to by pass switch. Will not hurt any thing. Bike is ride able safely with reed switch bypassed, you just have to check fluid regularly. Rear is a little harder due to no sight glass.

 

Front on, should be kept a little over halfway up glass when handle bars are in a position to have master cylinder top level.

 

If masters are full at time of replacing brake pads, I believe they have sufficient volume to still have enough fluid up to the point that pads need replaced.

 

The rear master should not be filled all the way to the top. This has been known to cause a problem when fluid heats up and expands, this will cause the rear caliper to not release. With the proximity to the rear exhaust down tubes there is much more heat build up in the rear. Have heard this was a problem when riders have used brakes a lot such as in mountains on the downward side.

 

I fill the rear master until it is to the top of the fill hole, then us a a suction bulb I have to remove a little. You can get suction bulbs at a drug store. They are in the ear care section. I have one my dad had forty years ago, he used it when he was splicing 8mm home movies together to blow dust off film. It has held up well with brake fluid.

 

Gary

[pmelah]

Welcome to the site these guys on this site are a great bunch of nut cases and comedians that go out of thier way to help another venture rider out and its worth more than quadrupal the price they charge to be a member here so spend the 12 bucks learn alot about your venture and enjoy the great friends you will meet here

[KIC]

Welcome to the site. I have an 87 too. Looks like we will be sorting out problems at the same time.

[Adavidson56304]

Thank you guys so much for all the help.

I have the brake fluid warning fixed.

I think I have the air compressor fixed. I left the trunk off just in case, but I'll check it tomorrow.

There was a wire disconnected from the sensor for the temp gauge. I hope that was it, I didn't get a chance to ride or run it to see if that was it.

I plan on getting the battery light fixed tomorrow using the steps I found in another thread here.

Still don't know what I'll do with the cassette area, but that will probably be a winter project.

 

Tip to anyone putting in different horns, there is no relay in the stock wiring, you need to put one in or you can burn out the switch. I learned the hard way, I put on air horns.

 

Now one last question(for now anyways), how do I get away from my wife and kids for a good ride?

[mbrood]

Entice them to a "special day all their own"... after all, they deserve a reward too.

[Adavidson56304]

Finally getting around to adding some pics. Here ya go.

[Trader]

I love the blondes!

 

cute kid too!

[Flyinfool]

I'm not sure but you look a little short for a Venture in that first pic.........

 

Blonds are the second bestest color.......

[pmelah]

glad i got a red head so yall will leave here alone

[OrlinEngh]

Good looking bike, Got one just like it. Maybe I had better go look to see if its still in the shed.

Orlin

[bongobobny]

Blondes have more fun!

[adventurer 08]

Just picked up a 87 my self. Good luck on the new ride.