83 Venture Rebuild/Restoration

[Johnnycyclone]

T8802 is not the date code. The first two numbers is the week and the last two are the year. And the number is stamped into the tire not molded.

 

That's good to know, thanks for the clarification. I will take another look tonight and see what I can find. I don't remember seeing any other numbers, but they have to be there somewhere. Thanks again....

[HermanK84VR]

Awesome Job So far!! Cant wait to see the finished product.

I have an 84 that I will be starting to disassemble this year and rebuild as well I like the look of the Satin Black on the block so I will probably go the same route.

 

Thanks for keeping us all updated

HermanK 84 VR

[Johnnycyclone]

Awesome Job So far!! Cant wait to see the finished product.

I have an 84 that I will be starting to disassemble this year and rebuild as well I like the look of the Satin Black on the block so I will probably go the same route.

 

Thanks for keeping us all updated

HermanK 84 VR

 

Thanks Herman, it is going to take some time probably another year to finish, but I can't wait either.

 

Make sure to post some pics of your project when you get started. I love looking at other project too.

[Johnnycyclone]

Found the correct date code on the front tire and it's a 2007, not good. No big deal I was planning on buying both tires new anyways.

 

Here's an update for the week.

 

Worked on the swing arm tonight and got it cleaned up, sanded and ready for paint. Here is a pic of the starting point. I will post another once it's painted.

 

 

Finished stripping down the wheels getting them ready to take to the powder coater. Now the hard part, what color? I am either going to go with silver and add in the black to make it look like factory, or a long shot would be to go satin black. Either will go nicely with the new colors I have picked out for the bike. Stay tuned.

 

 

Making a block off plate for the forks since they have progressive springs, plus I can't use the anti dive units. The forks are from an 86 so I can do the R6 brake upgrade. First step is to make a pattern using gorilla tape.

 

 

Transfer the tape to the steel and use as a pattern.

 

 

I have them cut out and just need to finish them up. I hope to be able to paint the lower fork tubes, fork brace, swing arm and block off plates yet this week. We'll see how it goes.

[zagger]

I found this etched into the forks "Forking by Frank".

 

Forking by Frank used to be a very good supplier of fork tubes (do they still exist?). When I first raked out the front end on my bike, I bought extended fork tubes from them. A couple of years later I switched to a leading link design to improve handling - not due to any quality issues with the fork tubes.

zag

 

PS Just did a google search and they appear to still be in the custom fork tube business.

Edited June 11, 2019 by zagger

[Johnnycyclone]

Forking by Frank used to be a very good supplier of fork tubes (do they still exist?). When I first raked out the front end on my bike, I bought extended fork tubes from them. A couple of years later I switched to a leading link design to improve handling - not due to any quality issues with the fork tubes.

zag

 

PS Just did a google search and they appear to still be in the custom fork tube business.

 

 

Thanks Zag, that makes sense now. I wasn't sure if it was a company or someone doing side work out of their garage. Good information to know. Thanks again.....

 

http://franksforks.com/

 

They have some really cool custom bikes on their site.

[bongobobny]

Just so you know, you can use the EAD's, you just trigger a relay from the brake light (yellow) line...

[Johnnycyclone]

Updates from the past week.

 

Finished up the blank off plates for the anti dive units.

 

 

Prepped everything for paint, but couldn't find the paint I used for the valve covers. It was a color I had scanned and mixed so there isn't a paint code to use to have more mixed. So I spent the afternoon looking for it, but it was no where to be found.

 

[Johnnycyclone]

I gave up and went with plan B and purchased a color that is going to be pretty close. It's a common color used by others on the web for painting swing arms, Ford Argent Silver.

 

Here are some before and after pics.

 

Swing arm

 

 

 

Rear differential

 

 

 

Front forks

 

 

 

 

I added a couple of coats of clear after the color, but I'm not sure I like it as well as just the color. We may or may not change this, I will need to think about it for a few days before I decide.

[Johnnycyclone]

Decided to stay with the color for the forks and swing arm. They should be fine. Progress this week includes a new seal where the driveshaft exits the engine. The u-joint is back in and the swing arm is mounted. I cleaned and reused the bearings for the swing arm, but purchase new seals.

 

 

Ran into a problem with powder coating the wheels last week. Forgot the coating has to be baked at 400 degrees, which means the rubber dampers for the drive in the rear wheel would have to come out. I don't see any way to get them out without ruining them. Since you can't buy them, and they would be pretty pricey if you could we are going with plan B which is to clean them up and make them look as good as possible. Stay tuned for more on the wheels.

 

 

This weekends goals are to get the forks finished up and work on cleaning and polishing the wheels. More later............

[Condor]

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. I enjoy following along... Great job so far. I've seen wheels that have been soda blasted and clear coated. They look nice...

[Prairiehammer]

Decided to stay with the color for the forks and swing arm. They should be fine. Progress this week includes a new seal where the driveshaft exits the engine. The u-joint is back in and the swing arm is mounted. I cleaned and reused the bearings for the swing arm, but purchase new seals.

 

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=116953

 

Ran into a problem with powder coating the wheels last week. Forgot the coating has to be baked at 400 degrees, which means the rubber dampers for the drive in the rear wheel would have to come out. I don't see any way to get them out without ruining them. Since you can't buy them, and they would be pretty pricey if you could we are going with plan B which is to clean them up and make them look as good as possible. Stay tuned for more on the wheels.

 

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=116954

 

This weekends goals are to get the forks finished up and work on cleaning and polishing the wheels. More later............

 

WoW!

This is going to be better than NEW!

[Johnnycyclone]

Work continues this week.

 

Front forks are back together, new bushings, new seals and new copper gaskets. I also added a thicker fork brace to stiffen the front end up.

 

[Johnnycyclone]

Working on front wheel.

 

This is what the bead looked like with quite a bit of rubber build up.

 

 

Used a buffing wheel on aluminum and then cleaned up the black centers as best I could. The wheel turned out pretty nice.

 

 

Here's the wheel after wire brushing the inside bead to clean it up. New bearings and seals installed ready for the tire to be mounted.

 

 

 

Also received the new tires today, going with Shinko 230's

 

 

 

More to come later.............

[Johnnycyclone]

One part at a time. Another week goes by and little progress but at least we have some progress.

 

Finished up the rear end by installing the rear axle gear case.

 

 

Cleaned and painted the side stand and have it installed.

 

 

Next up is the rear shock and brake caliper bracket.

 

 

Thanks for taking a look, hopefully another update next week.

[Johnnycyclone]

Here's the after pic of the shock and brake bracket. Disassembled, cleaned, greased and reassembled. I painted the small steel relay arm but didn't do anything to the shock other than a good scrubbing. No value in taking the time to paint the shock.

 

[Johnnycyclone]

Here's the shock mostly installed.

 

 

Cleaned up the center stand and put a fresh coat of paint on it. Ready for install.

 

 

Next up is the rear rim. This one is pretty rough so it's going to take a lot of work to bring it back. I'm going to sand down all of the aluminum and then polish it and then repaint the black. Stay tuned should have another update in a few weeks.

 

[Du-Rron]

Decided to stay with the color for the forks and swing arm. They should be fine. Progress this week includes a new seal where the driveshaft exits the engine. The u-joint is back in and the swing arm is mounted. I cleaned and reused the bearings for the swing arm, but purchase new seals.

 

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=116953

 

Ran into a problem with powder coating the wheels last week. Forgot the coating has to be baked at 400 degrees, which means the rubber dampers for the drive in the rear wheel would have to come out. I don't see any way to get them out without ruining them. Since you can't buy them, and they would be pretty pricey if you could we are going with plan B which is to clean them up and make them look as good as possible. Stay tuned for more on the wheels.

 

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=116954

 

This weekends goals are to get the forks finished up and work on cleaning and polishing the wheels. More later............

 

I see from your last picture today and from the picture of this wheel here that you are looking for a plan "C". Would the dampers (part number 11) out of a 2012 RSV work? I bet they would.

 

[Johnnycyclone]

Just to compare I took a look at the part number for the clutch hub on the XVZ12 and the part number has been subbed, and is the same as the one you show. So there is a chance the dampers would work also since the hubs are the same. I don't know why they wouldn't sub the part number for the dampers though. The problem for me is the cost, at $22 each and needing 6 of them and then add in the cost to powder coat the wheel, it's getting a bit expensive. I'm going to take a shot at cleaning the wheel and if that doesn't work then it may be time for plan C. Thanks for the suggestion Du-Ron, I appreciate it.

[Johnnycyclone]

Well it's been longer than I had hoped for, but I was finally able to find some time to work on the back wheel. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. Here are a few pics from this weekends efforts.

 

As you probably remember the before pic

 

 

And now the after

 

 

Completed wheel, ready for a new valve stem and tire

 

[Condor]

Looks awesome... Nice job!!!!!

[venturesome]

Updates from the past week.

 

Finished up the blank off plates for the anti dive units.

 

 

Have you read the post concerning blocking plates? It seems that the blocking plates need to have a way for fork oil to flow between o-ring passages.

 

I found it by doing a search for "blown fork seals" or: https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?138618-Really-odd-blown-fork-seal-issue&highlight=blown+fork+seals

Edited September 10, 2019 by venturesome
added link

[Johnnycyclone]

Have you read the post concerning blocking plates? It seems that the blocking plates need to have a way for fork oil to flow between o-ring passages.

 

I found it by doing a search for "blown fork seals" or: https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?138618-Really-odd-blown-fork-seal-issue&highlight=blown+fork+seals

 

 

Nice catch venturesome! Looks like I need to start over on the blocking plates, and make some with a channel between the holes. Thanks for pointing it out, that saved me some big problems down the road.

[Johnnycyclone]

Just a quick update for the week. The milk crate it's been sitting on was struggling to handle the weight so I had to quickly mount the front tire and get it back on it's wheels. So now both wheels have new bearings, seals, and valve stems. The tires are mounted and back on the bike. I will have to take them back off for balancing once I get my wheel weights in. USPS lost them for 8 days but now it looks like they will be here this week. I decided to back off on polishing the side cases and am going with black instead. The clutch cover and the stator cover will have the chrome inserts once I get them sent out and re-chromed. For now you can see the water pump is installed along with the clutch cover minus the center plate. I put in a new fuel shut off valve and have the fuel tank back in. That's where we are for now. I will get some more pics later of the details, but here is one of the bike as it sits.

On a side note, once I finish up the restoration and put some miles on, this will be going up for sale. Most likely late next summer. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up in case someone might be interested.

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Johnnycyclone

[Johnnycyclone]

I have decided to put the project up for sale. I have to be realistic and understand that this could take several more years to finish and I would rather have the room it is occupying. I don't expect to break even on my investment but will be taking a loss which I am fine with. If anyone is interested of if you know of someone who would like a good project to finish up send me a pm. If I can't sell it then I will keep working on it when I get some time, but I don't see much time in the future to work on it.

 

Since the last post I did get the R6 brake discs mounted on the front.

 

 

Had a set of block off plates machined for the forks. This time with a channel for the oil to transfer through.

 

 

And a new fuel pump installed.

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Johnnycyclone