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[Phmach]

Hhllo everyone I go by phmach here which is really PH

 

I have a 1989 venture royal and I have been told here by many shops that they will not work on my bike. There is 1 that has it for now but to me they seem they really do not want to work on it that much. Anyway they say I need to have my carbs rebuilt and cleaned and I need to know where I can get the kits and other parts for her . I am also wondering if I can do it myself ..

 

Please help friends I wish that there still was a venture touring society group still around maybe some of you guys are former members

 

THANKS

 

PH

[cowpuc]

Hhllo everyone I go by phmach here which is really PH

 

I have a 1989 venture royal and I have been told here by many shops that they will not work on my bike. There is 1 that has it for now but to me they seem they really do not want to work on it that much. Anyway they say I need to have my carbs rebuilt and cleaned and I need to know where I can get the kits and other parts for her . I am also wondering if I can do it myself ..

 

Please help friends I wish that there still was a venture touring society group still around maybe some of you guys are former members

 

THANKS

 

PH

 

Hi ya Piff (closest I can come to pronouncing PH:hihi:),, Puc here, just got summoned in on a PM asking about carb issues and thought I may as well take a quick shot at your ? as long as I am in. If nothing else, you may find it entertaining before someone responds who really knows this stuff.. IMHO,, around these parts most main stream shops wont touch +10 year old scoots, and probably for good reason.. Sort of similar to house plumbing issues (you know, where you loosen one joint to fix a leak and end up with 180000 other leaks because you tried to fix the one leak) where a small repair job turns into a nightmare and the customer blames you for it. Couple that with the legal side of things where a bike that had carb problems is fixed, the owner picks it up, crashes into the side of car, turns out his brakes were shot too and now the shop is up for litigation cause they didnt notice the brakes were toast and on and on.. You get my drift?

Independents (non main stream, NON franchised, small bike shops) a LOT of times will fill the gap though and will customarily work on older scoots. Maybe ask around your area and see if you can find one? Here they are all over the place. Some good, some bad..

Can you do it yourself? Sure,, why not? Totally depends on your ability with spinning wrenches IMHO and you are the only one who can answer that end of the equation.. Out of 4 children I have 1 that is exceptional with the wrench,, using those stats and without knowing you at all,, I would say you have a 25% chance of doing the job completely and correctly with no assistance. If your over 10 years old, increase those odds by 25% and if you arent afraid to ask for assistance by some of the guru's running around the joint,, increase the odd's another 50%..

 

Nice to meet ya brother!!

Puc

 

P.S. = It is amazing how much stuff is available on Ebay with just a little searching them,, also, an online parts house such as this: https://www.yamahapartsnation.com/oemparts/a/yam/5107f835f870022108d6576a/carburetor-non-california-model can also be a great source.. Just another FYI Piff,, it's not uncommon to end up spending well in excess of 600 bucks for carb parts for a rebuild.. Toss in a few hours of Labor and, IMHO, +$1000 carb rebuild jobs could happen.. I got a neighbor that spent well in excess of $1000 to have his early model 1500 Wing carb redone a couple years ago and, once out of the scoot, I know that Honda carb is lots simpilar than doing x4 carbs like ours (nasty project gettin em out on the Wing though),, just thought ya might wanna know how much ya can save by spinning your wrenches..

Edited April 29, 2019 by cowpuc

[Marcarl]

Puc makes some good points as to why shops won't look or work on your scoot, one thing though that kind of stayed hidden, although is does come out, is the cost factor. You can soon spend an easy $2000 just on parts to get an older bike right up to snuff. Ya, you might get it running just fine but then you get out on the road and find that the braking system needs work, and the forks leak and then somebody comes along with a wise crack that 6 yr old tires can't be trusted. Yep, that's the dealers dilemma. They go to fix one thing and then in the end comes the bill and you say: I only paid $1000 for this bike and you are going to charge me $3 grand to fix it??? Now, the nice part of this story is that if you shop around some and do your own work, you'll end up with the satisfaction of having your very own bike, knowing how it works, and riding something that has got to be one of the best in the industry, even by today's standards,, and it's already 20 yrs old.

[Marcarl]

And oH ya,,, if you need info on where to get things, what to use and how to make a mess of your garage floor,,, just ask,, we make wonderful companions.

[luvmy40]

Hhllo everyone I go by phmach here which is really PH

 

I have a 1989 venture royal and I have been told here by many shops that they will not work on my bike. There is 1 that has it for now but to me they seem they really do not want to work on it that much. Anyway they say I need to have my carbs rebuilt and cleaned and I need to know where I can get the kits and other parts for her . I am also wondering if I can do it myself ..

 

Please help friends I wish that there still was a venture touring society group still around maybe some of you guys are former members

 

THANKS

 

PH

 

 

Carb kits are available from multiple sources as well as individual parts still available from Yamaha and other OEM distributors like partzilla.com, boats.net, etc. I would caution you to stay a way from Chinese parts as they rarely pan out and just cost you double the labor + the "discount" original cost when you have to do the job again with quality parts.

[CaseyJ955]

The carbs were the first thing that needed attention on my 89. I ended up sourcing a set of diaphragms from Ebay out of the UK for ~$100/set. DO NOT USE CHINESE/UNBRANDED PARTS. You may not even need diaphragms, visual inspection will tell.

 

The OEM kits are nice, but not cheap. There is a Japanese aftermarket that is known to work well. Not sure these are the exact kit but you can see it gets close. https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Carburetor-Carb-Repair-Rebuild-Kits-Yamaha-86-93-XVZ13-Venture-Kit-18-2879/192312061034?fits=Make%3AYamaha&epid=182601278&hash=item2cc6b12c6a:g:EU0AAOSw8w1YBTYO:sc:USPSFirstClass!57105!US!-1

 

DO NOT PUT CHINESE PARTS INTO THE CARBS! or really anywhere on the bike. You will end up redoing them with the better kits if you do, it's almost guaranteed. OEM or aftermarket from Japan.

 

Here is some info on setting the float. I set mine at the lowest end of the range because I live at 4000' and ride up over 10,000. The factory setting is a tad rich, I found that true on both my Vmax and Venture (same-ish engine). This link is for Vmax but float setting is the same if you decide to adjust. http://www.factorypro.com/Prod_Pages/prody11.html.

 

Getting the carbs off a Gen1 can be a little bit of a knuckle buster. Sadly many shops wont mess with older bikes, so often we have to do it ourselves. Luckily your not far from some decent independents. I used to go to EvCC and live in Monroe before I fled back to SD. Your close to the N Cascades!!! oh what a ride!!

 

If you are not comfortable doing the carbs but your okay with taking them off then we've got a guy on the Vmax side who is proven and trusted. As puc said, it's probably not going to be much under 5-6 bones to do them all correctly if you farm it out. If your comfortable working on carbs then these are still fairly simple, if not then it's probably worth the money to send em' off. There is quite a bit of good reading here if you do choose to go forward yourself, also lots of knowledgeable folks here to bounce problems off of if you get stuck.

 

Welcome and good luck!

[BlueSky]

Read the forum for all the information you can find on carbs. Some carbs can be brought back by using different cleaning products. Put a bottle of seafoam in the tank or my favorite Gumout with PEA. There is a procedure called shotgunning that may be effective. Cowpuc has a procedure too that worked for him in several circumstances. There is a manual in the tech library for this bike that will help. Several of us have bought a video of how to clean these carbs. There is an email somewhere on the forum for the guy who made the video. Damon_Ferraiuolo@msn.com

 

Damon's video is on Vmax carbs but they are almost identical as ours.

Edited April 29, 2019 by BlueSky

[bongobobny]

First off, WELCOME!!! Yes, this site is directly traceable to the old Venture Touring Society, we are a splinter group from the website Venturers which sort of came out of the VTS.

 

Per above, yes you can rebuild and adjust the carbs yourself, but keep in mind they are very complex and can require some very specific attention to detail. The video that Blue Sky mentioned is an excellent reference source! Anybody that has a dedicated VMax engine just for bench testing the carbs deserves a hats off!!

 

As was also mentioned be prepared to shell out several hundred dollars in parts if you want to do a complete and thorough job of it. There are some cheaper alternatives that you can try first. Put a whole can of Seafoam into a full tank of gas and then drive it like you stole it!! Another thing you can try is called the "Shotgun" method of cleaning the carbs. Also, as mentioned, inspect your diaphragms for little pinholes and replace if needed or st least repair them. Cowpuc can fill you in on what product to use for that!

 

Just what is the bike doing that led you to the conclusion the carbs are what's wrong?? We could sure use some specific symptoms to help you out.

 

There are a lot of experts here that can help you straighten out your issues...