Hello everyone. Don't know where to do lnstro.

[Popsnana19655]

Pops and NaNa here. Got a 83 xvz12 on 3/10/2020. W/ 32k w/o#2 gear. Dirt dirt cheap. y'all said buy it. Skip 2gear. We did. Bike has 39k. We love the way it Rides. Wore out the rear tire. Just rode from C.J. to N.E,Mo. 600m round trip. With wife and camping gear to work. Last week. The bike loves the hiway. Hitting 110/115 and w/o knowing it. Rides that smooth. Anyway next day . Puff white smoke.. need help with ordering the right gasket set and anything else I might need. Cause redneck bikers can fix anything. Lol let's have some fun.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Popsnana19655

[CaseyJ955]

Depending on what popped I may have some extra stuff. I have an 85 VMX12 (Vmax) engine sitting in my shed for parts. It's also sans 2nd gear I believe.

[cowpuc]

HI YA POPS,, HI YA NANA!!! And,, !!

 

Pops,,, you came to the right spot for your grand intro my friend ,,, good on ya!!! Sounds like you two are sort of cut from the same cloth as a lot of the lop eared VR club member varmints around this joint,, my wife Tip and I included:grandma:... Matter of fact,,, excluding the "puff of white smoke",, what you wrote pretty much defines us.. Our million mile plus Venture adventure pretty consists primarily of miles accumulated on bikes with no 2nd gear that I picked up for practically nothing just like yourself and that all started back in 1987 and continues (somewhat,, cancer has kicked us off the open road adventures on our 83 Venture now) to this day.

While I have experienced many power outages while running each of our 6 MK1's into the ground, I have never ever encountered what, at least it sounds to me as such, may very well be a blown head gasket or cracked water jacket. My M.O. of days gone by would be to just park the bike out back to be used from parts and grab another bike for few bucks and start over BUT,, I know times have changed,, like us the bikes got old and are now harder to come by. Many years ago my 1st 1st Gen, an 84 Royale with no second gear, decided to retire its crank bearings after just under 260K miles of pure torment and fun. As my daughter and I clunked our way back home from a wonderful tour of the west and turned the corner about 5 miles from home Beeges (kids named the bike BEEG, short for Big Girl) headlight shined on another Mk1 for sale on the corner.. It was 3 a.m. so I had to wait till the next day to go down and grab.. It had set under a tarp outside for over 20 years - because it had no second gear.. That one had 22k miles on it, the pipes were rotted right off it and even the throttle cable was locked right up.. I hit it with a set of jumper cables, touch the button and the motor rolled:thumbsup:!! Took it home for $150.. Combined the two MK1's now in my possession and a few days later was back out CTFW .

I dont tell you all that for bragging rights cause lets face,, aint much to brag about crossing the country on a beat up old Venture with a tent flappin in the wind behind you and your wife who is wearing an old set of motocross goggles but I do tell you all that so you will understand that I do know we are living in different times and the supply of CHEAP missing 2nd gear, best touring bike ever deals is pretty much diminished..

So,, that said,, what would I do if faced with your situation.. I think I would probably pull its plugs,, hit the radiator with a pressure pump to put some pressure on the coolant to see where the leak is.. Your probably have enough smarts about you to be able to just look at the plugs and determine which pot is being pee'd in so maybe run that jug to BDC and drop a bore scope in and see if its the head gasket or jug.. If its the jug,, got some bad news,, these scoots have integrated block/jugs.. Yep,, replacement engine time.. If its a head gasket - not so bad.. Personally,, if I were gonna rip one of these great big ugly mud suckers,, I mean one of these purdy little touring bikes all apart to drop in a head gasket,, I would just pull the motor, split the cases and fix the second gear.. At the same time I would tip the bike upside down and weld in frame supports so I would never have a cracked frame like some of experienced.. I would also double check the stator and water pump assemblies to see if they had been updated. I would also drop in a set of Progressive front springs if that hadnt been done.

This is getting lengthy,, sorry about that,, I have gotten :Im not listening toin my old age I guess... I will shut up but before I go I only wanna add one thing,, 's!! These varmints LOVE 's!! Lots and lots of 's!!!

Welcome Pop n Nana!!

Puc

[CaseyJ955]

Gotta say puc, your Venture is the very coolest one I have ever seen anywhere.

[Popsnana19655]

I have tried to load pictures. Don't know what I am doing wrong. Love the pictures. That was us riding home was late and foggy. Popped a tent. Hit the road in the morning. I asked if should buy it. You said yes. Skip 2. I have watched a lot of your videos . We love the bike.

[Popsnana19655]

Will take any parts I can get. At this point. New to Joplin Missouri area. They want top dollar for junkyard parts cause they can. We're From Texas had a lot of hookups there. Going to try and start on her later today. Need to line up the right gasket set if I need it.

[Freebird]

I have tried to load pictures. Don't know what I am doing wrong. Love the pictures. That was us riding home was late and foggy. Popped a tent. Hit the road in the morning. I asked if should buy it. You said yes. Skip 2. I have watched a lot of your videos . We love the bike.

 

The biggest mistake people make is trying to upload pictures that are too large. Most phones now days take huge pictures. They need to be resized to no larger than 1024 x 768.

[RandyR]

Good luck getting everything back on the road. I had to look up Carls Junction being originally from the St Louis side of MO. I used to ride the highway to Ok to pick up US 69 south to Texas. Stopped in Joplin many times.

[Flyinfool]

Hi Pops and Nana, Welcome to the funny farm.......

 

Yea before you start major exploratory surgery, I would do some testing to figure out where the white puff came from.

How much is a puff? Mine gave a white puff every time I started it for 12 years. Never went low on oil or coolant. I just figured it was condensation in the exhaust pipes.

IF it is a head gasket blown from the water jacket to the cylinder,,,, 1. that is very rare, not unheard of, but very rare. 2. usually if it's that failure, when you start it up cold with the radiator cap off there usually will be bubbles in the radiator as the cylinder pressure gets pushed in.

 

Also if it is leaking into the cylinder, be VERY careful to not hydro lock the engine or you will be replacing it very soon.

 

Check your oil for any signs of water, Check the coolant for any signs of oil.

 

As Puc said, one really clean plug usually indicates coolant leaking into that cylinder.

 

And now we head down the rabbit hole..........

IF you have to pull the heads, look for a complete set of V-Max heads, they will give a lot more power and significantly raise the red line.

Preferably if you can also get the carbs and V-Boost system.

As Puc mentioned, check to be sure you have the metal water pump impeller, The plastic one will die of old age, miles are irrelevant.

Check the stator to be sure it has the cooling upgrade with the hollow stator bolt and the wiggly wire in the end of it. It does a lot to help keep the stator from burning up.

 

Dang, I been talking to Puc to much, Now I am getting long winded to........

[cowpuc]

I have tried to load pictures. Don't know what I am doing wrong. Love the pictures. That was us riding home was late and foggy. Popped a tent. Hit the road in the morning. I asked if should buy it. You said yes. Skip 2. I have watched a lot of your videos . We love the bike.

 

The biggest mistake people make is trying to upload pictures that are too large. Most phones now days take huge pictures. They need to be resized to no larger than 1024 x 768.

have

 

:sign yeah that:

 

Hey Pops,, seems how you have watched a few of my vids and seem to have come away without being traumatiized to badly,, here is one you may,, or may not find useful in your picture posting endeavor... @Freebird,, something just dawned on me (I know,, ahhhh ohhh,, right?),,, is the club still under the "must have so many posts to be able to post pics" ordinance?? If so has Pops got enough posts??

Always here to promote endless :photographing::photographing: postings!!!

 

[Popsnana19655]

top picture that is the only place that is greasy. Edited October 11, 2020 by Popsnana19655