New project bike - Help decide what to do with it

[Mentat Ix]

Hey, guys. I'm new here, but I thought I'd throw this out and see what comes back.

I recently came into possession of a 99  Royal Star Venture, essentially for free. The guy who disposed of it in my driveway purchased it for a fairly ridiculous sum 5+ years ago and immediately wrecked it. He went some way to making it ridable again, but he was scared to ride it anyway so there it sat in his carport.

The story is that it ran and rode OK when he parked it, but needed a new stator. I'm skeptical that he would actually be able to diagnose a stator issue, but that's the word. He provided me with a new stator he bought when he still intended to ride it years ago.

I haven't had a bike to tinker with in a while, and never one this bad off, but it seems like an interesting project that I am mostly equipped to handle, so here we are.

Current condition: Very dirty. Everything covered in red clay that don't like to come off. Very little rust. Clutch pulls in with almost no resistance, pretty sure somethings wrong with it. Brakes are dragging, mushy and not working very well. Throttle doesn't turn at all. The body work is FUBAR. I don't think there's a plastic piece on it that's not cracked, broken, screws missing, scratched up, etc. No major damage on the tank, though. Crash bars obviously dragged a LONG way on the left side. Some of the turn signal covers are broken. Front light bar is rusting and I suspect someone welded it back together. Seats are good except some stitching pulling out on the driver back rest.

Oh, and whoever he bought it from did some very weird stuff with wiring. Looks like they tried to put underglow LEDs all over and add speakers in weird places, at least, and did it very badly. They cut a big hole in the left box to mount a speaker, and then apparently took the speaker out when they got rid of it. Straight tweaker job, here. I found spare fuses stashed all over it, and mystery toggle switches mounted in stupid places. I'm pretty sure there's some doorbell wire strung through there. 😆 Not to mention the wiring harness sleeves on the handle bars are completely sun rotted. 

Lots of misc stuff missing. Antennas, various bolts, the rubber elbow rests for the back seat, one of the mirrors.

 

So obviously I don't intend to try to restore this to factory. I haven't decided 100% what to do with it, but so far here's what I'm thinking:

1. Strip it down and clean it

2. Install new stator, because why not..

3. Change all fluids and flush out the gas tank

4. Rebuild carbs

5. Strip off any sketchy aftermarket junk and loop check as much of the wiring as possible, repair as needed

6. See what hoses need to be replaced. New thermostat maybe?

7. Troubleshoot clutch, throttle and brakes - hopefully a good cleaning and adjustment is all it needs..

8. Reassemble, put in a new battery and see how she runs. Sync the carbs.

If I get that far and it runs well, there's a fork in the road. Originally I thought I would toss most of the plastics and do some weird mad max bare-bones build, but I think I can salvage most of it. So right now, the plan is:

9. Fiberglass and patch bodywork as needed, assuming I can figure out how to fix broken clips and brackets

10. Paint whatever color my wife decrees will look good that day. Right now she says gunmetal gray.

11. Figure out what to replace the lights/turn signals with.

12. Figure out what to replace the passenger arm rests with

13. Figure out how to fix the driver backrest

14. Put new tires on it, reassemble everything

15. ...?

16. Profit

 

I am equipped to do most of this myself, but I am not a professional at any of it. Some feedback here would be very helpful as I wrap my head around this project. Obviously, this could very easily turn into a  money pit and cost more than the bike is worth. For the most part I'll be fixing what I can fix myself and canning what I can't. 

I'd love to hear from you guys about any pitfalls you see coming in this project, any common issues to look out for on these bikes, the best places to get parts, etc. I'd especially love to hear any ideas on what to do with the build generally, what mods work well and look good or even any crazy and weird ideas that might be fun to try. I don't have much invested here so I can afford to get weird with it. 

I'm not sure how active this board is, but if this gets any traction I'll even update this along the way.

 

Thanks

[BlueSky]

Sounds like a big project.  Check the compression of the engine before you spend too much money on it.  if you have the time and the interest, go for it!  

[cowpuc]

For as little as these old Yams are worth (and that aint much) and as much as I LOVE the long bikes plus considering the frame design, 15 inch rear wheel and it being a V-4 I would chop it.. I would either shop the bike shows for a decent old school springer of at least 10 over or I would just spring (pun intended) for a new Paughco 16 or 18 over springer, rake the bike and end up with another wayyyy cool,, wayyy fun long bike to play on.. Loved my choppers!

Would DEFINITELY do what Sky suggests and I would know 100% what I had for a motor 1st though cause if the engines gone,, aint worth fooling with IMHO.  

 

[RDawson]

Keep in mind you can find running/riding 99s in the 2500 range. 

[Patch]

So 1st welcome to the family: You seem to have the attitude we enjoy playing with  More than an active group just ask Dad we are well known to be Hyperactive and darnrightoutofhand at times (not me of course I am the quiet one)

This model is my least favorite due to the corners Yam cut from the earlier and then later models.

I am siding with Puc on this one.  We've kicked this can around with others and always end up with the same conclusions, not enough air and not enough rpm potential!

So if you chose to set it up as a cruising by then there plenty of torgue for that!

 

[N3FOL]

When I saw the pic, it does not look so bad...but the bike may have some significant hidden problems that can be very problematic.  As mentioned before, see if the engine is any good...however, you will have to determine that yourself and definitely seek a second opinion.  Say the engine is still good, you still have a lot to tinker and replace (fluids, etc.).  Are the tires any good or could be close to being dry rotten.  The list can go on and on and on.  With that said, if you have all the time and now that we are approaching the colder months, tis the season to work on a project bike.  You are in the right forum and there are several members here with tons of knowledge and expertise and they can guide you and give you confidence.  Whatever you decide, Good Luck and most importantly...Have Fun working on your RSV. 

[etcswjoe]

Welcome to the group, looks like fun.  As others said you may wind up spending more than you could make on it, however you will not know that till you dig into it. 

The bikes where the same for all of the model years and with few exceptions so parts are pretty much available new or used. 

Did not see where you are located, some great folks in the group and some old grumpy ones like myself who would be glad to stop by and give our two cents worth.   

 

[Patch]

3 hours ago, etcswjoe said:

The bikes where the same for all of the model years and with few exceptions so parts are pretty much available new or used. 

I could be wrong but I don't believe that to be the case, engine wise.

[etcswjoe]

9 minutes ago, Patch said:

I could be wrong but I don't believe that to be the case, engine wise.

@Patch Me wrong never, well maybe never, you know I might be wrong about that. I had thought the 99-13 were the same and have been buying parts under that assumption, but you know what assuming does to you.

[BlueSky]

The early RSTDs have lower hp engines but I thought all of the RSVs had the same engine.  I think they all have the same hp rating.  

[Mentat Ix]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I just want to let you know I haven't dropped off the map. I've been working a lot and catching up on the honey do list. I'll be reading your responses and gearing up for this project soon.

[Mentat Ix]

On 10/23/2020 at 9:05 PM, BlueSky said:

Sounds like a big project.  Check the compression of the engine before you spend too much money on it.  if you have the time and the interest, go for it!  

I'm definitely going to get it running before dumping major time into the bodywork. That should be the easy part, if the guy was shooting straight with me. And it was my friend's dad that gave me this thing, so I fear incompetence far more than malice in this case.

Even before that I need to get the title changed over. It hasn't been registered in a looong time. Hate to register something that might never see the road. On the other hand, I'd hate to put a bunch of work into it and find out there's a problem with the paperwork.

On 10/24/2020 at 12:22 PM, cowpuc said:

For as little as these old Yams are worth (and that aint much) and as much as I LOVE the long bikes plus considering the frame design, 15 inch rear wheel and it being a V-4 I would chop it.. I would either shop the bike shows for a decent old school springer of at least 10 over or I would just spring (pun intended) for a new Paughco 16 or 18 over springer, rake the bike and end up with another wayyyy cool,, wayyy fun long bike to play on.. Loved my choppers!

Would DEFINITELY do what Sky suggests and I would know 100% what I had for a motor 1st though cause if the engines gone,, aint worth fooling with IMHO.  

 

I like where your head's at for sure. Unfortunately, as much as I can do myself, welding is not in my wheelhouse. I can fab up some brackets and odds and ends, but I won't be messing with the frame. At least, not before I have to ride it. I am considering making it a rat bike, but I can't picture that until I get everything ripped off of it. And as boring as it is, fixing up the boxes and everything would make it fun to ride with the wife. Plus, my last bike was a 2011 Stryker with hardly anything left stock on it. I put 50k miles on that bike, and found out that it was about as raked out as I'd like to get.

And I totally agree - if I can't get it running well with (relatively) little hassle I'll be writing this one off.

On 10/24/2020 at 12:28 PM, RDawson said:

Keep in mind you can find running/riding 99s in the 2500 range. 

So far I'm reckoning spending less than $500 on this project, and right now is more about the project than the ride. There's a thousand ways that can get blown out of the water fast, but that more than accounts for the stuff I already know I'll need. I enjoy the challenge taking on new things. I've been focused on woodworking for a couple years, time to change it up for a bit.

On 10/28/2020 at 7:34 AM, etcswjoe said:

Welcome to the group, looks like fun.  As others said you may wind up spending more than you could make on it, however you will not know that till you dig into it. 

The bikes where the same for all of the model years and with few exceptions so parts are pretty much available new or used. 

Did not see where you are located, some great folks in the group and some old grumpy ones like myself who would be glad to stop by and give our two cents worth.   

 

I'm in Dallas, more or less. With this cold snap we got last week, it looks like I don't need to be in a great hurry on this one.

 

Thanks for the welcome, everyone. I'll be around.

[Popsnana19655]

Hey these guys know all about this bike. Believe me. I'm working on mine. Got my Motor pulled and head off . Blown head gasket for sure . Still cleaning everything up. So they can tell me what I need to do it. OR replace the motor. 

I'm from Dallas. Moved Joplin Missouri 3yrs ago. Love it no traffic no traffic. Check out a bar called SCOOTER'S in Garland or The Brick in Wylie tell them Pops and Nana sent you.

[Mentat Ix]

So, I realize I ghosted on this for a while now. Project bike is pretty low priority, life got busy. Oh well.

I finally got around to stripping stuff off the bike. And boy, is it ever more messed up than I thought. At this point I'm just gonna see if it'll run, just for the challenge and then see if I feel like continuing on.

I just finished cleaning the carbs, and now it's time to ask the age old question: how many parts are supposed to be left over when it goes back together? I attached a picture of some extra little bushings/sleeves that I can't find a home for. Maybe someone can help identify them?

O.D. 0.245" (6.2mm)

I.D. 0.200" (5mm)

Length 0.318" (8mm)

[Marcarl]

Part #49?

[RDawson]

44 minutes ago, Marcarl said:

Part #49?

Part 49 of what Carl? Your schematic is blank. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Marcarl]

Maybe it works this time.

[Mentat Ix]

The drawing is hard to make out, but it looks like #49 is the spacer on the long bolt (one of four) that holds the assembly together? If so, that's a negative. Those are much bigger and aluminum.

 

Once I figure out what to do with the extra bits of carburetor, my next project is fixing some wiring harness issues and figuring out what the bare minimum of stuff to hook up to run is.

 

Right now I have the whole front fairing off and all those connectors unplugged. Its a real crap show, though - the wiring harness is butchered all over the place. Theres cheap toggle switches, there's duct taped connections, there's cut wires, there's self adhesive LEDs in strange places... I don't plan on using any of the radio stuff or any of the "extra" gizmos so I've been yanking a crapton of wires off the bike and tossing them.

 

Before I get too deep into the wiring diagrams in a manual I'm not 100% sure is accurate, anyone got advice one what the bare minimum electrical doodads that need to be functional to run properly?

Edited April 25, 2021 by Mentat Ix

[WIZ]

Number 20. It is a spacer behind the plate, I think it is the number four carb.

Edited April 27, 2021 by WIZ