GOT IT RUNNING / READY FOR THE ROAD

[larrydr]

After 6 months repairing what's needed , I have my 1983 ready to put it on the road .

I went front to back on my 1983 XVZ1200  ,  electrical , mechanical , and a few cosmetic items .

This my first Venture , and I do hope it will last the 2021 riding season .

 

[tufftom4]

No one will believe you without pics....

[SpencerPJ]

Congrats 

I think you will get more than one season out of the ole girl 🤠

[slowrollwv]

The only reason I don't own one is it is too tall for me to reach the ground.

 

[Snaggletooth]

I felt that way when I bought and brought home my used and neglected '84 that had been in storage for 9 years.  Did the work and hoped for the best.  That was at the end of "06.. Still have it.  Still riding it.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed mine.

[DonnyRudeDude]

Larry DR, good luck with your 83" VR, they are an amazing motorcycle and I hope you have many years of pleasurable riding as I have on my 84'VR which is still going strong. I bought mine new in 85' as it was a 84' leftover. I believe I paid $7,200 for it from Royale City Cycle in Guelph Ontario. I still have the receipt and all the paperwork from over the years. I traded a 78'  Suzuki GS 1000 that had a Windjammer Fairing and Krauser bags and trunk. They gave me $1600 for that bike which was in great shape and I rode off the lot with the new VR 84' and I drove around in a $600 Ford LTD (early- mid 70's) for a couple years. I remember my Dad shaking his head and couldn't understand why I drove an old wreck of a car and yet had this big beautiful new motorcycle, although he never rode bikes so he never got it. 

Question for Snaggletooth: how did you secure the lower cowl to your 84'. I made an impulse buy this summer, and bought a lower cowl from NCK Salvage and Sports in Woodstock, ON to add to my 84'. I went in just to inquire and they had a maroon one in stock, same colour as my 84'VR so I bought it for $95, thinking I'd figure out how to attach it later. I was confident I could as I'd seen pictures of a blond 84' (it may have been yours) on this sight so I knew it could be done. I also bought an 86' VR in the fall 0f 2019 as an impulse buy from a nice guy in Binbrook, ON. He just had a stroke and said he'd never drive that bike again, although he had a sport bike which he was still hoping to ride. I went to view it and it was covered in a layer of dust but I could still see the shine beneath and no rust at all that I could see. I went back a couple days later for a test ride and discovered the sensor that kills the engine from the kickstand was seized so every time I let the clutch out the engine would die. Also discovered the front tire was flat. He said "the bike had been sitting for a while", but stored in his heated garage. I found an old insurance slip on the bike that suggested it may have been sitting around for many years and along with the sensor and flat tire, I would think that is true. Much to my surprise and delight, the stereo, air suspension and cruise all work fine as well the bike seemed mechanically sound (although I'm no mechanic) and drove beautifully. I've since had the controller for the air suspension touched up as it worked intermittently, and now works every time, thanks to Malcolm Dadd, owner of Mintztech Service in Mississauga, ON. Thanks to Venture.org for the thread on how to do this fix. Oh, I mention all this as I can see on the 86" the lower cowl attaches to the front engine crash guards. Do I need to replace the crash guards on the bike with a newer years 86'-93 crash bars or create some brackets to hold it in place?

One word of caution to the membership and I'm sure most of you know this as you all seem like a very knowledgeable group and a little older for the most part and with age comes wisdom (I'm told). You should always, always include your better half in all decisions pertaining to motorcycle purchases. I failed to do so and I'm now banned from going on Kijiji (similar to E-bay), also, she has nothing good to say about that bike although she lovingly calls the 84' "my Girlfriend"😃. So...live and learn,

 

Mark

[Marcarl]

21 hours ago, DonnyRudeDude said:

Larry DR, good luck with your 83" VR, they are an amazing motorcycle and I hope you have many years of pleasurable riding as I have on my 84'VR which is still going strong. I bought mine new in 85' as it was a 84' leftover. I believe I paid $7,200 for it from Royale City Cycle in Guelph Ontario. I still have the receipt and all the paperwork from over the years. I traded a 78'  Suzuki GS 1000 that had a Windjammer Fairing and Krauser bags and trunk. They gave me $1600 for that bike which was in great shape and I rode off the lot with the new VR 84' and I drove around in a $600 Ford LTD (early- mid 70's) for a couple years. I remember my Dad shaking his head and couldn't understand why I drove an old wreck of a car and yet had this big beautiful new motorcycle, although he never rode bikes so he never got it. 

Question for Snaggletooth: how did you secure the lower cowl to your 84'. I made an impulse buy this summer, and bought a lower cowl from NCK Salvage and Sports in Woodstock, ON to add to my 84'. I went in just to inquire and they had a maroon one in stock, same colour as my 84'VR so I bought it for $95, thinking I'd figure out how to attach it later. I was confident I could as I'd seen pictures of a blond 84' (it may have been yours) on this sight so I knew it could be done. I also bought an 86' VR in the fall 0f 2019 as an impulse buy from a nice guy in Binbrook, ON. He just had a stroke and said he'd never drive that bike again, although he had a sport bike which he was still hoping to ride. I went to view it and it was covered in a layer of dust but I could still see the shine beneath and no rust at all that I could see. I went back a couple days later for a test ride and discovered the sensor that kills the engine from the kickstand was seized so every time I let the clutch out the engine would die. Also discovered the front tire was flat. He said "the bike had been sitting for a while", but stored in his heated garage. I found an old insurance slip on the bike that suggested it may have been sitting around for many years and along with the sensor and flat tire, I would think that is true. Much to my surprise and delight, the stereo, air suspension and cruise all work fine as well the bike seemed mechanically sound (although I'm no mechanic) and drove beautifully. I've since had the controller for the air suspension touched up as it worked intermittently, and now works every time, thanks to Malcolm Dadd, owner of Mintztech Service in Mississauga, ON. Thanks to Venture.org for the thread on how to do this fix. Oh, I mention all this as I can see on the 86" the lower cowl attaches to the front engine crash guards. Do I need to replace the crash guards on the bike with a newer years 86'-93 crash bars or create some brackets to hold it in place?

One word of caution to the membership and I'm sure most of you know this as you all seem like a very knowledgeable group and a little older for the most part and with age comes wisdom (I'm told). You should always, always include your better half in all decisions pertaining to motorcycle purchases. I failed to do so and I'm now banned from going on Kijiji (similar to E-bay), also, she has nothing good to say about that bike although she lovingly calls the 84' "my Girlfriend"😃. So...live and learn,

 

Mark

Put your first love on the back of that sofa, take her for an easy ride through some country roads, and her tune might just change a bit,,, I know mine did!!

[Snaggletooth]

PM Sent Mark

[DonnyRudeDude]

Hi Carl,

@Marcarlthanks for the tip. I did get my wife on the back of the 86'VR and she said she found it uncomfortable as the passenger hand grips rubbed on her legs, yet the 84' was always comfortable enough.  I thought the bike would be more comfortable than the 84'VR as the 86 has an adjustable backrest as well as passenger floorboards which I thought would make for a more comfortable ride. She might be somewhat biased because of what I previously said about including her in all motorcycle buying decisions. She is also the smart and practical one, as well as this will be my third bike. I also bought a beautiful 1999 Honda Valkyrie interstate two years ago, with her blessing. She figures who in there right mind needs 2 motorcycles let alone 3?? I never thought I would own 3, but when I saw the 86 and the beautiful condition it was in and the price, I could not, not buy it, I just love the look of the old Venture's. I was saving for the new Honda Goldwing or the Yamaha SVTC but soon realized I didn't want to part with over 30k on a new motorcycle, so for about 1/3 of that I purchased two bikes in the last couple of years. 

Also, sorry for the large pics. I'm not sure how to make them smaller, this is the default size. All the pics I've posted seem to default to XXL size,

Mark

 

[Marcarl]

Maybe if you raise the floorboards a bit the handles wont be such a pain.

To resize the pictures, resize before you post. There's an app for that somewhere on line.

[DonnyRudeDude]

@Marcarl Thanks for the advise. I'll try both of those ideas. The bike is in storage so will need to wait until the spring. I assume there's some adjustment in the floorboards as there is in the passenger foot pegs on the 84',.. That might make all the difference.

 

Mark