Just Bought a Non-Running 1983 Venture XVZ1200 (Need some advice)

[LandonBrice]

I just bought a 1983 Venture XVZ1200 at an auction for $216 sight unseen. The original plan was to part it out but after just sitting on it I think it might be the most comfortable bike I have even been on and I'd like to ride it on some longer trips (I'm a Triumph guy and a cafe racer'd Bonneville t100 isn't exactly a joy on the longer rides). It has a ton of minor issues, but other than some minor surface rust from being from New York on the chrome (comes right off with the old aluminum foil trick) its in almost perfect cosmetic condition. I found this forum and saw a youtube video mentioning the website and was wondering if you guys had any advice on common issues that could save me hours troubleshooting. It hasn't been tagged since 1987 and shows 5k on the odometer, which with the cosmetic condition, tells me it either got garaged and forgotten or something really bad happened to the motor a really long time ago. Once the new igntion and keys come in (had to get another full set of keys, saddlebag locks and keys etc..) I'm gonna try to see if it even wants to turn over on a new battery.

So far the problems I've just noticed looking and sitting on it are:

Brake and clutch lever don't do anything at all.

The brake fluid reservoir on both sides of the handlebars have what appears to be dark brown oatmeal in them.

Fork seals have seen better days.

The only cosmetic problem is that the mufflers are pitted out.

Minor corrosion but no rust in the radiator. 

Also, is the bike financially worth fixing (are parts plentiful and cheap, etc...) or is this going to be a $5,000 dollar money pit that's better off being parted out for someone else?

And, might be a little optimistic on whether it'll ever run or not but it does not have any sort of radio, are there any decent modern options for radio and speakers for these bikes that don't require hacking the dash and look fairly retro but still have Bluetooth?

 

Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!!

 

[SpencerPJ]

My advise, it is going to cost a bunch of money to get this ole girl up to a safe running order. It might be a great parts bike.  If you proceed, I'd certainly start with getting it running, and there will be a good chance that second gear is out.  many ride like that, just a heads up, 83s were a problem with 2nd gear.

[BlueSky]

Sounds like that bike is worth repairing, cosmetically in good condition, and with only 5k miles on it.  If you can do the work yourself, I'd say get it running well and enjoy!  The first thing I would do is a compression test on the engine just to make sure it's okay.  The second gear issue shouldn't show up until about 30k miles or more.  There is a ton of information on this site to read.  

One thing cowpuc always recommended on bikes that have been sitting is to put some oil on the valve train/cams before starting.  And cowpuc who is no longer a member is famous for buying old cheap 83 and 84 Ventures and putting a couple hundred thousand miles on them.  

Edited February 22, 2022 by BlueSky

[saddlebum]

3 hours ago, BlueSky said:

Sounds like that bike is worth repairing, cosmetically in good condition, and with only 5k miles on it.  If you can do the work yourself, I'd say get it running well and enjoy!  The first thing I would do is a compression test on the engine just to make sure it's okay.  The second gear issue shouldn't show up until about 30k miles or more.  There is a ton of information on this site to read.  

One thing cowpuc always recommended on bikes that have been sitting is to put some oil on the valve train/cams before starting.  And cowpuc who is no longer a member is famous for buying old cheap 83 and 84 Ventures and putting a couple hundred thousand miles on them.  

And I do believe most of them had the second gear issue (which is why he got them so cheap) but he just rode skipping over 2nd gear going  from 1 directly to 3.

[BlueSky]

As I remember, Cowpuc had 5 of these bikes that he wore out at 180k miles to over 200k miles, and as I remember, only one of them had second gear.  The 6th one that he bought from another member had the second gear repair.  He really proved how durable these bikes are.  

[saddlebum]

On 2/22/2022 at 6:22 PM, BlueSky said:

As I remember, Cowpuc had 5 of these bikes that he wore out at 180k miles to over 200k miles, and as I remember, only one of them had second gear.  The 6th one that he bought from another member had the second gear repair.  He really proved how durable these bikes are.  

and most of his riding was two up plus gear

 

[MoonShine]

Do it!

Bring this motorcycle back to life and ride the wheels off!  You will spend time and money, but if you want a solid, affordable, comfortable road bike that will eat the miles in sun, wind, rain?  This is it!

Rebuild the brakes/clutch master cylinders, new braided lines, rebuild and sync carbs, check fuel tank and replace filter and lines, new tires, rebuild forks, change all fluids, go through all electrical connections and look for corrosion.  About a grand (2 plus if you hire the work out) and a few months later you will have a superb road bike that can roll with anything out there.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2022 by MoonShine

[LandonBrice]

On 3/5/2022 at 7:58 PM, MoonShine said:

Do it!

Bring this motorcycle back to life and ride the wheels off!  You will spend time and money, but if you want a solid, affordable, comfortable road bike that will eat the miles in sun, wind, rain?  This is it!

Rebuild the brakes/clutch master cylinders, new braided lines, rebuild and sync carbs, check fuel tank and replace filter and lines, new tires, rebuild forks, change all fluids, go through all electrical connections and look for corrosion.  About a grand (2 plus if you hire the work out) and a few months later you will have a superb road bike that can roll with anything out there.

 

 

That's the plan for now. Should be in my new shop at the end of this month and I'll be getting started on it, I'll try to document as much as I remember to and i'm sure i'll be on here asking you guys about 400 more questions throughout the build! lol

[frankd]

5K is a bit early for the 2nd gear issue.   Yamaha used a soft thrust washer on the transmission shaft that has the 2nd gear slider on it and it tended to wear a bit and then the transmission would hop out of 2nd gear.    ALL the bikes made before the middle of '85 had this problem.   My 83 made it to about 75K.   Another thing you might want to do if you get it running is to pull the rear tire, and then the shaft drive unit and grease the drive shaft splines with heavy molybdenum disulfide grease.     If it only has 5k on it, it may NOT have the updated alternator stator cooling modification.   This was a recall done twice.    My first stator only lasted about 7500 miles before it became grounded.    Yammie replaced the stator and installed the first version of the modification.     A few months later, everything was fine with my stator, but they came up with a 'better' cooling mod. and they replace the stator again and installed the new kit.     The 83's had a weak frame and the cross bracket that the rear shock attaches to twisted.    My frame broke at about 90,000K.     I replaced the frame with one from a 84 which was way stronger where it broke.  My brother is riding my 83, and it is running fine with 140,000 miles.

[Pasta Burner]

@LandonBrice I had to look up the aluminum foil trick you mentioned.  Learn something new constantly around this forum!  Not only does it work well on the bike our cat is grateful for having a like new water bowl 😺 I have some chrome rims on the redline that need serious attention too!

Edited March 20, 2022 by Pasta Burner