Hello From NY! Just Purchased 1983 "Barn Find"

[Stream Rider]

Technically it was a garage find. 9400 miles and very mint. Looking forward to getting my hands dirty.
 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Stream Rider
Learning the site controls/Adding pictures

[Stream Rider]

Looking for any advice on things I should be addressing first. I am going to start by draining/cleaning the tank, flushing brake lines and calipers, cleaning the carburetors, and lubricating the U-joint/final drive/pumpkin and suspension linkages. Probably rebuild the forks after that. Any checklist items I should be taking care of?
I have rebuilt and restored a few FJR 1300's, Goldwings and learned about the Cam Chain Tensioner and timing belt issues those had, wondering if the Venture Royale has little things like that to tidy up first and foremost. 

[Chaharly]

I think you have to pull the motor to change out the u-joint. If i remember correctly, and its verrrrry possible I'm wrong. There's no grease fitting on the u-joint.  The 83-85 have bad second gears. You'll find information on exactly what it is. You have to split the case to change it, but the part itself is a couple bucks lol. Another thing you'll find is the front forks will start to bottom out. Most guys upgrade with progressive springs. Get those things out of the way (and you can drive without 2d gear) and she'll run for 200,000 miles. Generally speaking they're pretty easy to work on. I really like fiddling with mine. 

 

These motors are pretty bulletproof. Most guys dont even do valve adjustments! 

 

Enjoy your beautiful bike!

[Scotty and his Scooter]

Congratulations Steam Rider!  I just purchased a 1986 recently!  That bike looks very clean!  Hopefully it won't take too much to get it on the road!  Good luck with it.  I took mine in for insepection today and it passed with flying colours.  Went to piock it up after work but it was raining so hard I decided to leave it till tomorrow.  Will get the licence and registation done tomorrow and be riding it Thursday!  Can't wait!

 

[Stream Rider]

27 minutes ago, Scotty and his Scooter said:

Congratulations Steam Rider!  I just purchased a 1986 recently!  That bike looks very clean!  Hopefully it won't take too much to get it on the road!  Good luck with it.  I took mine in for insepection today and it passed with flying colours.  Went to piock it up after work but it was raining so hard I decided to leave it till tomorrow.  Will get the licence and registation done tomorrow and be riding it Thursday!  Can't wait!

 

I'm really hoping the compressor is okay as I have heard they are a problem on the Gen 1's. I am really interested to learn a bit more about the immediate trouble areas and if there are any. Going to spend the next few days just diving into the service manual PDF and watching a ton of YT and kinda familiarize myself with the bike and the order of operations working on it calls for. I taught myself the FJR and the GW on YT and forums so I am hoping I can do the same with this beauty. 

[Marcarl]

Nice find, I know you'll love. Don't know what compressor you are talking about, but if it's for the air ride, it's usually not the compressor but the controller.

[Stream Rider]

3 hours ago, Marcarl said:

Nice find, I know you'll love. Don't know what compressor you are talking about, but if it's for the air ride, it's usually not the compressor but the controller.

I would like to know more about this! Please explain. 

[luvmy40]

There is a soldered buss/terminal strip on the CLASS control board that , notoriously has cold solder joints. If your CLASS doesn't power up in ACC position, or shows an error code(ER3, I think), it's probably a bad solder joint.

 

[bpate4home]

14 hours ago, Stream Rider said:

Technically it was a garage find. 9400 miles and very mint. Looking forward to getting my hands dirty.
 

 

OK, I'm calling BS.  That is way too nice to be a garage find. Darn fine looking ride. I've said it before I absolutely love the Gen 1, especially those handlebar setups. Those were so comfortable. I just don't have the ability to maintain them. Congrats on the find. 

[saddlebum]

On 6/28/2023 at 6:03 AM, luvmy40 said:

There is a soldered buss/terminal strip on the CLASS control board that , notoriously has cold solder joints. If your CLASS doesn't power up in ACC position, or shows an error code(ER3, I think), it's probably a bad solder joint.

 

I could be wrong but I think it was E4 or E6  but as stated its not a difficult fix if your handy with soldering circuit boards. As far as the actual compressor itself goes I cannot recall ever hearing of one fail on either the MKI or MKII 1st gens.

Once you do repair the board add an additional support for the harness were it enters the connector which plugs  into the controller and make sure the harnes itself has lots of freedom of movement. Opening and closing the door creates wire movement in the plug which contributes to the cracking of the solder joints.

[Woody]

That's a beautiful bike and you have come to the right place these guys know what they are talking about when comes to the Venture. 

[Vickersguy]

Scrap the brake lines.  The Mk I has weak brakes anyway and switching over to braided stainless lines will firm up the system.  40 year old brake lines are not to be trusted.

[Vickersguy]

P.S.  Looks just like mine except mine has some road rash and corrosion that you don't.