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Well, finishing up putting in a dual camera system with night IR capabilities and wi-if for live streaming rides. The button for still shots was not waterproof so I put it in the right cubbie.

Hey Tom, When you purchased your Progressive Fork Spring Upgrade, there should have been a pair of white PVC pieces of pipe in the kit. These pieces of "Shim" can be cut to adjust the firmness of the spring action in the front forks. They go on top of the washer that is on top of the new spring, and under the fork tube cap. This is the "Preload" for the new fork springs. By what you are describing, it sounds like you left these preload shims completely out. I dress out at about 185 lbs. and I used 1/2 of the shim in each fork. If you are heavier, you will use more of the shim. This was a bit of a trial and error thing for me, before I found the right amount of preload shim to use for my weight. To be honest, I purchased two schedule 80 (Gray colored) couplers and made my final adjustment with these once I found the correct length. The wall thickness of the schedule 80 couplers was quite a bit thicker, and I felt much better about using a plastic shim against a metal spring. They have been in for 7 years, and are still going strong. The white schedule 40 pipe that comes with the kit will do the job though. This will firm up the front forks in the sweeper turns nicely, but it does make the around town driving just a bit harsher. Once you have the length of the shim by using the white pipe, I would be happy to make you a set of custom brass spacing shims for your forks for the price of the material, time and shipping cost. When I do my fork seals this winter, I plan to use a set of the brass preload shims myself. You will know if you have too much shim in because your teeth will clunk together when you hit a pothole! LOL!! I started out with the entire shim installed. (Teeth Clunked) Then I went to 3/4 of the shim, (still a bit to firm) then to 1/2 the shim and that was just about right for my weight. When I make up MY set of preload shims, I might add 1/32 of an inch to fine tune it even closer. Let me know if I can help you with a shim set. Earl

So it seems Patch has let his membership expire, I was wondering why he hasn't been around since July 19.. That's two very knowledgeable 1st gen Einstein's we have lost this month, Cowpuc and Patch. ☹️ Hope all is well with him, I know Cowpuc moved on, I thought Patch was still actively riding. Oh well, happy there are many other smart ones to keep me rolling, and rest assured, a big thank you for your help.

I noticed that too. I'm still relatively new here & new to working on motorcycles. Those two guys motivated, encouraged, prodded and taught me as I was dealing with an excessive heat issue on my bike when I first bought it. I was getting depressed that I couldn't enjoy getting out and riding my new toy and they, along with others helped me get through it. The knowledge they possess and their patience with a dork like me was priceless. Whatever new chapter in life they are on to and the people who are a part of that chapter are blessed to have them. I will always be grateful to them for not only helping me, but the legacy of historical postings they've left behind here, which I often encounter when looking for various bits of info. Godspeed to you Cowpuc and Patch! Godspeed, my brothers!

Hello Dutch Navigator, Welcome to Venture Rider. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. Please introduce yourself so that our members can get to know you. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. This thread is primarily for introductions. If you have specific questions about your bike, you will get more responses if you post them in the correct forum. Dutch Navigator joined on the 08/07/2021. View Member

Hello fellow “Venturers”! Well, while I like the performance of my SVTC I know that “Raider” engine in it has more to give. There are some of you out there already like me who have drilled out the pipes and added the K&N air filter. For my part, I felt a definite seat of the pants increase in performance and it has not hurt my gas mileage as long as I “stay out of it”. That’s difficult though since I ride exclusively in SPORT mode except for in the rain. Anyways, Magnum Tuning has a reasonable performance chip at $250 which has been designed and dyno’d on a stock SVTC and they guarantee 15% MORE HP, 15% MORE Torque and 22% FASTER throttle response. All this without flashing the ECM and thus destroying the warranty. It works with the existing ECM program by causing it to adjust to parameters being fed to it (by the chip) and gives you the performance increase. In other words the ECM is just operating as designed, and the unit can be switched off and it goes back to operating as before. That being said, we know the weakest point of this motor is the flat tappet lifters. Because of that design, running a motor oil with at least 1500ppm ZDDP is essential. Mobil 1 V-Twin is 1700ppm and the only other higher is Redline Oil at 2200ppm but it’s pricey per qt. I did find a ZDDP additive which only adds $10 to each oil change but puts the ZDDP protection levels at 3,000ppm. I’ve ordered it and it should arrive by next Friday. I need to get the protection in BEFORE I increase the output. Its been requested that I do an “installation” video when I perform this, so I’ll do my best to accommodate that. Looking forward to the results!

I’m hovering right around the 190 195 range right now. 185-190 is my target weight. Been traveling a lot lately so eating out for weeks on end doesn’t help. I’ll swap out the cap for the shims and see what happens. Won’t report back for a few weeks though.

Hey Tom, Without knowing your weight, I can only guess on where to start with the size of the shim pipe. If you start at 1/2 of the shim pipe, (NOT 1/2 inch of the shim pipe) and want to make it smaller, then you better weigh 150 pounds! No insult intended Tom, but after your wife caught me peeking in the living room window to see how much shim you needed to add to your fork springs, (LOL!!) If you weigh MORE than 185 lbs. then I suggest that you start with the entire shim and work down from there, unless you DO weigh 150 pounds! (I hope you take my little pun in the spirit it was intended!) Earl

Hey Avi, Yamaha no longer offers this Semi-Floating Rear Brake Rotor new unfortunately. EBC offers a new Bi-Metal Semi-Floating Rear Rotor for the 87'VR. I sell them for $250.00 and $10.00 to ship. You may be able to find them cheaper somewhere else. I buy direct from EBC, but the low volume I purchase doesn't bring me much of a discount. I also have a used rear caliper from a 1987 Venture. I would suggest a rebuild on this caliper, but it did come from a functioning 87'VR. You might have luck just putting it on. (BUT I do suggest that you rebuild it!) If I can help you with either of these parts, or a rebuild kit for the caliper, just let me know. Even if you get these parts somewhere else, I wish you good luck with this project! Earl

We have plenty of apple pie Bobbie can drink instead.

Hi guys. I'm Peter from the Netherlands. Got myself a 2005 Yamaha Royal Star Venture XVZ 1300 TF with 18000mls. More or less in bad condition: lot's of surface rust. Was stored outside under a tarp 2 miles from the sea for 5 years. Motor and gear are perfect. Well, we got something to do this winter.

Noting a change whether good or bad but appearing to be isolated to a certain part or area of the bike is always a good thing. Now at least you have some idea were to concentrate your efforts in rooting out the negative issues. One thing I did not mention and should have is the fact that depending on how long any moisture may have sat in the fuel bowl you may also have some corrosion (yes contrary to what some believe aluminum does corrode ) bits can fake off and clog orifices etc. I have a friend with a Harley that cuts out in the rain on him but every time he comes to me to check out the issue the bike is on its best behavior even when I try spot spraying the suspect areas or hosing it down completely and repeating the process in the dark to try and spot any electrical arching, Its like its deliberately trying to make a liar out of him. In the end I just pulled apart his entire electrical system, primary and secondary plus charging system cleaned and dielectric greased everything. Now we just sit back and wait for his next ride in the rain.

Removing those lowers is a fairly major ordeal. I don't think I've actually seen it done. There are a lot of electrical components inside the lowers. On the left side you have the cruise control assemblies and on the right side a fuse box and etc. I would be hard to find a new place for all the things you would have to move. I've owned a lot of bikes and the Venture runs about as cool as any for a bike this size. The new Venture Transcontinental, the Harley, and the Indian all run MUCH hotter.

That's all the big that return orifice hole is, very tiny, but makes big problems when it's clogged.

New bike. At least it feels like it. I replaced the front rotors (warped one last time I installed a tire when it shot out of the bead breaker), new whoa pads on both ends, flushed the iced tea out of both brake systems, and the hot chocolate out of the clutch hydraulics. Ashamed I let the fluids go this long. Changed the oil and monkeyed with tire pressure a little, and installed the radiator guard that came from Ky Bigmac’s wife. Now I just need to clean it up before I head out to Vogel.

It sounds to me like the return orifice in the rear master cylinder is clogged. It won't allow the brake fluid to return to the reservoir when it heats up and starts to expand. That will lock up a back brake fast, been there, done that, on an 86.