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Hey Jason, Well, my friend, we meet again! I wrote this post some years ago for a member that posted a question very much like yours! Take from this article the items you need to address, and leave the rest. This article will give you a much better idea of the condition of the bike you are looking at, and will give you a head's up to look for. I personally would scoop this bike up at $800.00, (offer him $600.00) and settle at $700.00. CHECKLIST for 1st Generation VENTURES The 1989 VR is the last year of the "Old Style" TCI in 1990, Yamaha went to the "improved version". This should not be a problem, plenty of them out there! (1984 to 1989 all fit) Check all three brake rotors for "bluing", which means that they have been overheated from a dragging Caliper. The left front and rear Rotor are not available from Yamaha any more, and were spendy when they were. This bike is also the last year that came with the "Two Brush" starter motor. 1990 to 1993 had the "4 brush starter". Run the bike for a while, shut it off, and try to restart it. If the starter drags, you will need to address this issue once you have purchased it. I have seen these bikes get 300,000 miles with proper care, so at 65,000 miles I would have a good close look at the front fork seals, (thin, black oil ring above the lower aluminum fork tube) be sure to check BOTH tubes! Also steering head bearings will start to be an issue at this mileage point, check them closely. Check the coolant overflow bottle which is located under the "door" above the CB Radio on the upper right side of the fairing. If the bottle is empty, then you have a "weeper" coolant system. Have a close look at the "fish eye" glass in the front Brake and Clutch Master Cylinders, if the fluid is not clear like water, (cola colored) then this needs service Since you can't see into the rear Master Cylinder, I would "draw" a sample of the brake fluid from the rear reservoir and check the color. (looking for clear color here) Remove the false tank cover and remove the fuse box lid, if any fuses are missing, or are "jumpered" with wire, then this is a major issue, but can be repaired. Remove the air box cover and check the air box for engine oil in the bottom of the box, and bugs and dirt in the air filter folds. Put the bike on the center stand and roll both tires, listening for dragging calipers and dry bearings. Sit down behind the rear of the bike, and hold on to the chrome side bag guard, and place your right foot on the rear tire. (bike in 1st gear helps) Push side ways on the tire firmly, you are looking for the tire and swing arm to move sideways, meaning the swing arm bushings and or bearings are shot! If this bike has spent most of it's life in AZ., then it has seen some pretty high coolant temps. Look under the water pump, at the weep hole, (right side of bike, in front of and below the foot brake) for signs of anti-freeze staining or leakage. While you are there, look at the front of the water pump where the "Elbow" exits the water pump and turns left to the Thermostat Housing, MAKE SURE that the engine crash bar has not cut a gash in this plastic elbow! If there is a gash on the plastic elbow, then most likely, this bike has been down on the right side at some point. Check right side fairing corner for cracking. With the bike on the center stand, start the bike and let it run until the electric fan comes on. If the temp gage gets close to the red area with no fan turn on, (fan should come on at 3/4 on temp gage+/- a bit) then this bike has been ridden HOT in stop and go traffic. While on the right side of the bike, look below the water pump for the "oil level sight glass". With the bike not running, the oil level must be half way up the sight glass. If the oil level is too high and there is no oil level line, then you have an issue. If the sight glass is so "foggy" that you can't see the oil level at all, this is a sign that the oil changes have been neglected. Cracked frames. Early Ventures, '83 models specifically, have been know to develop cracked frames. This occurs just above the area where the center stand attaches. Second Gear. In models from '83 through mid '85 there is a problem with the bikes losing second gear. It does not happen on all bikes but is very common. Usually starts by slipping out of second gear on hard acceleration. Can be repaired by a savvy home mechanic but does require the removal of motor. Expensive fix if you have it done at a dealer. I've seen estimates approaching $2,000.00 Stators. Early models suffered from stator failure due to over heating. Later models incorporated an oil cooling system. Cracked trunks. Very common to find the bottom of the trunks cracked out. Class air suspension controller. E4 errors are common. Caused by bad solders on the circuit board within the controller. Easy fix if you are familiar with using a soldering iron. Front end wobble. Pretty common. Various causes but usually either a slightly cupped front tire or loose steering head bearings. Repacking and proper tightening of the head bearings is highly recommended whether you have experienced the wobble or not. Exhaust collector. Baffles become loose and cause a rattle. There is a tech article on opening up the collector and repairing. There is also an after market system out that does away with the collector. Everything mentioned here can be corrected. The point of this inspection is to see if the current owner is being honest with you about the condition of the bike. If everything checks out OK, with NO broken plastic, then this is a $3500.00 bike. If you can't see the oil level, it has at least one blued rotor, the water pump elbow has a gash in it, and the right side fairing has damage at the corner, and the coolant overflow bottle is dry, then this is an $800.00 bike, and will be a $2700.00 bike when you repair everything. Because the owner wants to sell this motorcycle, he/she will say "anything" to make the sale. Print this sheet off, check everything mentioned, deduct for the issues found, and if he is still firm on the price once you have proved that the 2K service is BS. Then WALK AWAY! In my honest opinion, paying $800.00 for an 89'VR and putting $1700.00 into it to cherry it out is a "fun winter project"! Paying $3500.00 for the same bike and putting $1700.00 into it just to get it to stop and go properly is getting RIPPED OFF! My thoughts, for what they are worth. I hope you will find this info useful, and "Happy Hunting"! Earl

Go for it. you can try but if she is like my wife she will just say then the rest of the world is wrong too.

What’d ya call me?

Dawson and correct in the same sentence? Isn't that an oxymoron?

She won't believe us. Get Yama Mama to say it and you're golden.

Can I save this to show the wife that I AM correct every now and then? 🙄

Some intros VID_20210814_112854.mp4 VID_20210814_112854.mp4

@RDawsonis correct a relay is not a circuit breaker. The amp rating on a relay only indicates the highest load a relay can carry not the protection given to the circuit, therefore it does not matter how thin the wire is as long as the wire and fuse or breaker are the correct size for the load on the circuit. Any size relay can be used as long as the amp capacity of the relay is larger than the circuit load. So if the circuit load is designed and fused for 20 amps any relay rated larger than twenty amps is OK to use whether it be a 30 amp Relay or 75 amp Relay. Going to a heavier gauge wire and corresponding fuse is only required if the load on the circuit is more than what the existing size of wire and fuse combination in the circuit is able to carry

That should be a minimum of 10 awg. I'd probably opt for 8 awg on a 40 amp circuit.

14 awg is not rated for 40 amps. Does the circuit draw 40 amps normally? Here is a link to generic wire size verse rated current. http://wiresizecalculator.net/wiresizechart.htm, there is some slight increases in the ampacity for the same conductor size based on the material used for the insulation, if you need to safely carry 40 amps you need to be around a 100 awg.

Nice ride. Enjoy every mile. Congratulations!

Sounds like a good buy...I would buy it , even if it does need some work the Venture is solid bike

Well... the trailer is empty. Drove over an hour and had a good time with the missus but I just couldn't pull the trigger. While I would have loved to have used @skydoc_17 checklist, (thx BTW!!!) but cosmetically it was in pretty rough shape and as difficult as it was to get up and running "decently", it just wasn't what I thought I was getting into. The images he sent were apparently from when he first obtained the bike years ago which soured me right off the bat. While most of the plastics were present, they were pretty mistreated, especially the black plastic around the CB (nearly destroyed) and multiple areas of chunks missing from them. Left rear saddlebag with large crack through almost the entire top, crappy repair on trunk with water inside. It had been left outside for some time and multiple areas of rust on the chrome. Numerous items missing (parts not on my '83) and even more numerous oversized screws in areas that had wallowed out the holes (including the airbox). Dash was in rough shape and discolored and oil light error (I believe) was on. Clutch lever missing and for some reason the clutch line was transferred to the front brake (somehow to "diagnose" the m/c issue). Seat was completely trashed and multiple tears on the passenger "armrests". Engine looked remarkably clean and no apparent leaks (except clutch fluid from m/c he had already pointed out). Required heavy choke to start and still some to keep running even after warming up. Couple faint backfires when revved up until warm. I question the carb rebuild & if someone actually did it and a carb sync (said he paid $400 for carb work) I would have expected it to run much, much smoother. By comparison, I think this '89 with 39k on the odometer vs my '83 with 69k on it would have been a step backwards. I'm not saying it couldn't be brought back to life but I poured many an hour into my '83 and was essentially an absent father for almost 2 months getting her to where she is now and I just can't justify doing that again. Now if someone needs a bike with a good motor (I would LOVE to ride a bike with 2nd gear!) and has the time and patience I can connect you with him. He posted it for $1200 but even before showing up said he'd take $800 but I know he'd accept a little less. He even offered to meet someone a reasonable distance for the price of gas. Obviously he's pretty desperate! Thx to all who responded to my request for input and still thankful for the "adventure". Looks like it's time to put that new clutch in the '83!

Just wanted everybody to know that I will not be on VR for a while. While we were Vogel the North Georgia mountains last weekend I developed a tear and a detached retina in my right eye. After visiting a specialist upon examination that I have several tears of the retina in my left eye also, I will be having laser surgery on my left eye this afternoon Wed. to correct my vision in that eye, as soon as that is healed sufficiently within two or three weeks I will be having inpatient surgery on my right eye which involves cutting and laser to fix that problem. I will likely not get my full vision back in the right eye but chances are good that my vision will be restored in the left eye. As far as the right eye it's not expected to get back to the same vision I had before it happened. Would appreciate your prayers at this time