Leaderboard

Haven’t been riding much, back and hip problems keeping me sidelined. Last week we had a 70* day so I sucked it up and we did almost 200 miles. West TN dragon, crossed the ferry, and back to Ky all on back roads.

I just wanted to let everyone know. That I also bought Earl's fuse box kit. And I'm a very happy customer. It was a very complete kit. Everything you needed to do the job. Straightforward instructions. Easy to follow. Step by step. Told you exactly what you needed to do. Even included his phone number if you got lost and didn't understand. Something but there was really no need for that. Like I said, the kit. Included everything you needed, plus extra parts. I took his tip on tanning. The wires. I wished I could figure out how to post pictures. I did take some. Of the finished product. But I'm not smart enough to do that. Earl also gave me some pointers on rebuilding the rear brake caliper. Which came in handy when I did that? He's an all around great guy. I saw somewhere on the forum here to just buy parts for the fuse box, Let me tell you this. Don't do that buy Earl's kit. It's all top quality stuff. It'll save you a lot of headaches. Is instructions are great? It's a complete kit. You get everything you need, plus more. It'll save you a lot of time. And a lot of headaches. And a lot of money . Glen Murra

FYI.... I ASKED COWPUC ABOUT MY STARTER WOE'S AND HE BEING ONE OF THE KINDEST AND MOST INFORMATIVE MEMBERS ON VENTURE.ORG.....TOLD ME WHAT TO DO. I BELIEVE THIS INFO IS TO BE SHARED WITH EVERYONE ELSE ON THE WEBSITE.....THANK YOU COWPUC !...YOU ARE THE BEST.....COWBOY BILL HOWDY COWBOY!! Always a pleasure hearing from you my brother! On the starter question... Years ago Yamaha produced a bike called the 750 Virago,, do you remember them? The 750 Virago design with its "bendix" was a huge failure for Mom Yam because of the noise you are hearing and my shops backroom made good money fixing the noise by grinding relief on the mating gears of the bendix to quiet them down (something Mom Yam approved of for warranty repair but never did a recall on,, made me mad - I should have been rewarded HUGELY for that lol). After regrinding those mating gears all that was left was for the owner to ALWAYS remember to use a GOOD battery and to keep the starter cleaned internally so the starter would not let the engine backfire on start up, ruining the gears. Mom Yam DID make a new design for our Ventures, thankfully, called a Starter Clutch as shown here: https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/motorcycle/1983/xvz12tk/starter-clutch As you can see, our Ventures do not have a Bendix. Instead there are idler gears that transfer the power from the starter to the starter clutch and that "clutch" has 3 spring held engagement devices that engage when you spin the starter up. It sounds to me like your starter clutch has failed, cracked where the pins set in it that hold the engagement arms. Bill,, this is actually very common because most owners do not know that they REALLY need to keep the interior of the starter clean from carbon dust created by the brushes and to always keep a good battery employed - basically the same maintenance I ALWAYS explained to the 750 Virago owners I had done my repair to to quiet their bikes. The hardest part of fixing/replacing the starter clutch is removal of the flywheel to get at the starter clutch. If the flywheel has never been removed it can be a bugger.. You will need a GOOD 2 or 3 jaw puller and, I suggest, a GOOD impact rotary. Put a bike strap over the flywheel to catch it when it finally lets go so it dont get ya. Also take a REALLY close look at your bikes stator assembly while your in there, look for burned coils. Make sure your bike has had the update to the stator installed consisting of a splash plate to toss oil on the stator and a wire that goes into the flywheel nut oil orifice. You could also look into locating a 4 brush starter (as used in the MK2's) as many Venture owners have found them to not be so dependent on keeping the starters clean internally, at least that is what I have read/heard. Personally I have never had need to replace my starters with the 4 brush or ever had a starter clutch fail in any of my 6 MK1's covering over 1 million miles. I am pretty sure that has to do with the fact that I always kept my starters clean and maintained a good battery. Hope this helps my friend! If you have ANY other questions do not be hesitant to ask! Your brother of the wrench n saddle. Puc P.S.. - it might not be a bad idea to repost your exact question to me in the Watering Hole and I will copy/paste my response to you there. It may produce other ideas (always a good thing) and help others in the future. what say you?

This is just a place to share a recent ride without starting a new thread, here I'll start it off. 😎 Trina and I went to eat with my son yesterday it was his birthday and on the way we seen so many bikes that when we got back home we jumped on the trike and went for about an hour ride I enjoyed the ride so much I can't even tell you what roads we went on but it was all back roads.

My husband and I have been members here since 2006. We have a 1999 RSV. We have ridden together since that time. I have always enjoyed riding with my husband but then last year I decided to no longer ride. I did not ride at all last year. I believe I decided I was no longer willing to take the risk of riding. I told my husband of my decision, and he is still riding. I am going to let him decide for himself. I just felt with all the crazy drivers out there in this world, I am not willing to accept the risk any longer. What do you think of my decision? Yama Mama

Left side behind side cover. Take off passenger foot board.

I bought a slightly used 73 Honda CB750 in Feb of 73. It ran great on the test ride. After buying it I stopped for gas at a country store and by the time I got it home, it was running ragged. I replaced the plugs and that helped just a little. After putting more gas in the tank it ran great. But in the mean time I thought I had gotten taken on the purchase. I paid $1150 for it with 800 miles on it. A new one was $1450 in the winter and $1750 in the summer in Raleigh, NC. I loved that smooth 4 cylinder bike after learning to ride on a vibrating 71 Honda CB350 twin.

If you're ever in Big Bend - SW Texas - Run the Rio between Lajitas and Presidio. 50 Miles of pure fun. https://goo.gl/maps/M64YisDBC7ajL24K9

Left side under the seat. I think.

Fried oysters and French Fries that were actually cooked properly.

Perfect @COWBOYBILL and THANK YOU,, not just for following up on this but for the kind words my friend. Hopefully if I missed something here in my response to your P.M. the sites guru's will jump in with other thoughts that will make your repair even easier! Puc