johnnycruiser

I had read on here it was an 8 or 10mm. So i bought both and now dont remember which i used. Lol. ur probably right Mike and my memory is wrong. Now how can that be?? Me with a bad memory!! Hahaha. Today is the day I get my answers. I hope triple B (Big Blue Bertha) is in a good mood. I should go get her a treat!! I will let y'all know this evening what I find out. If I'm not back on here sooner with questions. That's the cool thing about this site...u can b working on ur bike, run into a problem, get on here and ask a question, and usually get an answer in time to go fix the problem

The 10mm is too big. Yea I read where people used air impacts on them. I have one but I had stuck my camera under the fork and took a few pics and the head is reamed out. I dont know if the po did it taking off or putting on but SOMEBODY did it. I didnt wanna try an impact and make it worse. the 8mm will grab a little if I angle it but slips right away. That side isn't leaking yet but eventually I know it will.

OH GREAT!! I'll check all that tomorrow. I know the circlip on the right side is correct but I need to look it all over better tomorrow. I told the Yamaha parts guy when i picked up my carb gaskets, o-rings, and fork bushings that I would probably see him soon! What sux is it takes 7-10 days to get parts. Does anyone know a site I could get a bumper(if needed) quicker?

OK. By the way, the bolt at bottom of fork doesnt spin

Oh i missed your other post snaggletooth. Yea I made both those tools. I tried to just take off lower fork like I saw in one thread but couldnt get the seal to go down so had to take upper fork tube off and go to Lowes and get da pvc stuff to drive the frk seal all the way down so the lock ring would sit

Crap snaggletooth I was hoping to line up the air port and measure oil level from top and be done. I think I will try it anyway. If it still doesnt feel right then I'll take a day and tear it all the way down again. I should have taken my time and asked on here b4 I put it all back together again but WANNA RIDE!!!! Any ideas on how to get that stripped head bolt out of the bottom of the left fork????? By the way, I do have a paypal account. Thanx for the pics of the turn downs, I believe I'd like to get them

So where is this bike wash??????? I've got a couple $20's I need to spend in a wise manner!!

I am so ready to ride:Venture:

The head on the bolt is stripped, my 8mm allen socket wont do anything. I made the all thread tool with two nuts on each end(works great) to go in top of damper that I saw on another thread but cannot get anything to bite on the bottom bolt. The funny thing about the air collar is-I read in my manual about lining it up and as I was putting the top of the right fork level where its sposed to be, i noticed the left fork was bout 1/4 inch higher than it was sposed to be. So i went and leveled the left fork and measured both from bottom of tree down to make sure they are the same. So, by that time i had forgotten all about the air collar. Bet that @#$% don't happen again! Thanx for the feedback. I'm gonna tear into again tomorrow. Bad thing is I have to at least take the right front fairing off(again lol). My right front brake caliper is sticking and I'm gonna try and loosen that up. Put on back brakes and bleed clutch and brake lines

Thanx for the great info all. This site is the best for a new(but aged) venture owner. Someone has had these forks apart b4, which is no surprise. The right fork had two shoulder washers, the left had 1. I got the bike on the center stand and placed floor jack under engine. Measured oil from bottom instead of top. probably main problem with lack of stiffness plus i dont think i got air hole at top lined up. One other issue i had is when i got the damper out of the outer fork, only the spring came out. None of the 3 washers nor the taper spindle. Do they just fall out with the spring or do u have to make them come out? :confused24:I only did the right fork seal because the left isnt leaking!! Lol. Nah, i would def have done them both but the real reason is the bolt at the bottom of the fork is stripped. Yeee Hawww!!! Tap n die time i guess. One thing about working on my bikes is my tool assortment sure is growing. Thanx again Psychos. Hahahaha

I removed the bolt at the bottom of the forks and pumped out all of the oil. So u measure from the top? I measured from the bottom with the forks compressed!!:rotf:No wonder the front end feels like it does. Hahahaha. Doesnt it do your heart good helping out us simpletons?? Thanx for the tip on getting the bike on the center stand. It took my nephew (a skinny 15 yrs) and myself a coupe times to get it up there. I was on the bike using my left foot and it kept slipping off. I've got to be up at 4:30 for work so going to bed with an easier mind. Thanx again Snaggletooth. Looks like your my first friend.

Thanx for the list 2 check snaggletooth. I did do the oil without the springs in but i didnt fully extend the forks. I paid $100 for my yamaha manual and this site is way better because the manual assumes im a japanese bike builder already! lol. It does say use 13.5 oz's though. Anyway i bet that's da problem. I wondered why i only used 9 oz's oil for each fork. I'm thinking 5.5" might be too stiff. I weigh 210 and it's usually just me. what measurement do you think for an all around good ride? Bikes been sitting for 6 years. couple weeks ago i put in barnnet clutches, new battery, brake pads everywhere. As i said, this weekend rebuilt carbs and did forks. A lot of work but from all i read here it should def be worth it. Cant wait to REALLY ride her. Thanx again for your quick response. I work 12 hour days but am off friday. Now that the bike is all together, I will have to put her on the center stand and jack da front end off the ground again to extend the forks all the way out to get an accurate measurement right? Can u come help me get this beast on the center stand????

Hi all. I have recieved great in info from this awsome site while doing the following jobs. There are some really cool people here. I have an 83 venture 1200. Rebuilt da carbs sat n did fork seals and progressive springs sun. put in 5.5" oil like it says, used da spacers that came in box as the directions said they were correct. It should have taken about 13 oz's of oil right? When i got to 5.5" in each fork, i had only used approx 9 oz's in each tube. What da hell? And yes i pumped the forks up and down. The fork tube was burping and gurgling. No oil leaking all over my right side front brake caliper any longer. Forks seemed stiff sitting in garage. Then went for ride around the block, when i got back the front end was real soft but not bottoming out. when i push down on front end it sounds like air coming from top of tree. Could the air parts be leaking? I've read that with progressives most people dont use any air but i was thinking maybe try some. If that doesnt work and i dont hear air escaping i guess I'll put in more oil. maybe it worked thru where it needed to but theres only so many places for it to go. Lmao. Any help would be most appreciated. I'm trying to get pictures of 'Ol Blue uploaded; both dressed and torn apart like i had it this weekend!

I bought and used this tool yesterday. my first time doing fork seals. My first time putting anhything on this site for that matter. lol. Tool worked great. And went to Lowes and bought the stuff out of pvc for the seal driver the other guy came up with> wish i would have went to lowes b4 spending 2 hrs trying to get the seal on with screwdrivers and a cresent wrench. The older i get the more stubborn i get. hahaha. New owner of an 83 venture 1200 btw