cowpuc

2 days!! Hope Ready has got that back yard prepared to store acres of bikes and has lots of frozen Tamales just in case!!!

Ooppssss,, wrong hat

Come ear Maggie,, me and you got a science experiment to do...

You may have worn emulsion tubes, I found leaning em down some with the metering rods to be a great help if they are.. Here are a couple threads about it all = cheap and easy to do if ya wanna play with it to get those MPG's up to par.. Both good reads in their entirety IMHO.. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?103376-Jetting-adjustments-for-high-altitude-riding&highlight=metering+rods http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?86325-Carb-metering-rod-question&highlight=tweeks+metering+rods

Having experienced the up's and down's of the new Venture release I have found myself in deep need of some emotional and psychological therapy.. In my quest for calmness and instead of turning to drink or drugs I started looking at other venues. Ironically I found some much needed tranquility within the hall's of our long time nemisis and chief competitor Honda Motors as I read about what may be coming in the form of the updated 1800 Wing.. While keeping up with the latest rumors (an act that caused me all this grief in the first place - teaching old dogs new tricks and all that) I soon found my since of stability once again restored and felt my trigger finger starting to itch again = a good sign.. Reading the most recent release that, among other things, mentioned something about Honda going 4 valve on the new one caused me so much joy that I decided to post a greeting and a well wish on a Gold Wing site. Here is a copy/paste of that well wish for your reading enjoyment or,, for the basis of my next visit to club probation = what will be will be.. """"Hi Guys: I have been riding the Yamaha Venture for many years now - since 1987 to be exact. My wife and I are in the process of wearing out our 6th Venture since '87 and, when Yamaha announced the unveiling of the new Venture at Americade back in June - we excitedly tossed on our riding clothes, strapped on the tent and headed that way.. I am a dedicated long distance touring rider and am an avid member of VentureRider (under the same name as I registered here as) and, like so many of my colleagues in our club there, spent many hours writing about what we wanted/expected in the new Venture that we patiently waited for for many years.. Most, if not all, of our "wish lists" contained drive train specs that included hopes of Yamaha using the 1700cc, water cooled, fuel injected V-Max motor with hp/torque that would rival the likes of the Wing and/or even the 1600 Beemer.. Most of us were also crystal clear on staying with shaft drive too. As most of you can imagine, as my wife and I sat in the front row at the unveiling and they pushed the go button's on the new machines hidden from us - my jaw dropped as did my blood pressure when I heard the distinct sound of an air cooled, push rod V-Twin "Strat" motor = I WAS SHOCKED and, shall we say,, more then mildly disappointed!! Shortly after the presentation (and after getting the knives thrown at me during 1/2 time at the unveiling = you can see this debacle here in one of my You Tube video's if you want a laugh): I bumped into a couple of just as faithful brothers of the long road who's chosen steeds were 1800 Goldwing's and quite a discussion took place about what we all had just witnessed. Their take on the new Yamaha was one of "no competition here" to "Hope Honda don't do that to us if/when they update the Wing"! All that and now finding us all at this junction in motorcycling history with what looks like a real deal Wing upgrade being released very shortly - I want all my Winged brother's of the road here to know that I/we are rooting for you folks to end up with a REAL deal "turning the touring world upside down" scoot and that Honda "dont do that to you".. There are many of us brothers by different mothers who are watching this all unfold and we share in your excitement as we all witness this new breed of a Honda steed with the deepest hope that Honda stays the course and refrains from chasing the air cooled craziness that recently took place. May our paths cross out on the open road that brings us touring riders so much pleasure and may we and our passengers be forever protected from the scalding heat of the air cooled big twins who we share the touring experience with to infinity and beyond.. Puc :witch_brew::witch_brew::witch_brew::witch_brew::witch_brew::witch_brew:

Yes,, you are him and Yes,, you were right... We are in agreement,,,, at least until the Fried Chicken runs out,, then we may have to go back to Ya might wanna consider the source though cause I still think Mom Yam screwed up by not stickin that new V-Max motor in a shaft driven, REAL game changing new VENTURE of a touring scoot!!

I could sit in the sunshine eating endless Hot Dogs and drinking cokes while watching/listening Carl instruct people on working on their bikes all day long and into the night.. In college business writing I was always getting marked down for being "wordy" and this frustrated me greatly.. I think Carl missed his calling as a College Professor of Business Writing cause I think the student body could have learned a LOT from him with a WHOLE lot less frustration = oh well,, guess I will just have to overlook the abuse I took at the hands of Professors who had not a clue and be thankful that here, later in life,, the Lord led me into a classroom where true leadership abounds = YOU da MAN @Marcarl !!

Could also be a float level issue on one carb = running lean like its on and off running out of fuel.. Could wick it up a bunch in lower gears till she sputters a bunch a high R's and shoot the headers with a temp lazer and see if you find an odd ball running hotter than others = lean will heat em up.. Find a difference = stick a clear tube on the drain line = open drain and check fuel level/float height compared to others.. To clean Mainjet if needed, I would try pulling diaphram/slide and run a jet cleaning wire of right size thru main where metering rod slides. Another thing to check for would be water collection in bowls IMHO.. Also,, wide plug gaps can cause intermittent high speed.. Dont forget to check tank vent and one way valve on tank vent while goofing with it = vacuum there can cause fuel flow issues. Check pump pressure and operation and filter status.. I had a Honda 350 that use to do that stuff all the time to me before I got my drivers license and all I could do (unless my dad went to work and wasnt watching me) was go round and round in the school parking lot when I was a kid.. After much fooling around and tinkering I finally figured out that I had carboned up the combustion chamber enough by not running the R's up that carbon was coming loose internally and causing misfires as the engine got hot.. Fix was taking that old 350 out and letting her stretch her legs occasionally - bike LOVED it, I loved it, Cops hated it!! Puc

Now THAT made my ears ring so loud they hurt = even when I was down playin with my Grandson for Tippies Birthday yesterday!! PECAN PIE IS MY VERY VERY FAVORITE PIE OF ALL TIME!! PLUS,, eating LOTS of Pecan Pie is HUGELY helpful in getting that center stand thing down = swing the Pecan Pie counter weight downward and POOF = cakes all dough!!! If Tweeks is having a rough day or I am standing on the side of the road staring at a flat tire (ya want a REAL center stand challenge = fully loaded scoot with a flat tire = ) I call upon my secret weapon = "hey Tip,, ya mind lifting up and back on that right side passenger hand rail after I feel these center stand pads touch the pavement at the same time and my eyes start to bug out Speaking of center stand techniques,, any of you lop eared Puc harrassin varmints ever had the pleasure of experiencing a Kawasaki Voyager XII's center stand?? Those scoots have the COOLEST of center stands = mechanical sissor lift of sorts = WAYYYY WAYYY COOL!! Position the stand, lower the lever and step down - easy peasy!! On another note,, some of you's are slowly but surely getting to the point where your gonna have to do a rerun on the ol rear tire stand like Olivia had hangin on her backside - WARNING = if your old enough to know exactly what I am talking about you may be one of the varmints who are getting to that point

Oh,,and by the way = you are 100% on the to harsh = ya gotta REALLY watch the dip tank Berrymans closely.. As another experiment I left an O-ring in the tank for a couple days once just to see what would happen = prettiest black Dunkin Donut appeared when I popped the lid on that one = dont over cook the stuff THAT is for sure but I gotta tell ya, I have fiddled with and fired up more ol scoots for a test run by doing what I suggested and priming up the oil pumps first than I care to remember - enough so that I could find out what I had BEFORE sinking a ton a money in em chasing my tail...

Hearing that Bro!! Probably if you and I had met earlier in life I would have incorporated Marvel into my technique by using a gas/marvel mix at the end of the process instead of raw fuel cause I have read on here the number of times you have found success with it.. Time just got in the way DanL, I done ran out of steam = if ya get my drift.. Wish we coulda shoulda woulda way back in the Chopper days but I wouldnt trade the hot dog cookin, open camp fire foot warming conversations to ol buddies share here for nuttin = GOOD points ya make my friend!!

WOWZY WOW WOW WOW:scared:!! Happy Happy Anniversary to you and that GORGEOUS Walt Riv,,because of you = her original endless beauty is restored and it sure doesn't take much of a mental heavy weight to see that GLOW of LETS GO written back on her brow - YA DID GOOD MY BROTHER OF THE WRENCH:clap2::dancefool:!! A little note that may make you smile,, my very best friend of all time (Tip) celebrated her Birthday today (WOW did we have FUN playing with that grandson) = pretty cool that you and that Princess Walt shared this special day with us in such a very special way,, eh!! Walt + Riv = may the roads that lay before you be filled with sunshine covered mountain twisties and the warm breezes that only endless encounters with friends both old and new can bring. Happy Anniversary you two!! Tip, Tweeksis and Puc

Agreed,, IMHO Randy,, you should have no problembo on the carb rebuild, yep,, your that talented!! You and I both know from experience that when carbs get to the point that you are talking about here they really should be opened up and done properly.. A really really good top to bottom clean, some new jets and a complete rebuild of all rubber parts, taking the time to make sure ALL the passages into the throat of carb are open, triple checking diaphram conditions and replacing if needed, new needle and seats,, all that done, synced up and that puppy will run like a new one.. Then if its cared for the carb overhaul should last for many many years.. Now,, a little secret that I have done successfully many many times after purchasing a scoot that hasnt ran in many years and trying to figure out exactly what I have.. The following advice is NOT for everyone because if not done in a timely fashion = rubber internal carb parts are toast BUT - if you gotta take the carb down any way,, it's worth a shot IMHO and at least for me.. Years ago I did a very scientific test on carb cleaning products to decide which product I was going to use for my plan by seperating the carbs off a junk 750 Honda that had sat for many years with fuel in the tank and petcock open (NASTY) = opening them up and dunking the parts in seperate containers filled with pure, new, 100% undiluted carb cleaning products.. I narrowed my test products down to 4 of the best known products including one that I have used for years as a tank dunk.. Results in order of performance: 1st Place = Berryman's Chem Dip (comes in a one gallon dip tank = have used it for years) = parts came clean in one hour. 2nd Place = That Yellow and White can of carb cleaner that Auto Zone used to sell - they dont sell it any more but it was the stuff that if you got it under your wedding band your finger was INSTANLY on fire!! 8 hour soak and parts came clean. 3rd Place = Blue and White can of GM Injector Cleaner (for the life of me I can think of the actual name of the stuff - been a long time).. 1 day/24 hour soak parts came clean enough that with a small amount of rubbing with a tooth brush the stuff sparkled. 4th Place = Seafoam = left it set for a week and even then the tough stuff was hanging tough.. Still no clue why Seafoam seems to work like it does.. Makes the engine run better but testing showed it was NOT because it was actually cleaning anything.. I did all that above testing because, at the time, I was being over run with bikes of all types that had set for years and I needed to formulate a way to get em going without investing a lot of time and parts money into getting them started just to find out I was dealing with a bad crank or what ever = these were MY bikes NOT a customers bike that I was paid to do a carb rebuild on!!.. A quick,, make em run just to see what I had.. That said,, the following is what I came up with, has worked for me many times, even proved itself to work sometimes to the point that I ended up not needing to pull the carb down BUT - that was not 100%! Its a gamble.. So,, if its worth a shot and your gonna pull the carbs anyway AND your friends plan is to do a complete carb rebuild, here is what I would do first: Centerstand or stand the bike upright so the bowls are level. Shut off the gas, drain the carbs, pull the diaphrams/slides. Pick up a large animal injection syringe from an ag store (should be in your tool box already = very handy ), slide the end of the syringe over the drain line, fill the syringe with Chem Dip and inject Chem Dip into the bowls one at a time until the Chem Dip flows out of the mains a little, close the drain and go to next carb. Allow Chem Dip to set in Carb bowl for 1 hour!! Open Drains one at a time with syringe attached and suck Chem Dip out of bowls emptying syringe back into gallon container of Chem Dip for future use. Fill syringe with Spray carb cleaner of brake cleaner of your choice and inject into bowls until it drips out of mains. Let sit while you fill all the bowls. Go back to first carb filled with carb cleaner - attach syringe, open drain screw, agitate cleaner by pulling syringe in and out - few pulls and you will notice carb cleaner has turned brown.. After pulling cleaner all the way to empty bowl go to next carb and continue till all carbs are empty.. Now start over, do this until you have clean carb cleaner from each bowl after agitation. Now switch over to raw gas, fill bowls again till raw gas is seeping from mains. Agitate and empty 2x. Replace diaphrams/slides making sure that slides are all moving easily in carb casings.. Any sign of sticky = clean until it slides effortlessly.. Button her up, turn on the gas and see what cha got.. Any of that make sense at all brother?? Need a video for clarification = can do.. Another thing I would check very carefully is tank interior.. Look very carefully for rust in tank = any rust gone to stalagtites = tank seal. Most rust dust can easily be cleaned to perfection by emptying tank = fill it with white vinegar (stuff is amazing = personally I have used white vinegar fairly successfully for carb cleaning with the drain/agitate method when the jets are plugged off severly like the one your dealing with are = good stuff). If the tank isnt stalagtited = use vinegar, gotta let it set for a few days is all BUT = it will clean up and not remove the galvanization (in tank sealing removing that galvanization is commonly known as "etching".. If ya gotta seal the tank = Red Kote is THE max!!! Sorry for the long post,, hope it helps somehow!! Best of the best gettin your buddies scoot happening for em Rand = YOU DA MAN!!

A while back when I was with an unknown growing cancer tumor inside my abdomine about all I had interest in doing besides sleeping was watching the boob tube on and off.. I got started watching a totally true series on Net Flix called "Making a Murderer".. The show is a genuine perspective changing, eye opening experience about a situation not totally unlike your brothers Dan. What happened was a young man was wrongfully accused of and convicted of Raping a women.. Even though absolute proof was provided of his innocense - the local LEO in Manitowoc Wisconsin had it in for this kid so much that they swept evidence and kept him wrongfully in prison.. It wasnt until,, I think it was 8 years, much later while serving his life sentence that DNA proved his innocents.. Shortly after his return to the streets and a HUGE wrongful incarceration lawsuit was filed a girl was found murdered. This time both the guy who was originally falsely accused AND his underaged nephew was locked up - you wanna see how crooked a court appointed attorney can be? = wait till you see what that mad man did to this kid .. Amazingly, at the end of that series, the Prosecuting Attorney = some guy named Krutz or something like that, admitted to sexually abusing women who had entrusted that worm to handle their abuse cases and he used his authority to coerse them AND he admitted to it = never did spend time for his blantant felonious abuse of power because of who he knew and the man and his nephew never did get a fair trial are still locked up = crazy crazy stuff.. If a person would really like some insight into how quickly things can get out of hand and how slowly the wheels of justice turn (thinking that might be why your brother would make a legitimate statement like that and be "down" because of this) and maybe some insight into what Dan's brother may be involved in - ya could do a binge watch of "Making A Murderer" on Net Flix = interesting BUT disconcerting to say the least.. Sure will make ya and Prayers Up for your brother brother!!

Though I am still not sure that's knowledge flowing out of that fountain my friend but I will DEFINITELY take the compliments!!! And you are always welcome for the vids and comments brother!! Lots and lots of fun making them on my end which leads me to offering you a HUGE THANK YOU to for not being to critical of my off camber backyard mechanicism that shows up on a consistent basis in my advice.. Surprisingly enough I get a fair amount of comments over on you tube in response to the post I make there to repost over here and not all of those comments are so forgiving... Thanks Kretzer for overlooking the bad and enjoying the good brother!!

,,, I wonder what would happen if someone put that little arm that connects to the shift shaft on upside down .. Seems like that would make the scoot shift backwards = like 1 up and 4 down... I think if I am understanding this correctly that is the first thing I would check Ty:happy34: Want a video to explain what I am talking about:witch_brew:

:crackup:,, ,, :rotfl: Ever had a buddy that you wish you could just fold up and put in your pocket and be able to pull him out at just the right moments in time... IMHO,, that Yammer Dan is exactly THAT kind of friend :guitarist 2:!!!!! DanL',, I hope you know that it's off the wall little comments just like the one above that make spending time with you on club probation so relentlessly doable..

Few ?'s for ya... 1. Riding mostly 2 up or 1 up . 2. Any long distance, multi day trips coming up and if so, 2 up or 1 up.. Also, if so,, will you be pulling a trailer? 3. Inseam of rider and approximate payload being carried (people and gear). 4. Preference to wind protection = wind shield, fairing or none? 5. Performance wants/needs = you good with putsying or do you miss the GET UP AND BOOGY of your Magna? 6. Budget?

OUCHY OUCH OUCH OUCH,,, BUT,,, looking at that red arrowed picture of the ouch zone it looks to me like not only was the Deputy being sympathetic to ya brother = If I am in tune with what happened here,, you were not very far from the edge of a pretty decent bike eating cliff when ya finally came to a stop!!! I have experienced some pretty decent cross winds while out CTFW and can honestly say I actually rather enjoy em most of the time - especially the ones that make Tip, Tweeks and I laugh as we all scream "not even close to those infamous winds of Wyoming" at the top of our lungs BUT,,, in the wrong place at the wrong time like that pic shows and WOWZY,, lets a person know how fast bad things can happen to good people who are just out having fun I tell ya!!

Thanks Rand!! , no matter how hard I stare at those fast moving pics my eyes cannot pick up the huge change in the front end that they have been studying on the other sneak peeks... Good grief I hope all this hype isn't setting my weak ol pace makered heart up for yet another major let down.. I just dont think I can handle any more of it.. if Honda comes out with a new Wing that is an air cooled V-Twin powered and belt driven scoot = they may as well name it "THE WING OF REJECTION" IMHO COME ON HONDA = we are rooting for ya to restore some sanity to the big heavy market!!!!

I have a bunch of parts for sale and believe I have a decent set of those fairing pieces Evan.. Problem is they are in storage at my place out on the east coast.. Tell ya what,, Paypal me a few bucks for handling and I will send you the address of where the parts are stored out in New York and send you a key to the joint (funny shaped key, sort of looks like a pry bar) and you can help yourself.. Do it soon though, cause the Doberman Pincher that usually guards the place who is currently off duty chasing his tail in circles down south may return at any moment now that he knows his job back home will not be so boring.. Hope you and Becky have a GREAT time there Bongo!! Sure looks like fun brother!!! P.S. = THANKS FOR THE

P.S. = no reason to apologize for being wordy Dakota.. There's a couple of lop eared varmints wandering around here at the club house who can verify that :Im not listening tois actually a complimentary attribute.. Besides, IMHO, your little 3 minute thesis is nothing compared to the likes of the champion :Im not listening toer's known herein as @Marcarl and @saddlebum .. I will say this though,, with a little bit of practice (ya gotta practice practice practice if ya wanna be good at anything ya wanna be good at) - perhaps you could join the two of them at a rally somewhere and give your skills a shot.. If ya work at it hard enough maybe we could end up with The 3 Mouthkateers instead of just The Dynamic Duo Flappers that we have had to listen to for many years around here..

Back when I was still playing around with motorcycles I snatched up a left over Vertemati mx bike for cheap at auction.. Cool scoot,, gear driven top end, pancake pistoned machine that pulled like a YZF on steriods. Thing was a European work of art if there ever was such a thing. Guy walks into the front room of my shop, takes one peek at that 3 year old brand new $14000 (MSRP) Italian Stallion on sale for 7 grand, buys it and heads for the MX track.. Couple days later he comes back and tells me the VOR is awesome to look at but totally unrideable.. He's got the machine in back of his truck,, we unload it so I can take it for spin.. I noticed what he was talking about when I came into the first loose sand berm at high speed, the bike had a mind of its own and didnt mind telling the rider it and he were on two different tracks.. Steer stem issues instantly came to my mind so I motored the thing back to the shop, raised its front end and hooked up my fish scale to its handle bars to see what kind resistance to turn it had.. Looked fine except for a slightly noticable jerky movement in the scale when put to task.. Ripped the bearings out of the neck, cleaned up the bearings for a close look and BINGO = the bearings had developed a bad spot from setting in one place for an extended length of time. I would do all the simple things like raise the scoot, spin the tires looking for signs of belt slippage and checking tire air pressures and tread patterns for wear before rippin her down though... Smack the calipers to back em off a little so ya got no brake drag then check wheel bearings for slop is also easy enough.. Waggeling on the swing arm too to check for looseness is a good plan.. In the end though,, if I am reading what I think I am reading here, it sure sounds like a steer bearing with a bad spot in it.. On another note, since you mentioned the strange fender dings I would also do a simple frame check.. Lay down on the road and have someone ride the scoot directly toward you (do this in a big parking lot so some kid texting his girlfriend while he's driving his Dad's SUV doesn't come along and run over you while your laying in the middle of the road). Look down the axis of the tires where they meet the pavement while the bike is coming directly at you.. Make sure they line up and are not off set.. It's amazing how easily a frame can tweek at a steer neck if a heavy tour bike gets tagged in the front end, especially hard enough to bottom the forks and bend a fender if the bars were at lock when the bottoming happened .. A tweeked frame can cause some strange steer "feelings" to a rider who is in tune to noticing such things = especially when we are talking about an experienced rider such as yourself.. Sheesh,, I hope some of what I just wrote makes some kind of sense to someone besides me

+2!! :sign Rock On: If ya ever get a chance to fool around with a gear stack set into a case thats opened up you probably would really enjoy it.. There is a lot going on in there when that tranny is in operation that cause things to line up better/easier when in motion.. Even simple little things like gear design can, and often does make a huge difference in how easily things line up and more so when talking about how they do if the tranny is not in rotation when the shift forks start moving things. A fairly easily viewable difference in a couple of different designs can be seen in the two vids below.. If you look at the two videos below, go to 2:15 in the 1st one (Yamaha) and pay careful attention to the way the gears are cut in the tranny. You may notice that they are straight cut. Now go to the second video (Polaris) and fast forward to 2:48 and notice how those gears are cut on an angle? That is Helical cut and that cut allows the gears shift easier and also makes the gears quieter.. Unlike the guru's here (like YamaGrl) I have never had the pleasure of splitting the cases on one of our Ventures (I just run till they are cooked and grab another one) but I am pretty sure our Yam's are all straight cut.. I say that because I know that if you get into the habit of coming to a stop at an intersection and havent developed the art of downshifting before you come to a stop your tranny isnt gonna like ya much.. Also,, if you make it a habit of trying to force it to move from highway touring gear selections down to first while sitting at a stop, the two of you are destined to get to know each other in a very intimate way as swapping out bent shift forks will become common place.. Best habit is to down shift before coming to a stop. If I totally misunderstood what the issue is that you inquired about and this whole thread is more about stiff or catching shifting,,, I might advise changing oil (if the clutch is operating as it should).. On my scoots, all of my 1st Gens, having a "notchy" feeling trannie was a tell tale sign that it was oil change time.. Another thing that would cause that stickyness for my bikes was using to light of oil in hot hot tempts.. 15/40 Rotella = always fine for early spring/fall running but get into the heat of things , especially desert heats and my bikes would all let me know that its 20/50 time by a good case of the notchies.. Ok,,now something else that I read herein that kind of has me pausing for cause.. Its the part when you mentioned going right to 1st Gear. In my early years of MXin I had something like that happen numerous times and it was generally from coming down off a jump fairly hard and messing up (splitting the arm that the indent cam wheel attaches to or popping an indent spring) the shift mechanism that rotates the end of the shift drum from a hard hit on the shift lever.. Most metrics, including our scoots, use a form of this method of making the shift forks slide to this day.. If your riding along and your bike seems to develop a mind of its own as which gear at any given time it is going to be in it is more likely than not something to do with the far right end of the shift drum (can also be missing pins on the selector wheel or even just a loose bolt that holds the whole thing together).. I write all this to let you know that if this is the case, dont hit the catastrophic button yet.. Those components are all located under the actual clutch hub and fairly easily repaired.. Dont have to pull the motor and split cases like an actual tranny repair.. WOWZY,, long winded again,, sorry about that... Here are those two vids = 1st is the Yam,,, 2nd is the Polaris..

I am going shoot cha another quick vid here of my wife, Tip and I on our fully loaded Tweeks, our 83, running it down in 5th gear to 2 grand on the tach/35 mph and then leaving it there = no down shifting and opening the throttle and letting it climb to highway speed before letting up (I reopen the throttle briefly with still no down shift after making sure that wasnt a Police Officer sitting in the opening on the highway ). I did this video as a comparison challenge to someone testing the new V-Twin Venture to establish some kind of scientific low speed pulling power comparison between the two but,, for what we are talking about here - I think the vid may be useful, at about .20 in the video is where we let er buck. I ride these old Ventures at what a lot of folks consider a "lug" a lot.. I have found them (and ONLY speaking of 1st Gens) to be very very worthy scoots in low R's.. They pull very strong right off the bottom BUT,, their REAL performance potential doesn't start (IMHO), as mentioned, until ya get above 4500 R's = thats when they start to really come alive (you gotta get above 5250 RPM on ANY motor before horsepower goes above torque).. That said though,, they do pull plenty hard to that point when compared to other scoots of their size IF in proper tune, again,, IMHO.. Now,, all that said,,, I have never owned or ridden any of the early "Star" V-4's like you are riding.. I do know that I read somewhere that those scoots were majorly detuned (even to the point that I believe Star dropped the balance shaft in them because they were not allowing the motor to spin up like our 83 so they didnt need it).. Reading about all the other stuff Star to in detuning made me think they probably did so in search of a stronger torque curve because of all the hype happening concerning the higher torque that HD was stating on their V-Twins (and HD has been selling a LOT of bikes on that hype). Fact is,, again IMHO, chasing that rabbit was a fool's errand cause the original V-4 Venture, set up just like it was, pulled just fine.. All that stated,, I have a sneaking hunch that the answer to your question will actually be found in a good tune up.. Gotta remember,, these scoots are 4 cylinders and therefore, if one jug drags or decides to not carry its load its not like a 2 cylinder scoot = you dont 50% you lose only lose 25% of your power.. Again,, I am no real Yamaha mechanic or engineer, but to my pea brain this SCREAMS as an answer as to why these scoots can run so good on 3 cylinders (and they do,, and they dont perform that bad on 3 either).. Part of a good tune is making sure your carbs are in sync = very very easy to do if ya got the tools.. I strongly suggest anyone seriously wanting to ride any multi carbed scoot learn to sync their own carbs.. These Yamaha's have linked carbs and the linkages like to crawl over a very short period of time = especially when they get a few miles on them.. Learn to sync em and you will find yourself taking 5 minutes every oil change to resync = probably not totally necessary but syncing is that much fun IMHO.. From what I am reading here, I think a good pre op to syncing would be a very close examine of the slide diaphrams in all four carbs on your scoot. The reason I say that is because if those diaphrams have holes in them, the very very best carb syncing mechanic (and trust me - there are a number of them around this joint) giving you the how to's of it is actually going to do you no good.. I run NGK DRP8EA-9's in my 1st Gens and would not be surprised that that is exactly what your scoot specs out.. Thru the years I have tried many other types and brands but have had my very best of luck with the stock OEM plugs,, besides,, they are cheap.. The Auto shop where I get my plugs from didnt have any last time I dropped plugs in the old gal so I just dropped in a set of NGK D8ES's and they have been worthy - if you vary from OEM always make sure and check the length of the plug compared to OEM.. I didnt do that one time on a Honda 125 and end up bumping a valve and bending it cause the plug was 10 thousands to long !! Not that big of a job sticking a new valve in a single cylinder Honda but THAT would be a chore on a bike like yours.. Getting long here and I gotta scoot.. Hope ya find something in all this that helps somehow.. Oh,, before I forget = Puc