cowpuc

BINGO! ALL of the above only I also carry a small flash light that charges by winding the handle, hand impact w/bits, brass hammer, multi bit screw driver w bits, 16 inch Channel Locks, 1/4 drive socket set with 18mm plug socket, box end wrenches in 8, 10 and 12mm, needle nose, wire stripper/cutters w assortment of crimp ons n wire nuts, long handle allen wrenches, tube of E-6000, length of clear gas line long enough to hook to my tank vent line and be able to put pressure into the tank with my mouth while sitting upright and force fuel into the carbs if my fuel pump dies and I am 15 miles back in the mountains of Utah (had it happen), supply of screws/bolts/nuts, utility knife, xtra brake pad set, brake fluid, multi meter (freeby from Harbor Freight), tire gauge, (3) 12 inch tire spoons, I use to carry 2 C-Clamps for tire busting but then @VanRiver sent me a really cool tire buster for Christmas that works AWESOME so NO MORE C-clamps. A small bag of black tire bead solvent sealed up so it dont harden and I carry a section of 2x6 that I cut to fit perfectly into the bottom of Tweeks right saddle bag (Maintenance Department) that also fits perfectly under her center stand and raises her up just enough so I can get the rear wheel tire off without having to dig a hole in the side of the highway for the front end to drop into to raise the back end up for the rear wheel to clear. I do carry the rope type tire plugs though cause they vulcanize best for me and I carry a can of rubber cement instead of trusting the little cement packs that come with the ropes. I carry my extra clothing inside our tent that is rolled up tightly and then wrapped in a cheapy tarp so everything stays dry. Besides, my maintenance department tips +50 pounds with just all the repair stuff filling it that makes a 1 month long cross county summer trip increase in probability that all three of us will make it home under our own power and possibly be able to help someone else and their war horse do the same.. The End,, nooo,, The beginning lol Puc

Hi Braun and welcome to VR. Here are some questions to pick away at that may (or may not) be of assistance to the club MK2 guru's who hopefully will be here shortly to assist you.. 1. What type of "serious issues with the starter" did you have on your ride home = please expound in detail? Is the starter you got from Ebay a new OEM Yamaha starter? How did you ride it home with no fuel pump? Did the volt gauge on the dash show the charging system functioning properly? Do you have a clamp on Amp Probe you could test amp draw on the starter lead? Hows the battery? is it new and/or been load tested? is it fully charged? if its older and lead/acid how is its water level? did you try boosting the battery at start up with a jumper box or jumping off a car battery? How are the cable ends of the battery and connections at the starter solenoid? 2. were you getting any over flow of carbs when riding it home? have you checked your oil level for fuel contamination? what does the oil level in the sight glass read at this time when standing the bike upright? Did you spin it up fast enough with the plugs out to know if there may be raw fuel in the jugs? 3. what plugs are in the bike? are they NGK DPR8EA-9 and are the fire rings on all the plugs? Do you have a compression tester/gauge? Did you test each jug with the comp tester with the plugs out and tester in one pot? Is there any chance you have a engine endoscope that you could look in the pots and see how much carbon has built up internally? Stick around and this gang of lop eared VR MK2 guru varmints will help you get er figured out I betcha.. Puc

You are more than welcome Cowboy,, as always, its a true pleasure to be of assistance any way I can. If you have any others questions feel free to contact me. Peace to you my brother of the wrench. Puc

There you have it @COWBOYBILL, this is exacty what I was hoping for.. I had a hunch someone like @skydoc_17 would hop in and expound on the matter. No doubt about it Cowboy, poking around VR will definitely yield good results whether spinning wrenches or figuring out what ice cream to have after dinner... lol..

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

Tweeks, Tip and I spent many many years "lane splitting" in Cali and I gotta say I always thought lane splitting there was a wonderful attribute to traffic control and encouragement to ride a motorcycle in those endless 5 lane traffic jams. It made the beauty of riding a motorcycle in California and in such congestion not only doable but fun. In all those miles of doing so we also never did have or even see an accident as a result of doing so. I would be very careful if I were still riding/touring of lane splitting in a State that has just approved the action though because California is a "seasoned" State of the practice and, very similar to new traffic lights or other changes in traffic flow causing issues, I bet it will take time for all riders/drivers to get the hang of it. Just like doing away with helmet laws, I am in total support of lane splitting. Anything that makes riding a motorcycle a little closer to true freedom is good by me..

Yep,,, me thinketh thou haseth some basque Gypsy blood in there somewhere @skydoc_17 cause I felt the channeling thing going on! Wouldn't have said what you said when you said any differently ya lop eared Gypsy varmint.

What model/year @Ronbo83?

RATS! Oh well,, at least your ignition tumblers got some lube.. Next I think I would look under the neck (notice I would try lubing the tumblers like you did 1st so I didnt have to bend over lol) and locate the lock mechanism and bump it with a punch and a hammer,, not hard, just a light tap or too to see if it free's up. Then try to shoot some WD40 around the cylinder that is suppose to pop out. @ReinyRooster, can you look under there and see what position the bars are suppose to be in to allow the cylinder to pop out? Maybe your not getting the bars in just the right spot and when you push down on the key the cylinder is hitting on the stop and not letting your key go to full lock..

LOL ya lop eared Preacher varmint @PastorCurt.. Here is some inside info that may help ya get back to snoozing after saying a short prayer for Tippy (my wife of 42 years next month) cause its kind of sad.. The story you read above is, as all my stories are,, TRUE, real things that actually happened. Can you imagine what my precious GOD LOVING wife has put up with thru the years? Now say a quick prayer for my bride and go back to tender slumber brother.. LOL

True that!!! Wearing out 6 of them since 1987 and keeping the left overs for parts DOES have its advantages LOL.. Of course, having a wife like Tippy helps too cause she has put up with A LOT thru the years!

Take a pencil, bare some of the lead in it and scrape some pencil lead dust over the key switch.. blow the dust into the key slot with compressed air.

GORGEOUS!!!

BANG SHANG ALANG you dah MAN brother!!! GOOD ON YA!!! Thanks for the update!! Puc

and if you can get DanL's son to toss in any left over Tent Poles in on the deal you will REALLY have some historic fire side chat material Ronnie LOL

I ALWAYS enjoyed lane spitting back when I chewed tobacco. Get er up to 100 mph, stick my naked head out into the wind, turn my head so my ears didnt fill up with spit and let er rip. It was a whole lot better than swallowing the stuff which always gave me heartburn. One time, back in the 1970's when I was Tigging tube (thought ya had me didnt ya @flyday58, thought I was gonna say tigging pipe didnt you?) for the Boilermakers I was up at 290 feet in the Power House tigging a wall of Super Heaters and had a mouth full of Days O' Work chew and had to spit. There are no lanes when your up there, just you, your "Pimp" (helper who does all the leg work like fitting walls for you), a Tig torch and a gorgeous view of the boiler activity below. I saw no one below so I let er go.. That great big wad of spit headed down and instantly filled with air and took on the shape of a tobacco chew spit umbrella. The umbrella moved from side to side in "the hole" below as I and my pimp watched it in amazement.. It suddenly caught an updraft and headed toward the boiler walls below us and disappeared into the east wall at about 140 feet down. I looked at my pimp and we both starting laughing and laughed until we heard a crew of Iron Workers down there scream "Stop spitting!!!". Back to work.. The end.

ahhh ohhh,,, look out world,, Corporal Newkirk is retired and got the bug!! LOL

@skydoc_17,,, THANK YOU!!

WOWZY WOW WOW WOW Corporal Newkirk!! THAT is FANTASTIC! Tip and I congratulate you and wish you nothing but the FINEST of retirement years my friend!! That is AWESOME Ronnie! God Bless! Puc

@uncledj,, hi Unc!! I agree with you,, I would definitely want to know whats causing the drain too, I dont trust Murphy and KNOW he would get me at just the perfect time so here is what I would do. I would turn off the ignition and pull the fuses one at a time and do an amp test with my multi meter across the open circuit where the fuse was. Any amp draw higher the 30 or 40 milliamps I would be concerned with. Dont forget to check ALL fuses including the main. I would also look closely at the voltage regulator/stator system in the same way. I had a regulator allowing AC thru slightly that ended up being the cause of what your dealing with. I also had a similar experience with a fried terminal where the 3 wires from the stator connect to the wire harness on the frame of one of my MK1's. If your riding a 2nd Gen, which I believe you are, another cause could be the ignition switch itself. If memory serves me correctly (getting old brother,, memory lapses are not that uncommon these days) the 2nd Gens are known for ignition switch issues? Maybe even do a amp test at the battery leads while flicking the ignition on/off and watching the meter. One thing for sure,, it dont take much of an errant draw to drain a bike battery and it is really NO FUN when Murph takes the slight draw and turns it into an instant dark in the middle of the night while crossing the desert 2000 miles from home lol.. Love ya! Puc

Oh,, by the way,, I am going to hold you to some pics of that MK1 my friend!! You KNOW me and bike pics!! THANKS!

and it is on its way! See you lop eared varmint,, chicken lips arent that hard to find LOL... @skydoc_17, the caliper was still mounted on the bike and the pads were not on it but I was smart enough to have pushed the pistons all the way back in after I had stolen the pads out of it years ago (probably to keep in my bikes maintenance department for an emergency, you know how it is). The brake line was still attached and when I pulled the banjo I got brake fluid out of the caliper so I am fairly certain the internal area's of the caliper should make for a fine rebuild. I most certainly hope it helps in your situation my brother. I will jump over to the PM you sent me and send a pic of the tracking number for it. Keep the faith and YOU are welcome Earl! Puc

@skydoc_17, I am sure I can come up with one. It will definitely need to be gone thru though cause my parts bikes have been sitting a good while. Does $35 shipped sound fair? I will ship USPS flat rate so it should be there in a couple days. If that works just P.M. me your shipping address and I will go out back and pull one for you. Puc P.S. THANK YOU for keeping these amazing MK1's on the road ya lop eared varmint!

"HALF PIPE" LOL!! Hiya Flyboy, been a while,, how's the turbulence? I am not really qualified to offer advice on the 97 cause I really never touched one but until a real guru comes along we are, once again. stuck with each other LOL.. Common issues would be making sure the pipe(s) and air box(s) are open so she can breath. Speaking about it from a MK1 perspective I think I would take a close look at the carb slides/diaphram operations. Torn diaphrams and/or sticking slides are notorius for acting just as you describe. You should also double check those main jet metering rods hanging from the slides and slide springs. Another thing I would triple check is the timing advance module (if it has one). On the MK1 that puppy is mounted right beside the TCI and is vacuum operated. It could be as simple as a bad vacuum line so the timing is not advancing. Another thought you need to be aware of @flyday58,, those Royal Star Tourers were a different varmint than the MK1/MK2 and RSV's. They did not have a balance shaft, had smaller carbs and I am sure Mom Yam designed that motor to not spin up like the other V-4's she had produced. Maybe double check the OEM specs, drop a tach on it and see if its really only rapping out to 3500 R's. SOOO MUCH FUN brother,, I know you will figure out. By the way,, that red stuff you got your hands on for lining the tank is probably "Red Kote".. If it is you got your hands on the BEST stuff available for doing the job. I have coated many tanks thru the years and can verify, that stuff is AWESOME! Good to hear from you ya varmint!! Half-Pipe Puc

Unfortunately I am no longer able to tour on the bike @COWBOYBILL, this one is totally on @Pasta Burner.. I am just an innocent bystander offering advice that may assist him on what hopefully will be an AMAZING trip for him. On a side note Bill, you mentioning UFO's made me chuckle.. We have camped MANY times along the Terrestrial Hwy out on Nellis with hopes of just that. Never ever did find/see one though LOL..