cowpuc

WHAT A BLAST STAT!!! Hope you are having a GREAT time and you are successful in finding sleeping quarters! Following your adVenture here made me think of something.. I have no idea if your CTFW in the old school method of dropping the tent where ever you land for the night but if you are and you are in the area of Mark Twain National Forest, you might consider it for an overnight LZ (see vid). Also, if CTFW down in KY, there are still ample spots for a quick - but VERY worthy drop in and sleep there too (see vid #2 ). Never was much of a moteller but if you folks are doing that type of CTFW adventure I am 100% sure that the southern hospitality, being what it is, will prevail and you will easily find those hidden morsels of goodness simply by stopping in a town and asking accomadational advice from the locals.. Some of the most AWESOME adVentures for Tweeks, Tip and I came about simply by doing exactly that (locals pointing us to fantastic exploring of off beat roads/trails, finding hidden caves and even historical attractions that are not on any maps) and it always amazed me how willing those southern folks were to assist. Bottom line = ENJOY and sieze the day out there CTFW!!! Puc P.S. = please remember the 's for us to go along with some awesome ride reports!!

It's just another on the longggg list of flaw's in my Character Patch ,, wouldn't it be interesting if the mechanic at bike shop the OP went to had never swapped out a set of wheel bearings on a scoot, googled the process for accomplishing the task and ended up following my off beat suggestion, miraculously was successful in swapping in new bearings and charged the guy 200 bucks for labor LOL... CRAZY world we live in brother LOL P.S. = how would YOU have done the project with minimal tools?

It's just another on the longggg list of flaw's in my Character Patch ,, wouldn't it be interesting if the mechanic at bike shop the OP went to had never swapped out a set of wheel bearings on a scoot, googled the process for accomplishing the task and ended up following my off beat suggestion, miraculously was successful in swapping in new bearings and charged the guy 200 bucks for labor LOL... CRAZY world we live in brother LOL P.S. = how would YOU have done the project with minimal tools?

Looking GREAT there Rodney!! Hoping to see you at MD if all goes well for both of us !! Have fun and ride safe brother!!!

That student that is always causing mischiefs hand slowly rises in the back of Patches classroom.. As Teacher Patch reluctantly call's upon the lop eared troublemakin varmint one more time, the student asks: But Master,, isnt high speed spinning basically only used for checking the balance of the tire where rotational speed is affected by improper weight(s) rotational effect? It seems like slower rotational speeds (even slower than shown in the video) would be necessary for checking bead seating, belt issues affecting side to side movement, truing spokes and even a bent rim. I use to use a dial indicator in my shop for truing wheels on spoked wheels and cant imagine trying to work with them, locating high and low spots at high rotational speeds..

Yep,, that is the stuff! Not sure but I think I may have some parts/pieces of the setup that came on my 84.. Been a longgg time since I have seen any of it (stored in a box up in the garage) but if you think you might be able to use any of it I will drag it/them along to MD,, yours FREE just for being such a great Boss (+1 "get out of the VR penalty box" free card for shipping and handling of course )..

My very first 1st Gen back in 87 was a Blonde 84 Royale, came out of an estate sale of an older gentlemen who put a ton of $$$'s in it before he passed away. Reading this @Freebird reminded me that one of the add on's he did was adding " side wings" to the windshield. They were attached to the sides of the shield by drilling thru the windshield and mounted so they could be pivoted in and out.. Made AWESOME venting and actually worked really well at their intended design of widening the stock windshield. I was also amazed at how little they created view blockage and how well they worked in the rain for pushing the wet outwardly. Ever heard of or seen them brother? Wonder if that might be an answer to meet your wider shield needs.. I KNOW,, all old school stuff BUT that was the school we attended

Tellin ya Dog,,, I feel like I need about 2 weeks of CTFW to tent camp on the back of the Bad Lands N.P. where there is nothing but Coyote's howling, Prairie Dogs chirping and an occasional Antelope walking by. Snuggling down on mother earth and listening to the ghosts of Indian Ponies for a few nights would DEFINITELY be theraputic to these old geezer bones after that month brother!! This is THE spot if you should ever find yourself in the need:

You betcha Suds!! Always a pleasure!

That and I dont think those early RS's had a balance shaft for spinning em up and had smaller carbs and such,, sort of "detuned" version of the other V-4's.. Thinking they were maybe 65 hp? If so, they probably wont perform up to normal Venture V-4 specs when diggin on it,, if I am correct in this... All said, I would still take a peek at the Carb slide diaphrams and slide assemblies if it were mine as mentioned by Duey. Torn or pin holed diaphram complications usually show up in loss of power IMHO.. A good tune up including fixing the diaphrams if their holed might not be a bad idea.. Don't forget to sync those carbs too Scott!! By the way,,, from one Scott to another,,, WELCOME TO VR!! Scott (aka = Puc)

Hearing ya 40,, = sometimes these wild eyed fingers of mine just gotta bounce off the rev limiter,,,, sometimes The OP will probably just shake his head, skip what I wrote and go directly to your advice but that's ok,, my fingers and I still had a pretty good time writing that disertation :big-grin-emoticon::rasberry:

Hearing ya 40,, = sometimes these wild eyed fingers of mine just gotta bounce off the rev limiter,,,, sometimes The OP will probably just shake his head, skip what I wrote and go directly to your advice but that's ok,, my fingers and I still had a pretty good time writing that disertation :big-grin-emoticon::rasberry:

SPOT ON DAVE!!! THAT is ALWAYS a heart breaker!! Makes ya say to yourself = "I wish I could take it for those little ones cause I GLADLY would if I could" dont it brother!!

I notice this less when I run Organic pads (which I love).

I was going to suggest checking the connections under the dash to see if you had something loose going on there causing the light to flicker BUT = that would definitely not cause the bike to not start in neutral... Thinking @videoarizona has you headed in the direction here... Please keep us posted about what you find brother!!

:Bunny::Bunny:

IMHO, being out of balance won't show up till ya get er up to speed. A tire not seated properly or a belt not being formed properly is more likely.. It's hard to tell from the video and without being there Graham but I do think I see some tread/tire movement on the left side.. Being new it should roll smooth as butter IMHO..

OUTSTANDING you lop eared gun lovin varmint!! JUST BEAUTIFUL!!! ,, it always amazed me how those shooters can mulitply,,, worse than rabbits if ya don't keep a weathered eye on em

Just another Puc IMHO's but this has worked for me thru the years,, Remove the front wheel. Lay an old couch cushion on a good solid work bench and lay the wheel on its side on top of it. Take a long punch with a good flat surface ground on its face so the edges of the surface are ground so flat that it is sharp along the perimeter of the edges. Use a punch that will lay at a slight angle (loosely fitting inside the bearing ID's). Slide the punch thru the bearing ID that is facing upward and is on top of the wheel (hub facing upward) and put pressure against the long shim/tube that lies between the bearings (that shim tube is there to capture the bearing inner races as you tighten the axle nut against the fork and will have a slight amount of movement to it sideways as you press against it with the punch). When the punch face meets the inside edge of the bearing race laying at the bottom hub (the one facing downward) you will feel it snag. Once it snags, continue holding the punch at an angle and pressing downward to hold it against the bearing race face and smack it with a beater (old gearhead term for a +2 pound hammer). As the bearing moves outwardly in its hub journal the punch will begin to hold on the edge easier. When this happens move the punch around the edge of the inner race and hit er again. As the bearing moves out of its journal be careful that you are not moving the punch edge outwardly toward the journal = you want to keep the punch edge/face hitting on the ID race of the bearing you are driving out. She'll pop right out. Once that bottom bearing comes free and is laying on the cushion the shim/tube between the two bearings will fall out. Flip the wheel over and knock the other bearing out with the punch by beating on the bearings ID race outwardly. Take one of the two old bearings and grind the OD race surface down so the bearing will fit loosley back into the hubs, now grind the surface of the inner race, where the shim/tube would meet it, down so it cannot contact the surface of the new bearing(s) when you use the old bearing as a driver . Clean up the hub journals with carb cleaner, if there is any visible high spots (DO NOT HIT THOSE JOURNALS WITH YOUR PUNCH but if you accidently do, be sure and clean em up with a little sand paper/emery cloth) clean it up. Take a new bearing and with the wheel back on the cushion, place a new bearing into its mounting journal and press it in a little with your finger. Bump the outer race on its edges with a light hammer to get it started and continuing hitting in a circular way to drive the bearing squarely into the journal of the hub so it starts squarely and is not going sideways. It will go in somewhat hard but if you listen while your tapping you can actually tell by sound that it is moving as you rap on it. Once you get the bearing driven down to the edge of the hub where you are in danger of hitting the hub with the hammer, take the old bearing and place it on top of the new bearing and use the old bearing as a driver to knock the new bearing to the bottom (you can also use the old bearing as a driver before getting near the hub if you are concerned hitting a new bearing surface - either way though MAKE SURE YOU ARE FACING THE INNER RACE THAT HAS HAD MATERIAL REMOVED ON IT TOWARD THE NEW BEARING SO YOU ARE NOT BANGING ON THE ID RACE OF THE NEW BEARING = THIS IS IMPORTANT) of its journal = keep driving it until the new bearing bottoms out in the hub and has that distinct "thud" when you hit it. The bearings/hubs are designed to be mated both on the circumference of the outer race of the bearing AND along the face of the bearings outer race. Flip the wheel over = DROP THE SHIM/TUBE BACK IN!!! = now drive in the new bearing on the other side just like you did the first one.. Other then reinstalling the front wheel,, that should get ya back out CTFW! ** all this is for replacing SEALED bearings = not wheel bearings like a car would have (Timpkens) = those are a whole different animal with a whole different method of removal and install..

Just another Puc IMHO's but this has worked for me thru the years,, Remove the front wheel. Lay an old couch cushion on a good solid work bench and lay the wheel on its side on top of it. Take a long punch with a good flat surface ground on its face so the edges of the surface are ground so flat that it is sharp along the perimeter of the edges. Use a punch that will lay at a slight angle (loosely fitting inside the bearing ID's). Slide the punch thru the bearing ID that is facing upward and is on top of the wheel (hub facing upward) and put pressure against the long shim/tube that lies between the bearings (that shim tube is there to capture the bearing inner races as you tighten the axle nut against the fork and will have a slight amount of movement to it sideways as you press against it with the punch). When the punch face meets the inside edge of the bearing race laying at the bottom hub (the one facing downward) you will feel it snag. Once it snags, continue holding the punch at an angle and pressing downward to hold it against the bearing race face and smack it with a beater (old gearhead term for a +2 pound hammer). As the bearing moves outwardly in its hub journal the punch will begin to hold on the edge easier. When this happens move the punch around the edge of the inner race and hit er again. As the bearing moves out of its journal be careful that you are not moving the punch edge outwardly toward the journal = you want to keep the punch edge/face hitting on the ID race of the bearing you are driving out. She'll pop right out. Once that bottom bearing comes free and is laying on the cushion the shim/tube between the two bearings will fall out. Flip the wheel over and knock the other bearing out with the punch by beating on the bearings ID race outwardly. Take one of the two old bearings and grind the OD race surface down so the bearing will fit loosley back into the hubs, now grind the surface of the inner race, where the shim/tube would meet it, down so it cannot contact the surface of the new bearing(s) when you use the old bearing as a driver . Clean up the hub journals with carb cleaner, if there is any visible high spots (DO NOT HIT THOSE JOURNALS WITH YOUR PUNCH but if you accidently do, be sure and clean em up with a little sand paper/emery cloth) clean it up. Take a new bearing and with the wheel back on the cushion, place a new bearing into its mounting journal and press it in a little with your finger. Bump the outer race on its edges with a light hammer to get it started and continuing hitting in a circular way to drive the bearing squarely into the journal of the hub so it starts squarely and is not going sideways. It will go in somewhat hard but if you listen while your tapping you can actually tell by sound that it is moving as you rap on it. Once you get the bearing driven down to the edge of the hub where you are in danger of hitting the hub with the hammer, take the old bearing and place it on top of the new bearing and use the old bearing as a driver to knock the new bearing to the bottom (you can also use the old bearing as a driver before getting near the hub if you are concerned hitting a new bearing surface - either way though MAKE SURE YOU ARE FACING THE INNER RACE THAT HAS HAD MATERIAL REMOVED ON IT TOWARD THE NEW BEARING SO YOU ARE NOT BANGING ON THE ID RACE OF THE NEW BEARING = THIS IS IMPORTANT) of its journal = keep driving it until the new bearing bottoms out in the hub and has that distinct "thud" when you hit it. The bearings/hubs are designed to be mated both on the circumference of the outer race of the bearing AND along the face of the bearings outer race. Flip the wheel over = DROP THE SHIM/TUBE BACK IN!!! = now drive in the new bearing on the other side just like you did the first one.. Other then reinstalling the front wheel,, that should get ya back out CTFW! ** all this is for replacing SEALED bearings = not wheel bearings like a car would have (Timpkens) = those are a whole different animal with a whole different method of removal and install..

I always carry a couple spare hot dogs in my pocket just in case Sly !!

You KNOW you are really :stirthepot::witch_brew::stickpoke: here dont cha Bay ??? Personally,, I hope Mom Yam see's this .... This is gonna sound NUTS (well,, maybe not to you and a couple other lop eared V-4 lover varmints here in the family) but when ever I walk past one of the new SVTC's sitting on our local dealerships showroom floor (WOWZY are there some GREAT deals to be had now!! Mom Yam is taking serious action for cleaning out the left overs!!) it still SCREAMS at me that Mom Yam was in the process of REALLY turning the touring world upside down and inside out with the new bike before she somehow got side tracked and shuttered off those intakes and filled em with parts n pieces. IMHO, those outer air scoops sure look like air intakes needed to feed a mighty 1700cc V-4 with some xtra input room for radiators to keep er 180 hp engine cool. Even its evil smile SCREAMS = ya better not get in my way .. Truely brother,, I still cant help but think Mom Yam was actually fully aware of what they were abandoning when they dropped the V-4 and left the platform for others to pick up and run with ... I guess you know by now Bay,, you ain't the only one is radically IN LOVE with the mighty V-4! Let er buck!!

EXACTLY and GOOD POINT brother:thumbsup:!! On the 1st Gen there is spacer that sets into the outer wheel bearing seal that the rear brake caliper butts up against that has to be installed correctly so its raised shoulder matches the wheel bearings inner race (raised shoulder facing inwardly), then there is a shim/flat washer that goes between the caliper face that faces outwardly toward the swingarm that you must make sure is in place when you slide the axle in, the raised shoulder of the axle rests against this shim and the shim becomes part of the alignment stack that ultimately gets pressed against the inside face of the rearend when you tighten the axle nut. I am not sure why I didnt video the complete shim stacking in the video below (maybe one of us should reproduce a full and complete version of this as getting those shims/spacers in incorrectly (or not at all) seems to be a stumbling block for many of us = myself included:missingtooth:. While I am not sure if this is exactly the same as on a 2nd Gen (shoulda made a vid like this when I helped @videoarizona swap out a rear tire on his 2nd Gen a while back,, RATSSS,, missed another GOOD opportunity ) I have a hunch that it is.. Graham, take a look at the following vid, start at 14:25 on the time line and watch to the end. Does this look familiar/similar to your application? If so, notice the spacer/shim in the wheel that the caliper rests against? I believe that is the spacer that Don is speaking of (PLEASE correct me if I am wrong here @Freebird). That spacer has a raised shoulder on it that faces inwardly toward the wheel bearing that matches the inner race of the bearing. The flat surface of that spacer faces outwardly and meets/contacts the caliper when it is installed. Make sense?

THANKS BOSS!! YOU DAH MAN!! Keep the faith brother and THANK YOU for all your hard work around here!!