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Gearhead

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  1. Gearhead
    One addition to Condor's advice: after cleaning the engine (Gunk does a good job on this too), let it dry and then spread some baby powder or similar on the back of the engine before you start it. Makes the leak more obvious in its infant stage. Jeremy
  2. Gearhead
    1) Just had battery tray out this weekend. It gives access to 2 aft coils. There are two more in front of them tha could not be accessed. You might be able to get there from the front with the radiator removed. 2) Yeah, everything leaks a little. If it's not messing the floor, I say "if it ain't broke don't fix it!" That being said, there is talk of a seal over there that can leak - I think it's a little seal for the clutch pushrod. You have to remove the clutch slave cylinder to get to it. Jeremy
  3. Gearhead
    Oh, the slide and diaphragm are assembled at the factory with a crimp. You can't separate them. Jeremy
  4. Gearhead
    I think you could. One thing to double-check is the diameter of the lift holes in the bottom of the slides. I've read that there were a couple different sizes through the years that have since been superceded by a single part. Jeremy
  5. Gearhead
    Condor, Thanks, I saw that one. But with the engine being rubber mounted, isn't there a ground cable to the frame as well? And I'd really like more detail on the location and accessibility of the ground stud mentioned above. Thanks, Jeremy
  6. Gearhead
    JB, what model of Wilson did you use? And what do you find objectionable on the folding mounts? Jeremy
  7. Gearhead
    Hello, Over the last few months I added a pair of 55W driving lights and later heated grips which draw about 3 amps. I started having some battery-drain problems after the grips. Some testing last weekend confirmed that it seems the stock charging system is OK but pretty well maxed out with the lights, and the grips push it over the edge. It's OK under some conditions, but sometimes the voltage just won't go over 12.7 or so with all of it turned on. As I mentioned last week, I want to install LED's in the two front clearance lights and one of the brake light sockets to get back 1.7 amps. Also, I was dissatisfied with the fact that the headlight was getting 2 volts less than the system; with the bike charging at 14V the light only got 12V. This has a direct effect on brightness. As I had done on my Virago, a while back I installed relays for low and high beam to send battery power right to the light and bypass all the factory wiring, switches and connectors. I was rudely awakened to the fact that the Venture's lighting system was smarter than me and didn't like that. Last weekend I settled for gaining back some of that voltage. I installed one relay in the L/B wire to the RLU (check manual for explanation). Bike side of L/B activates my relay, and RLU side of that wire gets power from the relay. Relay draws power from battery - almost - explanation below. This bypasses the ignition and start switches, and gained about .8V. Finally, I had been powering relays off the batt pos post. However, looking at the diagrams, the factory setup puts the main 40A fuse right off the battery, then everything else after that. The highest voltage when running won't be at the battery but rather at the charging system with the main fuse being a potential source of voltage drop (minor point). At any rate, I decided it was more sound electrically to power any relays just downstream of the main fuse. My 2 cents :-) Jeremy
  8. Gearhead
    "There is a main Ground Stud, on frame left of battery not easy to find. Make sure this ground is clean, and tight. Lots of items get ground return from this point. " Hey George, can I access this ground stud without removing a bunch of stuff? How do I get to it? And where does the battery ground to the frame? I only see the fat cable to the engine... Jeremy
  9. Gearhead
    Fuel filter - I'd just use a 1/4" filter from Autozone. Oil filter: STP SMO 02 Fram CH6002 WIX 24933 Purolator ML16802 Emgo 10-28500
  10. Gearhead
    Nice pics and stuff. And that's great SWR results. My bike came to me with twin antennas, wound Firestik-style, but really short, 16". This is nice for covering the bike, since they only go as high as the trunk rack. But I gave a friend a ride and he absent-mindedly tried to get off by swinging his leg over the back - hehehe - he was lucky to land on his feet but one antenna bit the dust. (Lesson - don't assume that people know the intracacies of boarding and unboarding a full-dresser.) So now I learn that nobody even makes one shorter than 2 ft, and that short really isn't that good for an antenna, and a bunch of other stuff I didn't know about antennas. I'm glad your article came along! My bike still has the antenna splitter, just not used, so I'm thinking about going back to one antenna with splitter, and was considering a 3' Firefly, similar to what you used. Is the Wilson better? Are the wound wire - fiberglass antennas better than a steel whip? I wondered if the bulk of the fiberglass antenna at 3' long might place too much wind load on the bracket. They make a cool little fold-down fitting that you can install under your antenna for covering, which I will have to use. It's really easy - just pull up a sleeve and fold antenna forward. Jeremy
  11. Gearhead
    I'm also posting this in a similar thread in the electronics tech section. I eliminated about 90% of my noise, and it did end up being ground-related. I am optimizing the alternator output by minimizing the losses. I followed a troubleshooting chart on Electrex's web site, very thorough, I recommend it. One test was for voltage drop from the regulator to the battery, both on the hot and ground sides. In my case, both at idle were around .15-.2V. But when I turned on the driving lights and revved up the enigne (increasing the load and output) the drop was .6V hot and .4V ground. I ran a 12 ga wire, soldered into the regulator ground wires on the regulator side of the connector, up to the neg side of the battery. This takes some of the current and reduces the voltage drop to near zero. It also eliminated most of my noise! Now there's just a small bit of that same noise that's not volume-knob-related, and also a component of noise that does increase with volume, but it only comes on radio and sounds like ignition interference. Does anybody know where on the 1st gens the ground harness attaches to the frame? Jeremy
  12. Gearhead
    I'm also posting this in a similar thread in the 1st gen tech section. I eliminated about 90% of my noise, and it did end up being ground-related. I am optimizing the alternator output by minimizing the losses. I followed a troubleshooting chart on Electrex's web site, very thorough, I recommend it. One test was for voltage drop from the regulator to the battery, both on the hot and ground sides. In my case, both at idle were around .15-.2V. But when I turned on the driving lights and revved up the enigne (increasing the load and output) the drop was .6V hot and .4V ground. I ran a 12 ga wire, soldered into the regulator ground wires on the regulator side of the connector, up to the neg side of the battery. This takes some of the current and reduces the voltage drop to near zero. It also eliminated most of my noise! Now there's just a small bit of that same noise that's not volume-knob-related, and also a component of noise that does increase with volume, but it only comes on radio and sounds like ignition interference. Does anybody know where on the 1st gens the ground harness attaches to the frame? Jeremy
  13. Gearhead
    Hey George, Yeah, I've been looking at those schematics, too. I was hoping that one of those cable routing diagrams in the back of the manual would have ground points, but alas, they do not, so I have to go ground-searching. When adding a cap in the circuit, do you just tap in to the power wire and go thru the cap to ground? According to the schematic in the manual (p. 7-3 in the 86+ manual), the factory noise suppressor has the power wire go thru an inductor of some sort, then splits - one leg goes to the radio, the other leg thru the cap to ground. Jeremy
  14. Gearhead
    "I need a project for tomorrow anyway." George, you must be retired. Holy cow, to have more days than projects would be a dream... This is a good idea, by the way. Jeremy
  15. Gearhead
    Hi. I posted this in the Electronics section, only got one response (thanks RPG). I was wondering (hoping) if maybe it didn't get seen over there and there is more input to be had. I have a noisy audio system. It's happens on all sources (radio, tape, intercom, CB) and is detectable in the speakers but worse in the headsets. It appears to be a noisy power issue. It changes pitch with RPM, and here is the thing I find strange: it decreases when the bike had additional electrical load. Brakes or driving lights cause it to go quieter, and the blinkers do just what you might expect, the noise gets quieter-then-louder...etc. I figure I'll check the ground on the system, as well as the ground on the factory noise filter. Do noise filters go bad? Any other ideas? Thanks, Jeremy
  16. Gearhead
    "Since you already have the motor out Dan that would be the best time to check them. I had a heck of a time doing mine . I bought my tool on the eBay had in my hands within three days sure does make things easier having that tool without it is a bugger." Yeah, it's not much fun; dunno how you could possibly do it without the tool. I had the tool and a helper. He turned the engine with a wrench while I guided the tool into place. Jeremy
  17. Gearhead
    "Since you already have the motor out Dan that would be the best time to check them. I had a heck of a time doing mine . I bought my tool on the eBay had in my hands within three days sure does make things easier having that tool without it is a bugger." Yeah, it's not much fun; dunno how you could possibly do it without the tool. I had the tool and a helper. He turned the engine with a wrench while I guided the tool into place. Jeremy
  18. Gearhead
    Thanks for the input. My goal is not to improve the lighting, but to conserve electrical power with a minimum impact to lighting. I experimented with pulling bulbs out of my bike and this is what I found: the front running / turn lights aren't tied to the computer at all, so they don't trip the sensor. With the front bulb out, the rear blinks a bit faster but still OK to me. The rear are signal only; their intermittent use has very little impact on battery charge, so I will leave them alone. The tail lights (2 bulbs) are tied to the computer, but as long as one of them is good the computer is happy, so I only want to put an LED in one socket. Again, I don't care about the draw of the brake light because it's intermittent, it's the tail light draw I want to curtail. I won't be saving much. 7W x 3 bulbs (2 front running, 1 tail light) = 21W, divided by 12.7 = 1.7 amps. But when the whole system is only rated at 30 amps, every amp counts. I installed a pair of 55W (8.7 amps total) driving lights which I like very much, and the charging system seemed to keep up. Then I installed heated grips, about 3 amps total, and I am starting to have problems. Have to be very careful about how long I run the lights. So, if there are any LED's that are ALMOST as bright, I will be happy. Statistically, most accidents with other vehicles happen from the front, not the rear, and the rear of my VR is covered with reflectors that I'm told really light up at night with any light shining on them. Jeremy
  19. Gearhead
    BTW, my 87 factory manual lists the part number as YM-33961. Jeremy
  20. Gearhead
    Charging spec is over 14V, but my VR and Virago both only charge at 13.8V. 11.6 is too low. A healthy, charged battery will be at 12.6 - 12.7 V. After you remove the charger, there is a surface charge which is why you read 13.2. It has to "rest" for up to a day after charging before you can get a good reading free of surface charge. I would guess 3 ma is reasonable, but stress that this is a guess. If your battery has a capacity of 18 amp-hours, then a 3 ma draw would in theory take 250 days to drain it. Sometimes periods of inactivity seem to finish off a battery, although at only 1 year it is a little early! But it happens. Jeremy
  21. Gearhead
    Really? I bought mine less than a year ago at the local Stealer for $30, I think. I'm sure Zanotti can get you one for less, they can get anything from the factory. Or, I can send mine to you if you promise to send it back! I hope not to be using it again for awhile. Jeremy
  22. Gearhead
    Do any of you guys have any experience with different LED drop-in bulb replacements for 1157's? I've read that many of them are less bright than the old incandescents. Any opinions on good ones out there for an 87 VR? Thanks, Jeremy
  23. Gearhead
    I have a noisy audio system. It's happens on all sources (radio, tape, intercom, CB) and is detectable in the speakers but worse in the headsets. It appears to be a noisy power issue. It changes pitch with RPM, and here is the thing I find strange: it decreases when the bike had additional electrical load. Brakes or driving lights cause it to go quieter, and the blinkers do just what you might expect, the noise gets quieter-then-louder...etc. I figure I'll check the ground on the system, as well as the ground on the factory noise filter. Do noise filters go bad? Any other ideas? Thanks, Jeremy
  24. Gearhead
    I put boards on my Virago which I like, allows me to move feet around. Haven't tried them on Venture. As I sit on the Venture my toes are pointed down some due to the sportier riding position, so any boards would either have to be angled down or mounted farther forward. Anyway, boards are not inherently lower than pegs, it's all how you mount them. I have a nice sheepskin on my saddle that probably raises my sitting position by 1/2" or so. Jeremy
  25. Gearhead
    Just my thoughts: One, I think the diaphragms are the same for all years of VR, meaning your new ones can be put in different carbs if need be. Two, in the absense of other input I would install the jets that go with the carb. Question: Did you find the old coasting enricher diaphrams to be cracked? Jeremy
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