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I went to WalMart and bought these craft touchup paints in craft area. $.50. So far I haven't matched color perfectly. Trying different mixes of colors. May just go with the black on right on both sides.....

I had the same problem on a dirt road in Pine this summer, Richard. Walked her backwards to turn around and backed into a driveway...there was a dip...and when I put my feet down to stabilize the bike...nothing but air. Down she went on left side...all the way on the side. Took two of us...pushing with everything we had to get her back up. Granted that was a downhill fall...but still. I might have been able to get her up if she was 6 more inches up. Wider engine guards would have done that. My VStar 950T has wide bars and they don't get in the way of turns, but you can lay the bike over and she sits nice and pretty on the guard. Easy to pick up and she weighs over 650 pounds! Besides that, I wasn't pleased with the way the upper fairing was "sanded" down to the joint by the incident. I think I would willingly save my pennies for wider guards and a lifting bracket like Carbon One makes here for 2nd generation bikes... david

That's how I'm working on my rear end. Got the idea right here and it works!!

I haven't gone anywhere in a while. Working on rear end...

Update: Yesterday and today. Got the boot off protecting the ujoint and found the intermediate shaft good and tight. Nothing broken there. Whew. So rather than try and take the swing arm off (not fun for me since I don't have a socket large enough for the top bolts!)...I decided to take apart the used swingarm/rear end/driveshaft that I bought. The rear end (differential) looked fine. I cleaned and greased it up, then a buddy came over and we finessed the shaft into the ujoint. I snugged up the 4 bolts with the axle in for alignment. Going to leave everything as is until the new fuel filter comes in. Also put new pads on the rear brake as they were getting low. Opened the observation hole on the MC so I could bleed out the excess fluid as I pushed the pistons in. After installing the new pads, I used the old trick of taking corners of a clean rag and twisting it so it would fit down the MC fill hole to soak up more fluid. Wanted to get the fluid level down to where it should be. Amazing how much fluid comes out with a little capillary action! So that's done. There isn't any play on swing arm and eveything looks good there. Would have been nice to grease the top bushings but I'm not going to go and look for another large socket. More to come

I realize there is another posting about protable cameras like the GoPro...but this little guy takes the cake. It's not really HD or waterproof....but it does seem to work from what I've read from others... Pilot Automotive Dash Cam - Walmart.com david

Oops, just saw that Mike posted this a week ago....sorry!

david

Parts came in yesterday. 5 days early. Guess I'd better get crackin cleaning and such!

Crossing fingers you don't have the same problems. I don't on my 89....but that was this past summer! Grins... david

Excellent...thanks!

Richard, I agree with Jeff. I've had no problems with my 89 1st gen in heat. Fan kicks in near top of green on temp gauge and keeps the engine at that temp. Even idling in heat. If you are having overheating issues...suggest you completely go over the cooling system...from radiator flow to thermostadt. make sure the system is flowing properly would be my first guess....Also make sure the coolant temp sensor and the fan sensor (both on lower right side) are clean. david

That explains it...thanks!

Kevin, Didn't like the one drive alone I saw on EBay the day I was looking. So bought the assembly. Now I have a spare of the bushings, bearings, shaft, etc.. My thinking here also is that I will take the one I bought apart...and if everything is as good as what I have or better, I will simply replace the assembly. Crossing fingers.... Oh..just thought of something: the rear end assembly I bought is supposedly from a 91. Wonder if it has the zerks on the swing arm??? Don't remember seeing them on the pictures.....but wasn't thinking about that. Hmm don't see any zerks in the pics...

About four years ago, I bought the HF jack and tried it on the VStar 650 Classic. Worked well....until I went to let the bike down. It seems my lift has a strange pedal release...if you press gently, the load drops quickly. Press hard all the way and the load drops slowly. Scared the puddin out of me. I have never used it since. Will NOT use it on the 950 or the Venture....nope. My .02

Yep...sure am. Like it and finding my way around is fun! Thanks you! david

My replacement swing arm, shaft and rear end will not be in until the 15th....so I guess it's waiting time for this kid....

Maybe Yamaha had a bad batch of heat treated shafts or during manufacturing the threads/splines/shafts...something they did weakened the shafts near the nut...

Frank, My driveshaft differs from the picture in the manual. My 89 driveshaft has a circlip on the rear end of the driveshaft. That holds an oil seal between a round thin plate on one side(clipring side) and the gear at the end of the drive shaft. There is another oil seal inside the rear end assembly between the main gears and the coupling. Thankfully, I did as you suggested and drained the oil from the rear end prior to dis-assembly. There was residue oil left over inside the coupling unit and on the drive shaft rear gear. So I think the rear end of the drive shaft is in an oil bath. Without the seal between the gear and the clipring, then I would assume the gear needs to be lubed by grease. I agree and need to take off the swing arm to see what is going on there. If broken, then repair. If not broken then decide whether I want to continue to tear down intermediate gear to replace the oil seal...be nice if the "O" ring was bad...that would be too simple! I did spend more time under bike this morning and figured out what you described to remove the swing arm. Kevin gave me some additional hints there was well....so that won't to hard. Bill, I don't think I answered your question fully. To whit: Yes, if the swing arm is the same design, I should be able to take the entire rear end and drive shaft and just swap them out. I simply didn't remember you had parts bikes!!! So I went on EBAy asap and found an entire unit from a 91. I would rather have paid you for parts then wait a week to get something I don't know how good it is. Well, off to get some wood working done! Have a nice weekend gentlemen...be back Monday evening or Tuesday. Thanks, david

Bill, From what I understand, the earlier models had a different drive shaft arrangement. Yes it would work, but more parts need to be replaced to make the shaft fit. I don't know if the swing arm will work as some the the earlier swing arms are different design as well. I don't know if the entire rear end is a simple drop in repalcement. Thanks for the thoughts, though! I just ordered one from EBay..(before I read your post) http://www.ebay.com/itm/231338042061 Due in on the 15th of Dec. First thing I will do is check the bearings and the pinion shaft!!!

Yep...broken pinion shaft...Good catch Randy and Kevin! I'll start repairs when I come back. Thanks Kevin for conversation!

uh oh.....OK..will do...

Well...couldn't stand the suspense: Took the rear end off. No sign of damage on the pinion side or the ujoint side (at least as far as I can see. The drive shaft turns the rear end quietly and smoothly. Pictures attached. Couldn't find a way to get in there to get the rubber boot pulled back enough to see if the intermediate gear/shaft/nut is broken or not. But from the picture I took down the drive shaft tunnel, sure can't see any evidence of a nut with a shaft end attached sitting in the middle of the ujoint! Seal looks good, splines look good. I'm going to stop now and get ready for working weekend in Payson(putting new deck boards in, etc.) In order: Seals and pinion nut, rear end drive, rear end side of drive shaft, ujoint side of drive shaft, peaking down the tunnel at ujoint.

Thank you gentlemen....I will pull the rear off when I come back from Payson. Will keep you all posted... david

I think the least political way of saying this...is the VET gets little or nothing for putting his/her life on the line. Whereas, the politician gets whatever they vote for themselves and do little to earn that. ...and I don't mind this kind of thinking on this site.....as long as it stays on the surface and not get deeper into politics or religion. david