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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

Bill, thanks for the doc. It seems I already downloaded that and printed it out! Had it sitting on the floor next to the tools...and a pencil to check off the steps. If I do have an issue, I'll be giving you a call, Bill, if you don't mind. Probably not until next week as I need to be in Payson this weekend. Frank, I looked over the manual and the pictures of the swing arm mounts... and it doesn't look as easy as four bolts. I'm going to see if I can pull back the rubber boot and check out the ujoint and intermediate shaft nut first. If all is well, I won't bother with the swing arm. I'll only pull the rear end and check the drive shaft. If my memory is correct, the rear end splines of the drive shaft are bathed in oil from rear end (1st gen 1989) so only the front end of the shaft needs grease. Randy, I'll see if the rear end is OK...don't think I've heard to much about older 1st gens having that issue either...I'm going to think about taking the rear end apart. Everything "looks" good from outside, including bearings on wheels, etc.. But who knows what evil lurks under the skin?? Wish there was an easy way to confirm a broken pinion nut? Anyway, taking everything apart was easy with your help...wheels are back from Tucson with new Shinkos at 44 pounds of pressure so they should be good. Will keep you posted...

I'm with you, Kevin. This might be a small profit cetner for someone with a 3D printer. Both the left and right side vanes that are used to cool off the motor and provide heat for riders would be nice to have.....plus the ones on the fairing as well. I'm in...

Randy, I want to check the intermediate shaft to see if the shaft broke. I have a small leak under the ujoint area and have a loud whine under deceleration. So there is the potential issue of the shaft broken and the end and nut riding inside the ujoint. So taking the differential off, pulling the drive shaft out from ujoint is important to me at this point. Why not? I'm this far anyway. And...found out the rear end oil had never been changed (39K miles), or not changed in some time, as it was black and some metal filings on the little magnet end of the drain bolt. I took delivery in April and have been working on it to check it out a little at a time....

Perfect...thanks Frank!

Yep...me too. Hmm...

Got bike on center stand and both mufflers off, right side stripped down. Once my buddy comes by this morning, I'll get the wheels off and take them to Tucson for new rubber. After I get back, I'm going to take the rear end apart to inspect, clean and grease. Question #1: at what point do I need to drain the rear end oil? I assume it's when I take the rear drive unit apart? I see it has oil seals. Question #2: If I have the front end down on forks (kneeling)... if I have a broken shaft (intermediate?),do I need to drain engine oil before taking the shaft out from the trannie case? Manual isn't that good...and I really don't trust it. Trust you guys and gals expertise more! TIA, david P.S. that nut on rear axle is on there tight.....geesh.

Skeeter, I think the type of lights would depend upon whether you want more visibilty for cars to see you, or more flood or spot lights for night driving. Maybe a little of both. For me, It was more along the lines of wanting people to see me easier. I already added a pair of WalMart lights ($20) to my VStar 950T, swapping out the 55watt bulbs for 30watt as the 950 charging system isn't robust enough for that much current. They seem to be doing the trick as I haven't had any issues since I put them on(knock on wood). I also put a small screw into each lens to make sure they didn't pop off as they are held on with a dimple. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Optronics-55w-Pair-Driving-Light-Kit/16680058 As you can see, the lower wattage bulbs are plenty bright. They do add light to the sides of the road at night as well... as I have them aimed that way just enough to catch the eyes of drivers on side streets. I'm now researching driving lights for my 89 1st Gen VR. May use the same lights as well but leave them at 55 watts. Haven't figured out where to mount them yet which is the holdup. Because the switches are poor quality, I would hard wire the lights to the battery through a relay so they are on all the time the ignition is on, as I did with the 950. If you want pure down the road light, suggest a good halogen or LED light proven for that use. $200 each will buy you very strong LED driving lights. These are cool... http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/316/d/utv-lighting#&&SearchParameters=42-1021-0-0-0-1-24-1-6_1-2_956 Hope this helps... david

Posted video link in "videos" section. Title: "Wickenburg north to Jerome VIA 89 & 89A" download... then get bored...there is some interesting scenery later on... david

Here's the link for the video. Re-rendered it in real time....so you can either get bored watching entire trip or speed it up yourself on playback if your computer allows that... GoPro original at non-HD setting. Wanted to test out the lens. You can download...about 1gig....look for the download icon on lower right. Three little dots. https://www.dropbox.com/s/dofatb0q73m84n2/GP%20WickenburgtoGerome.mp4?dl=0 david Scrape floorboards on the VStar 950Tourer multiple times...one of them is at 19:05ish. Handlebar mount: first section cam was mounted high...second.. moved lower. Didn't like lower....