TTrax
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Everything posted by TTrax
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Had a good weekend ride to AR this weekend, was going to try to catch the bike rolling over 100K miles but lost track of time and miles and missed it by a few. It looks like it happened a few miles after Chelsea, OK and Vinita, OK on RT 66 so that was pretty cool. I took a few pictures after we stopped in Afton, looks like someone is working on a really cool exhibit. Here is a few pics I was able to take before heading further on the trip.
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I would love to get over 10K miles on any tire I have bought. I used to run the D404's, I like the tire but seemed to wear out around 5-6K miles. Got me some E4's (front and back) a few years ago. That rear tire made it about 7K or a little over. Went back to a D404 and on a trip it got a leak so had to have it replaced in Arkansas. The dealership only had a Michelin Commander 2. Worked out as it forced me to try it but I had been too cheap to go for that during normal tire change intervals. Now I have 6-7K miles on that rear tire and still has decent tread but I can hear it when it is on the left side of the tire when in light turns or leaning a little. I don't know if I'll get a full season of riding next year out of that tire. I am starting to think it is just the way it is running the weight we are putting on it and the speeds. A lot of straight roads around here and fairly high speed limits (55-75 MPH). My wife and I are not lean and mean and also a lot of chip and seal roads around here as well. Running around 39-41 PSI on the rear for the last 4 years. Used to run 36-38 psi and definitely didn't have good tread wear at that rate. Now that I look at my records, looks like the E4 I have on the front is now around 17K miles, but does need to be replaced. So thinking I must be overloading the rear. Not sure why else I would get that many miles from the front and only 7K from the rear.
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Praying for a complete recovery.
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Took a ride this weekend to Wilson Lake up Northwest in KS today. Along the way we stopped in Wilson KS which was settled by Czech immigrants. Really awesome town if you are in the area. My wife had seen someone posted some photos of some rock formations in that area of the lake. Little did I know it was going to involve a 2 hour hike to get to them. Oh well, I needed the exercise anyways. My brother came with us via his 1985 Kawasaki Voyager 1300. I guess we are a sucker for these 80's touring motorcycles...
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OK here are the salt plains nearby, about 30-45 minutes from Wakita OK. Not recommended to take the road here on a bike unless you are OK with going 5-10 MPH for some stretches. It is basically an oilfield road that is used for access to the area. From what I'm told, this is the remnant of the great ocean that used to be inland to the states in prehistoric times. It is quite exotic to think that ocean life existed nearby when this state have been landlocked for millennia.
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My wife and I are a big fan of storm chasing and the Twister movie. It looked like a day trip to get to this museum, so on the spur of a moment we decided to make a run for it on a weekend. If you are in the area it might be worth dropping by. It would have been a lot shorter trip if I hadn't got lost twice on the way here. I ended up in Kiowa, KS before I started to check myself for incorrect routing. Its all good, it was a fun trip. Also missed the Salt plains nearby due to lack of time but we were able to make it on the next weekend.. I would NOT recommend taking a bike on the road to get to the salt plains due to the degradation of the road. We took it in a van but I think it would have rattled the fairing off the bike if we had tried it.
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Good evening. On some sort of coincidence, I stumbled across the oil filter parts page on the Yamaha website and noticed apparently I have been missing some parts since I owned the bike. The owners manual and the service manual doesn't mention it during the oil filter changing procedure. I ordered the missing parts and installed today. Really didn't notice a difference other than it seems to be more of a PITA to get the threads started in the block. I just hope there hasn't been any long term damage. Looking at the construction of the bypass valve, I was thinking that either the bypass function has been disabled, or the filter has been bypassed letting unfiltered oil back into the lubrication system. Either is not good. I just went over 93K miles and still doesn't use a drop of oil that I can tell so hoping no issues. I can't see oil pressure so it would be hard to say if it is lower or higher than normal. Has anyone else removed these components for any reason? Trying to determine why the original owner would have discarded these parts unless there is a reason I can't think of.
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Saving grace for gas and food...Arkansas. From road trip.
TTrax replied to videoarizona's topic in Watering Hole
Looks really good! I haven't gotten that far east in Arkansas yet but will definitely put this on my list if we happen to go that far. We have been as far east as Mountain View and stayed at an awesome cabin nearby for my wife and my anniversary in 2019. -
I've recently been watching these videos and really like them. I would say the video quality and production is on par with what Top Gear (UK version) was to the automotive industry.
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I usually notice when my wife and I are riding on my '88 we get around 32 to 34 MPG. I am usually driving at the speed of around 65-75 MPH and I haven't ever gotten really good fuel economy, not at least as much as others have gotten. I'm no lightweight and both my wife and I have put some weight on over the years. We are both north of 200 lbs, me more than her. I really got some bad mileage for awhile a couple of years ago. I replaced the diaphragms on my carbs, which restored a ton of low end power but would cut out around 5K RPMs and fuel economy dropped to around 25-28 MPG. Finally figured out the rubber plugs at the bottom of the jet block on my carbs had dried up and was feeding way too much fuel into the main jet. Just my experience but could definitely be something else. It would be good to eliminate all other possible issues before dissecting carbs.
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Some of this info is old, sorry to share it so late. I know Kansas isn't a big destination to visit when riding, but if for some reason you make it to the center-southern part of the state it might not be a bad idea to visit the motorcycle museum in Marquette, KS. A lot of history there. I have attached pictures from 2011 and 2021.
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I would have to agree about the Dunlop D404. I have used them the most on my bike but they don't seem to last long. I am usually over on allowable weight for this bike, and the 404 only lasts about 6K miles. On the other hand, the last tire I had before this one was an Dunlop Elite 4 and it only lasted about 7.5K miles. I think I will try the Shinko 777 next time.
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Battery sensor bypass
TTrax replied to TTrax's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
Drove in to work this morning, when I took off it was 60°F which is cooler than it has been so far when I have been riding. No light on at all so thinking it is fixed but we will see. Thanks for the input and have a good rest of the week! -
Battery sensor bypass
TTrax replied to TTrax's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
Sounds good to me. I had read some posts that mentioned that it should be as low as possible to not burn out the computer monitor. I will let you know if I have issues after using this resistor. Thanks and have a good week! -
I just got done doing the battery sensor bypass on my bike. I was wondering if I was doing something wrong as I checked the voltage at the sensor going to the white wire with red tracer and my current voltage was showing around 6.5 volts. I had read somewhere that we don't want to go much over 5 volts or in the neighborhood. I had my assortment of resistors on hand that I ordered from Amazon so was ready to go. I played around with the resistors, for some reason my voltage was higher than expected when using the recommended resistors. I went with a 10KΩ resistor and it was putting out 5.5 volts at the white wire with red tracer. I turned the key on and no battery light, at least for now. We will see how it does in the long term. Reason for the bypass is the next battery will be AGM or gel, staying with the lead acid one for now but tired of the light coming on randomly. I did clean the tip of the sensor but it still comes on from time to time. Sometimes it will come on and go off on it's own. So far it seems to come on when the temperatures are cooler in the morning and usually doesn't come on at all when it is over 90°F outside. I thought maybe it was the expansion and contraction of the electrolyte in the battery but the level looks good. If it comes on again I am thinking I have some solder joints cracked at the CM. I wanted to be able to look at the write up with pictures in the tech library but for some reason on my computer it just shows up as links to pictures instead of the pictures as well. I went ahead and made up a document showing the pictures with the text if anyone is interested (if they are having the same problem). Thanks and everyone have a good day! Yamaha Venture Battery Replacement and CM Warning Bypass.pdf
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Comgratulations on your retirement!
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Sounds like a great trip, have fun and ride safe! Prayers for a safe return as well.
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When I first got the bike, it had a Michelin Commander 2 and it lasted quite a while compared to anything else I have tried so maybe I might try it in the future. Thanks again for all the suggestions and will probably be trying some different brands in the future to determine which would be the best for me. I took a ride this morning with my wife, who complained loudly of the heat but wanted to drive by some old place I had seen shortly after I had moved here. I don't know why but it is an enigma to me. Doesn't look like any house I have ever seen before and the fact that seems to be falling in on itself makes it even more intriguing. It seems much larger than most houses around here and out in the middle of no-where. I definitely would like to know the history but afraid of getting shot on sight when approaching the owner (a real possibility around here...). https://goo.gl/maps/EMHPXu1snqwX9kp19
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Thanks for all the input, will consider the Shinko next time and I have considered darksiding it but was concerned about handling. A don't carve corners much so might be worth consideration. I've gotten it down to where it takes about 30 minutes to take the wheel off and a little more to put it on. I have checked and it seems my usual mileage for a year varies around 3k to 6k. I would like to get 4 or more years out of a rear tire but thinking that might be only for the 120 lb guys riding solo with no luggage on perfect roads. Once again, thanks for all the advice!
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Very well could be it. They love chip and seal around here. I was thinking I would at least get twice the mileage out of the E4 tires but it was worth trying to see what would happen. Will probably just run with the 404's from now on. Thanks and have a good day everyone!
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OK, got my weekend project lined out since it is going to be raining and cooler. I really was hoping that I wouldn't be doing this already, but it looks like it is past time for a rear tire on this bike. I changed it out at the beginning of the riding season last year and I haven't made it through this one yet and it is quite worn. Both front and back are Elite 4's, front tire wear is minimal. I check them before every ride for tire pressure, trying to keep around 38 psi in the rear tire and around the same or as low as 36 in the front. I had switched from D404's in hopes of getting more miles out of them. It seems the D404's were getting around 6K miles and I just checked the mileage I got on the E4's and it is a shade over 7,500 miles. I see quite a few people saying they are getting over 12-14K miles out of E4 tires, so not sure why my mileage is so much worse. I am thinking I am probably overloading them. My wife and I are no featherweights, I am around 260 lbs and she is a shade under 200. We usually have the luggage loaded up on longer trips but I don't think we are carrying over 30 lbs overall. I already have the local bike shop ready to change this one out with a D404 since the mileage difference hasn't been great enough to overcome the cost difference. Wondering if others have similar mileage or maybe I'm doing something wrong.? Hope you all have a great weekend!
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An update... have driven the bike quite awhile now and the same issue hasn't come back so far. I still have a hiccup once in great while, usually when rolling on the throttle when the engine speed is around 2K RPM or less, I will let everyone know in case it becomes more persistent or leaves me stranded. Hopefully not, but will update either way. I am positive whatever carb issue was present before has been greatly diminished or resolved so I am going to call this issue resolved. So far I have ridden over 2K miles since the carbs have been gone over and still running strong. I appreciate the help and insight everyone has provided and will try to leave me 2 cents on issues I think I can help with for others that are having issues. I work in technical support for an agriculture manufacturer OEM so I know how frustrating it can be for persistent problems with older equipment and how much it helps getting insight from guys that have worked in the field for awhile. My wife and I just got back from a trip to where we had met and ironically, the bright spot in the trip was the ride itself. The bike did great except for the neutral light staying on during the ride back, the bike got rained on during the night, even though we supposedly had a zero percent chance of rain. I rode it to work today and during the trip back the neutral light finally went out except when it was actually in neutral. I am thinking water had gotten into a connector but if the problem comes back I will be checking again. I would much rather have the neutral light be on all the time rather than the neutral light be out all the time from what I have been seeing in the forums! Probably carbon tracking in a switch or connector or wire finding a power source where it shouldn't be from what I am seeing in the wiring diagram. If it comes back I might be making a new post but for now am enjoying riding this season compared to the last two and really appreciate the help along the way. Thanks again and hope everyone has a great riding season!
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Thanks, I might have to do the same thing. I seen a fuse that was labeled as a mini ANL or something like that which was very similar. I figured some trimming might be required since the dimensions I can see where the fuse mounts up is 1.16" and mine is a little over 1".
