gaj1917

Paste masking tape across the "Yamaha" letters. Then using an Exacto knife, or similar, cut the tape to expose the inset letters. A tedious job! Spray over the tape and exposed letters with aerosol high temp black. You can do a similar thing with the gold lettering.

You can restore most of the tarnished aluminium pieces, but only with a lot of work. For pieces that can be removed, I use an electric bench buffer and various polishing bars. You can get the same results by wet sanding with 600+ grit sandpaper, but with a lot more effort. One you've got a decent finish, coat with a high temp clear finish. Here are examples of pieces I've restored recently.

Correct sizes are: front 120/90-18 65H; rear 140/90-16 71H or MR90-18 and MU90B-16. Best to stick with those sizes. Just picked up an Elite 3 set online from FortNine for approx $370 CD.

Thanks for the clarification. I was confusing the proportioning valve with the orifice valve. Much easier chore to haul the master out, so will start there.

Thanks. Well buried up front of course.

At the end of the driving season last year I thought the rear brake pedal felt a bit spongy on my '84, but still had lots of stopping power so didn't think much of it. Recently, after replacing the rear tire, I checked the rear brake to make sure it was okay - nothing, rear or left front! I bleed and re-bleed. No bubbles. Still nothing, but if I frantically pump the rear brake pedal I can get some brake action. I guess a faulty rear master cylinder is a possibility, but I rebuilt the innards of that last year. I recall @cowpuc recounting fixing a problem with the master cylinder while on the ride, but I can't find the thread now. I have SS brake lines BTW.

Try searching the forum for "clunky shifting".

Might be a broken/loose pin on the shifter segment? That thing is buried beyond the clutch, unfortunately. Here's a link on the forum that might shed some light - http://www.venturerider.org/forum/sh...lunky-Shifting

OEMs are pricey at more than $100. I purchased replacement diaphragms from JBM Industries. Seem to work just fine so far. http://jbmindustries.com

Clutch slippage is not uncommon in these older Ventures. I purchased my 84 when it had 24,000 km (15,000 mi) showing, and it would slip on takeoff in 1st, especially when two up. 20w50 Castrol oil helped, but I put up with it for many years. Eventually, I replaced all clutch discs and springs with a Barnett set. No more slippage.

This is a final posting on my experiences repairing Venture plastic. Along with repairing broken tabs and cracks in various plastic parts, as described earlier, this last post deals with fixing/replacing broken posts on the side covers. broken posts are not an uncommon occurrence, especially if you replace the old rubber grommets with new ones. These will hold the side cover posts much more firmly, and increase the risk of breaking a post, as I did, when removing the cover. I purchased a bag of plastic rivets from Napa. These are commonly used these days to hold all and sundry plastic parts together of ATVs and autos. First cut the head off the rivet plug, and push it in somewhat to expand the rivet. Test fit the rivet in a rubber grommet to make sure the fit is snug, but not too snug. It's then a matter of gluing the rivet to the side cover mounting base, perhaps using a small hand-held grinder, or file to make sure the surface of the rivet and the mounting base are flat. I used Chem-weld for gluing the two together, as the rivet didn't seem to be ABS plastic. Once that set, a layer of fibre glass and epoxy was wrapped around the post base. Hopefully that will hold the rivet securely in place.

Replacing the valve cover gaskets is a bit of a bear, but doable. There’s not a lot of room to maneuver in there. Do you have a service manual? It would be very useful. Lots of valve cover gaskets on eBay. Replacing fork seals can be done without removing the forks, which makes the job a whole lot easier. I have an instructional video link somewhere, but can't find at the moment. If you're interested I'll look further.

Looks like these are still available from Yamaha, at least PartShark has them for $1 or so. http://www.partshark.com/oemparts/a/yam/50042512f8700209bc788099/fairing-2

I've been down the 2nd gear failure road on my '84. Second gear started to slip at around 80,000 km (50k miles). It sure takes the shine off, so I decided to take the plunge and fix it. The above link, along with a Venture shop manual, were most helpful. You can find a description of my experiences here - http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?120493-Second-gear-repair-redux&highlight=redux

Finding the source of an oil leak in and around a convoluted engine is a challenge. I've found that engine oil dye helps, a lot. The product I've used is Tracer Products TP34000601 UV Fluorescent Leak Detection Dye. Add that to your engine crankcase and then run the engine. Then shine a UV flashlight anywhere oil appears. It will appear a greenish colour. You'll then be able to trace the oil stream back to its origin. Yellow lens safety glasses help. The dye and flashlight are available on Amazon, and at various auto supply doors I would think.

Welcome aboard happypunch. As you’ve already discovered, there are lots of folks on this site with gobs of experience with Ventures. I’ll add my two-cents worth. I also own a blue ’84. I purchased it in ’96 and have been riding it ever since. Here are a few things that I’ve discovered. 1. These bikes came with a plastic water pump impeller that was prone to failure. When I opened my pump, I discovered someone had already been there and replaced the original impeller with a metal one. You may want to check yours. 2. The stators tended to overheat and quit. This happened to me during the year I drove the bike in the high temps of the Inland Empire of Southern California. Yamaha eventually developed a stator cooling kit for these bikes. You may want to check your stator and verify that a cooling kit has been installed. 3. As you’ve already heard, braking power on these bikes is not so good. Many suggest upgrading to R1 or R6 callipers. I’m sure they work wonders, but IMHO I think your money is better spent on other things, such as 1 and 2 above. I “fixed” my brakes by installing stainless steel brake lines and rebuilding the callipers (new pistons and seals). The SS lines made a huge difference. You’d want to install these lines even if you go the R1/R6 route. 4. Your front fork seals will leak if not already. Replace the seals, and while you’re at it, the internals with new parts, including progressive springs. This can be done without removing the forks. I can point you to an instructional video if interested. 5. The odometer and tachometer gauges will seize up eventually unless you get some lube in there. Not easy. Do it while you have all the plastic off to install SS lines. 6. My rear mono-shock got to the point where it wouldn’t hold air. I’m replacing that this winter. Picked up a used one on eBay. eBay can be a good source for parts. There are still many OEM parts available. I find Partshark hard to beat on price. 7. The clutch is a weak point. You’ll get slippage. Running a 20W50 oil, like Castrol, helps but the best solution is replacing the clutch plates and springs with high-end aftermarket ones. I installed Barnett brand. 8. The starters are a bit anaemic, especially once the engine has warmed up. I replaced mine with a 4-brush-starter from a 2006 XVZ1300. Any XVZ or VMX from ’91 to 2013 will have the much better starters. You'll find lots on eBay. 9. Plastic repair is an ongoing affair. Here are some very good hints for repair - http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Plastics_repair_with_ABS_cement 10. Last, 2nd gear fails. You’re lucky yours has been fixed. I had to do mine two years ago. Not for the faint of heart! Have fun.

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

My wife has continued to work repairing plastic parts on my '84 Venture. I thought I'd illustrate how she was able to repair a major break on the right-side upper panel. At the rear end of these panels are two grommet holes that hold the body side panels in place. On the right-side panel, the plastic containing the holes had completely broken off. See pic of unbroken left side and broken right side. Using the unbroken left side panel, and some non-hardening modelling clay, she was able to make a mold of the missing part. With the mold as a guide she cut a template using a thin sheet of clear plastic. With the template as a guide she cut out the repair piece from a sheet of ABS using a scroll saw. Then, using ABS cement, glued it to the panel, and eventually backed it with fibreglass and epoxy. The slot for the spring washer had to cut out with a Dremel tool. All I need do now, is order up a couple of grommets and a spring washer.

A number of posts on this site, and others, provide some pretty good guidance on repairing the brittle plastic that these old Ventures are covered with. Using that info, I had my wife tackle some tab repairs, seeing as she has a lot more finesse with her hands than I. Here's a picture of necessary materials - ABS plastic sheet, epoxy, and fibreglass. Missing from photo is a can of ABS cement, and a fine tip, electric soldering iron. Cracks can be repaired using a combination of soldering iron to widen and deepen cracks, fill with ABS cement, and then fibreglass-epoxy backing for added strength. Where pieces, such as tabs, are missing completely, replacements can be cut and fashioned from the ABS sheet, and then attached with ABS cement and fibreglass. Hopefully you can use any existing, complete tabs as a template. Here are some repair results on lower fairing tabs. This seems to have worked well. It will be interesting to see how these hold up.

You won't regret installing SS brake lines. I installed these on my '84. Very noticeable improvement in braking. There are a sorts of SS brake line sellers out there - challenge is finding a set specific to your bike. I picked up a Galfer set on eBay. Regardless, it will set you back around $100 for a good set.

What bongobob said, but the 2nd gear repair also replaces the 2nd gear wheel with a beefier unit. The tranny on eBay has that wheel, so I assume it also has the new thrust washers. If you do replace your old transmission with a newer one, you will need to retain the middle gear assembly from yours, otherwise you'll run into shimming issues.

There is an 83 transmission for sale on eBay. It has the newer 2nd gear wheel, so likely had the 2nd gear repair done.

Lots of these on eBay - some a tad less than what you've indicated.

This also happened on an 84 that a friend of mine owns. In his case one of the D's actually ripped off. This happened on a startup after resting following a long ride. He had the cover gaskets replaced, but had at least two subsequent blowups occurred. The new D's held, but the breather hose detached. So, there was some crankcase pressure building up due to a blockage somewhere. The problem then disappeared! Mystery.

I've used oil dye to trace oil leaks. Works wonderfully. The stuff I used was - Tracer Products TP34000601 UV Fluorescent Dye.