Flyinfool

What kind of bike did you have previously to this one? It might just be that you are used to a bike that was designed for low engine RPMs, like a V twin.

The stator wires that you are after come out of the very back edge of the left side engine cover and run to the RR. some times the wires are white and sometimes yellow, they should be fairly heavy wires. There should be a connector between the stator and the RR. To test the stator or the rectifier you do the tests from this connector. You may have run your tests on the wrong thing if it was multi colored thin wires.

Well now you know that you can fix it and have a spare.

Good point, I'll use my buddies Ford, or other buddies Dodge so that there is no danger of pulling the tree down......

A swivel hitch is one of those things that you hope you never need, but will be glad you have if you ever do need it. Kind of like a fire extinguisher or a helmet. I do not know if you can or will notice anything in normal riding. As I mentioned earlier I used mine for sure one time when the side stand sunk into wet grass before I could get the plate out of the trunk to put under it. The bike was able to lay down flat and the swivel prevented any possibility of damage to the hitch or trailer. I am betting that the fully loaded trailer would have bent something without the swivel in there.

Ummmmm..... NO! The ladder did not even flex a little bit with 500 lbs on it? At the top the bike did not even wobble a little when he took it off his head? He just somehow knew the exact CG of the bike with zero adjustment needed when it was first put on his head? The bike was not level when the three lifter let go but it miraculously leveled instantly the moment they released it. Must have been when the crane took up the slack. Those 3 skinny guys sure must be strong to pick up 300+ lbs of bike with no visible effort. When you watch circus performers and such balance things on their heads there is a lot of wiggling and adjustment to get it just right. Non of that here. There either was a crane involved with very thin black wires to the bike or that was not a real bike and it actually did not weigh much.

Here is how to test the charging system. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=81297

I'm hidin out all alone in the Ladies Room.

The speedo and odometer on a 1st gen are purely mechanical, and driven off the front wheel, no fuse will matter.

It is possible that the speedo cable is broken, not fully engaged, speedo is dead. Does the odometer work? Does the cruise control work? While working on it you can use a speedo in a GPS or smart phone to know how fast you are going.

Est-ce que tout le monde ne parle français? Yes you would have to be sure there is no other damage before starting. I do not know if it would need to have the lash redone if you put all of the same parts back in that came out?

In theory, the clocking will put the hole at different points in the venturi. this could have an effect on the vacuum realized at the hole. Does it make enough of a difference to matter in the real world? I have no clue. I was told while getting my diaphragms replaced to watch for it and always make sure the hole goes back where it came from. All of the slides were clocked the same from the factory. So I make sure to follow that lead and instruction.

If you do not do it right then all life on this planet as we have known it will end. It could even cause someone like Yammer Dan to buy a 2nd gen....... I had not heard of this procedure when I had mine apart and I just bolted the final drive on and then installed the rear tire as normal. There have been no issues in the 3 years since I did it. I do not know if it is because I got lucky, or if really does not matter. But look at what has happened to poor Dan since I did not follow the procedure.......

My 2¢ on TCI location...... I removed both tabs on my TCI and relocated it into the left fairing with the radio. The stock TCI wires reached with no problem. I do not know if there is room in there with the stock radio that is on a Venture Royal. Mine is an '88 Venture Standard with an automotive radio (much smaller than stock) installed an the left side. The TCI does not need any "regular" maintenance. In the faring it is out of sight and out of the way. On top of the air cleaner it is in the way for normal maintenance like checking/replacing the air cleaner.

What are you doing with the broken parts? I read an article once on how to repair that broken part to make it better than new. I would be curious to try it out to see if it works. Here is the article http://www.allvmax.com/technique/moteur-boite-pont/reparation-du-pignon-dattaque-du-couple-conique

Now that just sounds dangerous........

Oopie. I must have got my time machine and my weather machine to close to each other.

Hmmmmm...... I'm not sure yet but was just looking and noticed that R&P Carriages is just 30 miles east from the root beer stand right on HY 6. Maybe I can get a root beer float and a new set of trailer brakes all in one trip......

Cool. Glad you are back on the right road. Glad we could all help out.

I have been kicking around the bushing idea. A bushing could be smaller and a lot lighter but might end up needing a pair of actual thrust bearings. One for pulling and one for braking. I am still thinking on this one. IF I make something it will be a winter project. I have to many other things going on right now. But this is also a fun design exercise. Keep the ideas coming. At the moment I do not have a need for myself since my trailer already has a swivel on it. If I do build one it will be tested by putting it in my truck and chaining it to a big tree with a peak reading scale.......

Some one mention SNOW?????

Its been a while since we have had a nekid chat. And Yesterday (July 14) was National Nude Day.

Just a notice to anyone that may be traveling on I94 through Milwaukee this weekend. I94 will close on Friday evening 7-18 and not reopen till Monday morning 7-21. Both east and west will be closed from HY100 to the interchange of I94, I894, HY 45 Known locally as the Zoo interchange. They will be lifting a train bridge into place over the freeway. Of course this is weather dependent, If the weather is not conducive to the work that needs to be done, the closure will be moved to the following weekend. More info here.

I thought about using 1" taper bearing from a trailer mounted into my own housings. The spindle and hub would work but be very heavy.

I will grant you that if you use the brakes more and engine braking less that mathematically there will be less wear on the engine. But the engine wear that you will have saved is WAY less than the wear you just put on your brakes. Yes there is also the dummies that will go over red line on the engine while down shifting and blow up the engine. We or at least I am comparing service brakes used properly, to engine braking used properly. Unless you are shutting the engine off and shifting to neutral the engine is still running at speed and still creating wear. The brake inspector is there for those that do not know how to down shift, and for those that have a heavy enough load that there is not enough engine braking potential to maintain their speed. That only happens in very heavy vehicles like big trucks, buses and heavy RVs. By the time you would wear an engine to need a rebuild due to the engine braking you could have bought several engine rebuilds with the money you would have spent on brakes. Yes you can stop every few miles to let your brakes cool, but you are still grinding up the rotors and pads. Engine braking puts very little strain on the engine. It is just spinning with very little load on anything. But that spinning still is circulating the oil and coolant at the same rate as if you were powering up the hill. There is a lot less engine stress during engine braking than the stress that is there from normal cruising on level ground. How is that wearing out the engine? Most or at least some, newer vehicles now will automatically use engine braking on downhills for you. I know my truck will. Any time it senses that the speed is rising and my foot is off the gas it will down shift automatically to try to maintain speed. On our bikes an engine rebuild kit is not much more money for the parts compared to the parts cost for a complete brake job. Rotors cost way more than engine parts. I'll bet that almost everyone here goes through a lot more dollars in brake parts than what they do spend on engine rebuilds. I use a LOT of engine braking. My commute to work is 25 miles each way all city stop and go traffic. So I have to brake to a stop very often. At the end of the commute my rotors are only about 15°F above ambient temperature. I have checked it. That is how little I use the service brakes vs engine braking. There are no issues with my engine at 60K miles, still has original clutch, Brakes are on the third set that I know of, and the next change will need new rotors too. Rotors are $250-$300 each times 3 pads are around $30 times 3. That is $840 to $990. But I bet you can not wear out an engine coming down that mountain, even in 100 trips. You will have a lot more wear getting up the mountain than you will coming back down with heavy engine braking. Experience, and the rest of the world tells me that it is far less expensive to use engine braking than using the actual brakes. As you said "It's your machine, but don't ask to use mine on that mountain." I have explained the science as I see it. Can you explain your version of the science as you see it. I can be convinced that I am all wrong by presenting facts that are more plausible that the fact set that I am currently using. I try to learn something new every day. I will only admit to knowing something about everything and every thing about nothing. The more I learn the more I realize I don't know.