LukeMacPU

I've read how premium isn't worth it in lots of articles lately. That may be true for most vehicles. Higher octane fuel essentially has a higher ignition point and is suitable for higher compression engines and such. Most of the time not a requirement or benefit in many engines. Have found by experiment that my bike stutters (likely pre-ignition) if I get regular unleaded sometimes. Recently had my side cover off (and cleaned it) and read where it called for high octane fuel to be used in my '83 on the factory sticker. I'll stick with the "good" stuff to avoid knocking/pinging. Only in the bike though, doesn't seem to help (and shouldn't) my truck/van/mowers. My thumbs did this on a tiny keyboard so cut me some slack!,

Had a similar venture experience, only mine was given to me. Had not run in years. Pulled air filter and could see slides weren't moving as they should. Ended up pulling carbs to clean/sync. Tried a variety of other things prior and never could clear the clogged idle jets with any in-fuel treatments. Not really that big a job to pull and clean them. You'll be glad u did. Totally different animal when it runs right! My thumbs did this on a tiny keyboard so cut me some slack!,

Good to know I'm not crazy, and it sounds like the bike is normal. Thanks for the feedback. Ride on! My thumbs did this on a tiny keyboard so cut me some slack!,

Never experienced this with any other bike, but my shifting was dramatically smoother after changing the oil this weekend. I had noticed my shifting getting a bit clunky and stiff when the bike was hot. I was due for an oil change so I took care of that this weekend. First riding since was today and the hard shifting was gone or at least much better. What gives? Same oil, nothing different there. Is this a common issue prior to oil change? My first one after getting the bike running 5000 miles ago. I was surprised it made such a difference. My thumbs did this on a tiny keyboard so cut me some slack!,

Take the comfortable one. You're equally hosed if you wreck either one so that shouldn't factor in. Keeping the lady happy/comfortable sounds like the only important difference.

I spoke too soon! The darn thing quit working again... I'm back to not really pumping up the rear suspension. Something screwy with the valves back there just pumps up the hoses/valve chamber and not the suspension. May/may not be the wiring this time. Still puking oil onto the rear fender too. Any suggestions? UPDATE Seems I've either got a bad connection in the plug/harness where the wire for rear shock valve goes or I've got a loose solder on that pin. Definitely a problem right there. Checked the voltage measured at the back-side of the plug/harness and got correct readings intermittently depending how I wiggled the DMM probe. When voltage was correct, rear valve solenoid worked as it should. One step closer to a fix I hope... Anyone know the trick to getting those wires out of the plastic plug? Suspect I've got a bad connector inside it.

Update... I had previously pulled and re-soldered the connections on the CLASS board. Apparently, my soldering skills are about as bad as my welding and I failed to make a good repair the first few attempts. Pulled it last night and used a very sharp point soldering iron and manual solder-sucker (technical term) that came with a TV board repair kit my father-in-law bought. Pretty handily removed the old solder and replaced with new. Plugged it back into the bike and I'm in business! CLASS working like it should, finally! Hopefully the connections hold fast for another 30 years and I don't have to re-visit that one for a while.

I guess I got them both then. Must have had a nice PO at some point that added the steering stem zerk. My thumbs did this on a tiny keyboard so cut me some slack!,

How many grease zerks are there on the ol' VR's? I've located just two: 1. Steering head bearing 2. Drive shaft cover. Any more? Tried looking through the manual, but I could have missed something. Harder to fumble through the electronic copy than a hard copy.

Oil leaking from pump/valve assembly onto rear fender? What's that an indicator of? My thumbs did this on a tiny keyboard so cut me some slack!,

Hypothetically good to know! I'll be sure to let him know no harm was done. My thumbs did this on a tiny keyboard so cut me some slack!,

Hypothetically, if the owner of a 1983 Venture Royale were to be a bit dim and ride around with the bypass valve turned to the wrong position... hypothetically... Would this work like driving and old car/truck with a bad thermostat and just take forever to warm up during cold weather because it circulates water the whole time? No real harm done, just running like the engine is cold all the time or would it be something more serious? Again, this is purely hypothetical. Ok, I know a guy that may have done something similar to my... I mean his bike for most of the winter.

Drilled and tapped today. Changed fluid and good to go after a bit of work! Riding for the past couple of days, I've noticed the bike is smoother. I had a small vibration around 50 mph in 5th gear. That seems to be gone now that I've got fresh full synthetic gear oil in the rear end. Glad I didn't put it off any longer, may have ended badly! My thumbs did this on a tiny keyboard so cut me some slack!,

I appreciate this thread is old, but it popped up in my search. I've tried all of the above. When I got to the impact step, my fill cap head stripped out instead of coming loose! My bike is an '83. From some of the posts above, there is nothing on the inside of my fill cap (no dipstick) so I should be able to drill through it and either tap it for new bolt or get an EZ out in there to remove it right? Any damage to be done this way? Seems if I stay in the fill cap with the drill, I shouldn't be able to hurt much. I have no tool-kit with my bike. New-to-me bike and I'd like to drain and refill with fresh. I'm assuming the gear lube volume needed is in manual?

These seemed to fit ok. Nice that the mirrors on the Venture are on the fairing instead.