CaseyJ955

I know the charcoal canister has to come off, plus there is a funky solenoid thingy in-line from the bowl vent, that will be joining it in a box on the shelf with all the plumbing. The questions are: 1. Are there any other California specific differences or equipment with the GenI, other than the charcoal/bowl vent system? 2. I see the bowl vent runs down and back, exiting in front of the rear tire on the 49 state, is it very picky about routing or size of vent tube, I cant imagine that it would be as long as it's big enough to vent adequately. For those of you with the 49 state what size is that vent hose? Thanks all. Tony

In regards to filtration a good quality paper filter is hard to beat. I live on a long dusty road so the reusable filters make sense, the K&N has done a good job of keeping the inside of the Vmax nice and squeaky clean so I hope it works here. I too have heard that K&N doesnt do quite the job of the paper but so far so good on the other bike. I know the K&N will probably lean things out a bit, in fact I'm counting on it. Some combination of this and moving the needles inward should lean me out enough to see an improvement in MPG, or tell me that I'm heading in the wrong direction. I will use the restrictor plugs and play around with jetting if it goes that far but hopefully these few changes will get me closer to 40mpg. If nothing else I will learn some things about how the Venture differs from the Vmax in regards to tuning for power and MPG.

Well, my used K&N filter arrived today ($22 shipped) caked with muck. I know K&N sells a kit that includes cleaner and filter oil and I purchased one years back. That kit is really not cheap and I went through plenty of cleaner and have the same filter oil I have had forever. The K&N oil is great sticky stuff and it only takes a small amount, I have found nothing better to use yet. For cleaning I have found that Castrol Super Clean works as well if not better, for a fraction of the cost. Besides I usually go through several bottles of cleaner for every bottle of oil. I'm getting ready to throw it in and just felt compelled to share this in case it will save anyone some $$$.

Wow, integral HT lead and coil? reeeeally? That doesn't sound very Yamaha-like How does the 2nd gen do with COPs?

Thats awesome! I would love to be able to buy whatever grade I want without pumping that garbage into my vehicles. It's not enough to make up for over 40 ppl/sq mi but it sure does make Maine look pretty darn good.

Ethanol is garbage. It has less energy than pure gasoline so with fuel not tainted with ethanol you will see better MPG and performance. Of course assuming a vehicle is not specifically tuned to run on ethanol. EFI vehicles seem to be able to digest it but carbs dont seem to like it one bit. I have an early Lexus LS400 that requires 91+ and thats what I run, and it loves it, if I try and cheap out I can feel the difference. If a car only requires 87 then 91 is nothing but a waste of money (unless it's the only way to escape ethanol). I would be quite happy if I could find 87 oct pure gasoline, few things would make me happier.

I run 91 because everything else has ethanol, when I see 87 without ethanol that is my first choice. At 110 miles I'm on the last bar but I'm chasing an MPG issue that probably has nothing to do with gasoline grades.

I read a thread somewhere on his videos and have heard great things. The Vmax/Venture carbs arent too bad once you get into them but i'm sure I would learn a thing or two from a professional vid.

I have only had the 89 but have read that the MKI bikes normally read very high and that this was theoretically corrected with the MKII. On my 89 it rarely goes over half, I think I saw it hit 2/3 once while it was sitting idling on the center stand while I adjusted carbs and MAP sensor for over 30 minutes, it took forever for the fan to decide to kick on. This was with ambient temps around 65-70.

Sounds like you know the drill, dont let them short you on pain control and good luck.

Congrats! Dues paid. I guess you have earned the right to do as you please. Enjoy!

I'm glad this came up, I totally forgot I contacted him after I got the bike home. The factory seat is very good but I can see room for improvement. Sounds like a huge improvement for a minimal investment.

I have an ugly Vmax and that is where I learned the trick, also worked on the Gen1 Venture which is definitely preferable to pulling the carbs. It clears it up enough to get some Seafoam through to finish the job over a few tankfuls. I didnt know if the Gen2 carbs would respond do it, I'm glad to know that they dont.

I just went through this, I have an antenna that wont tighten onto the hub, it slaps back and fourth with that collar unable to catch threads to tighten. The antennas are spendy on Ebay, usually > $100 and I have been examining the idea of using a Firestick, I read that they work pretty well for AM/FM as well as CB so we'll see. I just bought a rack that will accept dual antennas. Someone posted a link to a new replacement for the OEM mast, I'll find it quick and copy it here. EDIT, here is a link to the post with some good information, also Karaboo posted a link to an affordable replacement in this thread. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?128742-Antenna-issue More info I found on Firesticks for am/fm. I plan to use a seperate stick for AM/FM and another for CB. http://www.wearecb.com/firestik-am-fm-antenna.html Good luck.

Living so close to Sturgis, motorists seem hostile towards motorcyclists, or at the very least annoyed. I understand why too, sure no mystery to anyone trying to get on with life during bike week. A great many of us are *******s on the road (not necessarily Venture guys but motorcycles in general) so collectively we bargain for the contempt of many motorists just as they us. When I ride I assume that they dont care and they arent going to burn the calories of turning their head before doing a sweeping lane change out of the blue, or to flip the wand that makes the blinkers go. I assume this all the time and often I'm not disappointed. Se we fight not only the mind-numbing in car distraction systems but the active conditioned response motorists develop as a result of less considerate and less skilled motorcycle owners. As a result many many motorists are passively dangerous and some are actually actively dangerous and harbor a seething hatred of motorcycles, again, not hard to understand why. One thing that is mentioned that should be given additional emphasis to is NEVER EVER ride in someones blind spot, even if they do care they cant see you. I dont waste time executing a pass, I go as quickly as possible without being rude but it ties in with existing in a blind spot. Extra caution should be taken around HDs and anyone still careless enough to be using a phone while driving, in my experience these are the most significant hazards on the road, even ahead of drunks and tractor/trailer combos. At stop lights make sure your positioned to shoot between or beside any vehicles in front of you and keep one eye on the mirror, sort of an escape route. This has saved me more than once. It seems to get more complicated as time goes on, I really feel for you folks that ride in congested areas full of impatient commuters. We have a duty to be courteous and safe but it has to be tempered with the ability to instantly kick into self-preservation mode. This one is one I have to keep in mind living in the hills, NEVER ride beyond your line of sight. If you cant stop before the furthest point you can see then it's a roll of the dice, never know whats beyond that blind corner, even on a familiar road. A pile of rocks, a stalled furniture delivery truck, deer (all things I have personally almost smacked rounding corners).

I have the Ignitek so looking inside and making changes is possible, I have little experience with this so I'm hoping it doesnt come to that. The Ignitek map I'm using was made for the Venture so I'm guessing that some of these other changes may make a decent difference.

I couldn't agree more, seems like a healthy % of people I see driving shouldn't be on the road or in physical control of any vehicle, ever, for any reason. As tech advances though it has promise IMHO. 20 years ago the thought of self-driving cars actually being successfully tested and used on the roadway was laughable, but here we are. I'll be thrilled when GPS, radar and automation take over vehicles from some of the idiots I have to avoid as it stands currently. If humanity is allowed to continue 4-5 more generations I would not be surprised if we have fully automated solar personal hovercraft.

I think it's a good idea. I remember a thread not long ago where a guy was having some trouble with that CA setup, thats when I realized mine was a CA setup. Might as well shed the weight and extra opportunity for mechanical failure. I think it's working correctly and I dont think it's causing any significant MPG loss, but I dont know it for a fact. I'm doing this as soon as my K&N and the goodies from Skydoc get here. If all thise fails to get me close to 40 then I'll be looking at spark timing and advance curve within the Ignitek. Is this bowl vent/charcoal canister the only difference with a CA bike or are there some other performance robbing CA specific things I should be concerned with?

I guess I may have have jinxed myself haha. Its a beautiful place but two things we have to offset this beauty is the nations most dishonest reprehensible state politicians and weather that can turn on a dime. This morning when I woke up. I still love it here.

My first thought is how can this technology lend itself to dealing with congested cities like, any city really. Ever been stuck on the I5-405? I believe I will live to see self driving cars become commonplace, but will I live long enough to see them fly? Oh man, this is too cool!

From what I can see it has a broken port. I remember that the 1300 is so amazingly advanced it has no YICS, in all its excellence there is simply no need Actually the bowl vents on this one all merge into a rubber manifold system and one big hose goes out and into that solenoid, then down to the charcoal canister. I want to eliminate that but I have never seen a 49 state bowl vent system. I'm guessing its just as simple as on the Vmax where the tubes all go up high by the airbox and vent to atmosphere. I'm thinking to emulate that system with the one large hose, run it up above the carb level along side the airbox with a basic baffle vented to atmosphere. If there were a bike salvage outfit around here, or any other Venture guys in western SD I could just peek at it and duplicate it. I did hear from Skydoc and his system does move the needles inward so I have that coming, so combined with the air filter and removal of the CA junk I expect I'll see some improvement. At least it should become clear if my efforts are masking another issue or if I have remedied the actual culprit.

As a general rule avoid ethanol tainted fuel where you can for any carburetor equipped vehicle. Let that junk sit in the carbs for any length of time and your bound to have some problems. I'm not as familiar with a gen2 as much but does the Shotgun method hold valid as it does for a Gen1? Just thinking that if there was some ethanol in it, and it did sit a while some of the corn squeezings could be gumming up a jet block or two. If the bowl vents are patent then a Shotgun might do the trick. Seafoam is good, ethanol is bad.

I figured if I could bump the throttle and the bike lunges forward with no fuss then it probably aint lugging, but I think you make a good point on RPM for best mileage. I'll bet if the needles are behaving correctly then it would be possible to get decent MPG. I know on a stock Vmax the needles will start to come in at around 4k with cruising speeds, I think the Venture is about the same judging by feel. I sent Skydoc a message about his system to move the needles in and I'll probably go that route after I understand how it works, his price is quite fair. One other thing I didnt really think of until now is the bike is a CA bike somehow, it has that charcoal canister and the vent solenoid. I'm not directly seeing how that can degrade MPG if the bowls are still venting but I think it's time to remove all that junk from the equation in the event it's playing a role in the poor MPG, which existed before COPs and Ignitek. Does anyone have a pic of the 49 state carb vents? I htink it's just the 4 tubes running up along side the airbox and ending in clips somewhere or will I need one of these. This is off a 1200 but is this what I need for my 1300 or can I do it like the Vmax and just run the hoses up and secure them somewhere? It's time to decalifornicate this machine. http://www.ebay.com/itm/XVZ-1200-VENTURE-BREATHER-BLOW-BY-VENTS-YAMAHA-ROYALE-/172463961778?hash=item2827a736b2:g:woAAAOSwhQhY5oy4&vxp=mtr

Hijack away, it's all good, I think I sort of hijacked it first so please, let it go where it may, it's all good I may learn something haha. With all that 2-up riding and great mileage I should expect something more. I'm really not flogging it. I'm finding 5th gear is really only good after 60-65, other than that I feel like I'm lugging it a little. It's strange to have a bike that I'm not always looking for another gear once I reach speed. In 4th and 5th gears it feels better if I keep it above 3500.

First, it doesnt sound strange at all, I often embark with no idea where i'm going, I just feel the road and change course on a whim with little or no thought. It's the only time in life I allow myself to make decisions based on emotion. On the wobble, I just got rid of my wobble, it was bad when I got crosswinds or when changing lanes. If I wiggled the bar a little it would reward me with a whole bike wobble of pucker factor 5-6. All I did was adjust the steering head bearings. They werent loose when I grabbed the forks but they bounced kind of far off the stops with the bounce test. I got another 1/4 turn to get them to bounce right. Figured while I had it on the center I lowered the jack to let the front wheel just touch the bround but with no weight on it. I pulled the front axle loose from the left fork but left it in the wheel, then loosened the 4 impossible to reach 12mm nuts on the upper tree a 4 allens on the lower tree, loosened the fork brace. Then torqued the front axle back, tightened the upper and lower tree then tightened the fork brace. Next ride was rock solid stable. I did check the rear swing arm for play and there was none. So that got me from a scary high speed wobble to the feel of a brand new bike. I know tire wear can cause strange highway behavior too. If your missing a washer back there I'm sure that will not help matters at all.