CaseyJ955

I just got done with my 89, 3 of the 4 of those were broken off. As mentioned it's the drain tube. There is a screw that closes those off so no trouble riding but if its weeping fuel you may have to clean up/replace the screw. I asked a few folks I know about replacements for the hose nipples and I guess they are like hens teeth. I just left mine broken, the downside is I cant do a wet float bowl level check. It is noteworthy that float level is a critical setting for a CV carb. I dry set my floats and with no other way to check their levels I gravity fed my carbs fuel then emptied each bowl into a graduated cyl and got 41-43 CCs of fuel per carb so at least I knew they were consistent. So yea, in short it's nice to have them but its not a deal breaker if they are broken. I dry set my floats on my Vmax and again on the Venture and my results have been great. They tend to be a touch high from the factory. http://www.factorypro.com/Prod_Pages/prody11.html

One of the first things I did to my bike was remove the guts from the proportioning valve and delink the system. I like the mighty vac, a nice tight hose and it works pretty well. I tried bleeding it with it linked and it sucked, I couldnt get a firm lever for anything. The mighty vac helped me move enough volume through the system to get it to where I could bleed it the old way, which is my preference. I wish I could help more on bleeding them linked.

I think it's an awesome project. I keep thinking boat/no boat. I just want something big enough to sleep on and fish from, one like yours would do the trick nicely. I hope to be relocating up to Devils Lake area this year so that might be the time. I hope it runs nice and you get to take her out soon.

I completely forgot about DOT4, I remember that anything upwards of that was a fail for the older systems, especially some with residual fluid left. Oh well, I change fluids every two years. These calipers were new to me so I'm not sure what was used in them before. It just stopped raining, I hope I can get a ride in tomorrow when it dries out. I'm beyond anxious to see how these brakes work, among other things done since I parked it last fall.

The Texas Star is a nasty thing, my Black Widow is a Texas Star 440 IIRC but had some work on the finals and a few other mods and outperformed my tweaked 667 in both raw power and clarity. I think if I put this on the Venture the bike would be enveloped in flames the first time I spiked the mic. Not thinking the stator would handle that for a second. The car it was in was a carb fet 467cid Lincoln, even the locks were vacuum operated so no issues with it's use. Now I'll be happy if I can get some range and clarity on the factory CB, I guess I wont be shooting skip like I used to. What about using the existing antenna for AM/FM, would a firestick be better? I think dual firesticks would look great but I'm not opposed to leaving the OEM antenna alone if it works well for both but also not opposed to just adding a firestick for the CB and keeping the OEM for radio. If as Rick said the firestick performs better on AM/FM than the factory antenna then why not use twin firesticks? OR, and I like this option if it would work, replace the OEM mast with a single firestick that would work for both CB, AM/FM with the OEM switching unit that Rick spoke of? Why not if it improves reception of AM/FM and obviously would be better for CB?

Back when I was doing CB more I had (still have) my tweaked Ranger, D4 power mic with a Black Widow linear through a single 102" whip on my 72 Town Car. It was quite a stomping system, very loud and clear, and able to stomp systems running considerably more power. I found out by accident that if I spiked the mic at the car wash all the vacuums would kick on. I guess I just lost interest in that sort of thing, but I can see it as having value for a tour bike. I would like a more subtle antenna that will perform with the presumably puny finals in the OEM CB. Does the factory antenna work well or does it leave something to be desired for either CB or radio?

If one antenna does both and does it well then I'll fix the mast and leave it alone. I hear the CB is useful in group rides anyway. I dont think there is an aftermarket mobile CB antenna that is more expensive than a replacement for the factory. How would a Venture look with twin 102" steel whips:rotf: I guess I'm fishing for the best idea, maybe fixing the existing antenna and leaving it along or if I can get significantly better performance by changing things up some. I thought of dual firesticks but not sure how a firestick would work with terrestrial radio.

89 Royale with CB and stereo, I only have one antenna on the right, arent there supposed to be two? So the one that I have seems to be stripped, there is a threaded collar that I would unscrew and lift to allow the antenna to fold forward and this is the part that is stripped. It does not look stripped but it wont thread, almost like it's one size too big. So aside from the issue with the existing antenna doesnt the CB get it's own antenna? I would probably just do what I have seen in other threads and use a firestick for the CB if thats the one on the right. I am not opposed to dual antennas and not opposed to them not being an exact match. AM/FM should work only for getting local weather while in the saddle but most probably because of my 0 tolerance advertising policy I will never use the AM/FM, but I'm OCD enough to want it to work as well as it can. So I guess what I'm looking for is the normal and ideal configuration of CB and stereo antennas, does one antenna do both and do them well?

I have healthcare coverage from a previous contract, will probably have it for many years to come but if I didnt the cost of it for my wife and I is cost prohibitive, when you count the deductible and copays we would have the better part of $8000 into doctor visits before the ACA even kicked in a penny. It's cheaper for me to go to the doctor and just pay outright for the services, even MRIs and such fall considerably cheaper than ACA at the end of the year. Imagine how bad it would be if Obama wanted to make it free instead of just really super expensive/cost prohibitive for most working Americans. Freebirds story is one I have heard WAY to often, I see it coming myself. I know a lot more people that fly without because they got dropped or just cant afford it. One positive about the American healthcare system is that if you have the scratch you can still get quality healthcare, it is available to those who can afford it.

I'm coming up with a blank there, I wonder if Progressive themselves wouldnt be able to answer this question.

Just got the front HH pads so pulled off the front calipers, disassembled, cleaned, reassembled and replaced them one at a time with the new pads. The fronts were much cleaner than the rear inside, better condition but still small pockets of water contaminated DOT3 inside so glad they came apart. Also on assembly the pistons wiggled back into the caliper easier than on the rear caliper, I'm almost afraid the rear may end up coming off for a full kit and new pistons at some point. It took me all of 90 minutes to do it all including bleeding. You really gotta bleed these good to firm up that lever. With the R6 calipers and OEM MKII MC it's full brake force at around half lever and feels mighty fine. Its raining today so I didnt take it for a ride, the tires are new and have not yet been scrubbed in so when it's dry I'll get out there and see how it goes.

Ok, before you do this let me throw out another option. I put these on my own scoot, they come from the UK but the arrive quickly. Why buy one when the rest are just as old and probably not far behind. A set of all 4 are about half price of one and there is an easy way to put them on. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-4-Pcs-Carburetor-Diaphragm-Yamaha-XVZ13-XVZ1300-Venture-Royal-1986-1993-/281761118300?hash=item419a45785c:g:3c4AAOSwrklVXmxv&vxp=mtr If your considering having someone else do the carbs have a chat with this guy here http://www.vmaxforum.net/brc.jpg He does the carbs for a lot of the Vmax crowd, and we Vmax guys are VERY picky about how stuff runs, if your going to drop coin on refurb carbs at least get them from someone that understands the art of not only CV carbs the art of tuning for a Yamaha V4. he's straight up and knows his stuff. If your going to go this yourself do some reading up and understand that if your replacing parts K&L kits are Japanese made and known good quality. Those budget kits on Ebay are Chinese knock-offs and known garbage. Of course boats.net can get you individual parts but OEM Yamaha, while awesome, is not cheap as you found out with the diaphragm price. Here is a link to how to dry set the floats. http://www.factorypro.com/Prod_Pages/prody11.html and that alone makes a decent difference. I encourage you to contact Danny and he can probably tell you about what it would cost and what you might be looking at vs doing it yourself depending on your comfort level. I hope you find a good option and it works out.

It took me less than a handful of miles on my new Venture before I realized that the brakes would need some improvement, by the time I had ridden the nearly 300 mi home after buying it I had a whole list of things, brakes being at the top. My stopping power was underwhelming, the lever was soft and inconsistent. I decided to go with ebay for the cheap and plentiful previously enjoyed R6 calipers so I ordered a couple good used blue dots off a 2001 R6 for the front with some braided line. When I went to remove the rear brake I found that it was binding and holding onto the rotor just as the fronts were so I opted instead of rebuilding I would replace the rear with an R6 caliper too. The rear one is a front right off an 08-ish R6S and allows me to access the bleeder screw although it is positioned over the end of the pads so if it leaks it will contaminate the pads. I bled it having stuffed a chunk of cardboard and a rag under the screw to catch any drippings. So I had really hoped that I could just buy known good calipers and toss em' on, cheaping out of overhauling and new pads etc etc. These calipers came with pads that looked nearly new so why not minimize the amount of $ I dump into a 30 year old bike? So I toss em' on the bike, delink and install the braided front lines with a Vmax splitter and my homemade aluminium mounting plate for said splitter. After all this the system was bone dry so the bleeding took a while with the Mighty-Vac, I decided to run a good amount of fluid through them for a thorough flushing after the calipers had been shelved for who knows how long. I flushed until the fluid coming out was spotless and clear, then flushed some more for good measure. End result was they were still hanging up slightly but lever and pedal were firm and consistent. So fast forward to now that all the other work on the bike is done, I realize I have not cheaped out and have spent more money on this old bike than I will ever get back except for years of reliable service. I decided to order new pads, almost went with Volar pads to be cheap but after realizing those are generic mass manufacutred Chinese pads I thought better of it and found a deal on some semi-met Galfters for the rear and after much deliberation and consultation, some sintered HH pads for the front, also Galfer. I remove the rear caliper and while it's off I decide since it's getting new pads and I never want to have to think about it again until next pad service I would pop the pistons and have a peek inside. Damn good thing I did, there were still some significant pockets of heavily contaminated fluid with sludge and rust, this after bleeding extensively until it was crisp and clean coming out, I was surprised to see all that nasty crap still in there. Cleaned up, prelubed with DOT3, reassemble with new pads and back on the bike. This time gravity bleeding was easy. Now it grabs quite nicely but still a slight drag, I figure since I didnt index the pistons or anything they will wear in after a few miles and once the pads are homed in. The front pads should be here today so I'll do the same for the fronts. I would think the seller sold me a junk caliper but the fact of DOT3 is it very rapidly absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, the calipers being shelved with residual fluid inside was bad news. It did clean up nicely though. I cant believe I almost ran them with all that crap inside. I'm all for previously enjoyed calipers but best have a look inside before install I guess. The R1/6 caliper upgrade is popular on the Vmax side of things too, some guys change the master cyl as well to get the feel they want with regards to the ID and how much lever you need to get the braking power. I think I paid more for the pads than I did for the calipers. Full ride report in a couple days when I get her out on the road.

Did the package come with some flat washers in about the same diameter? I did mine last fall so trying to remember. I remember the shouldered washers that just dont fit back into the ID of the Progressive springs, IIRC there is a baggie with a couple flat washers in the box with the springs, I think I used those instead. I remember searching and not finding answers so I rolled with it.

Get a hold of Sean Morley, one2dmax@aol.com what your doing is exactly why the little brass restrictor plugs were created. One for each carb, easy install and you can run the cones with little or no other fuss. I would be compelled to remove the carbs, dry set the floats and make sure all else is good, the float levels being to high will account for some crappy MPG and loss of power. My guess is it wont have to go into jetting until you have a free flowing exhaust going on.

I thought it might sound stupid because in all the years I've been doing this I'm the only one I know that has tossed one into a saddlebag. Those lightweight vests are a great idea, hadnt thought of that. Another use of the road flare is if it fails to stop someone from hitting your bike you can pick it up off the road and walk over to the person that just hit your bike and put it out in their eye. I'm more likely to be on a dark road than a highway with lots of traffic, there have been a couple times back in my HD days where I had wished for a flare.

I would love to figure out now to do a 4-2-1 Kerker style exhaust, or even an 4-1 and eliminate the twin pipes. The single can is musical. I want mine to be just loud enough to hear the music but not loud enough to be fatiguing on long rides. I have failed to find any exhuast for the Venture other than a Marks Collector. In looking at this exhaust system, and IMHO, the restriction is not in the cans but in the downpipes and collector system. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on this. For going to cones instead of a factory air box you will need to use a carb restrictors to trick the carbs. To illustrate remove the air box and fire it up, you will notice it's very soft and stumbly when you blip the throttle. The restrictors are available from Sean at Morleys Muscle and maybe other places I dont know. They press into one of the small holes on top of the carbs so it's quick and simple. Another option is to customize the air box lid by cutting it out and grafting in a K&N style flat filter. My vmax has a setup like that and it sure breathes better, also you will hear a great deal more of the carbs and intake sounds. I'm not sure how much more intake CFMs you can really take advantage of without a free flowing exhaust. Maybe you can get a Marks collector, not sure where to get those but maybe someone else can chime in. I'm collecting bits of Vmax exhaust to try and piece something together. I will be installing Vmax heads and cams on mine next winter and without free flowing exhaust a lot of that wont be usable. A word on jetting a CV carb, as you free up intake and exhaust restrictions you may find that you are jetting down a step or two, CVs like to throw in more fuel with more flow. Correctly setting the float levels is going to be paramount, it's critical for CV carbs to do their thing correctly. Once you get the air box/cones and the exhaust you are looking for you will want to start the tuning by choosing the leanest main jets that will pull hard at the higher RPM range, then worry about needles and the lower jets, tune from the top down so to speak. It's a bit of trial and error to swap jets, ride, swap jets, ride on and on. Ideally you will find a dyno with a sniffer to check for CO at different RPMs and that would take some guesswork out of where in the RPM range you need to enrich or lean out. I didnt have that so on my Vmax (as you may know, same engine with different state of tune). I did not have acces to a Dyno so I set float levels, took my best guess at main jets, synched up the carbs and rode, I ended up swapping out jets 5-6 times until I was happy with the blistering top end performance. All my tweaking experience is on the Vmax and I'm moving to the Venture now to do the same with jetting and dialing things in. I will say that the Venture has smaller cams, smaller valves and head porting so I'm still not sure how much free flowing exhuast and intake you can really use with the Venture heads. I suspect not to much, also suspect that to free of an exhaust would probably do more harm to low end torque and ridability than good to top end performance. These are super heavy bikes and will need to keep some of that low end torque. Doing this on the Venture is an exercise for me as well but I'll be using the Vmax experience I have gained with regard to how these V4s respond to changes in flow and jetting. If your not going to break into the engine but your looking for a little more top end performance and maybe a few more RPM you could look into adding Vboost off a Vmax, it's only an intake system with butterflies and a couple guys here have already done the Vboost mod on the stock Venture engine. I'm interested in what your performance goals are, more top end, angrier midrange or just generally more pep?

These Ventures have a really great tool kit included, so if thats complete and function I would throw a couple decent screwdrivers and a multitool into the mix, like a nice Gerber or something. Tire plugs and air comp as mentioned above. At some point I may see if I can tap into the CLASS system to fill a plugged tire. There are some little CO2 cartirdges available to fill tires if you dont have space for a comp. Drinking water, energy bars, chapstick and a good SPF sun protectant, small first aid kit, gloves and neck gaiter, pocket LED flashlight, small WD40, I like to carry a spare qt of oil for extended high RPM highway pulls. If your camping then the normal stuff there. If you have to ride on into the night it can get REALLY effen cold in some places that are normally triple digits under the sun so dont get caught without some cool weather gear. I've had to ride quite a ways at night when I didnt have my camping gear and couldnt find accommodations. Cell phone and charger, and something to plug the charger into, if the phone roams the battery can drain pretty quickly. I carry a handheld waterproof GPS (Garmin 60csx) because I readily change course if traffic gets rough or I just feel like going another way. I use maps and GPS just enough to avoid cities but I have gotten lost a few times looking for adventure and the backtrack functions have been priceless at times. This will sound stupid but a road flare if you have space and I made up a set of small jumper cables just in case I manage to kill the battery. I'm really OCD so I carry JBweld in a small case with my tire plugs and flashlight. Your going to have an awesome trip!! That rocks and your going to love it. I have taken trips like this on my Triumph with less luggage space so I'm thrilled to have all the space and wind protection of the Venture for my next tour. Be safe!

When I shift on the bike I can do it clutchless, and I do sometimes when short shifting but I give it just enough clutch to unload the gears, so a gentle partial quick tug as I kick the gear and it's smooth and quiet. I find that I like the way it shifts more with the Rotella 15-40 non-synthetic oil. The carbs are all the same, synched and tuned to do the same thing at the same time. I do notice that it's really happy at 3500-4500 rpm, really eager to pull right there. I'm old enough to remember kicking in the secondary barrels.

Others will probably have more specific ideas but here is some reading to get you started, sounds along the same lines and it's from another site.http://www.venturers.org/Tech_Library/index.php?action=article&cat_id=001007&id=13 All up to 93 are First Gen bikes, your 86 is a second iteration (MKII) of a 1st Gen. I only mention because you posted this in a 2nd gen tech section. Not to worry, folks here are just too nice for words but you will get more 1st gen guys seeing this in the 1st gen tech section. Mine is an 89 so the same bike as yours, it's common knowledge that the 1st gens are superior in every way imaginable! If you got a blue one your at the top of the top! :stirthepot: Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like some good locations. I put my TCI on top of the air box and the MAP under the stereo. I'll probably have to move the TCI later to make room for a custom airbox. Yea, Spearfish canyon is amazing. Our rectal wart governor has been trying to turn it into a state park, nobody is making it easy for him. For now it's still amazing to ride during the fall when the leaves change. Go in the morning and you will have the whole valley to yourself. From there you can head into WY or back around into the North hills and get an insane burger in Custer.

There is a restrictor from the factory that goes to the OEM vac unit. I used that too although I know it doesnt restrict as much as one of the Synch restrictors. I think both work but I'm guessing a small enough restrictor would introduce lag as the small orifice would take an extra split second to allow the vacuum to pass. I dont know this, it's an assumption but it definitely deserves looking into. I have an old set of vacuum gauges and they have restrictors, I think I'll play with it next time I plug the computer into the TCI.

Thanks Rick. I did both at the same time, then before I fired it up I pulled the carbs, rejuvenated the jet block plugs, new jet block gaskets and dry set the floats to 1.125". They were a bit rich as they come from the factory. I think off the showroom floor these bikes got 40-ish, I'll be happy with that but if I could hit the mid 40s I would be thrilled. As a side note I could not check my wet float levels, those drain tube nubs were broken off by PO. Instead I gravity fed fuel to them and emptied the bowls into a graduated cyl to measure the bowl volumes individually in leu of a proper wet level check. They were all between 41 -43cc IIRC. I know the float levels are critical for the CV carbs, I also know these engines prefer slightly lean over slightly rich so I set the floats at the leanest acceptable setting. Also put in new diaphragms, the PO failed to seat the right side carbs fully into the intakes, they were half way. This might explain why I got a maximum of 25mpg on the 300 mile ride home after purchase and the 100 or so miles around town/hills. I never got better than 25 and I'm really hoping that all these changes shoot me back up on the other side of 40. My dayum Vmax can do better than 40-42-ish if I ride stay out of the needles/vboost so I cant see why the Venture in good health cant hit 45, even with the extra wt. It was chilly this morning, I threw in the Iridium NGKs and went to start it. I put the key in, turned it on and the bike was suddenly running, all I had to do was think about starting it, never even hit the button (slight exaggeration).

It is my understanding that it doesn't matter, CA or 49 state is the same Ignitek. I'm removing the charcoal canister and the bowl vent solenoid thing to revert back to 49 state, once that happens the vacuum buffer will mount where the charcoal canister is right now.

This is true, and an equally troubling trend on the Vmax side of things. There is a lot of resorting to Chinese aftermarket and that aint good news. The K&L kits I've heard some great stuff about but some of the other kits used saw the owners rebuilding them over again with better parts. There is a lot of re-branding going on so it would probably be prudent to ask sellers who actually made the kit, and where. I believe K&L is a Japanese made kit so probably well worth a couple extra bucks. The difference in manufacturing, acumen and quality between China and Japan is night and day. The only thing I can guarantee anyone that resorts too the Chinese aftermarket is this; the parts/accessories you put on your bike will be considerably lower in quality than the bike your putting it on. This goes for Japanese cars too.