CaseyJ955

Wow, lathe, mill and CAD proficiency. Just wanted to let you know that we are now best buds and I'll be often calling you for complicated favors which will be rewarded with fist bumps and high fives, bro. Seriously that is very cool, something plenty of folks want is EFI, it's not only true here but on the Vmax side. What not everyone has is the $1500 or so we thought the whole project would cost. It will be interesting to see what you have invested by the time your done.

I found the function to insert link or image, so I clicked insert image and a box popped up asking for source, a box in which I had to type something and I had no idea what that meant or what to do with. I couldnt find an image system like what we use to post images in the conversational threads. Thank you for the leniency on this, I promise not to beat it to death. If nobody has a few of these loose I'll order new or most likely make some.

Just like you have dog years vs human years, you have HD years/miles vs real bike years/miles. With a rice burner 33k aint no mileage at all.

It shouldnt be hard to get it sorted out. There are a few areas to look at on these creatures, I did some reading and found that my bike was no exception even though it had been cared for. It's fair to assume that a 30 year old bike will need some love and money to be right again. Luckily all the information is right here and it's a fairly straight forward bike to work with. Have a good vacation.

Welcome! If a VR doesnt qualify as a real bike than I dont know what does. IMHO it has plenty of real world versatility. I have a Vmax for hills and Harley killing, and got the Venture for everything else. We'll need the deets, color, mileage, mods and a pic or two If it sat for a long time and will only run with the choke partially on then there might be some junk in there still, maybe some seafoam and riding could clear it out, otherwise a "shotgun" carb cleaning might be a solid idea, which would also give you an opportunity to inspect the diaphragms for holes. Stay away from ethanol tainted fuel and you will have better luck. If you have no idea what the history of the bike is you might just check date codes on the tires and do an oil change, a lot of us like the Shell Rotella 15-40 dino diesel oil, you'll find lots of reading on that too. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?120753-Shotgun-Method-Karb-Cleaning http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?87572-Air-Pressure-Front-and-Rear Anyways, congrats on the acquisition.

The heck you say, look how well it worked for health insurance here in the USA, what could possibly go wrong by the government mucking about in property/auto insurance as well? Your not suggesting that the gov may not have our best interest at heart, are you?

These were posted by Morley over on the Vmax site. I know this will be handy when I'm looking to retune for different heads and cams. Not sure if it will help you out or not but here it is just in case it may. Do the needles need to be replaced often, I thought they lasted forever and the tubes wore out more often?

I'm pretty sure the bike needs nothing else. As soon as I get the serial cable for the Ignitek I should be ready to roll this pig, I already put the money and work into her. I should be ready for the international ralley with no further fussing (I hope).

It makes sense to me. I think at around 4000 rpm the the bike starts to lift the needle out of the emulsion tube, the more RPM and engine load and the more needle. If I get a cruising speed that keeps out of the needle I get much better MPG and I know at 55-60 I did great where 80-ish was not so good. Now that I have reworked the carbs I'm hoping for better but even on the Vmax which is very carefuly tuned on the lean side it gets notably worse MPG at 75+ than at any other speed.

I do see them there. I brought these to Yamaha today, and Rice to see if they had universals and no go on that but I could get them straight from Yamaha for around $7 each if I order them. I was really hoping someone had a parts bike laying around with these still on it. the OP put it together having lost a few of these. It looks like the collar in one of those pics.

I posted in classifieds but there seems to be no way to insert an image there. In the mean time these are what I need Shouldered washers for gen1 for windshield screws 1 or 2 needed, and fairing mounting screws, the bigger ones, 3 or 4 needed. Sooner the better. Thanks.

$75 each for basic liability for 99 Vmax and 89 Venture. Basic lia on 3 cars is $330/6mo in SD, some localities are a bit more I know.

I wouldn't let high mileage on a Honda scare you, nor the year. I almost bought a wing and of the 1800s there just weren't enough changes to warrant spending much more on a newer one and they are good for plenty of miles so IMHO your strategy of buying an earlier one with a few miles on the clock to avoid a payment is a very sound. It's still going to be essentially the same bike. I only landed on the Venture because it felt much roomier for me it was more comfortable, I dont feel the top heavy of the Venture but I definitely feel great balance on the Goldwing. Buy it and enjoy it, it's no accident that so many folks love them so much.

6 qts, dunno what he's running but my gen 1 vmax takes around 3.5qts from empty to center if sight glass, venture should be the same. I'm not sure why a 2:1 mix T4 and T6 instead of maybe just a T5. Can anyone comment on the real world benefit of running a blend in our old bikes, other than increased oil change intervals?

I just got a couple bottles of 15-40 T4, which I thought superseded the T. I'm not aware of any difference outside of cloudy marketing terminology. It's a dino oil, or at least lacks any indication to the contrary, including a very low price. T5 is a synthetic blend and T6 is a full synthetic. So if you do the T5 you will be adding a blend. I have generally not been adding synthetics to any engine or shiftable gearbox that didnt call for it new. I just started using the T4 when I ran out of T, put some in my Vmax last week and ran the snott out of it in the hills, no difference that I can till in shifting or clutch behavior.

Been using NGK since I've been riding and not one plug failure, ever! I wouldn't put Autolites in a Harley! Ride some air cooled 2 strokes around a bit and it wont take long to figure out which plugs pass muster in our world. We debate tires, even oil, but NGK suitability is something that rarely gets called into question by seasoned motorcyclists. With that wet weather issue it might not be a bad idea to check all the grounds and hit the harness plugs with some dialectric grease to help keep the elements out.

I think he said Tahoe, dont know year but should be chain driven cam/pushrod/hydraulic lifters. Maybe lifters getting gummed up with sludge, not far fetched for a high mileage engine.

I dont want to admit how many engines I have abused to the point of rod bearing failure or other catastrophic failure. I have the sounds permanently etched into my skull. I'm not thinking low end failure for you because it didnt happen today, and it goes away when warm. To hear engine sounds via conduction one could use a long screwdriver, like a cabinet screwdriver, placing the handle against your pinna, in essence pressing your ear closed so you can hear the conduction of vibration through the screwdriver. You will hear things inside the engine you could never hear by just leaning in for a good listen. If there is something in there giving up a nice tap you should be able to localize it fairly well by placing the screwdriver along block, heads for and aft to localize the sound. It works fairly well. Same concept as the mechanics stethoscope. I have isolated PS pump, alternator and WP and trans front pump noise with this method. If the sound is more of an exhaust leak or loose spark plug, like some of the early modular V8s tended to loose the threads and still maybe helpful for some mechanical noises. I use a 4' length of 5/16" fuel line and place one end next to my ear canal and use the other end close to but not touching suspected sources of noise. Have found many exhaust leaks, a few vac leaks and loose plugs that way. It's just a cheap backyard way to try and isolate funky sounds and I find it very effective. With either or both of these you will know when your getting close to an abnormal noise source. Luckily you can listen when it's making noise, and listen again when it quiets down and see where the difference is.

We've never had a GM last over 180k, car or truck, but because of where we live vehicles we own dont have an easy life. I think 244k is pretty damn good even if there is a major problem but with mileage like that it could be anything. A diagnosis would be tricky without hearing it. Is the tapping exactly consistent with engine RPM, engine load or road speed? If it's a rod more than likely it will not quiet down when warm, maybe get worse as things heat up, thats why I'm thinking valve train. Maybe timing or piston slap? Even carbon buildup or a well placed exhaust leak can mimic a rod or lifter tap.

I'm still waiting for an updated 1st gen. Same comfortable riding position, friendly for taller folks. No cruiser blood, all tourer with sporting feel like the current gen1. 1700cc Vmax V4 retuned for torque and MPG. Factory lightweight 4-2-1 exhaust with adjustable baffle from stealth to aggressive. 6 speed double overdrive gearbox Nav/intercom/digital audio player, no more of the dying/dead audio formats. Manually adjustable seat, pegs, bars, electronically adjustable windscreen (keep cost and wt down) Heated pneumatic seat and grips. Current hardware like forks, brakes, shock et al. 7 US gallon tank in the same location for insane range. traditional cruise control. While updated lets keep the link to the original gen 1 obvious in the styling cues. Put me down for a test ride, I'm probably in when they do it.

It might be a tap consistent with engine speed. I've dumped cam bearings on a couple different engines and thats what I got. Rods and maybe wriss pins lower, cam bearings are above that but below the heads but that sound vibration can carry. How many miles on this beast?

Maybe cam bearings or something, your right that usually big end bearings dont go away although they might quiet some as the engine warms. I'm going with valve train somewhere. Do you have a mechanics stethoscope? or a cabinet screwdriver?

I'm almost there with my trailer and a fist full of cash, just crossed WY-CO state line. , ok, yea, no, not really!

Knock sensor should throw a code, also should make no noise. I think most systems do what my 1UZFE Lexus V8 did and just go full timing retard as a safety default. Detonation can be a damaging thing, better to have it slow and thirsty than pinging and knocking. Were you able to pull any codes from it? (GM belt idlers fail like they are made out of candy and the make quite a ruckus, check that too) When the new owner picks up this bike, like I know hes going to, hes probably going to send the carbs to a known guru on the Vmax site. If the issue is within the carbs Danny will be able to sort it out. I really want to know what the issue is with this bike.

When I went to IA to look at a pristine 9k mile bike and asked some questions on this board about it, it did cross my mind that someone would go out there and snap it up but now that I have gotten to know the temperature of this forum I cant see anyone here pulling a move like that, it's a good forum full of really decent folks. Besides if you dont buy it I'll be very tempted to buy it myself and I dont need another bike. I inquired about it before I made the parallel in my brain.