CaseyJ955

There it is, its nearly 70 deg today, may even get enough melt to get the Max out. So I'm outside pulling the left upper fairing and carb rack and I noticed that the two drivers side carbs were not even fully seated into the intake boots, looks like they were at the half way mark. I'm going to guess that this may have had something to do with MPG, maybe a little. Seller said they were never off but clearly that is not the case. I'm going to go through the carbs inside tomorrow and see whats up as long as they are off. The other thing I have is the left fairing removed because I wanted access to the throttle cable junction, the throttle action is fairly stiff, also figured I could reach and remove the OEM coils. The question I have is when folks lube the cables, is it also customary to lube the wheels inside that plastic junction? Is there a good link to how to lube the cables, I have one of those cable lube sprays with the chucks and wondering if they work well enough to lube from that plastic junction and force the lubricant upward or if I have to pull the cables from the loud handle and lube them downwards. I am searchtarding today because I didnt see a thread for this but if I missed it a link would rock. Thanks folks! There, done hijacking my own thread

Thank you for the guidance and the link. I'm optimistic that it wont need much but I'm prepared to order the kits if needed. If I need Needles I'm sure I can get some from a vendor on the Vmax site, maybe at least some good previously enjoyed ones. On the VMax I was able to open them up, swap jets, adjust floats and close them up and it runs too well for words. I just hope I'm that lucky here but it's 10 years older and has 4x the mileage. Something came up yesterday and today but I hope I have time to get too it this afternoon while it's so nice and warm out.

I'm sorry to hear this. seems so senseless. Positive energy and thoughts going out to you.

Those look pretty nice. I saw some covers out of China a couple months back, not much cheaper. I would love to go to brown, probably a bit less brutal on those triple digit temp days. Do they look like they have enough give to account for some reshaping of the seat?

It makes sense, I rode my Vmax all day in the hills, even smoked a Harley, all on 3 cyl. This one passed the downpipe spit test which is how I nailed a bad COP connection on the Vmax leaving me with only 3 cyl. Your 100% correct, they run great on 3 cyl. I'm going to guess it's probably carb related. The PO was the orig owner but still not sure if the carbs have been messed with. A place in Mitchel did all the work since the bike was new and they said they cant recall the carbs ever being off the bike. After all the years it's probably past time to open these things up and see whats inside. I'm sure float level is off if nothing else. One thing I didnt do is synch up the carbs or play with the AF screws, no real attempts to tune it since it was fall, figured I would have all winter to do everything that needed done. MPG that bad was probably something more than a simple adjustment. I'm sure it's time to set the jets and maybe spend some time playing with the needles. I have a shim kit for the Vmax.

89 Royale 1300. Ive had this bike for a year but put less than 500 mi on it. I laid it up for the winter to do some work on it so it's ready for spring. When I had it running it ran fine, starts and hot starts were fine, power seemed fine but MPG was bad, like 25mpg tops sort of bad. The only other ridability issue was a significant transient stumble/sputter right after op temp was reached, every time. This came and went within a minute and only happened once per ride. I bought a set of new diaphragms from a UK seller, I'm going to pull the carbs and see what they look like inside when I install those. While Im in there I'll set float levels and check jetting. I'm not sure why the MPG was so bad, would 3 bad diaphragms really trash the MPG that much? I found very little info on factory jetting, I found one breakdown that had 3 different jet sizes. So I'm going to check and make sure nobody rejetted at some point so OEM jet sizes for the 89, and also (like the Vmax for example, factory mains are 152.5 and it's a bit rich for most so 150 or even 147.5 usually gets better MPG and more power). Is there any such wisdom for the Venture? Mostly I'm trying to get the 40-ish MPG that I have read they should have. What I have done so far since it's been sitting; Delink brakes, added braided lines and R6 calipers front and rear. (old calipers were hanging a little bit) New Dunlop E3s Complete fork overhaul/progressives/bushings/new steering head bearings installed. Will be adding an Ignitek and resistorless 1.2 ohm COPS off an old CBR, already have all the stuff but really want to figure out whats causing such poor MPG. So yea, a link to or any wisdom on suitable jetting possibilities or any other input for the horrible MPG. I have managed to dial in my Vmax, so that is the only experience I bring with these V4 mills and I know the Venture has almost the same carb with some pretty different jetting requirements. I know I sort of touched on this before but the carbs are coming off now so just looking for any borrowed smarts so I dont end up having to pull the rack over and over. Thanks folks. Tony

I'm sure you will be able to eliminate quite a bit of it.

Streaming audio puts you on this side of the tech barrier though. Other than Sansui all those brands you listed still produce audio equipment. See, it aint all bad haha.

Anthem was too pricey for me too. Some folks say that the difference is tough to hear, I would agree. I saw that Costco model, I almost bought it and probably would have had I not just gone the refurb route to save money. These things are not made to last as they once were so even if it does last 10 years it's likely to be obsolete. I just cant see dropping a couple G on an AVR, I have heard some in that price range and nothing about them compelled me to even consider the price. My hearing is fairly good, once I finished and setup these Fusions I could suddenly hear the difference between an MP3 and FLAC, enough that I had to rerip my entire CD library, but I cant hear the difference between an entry level and high priced unit on the showroom floor. I believe the guiding principle of manufacture excludes building a lasting unit anyway so whatever you spend is gone in a few years. In regards to AVRs we hit the point of diminishing returns fairly early in the price spectrum, IMHO. I hope these speakers serve me indefinitely but I assume replacement of my AVR and TV every 8 or so years. I think it sort of sucks but the speed of technology is hostile to the concept of buying a high quality unit that will last for decades. I did Google that lR9090, VERY nice! I really wish stuff were still made with that quality.

x2 on plug gap, easy check. When you say cleaned the carbs, they were removed from the bike? If so they almost certainly need to a good synch. At what RPM does this symptom disappear?

Ive been hearing lots of good things about Anthem lately, really wanted to try one. My old Yamaha just went out, it had a hum in the subwoofer channel and I replaced it with an Onkyo 555 because I'm cheap and it has the features I needed, and more than enough wattage to drive my Fusion Alchemy 8 towers/center. I also had to look for one with adjustability as just about everything comes through my PC GPU which is unadulterated HDMI sound/video out. Are you doing 2ch music and HT, either/or? As I have read, wattage is not really a concern, the difference between 65 and 105 is barely audible but the price sure goes up. I had to Google the PSB speakers, they look pretty nice. If they are an efficient design I doubt wattage will be a concern. I think mine have an efficiency rating of 96db or something and at 2/3 volume they will drive me out of the room on this 80w&8ohm setup. I researched, got somewhat confused and based a lot of my decision on customer reviews and reliability ratings. Crutchfield has a great comparison feature that makes it easy to check features right next to each other. I didnt need upscaling but wanted to future proof as much as could for a low price so thats how I arrived at my decision. I went here and bought this, pretty pleased. It left me some loot to upgrade my TV which was also pretty long in the tooth, now everything works via HDMI as it should and it sounds pretty darn clean. http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/onktxnr555/onkyo-tx-nr555-7.2-ch-x-80-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html Let us know what you end up getting and what you think of it. Are your PSB speakers built into the house? I see on the sight and it looks like they offer a lot of in wall/ceiling options.

Yup, I think I see where your going with this

If your bobbing it then will it be a problem if a code is thrown? Are you keeping any of the dash functions? I think by law you have to have horn, blinkers and hi/low beam with an indicater and not much else. I have seen some really cool GPS speedo setups and some with integral tach in one smallish housing that might hook up nicely with the instructions and schematic diagrams you already have it should be straight forward. When you say "bob" I'm assuming everything not completely essential is coming off, and some reworking/relocating of what is essential for aesthetics. For the record I think the above mentioned suggestions are excellent. Especially the solder/heat shrink. I crimped, then soldered and heat shrink. You having lived until you have executed a perfect terminal solder only to realize you forgot to slide a length of heat shrink tube over the wire first. For full effect make sure your almost out of the terminal you just installed and now have to snip off. I have never bobbed a Venture so I have nothing of substance to offer about how to physically go about doing that other than noting that it's a big heavy bike and it will take some doing. I think if I were taking this on I would do the following. I'm really OCD so please take the following with a grain of Na. So in the spirit of an actual bob job, remove all the fairings, dash, unessential components and electrical. I think I would lovingly remove the harness, labeling everything and cutting nothing and set it aside. Complete the bob doing all the reconfiguration work without the harness in your way, get it mocked up consistent with how the finished project will be, then reinstall the harness plugging in whats left (TCI, blinkers and lights et al) and make sure it fires up and all those components work as they should, once your happy with function label the parts your going to continue to use and note the jumbled masses of wire that used to go to the CB, CLASS, Stereo and most of the dash that you will be phasing out. remove the harness and spread it out, unwrap it completely and remove all the portions no longer needed for the new bike to function. Rewrap it, reinstall and retest. With a bobbed naked bike I'm not sure how you would hid all the jumbles of wire that used to hide behind the fairings, it's all gotta come out IMHO. Neatness counts because all that used to be hidden will now be exposed depending on any bodywork you fashon to hide the bits that are not easily reworked. What I dont know is if this is going to be a rat bob or if lots of custom fabbing and work are in order. This would be overkill for a rat bob but if your taking it down to the bones and rebuilding it as a new bob with some custom pieces and reworking then this might make sense. It will be a lot of work. I'm intrigued and would love to see photos of your project as you move through it. I love this sort of thing. I'm sure you have already considered this but a whole buttload of the parts your taking off will probably have some value on ebay or to other board members so when your stripping it down preserve everything possible. I see stuff like this that might help you get rid of the bulky switchgear, maybe not this specifically but something along these lines. Make sure and avoid anything made in China. I'm just throwing ideas out in hopes that it helps. Some of this stuff I linked is probably garbage from China but searching out quality versions of the same would be pretty sweet. One thing I have learned is that USA seller usually means guy in the USA selling Chinese junk. I'm not trying to bash on the good folks of China but in my experience a vast majority of the products made there are very much subpar and are not likely to last. We have a great customer chopper market here but prices are stout, probably you can use parts removed from other models without all the extra functions also. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-7-8-Motorcycle-Handlebar-Horn-Turn-Signal-Light-Controller-Switch-/232216482655?hash=item36112e535f:g:SqkAAOSw5cNYiAxz&vxp=mtr ww.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Bike-Black-Bracket-Mount-Universal-7-Headlight-LED-Turn-Signal-Light-/122072901834?hash=item1c6c1ca8ca:g:tBEAAOSwyLlXpDVY&vxp=mtr http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-Black-Smoke-Motorcycle-Mini-Bullet-Turn-Signals-Blinker-Lens-Custom-Chopper-/252191233669?hash=item3ab7c4d685:g:CDEAAOSw7FRWWUvT&vxp=mtr http://www.ebay.com/itm/GPS-DUAL-Speedometer-Tachometer-Instrument-Gauges-Japanese-British-European-/201109952262?hash=item2ed3165706:g:ZbEAAMXQAMlRYFyP&vxp=mtr Something like this but for motorsports. Sean at Morleys Muscle sells something like this for bikes and you can order the functions you want on it, really sweet and not to badly priced.

You and yours are in my thoughts. Hoping for a decent recovery. Dont go hunting. I'm not a religious man but I sure as hell believe in Karma, and it sounds like there are a couple steaming bowls of it ready to be served up.

I'm with you on that, rain can be seriously depressing. Once I left Seattle I felt so much better. That gray, dreary, wet, cold, soupy, damp weather all the time is really tough to take. Better to just have a couple months where riding is not possible. I'm going to move even further north, maybe around Devils Lake so even more winter. What do you guys think of a Vmax powered sled as a project?

I get those from scammers posing as PayPal, Ebay, IRS (my favorite), financial institutions and others I cant think of. They catch a lot of folks off guard and it works or they wouldn't keep doing it. If your not sure you can always contact with the contact info you already have (not the contact info in the suspicious email) and find out if there is a problem. I have yet to see one that is not a scam, I even suspect snail mail.

I hope you get it sorted out, I read backwards and didnt see the issue but sounds like fuel management. Just a minor setback with any luck.

This just came up on the Vmax board as well. Spy photos that do not appear to be based on the V4. It's still a fun topic though. I'm sure it's going to happen sooner or later.

I hope you get it sorted, it sounds like you covered damn near every base. On the flip side I bought a new KLR in 08 and farkled the shyt out of it, then rode it through several states as if it were a Venture. Down on power but it works. I'm waiting for a break in the weather to clean out my calipers and I hope I dont end up fighting with it as you are. When you do get it sorted please post the solution. Are you using traditional DOT3 from a new container?

I finally got around to going to town to pick up my shipments, no break in the weather yet but I got to at least unbox and oogle at a new Ignitek TCI and a fresh set of carb diaphragms from the UK. Hoping for a break in the weather soon.

That metal flake just looks awesome, what a shine too. I may be inspired to do mine next after I have the vmax conversion all done. That metal flake look is really something.

Congrats on the new addition!

Thank you, The one pic is just after I bought it and the other after some alterations. I love the Vmax, really a fantastic cruiser that stands out nicely in the sea of HDs. The only reason I went with the spray cans is because I dont have a compressor here and didnt really want to incur the expense. On the other hand I would never rattle can a car. It works better than I expected on a bike with smaller areas but for anything bigger I would not even try it. I did some research and found out about the 2k or Eastwood clearcoats that do a damn remarkable job on smaller areas so decided to go the spray can route. These spray cans should not be confused with hardware store off the shelf spray cans, they really do a very nice job of laying down uniform color. And yes, respirator is a must for the 2k, it is very nasty stuff if you get a lung full, I probably should have mentioned that.

It was news to me also, but that was to be expected. The explanation I got was that professional clear coat jobs are a two part system, something like epoxy. The standard clear coat in a can wont last under the elements but the two part should come closer to an OEM clear coat quality finish that may last for years. This was the explanation anyway. It's been a year on my bike outside all spring, summer and fall and it looks like it did the day after I painted it. I'm more than sold on this clear coat and glad I spent the extra scratch. Here is a pic of the product with numbers and all. The way the clear coat works is the can has a stem recessed into the bottom of the can, you remove a cog from the cap and slip it over the stem on the bottom and give it a sharp whack with your hand and it ruptures a bladdar inside the can, mixing the two parts together. From that point on you have something like 12 or 24 hours to use it before it's no good. They say shake it well after the rupture. They mean it. One more thing I should have done that I forgot to mention is to use tack cloth before spraying anything. I got lots of little buggers in the paint from not doing so, luckily I was able to wet sand them out to be completely invisible but it was still more work than had I just used tack cloth between paint and clear coat coats.

I'm a complete body noob as well. When I wanted to paint my Vmax a unique color I asked for help and was asking the most basic questions imaginable to other vmax guys that have painted. I got some good answers and my Vmax paint/clear coat looks fantastic! A couple things to remember is be ready to spend some time prepping and use quality paint/clear coat, specifically a two part clear coat if you want durability and longevity. Luckily you can buy two part in one spray can, just pop the nub on the bottom and it mixes giving you something like 24 hours to use it. I used a local body shop and the guy there was really very cool and answered some noob questions about how to get a good finish. I choose my color from their book and he put it in spray cans for me, gave me a quality primer and quality two-part (in one can with a nub you hit to mix it internally, really slick) clear coat. It's not the cheapest way to go but even a noob like me got excellent results. Here is the thread on the Vmax board of poeple giving my guidance and the project. It's diluted with a bit of chit chat but the info is there with some pics of the products I used. All done with quality rattle cans. Spring for the quality paints/ and clear coat from a body shop. I used 400-600-100-1500-2000 grits in the process. Be careful and gentle while sanding edges, it's easy to go through the base coat or clear coat layer your working. Patience, good light. I'm sure there are pros that can add to or correct the way I did it and I welcome that but this is how I got from knowing very little to a damn near OEM quality paint job using a color of my choosing. I used primer but I think I hit my load up of pics for one thread. The pics dont do it justice, I'm amazed at how well it came out and how it pops under the sun in a way that the camera just doesn't capture. I'm feeling cocky about the results and may do something to make my Venture a unique color also, but the paint thats on it is in great shape so I may wait. http://vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=40231&highlight=paint+prep