Papa Fred

Just finished up the Final Drive install. Turns out all the noise was due to the Drive Shaft not sitting in the Tranny U-joint. Shining a lite down the tube showed the U-joint facing down. I found the little inspection hole at the forward end of the shaft tube cleverly hidden with a rubber plug the same color as the tube....and dusty. That hole is right above the U-joint, so I slipped a looped zip-tie thru the hole and worked it over the U-joint to hold it up while I slid in the Drive Shaft. Cut the ziptie, pulled it out, put the plug back in. Lined up the axle, snugged everything down and ran it up thru the gears on the jack....everything that was supposed to move did. Just heading out the door for a test scoot. I did a not-quite accurate check yesterday of the gear ratio in the OEM set compared to the replacement. Put a cpl of chalk marks on the Input and on the Drive. I wanted to confirm that the previous owner hadn't already swapped gears. It looked like the OEM Drive went a bit further around than the replacement, so I'm cautiously certain that what I removed was indeed the OEM gearset. The RPM vs Speed check I did with the OEM gear seems to be about in line with the Venture Virtual Tach sheet I found somewhere. My test ride should confirm the change. Thanks for the ideas, people. If you look at the sky over Central Canada this afternoon (Winnipeg is nearly dead-centre East to West in Canada) and see a mushroom cloud, it'll be my head exploding during the check ride. There were no leftover bits when I finished putting it all back together, but..... Cheers...

Thanks for the response.... Yep...that washer on the brake side is in place. You're right about the axle alignment method. I had tried the "correct" alignment procedure last night without the wheel in place, but didn't have enough room under the fender to get the wheel back in. I'll try that again this morning. I'm also going to try just inserting the Drive Shaft by itself....not attached to the pumpkin. I thought it might give me some idea of the correct "feel" when it goes into the Trans. Don't know if it's long enough to make that possible, but I'm taking it all apart anyway...I'll give it a shot. My gut feeling last night was the Drive Shaft didn't hook up, but it was close to midnight and I wasn't in ANY frame of mind to rip it all apart right then. Thanks for the idea of taking that rear brace off for tire removal. It'll be one of those last resort things as my trailer hitch is tied into the braces..more 20 year old bolts to break free. As they say....stay tuned.

Good evening, gang.. I'm looking for some advice and/or thoughts on an issue with my 2000 RSV. I just swapped out the OEM Final Drive for a VMax pumpkin from John Furbur. After installation, with the rear wheel raised and bike in Neutral, rotating the wheel creates some noises in possibly the drive case, or inside the Drive Shaft tube. Sounds like a really dry diff or tight gear meshing. While on the jack, I tried running the bike in first gear. Wheel rotates about 3 inches and locks up. I can free the wheel up with some effort, after which it rotates in Neutral again but with the noise. I didn't have a lot of trouble with the swap-out, other than it being the first time I've pulled a back wheel, so the "Hey, look at that" moments stretched the time a bit. As noted in the Tech Page for Rear Drive removal the Drive Shaft required a good hard pull to get it out of the Drive Case. I cleaned both ends of the Drive Shaft, pulled that little spring from the old case and installed it on the new one before pushing in the Drive Shaft, cleaned and greased the Drive pins in the hub, cleaned and greased the drive splines, and slid the Drive Shaft into the tube. I had to rotate the wheel a bit til I felt the Shaft slide into the Trans end and proceeded with re-assembly. The only "glitch" I ran into was after I had the Final Drive bolted in place...loosely...and now full of gear oil, I realized I couldn't get the wheel back under the bike. ( I had removed it to do the Splines). I pulled the Drive case out again, and I remember it sliding out really easy, and after the tire was in place, the case went right back into place...maybe??... with no moving the wheel. The 4 bolts holding the case to the Shaft tube lined up with no effort, so I carried on with the re-assembly. I had a slight rubbing noise with the OEM case in, but that was brake pads on the disc. THIS symphony is a different animal. Is there, or was there, a step or trick I missed during re-assembly? Could the Final drive case bolt up to the Shaft tube without the Drive Shaft actually being in place properly? Any guidance, suggestions or pointers would be well-received. I'll be tearing it all apart in the morning to see if I missed something obvious, and I'll check back here before going out to the garage to practice my skills of using Colorful and Creative Language. G'nite Gents and Ladies. Cheers... Papa Fred

Installed a Bikers Choice electronic tach. 2.5 inch case...slightly larger bezel. Mounted on Right Side handlebar just in front of the brake reservoir using the supplied clamp. Easy installation..1 wire to Positive side of Coil (right front coil behind radiator filler), 1 wire to ground (mounting bolt for coil), Ignition and Light wires joined together and hooked to extra Hot lead on Ignition Bypass rig installed just over 2 years ago..thanks to Dion Hinskey for that rig. Approx 1.5 hrs install time, including sitting beside the bike trying to decide where to mount the tach. I had planned to use the supplied mounting plate and bolt it to the right side screw holding down the plastic gas tank cover, but wanted to have the tach a bit more in line-of-sight. Tach needle is virtually rock solid...very slight bounce at idle but clean after that. I don't have a shop tach to compare it to for accuracy, but judging by the "Virtual Venture Tachometer" I found a cpl of years back it seems to be close. Next project is to install the VMax geared RSV final drive, bought from John Furbur at BRMSportmax, once it arrives. (Thanks to members here who pointed me in that direction) Bit more of a challenge these days getting parts from Down South. Used to ride down to Pembina, ND to pick them up from a mail drop there. It's only an hour & a half ride from my house and a good excuse for a ride.

Installed mine last week. Other than working out the difference in what the FOBO says compared to my air guage, this setup works as advertised. I'm running RideOn tire sealant, but it's still reassuring to "see" whats going on with the shoes.

I agree with that last post, Freebird. My speedo is off..shows "fast"... close to 10% regardless of speed range. 3 at 30, 4 at 40 etc. The odo is nearly accurate, 2-4 % faster. Both numbers are compared to my Garmin Drive GPS. For me, it's not worth worrying about. I use the Garmin for Speed, and bike odo for mileage.

You're not replacing the light assembly, just pulling out the old incandescent bulb, and plugging in the LED board. The board is cut-out to fit around the original lens mounting screws. And as a previous post mentioned, with all LEDs as signals, you'll need to attach a Signal Stabilizer to slow down the flash rate. The OEM flasher doesn't "see" the LED as a load so it assumes a burnt out bulb and increases the flash rate. Like most older cars, it was a good way to notify the driver / rider of a burnt out bulb. With LEDs, you are now forced to actually look at the lights...what a concept. Cheers...

I second the nod to Custom Dynamics. I replaced the taillite with their LED board....much brighter. Also replaced all turn signals...front are now white center Run light with amber halo for Turn, rears are Run/Turn/Brake with Run & Brake red center with amber halo Turn. All boards plug into existing OEM socket...only extra wiring was to make the rears Run & Brake. Wires are part of the Custom Dynamics boards, you decide if you want to wire them up.

Just spent the last half hour reading thru the FOBO info. Looks to be a fairly well thought out setup. The "manual" is very clear and easy to follow, and installation looks to be as simple as threading on new valve caps and following the phone prompts. I don't normally get too fired up about on-line "you need this in your life" stuff, but this seems to be a good place to spend a bit of my retirement fund, so I ordered a set. I am making an assumption on the "T" valves, in that they look to be needed if you are running rubber stems, or are installing new shoes and are going to put new valves in anyway. Nice idea having one leg of the "T" as an air fill point. I've got steel stems so I'll find out when the package arrives if I should have ordered the "T"s. I've had RideOn Tire Sealant in both tires for a couple of months and so far have seen a drop of only 2 pounds per tire...possibly from the daily pressure check before each ride, so I'm not worried about the occasional time I would have to pull the sensors off to add air, since having the sensors on means my daily pressure check is now on my phone. Plus, RideOn will balance out the slight weight of the sensors. Under 8 grams..just slightly more than most credit cards. As is often said...time will tell. Cheers.... Papa Fred

Just spent the last half hour reading thru the FOBO info. Looks to be a fairly well thought out setup. The "manual" is very clear and easy to follow, and installation looks to be as simple as threading on new valve caps and following the phone prompts. I don't normally get too fired up about on-line "you need this in your life" stuff, but this seems to be a good place to spend a bit of my retirement fund, so I ordered a set. I am making an assumption on the "T" valves, in that they look to be needed if you are running rubber stems, or are installing new shoes and are going to put new valves in anyway. Nice idea having one leg of the "T" as an air fill point. I've got steel stems so I'll find out when the package arrives if I should have ordered the "T"s. I've had RideOn Tire Sealant in both tires for a couple of months and so far have seen a drop of only 2 pounds per tire...possibly from the daily pressure check before each ride, so I'm not worried about the occasional time I would have to pull the sensors off to add air, since having the sensors on means my daily pressure check is now on my phone. Plus, RideOn will balance out the slight weight of the sensors. Under 8 grams..just slightly more than most credit cards. As is often said...time will tell. Cheers.... Papa Fred

Interesting to hear that 20-50 would be too thick to run "up North". I would guess that the majority of us Northerners live within a couple of hundred miles of the 49th, and our usable riding season is somewhat shorter than our Southern neighbors. Since most of us don't ride year-round, it suggests that our riding is done in temperatures above freezing. I've tried various brands and viscosities, Synth and Dino, and overall...cost versus performance...Yamalube 20-50 works the best for what I do. Synthetics increased The Whine, as did a 10-40 wt. I change the oil & filter before 2500 miles and, according to the owners & service manuals, 20-50 wt falls comfortably inside the temperature range I ride in. When the opportunity to travel in Continuous Heat comes back, oil adjustments will be made. Cheers.

Another vote here for the Morgan CarbTune. Ordered it from Morgan a couple of years ago, delivered to my door from England in just over a week, easy to hook up and works flawlessly. Papa Fred.

Further to Videoarizona's reply. He mentions the 2nd Gen speedo running off a sensor, then adds it's adjustable. I haven't come across any information on "adjusting" the sensor. The Service Manual details how to diagnose any problems with the c/c system, but I haven't seen anything about adjusting it to correct the actual speed readout. Where would I find that info? The bike speedo is approx 10% out at any given speed, yet the odometer registers fractionally more than actual. It's not critical as I use my GPS speedo, but one of those nagging little things. Don't mean to hijack the thread, but it came up. Papa Fred

If you're looking at Darksiding, do proper research. If you're staying with tires designed to work in the application they were MADE for, there are just as many opinions as there are people with typing skills. Here's one of those opinions... I've been running Avon Cobras for a couple of years. This spring I had a set of Cobra Chromes put on (upgrade from regular Cobra). Old Cobras had close to 12,000 miles....front was wearing a bit odd from neglected steering head bearing attention. Rear had lots of miles left, but replaced both preparing for extended trips. Kept both old ones as "spares". Cobras held the road in wet or dry, rode well and seemed to wear well if attention is given. Do the research into the type of riding you do or plan to do, check the load ratings of tires you are considering, check the tire pressures before every ride (you don't know what you ran over in the LAST ride) and buy what makes you feel good. End of opinion Cheers... Papa Fred

You'll enjoy the clutch setup once it's done. As stated in other responses, the little retaining wire can be a bit of a bear to remove and re-install, but if you pay attention and think thru what needs to be done, it's pretty straightforward. And NO...you don't have to cut the wire to get it out. Really long-nosed pliers will work. Also as previously stated, the new Pressure Plate will only fit properly one way out of the six possible positions ( this is where someone else will reach for the keyboard to correct me). Based on my own experience of installing that same Barnett Pressure Plate Spring Conversion kit along with all the Barnett Friction and Steel discs a year ago, I can only offer you what I experienced. The Pressure Plate will feel like it fits in any of the six possible positions. You'll have to put a fair bit of pressure on the new springs/bolts when getting them started. You can snug down all 6 bolts, but do not torque them at this point. Look at the clutch disc pack....Do Not pull in the Clutch Lever, but if there is any free movement in the discs as though you had pulled it in, the Pressure Plate is in the wrong spot. Remove all bolts, rotate the Plate one hole and try again. When the Plate is in the correct position, the Clutch Discs will be compressed as if the Lever was out. Be sure to tighten the bolts in a cross-hatch pattern, torque them to spec, and before you put the cover back on, try the Clutch Lever and watch the Clutch Pack. You should see the Pressure Plate moving in and out freeing up the Discs. While some members have stated that the Barnett Conversion Kit made the clutch "feel" heavy with a lot more effort required to pull the Lever making the Clutch tiring to use in traffic, I did not experience that problem. The Clutch pull is nearly identical to the OEM set-up I removed, and can easily be held in with 2 or 3 fingers. (6 ft tall and a Buck 90 with my leather jacket) The only difference I've noticed is the clutch now has a much smoother take-up coming thru the friction zone and there is ZERO slippage at any throttle in any gear. Remember..this is what I experienced when I installed the same Conversion Kit in my 2000 RSV. I should also note that it took me longer to remove the old Clutch Cover gasket form the Cover and the Engine than it did to do the rest of the job. Follow the procedure outlined in several areas, remember to have your new Friction and Steel discs soaking in a shallow pan of your favorite engine oil as you are removing the old ones, prepare a list of colorful words you are going to use getting that wire out, and enjoy the time learning stuff. Cheers... Papa Fred

As others have already stated, the OEM filter location is, at best, inconvenient. Following a tip I read, I removed the OEM and re-located a new clear in-line filter to a vacant spot under the seat...just in front of the battery between to frame tubes. Perfect fit, easy swap and easy to check / replace.

From personal experience, I can only speak to the performance of the Avon Cobras. They, like nearly ANY tire on the market, are better than the OEM Dunlops. I'll leave it to others to post links to other pages of specifications and opinions. Seat-of-the-pants feeling with the Cobras....I haven't had any issues in the rain. Some will say the center rib or sipe will behave better in the wet. My experience with that type of tread is that center rib nibbles at road seams and imperfections. Again...MY experience with that tread. There are those that say the overlapped tread pattern like the Commander or Cobra stabilizes the tire on the road, and channels the water out to the edges of the tire. No center rib to squirm around. I ride with 2 other RSV owners who swear by their Dunlop E3's and E4's. As you may have already found out, When Dunlop phased out the E3 (overlapping pattern) and introduced the E4 they went to a center rib. Time will tell. Remember....opinion. We all have 'em and sometimes share 'em when asked.

Well, I stand corrected on Shinkos. There is certainly more to a tire choice than any one particular category, and with factoring in tire life, grip, wear, ride, price and whatever other factors there are...for my own ride and peace of mind, that particular brand has never been on my list of candidates, and I obviously didn't go to their website, or anyone else's, to verify the Load Rating. I apologize for offending anyone. Buy what fits your comfort zone, and if price is a consideration on the type of tire you buy....make the choice.

Like oil, everyone has their opinions and facts to back up their preference. If you are at all interested in what the various numbers and letters on the sidewalls mean, here's one that you should be aware of...Load Rating. Since we all know the RSV is a bit on the hefty side of the scale, pay attention to the Load Rating of whatever tires you are looking at. Based on information posted on this site and many others, including the Tire Manufacturers sites, you should be looking for a tire that will comfortably support the weight of your bike plus you, the occasional passenger and all your collective "stuff". Choosing a tire that barely meets that limit isn't a good long-term strategy. If you are looking for a short-term band-aid and don't mind changing tires frequently, choose whatever tire you can stretch onto the rim. If you're looking for a set of shoes that will do the job properly, pay attention to the Load Rating of that tire. Major tire names all make offerings for the RSV. Since your bike plus you will likely be real close to 1000 lbs, and as the rear tire carries most of that weight, look for a tire with a suitable Load Rating. A lot of the more popular tires..Dunlop, Michelin, Shinko..post Load Ratings for an RSV-suitable tire in the 70 to 74 "Load" range. That translates to between 739 and 827 lbs. The Avon Cobra..your previous choice..and its replacement the Cobra Chrome are listed with an 80 Load Rating. That's 992 lbs. As you have used these in the past, it might be something to consider again. I bought a 2000 RSV from the original owner 3 years ago. He hadn't put many miles on it in the 17 years he owned it, and was still running Dunlop D404s. After a bit of research, I replaced them with Avon Cobras. At around the 10,000 mile mark, the front tire was starting to cup slightly on either side of center....nothing major but I could feel it in long sweeping curves. Quite possibly my own fault for believing the recommended tire pressure guidelines from Yamaha. Avon recommends front and rear pressures a few PSI higher that OEMs. Although the rear tire looks nearly new with 10,000 miles on it, I'll be replacing them both in a couple of weeks with Cobra Chromes, keeping the old ones as standbys. I found the Cobras to be excellent for what I do. Quiet, sticky, no issues with wet roads, and feedback from road grooves & tar snakes. Enjoy your choice, whichever route you choose. Cheers... Papa Fred

Good afternoon, gang... I'm looking for any info on what members of "The Herd" use as a replacement for the Fuel pump on their 2nd Gens. I'm not having any issues with mine...at least there weren't any when I put it to bed for the winter...I'm just researching the possible replacement. I seem to remember reading some posts about the OEM pumps having essentially a fuel cutoff when not on so no fuel drains from the tank into the cylinders. I'm one of the Old Guys who got into the habit of shutting off the fuel petcock at the tank when I stop riding, (however long that might be), so the fuel shutoff is a bonus. Just curious as to what's out there for my 20 year old Mistress. Cheers... Papa Fred

Thanks for the butt kick. Haven't been around the site much...since I installed a Barnett clutch in The Mistress (2000 RSV) in April I've been putting on all the miles I can. She's been outstanding this year, and I'm kinda sorry the riding season is nearly over. I'm up North in the frozen wastelands above the 49th, so the ride window is coming to an end. I'll be setting her up in a nice cozy heated room for the winter then wait not-so-patiently for April. Riding Frees The Soul...Papa Fred.

For what it's worth... I was running Yamalube 20/50 last year...had The Whine. At one of my oil changes, I tried the Yammy 10/30 mainly 'cause I didn't watch which jug of oil I snagged off the shelf. The Whine was slightly worse. Changed back to the 20/50. A few weeks ago, I tried Rotella T6 Synthetic, as I had read on several different posts that it was an acceptable oil. The Whine was noticeably worse, and after speaking to a close friend who knows about these things, he explained a possible reason. The Whine, as we all know, is mainly due to the straight cut gears on the clutch basket and their neighbor. As Synthetic Oil is , by nature, a thinner medium, the meshing gears are closer together and therefore possibly louder. The old dino Yamalube 20/50 is a heavier oil and offers a bit more of a cushion for the gears. This is where all the scientists get to chime in with THEIR opinions. Another Whining forum suggested that, as the clutch basket is basically sitting dry when the bike is on the side stand, having the bike upright when parked for any length of time would help. Taking that idea to heart I started putting my scissor jack under the bike when I'm done for the day. It seems to make a slight difference the next ride, but as everyone knows...it doesn't disappear. You just develop a different tolerance zone. "Riding Frees The Soul" Papa Fred

This is an apology, of sorts, and a confession. The confession concerns my previous posts about the Bypass switch installation. At the completion of that mod I appeared to have a "live" bike, in that the bike would start and run with the battery disconnected. Turns out I was having a Brain Cramp on a biblical scale. The previous owner had installed a battery charging cord that was all neatly tucked away and connected to the battery terminals with what looked like battery cable "ends". When I was working on the bike, I had disconnected those cables from the battery, not realizing the bike's cables were beneath them. Therefore..."live" bike. I'll pause here for a moment to allow you time to stop laughing. The apology is to anyone who was trying to figure out how a bike could start and run with no battery. Sorry for burning up useful brain cells. I return you now to your regularly scheduled program... Humbly bowing and looking for a book on motorcycle electrics.. Papa Fred

Using the "bypass" instructions from the Tech Talk Read only board, I just installed a bypass. As close as I could read and look at the pictures, I spliced in a short piece of 10 guage wire into each of the RED and BROWN/BLUE wires in the "2-wire" bundle off the Ignition Switch. (the wires were spliced in downstream of the connector to allow removal of the Ignition if necessary) These 2 wires were attached to a toggle switch. I will mention here that the Battery is completely disconnected..no wires. With the Ignition off and the Toggle on, the bike powers up and I can crank the engine..no fire. Toggle on Ignition on, bike runs. Toggle off Ignition on bike runs. ALL WITH NO BATTERY! How? I noticed a slight difference in the 2 posts I read in the Tech forum. One described the procedure as splicing into the RED and the BROWN/BLUE and running out to the Toggle. Another post DESCRIBES the same setup but in his pictures show splicing into the RED wire of the 2-wire bundle and an unknown wire in the 3-wire bundle.

AIS disable update.. My wife and I just returned from a great Saturday afternoon ride with a good friend and his wife(they ride an '03 Midnight Venture). Just under 200 miles, probably 75% highway..2 up..60-65 mph.. 40 mpg US..a hair under 48 mpg Imperial. That was with the AIS hoses plugged, and the vacuum ports connected on Cyls 1-2 and 3-4 (Jason Mod?) Since I bought the bike last year, and before these mods, it has been returning fairly consistent 35-38 mpg US..40-45 Imperial. As I am a male, and therefore don't have the ability to think everything thru before starting a project, I did both mods at the same time. Therefore I can't definitely say which mod did what. BUT.. I CAN say for certain that after plugging the AIS hoses as per Freebird's guidelines (mostly) on the Read Only posting, I started the bike while it was still on the jack. I noticed an immediate improvement in the idle, and better throttle response after the engine warmed up a bit. It also seemed to have a bit throat-ier and smoother idle, which I choose to think was a product of the cracked front air box which I discovered when removing it. Before I did the vacuum hose mod, I went for a short ride to asses what I had done. The motor felt strong thru the gears, but most importantly, no backfires...none...zero. I then did the vacuum port mod. The 2 hoses that connected to cyls 2 and 4 are now not connected to anything. I mentioned in a previous post that I had read of a possible concern with the cruise control being connected to one of those hoses. Don't know for sure if it was, but my cruise still works with the hoses unattached. I should say here that the previous owner, who had the bike from new (2000) til last year when I acquired it, drilled 4 holes into each end cap of the mufflers around the centre baffle hole. He had put small hole plugs into 2 holes in each muffler. This spring when I got the bike out of storage (yeah...we get snow), I put caps into all holes to return the system to close to "stock". It DID make the bike a bit quieter but not quite. A good mechanic I know took a listen to the bike, and concluded that not only had the guy drilled the holes, but quite likely altered the baffles as well. He also detected a "huffing" type of noise at idle which he suspected to be an issue with the emission system. Turns out he was right. As mentioned previously, when I was under the bike blocking the AIS hoses, the front air box was cracked completely off the attaching bracket. I can't speak to the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of the Jason Mod as I understand it. That would involve re-connecting the vacuum hoses to their original spots, and checking the results before and after. That is now a less-than-critical project. Overall I feel, and of course it's only my opinion, that the 1/2 hour or so I spent under the bike tinkering with the AIS was more than worth it. I'll close down with this... to the VentureRiders organization and members who share information and experience... Thank you. It's a lot of fun having a 2-wheeled hot rod. Cheers.. Papa Fred