OutKast

Not wanting to bother with getting a femaile connector, it was a pain carefully cutting all the hard molded plastic off the back of the connector to trace the wire olors.. So the results so far is pin 7, 12vdc is WHITE, pin 1 cassette override is GREY. The good news is, my radio cutting in and out has stopped!

Well, I gave up on this and just reinstalled a stock bulb. No real energy savings on it anyway.

UPDATE on symptoms: As noted above it "blips" every time the clutch is engaged or released. So I was going to video it to add here. With the key on but the engine not running, it doesn't happen. And you cant see it with the engine running and in neutral because the light is already full intensity. So no video as I dont have a helmet cam and not doing it with my cell phone while riding. Also interesting is it does it when I turn the key off, whether or not the engine is running. Next chance I get I will reinstall to stock lamp. Double verify I did not screw the wiring up. If that corrects it, I will try a 4 head led bulb in place of the one head and see if it works ok. The four head has worked for several members on here, they just were out of stock for several weeks so I got the one head model. The 4 head will be the wrong color, but I will know if the problem is related to current draw.

The diagram is under Technical Libraries - Read only, first gens, manuals and guides, 86-87. It appears to me they allow two different circuits, the neutral light circuit and the sidestand/clutch circuit, to both activate the Starter Enable without them backfeeding each other. I dont know if these diodes are really the problem, just noted on the diagram this sems to be the only place these two circuits come together.

My neutral light "flicks" as I pull the clutch in and again when I release it. I looked through the wiring diagrams and it seems the only place the wiring for these two things pass is the box labeled "diode", with two diodes drawn it. My understanding is that a diode only allows current in one direction, and I assume these diodes allows either the neutral light or the cluth switch circuit to enable the starter. I have messed with electronics a bunch over the last week, but testing out each change as I made it. I soldered the 4 jumpers to bypass the "coils" on the CMS. I think the pics were posted by Dingy. Everything works in the startup self test, and no alarms with the LED tail/stop or unplugging the headlight. The gear indicator shows N properly. I think I got all that right. I bypassed the integral flasher in the "comby" unit and installed an adjustable rate flasher by a document forwarded to me from Prairiehammer. The signals and four-ways all work like they should, and signals self cancel. So I did that right. I went ahead and bypassed the RLU while I had the headlight/dash out. I did not use jumpers as shown by FlyinFool, I cut the plug off a RLU on the parts bike. My wire colors did not match his, but his was an 88 and mine an 87. One color he mentioned was not even present on my plug. Using his function description and the wiring diagram I figured it out. Low beam, high beam, and the high beam indicator all work as they should. I did this prior to bypassing the CMS, and the headlight alarm went off when I unplugged the headlight, so all seems right. The neutral light comes on in neutral as well as the N in the indicator, and in this condition I can start the bike on the kickstand, so the gear indicator switch seems to be fine. With the kickstand up, I can start the bike with the clutch pulled in, but not with it out, so seems the clutch switch is working. I also just installed LED bulbs in the lamp. I used three different kinds of bulbs. The one I used for the neutral has only 1 led head focused straight out (12 deg angle if I remember) and uses less than 1 watt. The light just "flicks" for a millisec right as I pull all the slack out of the clutch, and again when I release. every single time. The only thing I can come up with is it happens just as the clutch switch "throws". I know LED "hits" much faster than incandesent. Am I getting enough bleed by on the diodes right as it switches circuits to "hit" the LED? I can follow the wiring schematic, but I am in no way an electronics wizard.

Thanks, maybe I should have just asked you in the first place. Kelly

If you would post this in Second Gen Tech Talk instead of the general Watering Hole, you would get more applicable answers. The Second Gens (at least the 99 and later Ventures) generally have too much rear brake, and will lock if you jam them hard. They are not linked. The front brakes are about perfect. Maybe someone tried to correct this by installing a harder pad. Some have installed a pressure reducing device coming off the rear master cylinder to reduce pressure. Check out the parts diagram fro the rear master cylinder. If it all looks stock, try HH pads in the rear. The second gens always wear one pad more than the other, and it always wears at an angle. This would also cause your symptoms. Again, new HH pads would cure that. Flush all the hydraulic fluid when you get a chance. If it is coffee colored, that is at least part of the problem. I do it about every three years. Sometimes this allows freer movement of the piston. As Cowpuc said, make sure the piston is clean on the outside when you check or replace pads.

Or does radio and/or cb pass through the tape deck?

Might as well do the clutch and back brake also. When on a hot ride far from home is when old clutch fluid will boil on you leaving you without a clutch!

Start with flushing the fluid. fixes it 9 out of 10 times. Then get back to us! But the front is definately way more powerful than a stock first gen. Both calipers come in together. So unless you first gen is "delinked" it does not compare. A good advantage. The back of a second gen is "overpowered" and will lock easily if you hit the pedal hard. A definate negative. I have owned both.

Too make it more interesting, how about extra connectors coming off of it for LED lighting, such as additional tail, stop, and turns? I already have a 5 pin trailer connector and I am planning on running all the add on tail, stop and turn wiring to this same connection to minimize modifications to the factory wire. Some additional female spades or 5 pin connector for this would have been helpful. Unfortunately, my harnass has already been tapped, so I will just go with it.

Ok, I know it is buried in here somewhere, but I cannot find it. I have already installed Progressives in the front. I have the proper "air valve" off a standard for the rear shock, basically a Shrader valve with the proper "o-ringed/reverse flair" fittings. I simply disconnected the hose from the compressor, pulled it out under the edge of seat, and installed the valve off the Standard parts bike. I am ready to remove the leaky CLASS entirely. The air hoses/fittings on these things are not any kind of standard fitting, but some weird "o-ring/reverse flair" thingy. If I disconnect the hoses directly at the forks, it that standard pipe threads or one of these special "o-ring/reverse flair".

And being one who has stripped the intercom/radio in its entirety, most of the cruise system, and the Class air compressor system from a Royale, that box seems a lot heavier than 62 pounds. I bet the weight of the larger luggage is pretty much insignificant. I can feel the difference between it and my still stock Royale.

This happened to me. Sounded like a mild rod knock, all went away after a carb sync.

Just wondering, how many do you suppose become trial members just to sell a bike they somehow recently aquired or just had around for years? I have always kinda thought Trial members should not be allowed to freely post to the classifieds. $12 to post to a specific group of potential buyers is a pretty cheap ad. I don't really care, as it could be seen as benefiting full members of this site to see those ads.

The problem with the left side is it hitting your head when you walk by while it is parked. Like when you dismount and turn to put your helmet in the trunk!

I used a single 4' firestick on my 87. Used a screw on end and a 90 degree fitting. Tuned it with a SWR. Output range must greater than stock. Better FM reception also. Check clearance of your garage/shed door before going with the 4'. While it may look just a little tall, I am pretty this extends the range.

The newer AGM tend to do this. Even Yuasa AGM. They go from perfectly good to dead very quickly. Have had three that was working fine all day, stop for gas or lunch, turn the key on and indicator lights come on, hit the starter and it all goes black. Last one 800 miles from home, and 500 miles from destination. Fortunately had a jump box on the truck running tail. Had to roll start a Venture in the flatlands. The older style traditional lead acid usually gave you a warning such as slow cranking, headlight going dim when stopped, etc. But is is very common for AGM to have a quick death.

Just had this last month on my 86. Remove the aluminum colored trim piece trim piece from the right side of the radiator, and it is right there up high. A little contact cleaner and slid it back together and was good to go. About 10 minutes.

My last big road trip was in 2013. Several large trips before that all over the country, all on my 04 second gen. Kitty made several trips alongside me on her 87 first gen. After having back surgery, she decided she was going to sell hers for something smaller. While I loved the interstate manners and seating position of the second gen, the thing really gave my back a work out in city traffic, parking, our gravel driveway, etc. and I missed the more nimble ride of the GL1200s I rode before getting the second gen. So after riding her bike to/from work several times and some local trips, we sold my second gen instead. Then we moved to Texas on onto some raw land living in a camper with no shop. The 87 sat in the barn alot. Took it to get inspected back in june, and it ran horrible. Recommited myself to keeping the bike up. Now it is all tuned up and running like a beast again. Leaving Victoria Tx tomorrow for Amarillo, meeting a friend there, then on to Pike's Peak, and then to South Dakota for a mission trip working on a Christian school on the Rosebud Reservation. Lucky to have Kitty riding tail in the truck with the kids and the tools for the work. Hoping to get time away from the work to take a cruise through the Badlands! So if you see an 86/87 two faced venture in that area, Wave!

I think in the first gen tech section you can find the info on killing the warning lamps. It involves pulling the module out of the dash and soldering in jumpers. There is one for both the brake and tail lights. There is also one for the headlights if you LED that. Maybe somebody else here can "link" you to it.

What the books dont tell you is there is a resistor in the switch. It send only 5v back to the relay. With 0 or 12v it will not work, so no bypass without the proper resistor. Yeah, I told you this twice today, not sure which place you would find it first.

You CANNOT bypass the tip over switch. There is a inline resistor that passes only 5v (If I remember correcly) back to the starter relay. If you send back 0v or 12v, the starter relay will not enable the ignition. They do this so you cannot bypass this switch. Simply check for continuity through the switch and plug it back up. I think I found this out by checking voltage on the outlet side of the switch to see if the switch was making. I think you will find on the diagram it is a separate circuit, and not inline with the other safety switches. There is a plug to this under the trim pieces that cover the tank mounting, on the right side I think. Easiest place to get to to check.

Make sure Intercom and CB are off when testing.

Status Update? Is Big Red getting saved?