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Ok.. I would take a volt meter and start tracing voltages in the starting system. You can get an inexpensive one at Harbor Freight or one of the big box stores. The service manual has a nice flow chart of what to look for where but it takes that voltage meter to do it properly. It seems to me you might have a relay that isnt working properly, maybe a loose wire or a bad solenoid or as Yamaha calls it, Starter Relay. You could move the heavy gauge wire that run from the solenoid to the starter, from the solenoid and touch it to the postive terminal of the battery and see if the battery spin over. This wont start the bike but show that you have a working starter. Next step would be to see if you have power to the solenoid on the L/W.. Blue/White wire that runs to the solenoid, this is what activates the solenoid to make the connection for the postive cable. You should hear it click when you energize it. It is located on the left side of the battery box as you sit on the bike. Check out page 7-9 thru 7-18 of the service manual for procedures to check out the starting system.. Service manual is available at the link in this post.. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?3384-First-Gen-Service-Manuals Let us know what you find. Rick F.

Sorry I left off something with the clutch switch.. the B/Y... Black/Yellow and the L/Y.. Blue/Yellow need to be connected to start the bike when in gear.. This shouldnt matter if the bike is in neutral as long as that switch is working properly.. Do you see the Neutral light on? I would try and temporary connect them together and see if you can start the bike that way.. If you havent downloaded the service manual, I highly recommend it as it has a lot of procedures for testing with a volt meter.. Do you have the fairing off of the bike.. I saw you said the fairing pockets are empty.. Those would contain the radio and its components in the left one and the right one would have the Class control unit and the CB.. none of these are required for the bike to run. Is the starter motor spinning and engaging the engine and turning it over? Good luck.. Rick F.

For me a days ride is anywhere from 350 - 500 miles depending on where I am riding too and doing along the way. These bikes are so easy to ride long distances that a 400 mile ride is so easy to do. Rick F.

The B/W.. black/white wire is what disengages the cruise control. These wires need to be attached together for the cruise to work. This pair of wires also goes to all the brake switches so that if any of them are operated, it breaks the circuit and the cruise control is released. But note, attaching them together will not let the clutch lever break the cruise control if engaged, just keep that in mind. The sidestand switch is used to ground the two leads coming to it. The L/Y..Blue/Yellow and the G/L.. Green/Blue wires run to different system but when grounded by the B..Black wire cause the engine to shutoff. I would leave the L/Y and G/L unattached and seal the end of the wires so they dont ground out or touch anything else. Again doing this disables the safety features of the bike and could cause you to ride off with the kickstand down and possible cause an accident for you. I pulled the color codes for the wires from the service manual for the 86-93 Ventures as I dont have any experience with doing what you want to do. Good luck.. Rick F.

No matter what brand you buy, I would make sure it is made here in the USA and NOT China. The China ones dont seem to last very long no matter what brand you buy. I have a Mills Fleet Farm,Road Runner AGM battery in my 1st Gen that is 6 years old. I keep it on a battery tender all winter long and hasnt failed me yet. When the time comes for a new one I will buy the same one as it is nothing more then a rebrand Deka AGM made by East Penn Manufacturing. Rick F.

I checked the service manual for Middle Gear Service on pages 3-45 & 54 and they call that seal a dust seal but I do see where the parts fiche calls it a oil seal. There is a O-ring in the manual and parts fiche, #19 in the fiche that could be the issue. Looking at the pictures in the service manual and from what I remember, this seal isnt accessible from the back of the engine without taking out the middle drive shaft and housing with the shims. If you want to make sure if isnt in that area, you could remove the rear wheel, swing arm and then you would have access to it. My thought if is was leaking oil the swing arm boot would have the oil in there and not on the swing arm. This would show as a leak at the back of the engine. Just some of my thought. Keep up the good work. Rick F.

Welcome.. What the sound you hear with the clicking is the fuel pump kicking in once it sees power which gets it's power from the same source as the ignition system. Check the fuses, back sure they are tight as Yammer Dan stated. A lot of us on here have upgraded the fuse panel to the blade style of fuses and one of the members here does sell a kit to do that. Also just check the connection to make sure they are clean and tight.. Take a look in the tech section in the forum for the 1st Gen, we call your bike, 86-93, a 1st gen MK 2, so look for items related for that. Let us know how that goes and what other question you might have. Rick F.

I would ride it more and then in a week or so, double check for the leak again and see if anything shows or wait till you see something on the ground under the bike. How did the oil look with the UV light when you looked in the sight glass at the oil? This kind of leak can drive you crazy trying to locate and solve it. Good luck Rick F.

I also have a full set of JIS screwdrivers and use them on everything. They are the only thing I use on my motorcycle now and I havent rounded a head off since starting to use them. I know they can be a little harder to find but well worth the hunt for a quality set of them. Rick F.

You can try a couple of things with the carbs.. One is call the shotgun method.. You basically remove come of the adjustment screws and use carb cleaner and compressed air to blow out the carbs passages. here is a link to another site that shows how to do it.. http://vmax.lvlhead.com/tips/shotgun.htm While this is for the Vmax, we have the same carbs for the most part on our 86-93 VRs.. You could also try using some seafoam in the gas tank and running a can thru the carbs. I would start with fresh gas and put about half a can in first and top the tank out with gas. Run the bike for about 10 mins and then shut it off and let it sit overnight then get it out and drive it hard and you might see an improvement as you ride it around. Just a couple of the things we have done here to get the bikes running. Let us know if you have more questions on this.. Rick F.

I agree with Casey, I use the carbtune and find it easy and accurate to use. I ended up order mine for the manufacture in England. https://www.carbtune.com/ They list if for about $105 USD shipped to the USA and it is well worth the money. Rick F.

Yes, you need the airbox to make the carbs operate properly and yes, you HAVE to sync the carbs for it to run correctly. Get yourself a quality sync tool for this as you will need to use it multiple times a year to keep the bike running at its best. The carbs are the touchiest item on the bike but easy to sync once you done it a few times. Good luck and enjoy the bike. Rick F.

if I recall correctly, you need to pull the windshield and the headlight bezel off to access the RLU, it is located behind and above the headlight. Also refer to the previous post from videoarizona with the link in it to see which wires that need to be connected together for everything else to keep working properly. Good luck Rick F.

Take you time with getting it out as it can be a PIA to remove. Look it over and twist it around some and you will find it will just about fall out. You will need to remove the stator wires out of the way as if I recall it drops out of the bottom of the case. Good luck Rick F.

I have been using Ride-On Tire Sealant and Balancer in my 89 VR for a long time now. Not only to help with the balancing of the tire, which it does nicely, but for that added protection of sealing a small tire puncture if I get one while on the road. I dont always ride in the most populace areas when I am out and sometimes I am out of cell coverage so it gives me a little piece of mind while out. Here is the website for the product.. http://www.ride-on.com/ Just my 2 cents worth.. Rick F.

Here is a link to the service manual for the 86 Venture... http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?3384-First-Gen-Service-Manuals Go to the link in the link and it will take you to where to download the service manual as a PDF file. There is a section in there on rebuilding the carbs and how to check the float level with the carbs on the bike. To me it sounds like you have a float the is stuck open and letting the gas push out the overflow tube. here is another link to some more information... http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?66468-Float-levels And here is a link to that Casey was telling you about... http://www.factorypro.com/Prod_Pages/prody11.html Also when you rebuilt them, did you take off the jet block and check the rubber plug in the bottom of it. They should be tight in the holes and not fall out, if so they need to be replaced. Let us know how it goes.. Rick F.

There are no fuses under the seat, they are located on top of your battery and to the right front of it, as you have already found out. There is no relay for the horns in a stock configuration on these bikes. The horn button powers the horns directly so it is possible that the button is dirty or corroded. Clean it and it should work ok and if you do install a relay you still will need it to be clean to activate the relay. I dont recall what fuses are what but if you can access the owners manual or service manual from the website here, it will let you know. Check in the frist gen tech section under manuals. Let us know if you have any other questions. Rick F.

Thanks.. I wasnt sure to be honest what country .nl is associated with. Rick F.

I agree but they also have the owners manuals online and available also which we dont dang it.. Rick F.

If you dont want to build it yourself, one of the members here, Skydoc17, sells one all ready to install. Check out his page here.. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/photopost/showproduct.php?product=58&title=first-gen-1983-1993-battery-icon-bypass-lead&cat=17 Hope this helps. Rick F.

I would say forget the ride tomorrow and get a new fuse panel installed, checking all the wires as you do it. one of our members sells a kit to replace the fuse block with a modern blade type fuse, http://www.venturerider.org/forum/photopost/showproduct.php?product=59&title=first-gen-vr-fuse-box-upgrade-kit&cat=17 . A lot of us here have upgraded as over time the spring clips for the glass tube fuses will break or crack and not give you a positive connection. Taking you time now will save you time in the long run and trouble when out on the road. Rick F.

Here is a website out of New Zealand, I think, that has a lot of information on the 1st Gen Ventures. Even though it is in New Zealand Venture were not that much different from ours and the information works for us also and the site is in English. They also have a copy of the service manual and owner manuals that you can down load for your use. The link is https://www.yamahaventure.nl/xvz-1300.html Or use this link for information on all the Ventures also.. https://www.yamahaventure.nl/ Hope this helps you out. Rick F.

It appears you are low on oil, the side stand is down and the battery doesnt have the probe inserted into one of the cells. The fuel gauge is located on the right side of the panel and 6 bars that indicate fuel level in the tank. You have 4 usable gallons with one gallon in reserve. The gauge shows empty when you are on reserve and then an gas pump icon appears on the panel with the red light. If you check the service manual on page 7-64, it describes what each of the icons mean and how to resolve the issue. The voltage meter only works when the engine is running as does the red warning light also. Hope this helps you out.. Rick F.

Glad to hear you have it running on all 4 now.. Now go out and put some miles on that bike.. Rick F.