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I did see on the gas cap cover the premium fuel requirement also when I was checking out the bike. Also on the FOB dying, there is a key built into the FOB that can be removed and used to activate the bike from the right saddlebag. Demo guys showed me that one but you are right about the FOB being able to start the bike but the FOB only has a 31 inch range on it, so I dont see it being an issue, as long as you dont leave it in a side pod on the bike all the time. Rick F.

I had the pleasure of taking a demo ride on the new 2018 Star Venture Transcontinental today. I will start by saying I wasn't sure if I would like the forward controls, V twin air cooled engine but after riding it I would buy one if they price was cheaper. We went on about a 20 mile ride mostly on country roads in the Red Wing area what included turns, elevation changes and long straight sections. I also sat on the bike with it running as I looked over the center screen to see what all you could do with it. First off, I never felt the heat from the bike as it idled in 85 degree sunshine. I presently ride an 89 VR and sitting in traffic on that can be a hot experience and the Star Venture didn't even approach that. The bike was also very smooth at idle and while riding. I was able to idle around the parking lot at about 10MPH as we positioned ourselves for the ride and it didn't surge or struggle at all. Acceleration is very crisp in sport mode with a little less in touring mode. You are able to switch between the two with ride by first releasing the throttle and the pushing the mode button and the twisting the throttle for the new mode. The indicator is on the speedometer and easily seen. The bike handled the curves with ease and had no problem accelerating out of them. I found that when running about 55 MPH I was usually in 4 gear unless I pushed my self to shift up to 5th or 6th which I did for testing purposes. Again, no issues with lugging the bike down while in 6th to 55 and accelerating up to 65 or so. I did hit the rev limiter a couple of times early into the ride when accelerating from a stop sign but quickly got the feel for the engine and the speeds and had no issue with the rev limiter after that. I did find myself not using 6th much as I felt I didn't need to. The escorts did have us running on some of the roads at 65 MPH and the engine never seemed to care what gear I was in. I did find that after a few miles the forward controls were very comfortable to use and I seem to adapt to them ok. I loved the foot boards as they are big and roomy and you can change the position of you feet and hence your leg/knee and still have them firmly planted on the boards. Yamaha did a great job on those in my opinion. Air flow on the bike for the driver was excellent. The wings on the side of the fairing are adjustable and I was able to get plenty of airflow onto my body to stay nice and comfortable. I was wearing a ventilated jacket and never once felt hot. There is also a air opening at the bottom of the fairing for air to your feet and these were open also. We also tested the 2 helmets in the travel trunk and found they fit with room to spare. Also the key fob has an emergency key attached to it for the ignition in case of the FOB losing power and unable to activate the bike. There is a key switch in the right saddle bag that the key fits into. The side pods with the louvers on the front are where the electronic are located and do not provide air flow to the engine as I thought they did. The louvers are just for show. The center screen for the GPS, Audio Controls, and bike information was large and well lit. I had no issues seeing it while on my ride. I was wearing sunglasses and at time I believe there was direct sunshine on it. There is a control button array on the left handlebar that allows the rider to move around as you are riding. I was also able to use the touch screen with my riding gloves on when needed. I know some touchscreen want to feel your skin for the heat to sense where you are touching. The bike information included present fuel MPG and average fuel MPG.. mine was indicating 34 by the way and had 1700 miles on the odometer.. I didnt get much more into the electronics other then to set up a radio station to listen too. The sounds was very good and easy to hear at speed on the ride. I guess the bottom line is I really likes the bike and felt very comfortable on it. I would be temped to buy one other then I have a hard time spending $27,000 on a motorcycle at this time. When they come on the use market, I would sure like to get one then. That is about all I can think of now but feel free to ask question and I will see if I can answer them for you but I think Yamaha has a winner here with this other then the cost. Thanks Rick F.

Looking like rain Thursday and Friday so I am looking at going to Red Wing on Saturday and riding a few bikes including the Venture I hope.. Rick F.

One thing that occurred with my last trip was a replacement clutch lever as we had a bike fall over and broke a chrome Ventureline clutch lever on our first day out. Yamaha dealer had nothing, but a used bike place had a lever that would work with a slight modification to it. I believe it was a parts unlimited handle. Without a clutch, it is hard to get the bike running. Luckly I was there with my VR and removed my handle and installed on my buddy's and was able to get it up to the garage where we were staying and then used it as a reference in looking for replacement.. Just a thought.. Rick F.

I am hoping to make the Red Wing event as that is the closest one to me. Sounds like they are moving the bikes to there when Star Days ends.. Rick F.

I ran across this on Facebook and thought I would post the link to an article on " What Virginia Tech learned about how and why we crash our motorcycles". Here is the link to the story.. https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/what-virginia-tech-learned-about-how-and-why-we-crash-our-motorcycles?utm_campaign=boosted-posts|tpfn&utm_content=common-tread-how-to&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_term=what-virginia-tech-learned-about-how-and-why-we-crash-our-motorcycles-post-112116-|tpfn Sorry if this was posted here before but I didnt find it on a search on the site. Rick F.

One thought is to get a bottle of ABS glue from a hardware store and use to to glue the parts that are cracked back together for now. Then I would start searching for better pieces over the summer and fall and then replace them over the winter when you cant ride. Hope that helps.. Rick F.

Just wanted to let everyone know that BrakeCrafters now has a kit for both front calipers for the 86-93 Ventures. He has it listed at $64.99 and that includes everything you will need to replace the seals in both front calipers. Here is the URL for the kit: https://brakecraftersusa.myshopify.com/collections/1989-yamaha-xvz13-d-series-venture-royale/products/1986-1993-yamaha-xvz1300-venture-front-brake-caliper-new-seal-kit I worked with Mark in making sure this kit worked and I was able to rebuild a pair of spare front calipers I had laying around with this kit. I found it so much easier to clean up the calipers when I could split them into and get to everything. I ended up spliting the calipers and then blowing the pistons out with air. I clamped them down to my wood topped bench and added a shim to stop them from blowing all the way out so that both would extend fully with out letting the pressure out. It seemed to work for me after I figured it out for the first one. Mark does supply the o-rings needed between the caliper halves and I torqued them to 20ft-lbs when reassembling them. I also found that if I got them tight, I could mount them on the fork and torque them a lot easier to the 20 ft-lbs then trying to hold them on the bench and doing it. Also he does offer a kit for the rear calipers also... BrakeCrafters offers a 15% welcome discount on your first order and free shipping.. It is nice to see an aftermarket company offering items for our older rides that is quality stuff. No Chinese stuff here, most is made in Europe and Japan.. Hope this helps when it comes to rebuild your brakes.. Rick F.

I was out in NC and Tenn riding the Dragon and other assorted ride and picked up a very nice touring map with a lot of the rides in the Tenn, NC, and surrounding states listed with mileage and estimate riding time. This was a free map I picked up at Bush's Beans visitor center off of hwy 441 in Tenn. There is a web address listed on the map, http://www.wildrides.info . The map might be available from many different locations as one side is nothing but adds for local places. I have also taken a sample scan of the map but it way too big to scan it all and post it here. Rick F.

Another thought is that the air compressor only works when the ignition key is in the acc position and not the on position. Just throwing it out there in case you didnt know that.. Rick F.

The 16mm coupling nut has an internal thread size of 16mm but the outer size of the hex nut is 24mm and therefore fit into the 24mm socket making a 24mm hex bit socket. Here is a picture of the tool. I ended up using masking tape to make sure the nut stayed in the socket. I tried the 13/16 sparkplug socket turned upside down but I didnt get a good bite with it. 24mm is about 15/16 so I went looking for something in those sizes and found this coupling nut. It is 2 inches long so there is enough room for it to grip and the cost was very reasonable. It was located in the Menards metric bolt section and has Handi-Pack part number 88319 on the package. Hope this clears things up a bit. Rick F.

I needed a 24mm hex bit socket to help in the removal and reinstall of the bolt that secures the fork dampers to the lower fork legs. The top of the fork damper uses a 24mm hex bit to hold the damper still as you tighten the lower 10mm hex drive bolt at the bottom of the forks. I ended up making one out of a 24mm 1/2 drive socket and a 16mm coupling nut I picked up from Menard's. I ended using masking tape just to hold it all together so I wouldnt leave anything behind and it worked like it was made for it. Total cost for the tool was about $7.00 I believe. I hope this help out some of you in your future fork work. Rick F.

Break out the wiring diagram and start testing the circuit to see if you have power anywhere along it. I believe there is a connector under the seat that might be a good place to start. Also make sure the fuse is tight in the holders as they do get loose over time. A lot of us have upgraded to the newer fuse panels. Good luck. Rick F.

This picture appears to be of a screw that is holding the carb to the rack that keeps the carbs aligned. I would remove all of the other screws with an impact driver as that will loosen the screws and they can be very tight with age. Once you have the other carbs off of the rack, I would use a drill and and easyout to remove what is left of the screw. Hope this helps. Rick F.

It appears that the first opportunity to ride the new Venture is Star Days at Treasure Island Casino in Minnesota. That listing states be one of the first to ride the new Venture and list it as one of the bikes. Guess I will have to get my name in the hat and get a ride on one not that I am thinking of getting one as my VR is doing just fine for me. Rick F.

These were used ones and seems to me to offer more support and more comfortable on a long trip. I also find that there is more lower back support to were I dont use the drivers backrest much either. I found the MKII seats to bother my inner tights on a long ride but then I have a skinny boney butt also. Rick F.

On occasion you can find an aftermarket seat on ebay for the 1st gens. I was able to pick up a Corbin with drivers backrest for about $140 shipped to my door. I had a buddy get one for $75 for his Corbin. Both of us like these seats better then the stock ones and they do seem to sit just a bit lower then the factory one and the passenger seat is flat so the passenger isnt sliding forward on long rides. Rick F.

Not sure on that is that will make a big difference or not.. One thing to make sure if is that the replacement LED will fit in the location you are planning as some of these tower LED bulbs are taller then a regular bulb and you might have clearance issues. Good Luck Rick F.

I have a set of JIS screwdrivers and it is all I use on my VR now and love them. I find that I dont damage the heads of the screws and am able to get a lot of them to break free by just keeping downward pressure on them as I twist the driver. I have even got to the point of using the on Phillips screws also when I have a stubborn one and I can usually break it free 90% of the time. I know they are getting harder to get from some of the things but are worth the search for in my opinion.. Rick F.

I did some checking over the weekend and I was wrong in what I thought about the brake calipers on the front of my 89 VR. The left side uses 32mm caliper pistons and the right side use 34mm caliper pistons. Once I figured this out, I ordered the rear caliper kit that is listed on Brakecrafters website as the rear kit he list will also work for the right front caliper which is the one that is leaking on my bike. I also forward the information to Mark and asked if he can produce a kit for the 32mm calipers in the near future. Looking up the part numbers on the yamaha parts fiche, I notice the 32mm calipers where used on Yamaha motorcycles from 1986-2014 and the 34mm calipers where used from 1986-2001, so there is a lot of bikes out there that can use these kits. Rick F.

I know there has been some confusion on what seals are needed to rebuild the stock calipers on the 86-93, ie MKII Ventures. I thought I would document it so there would be no confusion least for me.. The right front caliper and the rear caliper both use part # 1KT-25803-00 for their seals. It takes 2 of these part numbers to rebuild one caliper as the package only contains 2 pressure seals and 2 dust guide seals and a small tube of red grease. It stands to reason they would be the same since they are linked together from the factory. The left front caliper uses part # 1NL-W0047-00 for its seals. Again it take 2 of these part numbers to rebuild one caliper as the package only contains 2 pressure seals and 2 dust guide seals and a small tube of red grease. The red grease is used on the seals during insertion of the piston to help them slide in easier and not damage the seals. I hope this helps to clear things up a bit as the parts fiche or service manual is not the best in showing what is needed for which caliper. Rick F.

Yes it does go to the canceling unit, least on the 86-93 MKII as that is the only manual I have to check with. But I would venture to guess that it is that way on the 83-85 MKI also. Rick F.

Yes I am.. you are 100%... Rick F.

It depends on your phone also. I have a Galaxy phone and I can block calls going to it if they keep calling me. Also anytime you hear clicking when you first answer, just hang up as it is the call being routed to an agent. For my home phone service I have comcast for phone service and I also have a Panasonic answering machine that announces who is calling. If it isnt someone I know or expect to call me it always goes to the answering machine and or course they never leave a message. If I get more then a couple calls from them, I can go into my comcast account and block that number there from calling again. Now the big issue is that it is very easy to spoof a phone number in a phone system. You can enter just about any number in there you want and that is what is sent out by the outgoing call for caller ID to use. We do it a lot of large businesses that dont want an company extension number to appear but maybe just the company's main phone number. So most of the spammers just change their outgoing phone numbers every so often to get around a lot of the blocks. Rick F.

That item is the Speedometer sensor what is use to detect how fast you are moving. It appears to be a reed switch that makes and breaks the circuit to ground. The speedometer have a magnet in it that is closing the circuit and the cruise control unit is counting the pulses to determine speed. This enters the cruise control unit on the white/green wire. Rick F.