circa1968

So, now that other issues have been sorted out on my girl, decided it was time to address the loose front end, which flopped around like a fresh-caught fish! I followed the process in the technical section, but thought I'd add a few observations that I did not see addressed anywhere else: 1) The crown nut is 27mm. I purchased a Husk brand open/box wrench from HD for the job. Its quite beefy and there's not a lot of space between the crown nut and the handlebar risers. I ended up taking the wrench to the bench grinder to shave ~1/6" off the widest part of each side to be able to have enough room to work the crown nut loose. It took 2-3 back & forth between the grinder and bike to just grind off enough to fit and no more. 2) Since I wasn't sure how much torque would be required to loosen the crown nut, and I'm still nervous about lifting my bike in the air, I broke the nut loose with the bike on the ground and on the side stand for stability. If I have to do it again, will probably follow the same procedure for safety sake. 3) Removing the ignition switch cover gives a little more wiggle room with the wrench. 4) Note where on the wrench it could possibly strike the gas tank while either loosening or tightening and grab it at that exact location with your hand. Sacrifice the hand, not the paint! (No, not learned from a mistake in this particular case, but past mistakes in life) 5) Ok, this is were I open myself up to well-deserved ridicule. It is now clearly obvious, but perhaps my nervousness at the beginning clouded my thinking (yeah, that's it!), but when tightening the locking nuts....it is tightened down, towards the ground. NOT towards the top fork brace, that is loosening it! Right tighty, lefty loosey.... Oh well, I deserve to be skewered by the seasoned mechanics here for that silly mistake. 6) I found that when I got the bearing adjusted to my liking & retightened the crown nut that tightening the crown nut caused things to loosen back up again (not sure why, but it was definitely the case). So, I did 3-4 iterations of tighten the bearing lock nuts, tighten the crown nut and test until satisfied. 7) Probably should have put this as #2, but good lighting helps tremendously. A lovely (and patient) flashlight holding assistant is highly recommended! 8 It does not take much adjustment as pointed out below. As I tapped the locking nuts, I could see the bearing shroud rotate (see flashlight note #7). I was only going ~1mm, or less, of rotation of the shroud at a time & retesting after each. Just pick a spot on the shroud and watch it rotate. The rest of the procedure below (copied from the technical section) was spot on and extremely useful! In the end, it was a fairly simple procedure and any novices, like me, out there should not be afraid to tackle this, just go slow and make very small adjustments. Can't say enough how much I appreciate this site and the folks who paved the path for the rest of us with these resources! Adjusting Steering Head Bearings Today we are going to look at a very simple method of adjusting your steering head bearings. Loose steering head bearings are a fairly common problem on both the first and second generation Venture and probably the Royal Star also. At some point, you will most likely want to do a true service on these bearings. That is a much more complicated and time consuming job which requires completely removing the handlebars, top tree, and on at least the second generation Venture, the front faring..inner and outer. I've done that job and it takes several hours. It should be done at some point though because you will probably, at some point, want to repack the bearings and that requires the more complicated method. If your front end seems loose though and you simply want to tighten it up a bit, it's a very simple job that can be done in about 30 minutes. You will need a lift to do this job as the front must be completely off the ground. As you can see from the following picture, it does not need to be high in the air...just make sure the front tire is not touching the ground. Once you have the bike lifted, gently push the handlebar one way or the other and see how loose the front is. In my case, the front would fall to one side or the other without me even touching it unless I had it perfectly centered. That is too loose. The front should stay where you have it and if you gently push it one way or the other...it should gently come to a stop but not be binding or hard to push. If you gently push the bars so that it bounces off the stops, it should rebound gently and stop...maybe even ever so slightly oscillate back just a tiny bit but if it oscillates back and forth 2 or 3 times, it is definitely too loose. http://www.venturerider.org/steering/lifted.jpg The next thing you will need to do is slightly loosen the top nut just below your handlebars. An open end wrench works great for this but if you don't have the right size, you can protect the finish with a rag and use a pair of Channel Locks. http://www.venturerider.org/steering/topnut.jpg If you look just underneath the top fork brace, you will see two locking nuts. These nuts are slotted and locked together with a locking washer with a tab. You do not need to pry out the tab as we are going to simply tap and tighten both nuts together. http://www.venturerider.org/steering/lockingnuts.jpg Believe it or not, we are almost done. Simply take a long screwdriver and place the blade in the slots in the nuts. Tap lightly with a hammer to tighten the nuts. Be careful here. You will be amazed at how little you have to tighten these nuts to make a big difference. http://www.venturerider.org/steering/screwdriver.jpg After tapping, gently swing the front end. If you gently swing the front end to where it gently hits the stops, it should rebound slightly and come to a gently stop. It should not bind or be stiff but should not oscillate back and forth. If it bounces off the stop, and then rebound and hits the stop again...it is too loose. If it rebounds and gently stops....you are about right. Once you get it right....simply retighten the top nut and you are done. Very simple job that takes about 30 minutes.

Am I the only one who's inner 'beavis & butthead' came out upon reading that? 🤣

Yes, I poke fun at them, only because of some of the extreme positions but I love nature and also believe where we can, we should do better. My biggest issue is where they use the "environment" as an excuse to command control over too much of our lives and in the US, we have such strong special interest (deep pocket) control over our gov't, which then has control over us, that so much of this stuff turns into protecting profits and/or large gov't employee unions and the balance of power, first and foremost. The truth dies a sudden death when either of those are at risk, IMHO. Industrial processes and output has vastly and necessarily improved over the years for protecting both people's health directly and the health of the environment. But, I always question if ethanol, solar panels, electric cars, etc are truly a net benefit or just pushing chairs around on the titanic, or is it just a way to provide profits to well-connected individuals and companies - in the name of environmentalism. Are you 100% certain those trees died of 'acid rain' and not some other natural phenom (like beetles, some underlying volcanic activity, etc). For example, the ocean emits more carbon dioxide, through natural processes, than all human activity combined. I sincerely appreciate all of you being here, sharing knowledge and pushing me to learn more. Such a great site and group!

Thanks @Patch! This grasshopper just got a little smarter. Been reading a lot about open vs closed loop crankcase ventilation and will get rid of the vent and go back to a closed-loop - with the catch can. Sorry, I wasn't suggesting the engine is 99% efficient. The only thing I know in the entire universe which is 99% efficient is me, in my proficiency to do stupid stuff! I just used 99% as a strawman argument about how much of the exhaust gas is exhausted vs blowby/recycled through the crankcase ventilation as to why the tree hugger argument does not impress me. Once again, once we dig up the dead dinos, its out and not going back in, regardless of what this or that agency requires. (And once again, for the fun sake of argument.....If the world was once a lush, tropical paradise with man-eating dinosaurs and we're slowly taking ourselves back to that, minus the dinos.....why is this a bad thing?😀) I will go back to my original plan of just using the catch can in the as-designed closed loop system. As always, I'm here to learn and always appreciate and humbled by the knowledge that is shared!!!!

@PatchDisregard, I was able to just select the text and then the highlight goes away so I can read it. Thank you for the feedback. So, are you saying I actually need the vacuum @ the airbox to properly vent (pull) any blowby that makes it into the crankcase? So far, on a couple of short rides it does collect a small bit of oil and other vapors so it seems something is pushing it out, or perhaps there's some venturi effect going on through the venting. My original plan was to route the output back to the intake port, as you suggest, rather than vent to atmos via the filter. I've read here others vented their 1st gens to atmosphere and at least one 2nd gen so thought I'd try that first. Well, I have as much interest in arguing with tree huggers as I have in arguing with an actual tree. Both would be equally useful to me. But for the sake (fun) of argument anyways, as far as I'm concerned, once we extract the dead dino's, those hydrocarbons are out and not going back in, seems like semantics of what games are played with them in between - they are out, staying out and not going away to some magical place. So, to me the argument is extract or not, rather than what to do once out. Here's my logic: If 99% of a combustion cycle's hydrocarbon exhaust goes out the tail pipe then 1% blows past the cylinder rings & goes into the crankcase. Let's say we have a perfectly efficient re-circulation from the crankcase back into the combustion chamber of that 1% blow by. Then 99% of that 1% is getting put out the tail pipe on the next combustion/exhaust cycle anyways. What I'm left with then is oil vapor, moisture, etc infiltrating my carbs, gunking them up, creating carbon buildup and less efficient motor operation all together. So, as you pointed out in a prior post on this topic, more tree hugging harm than good, yes? Yes, grasshopper has studied a bit...😉

@Patch Hi Patch, Could you repost with plain text? For some reason, it shows up as black hihlight on black text on my computer! Can't quite read it Thanks!

https://www.venturerider.org/manuals/RSVservice.pdf See page 3-16. The adjusting screw is on the right (brake) side, just below the tank.

Hope its ok to revive this old thread! Pic attached of what I just installed to capture oil and vent the crank case. The intake port @ the airbox, where the hose was attached, has been capped. This is on the left side of the bike, so aesthetically, my girl now has a good side and a less good side.... This was sorta proof of concept and now plan to see if it can somehow be at least partially hidden but still accessible enough to eventually drain any collected gunk. I think I will also paint the collector bottle black, save for a small window to watch the level of what's collected. That might make it disappear a little better. And yes, subjectively, she runs super, IMHO. (Note: I also just had the carbs rebuilt and this was done at the same time I re-installed the carbs so can't really give a good before/after take on it). Biggest goal for me was not to turn my beautiful new carbs into another gunked up mess. Now, here's the interesting part: I also just changed the oil and filled to the max line! (I know, a sin here) Yes, a bit of oil blows out & is caught in the collector bottle but guess what? Oddly with the oil at the max level, to my ears the clutch whine is much less noticeable (again subjective, I know). Does that make sense? I read an older post here about a guy doing some anecdotal testing and he found that lack of oil in the clutch box contributed to the whine so he ran an extra oil line to the clutch box and swore it significantly reduced the whine. Would that extra little bit of oil fill in the crankcase, from 1/2 way between the lines to top of the line, make enough difference in oil pressure or splash around, or whatever voodoo oil magic happens inside of there, to reduce the whine?

Thanks @Patch for boiling that down to such a simple explanation for me. I tend to over-complicate things...😆 The lambda stuff sounds really cool. Wish we had such a closed-loop system on the Venture w/ fuel injection, O2 sensors and computer control. Wow, wouldn't that make an awesome bike awsomer! Now that I've got a set of rebuilt and clean carbs, I'm off to put a crankcase breather filter and oil catch can on the bike. I was working that out while waiting for the rebuilt carb shipment. No more oily mess @ the intake.

I can't say enough good things about @eusa1 (aka The Diamond Cut Guy) and his rebuilt carb swap program. Mike's a straight shooter, highly responsive and does what he says. Buy with confidence and if you are having carb troubles, don't delay. What a difference!

Well, as a final wrap to my heat saga, the rebuilt carbs from Mike, the Diamond Cut Guy, has solved the issue. While I learned a lot through this process, I can't begin to explain what the underlying root cause was (frustrating to me personally as I used to do root cause failure analysis on electronic stuff) and how/why the rebuilt carbs solved the issue. But in the end, none of that matters. My beautiful moto is finally running the way she should!!!!!! Hats off and a big Thank You to everyone who helped and encouraged me along the way. I was frustrated at times, but also found it fun and challenging. And now....its time for miles of smiles.

Great video and I've done that on my 2nd gen. I'd say its probably a little bit dicier due to the 2nd gen gas tank location raising the center of gravity (best not to do with a full tank!), but doable. I found its also helpful to start with the kickstand on a 2x4, so only have to pull it up a little bit to level.

https://reno.craigslist.org/mcy/d/carson-city-venture-royale-touring-bikes/7248849430.html Sold! Hoping the buyers of these bikes and the '83 I missed out on show up on here and give us all an update on their new toys!

Do not judge a man by his past. As he stands before you, he is defined by his current path in life. But, do not judge the man by that path either, lest he may also judge you for the path you are on. It is not for either to judge the other! When your path's cross, appreciate the uniqueness of the two separate prior paths which brought you to that very spot where you now meet. If you now walk on the same path, even for a short time, you both benefit from the other's knowledge on their prior path. I write these words from what I've learned from my own failings on my path. We learn from our mistakes and become better with time and from the grace of the people we cross paths with. This is why, God willing, I want to live to be 100 (+), so much more to learn!

@saddlebum yeah, I have the perma-cough too, but from allergies. Constant congestion, post-nasal drip, etc and throw in a health rash of sneezes as well. I'm not saying I'm an anti-masker. If that's what gives people comfort, go for it. I just personally don't believe they do anything based on my interpretation of the science. My son just started college in the midwest & they've had a rash of cases on campus, as to be expected. It just so happens that my 82 YO mother lives 10 minutes from his campus and she keeps wanting to go visit him. I say absolutely not! She says, "but I'll be wearing a mask and staying 6' away".... BTW, 6' was just a best guess early on. No real science behind that. @PastorCurt My local blood bank was testing for covid antibodies early on, but they announced in the fall that they stopped. But you got me wondering now, are the 'new cases' reported also including anyone who has tested positive for the antibodies???? If so, talk about false advertising!

As somewhat of an aside to this discussion, it was briefly mentioned early on that one could have the flu and covid at the same time. I have not seen or heard any mention of that, probably since ~March though. Just logically thinking, that would seem like a potentially deadly combination. I've had cases of the flu that I thought was the beginning of the end for me. Add another virus to that and Yikes! Perhaps that's a good reason to get the flu shot this year....

Hi Saddlebum, no the virus is not a farce. It is real. Is it as deadly as we're made to believe? Any virus can be deadly under the right circumstances for the individual who contracts it, this one is no different. But myself and many others are skeptical of the nature of the reporting, for good reasons. If the vaccine is truly effective AND safe, sure go for it. But I will wait until we know more about its longer term effect on a larger swath of people who are willing to be guinea pigs. I am not one of those. I would rather catch the virus and develop antibodies to it naturally, as I occasionally do with the flu. I'm in otherwise good health and if I wasn't, perhaps I would feel differently. As of right now, the FDA has not fully licensed the vaccines, they are only authorized for emergency use. In other words, they are not fully tested. As I see it, we know as little about the vaccines right now, as we knew about the virus in the spring. Let's say the masks are at least somewhat effective in slowing the spread, I can accept that premise, even if it can't be quantified, which it hasn't been. So, let's all wear masks, re-open small businesses (i.e. enjoy the same economic freedom that the politically correct Hollywood crowd has) and practice some personal responsibility.

First. Randy, I hope you and your GF are doing ok. Prayers for both of you! The virus itself is ~ 1/700th the diameter of a human hair, so unless you're walking around in a fully contained space suit with sub-micron filtration, don't count on that mask doing anything for ya. CDC recently said 70% of people contracting the virus regularly wore masks. The people's republic of CA has had a mask mandate, social distancing, economic lockdowns, etc in place for months on end and the cases are rising. Perhaps its because our wannabe emperor himself is the super-spreader who doesn't wear a mask, social distance and dines indoors with others. Stanford University, the prestigious Stanford University, did a study in April that randomly tested 3,000 people for the antibody and found that 5-6% already had it and didn't even know. Well, that did not fit the narrative and Stanford was blasted as incompetent for such a flawed study. Oh my! If a hospital checks a box on a form that says 'covid', they get extra money from the federal gov't. Simple as that. No checks & balances, just more money. Simple math is on the virus' side. Each person who contracts it can easily spread it to 10 more. Since its an upper-respiratory infection, why are we not seeing any correlating information about how it affects smokers vs non-smokers. Certainly, there has to be some connection between the two, in my humble opinion. No science, just my opinions and we know what they say about opinions...

Before anyone rushes out to get the vaccine shot, I suggest reading this: https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-vaccine-questions-a-summary/ I'm not an expert in much of anything other than my own opinion and my opinion is that the truth was lost long ago in this whole thing. Corporate profits, political power and desire for control over the masses are ruling the day. Yes, the virus is real, yes some people are sadly losing their lives to it. This also happens every year from the flu, which is also highly contagious and the flu shot is not always effective as it is a best guess, made months in advance. The big difference, IMHO, between flu shots & this new vaccine is an actual flu virus is used to create an antibody AND we have decades of experience with this. This new vaccine is a lab rat's dream of using DNA sequencing to build something from scratch, has been minimally tested and long-term effects are completely unknown. Trust science? maybe, maybe not Possible effects on female fertility Dr Michael Yeadon, a former head of Pfizer’s respiratory research, and Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, a health policy adviser, raised the possibility that, since the vaccine (by design) causes the body to produce antibodies against the ‘spike proteins’ in the virus, it might also cause the production of antibodies against similar proteins which are required for formation of the placenta in pregnancy. If this were the case, itwould result in vaccinated women essentially becoming infertile, an effect which might be permanent. No research studies have been undertaken on this issue, so it is this writer’s view that the vaccine has been rolled out much too early and with no knowledge of whether the hypothesis of Drs Yeadon and Wodarg is correct or incorrect. The Moderna vaccine is also an RNA vaccine, so the same applies to that. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is designed to create the same result – the formation of antibodies against the Covid-19 virus – so they all have the inherent potential risk of causing infertility. PCR testing and its use in the Pfizer trials A positive PCR test result does not indicate infection, simply the presence of viral RNA, which might indeed indicate a current infection, but is more likely to indicate exposure to the virus some time ago, possibly many months. Every magnification cycle doubles the viral RNA so, after ten cycles it has been increased by 1024 times, after 20 cycles by over a million and after 40 cycles by over a trillion. Therefore, the greater the number of cycles, the more likely one is to find what was originally only a tiny amount of viral RNA, and vice-versa. We do not know what PCR cycle counts Pfizer used in their trials, so we have no idea whether they might have manipulated the cycle counts to create their desired result and ‘prove’ that the vaccine was extraordinarily effective.

Sorry to hear about the C. You're still kicking, so I'm hoping that means you've managed to kick it back. I'm in San Jose. Look forward to the opportunity to meet ya & other fellow Venturerider members. I'm not much for the online social media stuff, shun it really, but this group is different. I like it! Well, seller stopped responding to me and the ad is deleted. So, I guess someone smarter than me didn't dilly-dally around and jumped on it. Win some, lose some.... Back to lovin' on the '07 baby girl! Thanks for all the inputs, I know more about what to look for and watch for on the next one that comes along!

Thanks for weighing in @cowpuc!! Yes, its the Vacaville bike - now don't go buying it out from under me! Haha! Assuming it lived most its life near Vacaville, yes that's a pretty warm & dry climate so I'm feeling a little less concerned about the frame. And not too terribly concerned about 2nd gear. Was not aware of stator or water pump issues, but not feeling too afraid to tackle those. Fork springs, yeah that makes sense, so I'm game for that too. At this point, I'm just waiting to hear back from the seller to take the next step and go see it in person. @Flyinfool, yep I'm assuming another carb rebuild will be in order, unfortunately. Best case, I get the nice surprise that its not needed, at least not urgently. But in any case, I'm factoring that in. If I'm ultimately into it for $2-3k and I have a super clean touring bike ready to rip, snort and roar for another 100k+ miles, I think I can live with that! Cowpuc, if it works out, would love to have you stop in and check her out on your next trip through the area. Heck, stop in and say hi, either way!

Yeah, I'm not under any impression that a 37 YO bike wouldn't need a variety of things, like you listed, to be taken care of in short order. I can either handle those or handle paying for them. My big concern is getting into something major as I don't want a big project. I have spoken with a shop nearby the seller and they can do a thorough inspection and give me their assessment for a very reasonable price.

Awesome, Thanks for the responses and feedback! This group is really amazing! I'm oscillating between extreme excitement and extreme caution. There are some things in the seller story that don't quite add up. Like, he can't remember the name of the shop that did the carbs and he claims he put $3k into getting it running, but then the wife said no. Ok, maybe that last part is completely feasible.... Seller also mentioned he doesn't ride, did some of the ancillary work (brakes, etc) himself and has basically let it set since he did all that. Its just over an hour away, so I'm searching out a reputable shop in the area that I can pay for a consult/inspection either before I make the trip or at the same time.

So, spent the last hour, or so, reading about 2nd gear and cracked frames on '83. 2nd gear thing kinda sucks but can live with that when it goes (if not already). Is that more or less a sure thing & just a matter of time? Any lucky '83 venture lottery winners out there who have not lost 2nd gear? I'm guessing not, based on the nature of it. Now, for the cracked frames. That doesn't just kinda suck. Don't think I could live with that. How big of a problem was this? I would not be looking at taking this bike on as a project. @cowpuc I know you're the guru of guru's on this bike and would love your take on the cracked frame issue. I suppose that if it came down to it and the frame cracked on me at some point, I've got a parts bike and could probably recover a good portion of my original purchase price, given the very good condition of the rest of the bike.

My wife hasn't exactly said no, she just asked how she's going to fit her car in the garage with two motorcycles.... Oh, I'll find a way. Just talked to the seller, came his way via a will. It had been sitting since ~2007. He took it to a local shop for the carb rebuild and new tires. He did the brakes himself. He said the battery light stays on, so needs the resistor mod (no big deal) and says the temp gauge runs right up to red before the fan kicks on. I've read on other threads that is normal for an '83, yes? He said the body plastics are in like new condition, no cracks. Another picture showing the seat, etc in very good condition.