greg_in_london

What are the bits you are after ? Clutch plates ? You should be able to get them anywhere - a quick search for Venture Royale Clutch Plates showed these up, even in the UK: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/262625010192?clk_rvr_id=1562859932148&vectorid=229508&lgeo=1&item=262625010192&rmvSB=true The other choice would be to put a washer under each spring of course, but that depends on how heavy the clutch is already. If I can get the gasket in the UK from Ebay, they should have hundreds available in the USA: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Athena-Clutch-Cover-Gasket-fits-Yamaha-XVZ-1200-TD-Venture-Royale-1984-1985/141778896960?epid=1860344540&hash=item2102ae4840:m:mTQju_DPLZkFYK4VIJBs2mw Am I missing something ?

It's been a while since I've been able to do anything with the Venture. Moving garages took forever and then work didn't stop, though paying £36 per week for the garage is hurting. Anyway - I started her up again and yesterday I took her out for a run, which was very nice. Unfortunately the hot clutch did something with air bubbles and left me without a working clutch. That was resolved by taking the master cylinder off the bars and wiggling it to ensure there were no bubbles and then bleeding the bottom with a 10mm spanner and screwdriver (as I couldn't find an 8mm.... Grrr...) It may have been running a bit better, but really was probably running on three a lot of the time - when I got back I used a heat probe on the exhausts a short while after stopping. Three were at seventy something degrees C and one (front left) at forty five, so no surprises there. I tried to balance the carbs while the engine was hot, holding it on the throttle, but the vacuum was not enough to register on the gauges. I haven't seen that before. It could be that the idle circuits are blocked and so the vacuum is dropping to near zero as the butterflies are opening slightly, but that sort of suggests that all the idle circuits are equally blocked, else it would try and idle for a few seconds at least and show something on the gauges. The carbs are securely on the inlet rubbers and the slides bounce away merrily. The next step is to pull the carbs off and dismantle them, but I'm back to work next week and I might have to put it all to one side again, so I'm trying to think if there is something else I could try as I'm feeling that I might be missing something. Oh - and finally passed 65K miles - I really haven't been putting many miles on over the past few years.

I hope the trip and the operation was successful. Having had time to think about it, you said it sounded like #2 was cutting and killing the tacho,which suggests the main issue is not fuel. Knowing how many cylinders were missing would help diagnose, but hopefully you're home again and have reached a solution, one way or the other.

I think this only applied to the early first gens, though the symptoms are not quite the same. When this happened to me it ran onto two cylinders, rather than completely cutting out. The rev counter may have dropped too, but the problem was fifteen - twenty years ago, so I'm not sure. Some of the pick-ups were wired too tight in the crank cover (inside the plastic mouldings) and lost contact when they warmed up and expanded - or that was the description at the time. TBH, no-one else has mentioned this issue for years, so I suspect all the bad parts have been swapped out already. Do you have any way of checking if the plugs are still sparking when it stops without waiting for it to cool down ? I'm thinking by using a timing strobe light that connects over the HT lead, just to confirm if the issue is electrical or fuel related ? If you know which is the issue it will be much easier to diagnose.

Finally - some success. getting time with the Venture and another bike was on my Christmas list, but I was suddenly told I would have to give up the garage that it was in, which acted as something of a spur ! I didn't do anything too major this time, beyond making sure that the throttle slides would move. I didn't want to pull the carbs off again as my work room is currently unavailable and I didn't want to risk losing bits in the lock-up, so I basically drained as much petrol as I could, added a gallon of fresh stuff with the last of the sea foam that I bought (it doesn't seem to have worked miracles) and fitted a new AGM battery. I then hooked up jumpleads from the car so the battery would not drain (hoping that the battery would mean a stronger spark). I still had to use easy start, but the bike started and I got her to keep running. the carbs obviously still need to be balanced, but I think the issue is that the pilot jets are all clogged up. It runs, but REALLY badly. Nevertheless I took the bike for an MOT - which bemused the testers who hadn't done a sidecar before - and one wasn't even sure what category it should be in. I thought the brakes poor, but because of the weight of her, the tester said the figures were the highest he had seen before the wheels locked. Despite the misfires, she passed the test. I'm not sure whether to just take her for a run occasionally to see if the carbs clear or else to schedule a time to do them again. Today though, I'm going to put the outfit in the new lock-up so I can start moving the rest of the stuff. It feels so good to progress one of my projects and not somebody else's :-) Greg

Hi All, It's been quite a while since I posted I think because progress has been really slow with my old Venture. A few years ago I was struggling with the downpipes rusting through on the double skin - taking them off and welding them to seal the holes and getting a bit less time out of the each time. The mounting lug on the collector had broken off a couple of years before - initially the system was tight enough for it not to move, but over time it all became looser and everything moved, including those dodgy compression seals on the back pipes. I just haven't had much time and the spares are not as easy to come by over here. Although I can get stuff from the USA, it is a nightmare if breakers send the wrong part (we don't have the same protection as if we were buying from within the EU) and the postage and additional duties are horrific. Either way, I faced up to buying downpipes from across the pond, but by the time they came they had to wait for me to have free time again. With the new downpipes fitted the exhaust was blowing from everywhere though. I had to have a good look at the collector box as it needed the new lug on it and repairs to the stubs the pipes clamp onto/into. With no spares I invested in a MIG welder and stainless wire and eventually got to work. Some time afterwards - last summer - I managed to get the exhaust fitted again, with a bit of adjustment needed because when you've adapted the joints it is never easy. When I tried to start it, the carbs just bled petrol - one of the carbs had a sticky float, but it wouldn't free when I tapped it, drained and refilled the bowl or used carb cleaner. With all of the comments about it I located and tried Seafoam. I also changed the fuel lines in case it was breaking down and losing 'bits'. Next step of course was to take the carbs off, which I had time to do around Christmas, but one of the carb float o-rings broke and a piece fell out, so there was no choice but to order another. Of course by the time it arrived I was focused on work again. So - this week I could finish checking the carb floats - one of them had been staying open for no obvious reason. I put them bag together and on the bike. And - only runs on one cylinder (maybe two) at 1-1 1/2 K revs. It spins higher with a bit of easystart, so I know there is a spark. I kept it going like that, hoping that the petrol would seep through, but no luck. I did appreciate having the super-starter clutch (Thanks Squeeze) and the four brush starter with a soldered earth. The AGM batteries had died on me, so I used jump leads. Right now the plan is to see whether the petrol (which still has Seafoam in it) will seep through and let the bike start as if there was nothing wrong. I can still squirt carb cleaner in through the jets and do all those 'optimistic' things, draining and refilling the carbs. Otherwise I'll have to wait until I have another whole day to take the carbs off, clean every drilling and jet and then reinstall them to see if that helps. :-(

It's good to see a sidecar thread again. I haven't been around on the site for a bit and need to get the Venture carbs rebuilt and the outfit rolling again. It's been too long. Velorex sidecars. I love them to bits, but they were made to fit on 350cc two strokes, not 1200cc V-4s. In the UK we wouldn't dream of putting one on a bike over 400cc - a CX500 would not be suitable. From the pictures other sidecars are available. If you wait long enough there will be one in someone's garden. I've had to scrap or almost give away a few chassis in recent years because no-one wanted them. Get something heavy and strong enough to do the job - that does not mean a Velorex. I wish I could supply you all with something, but postage is too much and y'all drive on the wrong side of the road.

I agree with Flyinfool - do the basic maintenance and upgrade including stainless steel hoses. A larger diameter master cylinder will help with setting up the front brake - any one designed for two disks and that sits at the right angle (ie custom, not flat bars) will be 5/8" / 14mm and will do. The restrictor and the proportioning valve are what stop the brakes working properly, but don't connect the other front disk to the back brake cylinder without the restrictor as you might find yourself unable to brake without locking the front up ! I'd remove the proportioning valve and connect the rear hose directly if you haven't already done that though.

Jamsie - are you feeling drawn ? Like you're in two places ;-) Are you in Washington or good old blighty ?

I'm not looking at a wiring diagram or a manual, so take this with a pinch of salts, but the conventional way to charge a bike is to have an AC generator with three output wires (and the coils wired in star/delta connection). That sounds like what the new regulator is designed for. A lot of Suzukis had a very different system, either with two coils or with a 'one plus two' system. For normal running they would use the first coil to charge the battery and any ancillaries. For night time both/all the coils would be used and the lights will be on, soaking up the useful power. Unless anyone knows better, I'd suggest that you check you definitely have the right reg/rec for your bike. I never had the GS750, but I did have versions of the GS250T, GSX400 (twin), GS550, as well as GT380 and 550, plus a GR650, so I've seen some Suzuki variations.

Follow-up: I bought a cheapie capacitor which was the same specs, but bigger, and fitted it. Apart from soldering a wire to a switch and taking a bit off the end of the HT lead to make it start more reliably, fitting the capacitor seems to have done the trick. Unfortunately I won't know for sure until we're surrounded by friends, drinking beer and powering a PA system for our party, but it will all add to the fun ;-)

Next time you come to London I'll lay on the beers while we do it. Failing that I'll have to get the video camera out.

I think what happens is that with the halogen the low beam stays bright for a moment while the high beam comes on and vice-versa, so there is no break in illumination, you just see it switch from one to the other. With my HID there is a mechanical shield which moves to refocus the beam and so for a moment neither is focused and the effect (as it seems to me anyway) is that for perhaps one tenth of a second I have less forward illumination. Whereas the halogen is seamless, there is a discernable period of time for the HID switch. Maybe that's what you get for buying the cheapest available on EBay ?? It's certainly not a major drawback, but I am conscious of it.

I've ordered a couple of capacitors - 19 and 20uF. The ones with the highest specs are the cheapest as they're coming from China, the ones in the UK seem okay. Either way I'll have one to try in a couple of days and spares on the way. I found a place that seemed really good on generators, if quite expensive. They recommended an AVR (automatic voltage regulator) instead of a capacitor (at extra cost), which I was going to spring for until they tried adding extra taxes between checkout and paying. I HATE that - generally they're not allowed to add prices to what is displayed over here, so it's a really stupid practice. Hopefully the capacitor will do the trick. Thanks for the link, flyinfool - I saw that page, but the gennie stopped working in use, so I thought a lack of charge was unlikely. I'm going to use the multimeter tests on the brushes though when I dive in with the capacitor. Another site suggested checking the generated voltage without the capacitor, which they said would be about 5v (as the capacitor provides the energy to excite the coils). I'm a bit nervous of that, but could do it so long as I can make the connections before I start the engine...

The iron griddle pan is mine. The missus won't touch it 'cos she reckons it's harder to wash up.

I used half of a HID car set-up on my venture a few years ago. I was very happy with it, but because of the exhaust it's been off the road for a couple of years. It should be running again for this summer (once I've sorted the carbs...) For the HID I followed the instructions on one of the threads (there was a trick so that the emergency headlight cut-out didn't trigger) which were straightforward enough and after that it was fit and forget. The only drawback was that the switch from high to low beam is a fraction slower than with a dual filament, but I suspect many would not notice.

Does anyone have any expertise with petrol generators ? A few years ago I bought a Pro-user G2300 2.3kW petrol generator. I finally used it on a camping weekend last summer and then a couple of times to power a drill in the garage. A couple of weeks ago a friend borrowed it to play some music at an event and it stopped working - the motor runs, but it doesn't generate electricity. I haven't done any electrical tests yet, but when taking off the vent cover from the generator I also took off a black box which seems to contain a capacitor and the plastic backing bit which should weather proof it has been pushed out and maybe a component inside is erupting, so it's either very poorly made or the capacitor has popped. I presume that that would stop the generator from producing electricity, even if I'm not sure exactly how that would work. I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of generators could tell me if the cpacitor is really likely to be the problem. Presuming that it is, can I just replace it with another capacitor of around 19uF ? is there anything I need to avoid ? Or is the problem likely to be something else so the part will pop again unless I sort it ?

Mine would love it, but I wouldn't see or hear from her for a few hours and then I'd get a call on the way to the hospital...

Wish I'd seen this and been the first to post. Looking at the title I'd have said, "That's a very philosophical question." Now I'm too late. :-(

From what you say it does sound like a starter clutch, except that often when it goes on the venture the whole housing cracks and you get a clattering noise (first made famous for Yamahas on the XS650 if you remember them). I always use car-type fully synthetic oil. It can make a marginal clutch slip, but usually not a good one. I wouldn't expect it to affect the starter clutch though. I used Squeeze's version of the Dano clutch (I think they're the same). It's not cheap, but it is head and shoulders above the standard one with about a dozen tumblers instead of three (or maybe four - I've had no reason to look again. If you can do it at work I'd pull the cover off and check it's the starter clutch before investing in the Dano one. You need a puller to get the alternator off though. I can't see any reason why the idler wheel would come adrift, but you don't know what the PO might have done and you can always hope for a miracle ! Sorry - I posted before checking the second page of posts. You have removed the rear cover ? I've a sneaky feeling there are hidden screws, but it was five years ago at least that I took it off last.

You don't have to remove anything internal so far as I recall, but even once everything is undone the starter motor can need some encouragement to remove as it gets quite used to being where it is after thirty years. On the other hand you will need to pull off a few bits to get access - exactly which ones will depend on how your fairing etc has survived. I had some bits that should have come off easily that were impossible to undo that would have been in the way if they didn't flop a bit loose. There are a couple of threads with walkthroughs on them if you do a search though. It's clear enough once you start though.

I wouldn't disagree with much that has been said. It's been a while since I had to touch my shock as I had a replacement made up and I've been making slow progress on sorting the exhaust, but.... If all goes well and the last owner greased nuts and bolts before replacing them it might not be too difficult. The basic problem is that Yamaha designed it without straight access onto bolts. Having the wheel out and silencers off will give you more space to play with, but the killer for me first time the top bolt. I needed to attack it at an angle, but also needed a very tight fit with a socket, but once I had the nut off I couldn't shift the bolt. I finally bought a rotary action hammer drill with a round chisel attachment, made a locating sleeve and drove the swine out. The bottom joint wasn't so bad for me, but then I had to make the mother of all spring compressors to change the spring - I don't recommend that unless you're happy being very cautious...

domestic appliance abuse..

I delinked years ago and never regretted it, but I did buy a larger diameter front master cylinder (5/8" /14mm rather than 1/2"/13mm) to cope with the extra cylinder. I have not touched the anti-dive and have never seen a reason to. With stainless hosing the lever isn't spongey, though I can't say if the anti-dive actually does much ;-)

SAEJ30R9 - A cotton (?) braid reinforced nitrile pipe - could call it a hose I suppose as it is flexible. About a fiver ($8) per metre for each size (to fit 5, 6 or 8mm stubs).