MiCarl
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Everything posted by MiCarl
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If I remember right those old clocks have an electromechanical winding mechanism. If the clock isn't working I'd put it high on my list of suspects. Another thing to look for is chewed wires. The vermin hiding in garages often passes winter by chewing on wires.
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Yes, check the bulbs first. Should have had that in my earlier post. My dad tore a house half apart once because BOTH bulbs in the bathroom burned out at the same time.
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What's all this about an ignition switch guys? The headlights on a 70 Chevelle wouldn't be wired into the ignition system at all. Sounds likely it's the dimmer switch. If it is a floor mounted one the odds go up dramatically (windshield leaks, wet boots, holes in floor etc. help them corrode). Fuses, connectors and main light switch are other things to look into. Battery tenders typically put out 1 amp or less. Talking about hundreds of hours to charge a deeply discharged battery with one. Diagnosing a battery drain when parked is tedious: First you need to disconnect everything that should draw current with the key off. Unless you have added accessories that's probably only the clock, if it has one. Then you need to disconnect a battery lead and hook an ammeter in series with the battery. On one this old you can get away using a voltmeter. Then start disconnecting things until the meter reads 0. Last thing disconnected is the problem. As previously mentioned the voltage regulator is a good candidate. I believe on your Chevelle it'll be built into the alternator. I'd disconnect that first.
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air ride adjustments
MiCarl replied to breezelasbre73's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
Congrats on your new ride. It's clear that you're quite excited. As previously pointed out, the service manual has recommendations for air pressure based on how much weight is on the motorcycle. Don't exceed the maximum pressures. In the end though, you'll need to find the pressures that work best for you. Bear in mind that the springs in your Venture may not be stock. My 89 seems to have a progressive rear spring and high spring rate coils in the forks. I ride 2 up very heavy with 0 pressure in the forks and the rear at the mid point. When it's just my fat carcass I run 0 in front and very low in the rear. Anything higher and it is so harsh it beats us/me up. I also respectfully suggest you send the 12 bucks to Freebird and become a supporting member. You're hooked, could be painful if you miss a couple days when the trial membership expires. -
The outhouses calendar my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas also lists Islamic New Year on Dec. 7, with no mention of Pearl Harbor Day. I WILL NEVER SET FOOT IN ANOTHER OUTHOUSE AGAIN! In defense of Publix they probably do not design their own calendar. They probably provide their artwork and coupons to a vendor who produces them and do not specify the holidays on what is otherwise a stock calendar. Whoever commissioned the outhouse calendars probably got it from the same vendor. The outhouses calendar was produced in Korea.
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For what it's worth: I've got an '04 on the lift now getting valve lash and sync. Owner has all the lights, heated vest and sometimes pulls a trailer (I do not know if he uses the vest when towing). When he asked me if I thought he should have me disconnect the carburetor heaters I asked if he'd been having trouble, needing to charge between rides etc. The answer was NO. In fact he's on the original battery and has never had a problem. My advice to him was to leave well enough alone.
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Four killed in snowy crash near Springfield OH. One of the vehicles was a bus. See Yama Mama, the school knows best.
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I believe the MKI first Gen Ventures used a separate dip stick to measure the fluid level. It's the newer ones that get filled full.
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I remember going to school in Cincinnati. Whenever the city got gridlocked by snow all of us from North East Ohio would go out in our cars and do donuts around the stuck locals. 1/4" just wasn't a big deal to us. You've got 3 issues in Cincinnati: [+] You don't get enough snow to learn how to drive in it. [+] It is rather hilly. [+] You only have one snow plow and you have to wait until it can be attached to the garbage truck. The good news is it usually melts by noon.
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I just got in. All alone though.......
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Plastics long gone before I got it. I think the remains are sold anyhow.
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I got one last summer through the dealer. Only cost an arm and leg (the good one).
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If you were going opposite directions on the freeway in 2 minutes you'd be 4 miles apart. I've never done more than that with mobile-mobile CB (and in the 70s I did a lot of CB). When I was a kid our base antenna was about 60' and we were near the highest spot in the county. To our mobiles we could get maybe 5-8 miles and our radios were not quite stock:2143:. To another base we could get maybe 15 miles. Now there were people with directional antennas and hundreds of times the legal wattage that did transmit quite long distances. There was a guy in Florida I could hear just fine near North Bay Ontario. Of course since I had well under his 5000 watts I wasn't going to answer him. I've never heard of a booster antenna. There are amplifiers, which are illegal for CB use, that will boost the signal power. Of course your electrical system doesn't have the capacity to run a really big one. Of course if you're traveling in the same direction you can prolong communication indefinitely if you keep up with him. A switch to a first gen would help with that.
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Just rang in the "New to us" year.
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Crap! On the TV they're telling us that we're about to get a "New" year and it turns out you've already used it.
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Unfortunately inventory costs money. An item needs to either turn fast or carry a huge mark up to justify the carrying cost. The tool for these engines seems to be unique to the Yamaha V-4. While checking and changing shims is a pretty basic job, getting to them is a lot bigger task than most DIYers are willing to tackle. Not many shade tree guys buying them. Every shop has exactly one, and most of them were purchased in 1984. Net is that even if they were free you couldn't move many. Since they don't move they are only inventoried at the wholesale level. They buy them in huge batches and have them around for years so there is a big mark up to the retailer. So you pay big $$ and have to wait weeks for a little J shaped piece of steel. When it gets really ugly is when they run out at the wholesale level. Then the manufacturer has to install tooling and run some. I've been waiting since August for a set of carb holders for a Virago, they should be in in a few weeks. I'm willing to bet that the manufacturer wouldn't make them until after Christmas toy production was done.
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I sell them in my store for $48.31 with the VentureRider discount LINK. I do not stock them but will be placing an order with my supplier Jan 4 with customer delivery by the end of the month. My next order will go out mid January so if you're in a hurry you might want to consider getting your order in before Monday. It's also not inconceivable that they'll raise my cost with their new pricing book for 2010, which will hit any day now. The one I sell is from K&L Supply and seems to be forged. Interestingly I had a conversation with a machinist last night about making them for me and he is going to look into it (he hasn't seen the tool yet). There is enough detail to them that I'm not very confident I'll be able to provide them at a better price than what I currently have available. In any case, it'd be at least several months before I had them.
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Cincinnati Chili delivered by Yama Mama!
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I use a pistol grip clamp like THESE. The link is for Sears but you can get a similar clamp just about everywhere that sells tools.
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In fairness to Exide (since I'm getting strong reactions to my earlier post) that was about 30 years ago. The brand has probably been bought and sold a dozen times since then. Some of you may recall those were not the heydays of American Manufacturing. That's when "Made in Japan" quit meaning junk and "Made in USA" unfortunately was often not a good indicator of quality or value.
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All my cars and lawn tractor have batteries that are at least 4 years old. The Venture got a new battery in 2008. I usually buy my batteries at Costco (Kirkland, made by Johnson Controls). I've got some deep cycle ones in various stuff that are ancient. My worst experience with a battery was many years ago with an Exide. Went through three of them in less than two years when the dealer stopped carrying them and replaced it with a different brand that outlasted the car.
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Manifold O-rings Float level Setup
MiCarl replied to Grisolm1's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
I agree with Snaggletooth on everything except: You should have the motorcycle running when you do the actual level measurement. You need to fuel pump to replace the fuel that ends up in the tube to obtain an accurate reading. Even on motorcycles with gravity feed systems the procedures specify to check with the engine running. When you check your levels BEFORE removing the carburetors carefully record your results. By calculating how far off you are you can usually get a good result by adjusting the float that amount (need to make an educated guess where on the float to measure, sort of the midpoint of the volume it displaces). Otherwise you're flying blind and will become a real pro at removing and installing the rack of carburetors. -
I believe that all Ventures (MKI, MKII, 2nd Gen) and most Yamahas fall into one of the following categories: 1 - Rider can hear gear whine. 2 - Rider cannot hear gear whine because of deafness, loud pipes, MP3 player, passenger whine etc.... Straight cut (spur) gears are always noisy. That's why helical gears were invented.
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Yes. http://store.thundervalleypower.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2_12 I don't list the kit, although it is available. My feeling on that kit is that there are a lot of thick shims that really aren't practical for the XVZs.
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I sell the K&L tool in my store. With the VentureRider discount (15%) it's $48.31. Enter the discount code VentureRider at checkout. K&L tools are not cheap but they are first quality. XVZ Valve Shim Tool By the way, if anyone needs a tool (or part) from the catalog in the first post just let me know and I'll add it to the store. **EDIT 2/4/10** Unfortunately my cost on the tool went up 35% Jan.1, 2010. The new price (with discount) is $65.68. I know that's outrageous, but K&L seems to be the only place to get them.