MiCarl

There is more to a tire than just size. Yamaha specifies a load index of 74. That should be your minimum. A 71 tire isn't designed to carry the weight of your Venture. If you're lucky it'll only wear out fast. If you're unlucky it'll come apart at a very inconvenient time.

That's to be expected from a FIRST husband.

Jay, I generally use a spray electronics cleaner. They're available in the auto section of most stores and of course the auto parts stores. Generally I grab CRC brand at Wal Mart. There is a special tool to get the pins out of the connectors. I find it doesn't work so well, probably because I don't do enough to get into practice. I generally spray cleaner in/on both sides of the connector and plug/unplug them a few times. DO NOT USE DIELECTRIC GREASE! Contrary to popular belief it is an insulator at low voltages.

The 15431 in the second field just means "right crankcase cover". Doesn't even tell you as much as looking at pictures of the parts.

Presuming you didn't use an oil with a friction modifier in it the oil change will have nothing to do with the clutch. While it's true none of the clutch sits in oil when on the side stand oil is pumped to it when the engine is running.

I have to agree with Randy. I can see where if you completely disassembled the engine, had a first rate machinist locate the hole, have it welded up, then have the machinist re-create the hole it might be good enough. You'd be way better off chasing up another engine.

Agreed. Any time a bike goes down there is a good chance of getting air in the brake and clutch lines. The bubbles you are seeing prove it.

It's the additives in the energy conserving oils that can cause a clutch to slip. Those oils should say "Energy Conserving" in the API circle on the container. It seems like it's mostly the 5Wxx oils that have that designation.

That's for an emissions test/tuning rig. There is a port (plugged with a small bolt) in each of the four exhaust pipes. For the emissions rig those plugs are removed and gas sensors of the test machine are screwed in. The machine also has an oil temperature sensor that screws into a blind hole on the drain plug. That screw is to keep the hole for the temp sensor clean. Ignore it.

The description of you spring sure sounds like a progressive spring to me. If it's got a smooth (linear?) transition from close windings on one end to loose windings on the other then it is a progressive rate spring (not necessarily from Progressive suspension). If it's got close windings on one end and abruptly changes to a looser winding (essentially 2 different springs made from one piece of wire) it's a dual rate spring. Regardless, it may not be a stock spring. The springs in my '89 are definitely not stock and not progressive rate either. If I recall correctly the winding is the same along its length. I can't imagine there is any way you could be happy with a stock spring and no pre-load. Even with pre-load they're pretty bad.

You should replace bushings when you do seals. Even if they're not currently bad there is a good chance they'll be damaged on disassembly.

A lot do get thrown away - they stick to the filter and are never seen. They're used on a lot of makes and models from that era. I keep them in stock along with a spring because occasionally that's lost too. I knew I wasn't the only shop burning through them when I realized Yamaha distributes them in a 5 pack.

What you hear might not be the clutch. When it's in neutral with the clutch out half the transmission also spinning. What kind of sound do you hear? My wife had a Shadow that made a knocking noise idling in neutral. Wouldn't happen in gear or with the clutch pulled. I eventually reached the conclusion that it was probably gear dogs rattling. In any case the noise probably isn't an indication of the oil condition. Personally I'd change the oil just because you really have no idea how long it's been in there.

I know two different people that do machining in shops that are larger and more packed than your garage. Somehow both of them know exactly where every little thing is in their shops. I'd spend all my time looking for stuff........

I'd be willing to bet that is illegal and he'd open himself to lawsuits. At the risk of starting something ugly: It seems the laws are tilted against those of us who get out of bed and make an effort to be productive members of society. We're considered greedy and fair game for fleecing.

Even if it doesn't last it's a great price for a temp fix if you get stranded. I think I'll order one to keep on the bike.

I suspect it had nothing to do with the elevation but with the going up and down. Fluid was low and going up the hill you managed to suck some air into the line. Angled back down more fluid got into the MC and you started to have some clutch. You topped up the fluid and all the air eventually worked its way back out so now your clutch works fine.

I don't believe your history is quite correct. As I understand it the outboard business was acquired by U.S. Marine in 1984. Depending on which account you believe U.S. Marine continued to market them under the Chrysler brand or renamed the brand Force. At some point Mercury Marine purchased the line from U.S. Marine (calling them Force) as a low end engine. Mercury began evolving the line to share Mercury parts. My 1994 40hp Force outboard seems to have a Mercury power head (but with a single carb) and a mostly Chrysler gear case. A Friend has a '97 Force 40 which seems to be just like a Mercury except for the single carb and labels.

The part number you have is for the whole pump. You only need the service parts which are still available. 99009-10400-00, 93306-00004-00, 93101-10090-00, 11H-12438-00-00, 93211-16591-00, 26H-12449-00-00 and 2 of 93210-27194-00. If the impeller shaft is damaged you'll also need an impeller: 1FK-12450-00-00

Another thing I thought of yesterday: Your carburetors have air cut off valves. Their purpose is to make the idle mixture rich when coasting to reduce backfire. While rare, if the diaphragms are bad they will make things lean too. The air cut off valves are under mostly circular covers on the side of the carburetor. You need to completely disassemble the rack to get to all of them.

Just looked at your pictures again. Isn't that the tag peeking out from behind the lower plug boot in your 2nd picture?

I believe there will be a model/serial tag on it somewhere. They are often on the main casting (the one above the transmission) near the steering pivot. I've also seen some engines have the tag on the transom mount in various places - including near the tilt lock lever.

Back to your base problem: It is unlikely to be the diaphragms unless you buggered them up somehow when you worked with them. My 89 ran fine with holey diaphragms. The new main jets are unlikely to be the problem. They really shouldn't be in play until the engine has spun up and you are moving some air through the carburetors. I cannot tell from the picture if they are Mikuni jets. I have seen problems with aftermarket jets so you need to have this in mind if you have high speed trouble later. The situation you describe is consistent with the mixture going lean off idle. There are a number of things that can cause this: 1) Dirty passages or jets in the low speed circuit. The pilot (idle) jet and circuit should have a somewhat rich mixture. At idle that mixture is primarily supplied past the idle mixture screw. As you open the throttle there are extra orifices under the throttle plate that throw more of that mixture into the air stream. You can somewhat compensate for some blockage at idle by opening the mixture screws but as the throttle opens things have to all be right. 2) Air leaks. The obvious places are the carb holders (the rubber pieces that connect the carburetors to the cylinder heads) which can be cracked, misaligned or loose; leaking or missing caps on the vacuum ports and leaking vacuum lines. It's also possible, but less likely I think, to have air leaks internal to the carburetor. On your carburetor you have a jet block that carries the jets and attaches to the carburetor body. I can see where problems with that gasket might let excess air in. You can check for external leaks by spraying a modest amount of starting fluid on suspected areas and listening for the idle to pick up. Don't go crazy with the spray or you could get an unpleasant fire ball. 3) Grossly out of synchronization with a combination of other factors. You should get some sync gauges. I use THIS EMGO SYNCHRONIZER. Be advised that the vacuum lines that came with mine were crap and needed to be replaced. 12' of vacuum hose from the auto parts store won't set you back much. There are other gauges out there but for the money I don't think this one can be beat. A well running engine should have even vacuum on all cylinders of about 10". UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES PURCHASE A MOTION PRO SYNC PRO - it is very precise but unless your sync is very close you will ruin the gauge. Plus, it doesn't have absolute readings so it gives no indication as to whether the engine is running well. I do this for a living and sometimes it takes several tries to get them right. Even when you get them right some crap may come from the fuel line and just mess them up again. Be patient and don't take any short cuts. You'll eventually work it out. Having laid all that out here is what I think. 90% chance the problem is the idle circuits aren't truly clean or you put them together wrong. Do it again.

Exactly! Most of the things transacted on Craigslist are not commodities, each is unique and there is no way to know what it might be worth without an inspection/test drive. I've put my cards on the table - it's a whatever and I'll part with it for $XX. If you check it out and don't think it's a reasonable price offer me $YY and show me the money. If you call or email talking $YY I'm going to assume you're either trying to move the start point of negotiations or flat out don't have the money.

Try using the passenger headset connection. If that works ok the rider headset lead is likely damaged near the steering head.