MiCarl

I think I noticed something different last night. When I signed on I had a new quote notification. After clicking through it seemed the notification was caused by my quoting someone else. I've quoted cowpuck here to see if it happens again.

Even the parts Yamaha manufactures they typically don't put the part number on them. Starters are like tires, spark plugs, light bulbs etc. -> Only markings are from the supplier.

Yes, bottom two bowls need to be switched with each other so the drain screws point out. I see the brass caps either haven't been removed or were reinstalled after service. If you were cleaning the carburetors and didn't remove those go back. You need to remove the pilot screws under them to properly clean. Then leave the caps off. The EPA makes Yamaha put those on to prevent you from adjusting the mixture. You're going to want to adjust the mixture, regardless of what the EPA thinks.

If I remember correctly, the red light will only blink for a minute or so. Then it goes steady on. It doesn't give any indication about the problem causing it. It's just a notice to look at the CMS display. If you're already tripping the light with the battery sensor it won't give you any additional information.

The low speed fuel/air passages in the carburetor. If they're not providing enough fuel the bike will stall when you give it throttle.

There is a timer on the fuel pump. It'll only run for a few seconds when the key and kill switch are first switched on. It will not run at all when the fuel line to the carburetor is pressurized. After it's sat for a period fuel pump will do the following: Turn key and kill switch on - pump will run for a few seconds. Cycle key or kill switch and pump will run for a few more seconds. As the fuel line pressurizes the pump will run slower and eventually not run at all. 90%+ of the time this is dirty pilot circuits in the carburetors.

An excellent suggestion. Anything that causes the engine to run rough will make the noises I described worse.

Engines don't run perfectly smooth, they speed up and slow down depending on what strokes all the cylinders are in. It's more pronounced at idle. There is some play in the way the gears lock together in the transmission. When you idle in gear on the stand all that speeding up and slowing down makes the gears rattle. Perfectly normal. Hard to say in neutral without hearing it - some clatter is normal. My wife's Shadow had what sounded like a rod knock in neutral, but it'd go away if she put a bit of pressure on the shift lever. I attributed it to a slightly bent or worn shift fork and chose not to worry about it. Never gave us a problem. If your idling in neutral noise sounds random and faint it's probably normal. If it's a regular knock, knock, knock it'll be similar to what her Shadow was doing.

Forking by Frank. They will sell you a single tube, but sometimes their tubes are slightly different than stock. I prefer to buy a pair so I know both sides behave the same.

I don't recall the numbers, but the CLASS will not allow you to over-pressurize them. Set them where you like them. If your bike still has the original springs in front I'm not sure there is any pressure that makes them feel right. If you've got progressive springs up there you'll probably find you don't need any air pressure. Likewise, there are quite a few with a progressive spring on the rear. If you've got that you'll need less pressure than you would with a stock spring.

I'm thinking if that infernal machine that flyinfool has had a reverse he could set it so he needed a lawn service rather than snow removal. Not sure if your foot will let you make the mods. Probably for some beer cowpuc, ragtop and I would come put a reverse switch on for you.

Looking at the description of that saw reminded me of something: On both the saws I've owned, when they ran out of fuel the oil was about half gone. I'd top up both at the same time. With an electric you'd have to remember to keep an eye on the oil level.

It depends on the issue you are talking about. I've found that conventional Sta-Bil protects carburetors just fine. They make a marine version that I believe is Ethanol specific, that's what usually goes in the boat. According to my Stihl manual the ethanol fuels burn hotter than pure gasoline. For that reason they say if running pure gasoline 87 octane is ok but if it's got up to 10% ethanol to run 89 or higher to keep the heat down.

I've got a newer Stihl, model MS180 C-BE. They've got something they call STIHL Easy2Start. Basically, when you pull the cord it winds a spring. Then when it's wound enough it releases the spring to start the engine. No hard jerking, no standing on the saw while you start it. It's easy to start on a ladder. The only problem with it is the engine is a bit under powered for the 16" bar that came with it. With a sharp chain I end up holding back on the saw to keep it from cutting too fast and bogging the engine. Like all my stuff that sits it never gets a drop of fuel that doesn't have stabilizer.

Don't forget to replace the belt tensioner while you're at it. Otherwise, it'll fail next week.

I like to attach higher up than the others are describing. The lower you go the less mechanical advantage the straps have on the motorcycle. My preferred place is on the bars near where they attach to the top bridge, but the fairing on the Venture prevents doing that. On a 1st gen Venture I put a tie down extension around each fork tube above the lower tree, then I hook to that. I pull the straps down enough I don't have to worry about the suspension letting them go slack. Since the front is firmly anchored side to side I don't worry about being high on the rear. On my 89 I put tie down extensions around the bag guards and attach to those. I do not know if the guards on the 83 are strong enough. Another good place is around the passenger foot pegs.

I'm under the impression that diesel has much higher taxes than gasoline. As far as engine oil goes I suspect that the cost of the crude oil to make it is a very small part of the retail price.

Adding restrictions will further reduce the CFM. The speed of air through the carburetor is basically CFM/throat diameter. Further limiting air into the engine will slow the air down. Sprint Cup cars use fuel injection - they don't need air flow rate to pick up and atomize the fuel. That's why they can use restrictor plates to reduce power. Even so, I'll bet the teams re-tune the FI map when they run with restrictors. I"d be willing to bet that before they went to FI they used a smaller bore carburetor when using the plates.

I believe your carburetor needs to be roughly the right size to have a reasonable expectation of making it run well. I'd guess your stumble off idle is because you're lean. Your high speed overheating can be caused by it running lean. If you don't get enough air velocity through the carburetor it'll never pick up enough fuel. Bigger isn't necessarily better, and may be worse.

Before I went after the proportioning valve I'd pull the line completely off and make sure the line itself isn't plugged. I've run into that from time to time.

The first thing you need to do is check the charging system out. Initial test is easy. Fully charge the battery. Check its voltage, should be about 12.6 - 12.8 volts. Start the motorcycle and observe the meter. If the reading has dropped slowly rev the motorcycle up. The voltage should rise to 14volts or more at a few thousand rpm. As you continue to rev higher the voltage should stop rising below 15 volts. If you're not getting 14-15volts at rpm you need to look into the charging system. If you exceed 15 volts it's almost certain to be the regulator. The over voltage is cooking the batteries. If you're getting less than 14 volts you have more testing to do. If the charging system is working properly you need to look for something drawing current with the motorcycle shut off.

Yeah, that's not the one I'm referring to. Somewhere there was an article by freebird that went through MKI, MKII, 2nd Gen and the Royal Stars. Wasn't able to find it quickly to share.

All the years you listed are Gen 1 bikes. The fairings are interchangeable, just color differences in different years. Somewhere on here there is a detailed history, but I cannot find it. Gen 1, MKI was 1983-1985. Gen 1, MKII was 1986-1993. The Gen 2 was introduced in 1999 and is a cruiser style rather than a sport tourer.

There are several things that can cause the situation you have. Assuming the carburetors are properly synched your most likely cause is lean idle fuel mixture. This can be caused by air leaks into the intake, dirty idle circuits in the carburetors or mis-adjusted idle mixtures. Another thing that can cause that is low compression on one or more cylinders. Not likely on an '08 unless its been abused or neglected.

There are more than four solder joints. I'm not sure exactly what you opened or looked at......... The controller is in the right fairing top, part of the lid that covers the coolant overflow tank. There is a white socket on back that has 6 or 8 terminals. That connector is soldered directly to the board and those are the joints that cause problems. Probably you moved them around in your tear down and assembly. Pull the controller apart and re-flow the solder where the socket connects to the board.