MiCarl

Seems to me like it most likely got pushed over the gasket surface and fell down the front of the engine. Lots of places for it to hang up there too........ To get it down the cam chain tunnel you'd have to somehow launch it. I'd think you'd have heard a definite snap or pop if the valve spring fired it out.

Just re-read your post. See you had the left cover off. If you got the shaft on the shift pedal rotated 180 out of position it reverses the shifting motion. In other words you could be looking for neutral between 2nd and 3rd, where it doesn't exist.

You have to bypass neutral to get from first to second and vice versa. So barring something like severely bent shift forks you probably have a clutch problem The gear dogs and slots (the parts that hook them together) have back cuts on them so that engine torque helps keep them engaged. If the clutch is dragging it takes so much force to get out of one gear you shoot right past neutral and land in the other. That same back cut can cause trouble shifting to neutral without the engine or wheel turning at all. Rocking the motorcycle forward/backward as you shift should let the gears decouple.

I'd be willing to bet that the only difference between the V-Max TCI and the Venture TCI is the advance curve. If the V-Max TCI is known good I'd be looking for other issues.

You can see if it's open. With the cover off pull the lever gently. At the start of its travel there should be a spurt from the hole that will ripple the surface of the fluid. Pull it more than gently and it'll shoot a jet into your face.

If the hydraulics had air in them it would release late, not early as he describes. The hydraulics are self adjusting, just like the brakes. One thing to look for is that the master cylinder is not too full. As the clutch wears it actually returns fluid to the master cylinder (opposite of brakes). If it's full to the top it could be preventing the clutch from fully engaging.

I don't have any problem reaching 1/2 mile or more with mine transmitting at low power.

1. Rubber plugs are necessary. Get new, they're cheap. 2. Any fuel compatible o-ring will do the trick so long as it's sized right. I'd just order one from Yamaha along with the plugs so I was sure it fit properly. 3. Only real reason you need the drain screws open is to set the fuel level. I'd personally be real tempted to not risk damaging the carburetor removing it. 4. Couldn't hurt. I generally just assemble dry. 5. The stainless fasteners will be fine. Socket head has obvious advantages. By the way, those screws are not Phillips. If you look at the heads they have a little punch mark on them which denotes they are JIS screws. Close, but not exactly Phillips. That's part of the reason you had trouble with them.

The driver audio control box could do it. I don't believe it's required for the system to work. Unplug it and see if things straighten out.

I rode one once. Quite comfortable. It kept saying to me "go faster, go faster" and took all my will too keep it reined in.

From the factory the one on right has a plastic plug in it. I think the left does too, except a Royale will have a bolt holding down the bracket for the audio control. A mirror stalk should replace the bolt just fine, its lock nut will hold the bracket in place. Quite a few aftermarket mirrors available with the LH thread. Key is to make sure it specifies "for Yamaha".

26H-21747-00-00 DAMPER Not Available #22 in the side cover fiche. Looks like you'll have to find a used one or improvise.

They usually need several sharp whacks. With the fork still on the bike you'll want to make sure the bike isn't giving a little - that will reduce the effectiveness of your hammering. Be careful on the return stroke. You don't want to bang them closed or you might damage the anti-dive.

I think Gary is right about the wire. As I recall the battery sensor is white with red stripe. Disconnect it. If the battery warning comes on we'll know for sure.

I went through the exercise on this once. Your motorcycle has 16 shims. There are quite a few different shim thicknesses, but there are about five that are most commonly needed. While you could conceivably need 16 of any one shim, having ten of each on hand is probably going to cover you. You're looking at $300 in the kit to have a reasonable chance of having everything you might need. If you miss even one you'll have to order and wait. You'll be out the cost of the kit with no time savings.

There is a cable from the knob to the shock. The cable should have some give to it. If it's locked up tight it's probably stuck at the knob.

There is at least a 3rd one, if you count the cruise control.

Last week's episode, on relativity, had me screaming at the TV. There were examples from the original that made concepts clear that were completely skipped over. I'm not sure anyone who didn't have the basics could have understood a word. I thought this week's episode was pretty good. I still want to get out the 'ol Remington every time that flying shoe horn goes by........

To get the bowl off you need to split the rack. To split the rack you need to pull it off. While you're in there you should give them a thorough go through. No point in doing it again next week. As my father used to say: "You'll never learn any younger."

The problem with the current CB is likely to be a stuck button. It might not be mechanically stuck, but only electrically stuck. Cleaning the switches will probably clear it up. There are three locations that have CB switches: CB itself, rider handle bar control (on left, above clutch reservoir) and passenger control fob. The passenger control can be ruled out by simply unplugging it. I'm sure the rider control can be unplugged too, but not as easy to get to as passenger control. If you want the CB and intercom I'd leave the stock system and put an MP3 or phone hook up in place of the cassette deck. To use the intercom you'll need headsets. Personally I prefer headsets to speakers and would put my money there rather than into speakers. There are adapters that will let you use a bluetooth headset but they are pricey. **************** Just took a good look at the picture. CB was originally on the other side. Hopefully the electrical didn't get butchered too badly when it was moved.

Take care of the fuse box first. One of us should have thought of that. I haven't reviewed the electrical diagram but it'd be a shame if your problem was caused by an intermittent connection there. You're going to have to fix it anyhow so might as well rule that out.

Unless you've modified the exhaust and/or possibly the intake the stock jets should be just fine. If you're sure the carburetors are synced look for air leaks. After that, the air cut-off valves. In my experience though they rarely fail.

1) The cooling fan is not supposed to kick on until the gauge is almost in the red. There is only a problem here if it is rising into the red. It generally won't kick on at all unless you are in a pretty severe stop and go situation in which case you want it running as little as possible because at those speeds the charging system is challenged keeping up. Run the fan continuously stuck in traffic and you could end up parked with a dead battery. 2) When the fan does kick on (remember, you're stopped) it'll feel like someone is hitting your legs with a hair dryer. Not peel your skin temperatures but still no fun on a hot day. 3) Some times when I'm riding slow a cross breeze will blow engine heat onto the downwind leg. Not a big deal and way less heat than when the cooling fan kicks on. As long as you're moving above 25mph or so you'll never notice any of this. You're going to feel some heat when parked on any motorcycle. Venture is better than most....

Regardless of what you call it (Yamaha refers to all of them as "Ignitor"). TCIs for the most part are four separate circuits in one box, triggered by four pick up coils and driving four ignition coils. Relatively few points of failure that will wipe out spark on more than one cylinder. The digital ignitor is one logic unit, triggered by one pick up coil and drives four ignition coils. On this one a single failure in the pick up coil or logic unit (or connection) will wipe out all four cylinders. Apparently the OP is getting spark when he initiates engine cranking but it quickly quits. The pick up coil is just a coil of wire around a core and it isn't likely to be heating up enough to fall flat on it's face until the engine begins to produce heat. On the other hand, the ignitor has solid state components and operates at higher voltage and power. I can see where a failing solid state component could heat up and fail in short order just from its own power consumption. Or maybe a transistor just isn't switching fast enough to deal with higher rpms as the engine speeds up. Regardless though, the trouble shooting procedure is the same: You diagnose ignitor failure by ruling every other possibility out. At somewhat North of $900 for a new one you want to be very sure.

I run the Kend Kruz and have been very happy with them. I selected them for two reasons: 1) They're inexpensive. 2) Their rear for the Venture has a higher load index than Yamaha calls for, and higher than you can get otherwise without going to a premium tire (Metzeler, Avon etc.). Since I overload the motorcycle that was important to me.