MiCarl

I want to emphasize what Flyinfool said. My charging system has failed twice, neither cost any money to fix. Going after the stator is well down on the list after you rule other stuff out.

Now now. Give him some time. Freebird hasn't had his long enough for anything to fall off, yet.

DO NOT USE DOT 5! It will react with any DOT 4 remaining in the system and make razor sharp crystals. The only way you can switch is to completely overhaul the system with lines and seals that are compatible with DOT 5. Stick with the DOT 4 Yamaha used.

When I was a kid we got infested with them. Shotguns from the upstairs bathroom windows permanently solved the problem. There is a mouse poison that comes in little cubes (maybe 2cm on a side). They're designed to put into a special holder that only mice can get into. I've got spaces in my attic and under part of the house that I cannot reach so I just throw the cubes back as far as I can I think if you do the same thing you'll get ride of your mouse problem. The squirrels probably won't come around without mice to keep them company. I know the gray squirrels leave my house after I poison the mice.

The plug is still available from Yamaha for the 86-93. Appears it also has an o-ring that is available for all years of 1st gen. If it's an 83-85 (or maybe even a MKII) I'd be tempted to drill and tap it for a small screw. Then re-use it with a short screw to plug your hole.

The angles are a pita and hard to keep track of. If you pay attention on 1 and 2 you can see how the cams are oriented when checking. Just make sure 3 and 4 have a similar orientation.

When there is lightning I park it and get indoors. It's not the tires of a car that protect you, it's the roof. Bike has no roof.

I'm assuming it'll idle at 1000RPM more or less a couple minutes in, choke off. But then when it's good and hot the idle speeds up. That is a lean condition. Could be a vacuum leak, could be dirty pilot jets/circuits or idle mixture adjustment. I've never seen it, but supposedly well out of sync can also cause it.

In school they taught us that Mikuni sizes their jets by flow rate rather than orifice diameter. I don't know what increments they produce or any cross reference to determine actual or relative rates. I just know that larger number means more flow.

I haven't been paying a lot of attention because I stocked up BEFORE the election. A couple weeks ago I was through the sporting goods section at Walmart and did notice they seemed to have more ammo in the case, but still not full. Last weekend I was in a gun shop and their shelves were bare.

Maybe the rear pads were hanging up in that rut that develops on the rear caliper and the pads wore down enough to get to the clean surface. I repaired the ruts in my caliper this past winter. It was obvious from the shape of the pads that braking had been greatly reduced. I can't say I noticed a difference but it was a long cold break between the last before and first after.

Please send pea meal bacon with the next wave.

I disagree with these guys. Almost all the screws and bolts are 6mm x 1. Many of the bolt heads take an 8mm wrench. If I remember correctly the flat, black panels behind the coolant bottle and amp are attached with two bolts having 10mm heads. Those hat shaped washers are important so you can tighten the fasteners without crushing the plastic.

There is a small orifice in the master cylinder that releases that pressure when the brake isn't applied. Some things that will cause the pressure to not release: 1) Orifice is plugged up with crud from old, crusty brake fluid. 2) Reservoir is overfilled so there is no place for the fluid to bleed off to. 3) Not enough free play in the pedal linkage. Piston does not retract enough to uncover the orifice.

The motorcycle has a display below the flashing light and above the clock. The right side of the display is the fuel gauge. The left and center have alert icons. One or more of those icons should be lit to indicate why the light is on. Side stand down (top left icon) will activate the warning light. If there is a problem with the battery electrolyte sensor a little picture of the battery will be lit up. Having said that, I just put a Batteries + battery in my 89. The construction of their battery will not allow the probe to be inserted and I had to put the bypass on mine. If the battery icon isn't lit on the display yours might already be bypassed.

It's normal to have to choke a carburated engine that hasn't been running very recently. If you've got a cold engine (even 80 degrees is cold) and it'll start without choke you're probably too rich.

You don't need to read the voltage while riding, the charging system does not care if the wheels are turning. The tests can be done in the driveway. With the motorcycle revved to 3,000 RPM you should see 14v or more at the battery. Rev it up higher voltage should not exceed 15. If it passes those tests the charging system works properly and there is no need to test the individual components.

Mine will approach red line under those conditions too. Fan kicks on right below red line keeping it from going higher. I wouldn't be surprised if there is enough heat under those conditions to cause fuel in the carbs to boil. That would make it run rough too.

So the noise happens coasting in gear? Improper gear lash in the drive line can cause that. In my case it was a broken pinion shaft on the final drive. The pinion shaft at the middle gear set has also been known to break. It can also be a bad bearing. Put it on the center stand and turn the rear wheel (motorcycle off and in neutral). Listen for any grinding, growling or clicking sounds. The brake will likely drag a bit making discerning noises difficult.

Metzeler used to publish recommendations on inflation. The data seems to have been removed from their site as of now. So long as you do not exceed the maximum pressure on the side wall the tire will be safe. The question is what is the best pressure for you. A number of years ago I was at a presentation from an Avon rep. He said ALL premium tires (Avon, Metzeler, Pirelli were named) should be run at higher inflation pressures. He said that on those tires you should use the tire manufacturer's recommendation rather than the bike manufacturers. A few years ago I was in an independent shop that services Harleys, and noticed that their rack was full of ME880s. I asked the owner if they were having trouble with tread separation like the Venture tends to exhibit. His answer was "Not if they leave them at 50PSI like we tell them". If you're riding solo and not a large guy 50 might be excessive. If you're riding 2 up with the bags crammed full I suspect you'll be better off near the 50 they set it at.

I agree with lonewolf96. Somebody that knows what they are doing or who has a lot of time to learn needs to really go through those carburetors.

That can do it. Also, bad air cut off valves in the carburetors. Plus all the other suggestions you got.

I have my doubts. Maps are fairly static and radio transmission is global. Weather is dynamic and on local broadcasts.

Like Gary, I just come in via the home page and start reading. I tried "New Posts" and it does remove read forum from the list. When I go back to "Home" the topic is still bold, like the unread posts.

I have to back Gary on this one. It's not marking them read when I read them and I don't see a way to mark an individual thread read. Wouldn't it be better the old way with the time until they are auto marked set way (infinitely?) long?