Venturous Randy

On 1st gens, both MKI and MKII's, the TCI is originally located under the battery box. I originally moved mine into the left side near the radio and then moved it on to the airbox. The igniters are located behind the stator and the wires come out under the clutch slave cylinder. Randy

It can also be related to the wiring coming out of the igniters. Get a small can of WD40 and if it starts missing, pull the cover off of the clutch slave(the rubber square cover where you bleed slave) and spray down in the hole area very good. Let it set a minute and go riding. I have had the same problem and my TCI is mounted on the airbox. Randy

Since I have had my 83, about 19 years and have put 150,000 miles on it, I have never ran out of gas and I have ran it to about 225 miles on a tank of gas and still had gas left. Yes, the low fuel light had been blinking for a while, but I knew what the bike was capable of. I have found these bikes to be very consistent on gauge reading and can trust them. As far as what you have been told about fuel additives, your situation is a prime example of where SeaFoam works well and may help you. You can choose not to use it, and that's fine, but you have very many on here that use it and it improved their situation. As far as fuel mileage on mine, I have gotten as good as 50mpg and usually get at least 44 to 46mpg unless I am running at 75mph on the interstate for long periods. As far as a reserve valve, you don't need it. If the bike quits as you are out on the highway, you probably could not reach down and change it anyway. Good way to get killed. What I think you should do is run it down some and fill it up and calculate how much distance you are getting for a known amount of gas. Once you KNOW what you are getting, then WE can give you some suggestions on improving what you have. Randy

Could it be a tear, from being sad from sitting and being ignored? Randy

Glad you are up and moving. I have not heard anything about whether there were any charges in the crash. Randy

How much up and down play does the tip have with the side stand extended? Randy

While we are talking about side stands, I want to remind everyone that it is time to check the tightness of the side stand bolt. These bolts do tend to get loose over time and if this does happen, it can cause for a very difficult problem. Even though this design can take a surprisingly heavy amount of weight on it when working right, a loose bolt will cause the frame mounts to bend and even break, and the bolt can break. If you have ever had a side stand failure, and I have, it is not a fun thing to deal with, especially with being about 200 miles from home, like I was. Imagine trying to get off your bike with a passenger on the bike and no side stand and your normal routine is to put the side stand down, slide off the bike and then help your passenger dismount. Not fun. This is easy to check by either moving it up and down at the tip while on the center stand, or using your foot to move it up and down while holding the bike upright. Your stand should be about as tight as you can have it and it not bind up. You should also make sure it is lubricated. I usually only have about 1/8th inch play at the tip. Randy

Years ago I took a half inch out each of the center stand legs and that helps a lot. It also helps to have good progressive springs in the front forks. I usually run about 40psi in the rear shock. Randy

Wow, I hate to see this and right when riding season starts, but you sound in good spirits and hope you heal good and fast. Last week was a bad week locally. We had two motorcycle deaths, one 40 years old and the other 55 and both were on Harleys. Both had an SUV pull out in front of them. The first one tore the door off the SUV and sent the driver to the hospital. This was on a 65 mph highway at 9:30 at night. The second one was in the middle of the day on a city street. Randy

What you may find on the engine with the water is the crank may rotate about half to three quarters of a turn when using a socket under the small side cover. Where it stops is where the rust on the cylinder walls start. Once you get the plugs out and put some Seafoam or mystery oil in the cylinder, you can use the rings to scrape some of the rust off the walls. I know this because I had to do this on a 30,000 mile engine that I put a 2nd gen transmission in and did not rotate the crank until I was finished with the trans swap. I will never do that again. When I get a chance, I need to do a compression check on this engine as it does not have the power that the 170,000 mile engine that I pulled out had. Randy

When I turn on my laptop, whether it is 9am or 3am, I quickly scan Comcast news, check emails and then open VentureRider. I check Watering Hole, then the joke section, then 1st gen tech and then General tech. I do this everyday and most days several times. The down side for me right now is I have a bunch of stuff going on and have yet to get my bike out this year. I have a Miata (2nd one) on jack stands in the garage replacing the auto trans. I have a Maxima that I am giving to Linda's grandson that needs a rear fuel injector replaced and I also have a 04 Izuzu Rodeo that we originally bought for her grandson that I replaced the engine in and it appears to have a problem with the security system not allowing it to start. Then, on top of all this, Linda and I are getting her home ready to sell. But, no matter what I have going on, I am still on here several times a day. It's like an addiction. Randy

It is interesting how the brain works, or doesn't work. Do you think you could do this? Randy

I have put many miles on motorcycles in my 51 years of riding and have wondered how someone can be looking toward you can just not see you. One of my closest calls was riding beside another car that was slowly passing me and a girl on a side road was looking right toward us and just before I got to her, she started pulling out. The only thing that saved me was having very loud air horns on my motorcycle. No, she was not texting or talking on the phone, she was looking right at us, or particularly the car beside me and evidently was waiting to make sure the car was not going to change lanes. To her, I became invisible for a couple of seconds and if you look at the attachment, you can see why. I posted this in another thread, but decided it may get more views if I created it's own thread. It is amazing how large you can make the dots and they still disappear. You can also change speeds and colors. Randy http://michaelbach.de/ot/mot-mib/index.html

Motion Induced Blindness. This is an excellent example of not seeing what is there. This is why I try to do a slight sway as when you focus on this, if you move your head or eyes even slightly, the blindness goes away. Think of the center dot as being a car beside you that another driver is focusing intently on and you are one of the yellow dots. Another neat thing to is increase the dot size and it is absolutely amazing how large you can make the yellow dots and they disappear if you really focus on the center very small dot. Randy http://michaelbach.de/ot/mot-mib/index.html

One of the things about going through the maturing process (getting old) is dealing with health problems and worse with yourself, family and friends. There were four of us that ran together when I was stationed in the Air Force and three of us went to South East Asia together in 72. Of the four, two have already died from heart attacks and I can not find what happened to the other one. You have been in our thoughts and prayers puc and hope that you soon start getting some better news. Randy

If I am coming up to a stop or coming up to an intersection where I have the right of way, I try to make a point of doing a slight sway back and forth. That movement tends to take away the loss of visual that can happen when someone is focusing on someone in the lane beside you. Randy

That was the first thing that came to mind for me also. Randy

The 2nd gen trans in a 1st gen with a V-Max final drive is about as good as it gets for a 1st gen. Yes, there is a little more spacing between the gears if you want to stay in that tight power band, but once you experience that 10% lower 1st gear and 5% lower 2nd gear, the spacing does not matter. Also, the 5% higher 5th gear really makes it nicer on the highway and it is just enough to not having that nagging feeling of wanting to shift one more time when running 65 MPH. Due to the lack of need, these complete transmissions show up on ebay at probably less than you will pay for one new gear. Like Brenner said, it is a good option. Randy

No, but I suspect you are correct. With my bike being an 83, I have never had the midpoint bleeder, but I have never had a problem bleeding my linked brakes without it. I don't know anything about the Galfer brake lines, as it was part of an e-mail I got from Pashnit. Randy Randy

Here is what Gafner has for $184. Randy http://www.pashnit.com/product/galfer/brake_complete_kits.html#yamaha

Be careful sitting on the seat when it is not supported correctly. The sharp edge of the seat frame will cut the fabric. I know this because when I had my Corbin seat upholstered, when I came into the shop, the guy had it up on a table and was sitting on it. When he got off, I turned it over and showed him where he had just cut the edges and he had to fix it. Randy

You appear to be considering the weight load on one tire only. If you add the weight load of the front tire, you will be way over 1,200 pounds, unless you are routinely doing a long wheelie? Randy

How old are the plugs? I know some like the more expensive plugs, but I have used the cheap Autolites I get from Advance Auto and they have worked very good for me. These bikes can be very sensitive to plugs, especially if you have run a heavy dose of Sea Foam. Randy

Happy Anniversary. At first I thought you were talking about your bike, but it is just 29. Randy

Ditto on the cabin filter. Many cars from the late 90's to early 2000's have cabin filters and it does make a difference, especially if the car has ever been smoked in. I changed the cabin filters in my Infiniti I35 and I suspect they were original. Randy