Venturous Randy

On the back of a 1st gen speedometer, there is a magnetic strip that reads off the revolutions of the drum/cable. These strips are glued on and must be seated in place. If your flashers are not cancelling, this is one of the first things I would check. After many years, the glue tends to get dry and brittle. Does your system not cancel at all? RandyA

Now that you are on board, you need to get you some riding partners. The only thing is, you will be putting 1,100 miles on in two weeks instead of two years. At that rate, you're not even keeping the gas fresh. You did mean 1,100 and not 11,000 didn't you? RandyA

My grandson was out in the garage this morning and since I had replaced the one outside rubber cap with a 1/4 inch Allan head bolt, he touched the cap on the other outside port and the head of the cap came off easily on it too. So, I did the bolt replacement as I noted above and in a couple of minutes it was fixed. So, while sitting there looking at the bike and thinking about it, I decided to do the two inside ports. I knew that it is very difficult to get to those two ports and I really did not want to completely remove the carbs because to me, the throttle linkage can be a PIA and that is with disassembling the throttle. I loosened all the carb boot clamps and removed the fuel hose and over flow hoses. I popped the carbs out of the boots and I was able to move the carbs from side to side and go between the carbs to get to the port caps. I just used long needle nose pliers to pop the tops off the caps and was able to use a small extension with a torque insert and start the Allan head bolt into the port tube after I put some sealer on the threads. Once it was started, I just cranked it down until it was tight. I then moved the carbs toward the other side and the slot aligned with the other port and I done the same thing. I did have to pull the funky hose that goes from the twinky to the box out of the way. From that point, I lined up the carbs with the manifold boots and popped the carbs back in place and tightened the clamps. After hooking up the fuel line and over flow hoses, I started up the bike. Once everything looked good, I put the air box back on and tweaked the air/fuel screws a little and then synced the carbs. Now I feel really good about this setup and will not have to worry about these YICS port caps coming off anymore. RandyA A

Wow, you are right about the pictures. I wonder how fast the car was going? It looks like it hit a truck. I wonder if the biker thought he had an open lane and the car changed lanes? I had a real close call when a woman in an SUV changed lanes and almost ran over me because she did not signal she was changing lanes. RandyA

I meant to say that I spray with starter fluid and there is a noticeable increases in RPM's when I hit the leak. RandyA

Can you tell any difference in the sound and performance? RandyA

Now, you know that you would feel so guilty that you could not sleep. That bike is now you and you have to keep the heritage. RandyA

If you got the float seated, you should not have had leakage when you tried to start it. The one time I had a float valve stick and it was dumping fuel all over the ground, I pulled the air box, found which carb was over flowing and disconnected that fuel inlet and blew low pressure air into it. It bubbled in the carb and then I put the fuel line back on and started it. I may have changed that plug(don't remember), but I have not had a problem with it since. RandyA

It sounds like you may have a linkage issue. You also need to check to see if you have a leakage issue. Any time you are having any difficulty with vacuum issues, you need to make sure you do not have any vacuum leaks by spraying around the boots and manifolds. This can have a big impact on trying to sync. RandyA

It only takes a second of distraction and everything changes. Sometimes we are lucky and it doesn't matter and sometimes it means everything. Sad day indeed. RandyA

Where are you getting $294 for an E3? This is free delivery to your door. The MU90-16 for a 1st gen rear is $137. RandyA http://www.bikebandit.com/dunlop-elite-3-bias-touring-tire

To me, the best handling combination on my 1st gen is with a Venom on the front and Dunlop E3 on the back. I just replaced the E3 on the front with a Venom because I liked it before. As far as the 404, not sure, but can you get an E3? RandyA

A 1/4-20 3/4 inch long worked perfect for me. You can get the Stainless Steel ones at Lowes or the standard steel ones. I just used Permatex gasket sealer as all you are trying to do is seal any possible leak around the threads. With as hard as the screw bottomed on the top of the port tube, I can not imagine it ever leaking any way. I wish I had done this many years ago when I removed the YICS. This past event is the 3rd or 4th time I had a rubber cap fail and before it was one of the middle ones. You don't have to use Allen head bolts, I just used them as I may put rubber caps over them. RandyA

On the 83/85 Ventures, Yamaha added something to the induction system where it was ported to a box with four chambers that was over the front head. It was supposed to improve low end torque and help gas mileage. The problem is that with these bikes being about 30 years old, with the hoses and a plastic box, many create more problems than they are worth. You don't have to worry about this because when your bike was made, it was discontinued. RandyA

You may be right, but to me, the shiney gray threads look a lot like my threads when I remove them and they have anti-seize on them. Maybe the OP will let us know. I just did a thread on plugging the YICS system and suggest anyone that has not removed their entire YICS system should do so. I suspect there are a lot of MK1's running poorly and have difficult tuning because of the YICS system. With 30 year old hoses and a big plastic box that cracks, it all needs to come off. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=86100 RandyA

Many years ago I removed the YICS system and eliminated some tuning problems. If anything, my gas mileage went up and I did not detect any reduction in power. I would recommend all MK1 owners do this if they have not already done it. The downside I had with this is over time with the caps I was using, that I got from the auto store, would deteriorate and bust the top off. To make it worse, it was always one of the two in the middle under the carbs. While on a ride Monday in the mountains of NC in the middle of nowhere, as I was pulling out from an intersection, I heard the POP and the rough running and knew immediately what had happened. Now, this would not have been a big deal, even though difficult if it is one in the middle ones, as I always carry a spare in my tool bag, except I had left my tool bag at home. So, I really had no choice but to ride it the way it was with a storm coming. I came up on a country store that was closed, but there was a lady that had a side door open doing something. I pulled in and asked if she had any hose, but what she had was either too small or too big. Just on a whim, I got a 1/4 20 bolt and with pushing a little and using a wrench, it started into the hole. This got me home with the bike running good. This morning, I found an Allen head bolt and with putting some sealer on the threads, I bottomed it out. Then I put the spare rubber cap over that. When I get time and some more Allan head bolts I am going to do them all. I have included some pics and you can see where the first screw made threads in the tube. When I put the shorter Allan head screw in and it bottomed out, it was very tight. The last picture is with the cap over the top of the Allan head bolt and as you can see, that cap is not in good shape.. RandyA

When the weather is warm, my bike will start and run without using the choke, but the throttle is not as responsive as when I pull the choke on a little, until it has warmed up. To me, mine works as it should and I get good mileage. RandyA

It looks to me like there is a lot of anti-seize on the threads and I wonder if that may be some left over residue? RandyA

My fix on this problem many years ago was to clean both surfaces after removing the rubber grommet and using industrial strength Velcro. I have never had a problem with the heat melting the glue and it works for a long time. This is a lot easier and cheaper than using any kind of ball stud. I also carry some spare Velcro in my tool bag. RandyA

I saw this on my Comcast news this morning, but it did not have the interview. The guy is lucky he was not hurt worse. This is the reason I am FOR redlight cameras (sorry eck). RandyA

I have Farm Bureau on my home, two cars and my bike. They have been very good to me on some lightening and storm damage on the house and they are much lower on the vehicles. I had Allstate on the bike and finally switched about two years ago to FB. RandyA

I am with Comcast and the internet is pretty good, but unfortunately most of the TV is crap. I don't have the premium channels, but still have a half dozen or so movie channels and this is costing me $99 a month. The problem is they show the same thing over and over again. They have shown the Rocky movies at least 20 times in the last month. I am a bad channel surfer and it frustrates me to go thru 50 channels and there is nothing to watch. I am also NOT a fan of reality TV and just can not get into stuff like two naked people walking thru the woods knowing they have a camera crew right behind them. It makes me wonder if the cameras crew is naked too? RandyA

I did the undercut on mine about 15 years ago and all together I think I spent about $28, and that was on gaskets and oil. The problem was at that time I did not realize that Yamaha had improved the thrust washer by making it harder, so I just flipped mine over and reused it. The local Yamaha shop was clueless and the only thing they wanted to do was sell me a lot of expensive parts. Remember, at this time I did not have internet and just winged it. The three dogs on the side of the gear were rounded off enough that I had to remove material along the side to bring them back sharp. Then I started at the top and cut more material off as I went to the base of the dog. I did this with a Dremal grinder and a 1/8th inch radius gauge as the width of the dog is right at 1/4 inch. I also used digital calipers for measurements. Now, the hard part begins as I had to make the other two dogs match as close as I could. I then did a matching undercut on the six slots in the matching gear. Now, the next trick was to straighten the forks. You can tell if the forks are bent if you see score marks near the tips of the forks on one side and at the base of the forks on the other side. This from the forks being pushed to one side as they are sticking into the groove of the gear. I put about 60,000 more miles on the bike without anymore jumping, but as the thrust washer was getting worn again, the bike started to rattle while idling and leaning over on the side stand. At this time, I found an 86 engine that was in a crash and pulled it apart and transferred everything over. I have now put about 65,000 miles on this setup with no problems. I now have another 1200 engine in the garage with 30,000 miles in it that has a transmission from an 04 Venture that I got from Pinwall. It also will fit, but you will need the entire transmission, including the drum and forks. I think I paid about $50 for the gear sets and when I found out I needed the rest of it, I paid another $20 for the drum and forks. I also have another complete transmission from a 2nd gen Venture that I bought for about $60 from Pinwall because no one else bid on it. My intention is, with the 2nd gen gear ratios being wider apart and using a V-Max rear, the changeover will have 1st gear being about 10% lower, 2nd being about 5% lower, 3rd and 4th are the same and 5th about 5% higher than the stock setup. In other words, if you are running down the interstate at 3,500rpm's, with the changeover, you would be running about 3,325 rpm's at the same speed and this would be with a noticeably lower 1st gear. I already have the V-Max rear in my bike and am having a blast with it, but I need to get the other engine put in. Now, this is just a little of an overview with what will be needed to fix your 2nd gear problem. Obviously, if I had known there was a change in the thrust washer, I would have changed it rather than just flipping it over. But keep in mind that if you have a worn thrust washer, you will have some scoring on the matching contact point. AS far as which option to use, they all have their benefits, but the easiest would be to pick up an 86 to 93 transmission with forks and swap it over. The 2nd gen transmission will work, but if you still used the Venture rear end, I don't think you would be happy with how high geared it would be and this is why a lot of 2nd gen guys go with the V-Max rear end. The 2nd gen transmissions seem to be a lot cheaper as there is no demand for them. the 86 ton 93 are in demand for fixing the 83 to 85's Hope this is a start and as I have said, if you have any questions give me a call. RandyA

The engine I had in my 65 Chevelle ultimately ended up in a 72 240Z Datsun that I put 156,000 miles on with a stock 350 with the 327-350hp cam and then with the 327 in it. I did have to go with a different intake as the Z-28 intake was just too tall for the hood. Ironically, this same engine recently went through a complete rebuild and is currently in my son's 65 Chevelle. It is a 300 two door post car and has a 4-speed. RandyA

That brings back some great memories. My 65 Chevelle had 11.5 TRW dome pistons, 327-350hp cam (L-79), original 68 Z-28 intake(taller than others), Headman headers, 4-speed and a 12 bolt 4:10 posi gear. It was refrigerator white and the interior was white and came out of a 72 Gran Prix. It had chrome reverse wheels and was a beautiful car. I just wish I still had it. RandyA