Venturous Randy

Maybe I'm missing something... But How can opening the air box up effect how the slides operate? I can certainly see how it can effect A/F mixture.... requiring jetting changes and tuning. But the slides operate from an internal vac source... So I dont see how airbox can effect it. If this is the case... can you explain? I may be wrong, but it is my thinking that with the slides being opened by vacuum, opening up the air box too much may impact how efficiently the slides move. I know that on 1st gens, when you mess with the air box, it usually runs worse. Take the air box off and many barely run and will backfire everywhere. RandyA

Probably want to post this in the Watering Hole. RandyA

Not sure on Air intake... but prolly run a stock airbox opened as much as I can. Any thoughts... anything I'm missing? Thank you Reaney These bikes can be real sensitive on mods to the airbox. Opening up the airbox may cause the carb slides to not have enough vacuum and not open properly. RandyA

With the side stand out, there should be less than 1/8th inch play at the tip. If you let it get loose, it will break something. RandyA

I believe that fork seals is one of the things that most people will suggest using genuine Yamaha parts. RandyA

Could you possibly have an exhaust leak that could be squealing when you give it throttle? RandyA

Is anyone familiar with this intercom system? RandyA http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-Motorcycle-Helmet-Bluetooth-Headset-Intercom-500M-/250803195921?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a65091011&vxp=mtr

It's interesting that Fox news just made a statement that red light cameras may be a thing of the past, but I missed the story. I may google it and see if it is posted. RandyA

Actually, you have several different issues here. Given the bike has been triked, you probably do not know what the differential ratio is, so doing a comparison with a stock Venture won't work in comparing RPM's to speed unless you learn the rearend ratio and compare it to stock. As far as 1st gen speedometer accuracy, to my knowledge, they are not nearly as far off as 2nd gens. On my 83, my first speedometer was very close. When I replaced it, the other one was a bit off. In the following, from another post, I described how I corrected it but it was to another member's problem. First, your speedo runs off your front wheel. I did this on my 1st gen years ago and it is off 1 mph at 70 mph according to my GPS. The way I did it was to determine how far it is off in distance from being right (and in your case we will say it is 1/4 inch too much counter clockwise). I then removed the speedo and lifted the needle over the stop pin. I moved the needle several times and let it come back to the natural point it would stop. Once I was comfortable with that point, I marked it on the face. I then gently pulled the needle off with some curved needle nose pliers and repositioned the needle back on the pin the distance I first measured it being off( and in your case to be moved 1/4 inch clockwise). Again, I moved the needle and let it go back to its natural resting place to determine if it was where I wanted it. Once I was comfortable with where it was, I gently pecked the needle tighter. I then placed the needle on the correct side of the stop pin. RandyA

That's really great, now can you make it to Asheville? I kind of agree with Big Lenny, I don't think I would have posted any $$$ amounts, maybe %%%, instead. I have Farm Bureau and I don't want to have to complain when my premiums go up. RandyA

We have an intersection here in Johnson City, TN that are two four lanes streets expanded to five lanes at the intersection for two turning left, two straight and one turning right. The intersection actually handles a lot of traffic very well. The problem is on one of the left turns, the green light is only 12 seconds. Unless it is the middle of the night, usually about half of the vehicles waiting will have to wait for another light and that's another two plus minutes. To make this even worse, I have caught this light going back to what appears to be an 8 second default. I have both times taken this up with the Director of traffic. Guess what, with the twelve different combinations of turning, this is the only one that has a red light camera. As a motorcyclist, I really don't have a problem with red light cameras as I think that is about the only way some people will be a bit more diligent in not running them. I did have an incident in the cage where I was coming up to a right turn on a red light and when I crossed the white line while moving, I caught the flash going off. I made a point to come to a complete stop and did not get a ticket. If I had gotten a ticket, I would have simply stated that I had to move that far forward to see if any cross traffic was coming. RandyA

What are your tire pressures? The reason your bike is hard to push is it is heavy, 800 pounds heavy. RandyA

Well, we just had our second local motorcycle death today. A rider going around a curve crossed the centerline and crashed into a Sheriff Dept SUV. RandyA

Thanks Puc and I wish you were down here to enjoy the ride. Just listening to the news and weather and tomorrow night we are supposed to have snow. RandyA

Usually, I have found that the problem areas are where the blades from the connector come through the board. I also use plastic ties to hold up the wiring harness to take some of the pull off these pins when I put the dash back in. RandyA

In the last week of Sept, Linda and I had a tip over that injured my ribs. A week later she had a mild heart attack and ended up having a double bypass. Fortunately, we have both healed up pretty good. In the last month I have been able to get in a couple of rides solo of 30 to 40 miles. The bike ran and felt good but I don't enjoy riding solo as much as I used to. A couple days ago we were being told that today we were supposed to see temps in the low 70's. I told Linda that I was planning to take a ride today and she asked if she could go with me. We were able to get in about a 140 mile ride and it was beautiful. At one time near Hot Springs, NC, we saw 78 degrees on the thermometer. It felt like a summer day. I should have taken my camera with me as we had some absolutely beautiful views. I was a bit apprehensive about having Linda on the bike, but it just made me even more careful. We encountered some loose gravel at several intersections from the snow and ice we had, but we did OK. She has said several times how much she enjoyed our ride. I know this does not help you folks from the great white north feel any better, but believe it or not, it won't be long for you to do this also. RandyA

That's the date that seems to best for those that have responded, so we will go with 14 through 17th of August. Hope that works out for you. RandyA

Welcome aboard and we hope you join. It will be the best $12 you will ever spend on your bike. A dim headlight is a typical symptom of your CMS having a cold solder joint. It does concern me that both your high and low beam are giving you the same reading, which could be the start button, but this will give you a place to start. RandyA http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33328

Puc, those pictures look too much like snow to me. RandyA

Wow, what a great post. Sorry for all you have gone through, but is sure sounds like you are on the right track. Sounds like you and your Venture have come back from the almost departed. RandyA

Is home living with you? RandyA

I know this is about 2nd gens, but while out the other day on flat ground on my 83, I took my bike all the way down to 15 mph in 5th gear and powered out of it smoothly as long as I did not give it too much throttle. As it started getting faster and I could give it more throttle, it was surprising how much harder it started pulling. I know my bike is a little different as I have a V-Max rearend with the stock 1st gen engine gear ratios (for now), but this is still a testament to the range these engines have. With the rev limiter set at 6,300 rpm's on the 2nd gens, to me on my bike, that's about when it starts to pull the hardest. At about 8,000 rpm's on my bike, I can begin to feel the pull starting to flatten out some. My bike has 164,000 miles on the engine and I am sure the valve springs are getting a bit tired. I really think that those of you that ride a 2nd gen without a tach, learn to get a feel for where the engine is at in different gears. Run the engine up to the rev limiter as you are NOT going to hurt anything. These engines are designed to run a lot higher than 6,300 rpm's. I think a lot of 2nd genners would be surprised at how much power their bike have if they would stop lugging them around. RandyA

As far as colors, you would think that yellow would be one that would be the least likely for your mind to not see. Have any of you increased the size of the balls and been surprised at how big you can make them and they still disappear? This just goes to show you that riding a big yellow Goldwing may not help. One thing that I did notice for me is since I had this before I lost the vision in my right eye, it still works for me the same with just one eye. RandyA

One other thing that is interesting is to increase the size of the yellow dots and still have them disappear. Also, focus on the green dot and after the yellow dots disappear, very slightly tilt your head and see how instantly the yellow dots reappear. RandyA

' Years ago I was in the right lane with a car in the left lane slowly passing me. A car pulled to a stop on a side road and was watching us(I thought), and just before we got to her, she started pulling out into my lane. The ONLY thing that saved my butt was my Loud air horns. It really scared me that she almost killed me, as I had my headlight on bright and it was a sunny day. Why did she not see me? After seeing this video, I realized I was a yellow dot to her and she was watching the other car to see if he was going to change lanes and to her, the other car was the green dot she was fixated on. I simply disappeared in her mind. Just like if you move your head a little, the yellow dots will instantly pop back up, slightly weaving when coming up to an intersection or coming up on a driver in a situation like I did, the slight weaving is like moving your head to the other driver. This also works when you are the person waiting on oncoming traffic. Don't let yourself get fixated on one vehicle, or the other ones can simply disappear. I really do feel like this mental phenomenon is a major contributor in people saying; "I did not see them". They became a yellow dot and disappeared. It is also fun to play around with this and change speeds and other things. RandyA