skydoc_17

Hey Tom, Without knowing your weight, I can only guess on where to start with the size of the shim pipe. If you start at 1/2 of the shim pipe, (NOT 1/2 inch of the shim pipe) and want to make it smaller, then you better weigh 150 pounds! No insult intended Tom, but after your wife caught me peeking in the living room window to see how much shim you needed to add to your fork springs, (LOL!!) If you weigh MORE than 185 lbs. then I suggest that you start with the entire shim and work down from there, unless you DO weigh 150 pounds! (I hope you take my little pun in the spirit it was intended!) Earl

Hey Avi, Yamaha no longer offers this Semi-Floating Rear Brake Rotor new unfortunately. EBC offers a new Bi-Metal Semi-Floating Rear Rotor for the 87'VR. I sell them for $250.00 and $10.00 to ship. You may be able to find them cheaper somewhere else. I buy direct from EBC, but the low volume I purchase doesn't bring me much of a discount. I also have a used rear caliper from a 1987 Venture. I would suggest a rebuild on this caliper, but it did come from a functioning 87'VR. You might have luck just putting it on. (BUT I do suggest that you rebuild it!) If I can help you with either of these parts, or a rebuild kit for the caliper, just let me know. Even if you get these parts somewhere else, I wish you good luck with this project! Earl

Hey Tom, When you purchased your Progressive Fork Spring Upgrade, there should have been a pair of white PVC pieces of pipe in the kit. These pieces of "Shim" can be cut to adjust the firmness of the spring action in the front forks. They go on top of the washer that is on top of the new spring, and under the fork tube cap. This is the "Preload" for the new fork springs. By what you are describing, it sounds like you left these preload shims completely out. I dress out at about 185 lbs. and I used 1/2 of the shim in each fork. If you are heavier, you will use more of the shim. This was a bit of a trial and error thing for me, before I found the right amount of preload shim to use for my weight. To be honest, I purchased two schedule 80 (Gray colored) couplers and made my final adjustment with these once I found the correct length. The wall thickness of the schedule 80 couplers was quite a bit thicker, and I felt much better about using a plastic shim against a metal spring. They have been in for 7 years, and are still going strong. The white schedule 40 pipe that comes with the kit will do the job though. This will firm up the front forks in the sweeper turns nicely, but it does make the around town driving just a bit harsher. Once you have the length of the shim by using the white pipe, I would be happy to make you a set of custom brass spacing shims for your forks for the price of the material, time and shipping cost. When I do my fork seals this winter, I plan to use a set of the brass preload shims myself. You will know if you have too much shim in because your teeth will clunk together when you hit a pothole! LOL!! I started out with the entire shim installed. (Teeth Clunked) Then I went to 3/4 of the shim, (still a bit to firm) then to 1/2 the shim and that was just about right for my weight. When I make up MY set of preload shims, I might add 1/32 of an inch to fine tune it even closer. Let me know if I can help you with a shim set. Earl

Hey Tom, Before you go tearing everything apart, I would try the old 35mm film trick! In the "Old Days" you could get a piece of 35mm camera film and slide it in the lip of the fork seal. Run it around the the fork tube once or twice, and it would reseat the seal lip and clean out any foreign particles trapped under the seal lip. Since 35mm film is pretty much a thing of the past, I use .005" S.S. Shim Stock. If you can't find any shim stock, PM me your address, and I will send you a piece to try out. This is a much easier fix than replacing the fork seals, or the O'Rings on the anti-dive unit. Let me know if I can help! Earl

Larry, there is an O'Ring (so to speak) in the cap to the master cylinder reservoir. Because the Reservoir is VENTED Spencer, it doesn't matter weather you use a washer or an O'Ring to seal the fill port. ONLY the fluid from the seal on the plunger of the master cylinder puts pressure on the fluid going to the caliper. If you bleed the brakes and air returns, it can ONLY be coming in thru the seal of the master cylinder or the caliper seals. (As long as ALL of the banjo bolts are tight) You can drill holes in the cap of the reservoir and it WILL NOT let air into the brake system! Period. If you see fluid coming out of the vent holes in the reservoir cap then the seal in the master cylinder is failing and allowing pressure that should be going to the caliper to escape back into the reservoir, pushing fluid out of the VENT holes. Ben, I'm pretty sure you have De-Linked your brakes. So you are telling me that you took a master cylinder that was powering TWO 4 piston calipers and are now powering ONE 4 piston caliper and you wish you had more braking force? If this is correct then you have another issue like sticking pistons in the rear caliper or you may want to select another type of brake pad my friend! You are dealing with two forces between the MKI and MKII master cylinders, Volume and pressure. There is MORE than enough volume in the MKII master cylinder to lock up the rear caliper. Both my 87'VR and my 89'VR are De-Linked, and I had to go to the Kevlar rear pads to control the lock up issue. Excessive PRESSURE prematurely wears out the seals on the master cylinder and calipers. Volume on the other hand, gives you plenty of braking power WITHOUT the damage to the seals, and I control the lock up issue with brake pad selection. Because we are talking about an 83'VR here, the ONLY item that can be used from the MKII Brake system is the MKII rear master cylinder. NONE of the calipers from the MKII can be swapped onto an MKI without mods done to the lower front forks, and the rear rotor and caliper mounting bracket. I hope this clears this up for you. Earl

Hey Larry, As I said, the cap to the master cylinder IS vented. It's not the job of that O'Ring to seal the master cylinder from the atmosphere. If you are seeing leakage at the vent holes in the cap then the seal in the master cylinder is beginning to fail. A rebuild of that master cylinder will stop the leakage. Earl

Hey Spencer, Because the rear master cylinder reservoir is vented, if the seal set in the master cylinder is compromised, it will introduce air into the rear/left front part of the brake system. A rebuild would solve this issue. While you are at it, look on Ebay for a MKII Rear master cylinder, do the rebuild on that, and just swap out the MKI rear master for the MKII rear master. The MKI rear master is slightly undersized to push fluid to two brake calipers in my opinion, and the MKII rear master is an excellent upgrade. The outside of the body casting is identical between the two masters, it's the inside bore that is enlarged on the MKII master. I have also seen the crush washer on the proportioning valve leak as well. I would tighten EVERY connection in the rear braking system before moving forward with the rear master rebuild. Hope this helps, Earl

Hey Squid, As always, I respect your decision to not indorse Shinco tires any longer. I was caught up in the Avon debacle many years ago, and had to eat a few tires because of it. No one likes to get ripped off when making a major purchase like a tire, me included. Because I work on molds for a living, I wanted to shed some light on a few of the reasons this happens. Tiny rubber pellets, (balls) of rubber are fed into a mold that has been heated with steam, or induction heating. As the pellets enter the hot mold, they melt and flow from one side of the mold to the other side into a cavity called the "Sprue". The mold opens, and the tire is ejected by the ejector pins. The sprue is then remelted and used for another tire later. Because Shinco tires have become so popular, the manufacturer is constantly looking for ways to increase production. If you elevate the temperature of the mold, the pellets will melt faster, flow through the mold faster, and this reduces the cycle time of the mold. Less cycle time equals more tires per hour. In the trade, we call this "Hot Boxing The Mold". A slight increase in the temperature of the mold will increase productivity, but elevate the temperature too much, and the rubber compounds will solidify in layers instead of a consistent fusion of the rubber pellets. When a tire is constructed properly, the weight of the vehicle causes the tire to flex when it comes in contact with the road surface. If the tire has been "Hot Boxed", the layers flex at different rates, and this unequal flexing tears the tire apart. This is the separating condition you are seeing on your tire. Overheat the mold even more, and you "cook" the flexibility right out of the rubber, and this manifests itself on the tire as the little square stress cracks on the sidewalls we saw on the Avon tires. In the beginning, Avon was willing to replace the tires I submitted with the stress cracks. As time went on, more and more tires were being returned for the stress crack issue, and Avon stopped replacing the tires. At that point, I stopped selling Avon tires, and I stopped promoting the use of them. Like I said earlier, I did eat a few Avon tires, but they didn't get replaced with an Avon tire, and it soon came to an end. If you complain to Shinco, I am pretty sure they will replace the tire at this point. As time goes on, we will see just how well Shinco stands behind their product. Because so many of the forum members run the Shinco tires, I hope for everyone's sake that this was just a fluke, and not the beginning of another tire debacle! Earl

Hey Rick, Thanks for the text, I hadn't checked my PM's for the forum today. My Paypal email address is: earlfharrell@atlanticbb.net I have that kit in stock, and can ship as soon as payment is received. Thanks for thinking of me for your parts needs, it means the world to me, old friend! Earl

Hey Abid, Welcome to the forum! The Lucas 20W50 oil does not have any friction modifiers in it, and Lucas products are of excellent quality. When you first started this project Abid, did you notice that the fluid level in the Clutch Master Cylinder was LOW? This would indicate that the Clutch Slave is leaking, which could be causing the slippage issue your are describing. When you install the new steel clutch plates, this should take care of the issue. If it does not, then there are several areas you will need to inspect to find the "root cause" of the slippage. You didn't mention it, and I am assuming that when you installed the conversion kit, you also installed a set of 6 NEW compression springs. The other areas to check/monitor would be the loss of fluid in the clutch master cylinder, as described above, means the clutch slave is leaking. There is a VERY small fluid return hole in the clutch master cylinder that if blocked, would not allow FULL clutch spring pressure to be exerted on the clutch friction discs. This hole can be cleared with a single bristle from a paint brush. Even though your bike only has 23K on it Abid, ALL of the rubber parts in your brake and clutch system are 25 YEARS OLD! This means the seals in the clutch master and slave cylinders as well as the brake and clutch lines. If this was a used motorcycle that I personally had just purchased, I would rebuild the clutch master, REPLACE the clutch slave, and upgrade the brake and clutch lines to S.S. braided lines. But that's just me. Please don't be offended when I mention this next part Abid, because I fully realize that things like money and time effect what repairs we do to our bikes, but the logic of putting a performance/upgraded clutch conversion kit in a bike when ALL of the other parts in that system are 25 years old escapes me. If the perishable parts in the clutch system have failed, it would stand to reason that all of the other parts in that system would need to be refreshed as well. If you need help finding a rebuild kit for the master, a replacement for the slave, or would like a S.S. line set to replace the brake and clutch lines, please feel free to PM me. Because of my "little shop by the creek" I buy direct from Yamaha, and can search every dealership in the Northern Hemisphere to find those "hard to get parts" for our older bikes. I custom make the S.S. line sets here at my shop as well. I truly hope that the replacement of the steel clutch plates solves your issue Abid, but I would still keep in mind the maintenance issues discussed for the future as time and money allow. Good luck with this project Abid, Earl (skydoc_17)

After my last comment, I am almost afraid to answer! But here goes. When you dampen the flow of oil in the fork, it increases the pressure in the area above the Anti-Dive Unit to the bottom of the fork seal. This increase in pressure will migrate out of the fork seal in any area that has been compromised in the form of a leak. Earl

Is that the Dutch phrase that is used to describe a "Cheapskate" Marcarl! "A penny saved is a penny earned"! (Cheapskate!) "Penny wise and pound foolish"! (Cheapskate!) We sorta' cut to the chase down here in the lower 48. I love ya', brother! Earl

Wait a MINUTE!!! The First Gen. Yamaha Venture Royale is NOT a Sport Bike!?!? I beg to differ. Let us not forget that the MKI Venture was introduced a YEAR BEFORE the VMAX!! With the introduction of the MKII in 1986, you had a 1.3 liter, 800 pound road carver with a FIXED Fairing and NO Chain to worry about! (Plus who could forget the High Performance Cassette Deck that came stock! LOL) With a few addon's like solid motor mounts, which make the engine and frame a solid fixed mass, Progressive Springs and the removal of the Anti-Dives firms up the front end, in my opinion, and if you drop in a VMAX Final Drive, well, now you have a respectable curve machine. I am NOT even going to debate the Linked vrs. De-Linked Brake Issue, Both of my MKII First Gen's. are De-Linked and have the R1 calipers on them because I too like to "touch" the rear brake when I am positioning my bike to carve a sweeper turn. I find the bike heels over much better with a little back brake magic. I have also found that having two matched calipers up front, both engaging at the same time, by a single Master Cylinder stop the bike quicker and Straighter than a set of mismatched front calipers being activated by two different Master Cylinders by two different body parts! (Yes, the MKII front calipers have two different caliper piston sizes) Now, don't get me wrong, my 87'VR is NO Yamaha R1! It doesn't have a 6 speed tranny, and it will never see 200 MPH, but at the end of a 500 mile riding day, let's see who gets "beat up" more. I think Yamaha created the perfect riding machine with the introduction of the First Gen. Venture Royale. It's a rolling piece of Art in my opinion. There are bikes that go faster and lean further, but their claim to fame is just that one thing! With the Venture, you get enough of ALL of the things you look for in a motorcycle, in one package! The other thing I like about the First Gen. Venture is that you can mod this bike to your liking. My 89'VR is bone stock except for the De-Link, the R1 brakes, the VMAX Final Drive and a Fuse Box Upgrade. I use this bike to pull my camping trailer. Now my 87'VR is a different animal. It has the De-Link with the R1 brakes, a modded FJR Final Drive, 150/80/15" rear tire, Extended FJR Swing Arm, VMAX Heads, Cams and Valves, Progressive Front Springs and deleted Anti-Dives, 100/80/18" front tire, the Fuse Box Upgrade, a Crankcase Vent Filter, S.S. Brake and Clutch Lines and NOS! This bike is not for the faint of heart!! I personally am at a time in my life where I could own pretty much any production motorcycle I could want. And every morning when I go out to my garage, there she sits, the motorcycle I really want, my 87'VR. I consider myself a VERY lucky man! My thought, for what they are worth! Earl

Hey Marcarl, I have to admit, I have rarely seen you post about something that has you scratching your head over it, so this will be an honor to add my two cents to the mix! With that being said, The guide bushings that keep the upper fork tubes in the center of the lower fork tubes will wear out just like the fork seals. In fact, if the guide bushings are excessively worn, they will cause a perfectly good set of fork seals to start leaking! Because of the "Rake" of the front fork tubes, (angle of the tubes in relation to the center line of the motorcycle frame) the guide bushing inside diameter will become "egg shaped" over time. When this condition increases to the point where the lip of the fork seal no longer contacts the upper fork tubes, leakage will result. There are usually two guide bushings in each lower fork tube, try replacing those. Earl

Hey Brandon, The VMAX Final Drives up tp the model year 1993 would be a direct bolt on swap for your 88'VR. I would stay away from the first 3 years of the production of the VMAX Final Drives, because they seemed to be not as hardy as the later model years. Keep in mind that this is gong to increase the RPM of your engine across the board the entire time you are riding your bike but in my opinion, I don't do a lot of riding in excess of 100MPH any more, so to me, it's worth the trade off. If you have any other questions about this swap. please feel free to PM me. This is one of the best "Bang for the buck" upgrades you can do to a First Gen. Good luck with this project Brandon, Earl

Besides the fact that he was a close personal friend of many years, I sure am missing Bongo Bob because he was always kind enough to allow me to send lines to him for our Canadian members and then allow those members to pick them up at his place! Rest in Peace Bob, you are truly missed, old friend! With that being said, A six line, First Gen. De-Link Kit ships to Canada for around $40US by USPS Priority Mail Service. (Depending on location) Shipping to the lower 48 states is FREE with the purchase of a line set. I recently have constructed a Direct Bolt On Second Gen. Line Kit that I will be posting in the Member Vendor Section of the Forum in the near future. The shipping is also FREE for the lower 48 states and actual cost for the "Out of Town" members of the forum. (Canada, Europe, Australia, etc.)

Hey Guys, I am humbled by your kind words about the line sets I provide for the VR.ORG Members! Now, Frank I have the ability to make up Aircraft quality, Kevlar lined S.S. brake lines for any motorcycle. I keep the fittings for the metric bikes in stock, but can order fittings for HD, Victory, etc. that use inch fittings. I am certified by the state of Pennsylvania to construct Hydraulic lines for automotive use. (This means motorcycles as well) I do offer The De-Link Kit for the MKII and MKII First Gen. Ventures, as an upgrade, but can make up stock lines as well. Special fittings and custom lengths of the line material control the cost of each line. A package of lines would be cheaper than a single line, per line. To be honest, it cost me more than $30.00 to construct a single line for the Venture. As Saddlebum mentioned, The words "Cheap" and "Brake Line" should NEVER be in the same sentence, in my opinion. I am sure I can beat the price of your standard Gaffler line sold on Ebay, plus the lines would be constructed to your exact specs with install support after the sale. I regularly construct custom lines for extended handle bars, Caliper Swaps, and Master Cylinder Relocations. If I can help you with custom brake lines Frank, please feel free to PM me. Thanks again guys, for the kind words! Earl

Hey Chris, There is an area between the "V" of the cylinders called the "Twinkie" where engine oil and coolant come VERY close together. This is where the engine oil is cooled by the coolant. If that "O"Ring has failed, then oil and water will mix together at this one point. Because of the design of this "heat exchanger" area, you will usually see oil in the coolant, NOT coolant in the oil. If you find no coolant in the oil, I would have a close look at the Twinkie, better yet change the "O"Ring for the Twinkie and see if the this solves the issue. Obviously it's not called a "Twinkie" in the repair manual, But there is a section on the R/R of the "O"Ring in there. If you aren't seeing any coolant dripping from the weep hole of the water pump, you're looking in the wrong place. Earl

I machined a lower out of solid brass, polished it up and my youngest boy purchased the rest of the parts online about 2 years ago and he has been chewing up lead for the last few years out in the Cali desert without any issues. I guess he will be able to mount it on his wall in his den without any issues finally! My father taught me the art of machining while smithing guns in our basement over 50 years ago, and if I can put my hands on a metal part, I can duplicate it! It has been tempting to get into the "business", but making motorcycle parts has kept my tree hugging wife a LOT happier. Although my wife has never complained about me owning guns personally, as we have fended off predator's both four legged and two legged over the years as we live in a rather rural area! My take on this is a gun is a tool, like a hammer or a kitchen knife. It's not the tool that causes the issue, it's the person handling the tool. We kill more people with auto accidents than we do with guns, and we don't ban cars! Of course this whole debate is not based on logic. And because I am a logical person, I sometimes get confused when people suggest that an unarmed society would be oh so much safer. At that point we are no longer people, we're SHEEP! Easy pickin's for the wolves in this world. My thoughts, for what they are worth. Earl

I am mildly offended by that rambling on and on remark Puckster! I don't ramble, I communicate! (NOT Really LOL!) So, to answer Jason's question about why did this Cam Plate Fail, I think you are looking at two different issues here. The first being the design of the Cam Plate Assembly itself. And this is why Yamaha redesigned the assembly. The second issue I've seen is when a rider has difficulty getting the bike in first gear, (because they didn't downshift coming to a light or stop sign) Then while standing still and trying to get the bike into first gear they start stomping on the gearshift foot lever. The force generated by stomping on the foot shift lever overpowers the stamped steel actuator arm and the result is the bent parts you saw when you removed the Clutch basket. Personally, I've never had this issue on either my 87'VR or my 89'VR but I don't make a habit of stomping on the gear shift foot lever either. After you finish this repair Jason, if you do get caught in a higher gear when you have arrived at a light or stop sign, slip the clutch lever a bit while putting downward force on the shift lever, (but NOT Stomping on it) until you are in first gear again. Great writeup Jason, and we hope to hear more from you in the future! Earl

Hey Jason, Congrats on finding your clutch issue! This has been some journey. When you are ready to replace your clutch, just send me a PM and I will get you all the parts you will need to make that clutch system like new. Good luck with that repair, and like the Puckster, you seem to have a flair for bringing your repair story to life for the members of this forum. For years to come Jason, future members of the forum will turn to this thread and glean the knowledge that you have shared with us all. Thank you for that sharing of wisdom. Earl

Hey Tom, It is my belief that at least two pistons on the right front caliper are "frozen" and are no longer pushing the pads against the rotor. The 2 pistons are usually on the side opposite the Banjo Bolt. The right front brake lever ONLY controls the right front caliper! If you want to have BOTH front calipers engage, you must use the foot pedal as well. The intent of the De-Link Kit is to allow you to use BOTH front brake calipers when you use the right front brake lever, and engage the rear brake when you use the foot pedal. The De-Link Kit IN NO WAY effects the Anti-Dive Valves on the MKII Ventures. (1986 to 1993) Plus on the MKI Ventures, (1983 to 1985) the De-Link Kit comes with all new S.S. replacement Anti-Dive Lines! I am not sure if you are aware of this or not, but when you installed the Progressive Fork Springs on your bike, you nullified the action of the Electric Anti-Dives anyway. The original design of the Electric Anti-Dives was to redirect the fluid flow during a "panic stop" situation by slowing the flow of fluid from the bottom of the fork tubes to the top of the fork tubes by activating a valve which is connected to the front brake lever. The Progressive Fork Springs do the same thing Mechanically. As the Progressives compress, the spring rate becomes stiffer and slows the compression of the fork tubes. (This is the same thing the Anti-Dives do!) My suggestion would be to rebuild your 34 year old right front caliper, at a minimum! But even if you rebuilt ALL three calipers and Master Cylinders, you would STILL have 1980's VINTAGE brakes on an 800 pound Motorcycle! Here are the results of the testing I did before I offered the De-Link Kit to the members of this forum. I took my 1987 Venture Royale with excellent STOCK brakes on it and ran the bike up to 60 MPH and stopped the bike as quickly as I could without crashing. I did this MANY times, measured the results, and came up with an average stopping distance. I then installed the De-Link Kit and a set of R1 Front Brake Calipers, which now allowed BOTH front calipers to be controlled by the brake lever, and did the same procedure all over again. The De-Link/R1 brake set up stopped 16 FEET SHORTER, and it was much easier to control because I had equal braking force of BOTH Sides of the front wheel. Even if you are an expert rider with linked brakes, THE FACT REMAINS that the left front brake caliper has smaller pistons than the right front. This is a FACT, period. You would need to have a superhero amount of "brake feel" to engage the right front brake caliper with the brake lever, and match that braking force with a caliper of a different size with the foot pedal in a panic stop situation and keep the bike stopping in a straight line. Now there are a very small group of riders that have absolutely NO reason to worry about upgrading their braking system. These "riders" chug around in 5th gear at 40 MPH, don't lean their bikes over at all, EVER, and most likely have a non-functional left front caliper and a dragging rear caliper that has turned the rear rotor blue. Their brake fluid looks like Coke-a-Cola, and they have NEVER looked into their rear master cylinder, ever. They paid $100.00 for their bikes, and this is the most money they have ever spent on it during the entire time they have owned it. I'm sorry, but these people are not RIDERS, they just own equipment. Even if you don't buy the kit I offer, invest some time (and money) in your braking system! Ebay, Amazon, and Facebook Marketplace are ALL excellent sources for good quality used parts to make your braking system better and SAFER. And Safety, my friends is the KEY word here. If you have questions, please feel free to ask! Earl

Hey Tom, First off, Thanks very much to Saddlebum for the props! Now to clear up some of the items you mentioned in this topic. I offer the De-Link Kit to separate the left front from the rear caliper because I didn't like my left front engaging in a high bank turn, or in a loose roadway like gravel. Even though the First Gen. is supposed to be a "Touring Motorcycle" , I ride it like it was an FJR or even an R6 on occasion. I offered the De-Link Kit to other riders who share the same passion and ride in a similar style. I have the ability to make ANY line you would like to replace on ANY Motorcycle. I use the same Aircraft Quality Braided S.S. line on every line and I keep the Metric Fittings for the Yamaha in stock. Other types of motorcycles require different size fittings that I don't usually keep in stock, BUT I can order them. I don't offer a replacement STOCK S.S. Line Set because I don't consider that an upgrade, but I am more than happy to make up a line set to replace the stock lines for the brake and clutch. BUT I want to be VERY CLEAR ABOUT THIS ONE POINT! If you put my S.S. Line Set on your bike with 30+ year old un-rebuilt Calipers and Master Cylinders and funky Chinese organic brake pads that are half worn out, and expect to be able to tell the difference or cure the problem of a dragging caliper or a caliper that flat out won't close, then you are going to be sorely disappointed! And not because of the Line Set, but because you didn't maintenance the rest of your braking system! People, Your brakes are what STOP YOU! It's that simple. I seen owners pay over $100.00 for a train horn, but won't by rebuild kits for their calipers! Or even better, they will pay top dollar for an LED Headlight but won't rebuild their Master Cylinders! Well, here's a tip, If you are overdriving your headlight at night, maybe you are going a bit too fast brother! OK, rant over! If I can help anyone with stock S.S. brake lines, I'd be happy to. If I gave you "food for thought" about your brakes, that was my intention. If you just bought a train horn for your bike, well "I hope your brakes work!" LOL!! Earl

Hey Steve, Sad to see ya' go, buddy! You can still hang around if you like. Heck, we let Freebird hang out with us during his HD midlife crisis! Don't be a stranger! Earl and jean.

Hey Cowpuc, I apologize in advance if I take this thread a bit off topic but I wanted to touch on the extent I went to, to try and solve this issue with the overheating stators. I actually machined ONE "modified" stator cover from 6061 T6 Aluminum Billet. It increased the oil volume in the pan by 1.1 quarts and moved the face of the stator cover almost 2 inches away from the stator. It worked great and allowed me to put a stator that came close to 100 amps of output in my 87'VR! You would think that this would be a win/win for the First Gens. Heck, you could run a Toaster Oven on your bike if you wanted to! Well the problem was that cover machined from billet would cost $800.00 (MY cost for material and machine time) not to mention the 100 amp stator was another $250.00. (again, actual cost) Historically speaking, I have found that First Gen. owners are a bit "light in the pocketbook" when it comes to spending money on parts for their bikes. After the excitement of solving the issue wore off, I found myself wondering how many First Gen. owners would actually spring for a $1200. stator upgrade. Of course the answer was "NOT Many"! So the tooling and fixture went into a box I have set aside for projects that I would NEVER be able to sell to the general population of First Gen. owners, and I stopped getting High Output stators wound by my local vendor. I went to a lot of trouble to offer a solution to the low amperage stator offered by Yamaha, only to find out that there is no way I could sell the darn things! I now fully understand why Yamaha puts such a wimpy stator in our bikes. I wanted to share this info with the community, and to let you know how much this broke my heart NOT to be able to offer this upgrade to solve this issue. Rant over, now back to your regularly scheduled programming! Earl