skydoc_17

Hey Dave, This project started when I put a K&N Air Filter in my 87'VR and the increased air flow started vacuuming oil vapor into the air box and contaminating the new K&N Air Filter I had just installed. Besides the benefit of no more oil in the airbox the other benefits were the Carbs. got a nice clean shot of air with no oil mist in it, which improved performance noticeably and if I keep out of the throttle, I got a gas mileage increase in the 2 to 3 MPG range.( *NOTE* Be prepared to catch he!! from some "tree huggers" over this mod!) I have attached pics below, If you need more information, just ask! Earl

Hey Norm, Welcome to the site. The object of the Carb. Sync. is to get all four Carbs. pulling the same Vacuum at idle. Syncing the First Gen. VR is actually much easier that the UTUBE video of the late model Bike the Brit was Syncing. Here is a link to the place where he got his Carbtune. This is what I use on my 86' and 87'VRs to Sync the Carbs. http://www.carbtune.com/ Check it out, if you have any questions, just ask! Earl

Hey Herb, I followed the saga of you selling your First Gen. and then selling off all the extra parts. (we chatted about your extra seat) I knew that musta' been hard for ya', It's good to see ya' back! I hope that 86'VR turns out to be all that the owner says it is! Earl

Being 6' tall and 175 lbs. "soaking wet" one of my greatest fears has been "What If "! Go to this website: http://www.pinkribbonrides.com/dropped.html Take a look at the pics as you scroll to the bottom of the page, This lady is very impressive! When at the bottom of the page select video #5 and you will see, first hand how she picks up her bike with it down on it's side. I laid mine over in the grass in my front yard and tried it out, sure enough, I was able to pick up my 800 pound bike by myself! Take a peek at some of the other videos, it is quite educational. Sorry to hear about your drop, I'm glad you and the bike were undamaged. Earl

When I purchased my 87'VR last winter I was getting 31 MPG one up and 28-29- MPG two up. Needless to say, I was not impressed! Over the winter of 08' I did a few repairs, mods and after about 1000 miles I can now say for sure that my gas mileage is much better. Here is a list of the mods: 1) Carb. Diaphragms (when I pulled mine, they looked like spaghetti strainers! I just replaced the rubbers, NOT the sliders) 2) Needle Shim Mod from 5Bikes ( Removed Nylon spacer and replaced with S.S. washers, .050 thinner than Nylon spacer) 3) Crankcase Vent Mod ( plugged airbox, removed vent tubing, installed Crankcase vent filter) 4) Carb. Sync (purchased Carbtune and Synced Carbs. Built a "manifold" to verify Carbtune accuracy.) 5) Adjusted Mixture to 2 1/2 turns from bottom 6) New Plugs 7) New Wires (from Ebay) The bike starts great, runs like a scalded cat, Idle is great, no more soot on tail pipes, no "Backfire". Over the last 4 tankfuls of gas, I have been getting 180 to 190 miles before the "Red Light" comes on. ( 4.0 gals. 45 to 47 MPG) This is one up. Two up I got 165 to 175 miles on three tankfuls. (4.0 gals. 41 to 43 MPG) Thats roughly a 33% increase in gas mileage! Plus, I did most of the work over the winter so I didn't loose any riding time. There are many folks I need to thank and you rascals know who you are! If you have questions, Just ask! I sure did and got a lot of great help! Thanks to everyone, Earl

Hey Jack, Here's what you need to do to get that rear brake working again. The rebuild kit for the rear caliper is part # 31A-W0047-00-00 (approx. $20.00)You need one of these kits. The rebuild kit for the rear master cylinder is part # 26H-W0041-50-00 (approx. $50.00)You Will need one of these kits. I wanted to point out that you could buy the rear master cylinder assembly new for $430.00 if you got more money than time! Get online, go to Flatout Motorsports, send an e-mail to Chris, tell him you are a VentureRider.Org. member and give him the part numbers. Here's the link: http://www.flatoutmotorcycles.com/ Now for the "nuts and bolts" of this rebuild: Remove the rear caliper, the rear brake line, the master cylinder AND the reservoir, the Proportioning Valve. To get the piston out of the caliper, I use cheap wooden paint stirrers from a hardware store. blow compressed air into the hole where the brake line connects to the caliper with 3 or 4 paint stirrers inserted where the brake pads go. when the piston contacts the stirrers, stop the air, remove one stirrer and do it again, and again removing one stirrer until you can get ahold of the piston and pull it out. (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!) Inside the caliper, one O'Ring is a "seal" and one O'Ring is a "wiper", They are different sizes, PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to the order they are in the caliper, If you put them in backwards, the caliper will leak. Any decent auto parts store will have a "brake cylinder hone" for around $10.00 or so, get one. Put the hone in your drill motor, insert the stones in the caliper cylinder bore, add some lube, (honing oil is best, but motor oil works in a pinch) "blip" the drill motor a few times, (one to two second bursts at medium speed) You are trying to clean the bore, not make it a larger size. Remove hone, clean caliper with aerosol brake cleaner. Blow air thru EVERY HOLE in the caliper to make sure there is no blockage. Lightly buff or scotchbrite the piston to remove brake fluid "build-up. Sometimes there is a packet of red lube with the seal kit, Install the seals in the correct order, lube with red lube, (or brake fluid if no red lube) install piston, pads, clips, and you are done with the caliper. Now for the master cylinder: Remove the single Phillips head screw that attaches the right angle black plastic tube that has the reservoir hose attached to it. DO NOT remove the hose from the black plastic tube or the reservoir, it is OLD, and it is pricey! If you damage it you WILL be buying a new one. (approx. $16.00) HOSE, RESERVOIR Part # 26H-25895-50-00 Remove the Proportioning Valve. I can not stress enough how important it is to throughly clean every part, hole and orifice, on the very small return pressure hole verify that the hole is clear by physically inserting a single strand of electrical wire into the hole. Do the same on the Proportioning Valve. Don't be "stingy" with the brake cleaner or the compressed air. Here is where you are going to need a "good" pair of snap ring pliers. I got a set with interchangeable anvils at Sears for $28.00. Some places sell cheaper sets, but I use mine alot. Remove the internal snap ring at the bottom of the master cylinder. (VERY IMPORTANT!) There is going to be a half dozen or so pieces coming out of the master cylinder, PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE ORDER they came out. I personally laid them out in order, took a pic of the Assembly the first time I did it. With the guts out, you will use the brake cylinder hone again, but this time, you will use an "in and out motion" to hone the entire brake cylinder bore, don't forget the oil, slow to medium speed is better. After that , clean, clean, CLEAN! the master with brake cleaner and compressed air. If you have any of the "red lube" from the caliper left over, use it to lube the master cylinder bore, if not use brake fluid. Install the new parts IN THE CORRECT ORDER, install the snap ring, you will get a new boot for the bottom of the master cylinder install that and you are good to go. I found that "Speed Bleeders" helped the bleeding process, here is the link: http://speedbleeder.zoovy.com/ You don't have to have them, but it makes changing the fluid out in the future much easier. Reinstall all of your rebuilt parts, and bleed, bleed, BLEED! If you have questions, PM me. Sorry this got a little "windy" Earl

Hey Jim, On the First Gen., the nipple on Cylinder #1, (front, left) has a hose on it that goes to the boost sensor instead of a Vacuum Cap. Earl

Hey Jim, The object of the Carb. Sync., on any bike is to get all of the Carbs., pulling the same amount Vacuum at the same time. With that being said, the mechanical adjustments might differ from one bike to the next, but when all is said and done, you still want all four Carbs. pulling the same Vacuum. If I remember correctly, the description of the Carb. Sync. procedure in the Second Gen. Maintenance Manual is incorrect and there is a thread on this site that explains the difference in the procedure from the description in the Manual. I am pretty sure that it is Sync. #1 to #2, then #3 to #4, and then right bank to left bank. Hope this helps, Earl

Hey Randy, Both Jean and I send Congrats on the twins, and wanted you to know that you and your family are in our prayers. Earl and Jean

I get Mink Oil Paste at a local Horse Tack Shop and it does a fine job of cleaning and softening the Vinyl Seats on my 86' and 87'Vrs. It is a non petroleum based product and costs is reasonable. In my experience, Go-Jo and Armorall will cause the Vinyl to crack over time, but it does do a really good job of stripping grease off. Just my thoughts, Earl

They could have just as easily pushed it over in the parking lot! It was obviously someone that knows the cameras were not working which means they are in the "inner circle" of people that come there regularly. What if you catch them next time, THEN WHAT! A fight would surely mean you would loose your membership anyway. I personally don't like going where I'm not welcome and have enough friends and riding buddies to live without going to a place where I would be worried about my motorcycle EVERY SECOND I was there. This is just a side note but I would be concerned what message I was sending my son since he was a witness to the event. Would you be teaching him to disregard the time tested addage," Fool me once, shame on me....." As always, it is up to you to decide what you feel "warm and fuzzy" about, I don't know about your town but there are more places to buy an adult beverage in my town then there are churches! My name is Earl Harrell (skydoc_17) and thats what I think about this issue.

I went to Napa Auto parts and built this simple but effective Vacuume Manifold to check my Morgan Carbtune. Here is a breakdown of the parts and cost (pic below): Part# 2-616 (2 needed) Vacuume Connector $1.49 each $2.98 Part# H-459 (1 foot needed) 5/32 Vacuume Tubing $.99 1 qty. 1/4-20 screw Free from toolbox 6% Tax (Pa.) $.24 -------- $4.21 Total I hooked all 4 Carbtune lines to the manifold and hooked the Manifold line to one of the carbs. on my 87'VR. My Carbtune checked out OK. Earl

Hey Pegscrapper, First off I just wanted to say that I admire the many mods you have done to your Second Gen. You Sir are a "True Motorhead" as am I and I find your posts educational and refreshing. Because you have shared so many bits of information with me and others I will share what I have found out the R1/R6 calipers on First Gens. The R1/R6 calipers will only mount to the MKII First Gens, (1986-1993) The BIG difference between the stock calipers on the First Gen. VR as well as the Second Gen. RSV is the fact that the stock calipers are a two piece design and the R1/R6 calipers are a one piece design. Here is what I have discovered about putting the R1/R6 caliper on the back of a First Gen., The stock two piece caliper actually flexes open as the pistons contract on the rotor, as the master cylinder forces maximum brake fluid pressure into the two piece caliper body, there comes a time when the pressure becomes so great that the two piece caliper actually "collapses" on the rotor, causing the rotor "lock-up". In the case of the one piece R1/R6 caliper, the brake piston pressure is much smoother and controlled and there is virtually no "caliper flex" allowing a much better "feel" during the actuation of the rear brake. I run a Stainless Steel rear brake line from the master cylinder port that DOES NOT HAVE the proportioning valve and I have NEVER had a rear wheel lock-up no matter how hard or how fast I hit the rear brake. The technological advance of the one piece R1/R6 caliper, In my opinion would solve most of the rear brake lock-up problems with the Second Gen. RSV due to the above described condition of the two piece RSV calipers. I am willing to chat further about this upgrade with anyone that is interested. Just my observations, Earl

I have a tendency to lean towards Safety and Performance mods (sometimes not in that order) over "bling". It's not that I don't like "bling" but being on a budget causes you to choose. The single best upgrade/mod. I have done for my bike, hands down has been the VR to R1 Brake Swap. The second best upgrade/mod. was adding LED lighting to the rear of my bike. (Pics attached below) Earl

Then maybe you should fix that pesky exhaust gasket!.....Unless you sing REALLY WELL!! Earl

Hey Wayne, Things like that just drive me crazy. For some reason and only on the Yamaha Venture it seems like a fair amount of the repairs I have tried to do to my 87'VR and 86'VR have taken more than one try to get right. I have to admit that some of the repairs have been done with "used parts" and even some fabricated parts so that may have something to do with it. If I go to all of the trouble to "fix" something on my bikes then by golly it will be fixed when I'm done or "It ain't fixed yet"! Or on the other hand you could just turn up the radio, after all, it is riding season!! Earl

While on my way to the Dunlap Restaurant last Saturday to the PA M&E I stopped to refuel and little did I know as I drove away from the gas station my check book had fallen out of my back pocket. Well believe you me I found out when I arrived home because Jean was standing on the front porch with our home phone in her hand. As I took the receiver from her a womans voice said to me, "Is this Earl Harrell" I said "Yes" and she said, "I found your check book in the road in front of the gas station here in Chambersburg, Pa. But don't worry, I'll mail it to you." I thanked her very much and went into the house. A short time later, I got another call from another lady and she said "Is this Earl Harrell", I said "Yes" and she said I found a single check laying across the street from the gas station in Chambersburg, Pa. But don't worry, I'll mail it to you." I thanked her very much as well and rushed to the computer to see if any money had been taken from my account. All was well and I went to the bank first thing Monday morning. I put a temporary hold on all of the checks in the checkbook but am happy to say that today in the mail, arrived my checkbook minus one check and in another letter, the missing check was there. I have never seen two acts of "random kindness" happen at the same time and from two different people be directed at me. My top priority today was to pick out "Thank You" cards and place money in them for the time and postage of these two wonderful people, that I will probably never meet, but reminded me that "no matter how bad times are, you can always take a moment to help someone" I know things have been tough for many of the members of this site, I myself have been Laid Off since Christmas, and I just wanted to share this glimmer of hope with everyone here, as these two strangers have shared their hope with me. Earl and Jean

I'll take #13, Monty! Earl

Hey Ken, Thanks for updating us on the increased gas mileage you're seeing on you Second Gen. RSV. I too saw an increase in mileage, but the real savings for me was the fact that I don't have the oily mess in my Airbox any more and the general performance of my 87'VR is much better. It's great news that the mod worked for you and it was my pleasure to help you with it. Earl

Hey Ron, Just kidding! When "ballancing" carb. #1 to carb. #2 screw "A" varies the amount of vacuume between the two carbs. For a rough base line my 87'VR pulls approx. 26 to 30 cmhg. at idle. It decreases dramatically when above idle. Hope this helps, Earl

Hey Piper, I have the Carbtune Pro, and what I did was to build a small manifold to verify the accuracy of the Carbtune before I use it. I got the parts at NAPA Auto Parts, I bought 2 connectors Part #2-616, and 1 foot of 5/32 vacuum line, part #H-459. It costs me about $5.00 for the whole rig. There is a pic below. Now about the Colortune, I have used a Colortune on the inline 4 cylinder Honda's for years but the way the Venture motor is set up with the deep spark plug recess and the fact that the motor is tucked back into the frame, I found it almost impossible to install the colortune and then be able to get a good view into the window to see the color of the spark. I think your money would be better spent on a decent Tachometer. Take a look at this one, it is the one that I use: http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/esi325.html I have also included a pic of the unit below. When I bought my Carbtune, I skipped buying the pouch and went to Wal-mart and bought a small plastic tool box, It costs $3.87. This allowed me to keep the four vacuum lines connected all the time instead of removing them every time I was finished using the carbtune, which is what you must do if you want to store the Carbtune in the pouch. The reason being the four "nipples" at the top of the Carbtune are plastic, and it would be my luck to break one of the "nipples" off removing the vacuum line. I really don't have any good tips on the valve adjustment tool or shims, I have a First Gen. and I believe the tool is different for the Second Gen. but I am not positive about that. Keeping a decent supply of valve shims on hand is going to be a bit pricey, or you could check the adjustment, then order the shims you need but that will mean quite a bit of "down time" waiting for the shims, not to mention the costs of the valve cover gaskets. I hate to see anyone spend money on a tool that is not very useful, or is not functioning properly. Hope this helps, Earl

Hey Kite, I didn't think the mercury manometers were available any more. Where can I get one of the mecury manometers that you have pictured in your first post? Thanks for the help, Earl

Hey Harry, I turn a pretty fair wrench but when it comes to electric problems I'm all thumbs. It took me three times to solve my E5 error on my CLASS System. Take another shot at it, you might get lucky. Earl

Had a great ride over, 39 degrees when I left home. It must have been 70+ by the time I got there! Boy, there sure was a lot of second gens. Great food, friendly people, and a great ride home. My bike wasn't voted the best, but it wasn't voted the dirtiest or needs the most repair either! All around, a good day. I got 44 MPG on the way home, was happy about that. I still think SKID trailered his bike over, there wasn't a single @#$% bug on the front of it!:rotf:I called Jean while I was there, (she had to work today) Of course she said have a great time! ("I hate you") I even stopped at Hill Top and had an adult beverage at a Harley biker bar, they treated me great! ("Nice car, What is that a road sofa? Maybe you should park NEXT DOOR") Have pics below, Earl

Hey Lutz, I tried the second link and it was in Kanuc (english)! $200.00 bills. I must say I am not to impressed with the Carbtune, I have been in contact with Sean at Morgan. I built a manifold to check the accuracy of the Carbtune and it was off. It worked well on the 86'VR but not so good on the 87'VR. I am bumbed! I do a fair amount of Carb. Syncs. so I guess @ bills isn't too much to ask. Does anyone know where someone can get a good Mecury Manometer from? Earl