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The Crimson Knight

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Everything posted by The Crimson Knight

  1. The Crimson Knight
    LoneStar, is it too late to order a set for me? My 88 is in the shop with bad Ignition computer. Looks like it'll be there for a while, at least until I can get my aftermarket one in from the Cezech Repub. Anyway, they have battery and battery box all taken out currently and I'm thinking it's a PERFECT time to swap out cables!! Please let me know!
  2. The Crimson Knight
    I got a response back from IgniTech letting me know that their system is designed for bikes without cruise control. They are not sure if there is a difference though, so they have asked for pictures of my ignition system and the wiring. I'll work on getting out to the shop again to take some pictures.
  3. The Crimson Knight
    I know this thread has not been touched for a while, but my 88 VR's ignition computer is shot and I posted a new thread to ask for suggestions on replacing it. That thread can be seen here: http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46194 Several people wrote back with ideas and one of them (RandyR), suggested I read this thread. After some discussion with my mechanic, I decided to contact IgniTech and see if I can get one shipped to me to replace mine. It seems like people had good results with this and it seems like it's a decent price, plus a 2 year warranty... My mechanic and I are both confident that we can get it working. I'll be downloading and using tvking's file for the ignition system and see how it works, assuming the communication and ordering all go to plan with IgniTech. Anyway, if anyone has an update or new info that they haven't posted yet, please do so, as I greatly appreciate the help. ~Chris
  4. The Crimson Knight
    I thought I would post a brief update. I visited my mechanic today and went over the options I had. He was very familiar with computer programmed ignition systems and was impressed by IgniTech's product. We decided to persue that route and see if it works. Since it's programable, brand new and comes with a 2 year warranty (hopefully won't be needed), I feel comfortable with the $225 + Shipping price tag. So I have contacted the company and requested to order one. I'll wait to hear back from them and let you know how I make out. I'll be posting in the original thread about IgniTech so I can share our results (hopefully all positive). I want to thank all of you who made offers and hope this solution works as expected. But if it doesn't I'm happy to know that I have other options to pursue. -Chris
  5. The Crimson Knight
    Thank you, David. I have contacted John about your idea and will wait to hear back from him on if he can help me. That could be an excellent option.
  6. The Crimson Knight
    Thanks RandyR, that certainly is an interesting thread. I'm not sure it's a solution for me though. I'm not mechanical enough to understand 100% of the information discussed there. The IgniTech TCI (which I'm assuming is the same as a CDI) is a good solution if you know how to tweak the timing using the software. But it seems there is still work to be done on that and I'm not sure if my mechanic is familiar with adjusting timings in that manner. I certainly wouldn't want to blow a head gasket or throw a rod.. Again, this is just my perception based off what I can understand. I'm visitng the "Dr." on Saturday so he can cover what they did to determine that the CDI needed replacement. I'll be discussing this with him. I have a feeling that he'd have to read through the thread (6 pages) to get a feeling about the IgniTech TCI. Because I certainly couldn't paraphrase it. $250 - ish for a programable, NEW CDI / TCI is a heck of a deal though.. I really appreciate the info!
  7. The Crimson Knight
    Yea, kinda been off the radar for a while. Crazy weather we've been having here! Haven't ridden much at all in the last 6 months. Now i'm paying the price, obviously. Anywho, that's my New Year's resolution, RIDE MAS!
  8. The Crimson Knight
    Hey Venture Riders My 88 VR is in the shop with a faulty CDI that needs replacement. I have hit up ebay and a few other sites, found one but not sure about how often the CDI's go out on the MK IIs. So I'm weary about buying a used one pulled off a bike that I don't know anything about. Yamaha dealer is about $500 *OUCH* My mechanic is working on trying to find one also. I trust him and what he can find but he and I both agreed that neither one of us can look everywhere. So I'm reaching out to you all for help to get me back on two wheels... Does anyone know of someone or somewhere I could look to find a CDI for a 1988 Venture Royale that's reputable? Thanks for reading guys (and gals) - Chris "The Crimson Knight"
  9. The Crimson Knight
    I see that and raise you 2!! I'm extremely excited about this possibility. I'm currently looking into rear LED lights for my brake and this upgrade would be HUGE. I'm already making plans to save up the money to make the 1st purchase when available (respectively)... Please keep us updated, I'm very interested to find out how it looks for the Mk II, as that's what I have (88 VR).
  10. The Crimson Knight
    Yes I think we should. would be great to make the ride with you and some others. Safer too.
  11. The Crimson Knight
    Yea, that's a finger! It does...
  12. The Crimson Knight
    I was looking at the map the other day thinking about the trip to Cody. I think that would work out very well. I would be honored to ride along with you guys from Sioux Falls.
  13. The Crimson Knight
    Yea, I'm hoping that I can too. I'm going to try to get the wifey to come with this time. She likes riding and has been missing out. We both need a vacation badly...
  14. The Crimson Knight
    Hey all! Well I'm back, digitally of course. I never went anywhere physically. I want to apologize for disappearing like I did for the last four months. It's amazing it's been a third of a year since I logged in here last and I feel real bad for that. I spent the last few days reading some posts trying to catch up as best I can. Read about the trip to Cody, saw the flyer and going to start working on making that a possibility. It will be the longest trip I have ever made on a bike and need to plan carefully. I read about MasterGuns putting his VR out to pasture and getting a Harley. I know no one is perfect and I'll be the first one to stand up and admit it. With all the excitement of getting my VR at the end of summer and getting my 'list' of things done to it before the Venture Rally in Athens, I got my priorites messed up. I hadn't realized I had spent almost every night and most of every weekend for over a month with the bike. Either working, riding, cleaning, staring, etc. And was not spending time with my family like I should. I realized that the best way is to just get out of the pool and get back in one step at a time. I just hadn't realized that 4 months could go by so fast. My wife is in school during the day and works nights so most of my free time is spent doing housework and taking care of our toddler. Until she finishes school and gets on a regular 8-5 job (3 more months!) I have to be careful how I spend my time. I haven't done much with the bike since the rally other than start it and take it for a quick mantenance ride every few weeks. However, I'm happy to say that this past week I spent taking every part of body work off the 88 with the exception of the rear trunk and the upper fairing/lights/electronics. I drove it up today to my mechanic in Hurst. Going to have some things taken care of that I don't have the time + know how to do. And would just simply feel better if an experienced person took care of. So, hopefully, after about 3 weeks I should have it back and in the meantime will be cleaning/polishing/JBWelding up all the body work in prep for the bike's return. I'm very excited about the comming riding season. As it will be the first one that (if things go well with the wife's job) my family should be on a regular schedule and I should have time to ride like I haven't been able to in 3 years. And my bike will be in tip-top shape to boot! I hope everyone is well. Missed all you guys and glad to be back online! Drop me a message, PM, e-mail or the finger if you like (I deserve it). -Chris "The Crimson Knight"
  15. The Crimson Knight
    For a future project... What and how did you go about replacing all the 161 with LED?
  16. The Crimson Knight
    It was late and I was tired, I'll have to double check when i get home tonight. But I'm fairly certain I was getting stereo from the GPS/ 3.5mm jack. Yes, and I have an amplifier for the GPS if needed. But its the AM/FM radio that super quiet. I'm going to go over it with a fine tooth comb. Also see if I hook the Cassette player back up if the loss of left channel doesn't go away. Thanks Dave
  17. The Crimson Knight
    Hey all. I ran into a problem late last night that confused me and I was wondering if anyone has come across the same problem and possibly found a fix. Mother, one of our fine Canadian friends, has provided me with a cable that plugs into the DIN connector in place of the Cassette deck. It has a switch that toggles back and forth from AM/FM to the cable, and an 3.5mm headphone jack. I hooked mine up late last night. Got GREAT audio quality from my Garmin. But when I flipped the switch back to AM/FM I only got audio on one speaker (right) and it was very very quiet. I had to turn volume up all the way and even then was only moderate for a quiet garage. Should have been blazing loud! ?? I did notice that when I unplugged the Garmin's 3.5mm headphone cable, the audio volume from AM/FM doubled but was still quieter than what it should be. Any one have any thoughts?? Really don't want to stick the Cassette deck back in..
  18. The Crimson Knight
    Yes, I'm proud to say that for the last 2 weeks I have not gone to bed earlier than 1am. Mmm. Maybe proud is the wrong word..
  19. The Crimson Knight
    well when I got the bike the right horn was dead as a doornail and the other one sounded like a giant metal mexican jumping bean... Also had plans for adding some driving lights for better visibilty. Then ran across post about Squidly's brackets. Went about ordering squidley's brackets and a pair of new, crome covered and hopefully very loud horns. about $60 total. Removed the old horns and cleaned up the wires. WD40 all screws and mounting holes for easy install. Brackets were a perfect fit. Horns also got matching wires and they were easy mount too. This was fairly straightforward. But after install looked alot more noticeable (in a good way) Next will be the lights. They are finished but have to post tomorrow. I have a bike waiting on me
  20. The Crimson Knight
    Yes you are right about the factory speakers. I was very impressed by their audio quality knowing their age and probably played their share of music. I'm one of those people that, when it comes to electronics, if it's 20 years old, I gotta upgrade it if possible. Yes I removed the duct work and plugged the intake under the front light. Not sure about grills. I'm going to leave them open for now, just have to be careful. I would like to just find some speaker grill sheets, if that makes sense, and cut out my own shape.. but I don't even know if you can get anything like that, or where..
  21. The Crimson Knight
    As far as what goes THROUGH the speakers.. I have gotten a cable from 'Mother' on this website that arrived today from Canada, Thanks Mother! This will be replacing my Cassette deck and give me a 3.5mm plug. That will then run to my Garmin Nuvi 760. As it also has a card slot and ability to play MP3 with it's media player. BUT, I have read that the cable can cause low volume. So, after all that work on the speakers, NO WAY i'm going to let that interfere with my new beauties... So I searched for a 3.5 mm in line amplifier... Only one I could find that I trusted ran off a AAA battery... I sure didn't want to replace batteries after a ride. So I went and bought a custom dc adapter that put out 1.5v. Solder that onto the terminals of the amp and boom! No battery changing. I'll be installing this tonight. I'll update with results. Wish me luck!
  22. The Crimson Knight
    Sorry got click happy. Here are the pics for the above post.
  23. The Crimson Knight
    Next step was to fabricate new peices to cover the holes and mount the speakers to. This I took very slowly. The plastic was cut out of a very large battery box bought from Wal-Mart. I got this idea from Utadventure! Thanks bud! It worked very well. I started by cutting some templates from cardboard for both sides and using the them to cut out on the plastic. Used dremel to cut out the plastic and then razor knife to smooth out the edges and get it down to detail. I used a compas to cut out the holes in the center for the speakers as I cannot draw a circle worth a damn. Worked very well. Some more plastic melting with the dremel and I had two holes. I opted to drop th speakers in the holes and having the outer lip of the speakers on top of the plastic versus mounting them on the back for two reasons. (1) Stability - because of the thin sections of plastic after cutting out the speaker hole, I was concerned about it loosing it's structural integrity when mounting on the bike. (2) I was concerned that the flimsy plastic would not be able to hold up the weight of the speakers if only used screws. I used super glue under the edges of the speaker that sat on the plastic AND screws to hold it in place. Better safe than sorry. They turned out to be very very strong hold. In the pics you will notice the large silver 'rim' style speaker covers, but I later took these off because of clearance issue when putting the left and right panels back on. I would have had to butcher them to get it to fit. Better off with out them. Wired them up and installed them. Carefully placing screws (later replaced with black ones to blend in better) through the plastic into the covers after putting predrilled holes to prevent splitting any plastic. Last pic is one took today. Speakers were easily 100% - 100% louder and clearer and everything I had hoped they would be after the install. Once I get everything back together I will be aiming the tweeters in the center to my ears. Speakers were about $90 on crutchfield,$50 on ebay new and shipped
  24. The Crimson Knight
    Well this first one came up sorta unexpectedly. After the first weekend of riding I noticed 2 things about the speakers. They were OK for 20 yr old speakers, but loving my music as much as I do, I knew I was going to swap them out for newer better ones. THEN, on my way home on Sat, I noticed that the upper left vent louver, next to the speaker, was loose. It looked like it was about to fall out. So right as I reached down to grab it, the little SOB popped out, hit me on the shoulder and hit the ground. Of course, by the time I circled around someone had flattened it. Devistated about the newfound hole in my dash I knew I had to do something... Then it hit me... What's right next to the vents? SPEAKERS.. So my plan, remove both vents, modify the covers to accept a larger speaker. I opted for two Polk Audio 5 1/4, 2 way marine speakers. I tried to find something bigger, but looking at the dimensions, it wouldn't be possible. Not to mention the power rating was almost 5 times what the old speakers were. AND these had tweeters that you could aim and point at you.. nice touch. So the first step was to disassemble the covers, dig out the speakers... This was very time consuming for me, not knowing how everything came apart, but I took it slow and it went well. In the pics you can see the left cover with the missing vent. Also the back of the stock speakers and the cover with both vent and stock speakers gone. Then I took some comparison shots of both new and old speakers.. quite a difference I must say. Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
  25. The Crimson Knight
    Well, as some of you know I traded my 89 Honda Hawk in for a 88 Venture Royale about 2 weeks ago. The first weekend I got it I put about 400 miles on it and then parked it, planning on quickly completing a short list of changes. Well between learning more about the condition of the little do-dads on the bike, reading all the magnanimous ideas here and the internet, that short list quickly turned into 2 pages of 'things' to do... hehe.. *sigh* So... Since some of these are ideas already on here and some are my original ideas I thought I would post them all with pics to share. Some are finished and some I will be posting later as I complete them. So here we go!
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