GaryZ

Thank you to everyone for the useful comments and concerns, that is why I started this thread. I did a little inspecting/measuring and found; The back bedroom is 89" wide and there is a hot water heater where I would need to place the front tire to get the VR in at an angle. No joy. The length of the bedroom is not long enough either, however, there is a door opening that could allow the front tire to extend into the hall. I would need to put the ramp-door on the back. The only things in the way; the electric inverter/circuit panel (under the bed and right in the middle of the bedroom) and an outside accessible storage area. Because the whole back of the camper will be a garage, I don't think the storage area is a big deal (yet). And moving the electrical stuff is within my wheelhouse. I need to get under the thing and look at the frame . . . When the weather and my knee is better.

Thanks! Most folks just want to tell me "no way"

I have also been kicking this around for a long time. I have the perfect toy hauler designed in my mind. The entry door would be six feet from the front of the trailer. The front would be a dinette setup that folds into a full or queen bed. Under the seats of the dinette would be the fresh water tank and generator. The fresh water tank allows ballast to be added when the bike is loaded on the rear. On the sides and over the axles would be the bathroom, kitchen, black water and grey water tanks. The 9' - 10' garage area would be closed off from the rest of the trailer with a rear loading ramp. Starting with a 8.5 x 24' aluminum cargo trailer, it seems possible . . . The problem is cost.

As I have already said, toy haulers are expensive when new and expensive/hard to find used. I was planning on a making the back/side door large enough for my 1st Gen. My bike is about 8' long and the camper is a couple inches less than 8' on the inside. I think it will fit at a slight angle, if the floor will support it.

As I mentioned, this camper only cost me $3,000. It needs a little TLC on the inside, but it has good bones. It seems possible that I can reinforce the rear frame.

5900lbs is my estimate including a generator, a 1st Gen VR, full fresh water tank, and than I added a little extra . . .

My trailer is used and I bought it for $3,000. I am not financially, or mentally, capable of cutting up an expensive camper, and a folding ramp door is what I had in mind. For those of you recommending that I buy a toy hauler rather than build one; Have you priced them? Have you checked the used market??

All good comments . . . Didn't think about the trailer frame not being able to support 800lbs behind the axle. My research has indicated that desired tongue weight is 10 - 12% of total weight. The specs for this trailer seem to put the dry weight at 4600lbs. A full fresh water tank adds about 250lbs. Misc stuff will add another 250lbs. Add the VR and it is now 5900lbs. That makes the proper tongue weight about 600lbs. These numbers are well withing the towing ratings for her Navigator and my C2500. How do I weigh the tongue of the trailer?

Yes, that is why I asked the folks here. Maybe somebody has direct experience. I was thinking of counter-balancing the tail weight by adding a generator on the front . . .

We bought a 24' Prowler bumper-pull camper last night. It has a bedroom in the back with its own door. I want to convert to back bedroom into the garage for carring my VR by enlarging the door opening and make the door a ramp. Any one see potential problems with this idea?

My knee pain has been getting better for the last couple of days. I think by taking Ibuprofen regularly (for the inflammation) and staying off my feet as much as possible has helped. I have been walking with a cane or crutches most of the time. I had my first physical therapy appointment today. The therapist was a young lady going to school and doing her "rotation" at this office. She asked a bunch of questions, checked the knee (cold hands!) and watched me limp around. I asked her the big question; Is PT going to help bone spurs? Her answer was surprisingly good. She said her observations were that there is swelling, and obviously I have pain. But, she thinks that bone spurs may not be the problem. Although we do not know why the knee started acting up, she observed that I was not extending my leg fully when walking and this was putting strain on my knee joint. This was true. I have been favoring the knee for about a month. I could have been causing the extended inflammation. With me laying on my back she measured the distance from the back of my legs to the examining table; the good one was 3mm (target is less than 5), the bad one was 12mm! She slowly massaged and moved the knee around and got it down to 6mm. She showed me how to properly walk with a cane and insisted that I fully extend my knee for every step. The difference was very noticeable. I am walking around the house without a cane and the pain is below "5". At this point I am willing to give the PT a chance.

"6. I see the front forks have what appear to be anti fork dive system is this what this is ? I see where the back brake applies the rear and front left brakes, and the front applies the right front. I made an attempt to bleed these when bleeding the brake system with a vacuum bleeder but it did not appear to bring any fluid out? Am i Missing something?" My '85 has Progressive fork springs. I have de-linked my brakes and disconnected the anti-dive devices by simply removing the hoses. I have also reduced the weight of my '85, probably not as much as you will be doing to yours. Unlike many others here, I think the stock, de-linked brakes on my Gen1 Mk1 work fine. This conclusion is based on comparing my modified '85 VR to my '99 ZX11D Ninja. There is a thread somewhere that talks about fabricating a plate for the top of the anti-dive device that will allow you to adjust damping.

"The right side however is a different story. There is a plate with peg mounted to it for braking that will be removed with the markland system - Does the right footpeg bracket and peg just bolt in where the plate and peg is in the picture?" My '85 had floorboards and I discovered that my they cramped my ankles after a bit. I replaced the front floorboards with these adjustable driver footpegs found on ebay:

I have been diagnosed with bone spurs in my right knee. There is swelling and pain enough that I am hobbling around with a cane trying to keep weight off the knee. The doc has given me a knee brace and made an appointment for physical therapy. This PT will likely last through the spring and into summer. Pardon me, I am confused as to how excising the knee will help reduce chunks of calcium inside my knee! Anyone have personal experience with bone spurs?

Electric fuel pumps will automatically shut off when the preset back pressure is reached. I think the manufacturers want the fuel to shut off in case of an accident. the fuel pump is allowed to run for only a few seconds, when the key is first turned on, to pump fuel into the carbs. The electric pump can constantly run when the engine is running. My Ninja has the same thing. All cars with electric fuel pump will have the same feature. BTW: To test the electric fuel pump in a car or bike the fuel pump relay is bypassed. Both of my Ninjas are permanently bypassed because I couldn't figure out why they would not work. They have been bypassed for years

Many on the forum have seen my conversion. This is a description for newbies: 1985 Venture Royale purchased for $600, very rough looking with second gear popping out. Cleaned it up, sync'd the carbs and rode it for a while by skipping past second. Found a 1987 1300cc engine in MO. and was told it had about 44,000 miles on it. Arranged a meet in Tulsa. Cleaned up the 1300 and tested compression, etc. It seemed to be sound. Found Vmax cams on Ebay, a forum member had Vmax springs, a local shop had needles for the carbs. Adjusted the low speed jets many times using my home-made tool. Tried different shims on the carb needles. The Beast ran pretty good, in between carb problems. Rode the beast for some time. But, every time it sat in the garage for a couple of weeks the carbs would screw up. The last carb failure coincided with my acquisition of a 1992 VR. The '85 has been sitting for a couple of years now. Decided I wanted to rip out the stock carb set and try something else. FI is too expensive, thought about half of a Q-Jet, Then I saw a story about a primary/secondary two barrel carb and home-made intake. I have the carb, waiting on an opportunity to build the manifold. I have lots of other tales about this build, all you have to do is ask! Here are some pictures . . .

The Gen1 MkII specifications list the suspension travel: Front - 5.5" Rear - 4.1"

It seems to me the LEDs could be paralleled to the original bulb and you could enjoy the brighter lights. This will not reduce the load on the alternator, so, maybe you parallel only the circuits that need the load resistance and install LEDs in the running lights, dash lights, and fog lights.

I bought mine last year, paid around $25 and it hangs on the wall.

For years I used a C-clamp and a small block of wood. Then I bought a bead-breaker from Harbor Freight and never used the clamp again.

I have been using a the old seal and a piece of PVC as a slide hammer

Really, really enjoying your experience! I wish I had traveled more when I was younger . . . On another note; Why hasn't anyone on this forum mentioned that Canadian Ventures have adjustable carb needles:confused07: How do I get a set of these?

I put together this comparison sheet when I bought my first Venture. It shows tech data on the Gen1 MKl vs Gen1 MKll vs Vmax vs Gen2 Venture vs Vmax vs Royal Star Jul2011.pdf

Rode my '92 VR from Austin to Galveston on Friday with a couple of BMWs. We ran pretty hard most of the way. I got a little spooked when the '92 started acting funny a little over 100mph. It started rocking hard left/right, not shaking its head. Braking didn't stop the rocking. At the next stop I added air and damping to the rear and it was better. My '85 has never pulled this crap! We were 30 minutes out of Galveston and heading home on Sunday when the rain started. It must have rained on us for over 100 miles. At one point we were slowed to 55mph in a 75mph zone, running with our flashers on. Cars and trucks were not passing us! It was a long ride back to Austin . . .

I replaced my '85 Venture 1200 with a '87 1300 and added Vmax cams / springs. I later added Vmax carb needles and I am still fighting the carbs. You already have a leg up with the Vmax carbs! A consideration for your project will be fresh air in and exhaust out. I have been told the Venture's stock airbox will not fit with the Vmax intake and carbs. Also, more power requires freer flowing exhaust. Keep us in the loop as you make the changes!