jimmyenglish

If you're capable of doing your own maintenance, the BMW's are totally awesome and not expensive at all. One of my other bikes is a 93' k75 and since I bought it have put over 50k on it (right at 100k now). The 3 and 4 cylinder flat k engines are some of the best in the in the world. The BMW's will take the most extreme punishment of any bike, IMO. When parts go, it's typically in slow motion. The pinion bearing on mine went out on the drive shaft years ago and and it howled like crazy for 900 miles! (Chicago to SC on a Sunday). When I replaced the final drive the old one must have had 1/2 cm of play in it. Lightly used final drive was $125. Used parts are abundant and affordable. Nobody but the rich guys buy new parts unless it's something very specific. And even then, often times there's alternatives (hall effect sensor from Honeywell, fuel pump from a mid 80's Mustang, clutch from a vw. The list goes on). I love my first gen (86) and would never get rid of it (such an awesome motor and way faster than the wings) but the k1200 is a righteous bike. First gen is way crampy in the knees and I'm 5' 10". Unless you have highway pegs. Best bet; get both. I too, want a k1200.

If you're capable of doing your own maintenance, the BMW's are totally awesome and not expensive at all. One of my other bikes is a 93' k75 and since I bought it have put over 50k on it (right at 100k now). The 3 and 4 cylinder flat k engines are some of the best in the in the world. The BMW's will take the most extreme punishment of any bike, IMO. When parts go, it's typically in slow motion. The pinion bearing on mine went out on the drive shaft years ago and and it howled like crazy for 900 miles! (Chicago to SC on a Sunday). When I replaced the final drive the old one must have had 1/2 cm of play in it. Lightly used final drive was $125. Used parts are abundant and affordable. Nobody but the rich guys buy new parts unless it's something very specific. And even then, often times there's alternatives (hall effect sensor from Honeywell, fuel pump from a mid 80's Mustang, clutch from a vw. The list goes on). I love my first gen (86) and would never get rid of it (such an awesome motor and way faster than the wings) but the k1200 is a righteous bike. First gen is way crampy in the knees and I'm 5' 10". Unless you have highway pegs. Best bet; get both. I too, want a k1200.

Hi gang! I just recieved a Shindengen FH0020 from Jack at roadster cycles (great guy) and I'm wondering how to hook this up to the bike. I have a new stator as well. Do I use the harness plug and just ditch the brown wire or skip the harness plug and go straight to the battery with the 10 gauge, nicely crafted piece that came with the rr? Seems like the harness goes up to the dash and beyond? Thanks everyone! Great forum as always. John

Hi guys, I'm replacing the pull cables on my 86. I can't seem to determine which ones are which. JP cycles seems to have a bunch as well as some nos on eBay but not sure. Are the control side cables the same? carb side too? Is looking at used sets on eBay a waste of time? Thanks in advance! John

Hi all, does anyone have a source for carb diaphragms? The siriusconinc.com guy is out of stock till aug. Any other bikes that use the same? I've googled till my wrist hurts and all the prices are insane! Thanks, John:225:

Taurus Judge.

Hi everyone. I'm looking for opinions regarding the stator in my 86' w/90k miles. My wife and I do a big trip everyear (w/trailer) and this year we're going to Ireland. Currently, there is an oil leak somewhere around the stator cover that I have to fix to pass the vehicle inspection. I figure if I have take that cover off again maybe it's a good time to just go ahead and replace the stator while I'm in there and ward off any chance of failure on the road. It's always worked fine in the past although the voltage gauge is usually flat at idle. Of course, if I do this I will upgrade the regulator/rectifier as well. Looking around it seems a lot of people have done the Rick's stator. Is the high output one really worth it? We don't run much more than the standard accessories (plus trailer lights). Read a lot of horror stories about the electrosport one and the buckeye's is just out of my price range. What's the longevity record of the Rick's one? Or should I look for a NOS? I don't usually "fix" things that aren't broken but I don't have a problem putting $ into this bike since I plan on riding it till my dying day and a stator breakdown here in Europe would likely be a trip ender. So what do you guys think? Am I worrying too much or should I just go ahead and do it? Thanks a lot in advance! This is a great forum! John

Super. One more question: is the brake line length the same for the r1 caliper? I have an aftermarket stainless with a wee bit of wiggle room but it looks like the connector on the caliper is a little farther away.

Thanks for the replies. So perhaps a stupid question: which r1 caliper for the rear? Looking at pictures it seems like a front left would fit but not a rear r1 on the venture. Is that right? Thanks again.

I started smoking cigarettes because I used to read Encyclopedia Brown. He smoked coffee grounds and that's what I first smoked when I was 12! I think the alcohol lobby keeps weed illegal. Im Active Duty Army and alcohol is everywhere. Suicides, wife/children/cohort murdering is rampant everywhere and alcohol is almost always involved. As a former (and someday future) pot smoker of many years, I've never seen the violence and wrecklessness of weed compared to booze.

Hi gang! Rear brake is dragging on my 86. Bled it out today, going to rebuild cylinder (since it's almost 30 yrs old but seems ok) but the caliper seems to be clearly dragging. De linked a couple years ago (best mod I've done on this bike). Question is, should I bother rebuilding it or just get a used one? Bought the r6 calipers for the front couple years ago and they totally rock. Is there an aftermarket caliper for this bike? What other bikes rebuild kit could I use?

Thanks Jeff. Just been a pet peeve of mine for a long time now.

I was wondering the other day why my lights dim in unison with the turn signal or brake being on? I've noticed this on every motorcycle (except my K75, which has the same Odyssy battery my Venture has) I've ever owned. Battery is good but even when the battery was brand new it would do this. Voltmeter always reads good. I started thinking about this because I've never noticed this on a car, only on bikes. My wife has a crappy 98' Opel Corsa 1 liter that has a battery barely bigger than the one in the Venture and the headlight/dashlights don't dim when the signal is on. Just curious. Thanks!

Hi gang, just got back from a 2500mile trek to Lithuania and back w/the wife. One thing we both agreed on for improvement is the seat. It's tortuous after awhile! I've spoken to Rick Butler about his mod which I want to have done. My main question, however, I painted the bike black last year and want to reupholster the seat to black (current color is brown and getting ratty anyway). Rick had suggested I remove the cover and send it off somewhere to be copied then he can reinstall. I want to do this with the backrest and armrests as well. Does anyone know of an upholstery shop that will make a new cover by copying an old? Thanks in advance!

$15 heat gun and xacto blade will also take it off with precision. Just be careful and move consistently.

My wife and I do a long (2500+ mile) trip each year pulling a trailer. I'm certain the linked brakes caused us to crash back in 2009. Granted the tongue weight was a bit high and the front end was running light (I've since corrected that). We were pulling into a gas station in Hawley, CO and there was road construction. Going maybe 15 mph, there was new pavement with an invisible layer of dust/sand/whoknows grit on the lane next to the station entrance. Having pulled the trailer plenty before ( I thought I knew better), I grabbed a smigdeon of rear brake. The front wheel broke and it was over. We went down really hard and it hurt like hell. The bike was fine, trailer didn't unhook but my ankle was gashed. My wife would've been dead if it weren't for her helmet (smashed her head in the ground). With a heavy bike such as this (especially laden w/or without passenger and especially w/ trailer), in my opinion, the linked brakes are ridiculous. The art of braking on a motorcycle is the combination/option of front/rear or both. I delinked last year w/stainless lines, R6 calipers, progressive springs and new rotors. I feel MUCH more in control and the bike behaves like every other motorcycle I've ever ridden. Laden, particularly two up, unless you're going really fast, there's a lot of braking power in the rear wheel alone (which I would rather lock up any day compared to front. Almost impossible to do linked) ,especially if you're pulling a trailer. Just one man's experience.

I did that same thing to my 86' when I bought it in 2008. Worked for about a week. Such a pain in the ass, bought a brand new, $100 vmax starter on ebay and it's been perfect 50k and 5 years since. In my opinion, not worth fussing with. Just replace.

Hi everyone. I have an elusive oil leak on the left side. I just replaced the stator cover gasket and the drive gear cover gasket. I Hondabonded both and high temp rtv 'd (both sides ) of the grommets where the stator wires pass through. After a 120mile ride today I noticed it's still leaking. My question is, where are the probable locations? It's hard to tell because there's oil all over the bottom left side. Doesn't seem to be the stator cover. Could it be the push rod seal? I looked into replacing it a couple years ago when I rebuilt the slave. It wasn't leaving then and it seemed impossible to reach. Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone, I am pulling my hair out trying to find a Fram PH3950 compatible Bosch filter. I'm in Germany and Bosch is the only filters around in my neck of the woods. There is no cross reference anyhwhere that I've found that specifies which Bosch oil filter will fit the Rivco adapter. Any ideas? Thanks!!

That doesn't sound like the baffle to me. I had the baffle prob and it's much more of a rattle. That sounds like a backfire to me. My 86' backfires just like that at idle but it's not so much a chirping sound. More of a burp throug the carb(which I don't know which one, it's done it since I've owned the bike). The baffle woe is a lot more annoying than that.

Hi all, my clutch is starting to slip. It' been along time on the current one (90k and pulling a 440lb trailer for 40k). Googling around it seems the vmax and venture clutches are the same. Is this correct? Also, is it just a matter of swapping in new plates or should the springs be changed as well? Is there any advantage to the Barnett 6 spring type? Thanks in advance and great forum as always!

Awesome idea Freebird! Very cool.

Wow! That is awesome. I too, am shamed. Thanks for posting this!

Hi everyone, I need to clean up the endless accessory wiring coming of the battery of my 86'. I have: driving lights 12v accessory plug x2 (one on dash, one in trunk) amber up front lights (some guy put on) 12v accessory wire for inside trailer accessory plug and int. lights Ford Exlplorer horn w/relay coming straight from batt. There might be another. Everything is fused but I would like to have a barrier strip or something just to clean it up. It's too willy nilly. All ideas greatly appreciated! Thanks and hope you're all having a great spring!

Hi everyone, I'm in the process of taking my 86' to inspection here soon and one of my sure fail issues is there is no rear brake switch. I delinked last year and simply put a plug in the splitter for the rear. I don't remember seeing a pressure switch and I can't remember if the rear brake ever lit the light at all. Is it a pressure switch? Eithier way, I know they're on ebay but I'm not sure where it plugs in and there is no mechanical type switch anywhere on the bike. Where does it go? Thanks!