bongobobny

Becky had a little oops turning into our place this afternoon, she didn't quite see the big gray pickup truck coming from the opposite direction. That white looking thing on the passenger side of the pickup's bumper is Becky's rear passenger door skin... She went to the hospital for a checkup, nothing wrong other than classic seat belt bruising, she is home and is fine other than a little stiff and sore...

Yup, the screws were torqued on just a little too tight...

...or the controller! Do you see any live voltage on the connector going to the controller? Unfortunately, we don't have active schematics of the actual system other than block diagrams so no idea whar the individual lines are doing other than supplying logic info...

OK second stupid (seemingly) question, is your speedometer and odometer lighting up??? I'm looking at the R/G line... http://www.venturerider.org/wiring/99-09%20Yamaha%20Royal%20Star%20Venture%20Wiring%20Diagram%20Rev%20B.pdf With the ignition on, you should see 12 volts on both the R/G line and the Br/W line at the connector for the audio unit...

Yup, well, three Dremel tool stones later, the heads are ground off and the studs removed! Found out why the slot and screwdriver trick didn't work, those bolts are blue Loctite'd in!! Yes, the bolts are M8/1.25 Allen head bolts, the exact same bolts used to hold the rotors on, which I happened to have a few spares of! That's how those safety bolts work, they are Allen head screws that when installed the heads are filled in with some kind of metal filler. So now the new switch assembly is installed and I will rebuild my old one to use as a spare. The new one was rekeyed by a locksmith last fall when my original switch started acting up and I bought a new switch assembly! Now I have to reassemble the bike and install my battery and get the bike fired up for the spring so I can get some riding in before July. I am having toe surgery July 3rd so I will be kind of disabled for pretty much all of July...

Hmmm, one or two faces I haven't seen as of yet...

Nope, they are some kind of tamper proof bolts. If you look at the first picture in this thread, you can see those "safety" bolts. I'm getting the impression drilling is the only option. I'm waiting for tomorrow to go over to Pioneer Motorsports and ask my Cousin who is the Service Manager there how they do it... http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?512-Emergency-Ignition-Switch-Repair

OK, this is going to sound stupid, but have you turned the audio system on after replacing the battery??? To turn the audio system on, with the key in either accessory or run position, press the "audio" button for less than 1 second to turn on, and to turn the system off you press and hold the audio button for more than one second...

OK, I surrender, how the &*$$ do you get those two bolts out?? I tried the old cut a slot into the head trick and used a screwdriver and vice grips to turn them but all I have been successful with is breaking the tips off on two screwdrivers!! Short of literally hacking the old switch into pieces (wanted to save and repair dirty contacts) how do you disassemble the switch from the frame???

Can 'o worms!! You may as well ask what brand of oil to use while you're at it!! I too am an E-3/E-4 fan as they have the best treadwear spec of them all, but other people like the Michelin Commander, Shinkos for economy, etc. We all sort of agree to stay away from Metzler's as they have a propensity for throwing out chunks of rubber and causing accidents...

Holy CRAP!! The wife said she wants to go for a ride tomorrow!!!

Physically moved it from one location in my driveway to another. The battery and the new ignition switch is still on my workbench...

Soooo, Sailor, what you are saying is you want a Goldwing that isn't a Tupperware bike???

I was an XP fan myself, but I also liked 7 over XP as it seemed to be just as stable and a little more versatile than XP! Unless there is some specific program that will not run on 7, I suggest going with that OS IMHO...

Yup! The bulb switch is a piece of cake, but others have gone to a different LED headlight setup which requires some major surgery to the stock headlight bucket to include cutting out the stock headlight enclosure from the bucket and then potting in the new whole headlight assembly. Just swapping out the stock bulb with a LED one is the easiest way to go...

The added weight/load from the sidecar may very well be a little hard on the "stock" 2nd gen clutch! The Barnett setup is the best answer, but also replace the stock clutch disc with the optional Yamaha Heavy Duty clutch disc!! There is a slightly alternative fix called the PCW Racing Heavy Duty Clutch Spring which also works wonders even without doing any further rebuilding/replacing, but even then still replacing the 1/2 area stock clutch plate with the HD one makes a difference! Us Trike owners already know how weak the stock setup is and have already replaced the clutch plate and either went Barnett or PCW...

Yup!! These bikes run amazingly well on just 3 cylinders! When firing on all 4, if you are too aggressive when hitting 2nd gear you WILL pop a wheelie! You should be getting around 40 MPG if running on all 4. I would suggest investing in an inexpensive spark gap tester from Auto Zone, etc which will run you less than $10. You should be able to pull close to 1/4 inch spark on each cylinder. Forgot the exact spec but it is just over 0.100". Also, these bikes eat plugs so you should make it an annual event to replace plugs, and make sure you use NGK's, they seem to work the best! Yes, you can indeed hit 90+ MPH in 3rd on 3 cylinders, the question is how quickly can you get there? Also, a good carb sync is important for proper smooth operation! You should be able to smoke just about any stock Harley out there with the exception of the V-Rod, it should be a pretty even match... Can't say as there is any significant vibration that I remember with my old '84. It ain't a V-Twin so it should not shake your teeth loose! The vibration suggests you are only running on 3 cylinders or in serious need of a proper carb balance! Welcome aboard my friend!!

MY question would be, are you sure you adjusted the IDLE screw and not one of the carb sync screws?? The idle adjuster has a knurled wheel on it and is sort of hidden. The carb sync screws are screwdriver adjustments. A bad vacuum hose can cause the issue you described so check your lines, and make sure your caps for carb synchronization are not leaking or missing either. And while we are on the subject, did you properly sync the carbs after you had them off and apart?? You done good on finding the other bike for $100 especially seeing as selling them in parts on ebay can net you over a thousand dollars!! The upper fairings, if in decent shape, can bring at least $100 each!!! There is an excellent DVD you can buy by a guy named Damon Ferraro (sp) that goes into very extensive detail concerning rebuilding the carbs. It is a VMax video but is appropriate to the Venture carbs as well. it costs $12, or you can also buy his video on rebuilding the engine as well for a combined price of $22, either video is well worth the money! There is also a downloadable Factory Service Manual available here on the site which will also provide you with some valuable troubleshooting information. Look in the 1st Generation Technical Library in the Read Only section. Welcome aboard!!!

Yup!! That particular cover needs a little encouragement!

Yup!! My response is also "Not necessarily!! The carb is sucking the gas/air mixture INTO the chamber, but that does NOT mean once in the chamber it is igniting!!! Pull each plug wire one at a time and see if there is a drastic change in how it runs!! If you find one spark plug wire that makes little or no difference then you have found the cylinder that is not firing right!!! Yes, they run pretty darn good on 3 cylinders, and you will get less than 30 mpg...

Huh??? Ours does, 10%...

Why, yes you DO Jack!! If I were you I would have one of those puppies waiting for you at your local Homer's...

Oh, did we get tired of having to replace Phillips head screws on our Yami??

The best and easiest way to get the bike on the center stand is to stand on the left side facing forward, put your left hand on the handlebars, put your right heel on the center stand "knob" and your right hand on the passenger grab bar, and simultaneously stomp your heel and jerk the grab bar. It takes a bit of oomph but you will get the hang of it. If you are safety conscious, keep the kickstand down the first couple of times. The center stand will automatically center the bike as it goes up so don't fight it but instead let it find it's center...

It's a fun time, it just gets a little expensive especially lodging...