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Red Baron

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  1. Red Baron
    If you research far enough into the past you will find that the first digital TCI's (1990) had a flaw in the circutry. All 1990 Ventures have this flaw. I replaced mine with a TCI unit from a wrecked 1992 Venture and never had another problem. Any TCI from '91, '92 or '93 will work just fine as the flaw had been fixed. Have a GREAT day. Red Baron
  2. Red Baron
    After testing and reassembling I can get no reading greater than the .01 amp. This is my worst fear, an intermittent problem that won't manifest itself in a manner I can identify. I guess this comes under "Oh well". I have started the bike and all works as normal. All I can think to do now is wait for this to happen again. I sincerely thank all of you that responded to my question. IF I ever locate what the cause is I'll share here with you. Thanks again, Red Baron
  3. Red Baron
    OK ... FrankD ... thanks for the suggestions. I just checked for amp drain as you suggested and I get .01 reading and it is intermittent. It looks almost like the drain from a ticking clock but the timing is wrong for a clock. What do you suggest I do next ? I suspect this will be a bearcat to find as it seems to be intermittent. Thanks again for the help. Red Baron
  4. Red Baron
    Thanks for the response to my dilema. I have already disconnected the R/R, and all other items that are connected to the battery. I reconnected the negative terminal and then used my meter to check voltage between the positive terminal and the wire that connects to the main fuse located on the positive side of the battery. I get 12.8 volts. I have been disconnecting circuit plugs one by one and then checking voltage in this manner. So far, I get 12.8 everytime I check. I am starting to suspect the diode in the starter relay circuit but have not tested to confirm yet. As time is short I will do additional testing during the next few days and let you know what I find. Thanks for the help. Red Baron
  5. Red Baron
    After returning home from a 4k tour I have had an experience with some sort of a "short" circuit somewhere in the works. While on tour I had to replace the battery and thought nothing of it as the batt was ten years old. After getting home I parked the scoot and about two weeks later went to ride it and the battery was totally dead. New battery ? Yep ! I took the battery to the vendor and got a new one. Installed it and did a base charge and all was well. Next morning I checked the voltage with my digital volt meter and the battery was down to 12.4 volts. Oh oh, something is not "right". I disconnected the battery, charged it back to full charge and then started hooking it back up. When I hooked up the cables I noticed a tiny spark. What the H...? The key is in the off position and nothing should be drawing current. What could it be ? Any one have any ideas ? The bike is a 1990 Venture. It has a new battery, a new R/R and the stator was replaced about 5000 miles ago. I tried to trace the offending circuit by removing fuses and testing but to no avail. I am now thinking this is what caused me to have to buy a new battery while on tour. Does anyone have any ideas what could be drawing current when the key is in the "off" position ? Thanks for the help. Red Baron
  6. Red Baron
    Go to your local hardware store and get a 3/4 x 16 "jam" nut. It may still be too thick but you can grind it down in thickness some and it should work. Just grind on one side so that the other side, the good side, can be used to "seat" against the engine. If you have a friend with a lathe he could cut down the thickness and get a better job. The nut needs to be about 1/4" thick so it doesn't interfer with the oil filter sealing. If it's too thick the oil filter will hit the nut before the "o" ring seal can compress on the seal surface. Good luck, have a GREAT day, ride safe, Red Baron
  7. Red Baron
    I too had a similar experience with RIDE ON. I put it in my tires in 2007 prior to a cross country tour. No problems with bike or tires on the tour and I forgot about it being in there. Thirty thousand miles and five years later I needed new tires. What a mess. The RIDE ON had turned into a rock hard glaze type material. I had to scrape with a putty knife and sand with 80 grit to get it loose and cleaned off the wheel. There was a lot of pitting and corrosion and discoloration on the wheel. I finally got it cleaned off well enough to mount a new tire. Luckily the new tire still sealed and holds air just fine. I would never put RIDE ON in my tires again. It may be just fine if you only left it in a year or so, don't know. All I know is that I would recommend against using it in a touring bike tire that iwll be in use for longer than that. Just my two cents, Red Baron
  8. Red Baron
    I had that problem once. My wife had inadvertantly pushed the mute button on her controller. I'd check both mute buttons before I did anything else. There should be a barely visible light go off or on when you push the button. Both mutes have to be in the off position for radio and other controls to get full volume. Guess how I know this ? Hope this fixes your dilema. Red Baron:)
  9. Red Baron
    I have had issues finding metric taps and dies and achieved very good results on E-Bay. I did a search and found 49 results found for tap m12 1.25 Just go to ebay and type this into the search engine and select all of ebay for the search:301:. Red Baron
  10. Red Baron
    I have my Venture apart for maintenance so went and looked at license plate mount. There are two bolts / screws up under near the top of the plate mounting platform near the tail light . One on each side of the plate. Take those two screws out and the whole platform will be able to be bent back for access to the screws that mount the license plate from behind. I can take pictures for you if that would help. Good luck Red Baron
  11. Red Baron
    I would be interested. I have a tour planned for early May and was thinking of other tours I might do this coming season. Give us some dates and places to work with. Red Baron
  12. Red Baron
    Please put my name on the list for viewing this DVD. I am a firm believer in knowledge being the key to safety. I believe it will make us all safer riders. Thanks, have a GREAT day, Red Baron
  13. Red Baron
    I have been using an EMGO air filter for several years. It looks exactly like an OEM filter for about 1/4 the price. Never have had any issues with it. I think I bought it from the Dennis Kirk catalog.
  14. Red Baron
    To the two inquiries of where I got the Shindengen regulator / rectifier. I got mine from e-bay. They are listed under "Yamaha R1 regulator". They are standard equipment on late model R1 motorcycles. Just be sure it shows the part number of FHO12AA in the picture. I figured a used one would be just fine as there are no moving parts to go bad and most people don't even know what they do so they haven't been messed with. So ... I bid and got one from e-bay --$80. Another source if you don't want to try used is a place called Roadstercycle. He has them listed as brand new for $115 which is still way cheaper than Yamaha wants. www.roadstercycle.com Hope this helps you find one for a resonable price. The sun is shining here and it's already up to sixty degrees out so I'm going riding. Have a GREAT day ! Red Baron Oregon
  15. Red Baron
    To those of you that read my post about replacing the R/R, thanks for your time. I guess I was too late to get in on the group buy deal for the Shindengen R/R's. The good news is that I have replaced my stator with a rebuilt unit from a fellow in Arkansas. Looks just like a new one and functions just like a new one. I figured there's not much that can go wrong or be bad since there are no moving parts. Rewinding a stator is not rocket science. The price was about half a new after market unit. The item I really wanted to know about, the Shindengen FHO12AA regulator / rectifier, has been purchased from another source for a very resonable price. Not as good as the group buy but acceptable. I would like to comment that the new R/R has improved the voltage readings at the battery over what the OEM regulator / rectifier did. I am very pleased with the results. Thanks for all the help and the GREAT suggestions and ideas in this forum. Have a GREAT day ! Red Baron -- Oregon
  16. Red Baron
    I have a 1990 VR with 96K miles on it. Been a GREAT bke! Recently had the stator go out. During my research here for threads on replacement ideas I came upon a discussion about replacing the R/R whenever you replace the stator. From reading these posts I concluded I should also replace the R/R. Just for good insurance if for no other reason. Question: Is there any way I can get in on the group buy deal for one of those Shindengen FHO12AA regulator / rectifiers ? Does any one have an extra one they would part with ? I can find them else where but you guys worked the best deal I can find. GREAT job ! Thanks for the help. Red Baron
  17. Red Baron
    Was the group buy ever completed ? Does anyone have an extra they would like to part with ? Can I still get in on the group buy ? I understand this is for a Shindengen FHO12AA regulator / rectifier that will work on my 1990 Yamaha Venture Royale. How can I participate in the group buy at that FANTASTIC price ?
  18. Red Baron
    At the risk of being called a "safetycrat", here is the solution you need for your side stand switch. It will resolve the problem and still keep the switch in the circuit, so to speak. No, I cannot take credit for this mod. Got it from another web site long ago. Try it. It works. Have had mine this way for years. Never a problem. Here is a way to prevent engine shutdown and still keep that dash warning light working. I am not the author - credit to Jason Morris, Bench Wrench,1990? Locate three wires behind the the left side cover coming the sidestand switch. They are grouped together, their colors are black, green with a white stripe, and blue with a yellow stripe. It is now a simple matter of crossing black with blue/yellow. Use a Radio Shack inline splicer. DON'T cut any wires. The connection does not affect the dash display, the warning light still works as normal. Also, if the switch fails while traveling down the road the engine will not turn off. It will be a little frightning if that light comes on while moving along at 80 mph, I know! This is a much safer solution than defeating that switch completely.ffice:office" />
  19. Red Baron
    Good idea to use a boat gas tank for the aux tank. Should work just fine. When I plumbed my aux tank I used rubber fuel hose and put a "T" in the fuel line between the onboard fuel tank and the filter / pump. Plumb the aux tank to the "T" and put an on / off valve in the line where you can reach it with ease and don't forget the disconnect fitting discussed earlier. Close the on board tank petcock when using fuel from the aux tank. Close the on/off valve at the aux tank when using fuel from the on board tank. If you place the "T" before the fuel filter all fuel from both tanks will be filtered by the same filter. It's an easy job. Just takes a little time. Always use the fuel from the aux tank first. When that runs out you can then switch to your on board tank and your gas gauge will now tell you your remaining fuel. Works GREAT for me on my bike. You will enjoy the extended range. Good luck with the project. Red Baron
  20. Red Baron
    I built an aux gas tank for my 1st Gen Venture a few years ago. It sits on the rear seat where a passenger would normally sit. It holds 3-1/2 gallons of gas which gives me an additional 120 - 150 miles of range depending on how I drive. For the rubber hose hookup I went down to Wally's World and bought a male and female gas line connector for a boat. Boats have removeable gas tanks and their line connector works just perfect for this. It has an auto shutoff valve built in and when disconnected you never spill a drop of gas. No smell, no mess, it's really easy. You just plug it in or pull it apart depending on need. Try it, I'm sure it will work for your installation as nice as it did for mine. It cost around $12 for both pieces. Red Baron
  21. Red Baron
    The most likely cause of your oil leak is that the filter is not seating correctly at the gasket surface where it should contact the engine . On the engine you will notice there is a nut in the center of the adapter plate on the engine. This nut must have clearance to allow the filter to seat correctly. The reason for using a fram filter is that the cavity between the bottom of the filter and the sealing surface is deeper than most other fiters. This allows clearance for the adapter mounting nut to function without inhibiting the filter from sealing at the gasket surface properly. Hope this makes sense to you. Have a GREAT day. Red Baron
  22. Red Baron
    I would suggest you check the clutch lever for excessive "play" at the pivot pin. When this becomes worn it allows the lever to "bounce" around contacting the switch and causing the cruise to cancel. Guess how I know ? Red Baron
  23. Red Baron
    Had a question about carbs on my 1990 VR. In response to the question about the carb parts, yes, I have replaced the diaphrams. Have replaced no other carb parts. I did replace all the throttle linkages. I do all my own maintenance and set everything to spec as noted in the factory service manual. Other items that may affect fuel econonmy / mileage are ignition and valves. Not much can be done to the ignition as most everything is mounted in a "fixed" position, ie, no adjustments. Just make sure you have good HT wires and that the connectors at the spark plugs are not "leaking". I also adjusted my spark plugs to a "tight" gap per the manual. I have adjusted my valves to the maximum clearance (don't want to risk burning a valve). This will cause the loss of a small amount of power but I don't miss it. One item that may have been over looked, early Ventures, ie, '83, had larger bore carbs than later versions. This may explain some of the mileage and performance differences. If you give it more air, you're going to have to give it more fuel . In closing I would say the biggest single thing that I do to impact my fuel economy is be very considerate when twisting the right grip. If you have to "feel" all that power with your butt by twisting the grip more strenously, you're not going get good fuel economy. By the way, I run "regular" Shell gas that has 10% ethanol. Enjoy riding your Venture. It's one of the best bikes ever built in my opinion. Red Baron
  24. Red Baron

    Ear Plugs

    Red Baron replied to Eugene's topic in Watering Hole

    I always wear ear plugs while riding. They significantly reduce the stress caused by the increasing sound level of wind and other noise as you ride. You will still be able to hear other traffic and things you need to hear in order to ride safely. I use the soft foam plugs. Roll them in between your thumb and index finger to reduce their diameter then insert them into your ear canal as far as is comfortable and allow them to swell up and block the ear canal from all the harmful noise. Look at the package and get the plugs that have a 30 -35 decibel sound reduction. More is better. That's about the maximum decibel reduction you can get for these type plugs. Once you become accustom to the plugs in your ears you will be pleasantly surprised how much you can still hear and how much the harsh, or harmful, noise is reduced to a comfortable level. I strongly recommend that everyone use earplugs all the time while they're riding. Who cares if others look at you funny while you're inserting your hearing protection ? It's your hearing, not theirs, that will be lost by the ongoing exposure. You are already experiencing the warning signs of hearing loss when you have "ringing" in your ears after a ride. I could go on and on but don't want to get into technicalities here. Hope this helps with your decision. Red Baron
  25. Red Baron
    I have a 1990 VR that presently has about 84000 miles on it. When out on the Interstate cruising at an indicated 70 -75 mph, I get between 39 -40 mpg. When on secondary roads curising at an indicated 55 - 60 mph, I get between 47 - 48 mpg. I have owned the bike since it had 27000 miles on it and it has always been very consistent with this mileage. The projected figures from the mag tests back earlier seem to be fairly accurate. Hope this helps . Red Baron
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