Great White

Sort off. "Squid-ly-ness" isn't limited to any one type of rider. Depending on who you talk too, anything done to be a "poser" enters the realm of the squid....

It's also one of the trappings of "squid-dom". It's to try and make it look like a drag bike, but all it's for on the street is to say "look at me", which is another indication of a squid.

That's why I popped the money for a lifeproof case. I learned that lesson recovering a body from the Atlantic. Hauling it up on the beach and the Atlantic decided it wanted it wasn't quite ready t give it up, grabbed it with a big wave and dragged us both into the rocks. My iphone 4 was in my leg pocket and hit the salt water. Walking back to the aircraft, I couldn't figure out why my leg was getting hotter and hotter..... Since I started using lifeproof cases, haven't lost a single phone. I've even called while bobbing around in the water. Well worth the 100 bucks!

one word: squid.

dunno. Cover the front wheel? Check the first wife?

Gawd I hear that! 25 years of SAR has beat the bull spit out of me. I'd still be ripping around on sport bikes if I wasn't so beat up. The FJ languishes in the garage and only gets 10-15 minute rips, memories of a less painful time. The 83 venture is kinder and gentler so it gets all the other riding duties. I'll have to console myself with making the Venture VMax powerful and sport bike stoppable.

Check steering head bearings. Ratcheting, notchiness or hanging is reason for replacement. Loose just requires adjustment. Only other spot is swingarm pivot, but I've not heard anyone complain on the ventures. One last thing to check is slide under the bike and have a look at the frame cross tube where the swingarm linkage attaches. 83's had a fault where the frame cracks on the tube. Not saying that's whats happeing and it shouldn't create a wobble, but worth a look...

Sometimes I think we'd be better off as a species if we just let these types of people NOT wear helmets.....

http://www.stunterschool.com/images/briancanfly.jpg I'm cringing just looking at it.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVpIhu3FNdk That bike just ate that girl....guess you can't expect much from a flock of squids!

Five oh!

Condolences.

Classic hot rod stuff works. Head work, cams, carb work, etc. Only thing is, you can't just throw parts at it willy nilly. Put the wrong stuff in and you move the HP/torque peak up the RPM range, which is the opposite of what you want. You'll also end up spending a good chunk of change for what will really be modest gains. What have they got up under the arse of that thing for a rear axle? A gear swap would likely be your most bang for your buck change, especially if they've used something common like a ford or chev derivative. Any good corner shop mechanic can set up a set of those. The deep overdrive on these bikes would allow you to use a lower final gear and still pick up some grunt in the lower gears for getting it moving. I'd talk to whoever designed your trike kit and see what they think. Just make sure it's the company the built the kit, not just who installed it.... Edit: a quick check of the Hannigan brochure seems to indicate the Yamaha kit uses a Thunderbird IRS pumpkin. Easy peasy. That's an 8.8 center section. the stock venture rear is 3.3:1 IIRC. I would hope they changed the gears out in the kit, but most MN12 'Birds came with 2.73, 3.08 or 3.27 gears. The min acceptable for your bike is probably the 3.27's, but I'll be they have the 3.08's in there (trying to keep it close to the Venture 3.30). good thing is: being a ford axle, lots of ratios are available. You might even find some 3.73 or 4.11 might suit it better. They're all out there, relatively inexpensive and anyone can set them up. heck, if you're handy, you can buy a couple junk yard center sections and have them set up with different gearing. Then it's just swap out the center sections when you want higher or lower gear (to match around town work or highway bangin'). Check it out. Might be an easy fix.

Cool pics, except for the lack of protective gear. Those pics dudes are dragging the side bags crash bars. On guy you see tossing stuff in the LH sweeper and the guy in the RH sweeper looks to be touching centerstand feet or possibly a poorly positioned exhaust clamp. The RH sweeper also shows the "road kiss" on the LH bar crash bar. My 83 standard drags pegs first. Maybe it doesn't drag the rear crash bars because the bags aren't quite as big/wide/low and a MKII? Kind of caught me off guard the first time it did it as I'm used to bikes (ie; sport bikes) dragging hard parts like cases or pipes before hitting peg feelers (since I've usually ground them off on pavement already!). Must be the comparatively low peg placement on the XZV I guess. I had a small bit of stand up when it graunched, followed by my getting the peg back down on to the tarmac to make the sweep and stay in my lane. I'm actually putting the CLASS system on my bike. Small weight penalty for being able to push button adjust the system. I'm also mulling over an option to take air off the compressor for things like tire pressure adjustment when out on the road...

The ones iv done before usually involve modifying the shock body as well as making the adapter.

If all you're looking for is a little bit more height them its an easy fix for anyone with a mill (or lathe with milling attachment) to fix you up with an extender. Different geometry on the linkage would also do it, but would be much more involved than just spinning up an extension for the shock. Won't do much for the 20+ year old shock valving, oil and spring though. Good luck in your search. PS: I also tend to build my stuff rather than buy it- http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r618/justonepict/Interceptor/image_zpssj7sraqi.jpg http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r618/justonepict/Interceptor/image_zpsir5vjra1.jpg That's the current project next to the fj1200 project in the shop. Venture is running daily duty until this winter when it will come apart for the upgrades I've already mentioned.

Wow, thread dig from 2010! I am that "sport bike guy" that recently switched over because I can't ride for long on them anymore. is the Venture top heavy? That's kind of a matter of perspective. Compared to some of the bikes I've had, sure. It's a little top heavy. But it's nothing I can't manage, even if it starts to go over. I actually had that fight in the garage this morning; got off center and started to go but I muscled it back up. Got to about 30-35 degrees from vertical. Was a bit of a fight, but it is an 800-ish lb bike. Luckily, I was beside it pushing it around so I could get both legs and butt/hip into it. Had I been astride, 30 degrees of lean could have likely been unrecoverable. Low speed requires you to have some experience before heading out. It's not going to fall over at every stop but you need to practice low speed maneuvering as it has a few "quirks" you need to get used too. But that's the same for any bike, they all handle a little differently. One of of the first things I did on my 83 was head to the empty mall parking lot and slow speed turn/figure 8 until I was comfortable. Then it was trail braking against engine torque for ultra low speed handling. That sucked with the linked brakes, which is one of the reasons I'm converting it back to conventional front/rear brakes this winter. Starts and stops as well as leaning it over to see how far it would go before it got to my point of no return. I'm short (5'9") but stocky, so I can go pretty far over and still save it as long as it doesn't have any significant momentum. Other than the weight, I think it's a great rig! I actually wish I had bought one years ago. It's just that good and it's kind of re-sparked my enjoyment in riding. Comfortable, enough power, decent handling for a full boat touring bike and (these days) unique looks. It was the sport bike crouch combined with my body "unserviceabilities" that was/had sucked the fun out of riding. Sport bikes feel instantly comfortabel when I jump on, I just can stay any more than 15-20 minutes. Because of my messed up wrists mainly. Actually, I don't even mind the Venture's weight as I notice I get pushed around a lot less on highway runs. Not so much from other vehicles, but side winds. Given the large surface area this bike presents to any wind direction, I can only say its the weight that makes it "gust stable". I used to avoid highway blasting on sport bikes at pretty much any cost, but it's actually not bad on the big V with it's weight and tall/wide fairing/windscreen. I would recommend a MKI to anyone except the oldest or smallest riders, with the caveat that they make sure they take the time to learn the bike before getting yourself in traffic or ultra low speed maneuvers. Also, if you are coming to a MKI from anything besides another touring bike with rear crash bars, heed these words: Make absolutely, postively, completely sure you DO NOT drag your feet behind in slow speed maneuvers or taking off from stopped. Make a conscious effort to lift your feet straight up or swing them forward a little. I'm used to letting my feet go rearward from sport bikes and such that lean you forward. Do that on a MKI and the rear crash bars will grab your heel, drive you toes into the pavement and wrench your foot something awful. Don't ask me how I know.

Just so you know, fork tubes should be able to be slid into the trees by hand. "Beating" usually means something is bent or hasn't been loosened to allow assembly. From your description (keeping in mind I'm on the other side of a computer screen and not looking at the bike) it sounds like something is bent.....

CLASS controller part no's: 1986 - Print Board/Case Set 31M-W8591-M0-00 1984- Print Board/Case Set 31M-W8591-M0-00 source: http://www.partsfish.com/page/oem-parts-for-yamaha Assuming the listing is correct, they should interchange. I would try the solder fix listed above first though. A used replacement is just as likely to have the same fault or fall prey to it in the future....

Everything must be loose from the stem nut forward when installing forks. Once it's all together then you do the alignment: http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tips-tech/tech-tip-front-fork-alignment That's pretty much the procedure I use for alignment. Assuming your track alignment (ie: front to rear wheel alignment) was good before it came apart, it should be good after it's all back together. Shafties tend to not run into track problems due to the architecture of the design. I also tend to jack the rear wheel up to make lifting the front tire to the forks easier and slipping in the axle. Just be careful you don't go too high and round the tipping point to the front of the bike. It's pretty hard to do that on the center stand, but forewarned is forearmed......

After re-reading your post, I didn't see handling changes anywhere. Just a "raise the rear" so I was left to guess at the purpose. Normally, requests of this sort on cruiser/touring forums are about getting more weight on the machine or fitting the bike to the individual, hence my first post. Perhaps you also posted on another forum where you might have expanded it to include quicker turn in? At any rate, now knowing that you are after handling changes, I can give you a bit more pertinent commentary. While it won't help with ground clearance, dropping the front forks will accomplish the same thing as jacking the arse up. In fact, more so for less change. Usually just a change of a couple MM in fork height makes for noticeable changes. The venture might not respond quite as well, since it's geometry is what I would describe as "lazy". You'd have to figure out what to do with the pressure balancing collars, depending on how much you lower the front forks. Good thing about dropping the front forks in the triple is that it only takes a small amount to make a large difference. It has a larger effect on rake/trail for a smaller movement than raising the rear. It's an old racers trick (I've used it many times on a track day) to fine tune track handling. It also helps to get more weight over the front wheel which also improves feel, handling and even braking. Although it's probably not going to be as pronounced on a bike like the Venture which is "butt heavy" due to rider and kit positioning. You can raise the stock shock a bit with just air pressure, but it's only going to have so much stroke and it will eventually top out. Bike shocks are pretty short on travel to start with (size limitations and low comparative weights) and touring bikes are usually the lowest due to their intended lifetime use of running smooth, paved roads. Usually in the 4-5" travel range. The original "Cycle" article on the 1983 lists the rear wheel travel as 4.2", so you can image how little there is at the shock. Running the shock outside of the "middle ground" also tends to change shock response as it's not meant to operate in that range. It's kind of a run it and see what you get deal. They're all different. Topping out over bumps will also eventually ruin the shock so running it high isn't a good idea for those reasons either. For spring rates, try giving Racetech a call and see what they recommend. As I mentioned, they mainly deal with sport bikes but should be able to get you in the ballpark. They list parts for the XZV, but list the rear shock as "not rebuild-able". But they deal with lots of other bikes in the same weight class and load (IE: victory, Harley, etc) and should be able to share what a good spring rate would be. This will at least give you a starting point vice a pure guess. I've dealt with them several times building race bikes and they are quite helpful even if you are not buying something. Now, that was years ago, they may have different staff there now or a different view on it. Ground clearance is another issue if you're talking about grounding things on turns. While "getting it up" will help with clearance, getting the roll center higher also slows your transition. Which is what you are trying to improve with "turn in". What you are grounding first kind of dictates what you address first. Keeping in mind these big bruisers are only ever going to have so much clearance and assuming preload is set properly for load/sag, the things that usually hit first on a bike are things like side tangs and mufflers. Stand tangs are somewhat easier deal with by grinder or (in the case of center stands) outright removal. Mufflers are a bit more difficult. Dave Morely's "VentureMax" seems a reasonable compromise for mufflers in that he has straight pips back to a couple (what looks like) Akrapovics turned sideways. They sound positively NASTY, although too loud to live with daily for my preferences. The bags/braces/crash bars are always going to be a problem past a certain lean angle, but that's just the cost of having them. This is where I like my 83 in that it all seems t be tucked in a bit better in the rear as opposed the larger bags in later years. The trade off is smaller bags. Bags are just part of dealing with this style of bike. If I'm dragging the bags/bracing on a touring bike to where it worries me about levering the rear tire off the tarmac, it's time to back it down a notch or two. I just consider it a type limitation and would take my FJ1200 next time. Grounding engine guards, engine cases and other such items either means they need to be removed, reshaped or it's time for a different bike that can keep up with you. Front forks also have a large effect on grounding hard parts in corners since they are also part of the suspension. Springs with too much static sag allow the bike to squat more when hussling hard, especially on the corners when you're leaned over and centripetal force is trying to push you into the pavement. A good set of progressives with proper static sag for your load help immensely. I've also always had very good results with Racetech cartridge emulators in damper rod forks, but I've never had a set in an XZV (yet ). If you want to put automobile coil overs on a bike, you're going to be off in unpaved territory and will just have to experiment to see what you get. Personally: I wouldn't for many reasons I won't go in to here. Telling guys not to put "car parts" on motorcycles seems to be a bit of a hot button with "cruiser riders" so it's just not worth getting in to it. Now, if you really want to change handling and achieve quicker "turn in" then do a radial tire conversion and get some aggressive profile tires. Modern rubber will make the single biggest difference in how a bike handles. When I went to radials on my VF750F interceptor by adapting in newer CBR600F2 wheels, the difference was astounding. I went from almost fighting the bike through fast essses to flying through them and keeping up with more modern bikes. Getting modern radials in there also opens up your tire choices immensely compared to the limited offering for the old bias tires. One tire may be "slow in", another may "roll in", the next may "fall in" unexpectedly and yet another may be just right. It's all about matching the profile to your intended use and how you prefer to have the bike "feel". I personally don't like a "snap roll" type tire in fast hussling, I like it moderate. Mostly because I'm a "trail braker" type corner carver and like a hard drive out of a corner. Aggressive tires tend to want to "stand up" too soon with my style and I find that uncomfortable. Radials also have the benefit of running "cooler", which makes them more consistent and promises longer wear characteristics. Problem with the Venture and radials is that rear shaft drive wheel. You're left with trying to find something modern that swaps or having the center machined out of the Venture wheel and grafted into a modern hoop. Not an inexpensive solution. Once I get all the other projects done on my 83 this winter (ie: class, cruise, r6 brakes, Vmax heads, 2002 transmission, vmax rear, etc) I'm going to look at attacking the radial issue. First I'll look at potential swaps and if nothing looks to be workable, I'll just chuck up my spare rear wheel in the lathe at work and turn the center out. The it's a simple matter of finding a modern hoop to drop on to the center and match up the front. There are shops out there that do this kind of thing, but you're looking at somewhere north of a grand for just one wheel...

Looks are a highly subjective thing. Guys ride "harley-ish" looking bikes all the time around here. There's so many they're almost like a girls fancy purse or little dog; fashion accessories. They never get a second look. But my 83 has people watching it go by and it seems someone always has a comment when I'm stopped. They knew someone with one, they had one, they wanted one, they're looking for one, they wish they had one, how old is it, how fast is it, how comfortable, how easy to ride, etc... Personally, I prefer the looks (and function) of my 83. It just suits me. But im also (pretty much) a product of the 80's and one of those guys that doesn't want to admit he can't ride sport bikes anymore so it fits right in for me! 80's look, comfortable, powerful and yet still doesn't (for the most part) fall to its knees when the road gets twisty. I ride with a wide mix of bikes and ages. When the road gets twisty, the "hog-ish" riders start slowing down and the sportier types start pulling away. The youngsters are always a little surprised when they look back and see my full boat right behind them and not plodding along with the draggers. i also like that it still retains a bit of the looks of a bike wearing luggage as opposed to newer more "integrated" bags look or even a MKII. All those new bikes with molded in non-removable hard bags (a la gold wing, st1300, etc) are just a little bit too Honda pacific coast/scooter- ish looking to me.

If it were a first gen I'd say you blew the main fuse. Not sure if a 2006 has one, but it should....

If the caliper pistons are seized, they need to be removed, cleaned and reinstalled with a new seal kit. If the pistons are removed, inspected and the chromed surface is rusted; they need to be replaced. Don't go halfway when fixing brakes. Do it once, do it right, do it right, do it for your life....

It's likely in an attempt to have equal length headers. Head pipe length is very important in engine performance characteristics. Also, the routing in the pic posted does indeed join the rear cylinders in the direction of exhaust flow. I think maybe you're just not seeing it right. Full header on my V4 Honda Interceptor are the same way....