Great White

yup, all the electrical bits except what was bolted to the engine itself. Whether or not it's any good remains to be seen.....

Yup, that's the plan. I'm looking to install venture cruise and CLASS on my 83. I'm contemplating just swapping all the electrical components and wiring from the 86 I stripped for parts. The 86 has CLASS and Venture Cruise, which would make it pretty much an OEM install and allow me to use OEM replacement parts. Doesn't hurt that the 41R TCI is a bit more common than the 26H if I ever go looking for a replacement piece.....

Ah, it seems I might have found my own answer : http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?95609-Will-85-carbs-work-on-a-83&p=893027#post893027 Seems if I use the 86 harness, all I have to do is cap the carb vacuum point and run the line to the balance port for the proper vacuum signal. Why is it that you can search and search and search and find nothing but as soon as you ask a question you find the answer? lol!

I'm looking at swapping an 86 harness and components on to my 83 (this winter, not this riding season:)). My understanding is the vacuum sensor point for the advance is different between 83 and 84+. Can someone take a pic of the vacuum source point on an 86 please? I need to determine if I can even find a proper vacuum point on my 83 to work the 86 electronics properly....

If it's he thread I'm thinking about there wasn't anything mean or derogatory to anyone in it. Just a bunch of guys talking and having a little fun with the subject.

Luckily, I have all that stuff (and more) already. Benefit of buying most of a bike for parts....

not sure on my 83, but the 86 I stripped for parts had the 41R up behind the headlight. here's what I do when faced with a weird wet miss/short situ: I wait for it to start it's miss/short behavior. Then I take a can of "wire dry" and spray a connector or wire (with engine off). I start it up and if the miss is still there, I shut it off and try another connector/wire and work progressively along the harness/circuit until I find it. It's a little laborious, but it's often the only way to find a weird miss/short when the usual offenders aren't the problem....

Ah, guess I was a little "short" on the info.....

Bought a used indicator off ebay for 18 buck plus shipping. Cost more for shipping than it did for the indicator....just one of the costs of living in Canada.... Has a crack in part of the plastic at one of the screw points, but a little light work on the lathe and I'll have a better than new retainer for the assembly.

That's cool. I said there are legions of seafoamers out there and nothing will change their mind. No sense even trying. Me, I'll continue to take 'em down and clean 'em in the ultrasonic when I see performance degradations. It gets everything, including air circuits. Back to factory fresh every time they go back on. Seafoamers are free to do as they wish. Sometimes it's as much a fact of they can't do a proper rebuild due to resources or skills. Meh, Free country and all that jazz. Again, to each their own although I disagree with a res position being "useless". I've never owned or even seen a bike where the RES is separate from the main tank so that's pretty much moot. Stuttering means pull over and switch to reserve. It's not like the bike just drops dead while riding. Once I've switched to res, there is no question in my mind how much fuel is remaining in the tank and how long I've got. I also use the trip to know when RES is going to hit and then when empty is going to happen. I fill before RES in normal running but if I get caught with my butt hanging out and have to use RES, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I have "XX miles" left before I'm walking/pushing. Just a different way of doing business. Like I said, Free country...

OK, some are probably aware that I recently bought a "cherry" 1983 Venture (standard model). I've also picked up the remains of an 86 Venture Royale (somewhat less than affectionately refereed to as "The Pile"). My plan is to put the CLASS and the Venture cruise on the 83. The 86 is electrically complete, all that was missing when I bought it was the engine and final drive (already parted out). I know they are similar, but there are enough significant differences between the two years to not make it a simple swap of parts. There will need to be some electrical "trickery" whichever way I go (I'm more than equal to that task ). So I have two options: 1. take the required circuits/components out of the 86 harness and graft them on to the 83; or 2. Transfer the 86 harness/components complete to the 83. Option 1, splicing/adapting: Pros - Retain the original harness as is. Easily returned to stock No unforeseen running problems as the bike is running fine as is. Cons- Additional work tracing down the wiring and making a stand alone harness Splicing in components required for venture cruise such as instrument cluster (for speed sensor), etc. Also not liking the thought of cutting connectors off the OE harness lots of wiring diagram work to mate 86 parts to the 83 harness Option 2, Swap on 86 harness: Pros- have the complete electrical system off the 86 already very little wiring diagram work required components needed will plug right in (IE: handlebar switches, instrument cluster, CLASS components, etc) Ability to use the more common 41R boxes instead of the 1 year 26H in event of breakdown Cons- Will need to do some repair and overhaul on the 86 harness (little bit butchered by careless P.O.'s) harder to go back to stock Unknown quality/condition of parts (P.O. said it ran fine before stripping the engine out, but he wasn't exactly "honest" all around) Will need to buy a gear position sensor Vacuum advance scheme is different between 83 and 86 Did I miss anything? I know this is ultimately my decision on which way to go, but what would you suggest? I'm also back and forth between using the 83 rear shock or the 86. There are some differences between the 1983 standard and 1986 CLASS rear shock, but my 31,000 km 1983 shock is in much better shape than the 99,000 KM 1986 shock. They're both air assist, is there any reason why I can't just plumb the CLASS air lines to the 1983 shock?

question: Are you guys just using these to transport your coffee from place to place or are you trying to drink it while riding? Seems to me trying to drink coffee while riding is kinda "sketchy", but I've also never tried. I transport my coffee to work from Timmies in a sealed thermal mug (it's actually a Starbucks stainless mug) and strapped in the side bags. Works well, doesn't spill or get cold.....

Um, you need someone to help you get it off the kick stand? I'm not trying to be mean here but what do you do if you have to stop somewhere for something like fuel? Or coffee? or anything else? And what's the plan if it tips over on you at some point? We all don't plan to have them tip over, but it happens sometimes....

Any words of advice on the swap or it just tracing wires and changing ends terminals?

People are free to toss whatever additive in the fuel they want. Makes no diff to me. To each his own. I wasn't told differently, I was trained differently. If I need to run solvents more aggressive than that already in the fuel through the carburetors, they need to be torn down and properly cleaned. I know there are legions of "seafoamers" out there and you can't change their minds. again, that's cool. To each their own. There are some benefits to additives, they're just not the way to do it for me. No drawbacks to a proper R&R except some down time. No way I could turn the petcock to res on my 83, it's behind the side cover. It would be a stall, stop, switch and find the next station evolution. It's easy peasy on my other bikes to swap to res. I've done it many times, no issues. But they're also not buried behind the sidecovers. Pulled the petcock of the 86 today and it will be finding a new home on the 83. I;m mostly running around town and back and forth to work. Never far from a station and a res position will work just fine for my uses.

I JUST had my 86's tank petcock out and had to clean it. When it was out, I blew through the "on" standpipe and cycled through the positions (I'm getting it ready to install on my 83 tank). I was able to blow thought the assembly in the "on" and "res" position, nothing in "off". So I'd say it continues to draw through the "on" standpipe while in "res".

Here's the story: Swapping an 86 cluster into my 83. Figuring out the wiring change is no trouble for me, but my 83 only has a neutral indicator and the 86 has gear postion. So I need the sensor from the crankcase for gear position. Anyone got one they are willing to part with? Cheap?

I don't use additives (except for my diesels or gas line antifreeze in my gassers). Something I learned a long time ago and it's stuck. But, I'll run another tank through it and see how it goes. So can I assume that the fuel gauge in these bikes isn't exactly "Accurate"? I've always used the trip to know when to fill up. I've never trusted fuel gauges on bikes. I've also always had a "res" position. I know when I'm close by the odo, and then dive for the first station when/if I'm forced to switch to "res". The venture has removed my usual methods and now I'm forced to rely on the fuel gauge. Don't really like that.....

Well, I've pretty much burned through two tanks of fuel and I can't help but think my 83 is gulping at a prodigious rate! I've not done any calculations, but the first tank was under 100 KMS when I hit 1 bar on the fuel gauge and the second tank is now down to 2 bars at 129 KMs. In all fairness, I have no idea how old the fuel was in the first tank. It's an extremely low mileage bike and the fuel was in there when I bought it. I chalked the first consumption up to old fuel. But this tank is fresh. And I'm still only at 2 bars with 129 km on the odo. I'm also not really willing to run below that one bar on the fuel guage since I don't have a res on the petcock (1983 only has on and off). Maybe I should switch it out for the petcock on the 86 tank I have in the parts loft..... I also haven't had a chance to ultrasonic the carbs or balance them but the bike runs pretty smooth, pulls like a freight train and doesn't exhibit any symptoms typical of carbs needing a dip/rebuild. Well, except for what maybe appears like high fuel consumption. Am I missing something here? Is this normal for a bike that's billed as a full dress touring bike? I would expect a tourer would be capable of more MPG and quite a bit longer range.....

My sister worked at a place that went out of business. They were selling off all the lab equipment and I got it for 50 bucks. Nice big Branson. Timer, heated etc. Its got a 10L tank so I usually put my parts is a smaller bottle with cleaning solution, fill the main tank with hot water and let 'er go! Gets it done nicely, only use small amount of cleaner and can dump the main tank directly on the ground if I have too. Never stop finding uses for it. Best 50 bucks I ever spent!

one word on the pairing of certain cylinders and improved power production: scavenging.

Nexus 7 here (azus) running android. No problems....

Lord no man! Eihter take it to a shop that can dip them in the proper cleaner or buy a can and dunk 'em yourself. Or; take it to a shop with an ultrasonic cleaner. That's about the best it's going to get. The problem with "dirty" carbs is not rust, it's stale fuel that has forms a varnish like material on parts. It needs to be removed by an "aggressive" carb cleaning agent or by an ultrasonic bath, which breaks it up and leaves nothing but clean metal. Make sure you leave no rubber or plastic parts if using dip. I actually went out and bought my own ultrasonic.....

That's a great spot, now need some sun!