Chaharly

Glad you're happy with it! I got mine going too recently and cant be happier. I wish Yamaha would've done some advertising on these bikes so maybe they wouldve had the incentive to make a 1500 goldwing killer!

Well my buddy bought himself a brand new Honda Shadow 750. Blacked out everything except the exhaust. A sharp little scoot. Well he wanted to go for a ride with me and he really wanted to check out my new to me bike. So I figured I better do some work before he comes over. I did a little work with the carbs. I drained the float bowls and richened up the pilot jets some, which got her running on all four cylinders. For a bike thats 27 years old I gotta tell you she purrs like a kitten. I messed with the CLASS and finally got some air in the shocks to have an appropriate amount of air in them. I checked the coolant level and was surprised to see it full and with mostly fresh smelling fluid. Put a little air in the tires, put the plastics back on and let her sit until Matt showed up with his shadow. He came over and we did the usual walk around examination. He told me he was impressed with how nice it looked for the age, and that I was overselling the poor condition of it. I told him to go on, so he did for awhile but then after some time he was finally ready to ride. Now my Occupational Therapist had advised against me riding but it was a beautiful 70 degree day and my bike WAS already warmed up. So I hopped on against her better judgement and away we went. I gotta tell you I noticed some major differences in the two bikes right away. For one, the leg position felt almost alien after spending two years on a RSV. I thought that the first gens had adjustable footpegs, but apparently not. It just must be the mark I's. It felt right after I went around the block and truth be told I like this position much more. Also when I first sat on it the backrest felt wrong, I adjusted that to its rear setting and was really happy with the ride after that. Going down the rode the bike had loads of power, and just felt "right". I was kind of nervous that I wouldnt feel comfortable on a bike after my wreck, but as soon as I let out the clutch for the first time all of that was over. It was just like a glove! I thought too that maybe I was just an amateur, and thats why I crashed, but after realizing that I've ridden ventures off and on since I was 15 and putting on over 20K miles with no incidents means that maybe I am pretty skilled. I also had a pretty amateur rider with me that day, and he's ridden for 2 years. I decided to follow him and let him ride at his own pace, besides his Shadow wasnt even broken in yet (literally not even 300 miles). We only went about 10 miles on the highway all together because my bike still has the original front tire from 88 on it. That was the only thing on the bike of my mind was that old front tire. I noticed a few more kinks that I'm going to have to work out of the old girl, but I see NO reason why this bike cant give me another 100K miles reliably. The first thing that I noticed that really bugged me is only the left speaker works. I tried with Dad's intercom system on his helmet and only the left IC speaker works too. Also only the left speaker works on the CB. I thought maybe the right speaker was trash so I jumpered the two to see and the right one works with no problem. I also noticed that when going over some of the tough bumps the radio cuts out. I took the radio off and noticed one of the female pins on the radio is pushed in some. Not quite sure how I'm going to fix that. Also when I looked in I saw a horrifying image... the harness that I believe attaches the radio to the amplifier had been cut, and rewired with black electrical tape. I could see bare copper but I dont know if this will have anything to do with the left speaker not working. So basically on one of my free days I'm going to have to remove the fairing and rewire that plug, hopefully fixing this problem. I wouldn't mind just jumpering the two speaker wires together, but I AM working to get the CLASS, CB, Radio and all the lights in proper working order because, as a first gen venture I believe it deserves no less! Plus the bike came with a couple sets of helmet headsets that I'm going to use when riding in a group on a long trip. The next thing I noticed is that the panel that holds the CB and CLASS system only have one out of six backing tabs holding it on. The rest are just screws holding nothing. So i got ahold of some washers and some JB weld and I think I've got a half ways functional set up drying on the table. I notice a bit of humming coming from the rear end. I've neglected to check the fluid, but it sounds like typical gear noise to me. It has a new tire on the bike, not sure what brand or anything. I also noticed on this one that the temperature gauge works differently than on all my previous ones. I saw that even though the fan would kick on and the bike would "feel" like it was hot (slightly chattery clutch, typical hot day city navigating) while cruising around randolph, the gauge would only come up about half way. Now on all of my previous ventures the gauge had alot more move to it. I remember that you could watch the gauge climb the longer you drove around town, and the fan would kick on about 3/4 of the way, and typical cruising temp would be right about half way. On this one the temp doesnt hardly climb over the little line. So thats got me thinking they could have the drain screw on wrong. Its still leaking oil, they thought it was from the shift linkage seal, but i can tell that its coming from the crank case seal on that side. You can see the gasket pushing out. Does yamaha or anyone make a replacement for this or am I going to have to make a gasket? When I got it the CLASS was acting up, so thanks to the writeups I got it fixed and also learned an important new skill! I'm kind of thinking that skill could become a hobby! I also noticed under some hard acceleration that the clutch slipped. My opinion on this is that I'm basically re-breaking in an engine that hasnt been properly ridden in years, hopefully I can make it a season without toasting it, and then I'll do the upgrade next winter. By the way, the brake and clutch fluid has been swapped with fresh, and I still need to check the 80/90. Any suggestions with the problems I'm having or anything I may have missed would be greatly appreciated. Really though guys even with these little problems its good to be back in the saddle again. The bike just felt right, thats all I can really say, and once I install the front tire, fork seals, springs and bushings I'll have a totally rideable bike. I also noticed that riding is in itself a really good physical therapy for my wrist. It stretches it, builds strength and I actually think I gained a little mobility from my ride. I just want to say thanks again guys with the support after my accident and for the assists on looking for a new bike. This is probably the best site on the internet and there isnt a problem you guys cant solve. I hope to put on a minimum of 15k miles yet this year, and I hope you guys all have a safe, fun summer as well. I'll be uploading pics soon and give you guys a total progress report shortly! By the way, I really think it IS faster than my 2nd gen

Have a good time Red! Hopefully you guys can get a ride in!!!

Congratulations guysss!!!! I think you two have a long life of love ahead of you!!! Now get out there and RIIIDDDEEE!!!!!

May I ask about your injuries? Hopefully you get better soon!

I hope you reference your relative to the site! Sorry to hear she's gone but glad to see you got a sick new scoot!!

Like you said sir, Wait 48 hours and then buy it. That seems fair to me.

I'll have one of these before I get a trike

Excited to see the pictures man! Definitely must be a labour of love!

Honestly I think these bikes look best in a two tone! With the pin stripping seperating the two. Maybe a darker green or a gold yellow. I've always thought a burnt orange and a green would make an interesting but effective clash! That's just my two cents!

I'm about 6'2" maybe 6'3" and I think the biggest difference is just the way I sit. On the RSV it sad you with your feet out like you are on a chair. I never installed running boards on my RSV because I never needed them. Another thing about the floorboards on my RSV is that they are like a mile long so I always had room to move them around. The more I puts around on my 88 the more right it feels, I found the backrest was one too many notches forward for me, but this 88 is a comfortable beast

Do I need 1 of each or two of each?

Too bad I feel a little scrunched on this thing

Hahaha I suppose I should!

Do these first gens have adjustable footpegs? I thought I remember reading somewhere that that was a feature on the first gens? How do I adjust them? Thanks in advance guys!!!!

Where did you get your bushings?

Got it done guys! Really easy and the bike runs great! Got the back right one slightly stripped but that cylinder was running fine so I wont worry about it until later. Thanks for the great tips guys!!!

I dont mind letting it sit for a few days to get parts. Ill replace if they look bad, being jobless I'm kind of on a budget right now.

Too Cool! Thanks for the diagram I think I'm going to make those myself!!!!

I would (assuming I'm healed and my bike is running good) Would go to the Black Hills (about a 7 hour drive) ride around the usual routes, the ones that @cowpuc described, but with a twist. Id spend a huge chunk of change in Deadwood since I'm legal now!!!

I remember that bolt on my TS400 was tough too. I think I just did the same thing you did and it worked out fine. After I replaced the seal it kept leaking because the inner fork tube was really, really pitted

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by sleeves? Like the dust boots? Sorry I'm still learning!!!

Did you leave the anti dives hooked up?

Would a shot of PB blaster hurt doo you think?

Of course I have been on disability for over a month so I could be a little rusty