frankd

Kevin, I guess I'm wrong. I never saw that technical bulletin before. Thanks for the info!! Frank

There is a difference of opinion as to whether on the MKII bikes the rear driveshaft spline is lubricated by the shaft drive unit or not. I believe that it's not, and that you'll find 80W on the coupling only if you don't drain the shaft unit before you pull it, and then when you set it down sideways, the 80W flows through the vent into the coupling. I don't want to start another argument about this, but....look at page 6-70 in the MK II manual. http://labs.trunkful.com/vrmanuals/firstgenmanual.pdf and you can see that Yammie wants you to lubricate BOTH ends of the driveshaft with molybendum disulfide grease. That implies to me that the rear coupling is NOT lubricated by 80W from the shaft unit. Seeing that you have an oil leak underneath the intermediate drive unit, and you have a severe gear whine under deceleration, I suspect the shaft the u-joint attaches to has broken. I can't say for sure if you'll be able to tell if it's broken or not just by inspecting it without dis-assembling it, but see if the nut is still atached (forward of the u-joint) and that you can't detect any in and out play. Make sure that your oil leak is indeed from this shaft, not the rear valve cover. On my 83 (they are identical here) I did have the seal go bad and I had an oil leak here. I changed the seal and all is fine. On my 89, when my u-joint self destructed (very dry bearings), I also replaced this seal for preventative maintenance. I don't remember that it was difficult to pull the swing arm loose. After you get the shaft drive unit and the driveshaft out, remove the bolts that attach the rear suspension to the swing arm, and then remove the bolts that go through the center of the swing arm bearings (underneath the rubber plugs. I think I remember that they have nuts on the inside and one of the bearings has an adjustment mechanism. Inspect these bearings and make sure they rotate smoothly. Mine were very notchy so I replaced them. If your intermediate drive unit is good, but you have an oil leak, I'll write a trick I used to make sure it went back together with the same bearing preload.

On mine, I usually drain the shaft unit (rear end unit) while it's still on the bike. It's easier and less messy. Plus there is a small vent hole between the shaft unit and the shaft coupling area, and if you don't drain the unit and then set it on it's side, 80W will flow into the coupling. On Mk II bikes, when you pull the shaft drive unit, the driveshaft will come out with the shaft unit, because the coupling seal keeps it from coming out of the rear coupling. To remove the driveshaft from the shaft unit, just pull the driveshaft firmly. Some people replace the driveshaft seal, others re-use it. Grease both ends of the driveshaft with thick molybendum disulfide grease. Some say the best type is from Honda, but I don't remember the exact type---you can find it by searching this site. No, if you want to pull the intermediate drive gear, you have no need to drain the engine oil. Remove the swing arm (just remove the bolts in the center of the swing arm bearings) and then remove the 3 bolts that mount the intermediate drive unit. Then there are 2 engine case bolts, one on each side of the intermediate unit----loosen these bolts and remove the intermediate unit. Don't loose the spacers because you'll need to re-install them.

It means that your black lead is worse than your red lead, but both have problems that need to be cured. Because of my experience is with First Gens. (and I'm pretty sure that MiCarl and Flyinfool are in the same boat) I can't tell you where the connections on a 2nd Gen are located. You'll probably find several bolts or screws that connect the black wires to the chassis. Unscrew the bolts/screws, and using a fine abrasive (400 grit emery cloth) clean all the oxide off these connections and also the frame, but don't 'over clean' them. The terminals are brass with silver plating, and if you rub through the plating they will oxidize quicker and the resistance of the connection will increase (a bad thing). To prevent them from oxidizing again, coat them with di-electric grease or even chassis grease. Either will keep the air off the connections. On a 1st Gen, I'm pretty sure the red wires (there are 2 in parallel) run from the regulator connector to the main fuse with no other connectors. On yours, first disconnect the negative battery lead, and then take apart the main fuse (if possible on a 2nd Gen) and clean all the connections and make sure everything is tight.

How about an official Yamaha video showing how to adjust the valves? Watch video #2. Remember that on Mk II bikes you don't have the YICS chambers to mess with. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?89779-Official-Yamaha-Gen1-Mechanic-Training-Videos-So-Cool!&highlight=venture+video I never worry about the shims I'll need before checking the valves on my Ventures. Usually you don't need to change any shims----you are merely checking the valves, finding that most of them will be in tolerance.

I agree with MiCarl in that even though one phase of the stator appears to have a shorted turn (a bad thing), that would make it weak, not dead. The battery voltage should come up some. Instead of running a jumper from the regulator to the battery, you could do the same test by taking a small straight pin and stick it into the red wire near the regulator. Do this carefully so the pin doesn't contact chassis ground. Then take your voltmeter and measure the voltage on the pin. If you measure 12.3VDC, the wire to the battery is good. If you measure a higher voltage (14.5 or so) you have an open wire. Carefully inspect the regulator's and bike connectors to verify that you don't have a burned up pin. If you measured 12.3 volts at the regulator, your next step is to try a new regulator. Frank D.

Here are 2 Youtube videos that show the installation of the ADVMONSTER led. The tester wasn't happy with them, but his bike has 2 headlights, and he only installed 1 led for the test. (Part 1) (Part 2) Frank

I know somebody just wrote about converting to a LED headlight bulb, but the search function on this site won't look for a word as short as LED, and when I ask about LED HEADLIGHT, it finds a lot o headlight posts, so...... Who has converted to a LED headlight, and how did it work out. On Youtube there are videos that show a poor pattern with some brands. Several kits are listed on EBAY. Cyclegear has theirs on sale for $60, and it is 2400 Lumens, or 2.4 times as intense as a stock bulb. They have a bunch of reviews which are mostly good, but one assembly did fail because of a bad control unit. Some on EBAY are 3000, 4000, or 6000 lumens, which seems like a lot of light, but most are cheaper than Cyclegear's. Some have fans and others just use a big heat sink. What have you tried? Frank D.

Dingy had cable kits last winter, but I don't know if he has any left. I put a set on my 89, and they are of excellent quality.

Disconnect the sensor hose from #2 cylinder, then start the bike and have a helper keep the RPM at about 3000 RPM. Put the hose back on and the engine should speed up---enough to be obvious. If it does, your vacuum advance is working. When I bought my 89, the hose was cracked, and the vacuum advance inoperative. My gas mileage around town was just below 40 MPG. After changing the hose, it went up to 42-43 around town.

Buy some Marvel Mystery Oil and put some in the crankcase. Run the bike for a bit to circulate the oil. Then I'd pull the two oily plugs and put some Marvel Mystery Oil in those cylinders and let it soak while you're moving. Maybe this will free up stuck rings. I also agree that new plugs are important to these bikes, especially 83's because the spark is a little weaker on them. I'd probably clean the old plugs up as best possible, and then verify that they spark before re-installing them. Then I'd run the bike for a bit to burn off the Marvel Mystery Oil. Then I'd put in new plugs.

I was able to log in just fine this morning. Frank

Try holding the clutch lever all the way out when you apply the cruise.

I seem to remember that there are brackets on the sides of the TCI and bolts going into these brackets on the sides of the frame.

I've bought 2 sets of the red electric horns from Auto Zone for my 89, but they don't last. They're nice and loud when they're new, but even with the opening positioned downwards, after a couple of rains they quite working. Has anybody found any horns that seem to last? The Rivco electric horns look good, but is there anything else that seem to hold up? Frank D.

No, a clogged fuel filter won't make the fuel pump work harder, it'll just limit the amount of fuel available at the carbs. The effect of a clogged filter is restricted fuel flow, and the carb's needle and seat do the same thing when fuel isn't needed in the carb bowls. As for cleaning carbs at 31K.....I bought my 83 new in April of 83, and the carbs have NEVER been rebuilt. The diaphrams have been replaced, and they've been synchronized. In 1986 I noticed that the idle seemed a bit rich (gas mileage reduced and a dark look to the spark plugs) so I talked with my dealer and he suggested that I let him set the carbs with his exhaust gas analyzer and the gas mileage went back to normal. I don't think I've ever moved the mixture screws since then. When the bike was stored for the winter, I always drained the carbs, or used Stabyl. The bike has 140,000 miles on it. This may be over now though, because my brother's been using the bike for the last 6 years, and he hasn't used it very much in the last 2 years. Now he said it's got a miss. He lives about 180 miles south of me, so within the next couple of weeks I'll go down and see what's up.

Dave, Thanks for the info. I've contacted them to see if they can repair a Garmin Nuvi for me. Frank D.

For a little over a week, Barb and I have been having a great motorcycle trip. We left home Thursday, Sept. 25 and headed for our daughters house in Mufreesboro TN. We had a great visit and watched our youngest grandson play in a soccer tournament. Monday, we met our friends from southern Illinois near the northern end of the Natchez Trace. We rode sections of the Trace, and some great state and federal highways, and we ended up in Gulf Port Miss. Barb and I had never visited that section of the Gulf Coast before. Then we rode into New Orleans, walked around in the French Quarter, and had lunch there. We rode up to Natchez our friends started talking to a couple from England that had visited the Jerry Lee Lewis museum near there. We went there the next day---the museum was small, but great. It talked about a lot of singers and musicians that were born near there plus it had a lot of pictures about Jerry Lee's cousins---Mickey Gillie and Jimmy Swaggart. Percy Sledge was one of the names I recognized. Our friends left for home and we headed towards our friends house just north of Dallas. Tomorrow we're riding to Fort Worth to visit my cousin, and Monday we'll start north and east. The 89' has been running great---getting about 40.5 MPG with the cruise locked on an indicated 75 MPH (73 actual) and on one tank it got 47.5 MPG, but the speed was 50-55MPH for most of the tank.

We live just west of Joliet (Plainfield) and obviously we're not that far apart. You'll probably get all the help you need with your carbs here, but if need be I could take a ride. I'm not home now, my wife and I are out wearing our 89's tires back down to normal. You do know that bike tires grow when the bike is unused for a long time, and you have to wear them down before they grow too big and can't spin. 73, Frank---KA9J

If you're worrying about a completely trashed diaphram, pull the air filter cover and element, start the bike, and then blip the throttle and watch the sliders move. If you've got a diaphram bad enough to cause a miss, that slider won't move much. You may want to do this when the bike is warm, because removing the air filter cover leans these bikes out and they all tend to pop and belch. Be careful!!! Any chance you've got a float set too low? A bad spark plug wire usually causes a miss at high load, and would cause a miss at low rpm and high throttle opening. Then the cylinder pressure is the highest and the spark plug takes the most voltage to fire.

Barb and I are in Mufreesboro TN. We were crossing over I-24, and there were two lanes of traffic waiting to turn onto the interstate. We were in the 4th lane from the left that went straight. Just as we approached the far side, a new, white 4wd Ford pickup started to make a sloppy U-turn, and it looked like he was going to take my lane. I turned to the right hard, and as I looked to the left, he was close. I braced for the impact, but kept turning to the right. I waited for the crash, but what I heard was his tires scrubbing. He finished his U turn about 1/2 in my lane, moved into the lane left of me and flew past me. He came into my lane, braked, and then moved into the right lane and turned into a store. I guess he was in a hurry.

First off, I also wondered how they knew what the paint tasted like, it did sound like they had somebody try it. Here's some pictures I took the first time it happened. Because the pictures are two dimensional, it's harder to see the depth of the damage, but believe me, it's not that the paint just didn't bond. The wood was cleaned just like the Cabot instructions said that it needed to be. One one of the attached pictures you can see some of the depth of the damage.

I stained my deck and front porch, using Cabot solid color acrylic deck stain this summer. A couple of weeks after I did the front porch, I noticed that there were some chew marks under the top railing. I re-stained the damaged area, and everything has been fine, until today. I was bringing the newspaper in, and I saw a little more damage (chew marks). I called Cabot, but all they had to say was that there was a moldicide in the stain that should keep everything away because it tasted so bad. He could offer no ideas how to keep this from happening again. I'd guess it was done by a squirrel, but how can I keep it away? HELP!!! Frank

It may be the fuse holder, but my Nuvi had another problem that caused it to loose power, and then come back on. It happened much more frequently on rough roads. I also initially though it was my fuse holder, but after tightening it up, I still had the problem. Then I noticed that my low battery electrolyte alarm (1st. Gen) wasn't coming on, and the same fuse fed the resistor that I used to permantly turn the alarm off. If my fuse holder had a problem, the alarm would come on also. I wondered if something wasn't jaring in the power supply itself, causing it to drop out. My GPS power supply is in the bottom of the right fairing, so I decided to wrap it in spongy packing, and that cured my problem. It's been 2 years now, and it hasn't dropped out once. If you still have a problem after you replace your fuse holder, consider cushioning the power supply.

Another thing to worry about......The damaged sections of wire definitely have less copper than the undamaged areas. This creates a small area that has more resistance, and therefore will get a bit hotter. The only thing preventing one coil turn from shorting to the turn below it is the varnish on the wire. If you get the varnish too hot, it breaks down and you will have 'shorted turns' and the stator will have reduced output on that phase. Undamaged stators have what I consider a short life anyway, so why make it shorter. If it's used on a bike that never goes far from home, maybe you could get by for a while, but if it's a bike used to travel distances, it won't be reliable enough. If you decide to use it, inspect each damaged coil carefully and make sure that only 1 turn is damaged. If 2 adjacent coils are damaged, and any copper bridges the gap between them, you will have a shorted stator. You can't measure it with an ohmeter, but as I said above, the short will drastically reduce that phase's output. Frank D.