frankd

There is a dot on the shifter shaft that you center in the gap in the lever. This allows you to align the linkage properly. Frank D.

Must be a vinyl week.....My Technics turntable hasn't worked for 10 years, and I got the bug to fix it. It was real easy...it just needed a new drive belt. I went online, found it, ordered it, and now it's installed. I've been enjoying some of my old vinyl also. Most of my vinyl is in great shape because I used to record them on cassettes with Dolby C, and usually played the music that way. Of course, I'd switched to CD's and my IPOD like everybody else. Vinyl played on a good stereo does sound a lot better than CDs. The bass is deeper and also the sound is smoother. I did get another surprise. While looking online for the drive belt, several used Techinics turntables for sale came up also, and the price they want for them is unbelievable. Frank D.

.026mm = .001"----That's 1/4 of the minimum allowable intake clearance. I don't think that most would ignore that---I sure didn't. I have run Ventures with slightly tight intakes, but not that tight. You said that your garage was cold....how cold? Glad you're feeling good enough to be out working in the garage!! Frank D.

My nephew just called me up, and he's got a problem with his 96 Jimmy that he's having problems fixing. He has replaced the vacuum actuator in the transfer case and he still doesn't have 4WD. He's not 100% certain that he has the vacuum hoses in the correct locations. He has it on 4 jack stands, and when he is in 2WD, the front hubs ARE engaged, but as expected the transfer case is not connected to the front drive shaft. When he engages 4WD, both the front and the rear drive shafts turn, but the front wheels do not. Then he went on to tell me of a couple other things.....He says from the front of the truck, he can hear what sounds like gears grinding a bit when he engages 4WD. Also, he says that the truck isn't going into 4th gear at highway speed and it's very sluggish taking off. It sounds to me like he has a transmission problem in addition to the 4WD problems. Does anybody have any ideas what he's got wrong or maybe a 4WD forum that'd help him out? Frank D.

It will also matter how much coolant ended up in the transmission. You will have to change the transmission fluid a couple of times because you can't drain all of it. Like Flyin said, there is a lot of fluid in the torque converter. Torque converters used to have drain plugs, but it's been a long time since they've eliminated them. Now the only way to replace the fluid in the converter is to flush it. When Ford was having all the trouble with their front wheel drive transmissions, they came up with a way to do this.....Pull a coolant line off of the radiator and put it in a drain container. Then start the engine and let it pump the fluid out of the trans. When it STARTS to pump some air, turn off the engine and add about 5 quarts of fluid. Start the engine and pump it out again. Repeat the process again until the fluid comes out clean. I think with yours, I'd pump the fluid out, and then remove the trans. pan. Clean the pan out completely and put it back on. Put about 6 quarts in, leave the trans line off the radiator and start the engine. Then I'd flush it again, put the line back on, fill it up to it's normal level, and take it for a ride. When you get back home, inspect the fluid on the dipstick, and if necessary flush it again. It's a lot of trans. fluid, but it's way less expensive than a rebuilt transmission. Frank D.

The O rings may be what's leaking, but also check the anti-dive valves themselves. On my 83, I had a leak there, and replaced the O rings...a couple of times. Then I saw that the valves were leaking. I have Progressive springs in these forks, and the anti-dive brake lines had already been disconnected. I had a buddy in the machine shop at work, and he made me up plates that would replace the valves. When the anti-dive isn't activated, there is oil flow through the valves, so you can't just put a flat plate....you need the passage that connects the two ports. I think Skydoc17 sells plates for this. Frank D.

Prayers for all of you, and especially Justin.

I like the Avon Cobra..... I've been using them for the last 11 years and the only problem I've ever had is that they attract nails. Last spring, I changed the one on the 83, and it had over 25,000 miles on it (rear). Also last spring I put one on the 89 and now it's got 14,000 miles on it and looks like it'll go way over 20,000. Avon's make the bike feel lighter and more nimble. I've never used the E3's, so I can't say how they are. On the 89, prior to the Avon, I had a Dunlop 591 rear tire. It felt good, but it only last about 7,000 miles. My 89 had a D404 on the rear when I bought it and it also was worn out in about 7500 miles. Before the Avon's, I used to use E2's and they lasted over 20,000 miles, but they got a bit noisy as they wore and made the bike feel heavy in the corners. I think Michelin has a tire out that has harder rubber in the center of the tread that gives it long life, and a softer compound on the edges for better grip. If you can't find an Avon Cobra you may want to consider these.

Bill, It doesn't look like it'd affect the slide. I'd inspect it real close for cracks, and if I could not see any I'd probably round the damaged area off a bit with some emery or sandpaper and then re-use it. Frank D.

Yes, it goes on the bottom. The following web page shows that it goes on the 'engine' side, and seeing that our carbs are downflow carbs, that's the bottom. http://jbmindustries.com/Yamaha650.html Frank D.

No, the stator always operates at 100% no matter what load is on the electrical system. The rotor is a permanent magnet, so it always has the same strength. The regulator is what is called a "shunt regulator". All the extra energy that's produced by the stator is dissipated as heat. When you put a higher load on the electrical system, the regulator shunts less energy to ground. Frank D.

I'd imagine that another benefit to using an internet based service would be that you could also watch on your computer. That means that when you're spending the night in some other place and as long as you have a reasonably good internet connection you could watch TV on your laptop. Is this correct? Frank D.

How I clean flame rods (aka flame sensors) is to remove it from the furnace and then take a Scotch pad and clean the crud off. Reinstall the rod and you're good to go. When the flame rod needs to be cleaned, the pilot will light, and because the flame rod isn't sensing a flame, it'll go back out in 10-15 seconds. Usually, the furnace will try to light a couple more times before it shuts down. When this happens, you will get a 'no flame' or 'no ignition' error (the flashing LED on the control board). Frank D.

Randy, The 83-85 shaft units are different from the 86 and later. Yours should only be filled to the line on the dipstick and it'll run a lot hotter if it's overfilled. The 86 and later you fill to the top. If you don't have the dipstick, the dimensions are posted earlier in this topic. Frank

Don, Even thought the original VRChat prompt worked for everybody else except me for the last week or so, it looks like I don't have anything wrong here.....the new prompt works fine for me, except I'm dressed this morning. Frank

Funny this topic came up. When we went on our trip last October, somehow I neglected to put my stick type air gauge back in the bike's pocket, and put it away in my tool cabinet, so I didn't have a gauge. When we were in Albuquerque, I went to the local Walmart and bought another gauge, but I goofed and bought the high pressure version. That meant the resolution wasn't that good, and besides, when I checked my tires, I thought that it was reading wrong because Albuquerque elevation is 5200' and it read just about where both tires were when we left home. I went back to Walmart and bought the correct gauge. It read the same as the high pressure version. My son-in-law got out his digital gauge and it read several pounds higher. Then he got out another digital and it read different yet. The other day I decided to check the accuracy of my gauges. I made up a manifold with room for 2 gauges, and took a car tire valve stem and mated it to an air hose that I connected to a port on the manifold, and used the regulator on my air compressor to vary the air pressure. I reached in my spare parts drawers and found a brand new 60# gauge. The other 60# dial gauge I used was also relatively new. At 35 psig. both gauges read identical. Somewhere I've got a a 100# gauge that I calibrated on a dead weight tester, but that's one of those items that's hiding since we moved, so now I have to believe the 2 gauges that read identically. I started checking my tire gauges by connecting them to the tire valve. The 2 new stick types I bought read perfectly @ 35#. I've got a cheap digital that I thought read 1# low by comparing to my other gauges, and it read 1# low on my test setup. I've got about 5 stick types in my tool drawers and they all read within 1#. I've got a 'better' gauge type air gauge with a hose and a bleed valve, and it read about a quarter of a pound low when compared to the dial gauges. When my daughter and her husband come for Christmas next Friday, I'm going to have them bring their digital gauges. Then after we compare them here (700' ele.), I probably will send one of my new stick gauges back so they can compare them @ 5200' ele. Digital gauges are good, but the cheap ones aren't perfect. The pressure gauges in gas stations have never been very accurate. They lead a rough life. I'd believe your stick gauge more than the station gauge. Also, tire temperature makes a difference. You are supposed to set your tire pressure before you drive (or ride) on them. Car tires change about 1# per 10 degrees. On my E-350 van the rear tires use 80# or air, and they change a lot more when the temperature changes. I have no idea how much bike tires change. How much does tire pressure really change versus altitude? My son-in-law said that the uncorrected barometric pressure in Albuquerque is about 90% of that @ sea level. On Pike's Peak (14,000') I think he said it's about 70%. He also feels that because tires are somewhat flexible, they'd expand slightly at higher altitude and the actual measured tire pressure wouldn't be quite as high as you think it would be. Of course it's a lot colder up there, and that lowers the pressure. Frank D.

I rode yesterday also. I needed a haircut, that's a 15 mile (each way) trip, and the Venture's been griping about not going anywhere for the last 2 weeks, so I gave in and took her out to play. It was 50 degrees, and beautiful. Mother Nature is going to catch up with us sometime though..... Frank D.

Is the Class still connected to your front suspension, or was that disconnected also? If it's disconnected, how much air are you running in your forks?? If you don't have any pressure in the front forks and they don't bottom out all the time, you probably already have Progressive springs up front. The Class on my 89 works great. As Carl said, you can adjust both the front and rear whenever you want. In addition to having the key in the ACC position, you should have the bike on the center stand to adjust the suspension properly. The pressure settings that I use wouldn't apply to your bike because the forks and springs are different on a Mk II (86-93) than on a Mk I (83-85), and the rear suspension and rear shock/spring are slightly different. I usually run my front forks @ 14-15 psi, and the rear about 50psi and it feels pretty good with and without my wife on the bike. When she loads the luggage full for a 2 week trip, I usually bump the rear up to 65-70 psi. If your front suspension is still connected to the Class, you'll know if it works or not. If the front works, the rear probably will also. Connect it and see if you like it. BTW, if you look on the left side of the bike, just in front of the passenger footpegs, you will see a know with 1 to 4 on it. This is the rear suspension damping. For solo riding, you probably want it on 2. Frank D.

I'm home and have what I consider a 'fast' connection. I use Comcast cable for my hookup, and it usually works great. I left the white box untouched for at least a half hour and nothing happened. When Firefox looked like it wasn't going to work, I closed it and opened IE and the same thing happened. To the VentureRider site, both connected fast, but the VRChat didn't. And I was all ready for the nude chat.......

I pushed the VRChat icon and a white, blank box came up. What am I missing?? Frank D.

Please don't take this wrong, but did you log in with your new computer??? Frank D.

Bill, Because yours is a MK II, you don't measure the shaft lube with a dipstick, we fill MK II's and 2nd Gens to the fill hole. Frank

The lube I use is Mobil synthetic, and it's available at AutoZone, Pep Boys, etc. One advantage of synthetic is that the shaft unit runs a little cooler with it as compared to conventional 80-90W.