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frankd

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  1. frankd
    Barb and I got home from our trip and we're both still grinning. The weather was great, the bike ran perfect, and we had a lot of laughs with our friends. The 4 of us travelled from southern IL to Branson on state and U.S. highways---no interstates at all. Had a great couple of days in Branson. It was too bad that I hadn't read Wild Hair's message while I was in his neighborhood----we were only about 40 miles away and could have visited. Then we went down to Hot Springs. We took Rte. 7 from Harrison to Hot Springs and it is a great road on a bike. We continued our "no interstate" theme and rode to Tunica Miss. and let Mr Harrah put us up for a great price. On the way back to Illinois we stopped in Memphis and had lunch on Beale St. We intend on going back next year for their Wednesday bike night on Beale St. It sounds like there are a lot of bikes there for that. All told, we put just shy of 2,000 miles on the bike. Only one small thing to take care of. Our friends 1800cc Wing decided that it wanted to roll forward and off the kickstand. Our Venture was sharing a parking spot and kept the Wing from hitting the ground. To do this, the Venture had to sacrifice it's radiator cover (it cracked). If somebody has one that they want to part with, please send me a private message. Frank
  2. frankd
    I've got the upgraded starter drive installed, the new stator, and also a different rear wheel with good bearings and it runs great. The new starter drive by Dano works fantastic. It engages really clean and positive...no more noises of things slipping. Took the bike on a 50 mile ride yesterday and it feels great. No oil leaks and no new noises. Today I had to put on a new rear tire because my Avon had a plug in it and Barb and I are taking off for a week. The only tire I could find was a Dunlop K591 with Harley Davidson written on the side. The dealer only had one that was a little wider 150x80x16 so it was a b**ch to get in. It was so wide that I had to let the air out and PUSH to get it to go in. It has enough clearance when the shaft drive coupling engages but there isn't much room to spare on the left side at the suspension linkage coupling. I was worried how it would feel, but actually it turns very good. A lot better than the K491 did. The thread looks like a k491, but it's quiet so it has to be a little different. The price surprised me.....$130 from a dealer and only $22 to mount and balance it. For that price I let them do it. Anybody know anything about this tire?? How long do they last? Right after church tomorrow morning, Barb and I are heading south. We're going to meet our friends in the southern tip of Illinois and then spend next week in Arkansas and probably stop in Branson. Hot Springs and Mountain Home were mentioned, but we're only bumming, no schedule. Heck, we might even get to the casinos in Mississippi a little. Frank
  3. frankd
    When Barb and I were on vacation on our 89 Royale, we were enjoying some of the roads in NW Georgia. We were on a rough one, and I wanted to increase the dampening on the rear shock. I reached down and tried to twist the knob.....it wouldn't move, it was stuck on #2. Today when I was putting the side covers on, I remembered that I couldn't adjust it and started to play with it. It started to move a little and I kept moving it back and forth and it started moving between #1 and #2 normally. However, I still can't get it to go into #3 or #4. #2 Dampening is great for normal use, but I'd like to be able to adjust it when I want it stiffer. Any ideas? Frank
  4. frankd
    Jason, Yes, I turned it around before I put the center cover on. Brian warned me that I had it in backwards yesterday. Thanks for mentioning it. Frank
  5. frankd
    Well, it cranked, started, and charged. The starter drive worked perfectly and the stator charges great at low RPM. When the motor was cold and the idle would drop to about 400 rpm., you could see the voltmeter dip. When the engine warmed up and the idle rose to 1,000RPM, it was on 14 volts and you could see no movement when you blipped the throttle. On top of that there were no obvious oil leaks. I feel a whole lot better now. The left side rear wheel bearing is on backorder, so the jury is still out on if I'll have to swap the rear tire onto the used wheel I bought. Our trip got moved back to the 2nd week of October, so I don't have to make that decision for a little bit. I've also got a new thermostat top cover that I've been meaning to change.....maybe I'll pull the right front exhaust pipe and change that. Frank
  6. frankd
    Any chance the Tender didn't have power from the wall outlet?? In my old house I used to plug my float charger into an outlet protected by a GFI. I'm a radio amateur, and when I used to transmit on the antenna that ran over my garage, the GFI would trip. I'd forget about needing to reset the GFI and my battery wouldn't be charging for weeks. Is it on a GFI? Check the outlet and make sure it's working. Frank
  7. frankd
    Brian, Thanks for the information.....the directions for the cooling kit plainly show the washer in the other direction. I never thought about it before, but it looks to me like the main purpose of that washer is to move the oil that comes out of the bolt's hole against the cover so that it'll cool down before it's slung onto the stator by the rotor. Dan, I've got the rotor installed, and I wanted to try it out and make sure it started AND charged, but when I went to put on the back cover, I saw that I'd forgotten to clean the old gasket off of it. The gasket was a real bear so I had to soak it in gasket remover and soften it up. It worked, but by the time I got the plate cleaned up, I was out of ambition. Tomorrow I'll put on my earmuffs and start it up (open exhaust). I'll have to mount the shaft drive unit also and fill it up with oil first. Frank
  8. frankd
    I'm putting my 89 back together and I've had a slight case of brain fade. I'm not sure how the "special washer" underneath the center cover of the left side cover goes. I'm pretty sure just from looking at it that it goes in the way I show in the attached picture. Is this correct or do I have it backwards?? I've got it in so that the raised lip on the center opening is 'out'. Frank
  9. frankd
    There is a pretty good chance that the backfiring is being caused by the exhaust leak. When you have an exhaust leak and let off of the throttle, the leak allows fresh air (oxygen) to be drawn into the exhaust system. When that fresh air hits the exhaust gas, which is rich when you decellerate, it explodes. If you're talking about a standard Venture, I used to run about 55# in the rear and the dampening on '3' for normal use. When we left on a vacation and the bags and trunk were full, I'd usually put about 70#in. Before I changed to the progressive fork springs, I used to run 15# in the forks. After the Progressives were installed, I ran zero air pressure. This was on an 83 Standard, but if you've got a Royale, I'm sure the rear settings will be different. Frank
  10. frankd
    You should measure about 14.5 plus or minus .5 Volts with the battery fully charged and the engine revved up to about 3,000 RPM. If you don't have a digital voltmeter, an analog one will do, but read it carefully. If you don't have access to either, charge your battery fully. Remove the charger and start the bike. Shine the headlight someplace where you can see the reflection (a wall or something like it). While the bike is still cold, turn the choke all the way off so that it will idle slowly and then look at the headlight reflection as you blip the throttle. Right above idle you should see the lights get noticeably brighter. If so your charging system PROBABLY is working. How dead does your battery get after a week?? Is a little low or is it 100% discharged? Frank
  11. frankd
    You want a seat of the pants estimate......My driving lights each have a 55 Watt lamp in them, or when they're on it's an additional 110 watt load. If you want to know how much current they draw, it'd be about 8 amps. When I have them on, at idle my voltmeter dips down but as soon as I move it goes back to 14V. My 89 could tolerate some additional load, probably another 3-4 amps, or 40-60watts. This is when you are moving down the highway. When you are in town waiting at a stoplight with your foot on the brake, with no additional loads other than the bikes normal things, you're at best breaking even, but probably discharging the battery a bit. The alternator in my 83 was a little weaker but not much. I imagine it varies bike to bike depending on the stator and the condition of the magnet in the rotor. Do you need more detail or is this what you wanted to know? Frank
  12. frankd
    I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere here many times, but when I 'searched' nothing jumped out. On my 89, I'm in the process of changing my alternator stator (and my starter drive clutch, and my rear wheel bearings and my....). I think that the last time I did it (on my 83) I sealed the leads in the grommet and the grommet in the case with RTV. Is there anything better to use, or does everybody still use RTV? Thanks, Frank
  13. frankd
    Zane===thanks for asking that question because I was going to ask it myself. I don't remember my 83 having that piece. I bought it new and it had 2 recalls for alternator cooling mods. Mine (on the 89) wasn't sticking out the head of the bolt, it was just inside of the bolt. I don't think the hole in the bolt head is anywhre near big enough to let the rod stick out. Frank
  14. frankd
    I found another spring tonight...it was on the inside of the rotor. The 3rd spring is probably underneath a cabinet in my garage. One of the sprags somehow ended up on the right side of the bike. It didn't look like it could have gotten there underneath the bike because I had my oil collecting pan there and it's about 4" high. I also had my garage door open and it could have gone outside and rolled in any direction. Everything is looking better. Got a rear wheel coming next week. I've got a new right side wheel bearing. I'm ordering the seals and the left wheel bearing. A new stator should be here Thursday or Friday, and the rotor is boxed for shipment to Indy. Frank
  15. frankd
    He has a trip planned for mid Oct. So I told him to buy some seafoam and try that first. S
  16. frankd
    Well, tonight I went over to a friends and tried to get his 86 VR to idle. It's had too many winter storage sessions without Stabil.....After I told him that the best bet was to pull the carbs and we could clean them up I came home and took the starter clutch assembly apart. First off, all 3 bolts were loose, and one of them has been rubbing on the gear behind the clutch. Then I see where the main piece is cracked. We can buy Yammie starter clutches for about $120, but I'm going with the Dano upgrade to avoid future trouble. Now, when the rotor jumped off, the rollers fell out. I saw that the sprag clutch pins were gone as were the springs. I found all 3 sprag clutch pins and 1 spring. The other 2 springs may have fallen into my waste oil drain pan--I'll drain the pan through a strainer and see if they're there. If not, who knows what corner of the garage they jumped to. The parts diagram shows a little piece on the the other end of the springs (not the sprag end). Is that correct or do the springs go right into the main piece?? Frank
  17. frankd
    Today when I got home from work, I tried the 'borrowed' AutoZone puller. I tightened it as much as I thought was still slightly safe (very tight), took 2 propane torches and warmed up the hub. When I quit heating, I attached a strap to the puller to stop it in case of a violent exit. I tapped the puller bolt a couple of times with a hammer....nothing. I tightened up the puller a little more and decided to put a pry bar in a strategic place to pull the flywheel (and the free play in the crankshaft bearings) to the left. I was reaching for the hammer and pushing the prybar lightly with my hip and then....kaboom it was off. The 3 rollers fell to the ground and the plate on the back of the rotor looks like it has some wear. It sure feels good to have it off.... Frank
  18. frankd
    Well, I agree that it wouldn't be wise to beat on the stator with a hammer. Also, I see where you both are coming from about removing the stator bolt competely, except I've already applied a lot of force and the threads are still fine===I can turn the bolt with my fingers and feel no tightness. I heated the hub up just now, loosened the puller and tightened it again. Hopefully it'll give in. I've been tightening it with my double-hammer air impact. It's not an Ingersoll-Rand but it still produces way more torque than my single hammer impact, which is way stronger than an electric impact. I've already stripped the threads out of a decent harmonic balancer puller. Now I'm using my Harbor Freight special---it seems to be holding up fine so far. Did you heat it with a propane torch or an aceteline/oxygen torch?? I heated it with my propane torch and if that isn't enough I could switch to Mapp gas. Frank
  19. frankd
    I've got a question for those that have had their stators jump off the crankshaft when they've left the puller on overnight. When I started to pull mine, I loosened the attachment bolt several turns, then attached my puller with 100mm long bolts. I don't see how it could jump off--it still has the attachment bolt that'll stop it in 1/8" or so. You would have to remove the bolt completely for it to jump off, but what would you push on?? Of coures as of this morning when I left for work mine still hadn't come loose. Am I missing something?? Also, what is special about the PCW Racing puller that make it cost so much?? It says that it's guaranteed to pull the rotor first try. The only difference I see is that the bolts that you screw into the rotor have that piece on them that keeps them straight. Frank
  20. frankd
    Zippy, I'm glad your stator is good. When you get it running reasonably good, charge the battery fully and then start the bike. Run it at 3,000 RPM and measure the voltage across the battery---it should be 14.5 Volts, plus or minus .5 volt. The First Gen Ventures that I've worked on all were on the low end of this, probably about 14.2 volts. Frank
  21. frankd
    Also test the stator to ground. It's a 3 phase delta winding, and if one of the windings gets grounded it lowers output considerably. I've had 1 go bad on my 83 and now another on my 89 and both were grounded. You can check the rectifiers in the regulator with an ohmeter. If you have an analog ohmeter you may want to use it on the RX1 range. If you only have a DVM, set it to the position for testing rectifiers. Disconnect the stator and measure from the 3 white leads that go into the regulator (leads from the stator) and the black lead (or ground) on the regulator--wuth the meter leads connected one way you should see a diode on all 3 stator leads and when you reverse the leads, you should read an open circuit. Then do the same test to the red lead ( or batter positive cable) and the white leads going into the regulator (stator leads). Again you should see a diode on all three white leads. On my 83 a couple of years after I'd installed the stator, my voltage we down. The stator tested good, but I had a rectifier open in the regulator.
  22. frankd
    I've done this job twice now, once on the 83 and now on the 89. The first time I did it, I couldn't get either bearing out. A friend took a die grinder and cut the outer race of the left bearing until he could break it apart and slide it out. It was a lot of work and there were some marks on the wheel hub when he was through. Then he drove the right side bearing out from the left side. A year or so ago, I also was in Harbor Frieght and they had the blind bearing puller on sale. This slides into the center of the bearing, you tighten up the adjusting nut, and then you use the slide hammer to pull the bearing. I pulled the right side bearing out first because it was intact. I also used the larger attachment to pull the left bearing race, but you could also drive it out from the right side opening--your choice. Then last time I put the bearings in the freezer for a bit, and warmed up the wheel hub with a propane torch. THe bearings both fell into place and once the temperatures equalized were snug as a bug. With this method, you install 1 bearing, wait until it's tight, then heat the 2nd side up and install that bearing. Also, be careful not to forget the spacer that goes between the bearings!!! Here is the bearing puller---- http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/?category=&q=blind+bearing+puller I was able to order the updated right side bearing from Motion Industries. I work for a company that does a lot of business with them and it also gets a big discount. The original number was a KOYO 6304Z or it only had one sealed side. Yammie has replaced this bearing with one that's double sealed, so I ordered an SKF6304, but I forgot the last 2 letters that tell you what they call the double sealed bearing. I pick it up tomorrow and I'll update this info. It cost me about $10.50. THe best price I found from Yammie is just shy of $20. The left side bearing must be bought from Yamaha however---they are the exclusive user of this bearing.
  23. frankd
    Well, it's apart. I cut the axle in 2 on the right side. I had to sacrifice the caliper bracket, then pull the drive unit and wheel as an assembly. It was still a pain to drive the axle out, but my son and I got the wheel separated from the drive unit. The left bearing was toast....all we had left was the outer race and a couple of rollers. The right bearing was intact, but has a bad spot in it (may have happened when we were getting it apart and out). The spacers are damaged from the rear tire running at an angle. Heck, even the back tire has a little cupping on one side from not running straight. Does anybody have a complete rear wheel with axle and spacers and/or a caliper bracket they're interested in selling?? I can be contacted at ka9j@comcast.net Thanks, Frank
  24. frankd
    Is there any chance you have water in your gas?? I've had that problem with both of my Ventures. The gas tank vent hose is right in front of the rear tire. When you're riding through a downpour water can be drawn up and into the gas tank. It shows up when you open the throttle. Then the water that accumulates in the carb bowls gets drawn into the main jets and the bike stumbles. To verify if this is the problem you can turn off your gas tank petcock and remove the fuel filter. Then using a clean hose, blow the gasoline out of the fuel filter onto a concrete surface. If you have water it'll collect into the low spot on the filter and when you blow the gas onto the concrete you will see drops of water. Also, if it is water, it will cure itself. Today's gas with alcohol in it will absorb water and it'll pass through with the fuel. However, with 10% alcohol, it can only absorb about 5% water, so it takes several tanks. Frank
  25. frankd
    I just looked an see you've got a Mk I. No trunk light. Like the other gentleman (and I forgot to look at his name) said make sure we're talking about 500 ma, not 500 micro amps. You may want to take one of those small test probes with the light in them. Put it in series with one of the battery cables. If it lights, you have 500 ma, if it doesn't you have 500 micro amps. Frank
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