jasonm.

i am getting on this late. But the caps should be 10k +/- 1k. The spark plugs are should be approx. 5k. The resistors in the caps should never be cleaned with sand paper. as the shorter they are the higher the resistance. It changes quickly.

if you have black '83. THE FACTORY PAINT HAS RED PEARL you can only see in the sun or close up with flash light. Obviously they clear over that. The clears have been known to fog up on bikes not garage parked most of their lives.

the rear line is not very long. You need one or 2 things to find the leak. 1st is soapy water when you think you are near the source. The source can be at the compressor area under the trunk or the line from compressor to shock. There is ONE connection joint easy to check under the seat right side near the mounting tab(s) that bolt the seat down. That is the 1st place to check. As you just need normal wrenches to disassemble and reassemble. 2nd Do you have mechanic's stethascope like your family doctor but with a pointy thing on the end ? That can also help trace is down

1st my Royale has had the carbs EGA'd(not running rich or lean) and also I sync them every spring, AKA perfectly tuned. Yamaha has been selling "Ring Free" carbon remover for at least 10 years. Owning this bike for more than 25yrs. My 1st gen. approaching 90k developed "pinging"(pre-ignition) . Which we all know is bad. These bikes were made to run on 87 octane(look on inside side cover panel). And that was no longer possible in the summer months. Ring Free comes in a 10 oz. bottle. approx. $15. Says put 2 oz. per gallon for shock treatment. This works out great for 1st gens with a full tank. AND DRAIN the oil afterwards. This due to possible "blow bye". Yes, oil will look a bit uglier than when you started if it did not have many miles on it. Ideally you will drive the bike w/o stopping. Which is exactly what I did and kept the tach 95% of the ride over 4000rpm(typically close to 5000) on the interstate-5th gear. Yes, I was speeding for 2.0 hours and 160 miles...do the math. I also did a few top speed runs seeing 6500+ in 5th gear and pegging the speedo. Note: at the beginning of the run before hitting the interstate it did not idle normally. Hell, I just put a less ignitable item in the gas ...this is normal. Thus, I recommend using 87 octane during this, as I did. As 87 is easier to ignite.... RESULTS>overall bike idles smoother, never mind even with carbs sync'd every spring, this made a big difference. Also NO MORE pinging on 87 octane when giving it the gas below 3000rpm or any RPM in 5th for that matter. I often gas it moderately in 5th at 2500...happy me. As I can troll along at 2000 rpm 5th gear if I want to. And it always pulls when gassed and no hesitation or vibration. Just goes as if it's EFI'd. Lastly the following mornings for a few days. When starting the bike you see the typical water on the ground with turned down pipes, from over night condensation blowing out the exhaust. After the water dried up, I saw PLIES of carbon with that water. Needless to say...this stuff does the job.

you say idle for 20 seconds with or without the choke continually on. FYI- these need the choke on to start usually when cold and sometimes need that choke on for minutes. But that varies by how much choke you pull the lever. Mine rarely needs more than 1/2 choke on a cold 1st start of the morning. And after 1 minute it's off. As I have found full choke is TOO RICH in warmer temps and it will run ruff after 1st start and could die if all the other settings are also on the rich side. AKA- float settings, mixture screws.... My floats were bad till replaced and this caused a rich issue. Now all is "normal". Still only need 1/2 choke on cold mornings but using full choke does not cause major problems like before...aka--idle death

all I can say is.....intake O-rings below each manifold

Have to give an update.... I looked at a few tires up close. Dunlop 404 and E3. I got the expensive E3 from my local guy who gives great prices. I noticed a few things...1st the tire is approx. 1/2 inch narrower than the Avon. Which is fine because you cannot use the whole tread on the Avon's steep profile. Also the E3 not counting tread wear is slightly taller. I can say the Avon and Dunlop steer very much the same, aka= quick turn in and stable at all lean angles, which is what I wanted. As long as the Dunlop holds air properly I will be very satisfied.

PAJ2 is the "diaphragm" one... I think you can get from dennis kirk 4 for maybe $15

"blind hole" puller...never seen one. Might be something to gently pull it out rather than whack it out. I have seen slide hammer pullers.The trick is the spacer getting shifted to the side. The steel rod just needs to be angled and force used to push the spacer over at the bearing , aka...tilting or cocking it

170 nor 150 are the pilot air jet...that is the MAIN air jet(PAJ2) you are speaking of stock is #170 for 1300 1st gen. The pilot air(PAJ1) #80 sits down the throat for the carb but above the butterfly. It's the same shape at the main you found fallen out.

these are very well designed engines. Over-gapping causes more issues than under-gapping. Since all plugs slowly open over time I did mine at .032. Also being iridium the gap changes slower than standard plugs. I have old standard plugs and none had opened more than .003 after 15k miles. I still have them as spares because the center electrodes had zero wear after 10k. Another set with 15k also zero...used a magnifying glass and compared to new. I think NGK is secretly making plugs in China or cheap clones from China , or they truly changed the way they are made...= cheap. My NGK trust is out the window. I had the bad plugs on my desk for years to remind me NOT to buy them again. I think I finally threw them out. I tried Autolite plugs. The resistance varied to over 7k on some. And the Threads are poorly cut aka rough edges..basically not quality from a manufacturing standpoint . Threads are either cut or rolled...these looked rolled from rough pitted steel , bla bla bla...just don't like them.

I no longer use NGK plugs. I had 6 out of 8 go bad in the worst way. They electrically OPENED internally in less than 2000 miles. Suppose to be 5k ohm resistance on each plug. Both resistor and non-resistor type did this=Infinite resistance. No, it's not my wires or caps as wires are new caps test good and caps were cleaned internally by me. All tested by me a 30+ years working on electronics. FYI- NGK caps go bad quickly too. Now using Denso iridium IX24B. No problems past 6k.

Most research shows...Don't keep the air pressure at max in the front unless you want a balded tire in the middle. I suggest you just go 5psi less than max in front and 2-4 less in rear if you are always with w/o passenger . I never run max in front as you can lose traction too easily in the rain. You want that tire to flex properly in the corners for grip. Just try it.....I speak from 25+ years on this Venture...

why was the plug bad? oil fouled or gas fouled. FYI..gas fouled is due to the ethanol around me damaging the floats causing the fuel level to rise. Also if valves are too tight it also shows up as a misfired due to low compression. FYI- I had both these issues. With that same symptom. Another odd one is a bad spark cap when they get hot. They will arc out to the head. Run it again and let it idle hot and see if it's truly resolved. I mean idle 5-10 minutes after a ride.

yes, I'd like to but cannot figure out where it is...? I'll keep looking. YES, the right bearing is the trick, push to spacer over with your stout steel rod and carefully hit while it is forced down applying pressure to the outside. Piece of cake as they say. And always use a heat gun on the wheel to make assembly smoother.

FYI--- .... must remove the RIGHT side bearing 1st. Because the center spacer has this. = There is an umbrella washer("spacer flange") on the LEFT side of the center spacer(speedo side). This washer is to keep the spacer from just flopping around when the tire is removed. Thus the right works best for 1st removal. Got them removed. Will heat with heat gun for new install..

Update- I simply took the speedo drive thingy. with the seal. BUT I CANNOT drive the bearings out this time. Yes I pushed the spacer to the side. But not getting a good hit on the bearing. I know not to hit the spacer from up high. Just hitting bearing... UHG!. Using a hard steel rod approx. 1/2" diameter. SEE UPDATE BELOW

I see other posts for the front wheel bearings. I have done it on this bike '87 Royale and other Yamahas MANY years ago but having a brain fart doing it again. The diagram shows a meter clutch(aka speedo drive) and the clutch retainer. I had reused my seal last time because I faintly remember it seemed to just come out when driving the bearing out. Is that retainer a C-clip of some kind stopping me from getting the bearing out ? Or is it simply a washer? I know to use a heat gun to heat the wheel to get the bearing smoothly in. But this removal has me messed up. Thus the above it due to bad memory.

at the carb I think the "pull" cable comes with a rubber boot and goes to the threaded adjuster etc

I see you really have altered both intake and exhaust . BUT if you are getting backfiring thru the carbs...that's a sign of "no combustion". Can be tight valves or too lean condition. Lean can also be the intake o-ring(s) are worn out. I can tell you 1st hand these are possible....as both happened to me. All my carbs came in on the EGA/ dyno machine 2.0 to 3 turns ccw for best idle. You really need to find someone with one of these set ups. YOU MUST EGA THE BIKE with these alterations. Otherwise you are chasing the "wild goose". Each head pipe has a 10mm headed bolt. Need to thread a 6mm pipe designed for Yamahas into these spots and then the bike is EGA'd...exhaust gas analyzed. You may need to make the device to thread into these spots yourself. I recommend Stainless allen screws with 6mm x 1 pitch x 10 mm L. thread. And 1/8" or 1/16" hole drilled down their centers. How do I know this ?... I made mine . But have lost them. I am sure I could find them if I look hard enough. The smooth head allen heads allow the sniffer hose to go onto them. Carbs must be sync'd too. Good luck.

no one mentioned you should be running less oil than OEM 400cc recommended because the NEW springs take up much more space. I found 360cc and 3/4" spacer makes the sag 2". Leaving 3.5 travel left. Be aware doing the oil by cc's added if usually wrong if you also changed the oil at the same time. Because of the spaces air can be trapped till the 1st ride. You need to use a "dip stick". to confirm both sides have the same amount. Motion Pro makes one to set the levels. I have the oil levels when on center stand approx. 15" from the top . All set and checked after doing a short ride. Putting too much oil in acts like a strong second spring.

Hello, I have read posts regarding thermostats for 1st gens.. But only have seen the ones w/o the "jiggle pin" to bleed off the air in the system. Stant has and Exact duplicate available at Napa for under $15. Jiggle pin and same physical shape. Stant # 48148, ... Napa #455318. take a look. http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Result.aspx?Ntt%3d455318%26Ntk%3dKeyword%26Nty%3d1%26Dn%3d0%26D%3d455318%26Dk%3d1%26Dp%3d3%26N%3d0

i have had sets of plugs in for 15k to 20k and none looked like that. I am sure the engine did not cause this. As for being rich. It takes at least 100 miles of running after start up w/o choke to blow the carbon off if the engine is tuned properly. If you run it and run it hard and it's still dark. I suspect your floats are too high as now is common with the ethanol fuels attracting water. Water really messes up the floats.

1200s have the hole but slightly smaller

be aware the mufflers have a rubber sandwich holding them. This is used to damp out the "vibes" that can fatigue the muffler tab.