Prairiehammer

Patti @B2MOM posted this on Facebook: This wonderful husband of mine...we celebrated 44 years of marriage last month...and I almost lost him Friday night. Don had a hemorrhagic stroke and consequently a seizure. It was without a doubt the scariest night of my life. The emergency personnel responding to my 911 call were awesome. He is currently in ICU at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola FL. After many tests, we think he is going to be ok. God blessed us again. Don knows who he is, where he is. He can walk and talk just fine, no apparent after effects from these two life threatening events. He will be in the hospital for at least a couple more days, with more follow up testing. The doctors cannot explain why this happened. His blood pressure was good. Not sure how long our travels will be on hold but I am so very grateful that he is still here with me. The one bad thing to come out of all this is that he will not be allowed to drive for at least 6 months. If we do get to travel at all this year, it will have to be me behind the wheel of the truck, pulling our huge home behind us. So please watch out for me...this is going to be a huge learning experience and I don't want to run over / hurt anyone. I ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Please hug your loved ones...you just never know when it will be your last hug.

Thank you, I'll take it if you please. It will make a nice addition to my First Gen Venture Library. BTW: the Owners Manual is for a 1984 Venture Royale, not a 1983.

Unless you have changed out the 1991 flywheel to an earlier one (1989 and older) you will need to use the single pick-up coil for the 1990-1993 Venture, 3UF-81670-00-00. As an aside: your carbs are 34mm, not the 35mm that came on the 1300cc First Gen Ventures. Did you swap them from a 1200? Or perhaps the Canadian Ventures still used 34mm carbs while the US models received 35mm carbs?

I suggest that the drive pins in the drive hub are dry and dirty. Clean and lube. M2005-015, REAR WHEEL CREAKING.pdf

Just a clarification on Bobby's two pickup coil years; 1983-1989 have two pickup coils while 1990-1993 have a single pickup coil.

Before replacing "loose" swingarm bearings, try adjusting them to attain the specified zero lateral movement. The swingarm bearings are tapered roller bearings, thus adjustable for slop.

Actually, I think that driveshaft is worn substantially. Granted the teeth are not galled, but note how sharp the teeth are. Unworn teeth will be very blunt, with a prominent flat at the tip of the teeth. Here's a good one for $9 plus shipping. http://www.ebay.com/itm/83-Yamaha-XVZ-1200-XVZ1200-Venture-drive-shaft-driveshaft-/311596597077?hash=item488c9abf55:g:0J4AAOSwYmZXF~84&vxp=mtr

On the 1983 Venture EXCLUSIVELY, the "Boost Sensor" vacuum line connects to a spigot on the number 2 carb body. Again, this connection is unique to the 1983 carb. All subsequent years the Boost Sensor vacuum line connected to the number 2 intake boot/manifold.

The stock wiring for the battery electrolyte sensor circuit included a resistor. The resistor value was quite low, too low to allow a direct connection to 12 volts. There is no danger in adding the 2-4K resistor in series with the existing stock resistor.

Thank you, Wayne for the information. As to the original engine number; the engine number should match the frame number, e.g., 1NL-001908.

While most aftermarket sources do not specifically offer grips for the First Gen Venture anymore, those that are offered up as Honda GL1500 replacements will work perfectly on the First Gen Venture.

Suit yourself. Whatever floats your boat, but the cables would not be different, regardless of grips.

Yes, if you swapped the early straight line slider for the later rotary union, you could then use the later, available cables.

The 1983 XVZ12 had no factory cruise control and thus did not have the "five into one" rotary connector. The cable ends went into a "slider" instead. The cable ends were longer cylindrical terminations instead of the "barrel" connectors. The later cables have the barrel at both ends. The 1983 Slider: Later model union:

Thank you, Jim. Boy! There is not much left to salvage, eh? Classic "rolling chassis".

That is so weird! We were in Ouray July 6. First time I had ever been in Colorado. Before the trip I had scoped out the area on Google Maps. I SAW your bike in the Street View. When we got to Ouray, we shopped and ate and browsed before returning to Durango. I saw lots of bikes parked on the main drag of Ouray. And even saw a bike just like yours. I had to wonder when the Google Street View car had been there.

This thread and Don's thread about not ENJOYING the ride are both hitting close to home. As Condor says, I used to spend most of the winter planning the next season's long rides. And this past winter was no different. I planned and planned and planned. Ordered maps from all the states I would be riding through. Programmed the GPS (Garmin Gertie) with the route. Deb scheduled her vacation. Made reservations, etc. But when the time came to join the Venturers in Durango, I opted to take the Explorer and not the Venture. I felt guilty. I felt like I copped out. But we had FUN on this trip to Colorado and back home through Texas. There seemed to be an almost daily utterance of "Boy, am I glad we are not on the bike". The non-stop rain. The long, long, boring distances. The freezing and blinding rain as we went over Wolf Creek Pass. The interminable heat of New Mexico and Texas. The anxiety of running out of gas (almost did in the Explorer) with the knowledge that Deb was NOT going to push the empty bike (as she did in Maine). Bottom line: Long motorcycle tours (after 42 years) are just not fun anymore. If it is not fun to do, why do it?

Have you contacted Motortike? They have Progressive coil over shocks for their kit intended for the GL1500. I'll bet the shocks are same as for your Venture kit. http://www.motortrike.com/TrikeContactUs.aspx

True DAT!

Unfortunately, no matter which of the throttle cables have broken, you will have to remove the left main fairing and the left inner fairing to access the "five into one" junction box. To change ANY of the five cables that junction will have to be accessed and disassembled. My finger is on the junction. The junction is located at the yellow arrow in this pic, behind the inner fairing panel.

The plastic elbow used on the Venture is identical to the same elbow used on the First Gen VMAX, except for the color; the Venture part is silver and the VMAX part is black. If you want to save about 40%, go with the VMAX elbow, pn. 1FK-12446-00-00 for $22.45. The Venture elbow, pn. 26H-12446-00-00 is $37.43. Either is available new for those prices at boats.net. As for the thermostat: For the thermostat, the NAPA # 156 is a perfect replacement, actually seems to work better then stock. Quick warmups, temp guage stays steadier, less prone to overheating, and a lot less money. I'd recommend replacing all the O-rings in the plastic elbow and crossover pipe and t-stat housing while you're at it. Denden '83 xvz12TK OR

I too have a California Venture. The charcoal canister was already removed when I got the bike. A winter ago, when I had all the plastic off, I cleaned up the remaining emissions apparatus, by removing the air control solenoid valve and rerouting the carb bowl vents and the fuel tank vent to essentially match a non-California Venture. And I simply removed the vacuum line from the number two carb body and capped the spigot.

Congratulations, 'Fool! You finally made the database after how many years of my inquiry? Thank you. Another congratulations is in order as well: your 1988 CALIFORNIA Standard is the first in my database. Yes, it is a California spec Venture, XVZ13UC ! Did you know that?

Don't limit your search for the cover to just the Venture. Also check out the Seca. 1983 SECA - XJ900RK FRONT BRAKE CALIPER 1983 SECA - XJ900RK REAR BRAKE CALIPER 1983 XVZ12TDK FRONT BRAKE CALIPER 1983 XVZ12TDK REAR BRAKE CALIPER 1983 XVZ12TK FRONT BRAKE CALIPER 1983 XVZ12TK REAR BRAKE CALIPER 1984 XVZ12DKC2 FRONT BRAKE CALIPER 1984 XVZ12DKC2 REAR BRKAE CALIPER 1984 XVZ12DL FRONT BRAKE CALIPER 1984 XVZ12DL REAR BRKAE CALIPER 1984 XVZ12KC2 FRONT BRAKE CALIPER 1984 XVZ12KC2 REAR BRAKE CALIPER 1984 XVZ12L FRONT BRAKE CALIPER 1984 XVZ12L REAR BRAKE CALIPER 1985 XVZ12DN FRONT BRAKE CALIPER 1985 XVZ12DN REAR BRAKE CALIPER

There were a couple folks offering CONVERSIONS for the First Gen Venture back in the day; Lehman, TriWing, Motor Trike, but I think Jrichard was referring to motorcycle manufacturers, not trike conversion manufacturers. And to his point; there were no trikes made BY THE MOTORCYCLE MANUFACTURERS. Not even Harley back in 1986-87. Harley quit making their Servi-car in 1972.