Prairiehammer

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.

Actually, the cover is a modified VentureLine cover. Notice the abrupt seam where material was added to the original Venture cover. Also, the cover has the heat resistant material along the bottom edge. I don't think that would be necessary on this trike. Never the less, Yamaha never made a "factory trike". In fact, no major motorcycle manufacturer ever produced a trike from their factory, excepting, of course Harley Davidson and even their trike was never intended as a highway tourer. (The newish Tri-Glide is a highway cruiser, but back in the day the Servi-car was a utility vehicle with a rigid rear axle, ie. no suspension.) The current seller got fed a line by the previous owner, who in turn may have been sold a line of BS by another owner or by a dealer? The trike body is unidentifiable. There are some elements that resemble parts of a Tri-Wing, some parts that are reminiscent of vintage Motor Trike. It looks like a pure custom job, to me. Whoever created it did a pretty good job, though. The esthetics are questionable, but details like the built in wrap around tail lights and the double trunk are novel. The matching paint and the use of the 1987 Venture saddlebag latches to secure the trunk lid are what prolly fooled the current owner.

Hunh! I thought Joe would have shaved and trimmed since last year. I seriously wonder what Bobbi has to say about that "Sasquatch"? What say you, @etcswjoe ?

Pshaw! You call that a launch ramp? Here's a REAL launch ramp, on the Interstate. Can you imagine tooling along at 75 mph about Midnight and hit that?

:yikes:Oh, MAN! We are heading for Southwestern Colorado in 10 days. I sure hope it moderates before then. Camping.

Never correct to have but one copper/crush washer on ANY banjo bolt.

How the heck did you manage to fit a 17mm hex into a 15mm socket? And if you were able to get it in there, why did you have to glue it? Seems like it would be a VERY tight fit.

Yes, you did, Doug. Thanks.

The Yamaha part number for the saddlebag and trunk gasket/seal is 54K-2847F-00-00. There is a seller on eBay offering the seal. http://www.ebay.com/itm/TRAVEL-TRUNK-LID-SADDLEBAG-SEAL-54K-2847F-00-XVZ12-XVZ13-1983-1993-/331204614483?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d1d555953&vxp=mtr&rmvSB=true

Gary, Get the springs from any of several sellers on eBay. Starting at $74 with free shipping. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Progressive-Suspension-Fork-Springs-11-1112-/191883163046?hash=item2cad20b5a6:g:7uIAAOSwUfNXSSxr&vxp=mtr I thought you had a Service Manual? Changing springs and/or fork oil is explained in it.

Your "SIGNAL" fuse is blown or as is very common, the fuse holder clips are not holding the fuse firmly and a poor connection at the fuse results. Replacing the old fuse box with a ATC/ATO type fuse block is recommended. Here is my setup:

Yes. @Mcolabella Here is a picture of that fuse block:

Thank you Hoss and Holly (Dale and Daryl).

Thanks, Doug. Yes, "001416" is a later build. (and second gear updated/fixed from the factory). What is the build date on 000512? November 1984?