twigg

I have the Right Fairing panel from an '86. It's broken but repairable and it can go for the cost of shipping if he wants it.

Couldn't agree more. I have long held that, when Congress commits troops to War, then 15% of the Legislature should have to go with them. And not just for photo ops!

I got mine from Skydoc. They are much wider than stock and do effectively have a "tab" on them. They were about $20 each and I'm very happy with them.

What would you consider a "long distance" to be?

Right in the middle of doing this now: O'Reillys has a set of Universal Plug Wires for $15. They are 7mm Copper Core Silicone sheathed. They are a steal and there is enough wire there to do at least two bikes. They are called Omnispark 9994 The caps are NGK 8641 and 8625 (Waterproof). Amazon had those at $3 and $5 That worked out at under $35 for the complete set and plenty of wire to spare.

If they made one for the 1st Gen, I would happily let them and you know how their shield performed under some extreme conditions. Before the end of July I am planning several LD Rides. On the agenda is a three day ride from Tulsa to Key West and back. The NSR Rally which is 100 hours and will run around 4000 miles. Other, smaller stuff, but "small" is relative. Heh ... New Shield or old, you will get the ride reports anyway

I ride in a world where folk spend $700 on a crash helmet, $1000 on a riding suit then fix Two Garmin Zumos ($600) each to their bikes. That's not counting the many hundreds of dollars folk lavish on bling! I even saw a recent email where a guy has a budget of $1000 to $2000 to fit a radar detector!. So there are plenty of people out there who would consider an upgrade from CV Carbs to EFi to be a rather modest cost, especially when you factor in all the advantages it brings. One of them is better gas mileage, but that's only the one you tell "er indoors to justify the cost. More power, cleaner running, smoother running, better starting etc .... plus the fun factor and uniqueness. Have I convinced anyone to try it yet?

No, I don't wait for Spring .. I happily ride in every weather and temperature. I only draw the line at ice and snow on the ground. One of the counter-balance springs went "bang" the other day. Now I have to replace both of them. Meanwhile, the door which probably weighs around 350lbs is staying firmly shut! It will be around $100 for a pair of springs, and not a lot of fun fitting them.

At the end of July my '86 VR has to cover over 4000 in 100 hours. The last event was 8 hours in the cold and pouring rain. Believe me, I need all the help I can get

It slipped my mind earlier, but there may be some here who are interested in this: http://www.therally.us/wafflehouse.htm All the rules are right there on the site. Really all you need is a bike, a passion for Waffles and an appetite. The event is all year and can be combined with other Iron Butt type rides for the adventurous. The Rally Master is a friend of mine, but that is my only connection. I participate in other Rallies he organises, but not this one.

It's rare for upgraded stators, on any bike, to be able to produce much more than about 20% gains. I read a complicated explanation for this in another place and I dimly recollect that it's not just the windings that are responsible for the power output. The magnetised core is equally responsible, and this is the bit that is difficult to improve upon. Nonetheless, a 20% increase is more than significant and worth the small price premium for those who use lots of electrical farkles.

I quoted that story as simply one example. It wasn't me but the point is there are few circumstances I can think of where such tickets are valid from a safety point of view. Officers should not cite motorists because they are pissed at them. If that were the only story of it's kind then I would be rather more charitable. We all know that Cities and Counties use motoring fines to raise revenue. It's bad practise and it should stop. Traffic speed cameras should only ever be used at accident black spots, and they should be highly visible and well publicised. They are there to cut down on accidents, not fine motorists. Prevention is the key. It is vastly more effective than the cure.

There are plenty of sentences that annoy the hell out of me but it isn't usually the fault of the law. Mostly it is the fault of the attorney or judges interpretation and implementation. Those people do not always use either common sense or justice as a yardstick, they use their own agendas, and it's just wrong. While we are on a Motorcycle Forum I will cite just one example. A few years ago and Iron Butt rider got a speeding citation. It cost him $90. Nothing particularly unusual about that except that the offence was committed on the New Jersey Turnpike. The guy was doing 52mph in a 50mph zone .... at 4.00am. When the cops use laws, whose only purpose is road safety, as a method of simply raising revenue, then that is a problem for us all. We need those laws to keep us safe. We need people to obey them most of the time and the one thing that will make the roads more dangerous is the general public feeling that "safety" laws are just a means of revenue. It brings the law into disrepute and becomes "You against The Man!".

I'm surprised folk get annoyed. Both bikes have two handlebars Both have the same number of cylinders Each of them sports two wheels and let's face it .... A 2nd Gen doing 70mph will easily overtake a 1st Gen doing 50mph. ps .... Mine won't overtake anything as it is currently stuck behind a garage door that has a broken spring!

skydoc17 has a kit. He will loan it out for the cost of shipping and simply asks that folk contribute to the collection of shims in the kit.

I have a close friend with a Vulcan. It's a nice looking bike but the 2nd Gen Yamaha is nicer (my opinion). Doubt I'll ever be in the market for a large cruiser ... When funds allow my next bike will almost certainly be a K1200LT. I do have specific requirements of a bike, with very little money to achieve them, but one thing my bikes need to have is the ability to run successive 1000 mile days without complaining ... or hurting me

Heh ... Thanks. Most of it is what you should do before and straight after buying any bike. The faults on the 1st Gens are few and mostly easily fixed, but they should be reflected in the price. It's all too easy to spend a couple of grand, then have to throw another thousand at it for stuff that could have reduced the price had you known about it when purchasing. Mine cost me $1500 to buy. It is now running beautifully, but has also cost me a total of around $2500 (including purchase) to get it that way, and it still looks like crap. I could have avoided some of that had I read this post before I bought it (I probably paid $500 too much). The speed thing? Well that's just bike guys having fun

I also kept quiet about the best bit ... Ya know, faster than a 2nd Gen

So you just acquired an old Venture/Venture Royale. Stop right there Mister! Unless you heard it running, and even if you did, there are things you need to know before it travels another 10 yards, unless you are pushing it. The 1983-93 Ventures are among the most reliable and best handling Full Dress Tourers of their era. There are, however, things to know and do if you want to get anywhere close to the legendary 250k miles on it. The Venture, especially the earlier 1200 had very few real issues, but there are two things to check before you proceed. The first is the rear subframe that had a nasty habit of cracking under stress. Check all around the rear suspension, and clean off the oily bits so you can assure yourself this is not a problem with the one you have. The later models do not have this problem. Second gear is weak too on those bikes. If you rode it and it jumped out of second under acceleration, then yours is suffering. You have two choices. You can use the info on this site and in the Manual to rebuild the transmission, or you can change straight from first to third and forget about it. Other than that, any foibles are minor and are associated more with age than anything else. Before you even shell out the hard-earned there are a number of things easily checkable. Good plastic parts are rare and expensive. Repairing cracks in fairings, replacing broken tabs isn’t difficult, but it is time-consuming and should be reflected in the price. The engines are pretty bullet-proof. Like with cars, it is the bodywork that sells these bikes and top dollar should only ever be paid for one with a fairing and cases that are close to perfect. There is lots of pain doing it any other way. If the bike comes with lots of verifiable service history then the mileage is irrelevant. If it doesn’t then you need to do some work before it runs. You can check that the coolant is topped up and clean before you buy. If it is low, or gone, or brown then you have a neglected pile of iron, and bid accordingly. Be aware that coolant leaks can all be fixed, at a price. I know this because mine leaked coolant everywhere, and it cost me to fix it. O-rings at $3 apiece are a minor purchase, until you start counting just how many of them there are! If the cooling system is in good order then the fan will fully control the temperature within the green zone in any weather, at a standstill. Some early bikes had poorly calibrated temp. gauges and they climb nearly to the red, but they should never actually get there. If the gauge reaches the red zone, then a cooling system rebuild will be needed (and some of it should be done anyway). Draining, flushing, cleaning out the radiator and physically cleaning the smaller pipes is a must. Sediment gathers there and flushing won’t shift it. Once that is done, regularly changing the coolant and flushing will keep it clean. Now we can keep it cool, we can think about getting it hot. Before that the oil and filter need changing, and the air filter needs cleaning and/or replacing. K&N make one which can be had for around $50 with careful shopping. You will never need another. If your bike came with one, have a beer to celebrate. When you change the oil for the first time, what comes out will tell you much about the bike’s history. Firstly, about three quarts should come out! It should not be black nor have any metal bits in it. Any “foam” … like mayo, around the filler, filter or anywhere else tells you that water is going where no water should ever go. Waterpump shaft seals, headgaskets and the frail cylinder head connectors can all leak and cause this. About those plastic pipe connectors. There are two of them. They do not come out in one piece and are about $20 each. Each has three of the aforementioned o-rings. Do the math. So the oil should be plentiful, free of slivery streaks and wrist pin clips, and dark but not too black. It should not have gasoline in it either (rare). If it is like that then change the filter and fill it up. Do not overfill it. About halfway up the sight glass is plenty. Anymore and it will be spraying through the breather and all over your beautiful new air filter. Have another beer, you have a good motor. Leaks around the valve covers are common and not a big issue. Oil pouring out is a big issue. The original gaskets were poor but better replacements can be easily sourced. If any of the sixteen bolts holding the covers down is leaking, replace the rubber. If you try to tighten them down to fix a leak you will, over time, simply make it worse. If you are going to replace these gaskets then that is a good time to check the valve clearances. If they are uneven, especially if they are “tight”, then they need adjusting. This is fiddly but not hard and you can borrow the tool from members here. Replace the plugs and, if the plug wires are original, remove the caps and snip ¼” off the wire. Check the cap resistance. It should be 10k Ohms. Trying to fix dodgy caps is fraught with difficulties. I would get new ones. Moving on to the fuel supply. There is a hard to get to filter behind the fuel pump on the lower left of the bike. Change it. Cut the old one open and inspect the contents. A little bit of brown deposit is to be expected, but brown sludge or obvious rust means that the tank is suffering. Most of the tank can be cleaned on the bike there is enough access through the various ports. You did look down the filler for heavy rusting before you brought it home? It takes about five minutes to get the tank off my Triple, and about four hours (if you know what you are doing) to get the tank off the Venture. The petcock is likely to be stiff. Move it to “reserve” and leave it there. Use the gas gauge which is accurate, and carry a small MSR Fuel Bottle in the side case. That will get you a few miles if you run out. Be aware that leaking petcocks are a nightmare. Rebuilding one with new filters and seals will cost around $40. A new one can be had from about $54 up to $75, depending on where you buy. While you are down there, the gas pipe has a very sharp bend and could be quite close to needing replacing. While you were doing all of that charge the battery. If it looks old it probably is. Have it load tested or replace it. So …. We have fresh oil, fresh gas, new plugs and no obvious signs of distress. The coolant is clean and topped off and the battery charged. Turn the key, wait a couple of seconds and hit the starter. Unless it’s cold you will need little or no choke. Leave the throttle completely alone until the engine is running. Run the engine for no more than fifteen seconds then shut it off. Now feel each of the exhaust headers, carefully. They should all be warm. If one or more remains cold then the respective cylinder(s) are not firing. If they are all warm, then start it up again. Go quickly around the bike as it warms up looking for anything amiss. What you do not want to see are oil, fuel or coolant leaks. There will be a bit of smoke as it warms, but not much. There should be none from the exhaust. While we are on the exhaust …. One in poor shape will cost. Just the gaskets in the system add up to a hefty $100 if you need to replace them all. The collector can rot out, and it can rattle. The rattle can be ignored or fixed later. If the joints around the collector leak then it will need fixing. This is one to check before you buy because it’s a good negotiating point. Check out all the electrical components while it is warming up. Lights, flashers, horn etc. With luck they all work and the motor will warm until the fan cuts in. Let it cycle a couple of times before you shut it down. Check again for leaks. Yeah, I know you want to ride it but you can’t yet. Have a beer. We have checked that it will go but we haven’t ensured that it will stop. Tires should be less than ten years old (they have a date code) and free of any cracking. You are pushing 800lbs down the road on them and they need to be good. It goes without saying that they should have sufficient tread. Check the brake pads for thickness and freedom from oil. If the fork seals have blown then fork oil easily makes it onto the calipers. It’s obvious and needs fixing before you ride. Check rotors for thickness and that they are not binding. There should be no signs of brake fluid leaking anywhere, and the fluid should be changed. Check that the steering bearings are not obviously worn. While we are on the subject of hydraulic fluid, change the clutch fluid too J Now you can go for a ride. Just a few careful miles is enough. Check that the handling is not too strange … it should track true and not meander. The suspension should be compliant and not induce nausea causing your lunch to end up all over the instruments. The brakes should stop you in a straight line and the gears shift fairly smoothly. If your ride checks out okay and it doesn’t leak all over the driveway when you get back, then you have the makings of a great motorcycle so … Have a beer to celebrate. There is a whole bunch of stuff not included here. There are some minor fixes that are likely to be needed to things like the starter motor and electrical items. There is lots of information on the site to help. If you fell at any of the hurdles above, then there is an issue that needs resolving. All I tried to do here was go through a routine that would get you up and running safely. Above all, have fun, and lots of beer but not before a ride. Others will chip in to add stuff I missed, and correct mistakes I made but I hope this helps.

It is the connector for the valve on California bikes.

It depends ... Maximum charging voltage for AGM is 14V. If your tender has an AGM/Gel setting, or program, then it should be okay.

Congratulations for making it this far. Here's to many happy years to come. Personally, I am one lottery win from retiring too

O'Reillys if you have one, has a Universal Fit set of wires and caps for $15. The wires are enough to do at least two bikes and they are 7mm Tinned Copper Core, Silicone sheathed. They should be just fine. Amazon has the NGK Caps ... You want the waterproof ones: NGK 8641 and 8325 Should keep you going for a while. I just got my wires off .... They are dated 1985 .... time for a change.

Can the factory rear shock be rebuilt with a Progressive Spring? Then I could ditch that compressor too Has anyone converted the on-board compressor into a tire inflator?

The guy who said that he had never met a bike he didn't hate, never met my Jawa 250 California! As much reading as I do, and a fair bit of riding too the conventional wisdom appears to suggest the the Gold Wing / Venture Royale battle was a repeat of the Betamax/VHS fight before it. The better bike lost out to the better marketing. As an aside, HArley have built an entire industry on the same principle. Up to about 1989 there is a clear bias towards favouring the VR. To be fair, most reports are Written by professional riders who tend to value riding characteristics above most things. The VR wins that one fairly comfortably. For pure touring it's less clear. Honda is Honda and their fit, finish and attention to detail are legendary. On the other hand, they are expensive and heavy. After '89 Honda launched the 1500 and the war was over. Gold Wing won. It was simply better, and built in the US. It's probably true that Yamaha didn't have the sales they needed to continue the development of the VR and keep it ahead of the Gold Wing. I wish they had, it would have given us more choice and more competition for the makers. The modern touring Yamahas don't even come close. They bow way too much to the "cruiser" market styling and that compromises the basic purpose. If you want real competition to the Gold Wing then you really have to look to BMW and the K1200LT ... and the new K1600. So ... up to '89 I am sticking with the Yamaha. After that date the choice is harder but I would probably be looking at the Gold Wing or the BMW K1100 my 2c.