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twigg

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Everything posted by twigg

  1. twigg
    That time of year is about the most variable of any. Texas, Oklahoma can suffer temperatures anywhere from 50F to over 100F. It's also peak time for severe storms and tornadoes. On the other hand, some of the very best riding conditions can happen too. Go prepared to get very wet, and to occasionally have to hunker down for a storm to pass .... Then, in between, enjoy the finest riding weather and scenery that money can buy.
  2. twigg
    When I refurbed my calipers they were too far gone for air to push out the pistons. In the end I had to use a grease gun and pump them out. It works, it's messy, but grease is cheap. I want to delink them, but there is a caveat. The brakes I have are the standard '86VR set up, and they work. They stop the bike even well loaded and they stop it consistently and reliably every time during a 1000 mile day which included the hills and sharp curves of the Talimena Scenic Highway. Even knowing that they do not fill me will unbridled confidence. I like the harder feel that SS lines give, on the front at least, and I do not like Yamaha telling me which brake I should be using. I am intelligent enough to be able to operate a pedal and a lever at the same time if I need to. So they are going to be de-linked, and stainless hoses will go on the front, probably with R1 calipers. The back is less of an issue. Properly set up it should be fine as it is but as I understand it the hose needs moving to the "front" outlet, with the original rear outlet blanking off. Is that correct? I believe that the master cylinder has sufficient capacity for two calipers so I should end up with the following: One front master cylinder with a double banjo and a braided steel hose running to each R1 caliper. No proportioning valves, splitters or other trickery needed. One rear master cylinder with a braided hose from the front outlet to the caliper, because the rubber hose won't be long enough. EBC HH pads all round and standard rotors. Any problems with that?
  3. twigg
    Thanks Owen. Everyone should try one of these events ... if only the once. It was a great experience.
  4. twigg
    Hey guys, I rode this Rally last weekend on my '86 VR. It was up against modern bikes ... BMW, FJR, ST1300 etc. Ignore the politics on this site and just enjoy the story ... It was fun http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/27/1020374/-Red-Dirt-on-My-Tires-aka-I-Went-to-McAlester-and-Burst-a-Balloon!
  5. twigg
    Let me run it a bit before I decide that, to make sure it doesn't fall off first What I would say is that if I were to take some better pictures then it might be cheaper to simply have a small local shop make you one. Honestly, it is just aluminum stock with a few bends and holes ... Most shops could make one in less than an hour. There are commercial versions for modern Sports Tourers. They look a bit fancier but cost hundreds of dollars. I don't have any objections, however, to making and selling them.
  6. twigg
    Ran a first full test yesterday. 272 miles run at Bun Burner Gold pace (1500 miles in 24 hours). It is necessary to keep up an overall pace, including any stops, of 62.5 mph to achieve this. My test was short, but it was long enough to run a full gas cycle so I know that I am on the right track and could keep that up, weather and traffic permitting. I left home and had some distance to go to hit the Interstate, which was I44 through Tulsa .. all torn up and very slow. Eventually got onto the Turner Turnpike for Oklahoma City and was able to up the pace. Cruised down to OKC at about 80, then went north on I35. The wind was horrible, and it was hot but the bike and I were doing fine. I headed East on the Cimmaron Turnpike and made the first 10 minute stop at the Toll. I switched to the axillary at 174 miles, when the main tank actually ran dry. That gave me three more gallons useable. It got me just short of Tulsa where I refilled with 7.5 gallons and stopped ten minutes. Arrived home without incident a little later. 272 miles 3 hours 54 minutes moving 70 mph moving average 22 minutes stopped 64 mph overall average Had I continued then the next 300 miles would have been all Interstate and would provide a cushion for longer stops. I realised this as I saw the average speed creep up from about 45mph to 60mph once I got on the Interstate. A couple of very minor issues, but the bike ran beautifully and it wasn't until sometime later that I realised that the state of my butt hadn't even crossed my mind. One GPS is too dim, but I have two. The intercom needs some fine tuning, but I could hear my GPS instructions, and the music, quite clearly. The on-bike hydration needs fine tuning but worked just fine as did the aux. gas tank. It's amusing belting along at 80 watching your gas gauge go up!
  7. twigg
    I have an Olympia Airglide 3. I love it. It is one of the few sub-$300 jackets that comes with fully articulated CE back protection. The mesh works about as well as it could given the intense heat around here.
  8. twigg
    I have had more trouble with the cooling system than with any other part of the bike. When I bought my '86 it wasn't holding coolant. The plastic pipe between the water pump and the thermostat housing was holed from a fall over. A common problem I believe. The I needed to remove one of the cylinder head joints. They are made of cheese and it broke apart. They aren't cheap, but they are available and each one has three o-rings ... replaced. The drain valve was completely shot. Ebay replaced that and I replaced the o-ring. The cylinder plugs were leaking ... replaced. Waterpump housing gasket and o-ring ... replaced. Radiator appears good. It was severely blocked but eventually it all flushed out well. The motor was run with a flushing compound, then reverse flushed for 30 minutes. It appears to now be clean. So ... we went riding and it over heated. Steam and coolant emerged from the right hand side and I suspected the top hose. Very little coolant was lost. Then on one ride I noticed that the coolant in the expansion tank was boiling. That should not happen .... ever. Replacing the radiator cap fixed it completely. $7, job done. The earlier steam was caused by the expansion tank boiling and pushing coolant through the overflow pipe and right onto the rear cylinders. It's fixed now and working as intended. There has been an issue with the motor getting too hot for the fan to deal with in traffic. That was caused by the idle hanging way too high. When the ambient temp is over 100F, and a hot bike is idling at 3000rpm, then the cooling system cannot disperse heat fast enough, and it will just get hotter. Fixing the idle was a time-consuming job involving a good deal of welding on the collector, and a second attempt at replacing the butterfly shaft seals. I think it is finally fixed. In any event, it is now idling correctly even when hot. Under normal conditions the temperature gauge never gets very high and the fan cycles correctly in traffic. Fingers crossed.
  9. twigg
    I would have been first in line for that Group Buy .... but the budget won't stand it right now. I have watched the development of the unit, and thoroughly appreciate all the work that has gone into it. Meanwhile, I just set up a 280 mile test run .... The bike needs a good shakedown, it has had major repairs and additions and is due to enter it's first Rally at the end of September.
  10. twigg
    The last job, scheduled for tomorrow morning, is to run the ground wire. It wouldn't need one, being metal, with a metal mount ... but it's mounted onto the rubber of the grab handles and so is isolated from the frame. It's a five minute job to fix and I have 1 gallon of gas ready to test all the connections.
  11. twigg
    Motorcycle Superstore were fresh out of Flux Capacitors On a more serious note .... Very little has been done that can't be undone in about 30 mins. The tank comes off very easily, leaving almost no signs that it was there .... The electrical upgrades are all hidden which just leaves the equipment shelf, and that's simply held on with two bolts.
  12. twigg
    Congrats on that For me it varies. Can be as little as none, to as much as 21 out of 24 hours. Depends what I am doing.
  13. twigg
    The auxiliary tank is now fitted but, as yet, untested. I wanted it behind the rider, gravity feeding the main tank. I can then ride until well into the reserve, then flick the lever and dump 4 gallons into the main from the reserve. That way I get the benefit of my fuel gauge for the whole 9+ gallons. I do not necessarily intend many 300 miles between stops, but I want the flexibility and the peace of mind. First I had to design and build a mount. I picked up a large piece of 1/4" aluminum, which is overkill, but it was cheap and available. I had a local guy do the TIG welding. He also welded the new exhaust stubs onto my broken collector box. At the same time, I took the opportunity to make a secure space for a hydration system. The back rest is a bonus, and it's in the perfect position. I still need to make a couple of brackets to hold it securely to the tank, but I am really very happy with it. http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/twigg2324/1986%20Yamaha%20Venture%20Royale/IMG_0653.jpg http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/twigg2324/1986%20Yamaha%20Venture%20Royale/IMG_0654.jpg I'll make a panel to cover the rough side of the backrest, and two brackets to fix it to the filler cap bolts. http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/twigg2324/1986%20Yamaha%20Venture%20Royale/IMG_0655.jpg All those fittings are from Lowes. They are sealed with yellow PTFE tape, which is gasoline resistant. They are not the prettiest, but they are a fraction of the price of AN fittings. The overflow hose exits behind the rear wheel and is tied to the rear mudgaurd. http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/twigg2324/1986%20Yamaha%20Venture%20Royale/IMG_0656.jpg Finally, the whole system is Teed directly into the main gas line from the petcock, right before the inlet to the fuel pump. http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/twigg2324/1986%20Yamaha%20Venture%20Royale/IMG_0657.jpg
  14. twigg
    That looks rather better You will always hear "some" air getting by the rings, but you shouldn't hear any through the carbs or the exhaust. They will lose maybe 4 or 5% and that goes into the crankcase. The one cylinder that is low is where you will most likely find a valve too tight. Good luck with it, but it all sounds a bit more hopeful. ps .... You won't want to run the engine too much before fixing this. If it's an exhaust valve that isn't fully closing then the danger is that the hot compression gasses escape past the valve. The valve overheats and can burn. Then you need to remove the head to replace or re-lap it.
  15. twigg
    Not as far as I can see. I am looking at HID projector housings to convert my '86 VR. They will be brighter than the halogens (any halogens), and consume a good deal less power. That's not to say the Hellas aren't an improvement, just not so much of an improvement that well fitted HIDs would offer.
  16. twigg
    Must be just an unhappy coincidence ... My Yamaha Triple hates passing trucks ... especially if there are several of them. It wobbles and shakes it's head a bit. The VR, otoh, just blows past them with not so much as a wiggle.
  17. twigg
    He'll probably send you that .... ... Just pay shipping and handling :rotf:
  18. twigg
    Yes ... and No Doncha just love the simple life. The problem here is that you have four cylinders, and four wildly different compression readings. When an engine wears (what's the mileage?) then it generally does so in a fairly uniform manner. So the pressures would fall over time, but evenly. This is varied by a number of factors .... Rear cylinders run a bit hotter, so may wear faster, etc. So when you get three cylinders at a lowish but even pressure, and one outlier at, say 80psi, then it's a straightforward job to know where to start looking. Secondly, I'd argue that 5 to 10 psi pressure isn't enough to accurately identify where the air is escaping, even if you can apparently hear some coming from the oil filler. The wide disparity of your readings point to either technique with the compression tester (this is not a criticism), or some bad news in the valve department. The way to find out which is to do a "leakdown test". In that test the pressure used is about 100psi, and there will be no doubt at all where the air is escaping. Some leakage is normal, but shout be in about the 4% range, and anything over 10% would need investigating. I am trying to help here, and I would suggest you do two things .... First check the valve clearances, then do a leakdown test. Let us know what you find.
  19. twigg
    Those pressures are all over the place, and pretty much nothing is normal about them. It can be very tricky to measure compression accurately, so check your method and do it with the engine hot and the throttle wide open. Not disputing you, just sayin' that those readings don't make a great deal of sense. You might also check the valve clearances before you rip the engine apart, or out. It could be as simple as the valves not fully closing.
  20. twigg
    I guess check all the usual issues. Last time that happened to us it was the road surface. Sure felt bad and it was a turnpike ... We had to pay for the privilege.
  21. twigg
    First off .... Most of them work quite well. The Mogan Carbtune (the English one), was my first choice. It's not the cheapest, but it's decent and very highly regarded by many people. I couldn't wait that long and I got a very good deal on a Motion Pro Manometer Style. It works just fine. The "gauge" style will be completely dependent on the quality of the gauges, and the good ones aren't cheap. The electronic ones are expensive, presumably very good, but I'd consider that price to be overkill. For what it's wort .... I have sync'd the V4 with a $25 vacuum gauge from Autozone. It's fiddly and time-consuming, but it can be done. I have also used a homemade manometer, and very successfully. Normal rules apply really .... Cheap tools can be useful, but can also be problematic. I'd probably plump for the Morgans Carbtune, but I am quite happy with the Motion Pro unit.
  22. twigg
    Okay, I looked. From the petcock the hose runs round to the left hand side to connect to the fuel pump inlet. There is an exposed part of the hose that will make a perfect place to T the aux. tank into. I'll post pics when it's done. By the way .... I am doing this all on a budget, and all the fittings are standard brass plumbing fittings from Lowes and/or Homedepot. I plan on using a regular "water style" 90 degree ball valve. They are $7 instead of $30 for an "auto" version. I was initially concerned that the PTFE seal in the ball valve wouldn't resist gasoline, so I checked. PTFE does, in fact, resist pretty much everything. The discussions about PTFE Tape (plumbers tape) are to do with the binders used to make the "Teflon" into a tape product. So the yellow tape is fine, the white isn't. The ball valve seals are PTFE, with not binders, so they are, in fact, water, air, gas and gasoline safe.
  23. twigg
    The main symptom would be uneven reading when you connect your carb sync gauge, which you do at every service, right?
  24. twigg
    They are regulars on eBay. You can still get new units .... for about $500!!
  25. twigg
    You can see mine here: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61370
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