stanG

Now I know what you guys are talking about when you say you "miss" second gear. I just finished doing the second gear repair on my 83 and wow, it's a real treat being able to get on the throttle hard in second without having to worry about it popping out even under mild acceleration. All in all the repair went well but I do admit I was a bit baffled when I had the engine ready to come out and just could not figure out which direction it needed to go to get out of the frame. After considerable trial and error, I found that the front of the engine has to come up and then forward to clear the output shaft all while giving it a twist to the right. Likewise, going back in, the procedure in reverse worked great. Once on the bench the cases split apart nicely and the problem was the worn thrust washers. While I had it opened up took advange of all the recommendations on this site and replaced all the o-rings and seals that had been breached and I had the gears undercut to prevent slippage under load. Naturally, I replaced the thrust washers, the washer that goes behind them and shift fork #1. While I was not sure that my shift fork was bent, I replaced it anyway and I noticed that the new one was a beefier design. The parts, including all the gaskets came to about $175.00. I also installed the clutch kit from Skydoc_17 while I had it open, another $70.00 Reassembly was cut and dry with the only tricky part being the application of the Yamabond sealant and getting the shifting forks to line up when mating the cases. Once the engine was back in the frame (remember, go in high) I completed the installation and fired it up. After assuring that there were no leaks and everything was up to operating temperature, I took it for a quick spin and the gears worked perfectly. Thanks to all on this site for their wealth of information, help and support. I've added some photos from the build. 1. New thrust washers installed 2. Shift fork #1 3. Ready for lower case 4. Ready for lower case 5. Worn out thrust washers

I found out from Skydoc that the o-ring in question is part of the assembly. It looks like I will have to find a suitable replacement at the hardware store after some careful measuring. Thanks for the responses.

Sorry I wasn't clear, but I am NOT referring to the o-ring on the themostat cover, but rather the one on the steel pipe that goes into the front of the housing and held in place by one of the mounting screws. Same pipe that has the coolant by-pass valve.

Does anybody have the part number for the o-ring that slips onto the coolant drain pipe assembly and then seats into the thermostat housing on an 83 first gen? I cant seem to find it in the parts manual. Any alternatives or if someone has one that they can measure up that would be great. Perhaps I can find a suitable replacement.

I'm getting ready to reassemble the cases on my 1st gen and have a question about using the Yamabond #4, Would I spread a thin layer of the sealant on just one of the case halves? I can see about 95% of this stuff squeezing out on the machined surfaces when the bolts are torqued. I noted that the service manual states to keep sealant at least 2mm away from bearings. Any suggestions here?

Well it took a little more dis-assembly that I had hoped but I was able to isolate the problem and fix it. It turned out that the connector INSIDE the amp that carries the audio signal needed to be cleaned. I was able to determine this by separating all the components and then connecting them to the bike. a slight wiggle of the cable going into the amp revealed the problem. This would have not been possible if the components were mated, since there is a clip holding the cables in place on the tuner/amp assembly. Checked for shorts and bare wire...none... I then then cleaned the contacts on all the internal connectors and applied dielectric grease. I re-assembled and now it works perfectly. Thanks to all for the suggestions.

OK, I have identified the problem to the smaller of the two connectors on the bottom of the tape player/tuner assembly (the whole unit that removes from the bike). It appears that the amp is in good working order and the speaker connections are good it is just not receiving the signal from the right channel through this connector. I confirmed this by checking the headset and the right channel is the same, you can hear that the amp is working but no tunes. I disconnected the cable from the housing and plugged it in to the assembly, wiggled it some and got some sound momentarily. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the pin-outs on this connector so I can isolate the right channel and check for a short in that wire?

So I have cleaned all the contacts and connectors on the audio system on my 1st gen and the radio plays only from the left speaker. Since the tape player is non-functional I'm not able to isolate this to just the tuner. What is strange is that when you power on the radio you can hear a "thump" from the right speaker. Because of this, I am suspecting either a bad right channel on the tuner or perhaps a bad wire from the tuner to the amp. I don't have a headset so I have not been able to test that circut to see if the problem is isolated to the speaker. Has anyone else experienced this and did you find a resolution? Can anyone offer me more advice on troubleshooting?

I just want to say that as a new Venture owner, (1st gen) this forum has been an immense help in helping get my project 83 road ready. Let's just say all the basics were covered, re-soldering the computer to solve the headlight problem, extensive help on bleeding the braking system, repairing plastic tabs and fuel pump alternatives just to name a few of the places I 've been here in the last couple of weeks. Needless to say, my bike is now road ready. This winter I will be doing the second gear repair with help from VentureRiders.org. Thanks to all who have contributed to this wealth of information. Twelve bucks? What a deal!