KIC

Puc... Phoenix is in Arizona.... officially. But we don't claim it and really don't admit to it. It's like that crazy Uncle you hide in the closet when friends come over...ooops.. Sorry Puc..that's you... This year PGR and Full Throttle are helping in the laying of the wreaths here in Tucson. It's a very humbling and such an honor to do. My wife is going this year too.

Hope these help Class E2.pdf CLASS repair.doc

Four years ago in December, I bought my first Venture Royale. I found this site and asked a basic question on what to look for when buying a 1st Gen Venture. I wasn't a "paid" member, I had just joined as a trial member. I was on a business trip and had hauled along my trailer to look at a couple of Ventures for sale in the Phoenix area. Once I set up an appointment to go look at one, I posted a request on what to look for when buying one. The response was epic. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?65738-Things-I-would-Check! In fact that response from SkyDoc 17 made it to the the Tech Library fro others to use. I have many times forwarded a WORD version of it that I modified/formatted into a type of checklist using all the same information. After buying my 89 I had to disassemble my complete front end to install Progressives, change/install new fork seals and remove and lube the triple tree bearing. My bike was so far apart, my wife seriously asked if I was really going to be able to ever put it back together. I honestly did not know if I would/could. I then received a call from guy identifying himself as "ROCKET" from the Venture site. Rocket spent a lot of time on the phone walking me through many of the issues I was having on the re-assembling of my bike. Rocket called many times during, and after the bike was put back together. In fact, he just called out of the blue several days ago to just see how I was doing. I guess I should mention I eventually found out that he was calling from Canada. This site has saved me thousands of dollars and made me a better mechanic. Just this past couple of weeks I had to tear my whole back end apart to replace a shock and the job was really stressing me out. A member form this site, David-VideoArizona drove up to Tucson twice ( probably 100 mile R/T) to help me out. Spent most of a Saturday and then a Wednesday night taking apart bikes and putting them back together. Again, not sure I could have done it without him. This site is a treasure. In fact just today I got my renewal notice and I just paid it. SO..... we know that the site is good for another 12 months because if it disappears I will hire a gaggle of lawyers and sue a certain person back into existence !!! Putting my money where my typing fingers are:

Well I guess at some point I will switch out the collector which I might do since I have another one I can prepare for replacement ahead of time. Then I can cut the old one open and see what is going on inside.

So here are some clearer pictures of what I found in my exhaust pipe. Has anybody who has opened and repaired the exhaust crossover ever seen a piece that looks like this ? I have read somewhere that some guys have been able to remove a loose piece from the chamber without cutting it open. Does it look like this ?

No. BUT...I do plan to try to narrow it down in the future since I would like to have a good backup CLASS system. I need to get the CLASS that we pulled out of my son-in-laws and replaced with one off of my 84 parts bikes. Once I get his 86 system, I can change out parts and try to isolate the problem child. I am thinking it is the air release solenoid. I know we also re soldered the board, but it seemed to still have the problem, so I do not think it was the board. I didn't have a lot of time to play with it when we were working on it since we still had to reassemble the bike from the (unnecessary ) shock switch. When I get the other unit from NC, I will pull off my trunk and wire the old system in and replace parts until it works and then I will post the results here. The weirdest part was what appeared to be false pressure readings. Either that or the solenoid just kept releasing air on its own and the CLASS didn't change the readings. I do have to admit it was nice to finally fix the loose heat shield rattling around the back of the exhaust, easy to change the fuel filter and finding the metal obstruction in my exhaust. The shock was a B!0t@h tho... P.S. I just checked and the pressure is the same for the last 20 hours.

It seems my little "rattle" has gone away. I am going to ride it more tomorrow and check everything out further, but... I am a happy camper and it looks like I will make the group ride on Saturday that the wife and I were looking forward to.

That's pretty cool. How do you keep it all from falling over ?

So I was putting the exhaust on my 89, the last thing I needed to do after replacing the rear shock. I was playing with the exhaust and the new Road Kings I am ready to install, but wasn't going to do until later this month. I happened to look in the left exhaust pipe and I saw something that wasn't normal. I pulled it out and it looks like I found a piece of the exhaust crossover chamber. that had to be affecting the performance of the bike.

Well. here is the end result. After tearing apart the rear portion of the bike, a job not suited for the faint of heart, I switched out the shock. But something did not seem right, the "old" shock seemed fine. After talking to my mechanic friend, reading the input on here, I decided to check the CLASS system real close. VideoArizona ( David) came back up last night to help me. We re soldered the CLASS board and it was still acting weird by showing it was pumping up and showing up to 82 lbs on manual, but then either released the air which you could hear once in a while, or going to 0 without any sounds of leaking air. David and I swapped the whole CLASS system with the one I pulled out of my 87 and it worked beautiful. Pumped up normal, held pressure, no issues. I checked it this morning and it help all night. I did not receive any errors during the time I thought it was working, and it looked like it was working. I was able to finalize the reassembly of the bike today and took it for a ride. It ran GREAT ! Besides the lady running the stop sign by my house and almost taking me out, the ride was enjoyable. The CLASS is working great !!!

Good idea. I have checked all fittings with soapy water. Plugging the rear shock line would isolate where the problem might be. I am grabbing the CLASS of of my 87 today so I can easily swap it out and try it to see if anything changes. I gave my son-in-law the circuit board out of the 87 earlier this year so I am down to soldering the existing. I will figure it out. I just hope I can get it all done before Saturday's Full Throttle ride.

That is now my plan C on my repair. I have to get the drive train and front tire back together tonight so I can access the CLASS board. I hope that might fix my problem, but I wish I hadn't had to tear everything apart to find out. We'll see what happens.

I am adding this to this thread so anybody in the future can tie into all the related threads. I had so much trouble finding info on my shock problem that I hope all this might help somebody else. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?113497-Who-really-knows-understands-the-1st-Gen-CLASS-shock-system So, I am looking for information that will help me understand and solve my current problem. I have been dealing with what I thought was a shock issue, but might be the CLASS system. ( no errors on display) Symptoms: My bike's rear has been sagging which actually resulted in my mud flap losing at least 3 to 4 inches of flap. The CLASS appeared to be working although it wouldn't hold air steadily. I took my CLASS apart and cleaned everything including the 3 solenoids. I decided to replace the shock and have torn my bike apart. I was talking to a mechanic friend and he said that a blown shock shouldn't affect the sag but would affect the bounce. He said a sag would be from a broken spring. The spring and linkage on the bike is not broken. So I put in the used rear spring from my 87 and tried the air system. It will not hold air in the Auto setting but seems to hold air in the manual setting. When I turn off the key, you can hear a solenoid release the air. So I played with it and it appears that the manual setting will hold air as long as the key is in the accessory position. If I turn the switch to on and then back to accessory then I can hear ( using a stethoscope) the loss of air in the CLASS area. What am I missing here ? Question: if the shock is good and all the air in the CLASS is leaking out because of key position, would the back drag ? Is my whole problem in the CLASS and not the shock ?

Wife just paid $1.79/gal at COSTCO today. Other stations running around $1.85/gal in Tucson AZ

No, the back never dragged even with the wife on it. Then it started to and slowly wore the mud flap down. When it sat on the side stand it looked alright. When VideoArizona ( David) sat on it Saturday before we tore the thing to pieces, as soon as he sat on it it went down to the mud flap. I should have realized that maybe it wasn't the shock, but it was out of my filed of knowledge.

Talking about Dodge trucks...check this out..... frame twist test... Ford lovers don't cry too loud.... http://speedsociety.com/frame-twist-test-2014-ram-3500-vs-2014-ford-f350/?source=gmg

So, I am looking for information that will help me understand and solve my current problem. I have been dealing with what I thought was a shock issue, but might be the CLASS system. ( no errors on display) Symptoms: My bike's rear has been sagging which actually resulted in my mud flap losing at least 3 to 4 inches of flap. The CLASS appeared to be working although it wouldn't hold air steadily. I took my CLASS apart and cleaned everything including the 3 solenoids. I decided to replace the shock and have torn my bike apart. I was talking to a mechanic friend and he said that a blown shock shouldn't affect the sag but would affect the bounce. He said a sag would be from a broken spring. The spring and linkage on the bike is not broken. So I put in the used rear spring from my 87 and tried the air system. It will not hold air in the Auto setting but seems to hold air in the manual setting. When I turn off the key, you can hear a solenoid release the air. So I played with it and it appears that the manual setting will hold air as long as the key is in the accessory position. If I turn the switch to on and then back to accessory then I can hear ( using a stethoscope) the loss of air in the CLASS area. What am I missing here ? Question: if the shock is good and all the air in the CLASS is leaking out because of key position, would the back drag ? Is my whole problem in the CLASS and not the shock ?

He don't need no stinkin' brakes. Brakes are for 2nd Genners...

This thread has kinda morphed over to this thread: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?113364-What-is-this-And-how-do-I-get-it-off-Perplexed-in-Arizona&p=944904#post944904 Just posting this in case somebody in the future is looking to do this themselves.

Well I soaked all the nooks and crannies with penetrating oil last night and this morning. Then I went and bought a 5-inch 10mm X1.25 X5 bolt that was a longer version of the bolt I removed. I then screwed the bolt in as far as I could and then introduced the bolt to Mr. Sledge Hammer. It took some convincing to get the rod to vacate it’s current premises inside the linkage. I only needed to get the rod past the outside of the lower shock mount and not all the way out. The shock was then removed. The second rod, I used a punch on to start it, and it came out a little easier. You need to clean and lube the middle section of the rod that is exposed so it will slide through easier. I did find that one side of the bushings were worn and broken, while the other side is in pretty good condition. Any hints/tips on getting replacement bushings quickly ? I am trying to get the bike bake together for a group ride on Saturday. I know our Stealerships around here take forever to order in parts.

I never take advantage of my friends. The guy who welded my connector pipes is a friend of over 44 years, and was the best man at my wedding ( which was nice since I married the girl he was trying to date) he refused money so I gave it to his son and told him to buy him and his dad lunch. There are times when friends will, and can do things for free, and times when some type of reimbursement is a good token of gratitude.

So I am now guessing that #25, the shaft #2 should be able to be "pounded" out after the bolt is removed. I tried that but did not want to damage anything since it did not move. I guess a little more force and a longer bolt to thread in farther while leaving enough sticking out to hammer in is what i need to do. Thanks a lot..this gives me hope..

Yes thanks.. my manual showed my 87's set up

That's good to know. But the shop manual only shows the old style and doesn't explain how to remove the pieces...

So I am trying to change my rear shock on the 89. I took the shock off my 87 and this is what the linkage looked like: The 87 has one bolt through the bottom. Came out easy. Then we tear the 89 apart to remove the blown shock and replace. Instead of the same linkage, there is a totally different set up and how it is removed is baffling. Double type linkage. One small bolt on right side that came out but is way too short to do anything. It does easily thread in and out. Double heads on the left side are just what you see above. No way to turn them. The outer "bolt"(?) has a clip, but that doesn't release the bottom of the shock. Is this some type of lowering link ? How do I release the shock linkage ? This has perplexed two of us. I need my Venture Guru's to help me out. I need my bike to not look like this ....