Snaggletooth

Who ever said "The right place at the right time" owned, rode and maintained his own 1st gen Venture. At least I belive that. The covers WILL come off. It's kind of like a magic trick, or a Rubics Cube. Once you find the right angle, the right turn in just the right spot they slide right out. Once you can accomplised that you'll laugh at how easy they go back on. It's just one of those tricks of the trade things. It wasn't all that many years ago I was on here asking the same questions you are. I thought I was missing something to. Don't forget to order the 2nd gen valve cover gaskets for putting them back on. They have a lip around the outside edge that helps a lot on getting them back in place. Use dabs of silicon to stick them to the valve covers to hold them in place while setting them back on. And I'll go ahead and say it..... wait for it.......While you're in there, consider that you should replace the 16 rubber seals on the valve cover bolts to complete the job. These get stiff and hard and don't reseal very well and as the bolts used are shoulder bolts you can not and should not try to just tighten them "just a little more." You can only tighten them so much and then they snap off in the head. Not good. Mike

Is that after the chili? Just askin'

I'll be watching for your opinion after a long ride. One of my riding buddies has an '09 Boulevard and won't ride with me on the weekends as his tail section drives him nuts with the stock seat. He'd be more than happy to find one more comfortable one and get some miles in.

Yegads!! He did he did! 10,000 posts!!! :clap2::clap2:

There is a lot of good things that come from that $12.00 bucks. Full access will put a lot of great info into your hands. On the left side of the main menu you will see the forum headers. Find the VR Classifieds and then open the menu for Member Vendors. That shows you our members here that sell products of services for our bikes. Click on Skydoc-17's header and it will list all his items. The drain kit is a bit down from the top on the second page. And from the looks of it.......... Mike

Lookin' good Gary.

I should have known better if I had been informed earlier that these people thought lukefisk was the highlight of tasty treats. At least they didn't put that in the chili.

The drain kit is in my first post. The other parts are not hard to find. Check with skydoc_17 or any provider like partshark, boatnet or any of the others. Earl set me up last fall with all the o-rings I needed.

That might cover all the costs for the International.

The first time I was invited for a family meal with my new girlfriends family I should have taken foot and kept going. The message was clear. You will die with these people. The invite was for a Christmas Eve dinner. I was informed they make their traditional family recipe Chilli. I love Chilli! Not going to miss out on that. But as I had the chance to watch my future Mother-in-Law and her two daughters prepare the meal I had some serious concerns. 6 quarts of water in a pot and bring it to a rolling boil. (measure carefully) Once at full boil add 2 pounds of hamburger to the water. (raw, not browned. Straight from package) Once the meat started to dissolve add one can of stewed tomatos. (undrained) Then add one can of beans. (also undrained. Didn't seem to matter what kind to them) Watching this I asked about how much onion they would add. No... no onion. As this concoction came back to a boil they added a full bottle of Ketchup. (for color) I set the salt and pepper on the counter and they put it back on the table without using it. (add one dirty look) Ok, that's pretty much it. Being the daughters new boyfriend I was polite. I took the bowl offered to me. I did add quite a bit of salt and pepper and asked if they had any chile powder. I tossed in about half a jar of that and it got me though the meal. The m-i-l did ask me if I had any suggestions. "Cheese. Cheese on top would be good." I can charm anybody. I think I hurt myself that evening trying to swallow. But Christmas day they had me back. The new m-i-l asked me to check the ham in the oven. I was pleased to be asked. When I opened the oven door, there it was. A huge spiral cut 7.5 pound ham sitting there roasting away in its original factory packed Mylar bag. It was expained to me that it keeps it moist that way. News to me.

You mean as far as something that couldn't be chewed and swallowed........ nah. Nothing yet. But then again I'm not all the picky of an eater. :crackup: But that does give me an idea for another thread.

Actually I think the dealer in this case was pretty honest about it. How much he wants to do it might make him questionable. I would agree with the brake fluid flush being a regular scheduled item to do. Keeping fresh fluid in the system helps control the contamination by moisture and debris. It's not hard to do yourself and once you get the hang of it it takes less than 15 minutes to do. Adding the Speed Bleeders shaves time off of that. Don't forget about doing the clutch system at the same time. I think the owners manual even states the idea of replacing brake lines every two years or so. I think that is a bit of overkill but still they do deteriorate over time. Changing to Stainless Steel lines is the best thing you can do. Some of these 1st gens haven't had new brake lines for over 20 years. They still function, yes, but safety is an issue. Grab the rubber brake line on an older bike and bear down on the brakes. You will feel the line expand. Do you feel comfortable with that?

There it is again. "While you're in there". Amazing how that keeps showing up. But Squeeze has two good points. (1) When the weather warms up it may very likely cease to be a problem. (2)The items he mentions are a bit harder to do but they will need attention sooner or later.

That should be the good old o-ring on the drain valve. Get ahold of skydoc_17 , Earl. He has a kit with a new o-ring and a new shaped retaining screw to fix that. Cheap to fix and takes care of that for a long time. Here is the link to his ad in the classifieds. http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=3769&title=first-gen1983-1993-radiator-drain-upgrade&cat=22 It's a really common problem and only starts to show it's face in the colder weather. Like you, most don't notice it until the coolant builds up in the chin. Just remember when you go to pull the screw to remove the valve body to wrap a rag around it. There is a spring and detent ball under the screw and they will wander off right quick if not contained. Mike

I have always kept an eye on http://www.motorcyclegear.com/ when shopping for riding gear. The stuff they sell may be last years line but it's new and their service and prices are outstanding. Their product reviews and size information have always been worth the read no matter where you buy at. I've saved a bunch of money over the years dealing with them.

I agree... but we don't a "Scary as He[[" section do we?

Ok, looks like the ball is rolling. I heard back from the provider I'm working with and he wanted me to get a set of cables over to him to set up and see what the costs would be to build them. So those will be headed his way on Monday. More as it happens.....

In my younger days that would have been a snack. My boss took me the Big Texan I think is it was in Amarillo once, They had a 72 oz. steak dinner with all the trimming. The hook was if you finished everything in less than and hour it was free. Got the steak down ok but the potato damn near killed me. Never saw a baked football before. Boss man paid for lunch that time. I felt kind of out of place there. I think I was the only person there wearing pants with a 32" waist. These days.......I'd blend in a lot better. That said I'll stick to the beef up our way. That grass fed stuff down south takes to long to chew up.

Quite a few companies have tried them. Some are doing it now. Ever notice the back of a UPS van? Pretty much a field of view for backing up to a dock or something very close to the rear door. Not such a long range view for traffic behind them. Most had problems with electrical power issues through the trailers wiring. The wireless system images were iffy at best. The biggest problem was the same as cars, only worse. Keeping the lens clean. All the muck on the road and the top of the trailer blows right over the back of the trailer. Then ask a truckline how they feel about adding another expense to the operation. Most will try to run over you.

Glad you dodged the bullet on that one. It's a tough spot to be in rather the tractor is pulling a trailer or not. I was in the trucking industry for 26 years and as rider it gave me more awareness of the "being seen" issue. When in stop and go traffic behind tractor/trailer rigs, step vans, or smaller trailers when the vehicle stopped I would place myself directly in line with the drivers side mirror with the high beams on and far enough back to have an escape route. I've had a few times where trucks have rolled back where I had to jump the bike forward to move beside them rather than end up under them. When I was teaching safety during orientation classes the subject of motorcycle awareness was always discussed. The owner of the company thought it was a waste of time and it didn't need to be done. One day I parked my Gold Wing in his personal and well marked parking spot. I was in my office when he came charging in and started blasting me about parking there. "I almost ran over your *&%$ motorcycle.............!!" and it hit him. He hadn't looked. Never heard another word about the time I spent on the subject in classes. That time may have saved him some insurance claims. That famous "NO ZONE" is a whole lot bigger when you're on a bike.

I've seen a few posts lately with questions about what is available for battery cable upgrades. We have had some members here in the past that were able to build these sets for us but it looks like they are no longer involved with that project. If I'm wrong give me a shout. I don't want to step in on anyones sales. But it got me to make contact with a provider I have dealt with and looking into having him make 4 ga cable sets fitted to the 1st gen Venture. I'm waiting to hear back from him and making arrangments to send him a set of cables as a template if he wants to do this. At this point I can not give any idea of the cost until he agrees and receives the set being sent to him. So if you're not in a huge rush to get the cables give me a few days and I'll post here with any new information as it comes along. Hopefully this might turn into a steady, reliable and affordable source if it works out. I'll try to keep this updated as things happen or don't. It's only in the idea stage at this point. If you have any interest in a upgrade set post here and I can keep track of how many might be needed. Mike Interested Members: Bill W. Squidley bendtdj gwashorn adventure 08 Jayceesfolly wstuard tommyp61 Dizzle223 Flyinfool lwinders tz89 frankd timgray johnnycruiser Goose68 alvald83 SemiRetired robclark63

I remember chasing that problem.

You won't regret the change to a 4 brush. Nope. My '84 was terrible about hot starts. Had to wait for it to cool down. I started by doing the heavy guage cables. Helped a little. Rebuilt the 2 brush and installed new brushs. Even did the ground mod. Helped a little more until the starter burned out. (long story there about cheap brushs) Installed the DEKA AGM. Big boost with that. After the starter fried I changed to the 4 brush. Been about 3 years now with no issues. Perfect start hot or cold any time. While you have that all apart inspect those cable all the way from the battery to the ground on the motor. Every connection and end. If there is any doubt replace the cable. They can be the weakest link no matter how good the other components are.

I asked for it and walked right into it. Had it coming.

Ahh Ha! I'll bet your the one paysaw was talking about. Thanks for the pic and I'm covered on what I needed.