Clunky Shifting

One reason that the 1st gen Venture sometimes shifts hard or clunky is that the pins in the shift segment get loose over time. There is a stamped metal piece that hold the pins in place, and it doesn't take much for that piece to get bent and the pins don't fit tightly any more. Once the pins are loose and sloppy, the transmission will be a clunky shifter. If the metal tabs get bent enough that one or more of the pins fall out, the transmission can't be shifted past that point at all and you're stuck. Yamaha upgraded these parts to a one piece casting in the 2nd gen Venture. The one piece casting holds the pins solidly. The later parts are a direct swap into the earlier models, but Yamaha doesn't really acknowledge these as upgraded parts. If you ask for the parts for any year of a 1st gen bike, you're going to get the old style parts. You have to know enough to order the later parts or have the part numbers handy. Total parts cost is right around $50. Here are the part numbers needed:

NOTE: Received this tip from Trader. When replacing old shift segment assembly from a 1st Gen. with the one piece shift segment from a 2nd gen, the old pins are too long and must be replaced with the part numbers shown.

NOTE: save the shortest and smallest diameter "locator" pin from the old assembly to be reused

(1) shift segment 4NK-18185-00-00

(5) long pins 93604-12037-00

(1) short pin 93604-16092-00

(1) clutch cover gasket 4NK-15462-00-00

These parts are in behind the clutch basket. I swapped these parts and did the PCW clutch kit at the same time. On my shift segment, the metal tab is badly bent and the pin was sloppy, and the two pins next to it are very loose. Even the other three pins were also a little loose. None of them were tight at all. The shift linkage can be wiggled up out of the way without having to remove the shift arm. These two projects took only a couple hours from start to finish and I was back on the road.

Incidentally, this also applies to '96 and '97 Royal Stars and '98 and older VMXs. They use the exact same parts here and the same later upgraded parts bolt right in. For some reason, the VMX got these parts a year later than the Royal Star. All '98 and newer Royal Stars, '99 and newer Ventures, '05 and newer RSTDs, and '99 and newer VMXs already have these upgraded parts.