I recently purchased an 83 Venture, and yesterday was my first real opportunity to put some miles on it.
When I test rode the bike, it was not plated so I had very little room to drive... just around a small parking lot. Having been forewarned of the 2nd gear issue, I checked as best I could. During my short bursts of 15 seconds each, second was always there. So, I rolled my eyes a bit yesterday when I pulled away from the very first stoplight on my morning commute and then jerk/jerk/quick-reaction-to-shift-into-3rd/back to velvet smooth.
My question is this : I found the rebuild thread and I am confident I could pull it off... but conceivably how long could I run this bike just skipping second all together ? In just one day of riding, it became second nature. Is there any further damage that can happen ?
BTW, I LOVE this bike. I had my doubts, but WOW. It's sat for a while and still isn't fully tuned but I was astonished at how smooth and powerful it was.