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A couple of weeks ago, I pulled the rear wheel, differential and drive shaft to do the typical maintenance items. All came apart as expected, and all went back together as expected. Question -> Is there any kind of rear wheel alignment that has to occur? Or does the bolt-up procedure insure proper rear-wheel alignment?

I am pleased to announce for our VR members a starter clutch mod that will last forever and put an end to that "Clunkety-clunk" that you hear when your starter clutch is going bad. I will let Squeeze explain it much better than I ever could: The stock Starter Clutch is a one Way Clutch which uses three spring loaded Rollers the connect to the big 72th Gear Wheel which is the last Gear in the line of several Gears coming from the Stater Motor. These 3 Rollers connect (in Fact they run) to the inner Area of the Wheel by spring Force and clamping Force. This whole Assembly sits in a Housing which is bolted to the Flywheel with 3 Bolt in M8 Thread. Over Time, these Bolts tend to get a little bit loose plus the Rollers and the Surface they're running at develop some flat Spots and chattering Marks too. This is the common Scenario where the Problem starts to get heard. If the Battery is cold and/or isn't in the best Shape anymore, the Rollers can't "bite" strong enough to the connecting Area and the Clutch lets go for a half a Turn. If The Rollers bite on a chattering Mark or a flat Spot the Connection they may hold on or let loose again. This Movement creates the hammering Sound and puts a Lot of more Force on the loose Bolts. This, of Course, allows even more uncontrolled Movement of the Clutch Assembly and a even more dysfunctional Clutch. As an nasty Side Effect, the Clutch can, and i know of two Cases where it actually did, cause the Starter to act as an Generator because the One Way Clutch wasn't a Clutch anymore but a solid Connection. This caused the Starter Motor to burn down on both Cases. I suspect a Lot more of these Cases, but there's not enough reliable Data for me to make a final Call. I've seen a Lot of these Clutches and not one of them was even partially reusable. I have Buddies which tried to reuse some Parts, but they did the Job twice or even three Times in the End. I know a Bunch of Guys with heavily modified Engines, meaning 1500 cc Vmaxxes at least, and each and everybody of them had their Share of Head Ache in this Regard. The Record Holder of those is the Guy with a 1600 cc High Compression Motor who needed three complete Starter Clutch Assemblies each Season. So, in the End, you have two Options to get the Job done First Option is to buy a complete Set of new Parts, not just the small Set of Rollers, Springs, Caps, but also three Bolts, the Housing and the 72th Wheel, mount the Assembly exactly in centered Position to the Fly Wheel, red Loctite the Threads of the Bolts and don't forget to punch the End of Threads with a Center Punch. Then cross your Fingers, say a Prayer or both and hit the Starter Button after completing the Install. Feel good about the cheap (around 185 Bucks for the Parts) Repair but you need to keep the Procedure in Mind, because most likely you'll do that again some Time later. Or Second Option Send your Rotor over to Dano in a 12x10x5 Inch Package, get it back with the Gaskets (optional), don't worry about having the Clutch Assembly mounted exactly centered to the Flywheel, just mount the Rotor and the new 72th Wheel and have a good Time while being a happy Camper. This is because Dano will mount a much more sophisticated Clutch Assembly, which uses 18 Ellipses instead of three Rollers. The Ellipsis are spring loaded too and because of their Shape, not only bite at the 72th Wheel, but lock up the Connection between Rotor and 72th Wheel. Because of the ellipsoid Design, you won't need to worry about burning down your Starter Motor. I sure you weren't worried about that before, but it's good to be sure anyway. Not to mention, getting the Flywheel off the Crank Shaft can be a ... well ... how do it say this ... pita ... Yes, this Upgrade is more expensive than Option 1 and it will need a little bit more of Downtime because of the Transit Times of the Parcel. But you'll be a happy Camper and never think about the Starter Clutch Issue again. Oh, except maybe the Times somebody tells you his 1Gen or Vmax produces a hammering Sound upon starting ... Squeeze Now for the nitty-gritty. All you need to do is remove your flywheel/rotor, send it and a check for $275.00 (US, VR discount and return shipping included, Canada shipping a bit more) to me and a couple of days later I will return it to you with the starter clutch mod already mounted ready to go back on your bike. You will also need to get the 2 left side cover gaskets and crush washer for the lower bolt on the middle gear cover. If you would like me to supply them, an additional $15.00 will be added ($290.00 total US). If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to PM me or call me at 317-370-0139 anytime and I'll be happy to discuss it with you. An additional note here for non-members wishing this mod- Price will be $295 US, gaskets priced the same. Dan Shipping address: Dan Obert 8699 W 800 N Indianapolis, In 46259-9402 Paypal & email addy: danob11@comcast.net __________________

Ok, I pulled the rear a while wheel a while back and cleaned up the hub splines and when I was working on that I notice a tick in the rear bearings. I ordered the bearings, seals and a new o-ring and now I'm into the replacement. A local shop offered to install the bearings for $5.00 per side and I figured fair enough. Save me some time. When I took the wheel in today they took one look at it and said they could not do that type of set up. At least they were honest about it. So here I am looking at my rear wheel. The manual is vauge in the statement to push the spacer aside and drive out the bearing. First, the spacer don't move far enough to the side to get a good bite on the bearing from either side. I'm using a 5/16 brass flat nose punch to do this. I was able to pull out the larger seal and retainer ring on that side but it looks like I need to drive out the larger bearing from the smaller side to remove the smaller seal from that side. Which side do I start from and how is the smaller seal removed? Any suggestions will help. Mike

Hey guys, I just purchased an 05 RSTD and have some questions. I'm wanting to go the bagger route. Here are the questions: What is the largest rim I can put on the front stock? I've seen people with 21" wheels, but I think they were ventures. I'm looking to put a 23" wheel on. Which brings me to my next question.. Does anyone make a raked triple for an 05 RSTD? I've only been able to find them for 01's and lower. Will the rear fenders that Baddad sells for the Road Star bolt on to the RSTD? If I switch to K&N pod filters and have exhaust should I goto a stage 2 jet kit? I have a batwing on the bike now, but I'm thinking I want to switch to a Road Glide front fairing. There's a guy over at roadstarclinic that sells the brackets for the swap, but their site won't let me register there to buy one from him. Does anyone know where I might be able to buy them from? Thank you in advance for any help you're able to provide!

83 Venture Rear Wheel Bearing Replacement (This document in Word format attached)83 Venture-Rear-Wheel-Bearings-Replacement.docx. My apologies for the formatting below - outlines don't come out very well in plain text. See the Word doc. I was experiencing some rear noise and vibration when leaning to the left and it was becoming progressively worse. I had never done the ‘Venture Rear Wheel Service” as documented in the forum (Ozlander 09-17-2015), so I decided to undertake that. I took the original write-up, and broke it down into numbered steps so I could check each one off as I went (I just find that a little easier to follow). I have included that below. I did not find any problems until I came to the bearing inspection part of the process, I did notice a little bit of roughness in the gear-side bearing (the needle bearing), but even more unusual, there was significant play in the inner bearing collar that forms the inner race of that bearing (it would slide in and out about 3/8’s of an inch). So I decided to undertake a replacement of the entire set. I searched the forums high and low for information on how to do that, and found a number of them, but there are differences between the different generations (to be expected), and there may be differences between the 3 years of the first gens. I can only speak about my experiences with this 83. After reviewing the various forums, I began the process of ordering the parts. Here is the complete list of parts as extracted from the YAMAHA parts website (https://www.shopyamaha.com/parts-catalog/parts/star-mcy?ls=Star&dealernumber=#/Yamaha/XVZ12TK_-_1983/REAR_WHEEL ) 1983 XVZ12TK & TDK per Yamaha's web site Item # Part # Description Yamaha price 3 93317-32635-00 BEARING, CYLINDRICAL | Use w/Item 28 38.78 kit 2 90560-20235-00 Spacer 19.37 4 90387-200J2-00 COLLAR 14.22 5 93306-30417-00 BEARING 32.18 kit replaced by part # 93306-30437-00 6 99009-52500-00 CIRCLIP 6.41 7 93102-25064-00 OIL SEAL 7.64 kit 12 93440-45022-00 CIRCLIP 6.67 13 93210-68347-00 O-RING 4.72 kit 14 2H7-25315-00-00 FLANGE, SPACER 5.5 partzilla 15 93106-40027-00 OIL SEAL 8.27 kit 28 90387-203H7-00 COLLAR | Use w/Item #3 15.41 partzilla Total $ 159.17 Don’t let the Yamaha price scare you, as you can’t order any of this from them anyway. I listed it just for reference purposes as I shopped around. I found a reference in one of the forums to a kit from OEMCYCLE (Pivot Works part # PWRWS-Y23-000) and it was available for $55 so I ordered it. The only drawback was that they did not list the detail parts that were included in the kit. So I waited until it arrived to find out exactly what was in it – those are noted in the list above by ‘kit’ - it was missing two critical parts – Item 14 (FLANGE,SPACER), and Item 28 (COLLAR). The name for Item 28 is a bit of a misnomer as it is actually the inner piece of the needle bearing that functions as the inner race for that bearing (and is the piece that I noted above was moving in and out suspiciously) – the YAMAHA site specifically states that it should be ordered in conjunction with Item 3 (the outer portion of the needle bearing). OEMCYCLE did not list that part as orderable (nor did the Pivot Works site either), so I was able to find it on Partzilla (along with the SPACER FLANGE – more about that below). The parts I did not order and reused were the two circlips, the SPACER (Item 2), and Item 4 (COLLAR) which is more of a washer that is external to the bearings and seals. I should note at this point, that in my original Service Manual for the 83, the Rear Wheel Diagram (Page 5-7) does not show Item # 28 (the COLLAR that forms the inner race for the bearing) – it is present on the Yamaha Website diagram – I have now penciled it in on my manual. REMOVING THE OLD BEARINGS: I searched the forums for some details on this, and was not confident that what I found would actually pertain to the 83. I was able to find a webpage (by searching for the bearing part numbers) which documented bearing removal for an XS11 and looked exactly the same as what I was seeing on the 83 Venture. It was good up to a certain point, but then deviated from the reality of the 83 as I will note below. So here is the link – good pix and text – I will summarize the steps my buddy (Tim Tucker) and I actually took and where we had to deviate from the XS11 procedure. Link to pix from XS11 Yamaha – had same part # for one of the bearings: http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-tips/repairs/32/193-rear-wheel-bearing-replacement-pictorial.html 1. Starting on the brake side, we used a seal puller to remove the oil seal, exposing the circlip underneath. 2. We removed the circlip, so the bearing could now be pounded out from the opposite side (in theory, once you have that side opened up). 3. We turned the tire over (setting it on a pair of wood 2x4’s to protect the brake disc) and tried to follow the step in the XS11 procedure – it shows using a seal puller to remove the seal and collar – that does not work for the 83 – the seal and collar are a different part. The seal on the 83 is rubber/vinyl with an external metal ring (that is pressed into the hub) but more importantly, it contains a tiny embedded coil spring – the spring is what prevents the collar from pulling completely out of the bearing. We ended up cutting the outer rubber portion of the seal all the way around until we exposed the spring, then pulled that out with a pair of needle nose pliers. That allowed the inner collar to slide completely out. With the extra room, we were then able to grab the rest of the seal with a pair of diagonals, distort it, and twist it completely out. So what you are left with at this point on the gear side is the outer race and needle bearings. 4. The XS11 procedure now states to hammer out the big bearing from this side, by shifting the flanged spacer over, to gain access to the outer race of the big bearing. This is an oversimplification of what needs to happen (for the 83 at least) and is a good time to describe what is actually in this hub and how it is meant to fit together. The design is that the long Spacer aligns with the inner race of the large bearing and with the inner race (the ‘collar’ noted above) of the needle bearing so that those parts remain relatively stationary while the wheel itself rotates with the outer races. The Spacer Flange is there to maintain the proper alignment of the long Spacer with the center of the large bearing – because the cavity at that end of the wheel hub is the diameter of the large bearing, so there is all that space for the long spacer to flop around. The Spacer Flange is basically a donut that is the same diameter as the large bearing, and the long spacer fits inside the donut hole, lining up with the inner race. At this point in the removal, we did not understand that. We could not get the spacer to ‘shift’ as the XS11 procedure stated – it would wiggle very slightly, to reveal the edge of the inner race, but no more. We eventually resorted to hammering on the spacer with a large drift pin, which basically distorted the Spacer Flange until the long spacer came loose from the center of the Spacer Flange and was then free to slide all around the inside cavity of the hub, revealing the outer race of the large bearing and making that accessible to hammering with the drift pin. Of course the Spacer Flange was sitting on top of the large bearing, but being thin metal, it was perfectly fine to hammer on it to pound out the large bearing. Once that popped out, the mangled Spacer Flange came with it, and the long Spacer fell out as well. Knowing what we know now, we suspect that it would have been possible from the needle bearing side to pull the Spacer/SpacerFlange assembly up thru the needle bearing (the Spacer is the same diameter as the needle bearing collar we removed above) just enough so that the Flange portion would clear the housing above the large bearing – it might pivot just enough to get a drift pin down thru the spacers and catch the outer race of the large bearing, allowing you to hammer it out – the next person to follow this procedure will need to update this document with their findings. 5. That left just the needle bearing still in the wheel on the gear side. The XS11 procedure had a picture showing two cutouts in the inner wheel housing that would allow you to insert a small drift pin to hammer out the needle bearing from the opposite side. Unfortunately, there were no cutouts on the 83’s hub. The hub completely blocks any access to the bearing from the opposite side. I considered drilling my own holes, but eventually decided against that. So at this point I cried uncle, and took the wheel to a local bike shop. For a half-hour labor’s charge, they told me that they ripped out the needle bearings form the outer race, then used a small bearing puller that budged it enough so the inside edge of the bearing was then exposed enough to catch it with a drift pin from the other side, and finished by hammering it out. 6. Installing the new bearings: we laid out the parts and slid them onto the axle to verify we understood how it needed to go back together. Started with the large sealed bearing, then the Spacer Flange (open side against the bearing, followed by the long Spacer, then the Collar (Inner Race of the needle bearing) and then the needle bearing itself (which we had not yet greased up and so we did not actually slide the collar into it). This is the point where we first really understood how it all was meant to work. When we initially slid the Spacer Flange up against the large bearing, it was contacting the bearing’s rubber seal and wanted to turn with the outer race. We knew that couldn’t be right, and it finally dawned on us that the long Spacer was meant to fit through the Spacer Flange and thus keep the flange from contacting the rubber seal. a. So the next step was to insert the long Spacer into the Spacer Flange. This is accomplished simply by laying the Spacer Flange on a flat surface (open side down) and tapping the long spacer through the center until it comes into contact with the flat surface. The end result is the long Spacer protrudes thru the flange to allow it to contact the bearing while preventing the outer edge of the Flange Spacer from touching the bearing seal or outer race. We verified that by sliding everything back onto the axle and now the only parts touching were those that lined up with the inner race of both bearings. b. Lay the wheel with the large bearing side up c. Insert the Spacer/Flange Spacer assembly into the hub (long spacer first – it will protrude out the other side of the hub). d. Insert the new large bearing into the hub and gently hammer into place. We used the tip from the XS11 instructions and had already cut a notch out of the old bearing, so we laid the old bearing on top of the new one and hammered on that until the new one was completely seated. The old bearing pops right out of the wheel housing when squeezed with a pair of plyers. e. Install the circlip f. Install the new seal g. Flip the wheel over – the Spacer/Flange Spacer assembly should slip back down and sit on the newly installed bearing h. Grease the new needle bearing i. Install new needle bearing – again we used the old needle bearing (which we also had notched) as a hammering tool. j. Apply a little grease to the new Collar (inner race) and insert into the needle bearing (smaller end first). It should butt against the Spacer inside the hub. k. Install the oil seal l. Reinstall the hub per the instructions in the Rear Wheel Service document i. Apply grease to the inside of the hub and to the six posts that fit into the wheel. ii. Check the o-ring on the wheel to be sure it is in place before you replace the hub and circlip. 7. The wheel is now ready for installation.   Venture Rear Wheel Service You may ask, "Doesn't my dealer do that?" NOT UNLESS YOU TELL, HIM THAT YOU WANT IT DONE. This service should be completed every tire change or 10,000 miles (16,000k) or at least every two years; but in most cases it isn't done because we don't always have a dealer replace our tires and/or we don't tell him to do the work. So if you just bought the bike or you are not sure it has been done, it would be a good time to think about servicing the rear wheel of your Venture. The procedure is fairly simple to do on bikes without a trailer hitch and only a little harder if your bike has one. 1. Remove the rear bags 2. Remove the right muffler 3. Remove the rear brake caliper 4. Deflate the tire; then remove the rear wheel: a. Remove the axel cotter pin, washer, and axel nut b. Remove the caliper and loosen the pinch bolt c. While supporting the brake torque stopper plate, pull out the rear axel d. Move the wheel to the right side and separate it from the final gear cases and remove the rear wheel. 5. If your Venture is a 1983, 84, or 85 you will need to remove the rear drive or differential and remove the drive shaft: a. Remove the final gear case assembly b. Remove the drive shaft. 6. Clean the drive shaft and coupling, then grease both ends before putting it back in (note: make sure that the shaft goes back into the u-joint. If you are not sure, remove the spring on the boot covering the u-joint and check it. Next clean the spline or gear on the rear drive and grease it with a good quality grease, personally I use a medium Moly based grease. 7. Wheel cleaning/inspection: a. Now find a couple of 2" x 4"s and place the rear wheel (spline side up) on the boards. b. When you clean the hub and splines off you will see the spring clip or circlip that holds the hub in place; i. remove this clip and before you remove the hub mark the position of the hub so you can replace it in the same holes it came from. ii. Now clean the hub and inspect it for wear iii. Then apply grease to the inside of the hub and to the six posts that fit into the wheel. iv. Check the o-ring on the wheel to be sure it is in place before you replace the hub and circlip. v. Check the bearings inside of the wheel and check the bearing movement; if they are rough or worn replace them. 8. Now for the mono shock pivots: a. Place a jack under the rear drive to take the strain off of the mono shock then dissemble. b. Clean and grease all of the pivot points and reassemble (if you have a 90 - 93 or you have had grease fittings installed, just give them a squirt). 9. Before you install the rear wheel take the axle and put it back through the swing arm into the final drive to check the alignment. If you find that it is in a bind you will have to change the wedge shim between the final drive and the swing arm. 10. Check the oil level in the rear drive or replace the oil if it has been 10,000 miles since it was serviced and check the brake pads for wear. 11. You can now reassemble your bike and have another year or two of trouble free riding.

Hello all Time for a rear tire and I want to pull the rear wheel off myself and take to dealer. Do i need to remove the saddlebags, exhaust, ect??? Never pulled rear wheel before. This is on a 99 RSV, Thanks!!!

Heard this on the news last night. Appears They will be making several different off road models here and the 3 wheel slingshot. Tiny north Alabama crossroads of Greenbrier is excited, wary about new Huntsville Polaris plant | AL.com Bringing 1,700 more jobs to the Huntsville area. Want a job at the new Polaris off-road vehicle plant in Huntsville? Here's what we know now | AL.com

2007 Second Gen with 100000km on it. I have purchased new front and rear wheel bearings/seals and new swing arm bearings/seals. Plan on replacing all of them this winter. Does anyone have any experience or tips on how to remove them. Thanks in advance. Jim

Since Outcast was stuck in SC with a front wheel bearing gone bad, it got me to thinking. Wouldn't it be a good thing if we could do some research and see if parts could be found that would work in a pinch such as this. I'm thinking most bearings could be cross matched with something from the automotive line or even heavy equipment house. Is there some way to use the oem part number and find out what the actual dimensions are for a given bearing, such as the front wheel bearing without having to dismantle someone's bike to measure the bearing? I think this could turn out to be a good thing if someone is broke down far from home on the weekend. As was stated in the other post, most metric dealers are closed on Sunday and Monday. What if a bearing could be had from, God forbid I would even suggest this, a Harley dealer! A lot of them are open on Sundays.

It was more then a year ago that a guy drove 12 hours from Canada, north of Michigan to pick up my 2000 1100 Vstar. He was getting back into biking and wanted to turn my bike into a Trike and I had just bought my Venture. Anyway, long story but just the other day he sent me the pics of the finished product. Ive never seen anything like it. No rear wheel, there's a car axle under there somewhere. thought it was interesting here it is on my last ride with it (cabot trail) http://lh3.ggpht.com/_9EMyKcng_yA/SE6Vm-GZc7I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/r1Yrp2TEUrs/s640/Nova%20Scotia%20June%2008%20260.jpg and here it it now: http://lh6.ggpht.com/_9EMyKcng_yA/TEOutXWZcSI/AAAAAAAAD2I/vxCuxDP86zY/s640/Photos%202009-2010%20204.jpg http://lh4.ggpht.com/_9EMyKcng_yA/TEOusvT2JRI/AAAAAAAAD2A/uxyBbJKjvR8/s640/Photos%202009-2010%20191.jpg

I had a tire installed on the front wheel while on vacation last year. The dealer installed a Dunlop 404 rear tire on the front. I did not notice that it was a rear tire untill this past weekend. It is my understanding that a rear tire will work on the front but needs to be mounted with the rotation arrow backwards. My question is can I remove the wheel and turn the wheel and tire around so that the tire rotation is correct. Or does the wheel only mounts one way. Thanks for the help.

Hi riders! My 03 2nd gen is giving me trouble. The front end is a mess. It feels sloppy and unsettling all the time. In a lean, the front end is wobbly. I put it on a lift, grabbed the front wheel, don't feel any head bearing clicking. I don't get any bounce back when I send the bars to one side or the other. The tire is perfect, no cupping, the wheel is rotating as it should be. Back on the ground, and facing down hill, I let it roll a bit, hit the front brake and I can feel a click. I don't feel the forks bounce unusually. I have a new Works rear shock which is fine. I've got 21k on it. Never did either the bearings of fork work. Anyone want to come to long island and help replace it all ? Any ideas.

I just put a Roadliner/Stratoliner 18" front wheel on my Venture. It looks awesome, and the low profile radial tire handles like a dream- rock solid and glued to the road. Handling response is much quicker. The rotors are also an upgrade, because they are full floaters. It is a perfect match, same size rotors and axle, bolted right up, din't have to change anything. I got the wheel tire and rotors off of ebay for $240 plus $50 shipping.

Before I alter my rear wheel, I thought I better ask this collective of experienced minds, if any of you know of a better way to get a 16" rear wheel onto the back of a newer RSTD ? I want to run on radial tires. Period ! So we all know that no one makes a quality brand radial tire in a 15". You have to go 16" or bigger, to be able to buy radials for the bikes. Therefore, I am looking at sending my rear wheen down to Kosman Industries, to have the make my OEM rear wheel into a 16" rear wheel. Their website explains all the procedures, and costs. http://kosmanspecialties.com/ I would do this in the Winter, when I am going to be needing new tires anyway, and I can afford to have the bike down for a couple weeks. So, before I do this, does anyone else have ideas of an available 16" wheel that will correctly fit on the rear of a second gen bike? Or something else to do ? IMHO, I believe I can make this bike a better ride on good radials, versus the bias belt tires. Please let me know...what you know. Thanks, Miles:detective:

I doubt many put their bikes on the lift backward, but it is quite handy when removing the front wheel. They drummed this into us in school (with lots of practice because it ain't easy) and I always put bikes on backward when working on the front wheel or forks. In addition to my new starter the 89 is getting steering bearings. It's on a Harbor Freight lift backward for the work. The wheel, forks, steering head, instrument cluster, headlight, windshield and top panels are removed. The fairings are still on. The handle bars are resting on the fairing stay above the headlight opening. There are two helmets in the trunk and some junk in the bags. When I lowered the lift I found that in that position the center of gravity is forward of the front legs and the motorcycle and lift tipped down (at the rear of the bike). Fortunately my weight on the hydraulic pedal kept it on the floor until it was down and my foot came off so it only dropped about 3". Raising the lift back up required a lift on the passenger grab rail to keep the motorcycle from falling over backward. At about 1/4 height the center of gravity was back to where the lift stayed on the floor. I wanted to pass this along because if I'd stopped going down at 1/4 or pulled the steering head below that level it would have done a back flip. Don't want anyone to find this issue the painful way.

Curious what a fair rate is to take off the rear wheel on a HD Roadking and swap the pulley and rotor on to another wheel and reassemble. Essentially the same amount of work to replace a rear tire. I know shop rates vary, but a reasonable amount for the southern region?

Just replaced the pads on the rear of my 85 and now the rear wheel needs alot of convincing to turn. I had to clamp the caliper to get it back on the wheel. Put it all back togeather easily enough. Will it wear down and let loose after a long ride? Its a little hard/near impossible to push it back into the garage. Thanks for the advice.

I posted this else where and thought this might help someone else to. So copy and paste and add a little and here it is. I like doing my own, I know it is done to suit me. I changed my rear tire today. Here is how; http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=555 #1. Mark the axle position at the side with the pinch bolt line, make a line with the corner edge of a flat file and you will always have it there. Remove the rear wheel. The axle will come out easily if you turn the axle at the Allen head side (rotor side) and pull at the same time. #2. Take the valve out of the tire. Mark the valve placement with the tire location on the old tire and the new tire for location. Make sure you get the tire on in the correct rotational direction. Motorcycle tires are rotational oriented. They have arrows showing the direction of travel. If you have tires that have the balance dot, then if this is the case, the balance dot should line up with the valve and supposed to be balanced. #3. Put the wheel on some small pieces of 2" X 4" or 4" X 4" works best, one on each side of rim in a place that you can back a pick up or some vehicle up to it. #4. I used a 8' long 4"x4" and a 8" inch piece of 4"x4' to put onto the tire edge close the rim, 1/2" or so on tire edge and from the rim. Back a vehicle up to the tire location. I used a pick up with a ball hitch on it and pried under the ball mount stinger. There are tools made for this, but I do not have one yet. I am thinking of adding something to the side of my garage wall and have a friend weld me up a tool for this. #5. Put the long 4"x4" on top the short piece of 4"x4" and under the vehicle/hitch,bumper or what ever to get leverage. #6. Pry down and the tire will brake loose from the rim fairly easy on the first or second try. #7. I use a cheap set of tire irons from JC Whitney. They are 12" long and come with rim covers to keep from damaging your rim. Two sets are nice to have. Only about 10 -14 dollars a set. Remove the tire while the rim is still on the 4"x4" short pieces you laid your rim on. ( The back side is a little tricky, but will come off. I laid my tire with the brake rotor down for this part.) #8. Once you have the tire removed, use a fine wire brush to remove any black junk from the inside rim edge and inside the rim. I used a copper pipe cleaning tool. Then I used WD 40 & PB Blaster to spray on a cloth and wipe the inside of my rim. Cleans it very well after you brush the rim edge and rim on both sides. If you have a plastic 50 gallon barrel, it works great for a bench to work on the new tire and rim. #9. Now orient your tire in the correct direction of travel according to the arrows on the tire and your rim direction of forward travel. #10. Have your self some dish liquid from the kitchen (or regular tire liquid from auto store) to put on the tire edge and the rim edge. Only put the liquid on one side of the tire at a time. Start the tire on and apply pressure to a point that you will need to put the rim protectors on the rim and begin prying the tire on. Only 2-3 inches at a time. Just takes a 3-4 minutes and if you cleaned your rim and lubricated the tire and rim, no problem at all. I can put the front tire on with my bare hands and no tools. #11. Now that you have the tire on, very important to align the tire in the corect spot according to your marks or dot on the tire. Pay close attention to this as you proceed to the next step. #12. Have yourself a small ratchet strap. Put the strap on the tire in the center of the tire and cinch it up tight. Also align the tire edge and rim together as you do this. Pay attention to the markings to keep the tire in the right position. #13. Replace the air valve in the rim. Air the tire and see if it will take air, if not check for problem spot and fix it. Make sure tire is in right position. Make sure you get enough air in the tire to get it to pop onto the rim all the way (watch the fingers !). Check the rim once you hear the pop and make sure it is properly attached all the way around. If not add more air until it is. Set at proper air pressure, factory says 42 rear and 36 front. I personally go a little more because I weigh 278 lb. #14. Now clean and follow these instructions before putting the tire and wheel back on.http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13263 AND http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1705 #15. Check air pressure again and put the tire and wheel back on. Put the axle in at the mark you made and align all completely. A real good tech section on putting the wheel back on correctly is http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=515 AND http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4660 Pay special attention to properly aligning the axle to the mark you made, filed my mark into the pinch bolt line, tightening the acorn nuts and aligning the wheel and dive link properly and getting the drive shaft aligned and inside the yoke. Not sure if there is a good tire removing thread in the Tech Library. I never found one with all the information in one place. Had to skip around. So if this works then ask Freebird to put it in there. He usually will not, unless asked and there is not already an existing write up. I am not sure about that. I have been wrong before, just ask my wife. Someone else may see something I missed to, so please jump in if so. Will not hurt my feelings at all. Just trying to help out and give back to the site that has helped me so much. Thanks all. Fuzzy

I think I will me replacing my front wheel bearing. (I feel a buzzing in the handlebars & a whirring sound when I lean into turns even thought the bearings are not sloppy) So I have to buy a puller. I know the Tusk bearing remover set would work 8mmm- 31mm but it's $90 and a tool I don't use often SO.... My question is will this Harbor Freight set work as well. It's Standard sizes not metric & since IDK the size of the front bearing I figure I will ask here. http://www.harborfreight.com/blind-hole-bearing-puller-95987.html

I just mounted a 1st gen center stand on my 99 RSV. I now need to remove the rear wheel to replace the wheel bearings. Is it possible to do this using the center stand instead of the bike lift? I'd hate to remove the center stand to facilitate the bike lift. I'd have to remove both bags and one side rail but will I still need to jack the bike up to get the wheel out or is the center stand going to be high enough ( the rear wheel is 1.5" off the floor with the center stand).

Im rebuilding the rear wheel with all new bearings, spacers and seals. I have a question on the proper positioning of a spacer flange on the disc brake side of the wheel so maybe someone here who has had to rebuild their wheel and/or someone who has removed the bearings on that side can answer this. Or maybe someone who has a rear wheel laying around with the bearings removed can chime in too. The spacer flange is a stamped steel spacer with one side flat and one side hollow. It goes into the wheel just behind the wheel bearing and seats into a cut-out in the axle opening, followed by the bearing. What I need to know is what side of the flange faces the bearing. The flat part, which im leaning to or the hollow portion? The parts fiche offers no help. Thanks

ok we took it out for a run and i must say where getting there still idles a little rough but going to run the pi## out of it. still about 1/4 full with that can of seafoam i put in it . but i hit 55 mph and i swear i had like a dozen cats screaming at me. let me tell ya it puckerd me up. i though oh crap its going to lock up the engine? well i noticed the speedo was just jumping. and damn the noise was loud. so ok is it the cable. or the drive unit at the wheel keep in mind we did both wheels rotors brakes and all did i mess something up while doing that work? i have a extra used cable here as well as the driveunit. but dang i hate to think i got to pull that front wheel again. i also learned if you think it needs to be oiled you better do it. time to wd 40 and check everything out. you know the most fun is learning to do it and learn. right now i would like to kick the PO arse. letting the bike get this way. but when i get er done im going to be one happy guy. also whats the best setting for air. i got 12 in front and 32 rear that might be why it feels so tall. and a little fun getting on it. and is there a way to tell if progressive springs have been installed its a 84 and for some reason or im not looking right i dont see anti dives? also no front air cross over for the forks? where it should be by the key there is now a pull switch that works the fan? why someone did that i dont know? its never overheated on me and i never pulled that switch. except to see what it was. maybe just a precaution while sitting in heavy traffic turn it on?

Hey all, I've got a 1999 RSV with 46k miles and I noticed yesterday that when I do 60 mph, I get a humming noise from the rear tire. when I lean to the right the humming becomes MUCH louder, & when I lean the bike to the left its just a little bit louder. When I speed up to 70 mph or slow down to 50 mph, the humming goes away. I believe it's been there for awhile, I just usually have the stereo playing and have never noticed it. Does this sound like a worn wheel bearing? and when it hits its harmonic frequency at 60mph it humms? Is replacing the wheel bearings a difficult task? Do I need to purchase any special tools to accomplish this? Thanks D.W.

Today I was working on the bike and thought back to my first shaft manipulation. I was much younger then and it took me about an hour to manipulate my first shaft encounter. WOW was I pooped!!! Well today im a bit older but wiser and as I was manipulating my shaft it was all over in 45 seconds!! I was aiming blind into the dark abyss and before you know it, I was done!! Just think, one day I may not be able to manipulate my shaft ever again!! Well, at least its coated pretty good with Honda Moly 60 now. Should last a long time. Wait, what were you all thinking???? I was greasing my driveshaft and installing the Vmax rear. What the ............Some of yous are really sick...... Also removed the last of the scorched rear wheel dampeners that Chrome Pros left in the wheel when they chromed it. Took much manipulation (again?) with a SawZall and a metal cutting blade along with a blind hole puller to remove them. Cleaned out the bores with a sanding drum and installed the new dampeners. Tomorrow AM ill install the new bearings in the wheel and just maybe ill have it buttoned up. Hmmm, still have to break the Avon off the old wheel and mount it on the new wheel. Yea, learned how to do that by hand as well. :smile5::smile5:

Hi Venture Friends I am a newbie to Venture rider I just bought a 1987 Venture 1300_ I bought it cheap and of course Has its problems . All the diaphyrams in carbs are busted no problems with handling this problems. MY BIG CONCERN IS THE TRANSMISSION-'THE REAR WHEEL WAS JUST STUCK ON . I REMOVE WHEEL TO TEST DIFFERENTIAL ETC--FOUND LOTS OF PLAY IN TRANS. I COULD MOVE DRIVE SHAFT APPROX 90 degrees back and forth except for 5th gear in which was nor mal I drain oil no signs of metal in oil . My question what should back lash be when rotating driveshaft- WHY IS IT SO MUCH PLAY IN 1 thru 4 but. 5th to me is nornmal Thanks. Jim C. Carson City. Nevada:bacp