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What To Take Into Consideration When Buying A Used Venture

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What To Take Into Consideration When Buying A Venture

If the bike has been sitting for several years you will need to:

1) change the tires as they will probably be dry rotted. After market about $175+- plus install and balance.
2) change the gear oil in the differential, lube the drive gear and splines of driveshaft.
3) Drain and flush brake lines particularly the rear which has a meter valve of somesort which will clog up. The calipers need to be cleaned of possible water contamination.
4) Drain and flush the cooling system. The thermostat is probably (likely) to be stuck closed, open if you are lucky. The impellor on the water pump unless it has been changes is plastic and is prone to failure. You will need a new radiator cap.
5)Complete drain of oil and change filter.
6) Battery will need to be changed if it has not been taken care of.
7) you said you negotiated cleaning of fuel system, include the fuel filter in it.

As bob stated I do have the Royale version it is an 84 with about 85000 on it. I have owned it for about 6 years and actualy I think it is better as a handler than the GL 1500 goldwing (I also have one of these). If you can work out a deal to cover all or most of the above you may be in good shape. You didn't say if it was a yamaha dealer or if you have any mechanical skills, but also try to get him to throw in a shop manual if ya can.

Hope this helps a little, drop a line if ya have questions.

Hank Yerger

This response (thanks Hank) is excellent. This is a good approach to arranging the purchase of this 1983 Venture. I did not know that you had driven so far Hank!! That is almost 150,000 in Canadian miles.

I am pretty fussy about tire brands (I run only Dunlop K491 tires), and would recommend that you choose these tires. Alternately, you could install tires recommended by a friend who has them on his own 83/84/85 Venture.

By the way, the 1983 has a different front rim size than the 1984, so be careful that the front tire is right for the 1983.

Concerning the second gear issue, you could have the dealer road test the Venture, accelerating hard in second gear up to near redline (he might want to drive it around a bit first, after this long wait for you). This brief "5 seconds of acceleration" second gear test will confirm that the transmission/clutch/drivetrain/etc is good. If it passes this test, I would buy. ('course it is your money)

Happy Riding,

......Scott

Used Venture-What year to Buy ??

'84's & '85's were good years as the 2nd gear problem, stator & water pump premature failures were corrected with the '84 (Yamaha's biggest seller in 84).
'86 & '87 had some problems.
88-90 models were considered to be the most trouble-free
91-93's were OK with the exception of fork seal and suspension problems.

There was a survey done some years back in MCN magazine that reported these numbers.

Larry Wright

8 - 83 Venture vs. 93 Venture

Hi Bob,
Can you respond to this on list? Can you compare and contrast your 93 to your 83 in terms of power, seating position, luggage capacity, handling, etc. I would eventually like to get a 91-93 and would be curious to hear from someone who has had both.

Keith

Hi Keith:

Sure, be glad to....

Power

...

83 revs a bit higher than 93...ex. - (83... 70 mph=4k rpm) (93.... 70 mph=3.5k rpm)...
83 seems to be spunkier at first, but 93 can pull down low easier...
At 65 mph 93 feels busier than 83, but is running about 400-500 rpm lower...
70 is a LOT smoother on 93 than 83

Gas Mileage

...

83 averaged low-mid 40s at highway speeds, 93 high 30s...
83 averaged high 40s at 40-55 mph, 93 low-mid 40s...
both cases, weight didn't seem to matter much in affecting the mileage, speed was the big factor, over 60 mph mileage dropped appreciatively

Handling

...

83 feels a little lighter...93 is heavier bike...
83 had Progressives front and rear...
Just put SuperBrace on 93, handling improved greatly in corners, was wobbling when coming fast into corner (intentional or not, a little un-nerving), since SuperBrace no more wobbling.

Luggage

...

MUCH more room all around on 93.
Trunk seems bigger, looks bigger, don't know if it actually is...
saddlebags are much bigger than my standard 83 was...

Seating

...

83 originally came with Mustang seat, which was horrible, replaced with Corbin, comfort was great fill-up to fill-up...
93 has very comfortable seat, not quite as good as the Corbin, but not uncomfortable enough for us to spend the bucks at this time...
both cases, passenger room is lacking for us big folks, 93 does have a little more, but not much...
removed adjustable backrest mechanism, gave about an inch more room for her
She likes the floorboards much more than pegs...

General

....

Engine seems more steady and tractable throughout the powerband on the 93. The 93 is more at ease going down the highway than the 83 was. It depends on what you want to get from your Venture.

Some things I miss about the 83...a lot easier to work on, saddlebags and trunk came off easily, no fancy CLASS system to worry about, no fancy radio system to worry about, a lot less stuff to deal with, generally maintenance issues a lot easier

Some things I love about the 93...big luggage, CLASS system works great, radio system is great to have, especially the built-in intercom, paint is in better shape, zerk fittings on driveshaft housing actually work, more lights on the back, general comfort is better because engine isn't revving as high (I think).

We love our 93 even more than our 83. We do not regret making this move, and would advise anyone to do it.

Hope this helps.....

Bob Edwards

Last update: 03:18 PM Sunday, September 26, 2004

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