Yamaha Venture
A Pashnit 50,000 Mile Journey

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The Venture was a wonderful bike.  And if you have owned one, do own one or are thinking of owning one- this little page is for you. If you read my motohistory first- you know I specifically went and bought this bike paying a mere $3200 for it- and with only 30K on it (in the early 90's).

Three weeks later- I left on my little 6000 mile excursion in a mere 8 days of traveling.  I covered the first 1200 miles on the first day in a 22 hour ride across the southwest which turned out to be a great shakedown run!

Before I went out and bought the Venture- I went to the library and looked up the original magazine articles from when the bike was reviewed.  They were on microfiche (remember that?). 

I printed these articles at the library and read them over and over.  The bike was largely regarded as the hot rod of its class, with higher corner clearances and a torquey 1200cc motor.  I was this twenty something college kid riding this huge bike targeted for someone 25 years my senior. 

And to this day, I have never met anyone that young riding that type of bike.  Instead of getting a CBR600 like the rest of my generation- I bought this.  But at the time- I never cared about impressing the girls, or hooliganism.  I wanted to travel long distance- to ride the endless road- to listen to the hum of the motorcycle for hours on end watching the world go by as if it were I who was standing still.

Annapolis Road

Crater Lake, Oregon

It had an air suspension that you could fill the front or rear with air pressure to adjust your ride.  The stock seat was the best thing about this bike.  I could ride all day and my backside was never sore. 

The handle bars were very adjustable- you simply loosened it all up- put it where you wanted it- and tighten up the bolts.  

Having a radio & tape deck was something new and proved to be great fun.  I would sit at intersections in front of God an everybody with the music blaring as loudly as the speakers could handle.  High energy dance and remixed Depeche Mode.  Ah those were the days.  I think back to that time and I chuckle.  What was I thinking? 

I would commonly carry 5-10 cassette tapes with me.  The bike's vibration would cause the tapes I wasn't using to unravel within their cases.  I spent considerable time with a pencil maintaining the cassettes.  Now I look back on those cassettes in this day and age of CD's, DVD's, and mini-discs and smile to myself as if I were remembering my first computer- the Commodore 64.  

Headed for Seward south of Anchorage- 
Note the two extra jerry cans full of gas & 
the slurpee in the cup holder

Carson Pass - Highway 88

I did add things like a cup holder for my endless need for slurpee's and an altimeter to give greater insight to my travels throughout the mountains.  The throttle lock was on the bike when I got it- and soon I couldn't live without it. 

A digital temperature gauge was something I never traveled without- it was always fun to know what temperature it was.  Although it was not so fun riding through New Mexico's desert at midnight in January.  22 degrees!  That was cold!  

The best thing I did was replace the original windshield which was badly clouded.  Unfortunately, I did it after I got back from Alaska.  Imagine- you are actually supposed to see through this thing! 

I also took tail lights out of an old truck and rewired them into the Venture.  By having two-filament bulbs- the turn signals now acted as running lights.  Later I would buy a module from Signal Dynamics that was designed to do this.

The Venture actually handled quite well once it was up and running.  It was a very large motorcycle but with the v-twin engine, the bike was very narrow in the midsection.  This also allows for a more v-shape than it's larger counterparts like the Goldwing.  I soon learned the first thing that would touch down was the footpegs, not the mufflers or other assorted hard parts. 

Alberta, Canada

Sleeping in 26 degree weather in Mississippi

Once the 10,000 mile mark comes and goes- you get this level of comfort in which you can lean the bike over at any time and scrap the pegs.  Kinda fun actually.  Did a whole lotta curvy roads on this thing.

The bike also had linked brakes which takes some getting used to.  The front brake lever does only the front, but the foot brake will activate both. 

Just to see what it felt like, I once slammed on the foot brake and promptly locked up both tires.  Keep in mind a motorcycle only has two tires in the first place.

That was very scary and I never did that again.  Duh.  In the end, I would always appreciate the linked brakes- it always stopped well, and you never worried about locking up the rear like you do with sport bikes. 

I bolted extra running lights to the engine guards and fell in love with all those lights.  I'm still convinced that being seen is the toughest obstacle in this 'didn't see the motorcyclist' mentality of auto drivers.

Newman Peak, Arizona

Adventure Touring on a Yamaha Venture somewhere on a dirt road in NorCal

Across International Borders, eh?

It was common practice for me on my -dawn to dark- day trips to get in as many miles during daylight, riding virtually nonstop- making sure I hit the freeway for the rest of my way home just as it got dark. 

One time coming back from the Pacific Coast in Northern California on Highway 36 into Red Bluff- the road was very curvy and the sun had fallen into the sea behind me.  I reached down and pulled the running lights up and out so they were pointing up at an angle into the dark night.  However, the road was so curvy that when the bike was leaned into the corners one after the other- the running lights actually pointed straight down the road- lighting my way through the corners.  Earlier in the day, I had just missed some cows in the road too.

The engine guards are bolted right onto the frame and no damage was ever done from all the times this thing fell over.  I heaved this thing up many, many times. 

I chose them (when I headed off to Alaska) for their high mileage rating and oddly- the tread pattern- they have this sort of off-road look to them.  I had a habit of continuing to ride when the pavement ended.  I was always very pleased with these tires.  

Galveston Island, Texas in the pouring rain

Went through a lot of tires- all of which I changed myself.  The hardest thing was breaking the bead and I always did it by hand.  Looking back- I changed so many tires- I should have just spent the money for a bead-breaker.  I usually would use a 6 inch C-clamp and a board on each side of the tire.  I grew up restoring antique furniture for a living and all sorts of woodworking clamps were within easy reach.  This actually worked rather well.  We did have a set of tire irons though- and some really big screwdrivers.  I would then take the tire to the local shop and have them balance it for me for 5 bucks.

1200 Miles in 22 Hours

One time in January, it was raining and I was headed across town to go to the ice rink (Nobody ice skates in California).  Train tracks ran down the middle of the boulevard for the city's mass transit.  I was running parallel to them and when I attempted to ride over them, the front wheel slipped on the slick metal.

I went down taking another divot out of my leather chaps.  Again not a scratch.  Couple more scatches on the crash bars.  Always negotiate tracks perpendicular.  A real no brainer.  Another time I was pulling out from the curb onto the city street. The middle of which was a foot higher than the curb where the back wheel was.  

Interstate 10 near the California - Arizona border

Riding 36 hours straight on two hours of sleep
 to make it back to California

No, it isn't a Yamaha V-Max (both motors are very similar), but for a full dress touring bike- it has some get up and go.  And get up had just about gone.  Within a few thousand more miles, there was nothing left of second gear.

The cost of replacing second gear was more than what the bike was worth (unless I did it myself).  And so I rode it that way skipping from 1st to 3rd for another 10,000 miles.  Eventually, these little wipeouts would take their toll on the bike.  Most of the mounting tabs of the fairings had been broken off.  These were my college days and money was quite scarce.  I would drill holes in the plastic, take speaker wire and cinch it all back together.  Speaker wire was holding all the fairings onto the bike (it actually worked quite well).  Although it sort of rattled in the bumps.

Near Fort Ross on Highway 1

Sierra Blanca, Texas

When I bought the FJ1200- It took sometime to get it roadworthy.  When all was ready, I parked the Venture and let it gather some cobwebs. A few months later- I sent the FJ1200 to Chandell Motorsports to have the new stage 3 jets tuned on the dyno.  

I cleaned all the cobwebs off the Venture and once it was running- the motor was a smooth as always.  I would only need to ride it one day. On my way to work going through a residential intersection in which I was not required to stop- a woman waiting at her stop sign pulled out right in front of the bike never even looking left to see if anyone was coming.  How do you prepare or prevent something like that from happening?  It was so sudden- I didn't even have time to slam on the brakes.  I wasn't going all that fast in the 25mph speed limit.  I hit her drivers door with no time to swerve or brake.  

The impact folded in her door panel.  The fork took a 3 inch gouge out of the door as the bike collided bending the fork and breaking the 1/4" thick fork brace.  The tire was pushed far enough back to impact the radiator and curve it inward.  The front of the bike followed next into the side of the car breaking all the plastic.

Yosemite National Park

Northern Pacific Coastline on California's Highway 1

The Gulf of Mexico

It's worse than it looks

Well, that finished off the Venture- it was good for scrap now and since there is no demand for the motor (this was years before eBay), it had little value.  I had no idea what to even do with the bike, but was put in touch with someone who might be able to help me.

I ended up trading it to a guy in Reno for a pickup load of Triumph Spitfire parts- the car I was restoring (or rather attempting to keep running) at the time.  I had no idea what he would do with the bike, but he was willing to take it if I cleaned out his garage of the British sportscar parts. It culminated 50,000 miles of traveling in a little lesss than 3 years.   

It was the end of an era.

The close to a chapter in my life.

You always remember that first real bike. The one you had in college, on your first date, the first big trip. The one that became a part of your very identity.  

The Venture took me across Canada to Alaska and across the southern United States.  This bike took me through college and to the night job I worked for 4 years.  If I was feeling really antsy during the week, I would ride 120 miles to the next college town up and over the mountains, stroll into the  campus library- and study my Organic Chemistry there.  On weekends, I would start out early and ride in a huge radius getting back well after dark.  I rarely took the same road twice. This amounted to an endless list of roads in northern California which eventually inspired my motoroads.

Richardson Highway, Alaska

I saw a lot of land from the back of this motorcycle and to this day, every time I see a Venture headed down the road, I can still feel the bike beneath me flowing across this land. 

Webmaster Note: In 2004, nearly 10 years after I bought the first one, I bought the same bike all over again.  Added an '83 Yamaha Venture to use for commuting.  Get to relive it all over again.  Read the story below...

I buy a Yamaha FJ1200