Yamaha Venture Royale Question

[Jcol]

I know it's strange to ask a question about a non-Goldwing at a Goldwing site but here it goes. I have been looking for a second Wing that I can work on. My 81 is running perfect and I would like to find an 83-85 to fix up over the next year. I missed a couple of good finds earlier this spring and right now there is nothing but good running condition (expensive) bikes in my area. No problem I'm patient. There are however quite a few Yamaha Venture Royale's in the 83 to 85 year range that people are virturally giving away. These bikes look good cosmetically and most say they are good runners however they are at least half the price of a similar year GW. I did read about a second gear problem that these bikes developed so I' wonder if that is the reason they are discounted or are they just not as popular as a GW? The most recent is an 1985 with 65000 Km and the guy is asking $1000. there's not a mark on it and all it needs is a "tune up". Don't know if I want to play with something other then a Wing but it sure is tempting. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[dan filipi]

Sorry I know nothing about the bike except how to find a picture of it.

Good looking bike.
Have you test ridden any?

 

[Anonymous]

what little I know of them makes me want to run away - seems like most have no second gear

Lots of good bargins on Kijiji right now 1200's for $1,500 and 1100's going as low as $1000 its been a buyers market here is one for $700 right near you (I would question mileage)

https://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicle ... Z379469063

 

[skiri251]

Yamaha XS750/850 ('76~'82?) had second gear problems but there is an easy fix. So yamaha didn't learn the lesson?
I know (through the net) one person who rides Venture Royale with Equalean sidecar.
Should be net message boards like this for Venture Royale and they probably have solutions for the second gear?

BTW, XS750/850 are also cheap compared to CB750. Low prices can be just because they (GW clone tourers from other Japanese manufacturers) were second fiddle and not popular enough?

 

[Anonymous]

I took an XS1100 out for a spin the other day - and as you say it was resonably priced but a very high center of gravity and felt heavy. Leaning into corners was a thrill (you might not want to lean this as much as a honda)

All in all even for less money I will go back to mother Honda

 

[skiri251]

Royale got v-twin (V4?) so it may be better than twin cam inline 4 or water cooled inline 6 (KZ1300). That kawasaki tourer must be a disaster in a parking lot.

 

[Jcol]

I've never rode a Venture Royale but many years ago I did own a XS750 Special and a 650 Special. The 750 was an air cooled inline 3 cylinder with shaft drive. Not really meant to take on a GoldWing but at the time it was a good bike. I would be interested to hear if anyone has owned or ridden a Royale to see how it compares to a GW.

 

[skiri251]

Here's a comment from my net friend John. He currently rides GL1500SE and rode various GWs in the past.
His Venture (base model, not a Royale) was '83 model.

How does it compare against GoldWing?

Huge amounts of power on tap, with great low-end power; low RPM grunt. It has a power band that seems to wind forever. On balance they have more speed than they have cornering or braking ability. If you can "see" a gap in traffic, you can accelerate to reach it, but that does not mean you will able to scrub-off all that speed and acceleration in time before you reach the turn. (There is a reason why I would know that.) These were made during the era of the GL1200 Goldwings. So IMHO the Royales were better than the GL1200s, but not as good as the GL1500SE Goldwings.

Higher CoG?

Definitely! Much more noticeable than your GL1100. Not a good (or as good a) low speed parking lot handler as your GL1100. But really comes into it own at higher speeds in the mountain curves. The downside is that the handling and braking are not on par with the power of the engine.

Also it is _NOT_ very user friendly to attach a sidecar to.

 

[slabghost]

I was told by one owner of a Venture that it had the same motor as the Virago. I never had any shifting issues but they do have what I call hit miss starters.

 

[skiri251]

I was told by one owner of a Venture that it had the same motor as the Virago. I never had any shifting issues but they do have what I call hit miss starters.

Venture, Venture Royale seem to have water cooled twin cam 90 degree V4 engines (same as V-max).

I had XV750E (euro version of Virago with fully covered chain final drive) when I was young. That engine was like two XT250 SOHC engines joined together. Not powerful/torquey at all.

John says he's never heard of 2nd gear issues with Venture or V-max.

 

[Leonard]

I had an 89 1300 Venture Royale that noticeably was quicker than my 86 Aspencade gl1200 & electronics was just as good, however it didn,t handle as well in curves or at speeds over 75 MPH. I never tried to correct floating with triple tree brace or progressive springs. I did install both new tires.

 

[Tory]

Check out https://www.venturerider.org for more info.

The venture second gear problem was resolved in mid 86.
The V4 is a great sounding, tourqey motor and compared to the GL1200s a great bike.The voyagers of that era where also a step above for the year but fell in behind the 1500,and the Cavalcade was the cream of the crop untell its demise in 86 I think(Have you seen the pilion seat on these things).But none have the reliability of the good ole 1100s.

All this said,the Goldwing following has proven to provide an unlimited amount of aftermarket parts and supliers as well as support system unmacthed by any other.Its very difficult to locate certain parts for the others.