1998 Yamaha Venture 500 suspension

Johnny20

Johnny20

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Joined
Jan 5, 2020
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Location
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
I have a 1998 Yamaha venture 500. Last year everything seem fine but now this year, there is no recovery in the suspension. By that I mean if you push down sharply on the back of the sled it will go all the way down and when you remove your hands it does not spring back up, rather it rises back slowly to about halfway up. If you grab the back of the sled and lift it all the way up it will stay there until you stand on the sled and then it sags down to almost the bottom again. If you take it for a ride, it will not rise up and down over bumps in the trail at all, it just stays at the bottom.

Would that be caused by a failure of the two shocks in the rear or the middle shock under the seat or something else in the suspension? I greased the suspension last spring.
Thanks in advance.
 
Or could the pivot points be froze up and need grease? It’s an older sled my friend bought, don’t know the service history on it at all, runs very well though. Would be in Excellent condition if we can figure out the suspension. Thanks?
 
sounding like it needs a shock refresh at the least. most ventures of that era had steel bodied non serviceable shocks. if it has aluminum bodied shocks, they are serviceable. i do know that there are kimpex aftermarket replacements for the 03 rx 1 that will fit in there. i would start with the rear main shock as that is what holds the sled up.
 
Maim said:
sounding like it needs a shock refresh at the least. most ventures of that era had steel bodied non serviceable shocks. if it has aluminum bodied shocks, they are serviceable. i do know that there are kimpex aftermarket replacements for the 03 rx 1 that will fit in there. i would start with the rear main shock as that is what holds the sled up.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I appreciate your response. I just checked, factory ones aren’t available, I’ll have to check around for used or a new substitute
 
The grease fittings were plugged up so I told him to carefully heat them up to see if that would allow grease into each on. It did clear each fitting and he fully greased each one until it pushed out old grease. He then thoroughly worked the suspension up and down hoping to free its range of travel. It didn’t improve it at all so I guess the next step is the main shock unless anyone has another suggestion. Thanks for your responses, it helps!
 
I have a set of steel bodied front / rear shocks from a 2004 viper s if you're interested. Less than 2000 miles.
Part number is the same except for the prefix.
 
Sorry - to clarify - there are two rear shocks. Smaller one goes in the front of the skid, larger goes in the back of the skid. I have both if needed.
 
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