Venture Differential Review & Thoughts

[bikedave99]

I have been running a Venture differential now for a month or so and figured I should share my thoughts on it. First off, it was a pretty easy swap for a quick gearing change. It is not a huge difference, but I noticed it even in first gear which surprised me. I loaded up the bike and my wife to go for a ride and and we went cruising for two days. On the highways I loved it, dropped my rps by about 500 at cruising and felt good. I even got 35mpg on a tank or two when I normally get 32-33. Not bad! I noticed a difference to the negative once we got into the hilly twistys. I felt the need to downshift to 4th and 3rd a lot more than I had before, and had the general feeling that I had less power. Now, before you say, "well you had your wife and gear on," I will say that that is how I do 80% of my driving, so I know what it feels like. I just felt more lag in throttle response and less snappy acceleration.

Still trying to figure out if I like it or not. It does help my decision about whether to get Morley's overdrive, I'm not sure I will now. I find myself in 5th a fair amount high speed cruising in the nice long sweepers of Arkansas/Missouri and with a really tall 5th like he is offereing I would have to be in 4th to have the get up and go I want to. Sure, 4th is fast enough but I would rather not be hangin around redline all the time. My engine agrees. If I lived in Kansas like Morley..... that would be a different story! Give me the overdrive!

Anyway, others can weigh in, I know latheboy had the same experience I did with Venture diff. Everything is a tradeoff, so I figured I would start some dialogue for those considering it. If you drive a lot of flat roads you will like it. In the ups and downs twistys where you want to get on it, you may not. I just need to get a better pipe now and a muscle kit to make up the power difference and I'll be golden!

 

[1967vmax]

Nice, I do have a sweet pcw notched and brace swingarm powdercoated black that will look sweet on your bike,and love the workboots,if that was me something whould have smashed my foot just my luck.

 

[Redbone]

I have Sean's 5th gear OD and if you are cruisng at 55 and higher 5th gear works well from the economy standpoint b/c your cuising at 3k R's. I improved my mileage on longer trips but around town it's the same; sometimes at 90 miles I get the red light and other times I can go as far as 110. On the highway my best has been about 125 if I remember correctly.
If I need to really get up and go I drop to 4th otherwise I can still easily pass in 5th but it takes a little longer. I use 4th and below for twistys b/c I really like the feeling of hammering it off the apex; one of my favorite things about the Vmax!unk:

 

[RaWarrior]

My bike came with a Venture drive installed, and the original in a box. I had no issues with the taller gearing....it still lights up the back tire almost on demand and can lift the front wheel a bit with a concerted effort.

Plus I routinely get between 38-42mpg, assuming a steady 75mph cruise and minimal v-boosting. Can't beat that. And while acceleration is slightly compromised, your top end is slightly improved. I hit redline in fourth at 135mph, and I seem to remember I was at 145 in 5th and around 8800 RPM. Heard the stock diff hits redline in 5th at around 145-150, so you get a little more room to go if you dare those sort of speeds on this bike.

I never have to downshift on any highway grade...plenty of torque from just rolling on the gas. On two lane roads stuck behind a slowpoke, a quick stab to 3rd instantly picks the revs up to v-boost zone and rockets you around said car faster than you can blink. For twisty roads or a bit more "sporty" performance I just leave it in fourth.

I sold the original drive on ebay for $150.

 

[SpecOps13]

Great reports on things I've wondered about. Too bad there's no 6th gear option for us.

 

[one2dmax]

I lost .3 tenths at the track with the venture diff. That's quite a bit (at least 2 bike lengths)

 

[PATMAX]

Hey Spec, still waiting on the CCW forum. Anyhow, yeah we do have a fith gear option. Sean does it but you gotta split the cases to put the new gear on. One thing I have never heard of before is whether some did both the Diff AND the gear swap. I suppose it would only be useful at Maxton or B'Ville for top end blasts. Maybe Bill W. Or road cone Thadd could pipe in with what they are running.

 

[one2dmax]

Rick had (or has) it on his 1500 tourmaster. Helped get him more mileage for the thirsty flatslides.

Sean

 

[bikedave99]

Nice, I do have a sweet pcw notched and brace swingarm powdercoated black that will look sweet on your bike,and love the workboots,if that was me something whould have smashed my foot just my luck.

No joke man, I have a line on Kerker 4-1 that I'm working right now and if that pulls through I'll give you a shout to see if you still have it. If I remember right, you said it wouldn't work with the stock exhaust... right?
Oh, and it was like 110 degrees in my garage, I wasn't about to put shoes on... plus, those prehensile toes are reaaaal useful for grabbing that dang socket that rolled under the car.

 

[1967vmax]

Lol should work fine with a stock exhaust ,I do belive you will have to loose the center stand for the kerker, but you cant beat the sound or the performance.

 

[Rick52]

I ran two years with a 1987 Venture shaft drive and Royal Star 5th gear in my 1500 Tourmaster. The 5th gear was a true overdrive and true Dog. I could cruise at 80 mph in 5th and get 35 mpg. At 160 mph I ran about 8000 rpm. At 80 mph I was just under 4000 rpm. Great mpg I went back to the stock 5th last year and just ran with the Venture drive until about mid July this Summer. My 1500 has dyno between 160 and 165 RWHP on four different dynos including PCW and is a legitimate 160 RWHP bike. I found that even a well tuned stage 7 w/ headers would jump me on launch or on a power roll maybe 2 bikes or better. Fortunately I have enough HP to easily reel them in. I am sure that another Tourmaster would not allow me that opportunity. I ran a Gen 2 with a Kick the Cat last May and he jumped on me two bikes and held, I did not lose any ground after the launch. I am sure that if I had not had the Venture and been running the stock shaft drive we would have been very closely matched. In Indianapolis last weekend I did power rolls against a Bone Stock gen 2 in 4th and then 5th gears. I pulled him very convincingly running the stock shaft drive. We were probably close in RWHP, but my bike is 85 lbs lighter and I was 20 lbs lighter than he. Now, my Gen 2 with Catsass, K&N and Power Commander 5 totally spanks my 1500. The 180 RWHP is more than enough. LOL If mpg, touring, cruising and top speed is priority then the Venture offers a great advantage. If you have a stock or mildly warmed up Gen 1, expect the stock driven Vmax to jump out on you and hold if you dont have the HP to make up lost ground. I Definitely would not do a Venture on a stocker. I now run the stock drive for my Streetfighter mode and switch to the Venture when doing a Power Cruiser mode. It is an easy changeout. As Always, IMHO rick rash

 

[Frosty72]

I've had the venture rear for two years now and I think it fits my riding style perfect.

I'm no racer, and it still seems to have enough power to scare the average rider.

I've gone to 130 on the trip before the fuel light came on.

 

[m-cman]

I have the Venture and really like it. I do not drag race and in normal riding with occasional trips to "V-Boost", I can't tell the difference just by feel. Take a lot of trips and like the better range between fillups.

 

[naughtyG]

I like my venture pumpkin too. I did notice a big difference when I went back to the OEM pumpkin for a little while though - it's definitely more responsive and sorta 'nervous'.
However, with the venture I feel the acceleration, while a wee bit slower to start with, is more exhilarating as the revs build up as the gears are a little taller so rpm for rpm you're going faster at the top of 2nd and 3rd gears

 

[VMAX1260]

ok guys i just saw this thread. all good to what you are writing but you must mention what wheel you have on your bikes. 15 stock,17 or 18. i swap my 15 with a 17, the diameter with the 17 rim and the tyre is smaller from the diameter with the stock one. i feel that my bike ends very quickly. all of you that you felt yoy bike slower in accelaration what wheel are you wearing?

 

[bikedave99]

ok guys i just saw this thread. all good to what you are writing but you must mention what wheel you have on your bikes. 15 stock,17 or 18. i swap my 15 with a 17, the diameter with the 17 rim and the tyre is smaller from the diameter with the stock one. i feel that my bike ends very quickly. all of you that you felt yoy bike slower in accelaration what wheel are you wearing?

Ha ha, well I can only speak for myself 1260, but I have a hard time throwing more money in to a rear wheel/tire than I spend on my bike. So, all that said, I have the stock 15" rear wrapped with a 170/90 Shinko if I remember correctly. So, my tire is slightly bigger than stock, but I was running this size before I swapped the diff. I think most of the other guys commenting have the stock rear wheel as well.

On my current bike, I have the frame braced, solid mounts, fork brace, and braced swingarm. This has considerably improved my ride, so much so that aside from the weight savings, I don't think I would notice much improvement going to radials. But that is talking purely out of ignorance.

 

[naughtyG]

Mine's a stock 15" wheel with Shinko 170/80 Tourmaster tire.

 

[m-cman]

Have a 170/60-18 on a Kosman wheel. Slightly larger than the stock wheel. (About .4 inch diameter). Got between 44 and 45 mpg Saturday cruising about 370 miles between 75-80 mph according to my GPS. About 6-7 mph slower than the speedo indicated.

 

[Rick52]

I definitely believe equal HP and weight bikes / riders that the stock shaft drive will spank the venture in a roll on. Except, the venture will give a bit more top end. The venture with royal star 5th has a huge advantage in mpg, mph and cruise comfort. imho

rick rash

 

[naughtyG]

I definitely believe equal HP and weight bikes / riders that the stock shaft drive will spank the venture in a roll on. Except, the venture will give a bit more top end.

See, that's just the thing I like - it's a little slower to get up the revs initially, but once up there, rev for rev it's actually faster! :biglaugh::biglaugh: