In the event that you should have a universal joint failure on your Venture, you may be relieved to know that Yamaha is not the only source for the part. All Ventures from 1983 to 2007 appear to use the same u-joint in the driveshaft. Below is a chart with brand names and part numbers of commonly available replacement u-joints that your local auto parts supplier should be able to obtain for you. Pictures below are courtesy of member la_pryor as he did the u-joint replacement on his 1st gen Venture.

TAC Update 9/1/07: Some have reported that the grease zerk located in the end of the u-joint cap may not clear the inside of the swingarm. After installing the joint into the yoke it should be lubed then remove the zerk and install a plug into the hole before installation of the assembly back onto the bike. The zerk cannot be accessed once the bike is back together anyway, so it is no longer needed. It can be reinstalled temporarily to lube the joint if the swingarm is removed in the future for service.

Note: Yamaha supplies the u-joint and yoke only as an assembly which costs substantially more than the u-joint alone. If your yoke is damaged you'll need to replace the complete assembly available from Yamaha.

View of a disassembled failed U-joint and yoke assembly.

The rear wheel, final drive, and swingarm must be removed to access the u-joint.

New u-joint next to what's left of an old failed one.

New u-joint installed in the yokes.

Reinstalling yoke and u-joint assembly to output shaft.

Last update: 01:11 PM Saturday, September 1, 2007