Hi everyone! Just picked up my Vision after spending a few weeks trawling this website to make sure I knew what I was getting in to!
The photos below are when it arrived and then the end of day 1, hopefully its off to a good start, but definitely lots of work to go!
A few initial thoughts:
- Bit of a heavy bike!
- Apparently squares where in back in the 80s
- Where on earth can I move this battery to?
- Awesome sound even on stock pipes ... after about an hours work on a car battery and some spray start!
Anyway just a quick hello as a new Vision owner, looking forward to more reading on this site while I get to work.
Cheers,
Welcome to the forum. From what I can see, the bike looks pretty good. You said you got it running but was it on the carbs or just with the spray? As for relocating the battery, the R/R lives behind the battery box so you will be moving that too. Anyway, good luck.
Why do you want to move the battery? are you turning it into a cafe?
Quote from: Triple_C on May 24, 2020, 07:25:46 AM
.... Just picked up my Vision after spending a few weeks trawling this website to make sure I knew what I was getting in to!
And after learning about the bike you went ahead and bought it anyway!?!? Yipes!
OK, Low hanging fruit but I couldn't resist. And yes, the 1980's called and they want their squares back. Congrats on the purchase. You may be in for a lot of fun and frustration - just not sure how much of each. :)
If you move the battery you will have to move the wiring too. I kept my battery in its place. I replaced and moved the Reg/Rect though.
I've noticed that the battery and batt. cover tend to interfere with proper fitment of the left side cover. This is a pain and leads to damage of said saddened side cover. Both my bikes - well, one bike and the skeleton of what used to be a bike - had cracked left side covers caused by this silliness in the Yam design rooms.
I detailed a fix to this issue in a post I made about two months ago. It entails careful routing of batt. wiring, esp. the starter cable and earth cable and how well they sit, gently heating and bending the top rear corner of the batt. cover (plastic retainer piece), and rigging a bit of wire to pull the whole battery box closer to the centreline of the frame. Shjtload easier than relocating the battery but might require patience and a touch of skill in reshaping the plastic retainer without actually melting the ferker and rendering it a smouldering glob of smelly hot gunk. Patience, keen observation and -20% blood alcohol level is the key to this bit of the operation.
Here's a link http://ridersofvision.net/rovforum/index.php?topic=16014.0
@Walt_M. The spray got it going, but was eventually running 'normally', going to redo the YICS this weekend and try running it with the full airbox back on, it wasn't too happy running without at least some throttle input the other day!
@Prophet Of Doom Not quite sure I'll stick closely to the cafe racer design rules - more a 2020 update to make it look more modern and clean - fingers crossed it comes out nicely!
@Rikugun yeah I might be a bit of a sucker for punishment!!
MikeScoot, I think your battery box might need to be installed properly. I have never had a problem with the fit of the side cover.
Triple_C, you may as well pull your carbs and clean them now. They are extremely sensitive to crud and extremely difficult to rid of said crud. I wouldn't spend time on the YICS until you get the carbs clean, just cap the fittings for now.
Apparently the previous owner (who brought it for a project but never got very far) had them ultrasonically cleaned. Not sure how good they are now? I suspect they still need some love / tuning, any tips? I'll have a hunt through the forum too!
Fortunately (or unfortunately?) there are some extensive threads on carburetors and their repair and tuning. +1 on Walt's comment regarding cleanliness - they can be a bit finicky in that regard. I had good luck with an ultrasonic cleaner but if you're diligent I think good results can be had in the conventional ways. Pay particular attention to the emulsion tubes. I had one set that was fighting me until I realized the throttle shaft seals were leaking. As old as these bikes are I don't think the problem is systemic but I had to change mine.
Another +1 to Walt's comment re Mike's battery box/sidecover fit. If everything is stock and routed accordingly, there shouldn't be a problem. I made all new battery cables which weren't as flexible as OEM and subsequently had to take care with routing and such to ensure the cover fit properly. Maybe your cables have been replaced?
Today's update: Dear YICS, I hate you!
Yup, they are often problematic. Personally, I find their value questionable but some swear they do something - presumably good that is. My current Vision has one bolted on but it's decorative only.
Yeah there is some great reading all over this site with the for's and the against's! My feel at the moment is that if its working properly its worth having, but maybe there is a custom metal solution (80cc boost bottles??) that might provide a more permanent solution that two glued together pieces of plastic ;)
A former poster had a theory about the plastic's ability to flex and how it was integral to the YICS functioning. That very flexing seems to work against it's longevity. Even some that had been meticulously re-worked later failed.
My current XZ "Silver Vision" had 2 YICS chambers installed by the previous owner. They were made from copper tubing and looked good and I never questioned their operation. That is, until I discovered they were collecting a somewhat runny, dark liquid. I assumed it was fuel mixed with carbon with maybe some other chemistry going on. I don't know why or how long it had been like that but I ended up removing them.
For what it's worth (and using the same dyno others often use to assess mods) I didn't notice a difference in performance after removal.
Well Rikugun, it would appear that our advice is being ignored. The YICS was used to improve driveability due to the extreme lean jetting used at the time for pollution control. Properly cleaned and jetted carbs should not need the YICS. Of course I don't have dyno results and honestly I still have a perfectly good YICS even with my FZ carbs and it runs fine. I should take it off but if it ain't broke...
Is that the only consideration for removing the YICS? (that the carbs are cleaned and jetted) What size do you need to change the jets to or can you leave them the stock size?
Apologies if these are rookie questions! Its the ones I haven't found explicit answers to in my exploring of the forum and/or a sign of me being new to carbs!
Well it seems to me that the YICS can muck up the balance between the two carbs. It does this because it interferes with being able to get a good pressure (vacuum) reading for each intake (in isolation from the other) when adjusting the carbs, and because it introduces all sorts of pressure variables when the motor is actually running. There are the variables in the connecting hoses, the variables in their lengths, and the variable of the unit itself - not to mention leakage in any of these - and any of these factors can cause a poorly running motor.
As mentioned in other posts, it was introduced to get exhaust emmission down, under certain non-real-world conditions.
If it works well for you, then Happy Days! But if you are having any running or tuning probs., then plug the blessed thing off at the heads and save fecking around with it for another day.