Hey everyone.....Wanted to introduce myself and ask for your opinion.
Names Dave....don't have an addiction to the Vision like some of you seem to LOL but it appears I will be "acquiring" one within a week or two. I ride quads a lot and my latest bike is an extremely fast LT250r 2 stroker that I did a complete and total rebuild..ugh what a mess that was lol.
Anyway I dumped my Honda VF500 bout 3 years ago and it scared my up pretty good. I sold it without ever getting back on it. Been wanting to get another bike for the past year or so, but can't find myself pulling the trigger on anything that will cost me large sums of money. So to my good fortune.......I found out a fellow I work with has, I believe 83 black vision with fairings, sitting in his moms garage where he parked it 2 years ago and it hasn't moved since. Now he says it was inspected and ran great and needs nothing but a good bath and blah blah blah and he parked it. I talked him into letting me have it for Penny's....and maybe some help cleaning out the garage LOL.
So on to the opinions.....I have rebuilt many car and truck motors and im pretty good with ripping apart a 2 stroker, but Im not looking to restore another bike. I just something to enjoy riding to work and so forth on nice days. Now my game plan is to pick the bike up with my trailer and bring it back to my house to work on it..the bike is bout an hour away. SO.... what do you guys suggest I do prior to trying to start it up? Its been in a climate controlled garage so im ahead of the game. I know these bikes can be tempermental from searching through the posts and I would hate to ruin something do to ignorance. Thanks Everyone!!!!!
Quadracer, welcome. Where are you located? Maybe I can help clean that garage too....there's got to be something else in there he wants to get rid of? :D
They'll be plenty of answers on here for you soon enough but if it were me (from experience) check the tank inside. If it's in not already done you should POR15 it.
http://www.por15store.com/page/por15/CTGY/TankSealers If there's lots of visable rust you may want to go with the heavy duty por kit. Check the lower 4 corners of the tank for possible leakage. Over the years water builds up in the lower parts and causes the tank to rust out from the inside. The worst part is on the underside of the tank in each corner. You may have to do some extra work on it if the metal is bad.
I ordered an extra 8oz. of the sealer for mine. It's cheap insurance. Others on here will tell you the standard is plenty, I say it's not. Puddling is the one thing you want to avoid. You only want to do this once so por it on!
Also get a good fuel filter. I order one that already has a 90 degree in it so it fits right in. http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp?skuId=182519
It's a start.
Mutt
Check out lucky's site, he has a great checklist on it, its cut and dry but a very essential tool
FYI lucky is the Vision GOD!!! :D
Welcome.
The Vision is a great daily commuter, I use mine everyday, and with a few easy fixes, they can be a very reliable bike. If you have rebilt an engine, you will be fine.
The first thing I would do is drain the oil, and put new oil & oil filter in the bike, (maybe even drop a couple of drops down the cylinders if the bike has sat for a couple of years) get a good battery, and see if the bike fires up. The 83 carbs are MUCH better than the 82 carbs, so that is definately a plus for you. Probably gonna need a cleaning on the carbs, but that is not as hard as it seems. Take it a step at a time, ask questions, and you will have a great bike in no time.
hey Dave,
I'm a Dave too.. that seems to be the going thing now. But anyway, I acquired my Vision a year ago. It was a piece of junk that hadn't been ridden in about 15 years. With a lot of help from the guys (and gals) here, and the Haynes manual I was a ble to rebuild it into quite a nice bike. The last bike I worked on was a Suzu DS125 in the late 70's when I was a teenager, so I would say that my recent skills were quite limited. The Vision is a great bike to work on and ride and of course, you found the right place to come for help.
David
:) Hello and welcome to the Vision family network....We are all here with one common goal and that is to help each other to get the very best out of their Vision's.
I would initially drain the tank, install a new in-line gas filter, put a gallon of fresh gas (with a good quality carb cleaner mixed in it) in the tank, fully charge the battery, clean and gap the plug's and put the petcock to prime....wait a minute to let the gas fill the carb's, give the throttle 3 or 4 twist's not forgetting to set the choke.......and give her a try..... ;D
Quad, I don't think there is anything you can ask here we haven't already answered, so don't be shy & Welcome!!
--Lucky
(By the way, i'm not GOD, even though Squid thinks so, but when i was little, my dad used to yell at my brother & I so much, we thought our names were "Jesus Christ!" & "Dammit!"...)
-L
You are so screwed. Enjoy the vision. When they run right, they are great bikes, when they don't run right, you get to spend some time on the internet at work.
Quad, he's kidding, i'm goung to throw a thunderbolt at him later :o
EEEK!!!! I'll be like the guy in caddy shack after his best golf game ever. 8)
Quote from: zore on May 11, 2006, 08:44:54 AM
EEEK!!!! I'll be like the guy in caddy shack after his best golf game ever. 8)
Don't forget to yell "Rat F@r+$!" first, like the Bishop.
Hi Dave & welcome. The vision is a great bike & well worth sorting out the issues it may have. The normal problems are generally easy fixes & you will be rewarded with a fun, reliable unusual bike. We all enjoy seeing these bikes put back on the road - especially the much rarer 83s!
H
2O
Thanks Everyone for the warm welcome!!!!! :P
Ill keep you all informed and post pics when I bring her home. I asked the current owner bout the tank and he told me it rusted all out a and he put a replacement on it that was almost brand new. I also found out he parked it for the winter and just decided not to bring it back out in the spring, that was 2 winters ago. He said he had absolutley no problems with it running at all when he was riding all spring / summer. So im pretty stoked. He sits accross from me in the office. Im a Mechanical Engineer, but I also run the network here and managed to move him up on the list and "UPGRADE" his computer system "wink wink" So I should be getting my toy very shortly.
I must say though (dont hate me) im not "in love" with the faring on the front...he has the big fairing, I think, with the lower cowl on it. I have a feeling that thing is coming off in favor of the exposed headlight -windsheild look. I dont ride in the winter so the whole flapper heater thing doesnt matter to me. Theres some pictures in the pictures section on this site with the no-fairing look and I think thats badass!!! Theres a yellow bike in there with what looks to be a modern single aluminum exhaust pipe, sorta sport-bike-ish looking. Is there a manufacture that had an aftermarket pipe system like that? The bike has a black exhaust and it is rusted up. HAHA all I can do right now is research the web and make a wish list.
Thanks!!!!!
Not to worry about not liking the full fairing. I happen to prefer the protection it offers over the smaller fairings or naked bike, but living at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, I get out in all kinds of weather - even ridden in snow in July, so the heat from the vents in the lowers comes in quite handy at times. Personal preference is what makes life special.
Unfortunately, you won't find much in the aftermarket still available for the Vision. Mac still makes exhausts & the Predator system from England looks like a good one, too. Was some talk here a while ago about getting some more Wolf exhausts made but I don't recall if anything came of that. Lots of generic bike parts will work - grips, soft luggage, that sort of stuff.
Enjoy your V the way you want! ;D
H2O
hey quad i too didnt like the looks of the fairing when i got my first vision. but now after some long trips id love get my hands on some.
my advice is to hang on to that fairing till you ride it a bit they way your going to always ride it. then deciede if you want to keep it or sell it one here. i guantee it will go like hot knife through butter. if your not going to be crossing states not having fairing is just fine but after 1400 miles or so you will wish you had it.
the vision is a fun bike and good luck with it.