By way of Introduction

[akvision]

Hello all and anyone interested

I have just discovered that I am the second owner of a V in Alaska.   The other V is on and Air Force Base near Fairbanks. (for sure "Cold Vision")  I live closer to Washington State than I am to Fairbanks.  Alaska what a grand state.  We really don't have much for miles of road, but what we have is pretty spectacular.  I am a born Alaskan and was disposed to live "outside" for 22 years mostly in the Seattle area.   I returned to Ketchikan Southeast Alaska in 1979 and have not missed the masses since.  I travel enough to get a taste of it.

My 82 V # 2480 is my ninth motorcycle that I have owned. It all started with a Hodaka Ace 90 in 1963 in the Alaska wilds.  My V came to me via Steele's Salvage in Denver.  I tripped over it on my final inspection of almost every machine in the yard.  I was looking for  BMW R50/2 parts.   The R50 is a 1960 Classic.  The V is in Denver in the care and keeping of my son.  It is running and will be used for some extensive touring in the Southwest to start then to Alaska for a wilderness ride down the Cassiar Highway.  My beemer is a project that is in progress.

I live on an island with a long Spanish name that is 100 water miles to the nearest real highway.  So touring here really means traveling. We have about 30 miles of highway ( max 45 mph) on the island.  It is very laid back here.  I don't think there is any spot of asphalt that will support any speed over 70.  You might hit a wild animal or a pet.

I am glad to be a member and value the input provided by this site.  Thank you to the people that support it and make is happen.

Jim Dahl
Ketchikan, Alaska

[Night Vision]

welcome

your son ought to meet up with the Colorado contingency.... they'll probably chime in...

OTOH, if he does, you might not get your Vision back ;)

[akvision]

Hey there,
Well he has an Buell xb9r and he is pretty proud of it. 

The idea is that we tour together.  When I move to the island, I gave up touring and sold my BMW R90S.  Took up sailing.   My son bought a Buell Blast and suggested we take some road trips.  The father son thing you know.  So, when I stumbled on this V, I was not familiar with the model.  (I dropped out in 1980)  I did a double take, I sat on it and pushed it off the stand... I said " Feels like the Beemer"  I just had to have it.   It has 5200 miles on the clock.  My son had it running 10 days after we bot it. 

You can go to mdahl23 on utube and look at vision0210.  It is cool. 

I am coming down in April for a long weekend and we plan to do some day rides.   I think the Buell has his heart.  He just loves to fix stuff.

Thanks for the come back, i would enjoy the contact.

alaskavision

[vadasz1]

Your plate is cool.  Wish we were allowed personal plates on our bikes here in Ontario.  :(

[akvision]

thank for looking.  My son is diligently working through the knots on this machine.  It looks like it was stored in a sheltered place for a long time.  The tires were new but checked and would not hold air.  The speedo, tank decals, and fairing is totally sun bleached.  We put Pirelli's as new shoes, have a spare TCI and VR.  He has a YICS issue and petcock gremlin and is modifiying the carb lower boot to solve vacuum leaks.  It is nice to be able to recover a great piece of engineering
 

[Tiger]

 :) Hi and welcome (from Ontario, Canada) to your new extended family, a.k.a. the ROV... the best place a Vision can bring its owner... 8)

Here is your youtube link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWVMJzmJXLs

I rescued a Red/White '83 from a local salvage yard a couple of years ago...which now belongs to another member... 8)

Other than the top of the gas tank, you have a good looking Vision there. The volt meter is showing the right picture of health ;) The front braking can be vastly improved by the addition of a Galfer S.S. braided brake line...

1982...
http://www.sumofallparts.net/product_detail.aspx?item_guid=f1c78035-ce90-4757-9026-5a6f999a81ea

1983...
http://www.sumofallparts.net/product_detail.aspx?item_guid=571b05e6-8799-42ab-a446-a3fab7f36b4c

We have several father & son members, including Night_Vision (your first respondent), sadly not a Vision, an R6 I believe. However, Night_Vision's brother does have a Vision 8)

Please feel free to ask questions, post pictures, etc, etc. We are all here to help each other to get the very best from these tremendous wee bike's... 8)

                      8).......TIGER....... 8)

[rhpaw]

Ah man, I really need to make better videos if people actually watch them.. Now I have more work to do!

this is what the garage looks like right now

[Night Vision]

ahhh.... now see the connection

rhpaw has been deceiving us  >:(

we've been helping him sort his pops' Vision out

that's cool  :)

oops.... guess I wasn't paying total attention
http://ridersofvision.net/forum/index.php?topic=10053.msg90682#msg90682

[Night Vision]

hey! wot do you mean abysmal brakes?

do your pop a favor.... rebuild the master and caliper.... do the ss brake line, put in some sintered front pads

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HP-Brake-Pads-Yamaha-RD250-RD350-RZ350-XT500-XJ750-XS40_W0QQitemZ350155564830QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotorcycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item350155564830&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

and some new shoes in the back.....

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp?skuId=191694&store=Main&catId=4&productId=p193884&leafCatId=&mmyId=9657

that way he'll be able to slow down so you can keep up with him in those nice CO twisties  ;D

[rhpaw]

I may be spoiled by 'hand of god' brakes.
but yeah, I'll be going to the SS lines soon enough.

[The Prophet of Doom]

My next door neighbour rode up today on a brand new fugly Honda TransAlp ($16,000!!!).  When i squeezed the brake the brake line moved a good cm and you could actually see it swelling.  Lever movement from first touch of the break pad to fully in was a good 50% of the possible lever action.
In comparison my goodrich lines (via ebay) have made the brakes on my vision as solid as a rock.  People rave on and on about ss lines, and I just thought they were suffering from over enthusiasm.  I finally did the upgrade when the lever touched the throttle.  Yikes!!  It's a bargain upgrade.  All bolts and washers supplied, and a painless install even for a newb once you learn to suck the brake fluid through rather than try to do it by squeezing the lever.

[rhpaw]

You guys kicked me in the ass to make the order... I did it last night.
it had always been on my list, but I'm one hell of a procrastinator. -Even worse, I'm a systematic mechanic that only works on one problem at a time til it's solved. NOTHING ELSE.

I forcefully have to break myself of that habit all the time. With something like a vision, I'll be pacing myself til 2020.
:D

[akvision]

take it easy guys.

he has 2Buells and a fleet of vehicles as well as a wife 2 kids and a day job.  He  is doing good as "voluntary labor"
Thanks for the support. from all.  will keep you posted.  I am still waiting for the install of the new VR and the wires soldered.
Then there is the boot vaccum leak and fix that is coming plus the YICS.....the list goes on..and on
So far so go.  We will enjoy many miles together.

I believe that it will be ready by April 15.   My R50/2 frame is ready to prime, then paint.  Goal : ready for the 4th of July Parade in Ketchikan. 

PS I have read about 1/3 of all the posts from 2001 and on... just for fun  getting a connection  with this group..
Great group to be involved with.

Jim Dahl
AlaskaVision

[Rick G]

Do your self a favour and ditch the YIKS box and hoses. Just get caps at the auto parts store , along with spring clamps and  reset your idle. I can't detect any change in performance. The yics  system was designed for 4 cylinder bike and doesn't do beans on the Vision. Just ask Jason M.  I repaired my box 5 years ago , but recently it started leaking so I eliminated it. I'm not putting one back on.

[rhpaw]

The YICS is one of those things I'm playing with on my Dad's bike.. most likely we'll have it bypassed, but I'll see what I do with it. I've taken it apart and obviously it's failed on multiple counts. I'll Sand and RTV it, but whether it will be be the end all fix.. Well, let's say the travelling tool kit will have YICS plugs.


And Pop's right.. all in due time. I have 5 broken things I call toys and a wonderfully demanding family. Good thing I find sleep a waste of time.
:D

[akvision]

regarding the YICS System

Years ago, before I became self employed, I worked for a couple of primere engineering companies ( one build jets and the other submarine gear).  Well, they were set up with systems design teams to deal with interfaces and product design.  Engines were one group, and structures were another and so on.  I found that they work out the systems and try to make them as effecient and reliable as possible. 

On the V's something broke down between the power systems group and the fuel sub-group and the electrical group.  The power systems guys did not have all the bugs out of the fuel system and it went to production.  As well the electrical guys did not have it just right, it was the time when points and condensers were being phased out.  They wanted short stroke and high rev engines. Being that the engine has high compression and a short stroke it and the ability to dump a lot of fuel to the valve system, we know the common issues.   Then there was the production time line. 

Think about it, what if Yamaha scraped the whole project.  We would not be here.
We might be talking some other great unit.   But we are here and share a great mid range machine.  Shaft drive to boot!

Anyway, the long and short of it is that the YICS is there and has a design function and I would like to see it preform that function.  In the production of any product, cost and reliability are always trade offs. 

The V is a known and heavily studied machine here and I believe that you guys have seen it all. (from my reading)  It would be great if the Yamaha Co. came back with a retro V with upgrades on the issues. 

But, Would we be the same??

Thanks for the input and help.
akvision

[Walt_M.]

Interesting thoughts but the YICS is an attempt to compensate for the lean jetting that was EPA required at the time. Presently my '83 runs fine with the YICS but if mine starts leaking I will probably ditch it and rejet.

[Rick G]

As I said . it was useful on 4 cylinder bikes and Yamaha was using YICS in their advertsing. How ever it did  little if anything for the vision (strangely the Virago didn't have it.) Jason Morris, who has been on this forum as long, or even longer that I , alerted us to this fact years ago. I've repaired the things for many Visionaries , but have come to the conclusion, Jason is correct.
You must follow your own path in this , but there are many other repairs on the Vision, that are  more important.

[akvision]

Hey Rick,

Thanks for planting the idea.  It is an option. 
As you said "You have to find you own way".   Thanks for the guidance. 
We will keep you posted.   We are about six weeks away from the test run.  The bike has not been really ridden yet. 
At this point it just has vaccum leak issues and and uneasy idle.. we will get it sorted out.

Am looking fwd to spending quality time with my son. Riding and solving the world problems.
akvision

[Brian Moffet]

Riding and solving the world problems.

Just stick with the riding, it's more fun :-)