3 Days, 1200 Miles

[PeteXS/GS/CB/XZ]

I'm moving from MN to OH this week but I wanted to get a ride in on this just-restored '82 Vision. I'd actually never ridden this bike before but had always been intrigued by it, found one to fix up (and up and up and up), and wanted to get a ride in once it was ready, which is another story. On a previous post I had asked what made the Vision so special and its fans so supportive. So what was it like for a road trip?

Pretty darn good. The suspension surprised me with its supple ride. This bike has a Works Performance monoshock, fork emulators, Progressive fork springs, new fork seals, fork emulators, and a tkat fork brace. The wheel base is long enough for straight-line stability but the trailing axle gives it good turn-in. The Metzelar Lasertecs were pretty good too, though I'd put Avons on next time.

The narrow engine is nice. The exhaust note with Spec II pipes is Ducati-ish. It's a torquey mofo. I didn't have to downshift to pass or even to pull hills. I kept saying this feels like a 750, not a 550. I got 45 mpg.

The Sargent seat was all-day comfortable. I recommend them highly.

There were a few glitches. The speedo gave out so it might need a dab of grease. The headlight went out at times so there's a loose connection. The routing of the throttle cable would sometimes trip the radiator fan. And I kept hunting for the shift lever because it doesn't stick out far enough for me, but shift- and clutch-action were just fine.

I kept thinking that whoever the designer and lead engineer for the Vision were, they were thinking way outside the usual UJM box, then or now. Yamaha won't bring back this orphan, but if it did, I'd like to see it bored out to 750cc and given EFI, but I guess Moto Guzzi's already making that bike.

[Raj1988]

bloody good show!!!

ride on.. lets see some pictures

[QBS]

Regarding the throttle cable activating the fan:  On my '83, the factory routing for this cable ran it over, and in direct contact, with the cooling system in line thermo switch housing.  This switch activates the fan by grounding it when the temp reaches a preset limit.  The single wire coming from the thermo switch is a switched ground.  In my case, years of use and subsequent movement had worn the vinyl throttle cable covering through to the steel core.  When this happened, the core was in direct contact with the thermo switch housing and provided an unswitched ground for the fan motor.  I could activate the fan just by moving the throttle twist grip, even with the ignition key in my hand.  Not good for maintaining a charged battery.  My fix was to retain the factory routing and use zip ties to hold a 2" piece of gas line in place around the throttle cable and thereby insulate it from contacting the housing.

....If you think a well set up '82 is good on the road, try an '83. Truly an outstanding sport tourer.

....I have often said that 200 more cc's would have made the V a fantastic bike.  But, as I've gotten older, I've scaled that back to 100 cc's.  The kind of power a 750 V would make would really over power the chassis, or at least my ability to control it.  However, 650 would be perfect.

....Glad you like your V.  They are wonderful, their torque makes it so.

[Lucky]

I can't seem to find the source right now, but it was written that one of the engine designers had his roots in F1 cars & that was his inspiration...

[PeteXS/GS/CB/XZ]

The headlight works again. I rerouted the throttle cable through the loop under the lower triple-tree and that took care of the fan sensor going off. The speedo seems to be a bad cable as putting on a different set of instruments gave me everything but the speedo function. Now I need a nut for the rear brake light switch.

F1 cars? Wow! I think it would be fun to be a motorcycle designer or engineer.

I really like this bike and will keep it. Nothing newer appeals to me except the first-gen Z1000 from 2003-6 or so, and the Honda CB1000R nekkid bike. 

[spectre]

I also read somewhere that the note of the vision's stock exxhaust was known to be similar to that of a Farrari Testerosa? I think.

F1 cars? Wow! I think it would be fun to be a motorcycle designer or engineer.

I think so too, I hope to minor in electrical engineering, and major in mechanical engineering in college, because I love these sorts of things, who knows, if I get the chance, maybe I can design "Vision II", I see a VISION of the future!, or "future vision"! so many puns there...  ;D :D

[Raj1988]

Spec , u best be saving up ... i hear that college costs down south are astronomical!

[Cdnlouie]

Nice to see it all came together for you Pete! You deserved that ride after such persistent faith that the Vision is such a great bike. I'm glad you are a believer now! Once you get out to Ohio you will have to join one of our ONROV meets here in Ontario/New York group because we have some good times together.  Someday we will have a North American rally and actually get as many of these great bikes together.  Glad you own one sweet machine there.

[spectre]

Spec , u best be saving up ... i hear that college costs down south are astronomical!

They are, but then again, college is expesive in general, but I'm a good student, and I'll be appyling for all the college money and scolarships I can get, so wish me luck!  :-X  :P

[George R. Young]

The Vision is a worthy mount. It handled numerous trips of 9 days/2400 miles over many years, with plenty of power, good handling and comfort, low vibration.

Unfortunately, Yamaha left this bike unsupported after a couple of years, never recognizing what a gem it could really be.

[supervision]

  I was told recently by a highly paid professional, that only weirdo's and geeks like em, thus the Vision.

[fret not]

If I remember correctly, the F1 roots reach back to the designers or the Cosworth V8 F1 motor.  The Vision is like a 2 cylinder slice off one end of that motor.

[Cdnlouie]

George you are right about the lack of support by Yamaha killing the Vision. The Vision has been more successful then it ever was since the start of ROV and it is really just coming into it's own now. Tiger and I virtually stunned a bike wrecker up here by driving in with two pristine Visions.  He had never seen that ever before.

As a matter of fact he said that they used to use the Vision to test their mechanics (or punish them) to see if they could get one to run. The Vision was just too far beyond 90% of all Yamaha mechancis, then and now. However, the truth of the matter is that once you have properly set up carburetion the Vision performs flawlessly.

The Vision does not respond well to being ignored...drive it, or it will punish you for that  ;D!

[jasonm.]

The headlight works again. I rerouted the throttle cable through the loop under the lower triple-tree and that took care of the fan sensor going off. The speedo seems to be a bad cable as putting on a different set of instruments gave me everything but the speedo function. Now I need a nut for the rear brake light switch.

F1 cars? Wow! I think it would be fun to be a motorcycle designer or engineer.

I really like this bike and will keep it. Nothing newer appeals to me except the first-gen Z1000 from 2003-6 or so, and the Honda CB1000R nekkid bike. 

I believe the cable...is not routed incorrectly. I suggest doing the gas hose insulator and restoring to proper routing.  As nder the "tree" may cause the idle to go up when @ full left lock. Yes, the Vision had only a few engineering/assembly issues. Once these are attended to...they are quite the ride. Bad gas and stators seem to be the biggest of them. Oh and the balancer drive. Which is  a ONE time fix.

[Kenny]

  Cdnlouie,
     So as your Vision will not be ignored,  Do you have a Rider in mind-while you are out West on your Double Vision ??
  I don't want to see you punished for that.... ;) :D ;D
                 I'm avaliable.    Ken  S.