Does your Vision reward you for riding it?

[wolfman]

Just curious.  After having the bike sit for 3+ years, the more I ride it the better it seems to get.  The "stumble" has all but vanished (on it's own) the engine has gotten quieter and smoother, it starts faster, the starter CLACK hasn't been heard in weeks and the charging system, electricals etc.. seem to improve with every tank of gas.  (I will also agree with others that mine seems to like cooler weather as well, the ride to work today was at about 72F and she was happy as a clam) So does your Vision reward you for riding it too?

[Rick G]

Yes it does!!  cooler air is denser and the water content is higher.  Race bikes always run better on a cool damp day than a hot dry day!

[Lucky]

Man! send me a can of that air! i'll add it at every fill up!!  ;D ;D

[h2olawyer]

Mine's been running great and it's been near or over 90 every day!  I hope to find out soon how it does in cooler weather.  Mine seems to run better the more I ride it too.  Because it sat for about three years too, I did a lot of work on the carbs, electricals and forks - all with noticible improvement.  Getting the carbs set right took lots of fiddling around but now it starts at a touch of the switch with a tiny bit of throttle.  It doesn't matter if it's hot or cold - other than requiring the choke to idle when cold.

[Walt_M.]

Of course it does! As if riding is not reward enough.

[RRD]

I wouldn't know.......Mine's only run for about 2 months out of the last 3 summers. Every time I fix something on it, something else goes wrong.

Bought the bike Summer 2001. Got to ride it for about 3 weeks before the r/r burnt up on the hottest day of summer & I had to push the bike 2 miles home.

Fixed that last summer, as well as the CDI box, which I guess got burnt up also in the process. Got to ride it for about 6 weeks last summer, took my license exam, and then it quit holding a charge. Would only stay charged for an hour or 2. Didn't have any more cash to put into it, so just kept charging the battery every night as I was so desperate to finally ride it. Finally burnt up the battery I guess, 'cause it wouldn't take a charge anymore. So she had to sit in the garage the rest of last summer.

Had to wait a year, until  a few weeks ago when I finally had the cash to order the new Electrex stator. Finally got that put in the other night, as well as a new battery, and how does my Vision reward me for my time, effort & money I've put into her......By sometimes giving me a "wuwr-wuwr" slow turnover sound, and other times just the 'ol "click-click".

Now some of the guys on here are speculating that my starter brushes may be bad, and that's why she's making those noises. Once I fix those, who know's what'll be next.

Don't have much cash, and not much of a mechanic, so this bike has been EXTREMELY frustrating for me. She looked like brand new when I bought her.......Couldn't believe from the shape she was in, and her styling, that she was a 20 year old bike. Only had 10,000 miles on her. Thought I'd found myself a creampuff for $500........Boy was I wrong!!  My dad warned me not to buy a bike that had been sitting for that long (she'd been garaged for the last 5 years or so when I bought her) but I thought he was crazy......Looks like "Father knows best"!

[tryder]

RRD, sorry to hear about your troubles. Hope you can soon get on the trouble free road.

I bought my V late last fall & she did not want to start for me. She'd been sitting for a couple of months since the guy that sold her to me got a new bike. Finally in the spring I got a new battery and a good battery charger with a 100amp charge for starting. Since the weather started to warm up she's been relatively easy to start and it does seem like the more I ride the better it gets. Still have the stumble but I haven't had the carbs adjusted at all.

[RRD]

Hey Scooter.......Is it OK to use 100 amp charger on a motorcycle? I thought I'd always heard you'll burn your stator & electrical systems using that much juice. Like I said.....I'm not much of a mechanic, so maybe I'm wrong. At this point, I'm completely paranoid about the electrical sytem on this bike........I'm afraid to breath the wrong way around it , as delicate as it seems to be!!    ::)

P.S.....Thanx for the condolences......You & me both wish it starts running right, believe me!!! As I said, my patience with it is just about shot. I'm of half a mind to push it out to the road & put a "For Sale" sign on her, and be done with it! I took my sons over to the football Hall of Fame yesterday, after finding out mine still wouldn't start yesterday morning, and I think everyone in the state who owns a bike was on the road.....Nothing like rubbing salt in the wound!    ;)

[Walt_M.]

Come on RRD, don't give up this easily! They can be difficult but not impossible. Get yourself a manual and look at the Electrix page for the electrical troubleshooting guide and go for it. I had quite a project on my hands when I finally got mine out of the back of the garage after it had been setting for 7 years but it is on the road now. Others have had it harder than I have, Silver Bullet to name one, but they haven't quit yet. There is a lot of good info on this site and we are always willing to help. The bikes are worth it.

[Rick G]

All old bikes need some  repair work to be reliable, some one got all the good out of  your Vision  (maybe father time!)  Now, to make it reliable you need to put more "good" back in it .  Many of us have gone through  these same repairs ,but when there done it will run for a long time befor a problem comes up. I've  ridden my 500.00 V  for 4 years and its never let me down. I bought   a  battery and changed the RR once 3 sets of tires  and 2 sets of brake shoes . I don't agree with your dad . If you have the money  instant reliability can be gotten by  buying a Suzuki SV 650 . but If thats out of the question the reliability can be acheved by carefull  repairs on your V  and you will learn some skills in the process !

[RRD]

"If you have the money  instant reliability can be gotten by  buying a Suzuki SV 650 ."

Hey Rick.......What year is this Suzy you're talking about? Is it brand new, or an older bike? How much would it cost (ballpark......I realize the cost is contingent on other factors) to get one if it's an older model?

I want a bike I can ride.....not be working on all the time.

[Rick G]

You can buy a second hand SV650 maybe a 1998 model  for  around 4500.00 maybe less.  its a water cooled  4 valve double overhead cam  engine like the Vision , but its  90 deg.. its chain drive so you should price  a new chain and both sprockets befor you buy so you can be prepaired for the cost . Its a nice bike  but it won't teach you nearly as much a a Vision will!!  The problem is you are trying to ride with out completeing all thge repairs . like i said  I've been riding mine  for 4 years and I do regular maintenance on it . You will need to work on any bike (or pay a shop to do it at 60. to 80.  dollars an hour)  Its called "TANSTAAFL"   There  ain't no such thing as  a free lunch!!!L

[Humber]

I have been riding my V for about 4 years now... I have to admit that after buying her, I completely ovehauled the whole bike.

I wish I had known about this forum and about people here then. I would make my overhaul VISION directed... because I treated the V as a regular bike...

and of course.... she is working... all in all she is like new... as Rick said... routine maintenance as on every bike.. and re-fueling all the time..

Of course... I work a lot on her.. but it is only my whim to do so... she would run without any mods and money I invested in her during my operatino....

now... some two weeks ago I returned from 2000 mile trip... no problems.... moreover... I have the ORIGINAL stator in my bike and there are no problems... although it has 40 000 miles on the speedo....

so... it can be done... but I won't hide the fact that for what I put in her... I would certainly buy a trouble free SV650 (which I don't like), but for sure.... XJ900 Diversion...

that's your choice...

[glennw]

You guys a missing they point, I think....
lets see.. $100.00 for the bike
about $700.00 in repairs, starter, starter clutch, stator,carb rebuild, brakes etc.
about $600.00 in upgrades, front springs, paint, good tires, flyscreen, etc
no it's not an SV 650 but it's been very reliable and runs great since these changes / repairs were made.
$1300.00 and it goes anywhere I point it and turns more heads and starts way more conversations than any SV 650 I've seen.
GlennW

[daniel van weert]

I just bought mine off of E-bay for 540 dollars (loonies) Can. the first time I tried to get it going involved overt diplays of frustration and discouragement. but instead of quitting I have just gone through it piece by piece on my drive way (I'm a student). though this is my very first vehicle and I don't even have a license for it yet, it is great fun to take for midnight runs around the block. I think the whole moral of this story is that, you need to take the time to indulge in PREVENTIVE maintenance so you won't be stuck with costly repairs down the road(haha). RRD, you should stick in there for another year because if you sell that bike then you will have just sacrificed years of hard work and received another problem filled chassis in return. Good Luck,
                                          Daniel
P.S. if you do sell then just send me an email with a price tag

[RussD]

Hey Daniel.......Thanx for the encouragement, as well as the offer to buy! I'd need to get too much out of the bike to cover what I've got in it so far. I'd be looking to sell it for around $1,000-1,250, and it seems like most of the bikes on here have been bought cheap (or been given to) and then tore apart & restored. My price may seem high, but with the shape it's in, the price I've paid for it, & the parts I've had to buy already, I'd need that much out of it just to break even.

You should try ScooterTramp though......he just put a post on his that he's fed up with it & wants to get rid of it for $250. He may have changed his mind now though, as Humber's been trying to give him some advice & change his mind to keep it. Worst he can do is tell you "no" though.

RRD

[Rick G]

Hi Russ,  I hope my postage stamp size picture was of some help . I haven't used my scanner much and i can't seem to get it send a pic over the internet  just to the printer.  I'm still working on it.
i know how you feel about working on it all the time, I turned my first Vision upside down in a creek ,earlier this year and had to breakout the spare, It took me nearly 3 months to get it not only running (that was fairly easy)  but to do all the mods  I had done to the first one , including paint.  Its almost there now , with just a few things to do (I can ride it now ,but there's always something I want to do) like change the rear end lube  and balance the front tire. All in all its working pretty well , I'd jump on it and head out  anywhere , it working that well.
Something that you newbys may not know is that the v was way ahead of its time , whith many features  common on todays bikes . The one feature that you won't get in ANY current middle weight is ,shaft drive and by the  way I switched bikes with a friend who ownes a SV650 and rode 15 or 20 miles on it. For me the riding position is to "racy" the pegs are too far back and way too high  and the bars are too low , I feel all scrunched up. Also , one interesting comment by my friend David , was that the V was much smoother than the SV650 , it had no ballance shaft  and the 90 deg configuration  only helps in the higher rpm range. The SV has better brakes (it should , its 20 years newer) and it sits lower, but this results in the scrunched up riding position.
There is NO new bike out there that would replace my V . Even bikes like the Aprillia,which are enlarged versions of the V  cannot be had with a shaft drive.  

[QBS]

In response to the original question raised by this threads' title and as I've posted elsewhere:  When I snap shifted at red line from 2nd to 3rd on the back straight of the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, I cried.  Cheers.

[RussD]

"Snap shifted"........Not sure what that is QBS. Is it good or bad? I'm guessing they weren't cheers of joy you were shedding   :'(

[RussD]

BTW......How did you turn your first Vision upside down in a creek Rick?    ???