new rider and first bike

[lowandslow_A4]

hey folks, just bought an 82 Vision as a first bike and loving it so far. Its got 15xxx miles on it and seems to be in pretty good shape, visually and mechanically.
Any suggestions i should do to her maintenance wise? i plan to change out the square headlights for round ones and maybe a new cluster just to update the look a little bit, any suggestions for those would be great! I work on VWs for a living so i know my way around a toolbox so planning to do any work myself, just have no experience with carbs.

[fret not]

"Prophet of Doom"  has a check List in the TECH section.  It's probably more than you are looking for but it should help considerably.

[Jimustanguitar]

Welcome to the forum!

You'll find that this is an awesome resource for all things Vision. After 32 years of Visions, there's not much that hasn't been done or discussed.

Don't forget to drop a pin on the member map too, you might find some Vision buddies in your own back yard!


(and do the forum a favor by never naming a thread something useless like "help" :)  )

[QBS]

What is the history of upgrades?  Was the PO familiar with this Form?  Fuel filter in place?  Tank lined?  Welcome to the Group.

[lowandslow_A4]

thanks for the welcome guys. the guy i bought it off of was flipping the bike, but seeing his garage filled with bikes makes me think he knew i thing or two. he knew about flat spot and tweaked it a bit and said he got it better but still there, but other then that, no service history.

[QBS]

If the starter clutch hasn't been reattached to the flywheel, it is loose now.  You just don't know it yet.  It is a factory assembly defect that every V has.  Without history,  there are two ways to tell regarding attachment.  (1)Remove the flywheel now and inspect the attachment screws for signs of thread peening., (2)Continue to ride the bike as is and pay very close attention for the appearance of a slight engine tapping sound at idle, like a loose valve, commencing at around 17k miles.  The telltale is that above 2500 rpm the sound will disappear.  If you detect this sound, it will get louder and lower in pitch as the miles add up.  By approx. 20k miles you'll be very worried that either a rod and its bearing are fixin to see daylight, or a main bearing has failed.  If the noise goes away above 2.5k you can rest assured that the reattachment upgrade has not been yet, and dearly needs to be asap.  If the sound never appears, this means that a PO has done the reattachment upgrade and you don't have to worry about it.   Once done,  the upgrade is permanent.

Fuel filter is a must have now, if not presently installed.
Every V left the factory with the wrong oil seal in the starter motor.  At 10k miles all Vs' have failed, oil filled starter motors.  Cleaning the motor and installing the correct spring lip seal design is the permanent fix for oil leakage into the starter motor.

Inspect for a hard wired electrical connection in place of the factory alternator to Reg/Rec plug together connection. If the factory plug is still in place, clip it off and hard wire those wires together. 

If the factory steering head loose ball bearings are still in place, read up on the critical upgrade to roller bearings.

[lowandslow_A4]

Ha! thanks, thats all very helpful and i will look into all of it. So, there wasnt a fuel filter to begin with from the factory?

[QBS]

Correct.  As negligent as it sounds, and in fact is, very few carburated  motorcycles left their factories, regardless of brand, with fuel filters installed.  No one knows why.  The small in tank filter tubes that are attached to the fuel petcocks' absolutely do not qualify as real filters.  They are only pretend filters. 

V carbs are extremely intolerant of unfiltered gas.  Installing an inline fuel filter is critical.  Yes, it may look unsightly.  Do it anyway, or suffer the consequences.

[lowandslow_A4]

Alright so I think a see a fuel filter nstalled, gonna post a picture when I can. There is diffenitely some rattles from inside the engine under 2500 rpm and just experienced my first hot, no start. My question is, there is a flat spot right before 3000 rpm, is that the "stumble" that's common with these? I'll start going and there's no power and 3000 rpm hits and zoom

[QBS]

What I'm talking about is not a "rattle".  The sound is a tapping, very much like a loose valve or an early stage rear cylinder Y pipe exhaust leak.