Vmax aka double vision

[cafevision]

New to the forum,new to visions. I have been a yamaha guy since my rd 350 I had in high school.
I also have a xv920r virago chain drive. It's in the process of a cafe conversion.

[fret not]

I came close to buying an XV920 in '82.  I loved the enclosed chain case idea.  But I got the XJ650 Seca instead.  The Seca was an OK bike but nothing really special, and I will always wonder if the 920 wouldn't have been the better choice. 

[cafevision]

I have ridden a few of the 650/750 and even a 900 seca. They were not bad. the 900 actually was really cool. I have had the ts185 suzuki, rd 350,xt500, fz600[2], kz1100, cx500,cbx, fz 750, fj1200 and 2 vmax's ......all were fun

[fret not]

That is quite a sampling, are they listed in chronological order?

[MikeScoot]

:-) Most of my bikes over the years have also been Yamahas. Various RD's, 650 twins (every model except the Special), XS750, DT's, FJ100, VMax and probably a few others I can't remember. Also had many of other brands, but the Yams just always seemed a bit more 'sensible' in their designs.

And I agree, the VMax mill is a LOT like two XZ motors together. But what a pig of a thing - except when you open that throttle - and then world just becomes a boogie wonderland!

[fret not]

I started riding in 1959 with an old '51 Cushman Highlander.  Then 'graduated' to a '62 Ducati 125 (pushrod), Yamaguchi SPB Scrambler, '62 CZ 175 enduro, '65 Montesa Impala 250, '68 Suzuki X6, '69 T305, '71 T500, '71 Yamaha TR2 racer, Yam 125 twin racer, TA250 motor in a Seeley frame (racer), Honda '71 CB500f, '75Honda CB750F, '79 Honda CB750 Limited, '71 Norton Commando 750, Honda CB360, Honda CB100, '82Yamaha XJ650 Seca, '02Suzuki SV650, '09Kawasaki KLR650 (current ride).  12 of these were new!

My XZ550s are a long term project that I aim to ride before I quit riding.  Hopefully to ride one this year.

[jefferson]

I started out on Kawasaki's and then got into Yamaha's too. Started with brand new Kawasaki's - 71 F7 175, 72 F81M 250, 74 KX250, 75 Z1, and then an 81 GPZ550, and half owner of an 85 600 Ninja with my Brother. After that everything was used. Couple of 83 Visions and various and sundry parts bikes, 82 650 Seca, 88 YSR 50, 88 FZR 400, 82 400 Seca, 87 500 Ninja, 90 550 Zephyr. My current rides are a 99 ZRX1100 and a 78 XS750 and then the Visions which aren't rideable. The racebike just needs converted back to street legal, but down deep I really would like to race again. Probably not going to happen, but I can always hope.

[kevin g]

My first bike was a 1976 XS750D.  I had hardly any riding experience and did everything wrong but came my senses during a USAF rider training class.  My next bike was an '82 XJ550RH.  I really lusted after the '83 Vision back then.  In 1986 I got a BMW K100RT (put on 100K miles) and have been a BMW guy since but when Vision got away a few years ago I was determined to get one a did about a year ago.  I got it running so once the brakes are rebuilt I can deal with the DMV and get a title.  After my first BMW I have had a 1998 K1200RS (166,000 miles) and traded it for my 2016 R1200RS (33K miles) to go with my 2011 R1200GSA (68K miles) and the 1988 R100RS I rebuilt a bit over a year ago.

The '83 Vision is much more sophisticated than the '88 BMW but the RS fairing is so sweet to ride behind.

If you ever want a really amazing bike that you can get pretty cheap these days look for a Flying Brick K1200RS.

[cafevision]

yes they were in rough chronological order. I had a bad crash on the first fz600 [only bike I bought new] and spent a month in the hospital and a few years without a bike [though I rode others]. I cant say what it is exactly but when I ride everything seems ok. Im hoping to get the vision done by next spring, but time will tell. It only has 6700 miles but has been stored [not well] a lot ,but I did get it to run for a short while after I rebuilt the starter.

[MikeScoot]

 A month is a fairly long time. I'm guessing you might have got to know some of the nurses well :-)

 That you got yours to run (albeit for a short time) bodes well - as long as it didn't stop with a bang or anything similar :-)

Good luck with it all.

[cafevision]

Yes a month is an eternity, I was 19 and in the navy hospital in Orlando. never saw the bike again after the crash.
Those fz600 were great bikes but kind of forgotten like the vision

[MikeScoot]

Yeah, the entire FZ series were great, but so were/are so many Yams and, of course, other bikes.

The longest I ever spent in a hospital was only three weeks (caused by having exploded a knee between an XS750 and a stone wall) - at which time I got impatient and discharged myself. I put on the same mangles and blood-spattered clothes I had worn when I crashed, threw my helmet strap up under my arm and hobbled out on two crutches. The nursies did their best to stop me but I hobbled off - to the bus stop. lolol
  The nearest bus stop to my place was outside a movie theatre and it was intermission at the time. The folks milling around outside looked at me very strangely as I hobbled past. When I looked at what was screening at the time it was Mad Max!!!!
As with many other things in life, truth is stranger than fiction - when you look at it the right way.