YICS repairs

[QBS]

First: KC is a hero of mine that I have greatly respected for long time.

Second: In the face of a non definitive position regarding our YICS questions, I must default to, YICS or not, the wonderful torque characteristics of the V engine prove that Yamaha definitely got the head design spot on.  So much so as to render YICS application, in the overal scheme of things, a moot point.

[turbosteve84]

Well, it was an entertaining read, wasn't it? I'm sticking with the system is low science. To that end I'm rebuilding my unit, so what do I know?
To boil or hammer? - that is the question. So I did both. Boiled it (did NOT submerge it, just down to the area where it joins), then hammered away with a dead blow hammer -- a lot. Finally came free. Oh, I also pumped 90 lbs of compressed air in there before it separated, and man, this thing visibly swelled! Don't know if that helped with the pieces coming apart, but it didn't hurt.
There is no "ridge" where the two chambers are separated, so I'm concluding that Yamaha was not TOO concerned about air seeping between the chambers. My unit was leaking internally but only slightly. So if your's has a weak internal leak I'm venturing it's not worth the effort. This looks like a waste of time but here I am. I'm going to bring these halves to my local "we can fabricate anything" shop and see what they say about making some up in metal. Economically, of course. --Steve

[The Prophet of Doom]

If you look carefully, you may find that the middle ridge has snapped off.  On mine at least there was a definite ridge between sections - right up the middle.

Some people - (Lucky for one) believe that the plastic acts as a spring in the YICS.  I don't buy that myself, but I've been wrong on more than one occasion.  There are some groovy angles, so figured that milling an exact replica by hand would be time consuming.  You can see my replacement YICS here
http://ridersofvision.net/rovforum/index.php?topic=13508.msg140852#msg140852

[Rikugun]

I'd think if they went to the trouble of partioning the unit it should be sealed between the two chambers? Steve, are there remnants of a ridge or glue? For that matter, how are the two halves sealed - is it glued or a heat weld process or ???

Since I've not seen inside my YICS, something I just noticed is the large "casting" where the rear cylinder hose connects. I guess this is responsible for that side having less volume than the front cylinder's chamber? If you add the volume of the longer (at least 2X) front hose  to the front chamber's volume it makes the volume disparity between the two halves even greater. OR, Is the front chamber volume greater than the rear because the hose needs to be longer?

[turbosteve84]

The "female" half has a definite groove in the middle divider and it's as clean as can be. If there ever was a "ridge" on the other half that fits into that groove there is no sign of it. The box was held together with glue. No glue on the divider, only the perimeter. Either there never was a ridge or this thing has been hacked into before, though I doubt it. There are NO signs of that. No pry marks, no hammer marks, no cut marks. There is a steel ring in the perimeter groove. Why? I have no idea. To keep the box from exploding? Your guess is as good as mine. --Steve

[Rikugun]

Hmmm, steel ring in the groove you say - now that is interesting......

It sounds like you've examined it closely and I trust your observations regarding the center seam etc. It does seem odd the 2 chambers are not sealed although this subjective opinion arises from an incomplete understanding of the designers intent.

[turbosteve84]

Finished refurbishing my YICS box. Sealed it with Suzuki Bond (same as ThreeBond, black). Also known by it's scientific name, Elephant Snot, it's very hard to find this stuff today, but I've never used a better sealer. Passed the "blow" test anyway.

Couldn't stomach "YICS" inscribed on my Visioné, so I ground it off, painted it black, and found this $2 chrome "V" at my local AutoZone. For that matter, I'm grinding off everything that says "YAMAHA" or "YICS" on the bike. I want to pass it off as something exotic. Should be a lot of fun since so few riders remember the Vision these days. Getting "YAMAHA" removed from the gear case hub will be a challenge. --Steve

[Rikugun]

I've never been a fan of the tragically named YICS box and it's failings but must say I would proudly install something that looks that good. Nice work!

[The Prophet of Doom]

Finished refurbishing my YICS box. Sealed it with Suzuki Bond (same as ThreeBond, black). Also known by it's scientific name, Elephant Snot, it's very hard to find this stuff today, but I've never used a better sealer. Passed the "blow" test anyway.

Couldn't stomach "YICS" inscribed on my Visioné, so I ground it off, painted it black, and found this $2 chrome "V" at my local AutoZone. For that matter, I'm grinding off everything that says "YAMAHA" or "YICS" on the bike. I want to pass it off as something exotic. Should be a lot of fun since so few riders remember the Vision these days. Getting "YAMAHA" removed from the gear case hub will be a challenge. --Steve

Nice Job Steve.  I ended up making my own YICS as I couldn't get a good seal.

The YICS badges just ping off with a sharp blade.  I can help you mill off the YAMAHA logos - I was going to do the same on my bike, perhaps leaving just the YAMAHA at the top of the radiator cowl.  The plastic bit that hides the lower triple will be the hardest to do neatly because of the curve.

[turbosteve84]

I'm not even re-installing any badges I don't need.

Thanks for the offer eliminating the YAMAHA logos -- but you're in New Zealand, I'm in New Jersey, and it's an awfully long swim.

With the case hub I may just fill it in with epoxy, sand it smooth, and re-paint the whole thing. On the small clutch cover plate (?) I used low-temp melting aluminum rod (melts with a propane torch!) But the sheen of the material is different, and you could still see the "YAMAHA." So I spray painted it with black caliper paint for now. Maybe I'll have VISIONÉ inscribed on it at some time. On the thermostat housing I couldn't build up enough heat to get the aluminum rod to stick (too much heat is drawn away by the housing). I'll just grind off that small plate that says YAMAHA. I removed that silly rubber YICS insert. Thought I could pry that plate off but it's bonded there really strong with some NASA-spec glue.

Snow here again tomorrow. Really setting my project back!

[Re-Vision]

I'd like to find a way to eliminate the Yamaha logo behind the seat, any ideas?     BDC

[Re-Vision]

The "female" half has a definite groove in the middle divider and it's as clean as can be. If there ever was a "ridge" on the other half that fits into that groove there is no sign of it. The box was held together with glue. No glue on the divider, only the perimeter. Either there never was a ridge or this thing has been hacked into before, though I doubt it. There are NO signs of that. No pry marks, no hammer marks, no cut marks. There is a steel ring in the perimeter groove. Why? I have no idea. To keep the box from exploding? Your guess is as good as mine. --Steve

I just opened one that appeared to have some cross leak. I found the center groove to have leakage from one side to the other and mine has a divider that fits into the groove. I cut part of the divider off when I opened the YICS.         BDC


PS This is a box that worked fine but one of the hose connections got broken off.

[turbosteve84]

I'm not using the seat (anybody need one?) or the stock tail piece so I'm not sure how you would remove that logo. I'll take a look at it (if I can find it!) and see if I can come up with any ideas.

That YICS box looks like shit -- but, you had a "tongue" on the divider, which my unit didn't. Strange, because I would swear that it was never opened before. I found absolutely no signs of stress to the box. It WAS leaking internally, and there WAS a groove where it should be. Just no tongue or sign of one. But being a realist it had to have been worked on at some point, and whoever bodged it shaved the tongue off clean (there was no sealant on the center divider). Whatever "glue" they used to seal it didn't work (at least not internally), so I hope I have better luck with my Suzuki Bond fix.

[Re-Vision]

I dont know much about the YICS box operation but I can see that the tongue and groove on mine have never had glue on them. I know that this YICS box was working okay because it ran great when I synched the carbs. I also had leakage when blowing into one of the vacuun line fittings. I have another YICS box that has been worked on by some one trying to seal it up. Took it apart and I'm surprised by how different the tongue and groove are. The tongue appears to be almost non-existent and the groove is much narrower. The more I learn the less I know. Always thought we needed the YICS but now I'm not so sure.       BDC     

[The Prophet of Doom]

I'd like to find a way to eliminate the Yamaha logo behind the seat, any ideas?     BDC

If you want to ditch the grab bars, then just leave it off and fill the voids with bog.  I followed Lucky on this and thinks it looks pretty smart.
Otherwise, you can probably block sand the lettering off and spray the whole plastic bar with a rattle can.

[Rikugun]

There does seem to be quite a difference between individual YICS examples as to the dimensions of the center divider rib. Bobby's seems to be pronounced whereas on Steve's it's minimal.

I finally took mine apart for examination. The mounting tab had been compromised and a strengthening strap fashioned on the back (yics 2.jpg) affixed with glue and screws. The holes left by the screws can be seen at the red arrows (yics 1.jpg) on the inside. The "repair" was on the bike as received by me but If I had to guess I'd say the box itself has not been apart before.

There isn't much of a rib on this one and as I recall it leaked between the chambers -  and possibly elsewhere. It was some time ago it was tested and set aside.

Edit: the third pic is a copy of Re-Visions from above. Is that the piece of rib that was cut off during disassembly or something else?

[Re-Vision]

There does seem to be quite a difference between individual YICS examples as to the dimensions of the center divider rib. Bobby's seems to be pronounced whereas on Steve's it's minimal.

I suspect the difference is caused by the tongue and groove being burned away.

Edit: the third pic is a copy of Re-Visions from above. Is that the piece of rib that was cut off during disassembly or something else?

It is the piece of rib cut off during disassembly.         

Pictures below compare low milage Vs higher milage YICS.       BDC

[Rikugun]

I suspect the difference is caused by the tongue and groove being burned away.

Could be but two things concern me with that theory:

Mine only had 6,000 miles on it which doesn't seem like very many miles to get burned off and especially so evenly and completely. Of course that assumes the YICS installed when I got it is the original.

Also, why would only the rib be burned away but the groove appear to be intact?

[Re-Vision]

I suspect the difference is caused by the tongue and groove being burned away.

Could be but two things concern me with that theory:

Mine only had 6,000 miles on it which doesn't seem like very many miles to get burned off and especially so evenly and completely. Of course that assumes the YICS installed when I got it is the original.

Also, why would only the rib be burned away but the groove appear to be intact?

If you compare the grooves on the previous pictures you will  see considerable differences between the grooves (2.48mm Vs 1.0mm), looks like escaping gases burned the groove bigger while burning the tongue away.        BDC

[Re-Vision]

I'm correcting myself, I criss crossed my YICS halves and it appears that the more prominent tongue also has the wider groove. Doesn't make sense to me.     BDC