Top speed and handling capabilities

[acee125]

I was wondering what the capabilities of the Vision are and some do's and do not's. I've heard that it's not very stable without a fork brace?...What about wheelies? Top speed? I know that this is NOT a sport bike but I do want to learn from those who have ridden them longer so I know what to look out for. My last bike was 1997 CBR600 and I definitely didn't ride the bike to its capabilities. Again, I know it's not a sport bike, I'm just looking for some pointers. Thanks...

[dj]

Wheelies - well, every bike will do a wheelie (whethere it is intentional or not is another matter).  Now, the question should be is can the bike handle the effect of the wheelie (ei - the front wheel coming back down).  And the answer would be not really.  It'd handle a few, but not well.  You have to remember these bikes are 25+ years old and most have been neglected for 10+ years before they were found and fixed.

top speed - not sure.  I've only had mine up to around 70.  It still felt like it had a lot more to give, but that is what I was comfortable doing.  This was also fully loaded with camping gear on her and a full fairing.

Capabilities - this bike shines in the twisties.  they love to corner.  That is when we catch and overtake the large beasts out there.

[kwells]

Top speed on a good running V is well over 100mph.  With refreshed front end oil and seals it will handle those twisties almost as well as your 97 cbr. The brakes tend to be a weak point unless you have SS brake lines and the 83 dual disc setup.  The rear shock for the 82 does not have proper dampening and can have a hopping effect when stressed.  Spend your money on SS lines and the best tires you can afford.

[joevacc]

I would say that any bike has the potential to do whatever trick you can dream up.  That said, it is not the the motorcycle that is or is not capable of doing tricks - it is the rider!

As far as the fork brace goes,  I rode mine for 16 years without one.  I like it better with the brace but got along fine without it.

The handling of any vehicle is so dependent on the the shape it's in, the tires, head bearings, the swing arm, etc, etc, etc,  that for anyone to tell you that a Vision can do this or that well, can only speak for their experience and their experience only.  

Top speed according to the literature is 115 MPH.  It will do all of that.

Ride safe!

[Brian Moffet]

Fork Brace: I've always had one (bought it shortly after I bought my bike).  Biggest difference would be the taper bearings for stability.

Top Speed: I've done 110 on mine (I weigh about 190).  I'm not so sure mine could do that any more.  My cylinders are at 120 PSI now, down from over 150 new (based on compression ratio).

Wheelies:  Never done one.  I guess I've never rolled it on hard enough or something...  Never really wanted too either...

Cornering:  The FZR 600 I was following many years back scraped around a corner when I didn't.

Braking:  Much better after the stainless lines.  I've always had dual-front disks.  I use both front and rear brakes almost all the time.

Brian

[ps2/bikevision]

at speed the vision handles as well as my fzr600, doesent have as much pep but i like that. i can crack my v wide open and dont have to worry about bringing the front tire off the ground. i like that as well. to compare a vision to a modern sport bike is like comparing a 2 pack a day truck driver to a marthon runner. the runner may be able to run farther with less effort than the driver but that driver may just walk up after wards and knock the runner out for making him drop his smoke. ;D

a proper running vision will take you on a long weekend trip to the dragon and get lots of looks all the way and back, where a modern bike will blend in and leave your arse raw at the end of the same trip.

[QBS]

My '83 has often red lined 5th gear.  That would be in the 110 to 114 mph range.  Caged roller steering head bearings: Don't leave 60 without them.  For about the first 15 years of ownership I did not run a fork brace.  Bike was stable under all conditions.  Put one on and not sure I like it.  Considering removing it.  For me it's an answer to a problem that didn't exist.

A good running V can cover a thousand miles a day(think LA to Houston in 2 1/2 days) at sustained speeds averaging 65mph and never show the strain. The last day was 1150 miles in 17 hours.  The bike had about 72000 miles on it and was heavily loaded for extended camping at the time.  Vs' are great endurance bikes.  The engine and driveshaft are a wonderful combination.

[vadasz1]

QBS , when you remove that brace give me a PM and what you want for it.

[Night Vision]

vadasz1: Tiger put tapered steering head bearings in #7. a fork brace is nice to have, but as QBS states.... not that much difference handling wise.... you are better off with the tapered bearings and no fork brace, than a fork brace and the oem bearings and races....

but the coolness factor  8)  and maybe more confidence in the front end might be worth the hunt  :D

[Kevin]

I showed my son how a vision could stand the front up, and then I had to replace the fork seals.   I may never grow up.   

[tben]

Wheelies: Done a couple, quite fun.

Cornering: Feels great But.

I was taking a corner at 75+, a big left sweeper and hit a small bump. The whole bike started gyrating with the front end trying to whip back and forth. After some thought and a change of underwear I have come to this conclusion. My front end is very soft (I drilled out the damping rod and put in cartridge emulators but they stopped doing anything after about 1k mi I'm gonna have to look into that). Right now my front fork just bobs up and down. So I think that bobing motion is what caused the gyrating motion by shortening and lengthening the wheel base mid carve. And I have yet to replace my steering bearings.

[Rick G]

Mine will run 105 here in the high desert , at 3500 ft elevation . Down on the Colorado river area it will run 108. It is  geared higher , with the euro primary gears  and doesn't pull to red line,  even down at the river. Where the euro gears shine, is  the reduced rpm on the long , long distances here , between corners.
I never was all that disappointed in the  rear shock , as I was 265  and provided my own damping. LOL
I installed an '83 shock  in '04  and it is better , that coupled with the tapered head bearings  and the fork brace allow higher corner speeds. I like the Vision in twisties , but in sweepers it just runs out of power  (top speed) and you can't accelerate  out of corners  , they way you can in twisties.
The dual discs and the  SS lines  are great, much better than the single disc and rubber hoses , but not really important to me. I ride into a corner  slow and accelerate out ( taught to me by listening to the comments of King Kenny) I use the gear box and ride the thing like a two stroke .

[Rolle]

Hi and Hello from Sweden!
I got my Yamaha 550XZ up to 112mph or 180km/h on a racetrack. It might go some extra mph if I got some more space or better brake, before the 90 degrade right turn.(Last year someone was killed in that turn) I got dual disk but not any SS brake lines. When I break really hard the brakehandel is in its bottom position against the steering handle!  I got a brace on but I don't feel any deferents in handling the bike. But I'm not any expert........

On the long strait I got bypassed of all modern bikes but in the testier part I'm in there back again.
This is a link to that track: http://www.lms.se/web/_pages/Index.asp?NodeId=7&PageId=3&SektId=0

I use  the bike to go to and from my job and now and then a trip just for fun. It has served me well and if I take care of it I hope it has a long time left for me.

Roland.......     Sorry for my bad language.

[Rick G]

Rolle, your language is fine, we understand what you say. 
That's a very interesting race coarse. Looks like fun!! Thanks for sending the link!

[joevacc]

On the long strait I got bypassed of all modern bikes but in the testier part I'm in there back again.

When I was in my 20ies I used to say to all the big bike boys:  I'll race you, but I get to pick the route!  8)
My mantra; It's not how fast you go...  It's how fast you go in the turns!

[Rick G]

My son in law swears that I go faster in the twisties, than on straight road !  He's probably right , there's more challange in twisties.

[Aelwulf]

I still have to do the tapered bearings in my '82 but it's been alright.  I definitely recommend the SS brake upgrade.  Even with 'just' the single disk up front it made a big difference.  I haven't really had much in the way of stability issues (least not yet).  I've had the bike up over 90, think close to 100.  I think the top speed of '82 is about 113 and the '83 118 but I can't remember where I got that for sure, someplace on here probably. lol I have done wheelies on my '82, unintentionally.  The first time was a leg-draggin' wobble ride and only a couple inches up.  The time or two after that were a bit higher I think but I stayed on the bike nd were kind of fun.  I'm not proficient enough yet to even try to do 'em on purpose, and haven't on accident in a while on mine.  I have also had the front wheel pop up on me once or twice in second.  Kage's '83 has already popped a wheelie on me but that was due to the screwed up idle setting.  I was making a short hop from one light to another in Monterey and didn't baby the clutch enough.  Since it was idling at 3-4k RPM the front up went up I'd guess at least 3-4 inches and my legs were dragging behind for another wobble run.  I really don't like those. :p but both bikes have come down alright and I've managed to stop every time I've done it rubber side down so all good.

So short version *g*:

Top speed: varies but over 100 is a safe bet...won't keep up with modern bikes but plenty enough to get into more than one kind of trouble.

Wheelies: Yes they'll do 'em, as to how well on a regular basis I wouldn't push it.

Braking: definitely upgrade to the SS braided at a minimum.

Cornering: Yes please.  They're fun on the winding roads.

Fork brace: Mine doesn't have one (that I know of anyway), can't say I've noticed any problems and can't say I could tell ya what the difference should be if it did have one.