Great Ride!!!

[h2olawyer]

I took a great little 380 mile ride on Thursday.  From here in Fort Collins, CO to Encampment, Wyoming - over the Snowy Range Road to Laramie back to Walden, CO and returning home.  The V ran great even at nearly 11,000 feet and with upper 80 temps.  ;D The only glitches were the many bugs and my 21 year old seat finally started to tear.  The vinyl just got too brittle and was probably not used to so many hours with my butt weighing it down.  Guess I'll have to find a repalcement cover.  Any suggestions?

The fuel mileage was in the mid 40's even with the occasional but of fun with the throttle.  I left home at about 11:00AM and was back by about 7:30PM.  I ran into about 6 miles of fresh chip & seal and that was slow going.  There's also a lot of 35 - 45 MPH speed limit on this route and the scenery is spectacular.  I did take a couple of breaks to loosen up the old body.  The first 200 miles were quite enjoyable but then I started to get a bit stiff and saddle sore.

I got my camera out at the summit of the Snowy Range Road to get some good shots of high elevation motorcycling and medicine bow peak, but when I tried to take the photos, I discovered the batteries were dead  ::) (I didn't know Olympus used a Vision stator!)  I'll be doing the same ride in late September - weather permitting - to get some photos of the fall colors.  Next time, I'll make it a two day journey.  So I don't feel rushed and to avoid the stiffness.

Still running the original stator and R/R with the connectors removed and all wires soldered.  All Electrex tests show it is still working as intended.  Although, after having rebuilt my carbs, the choke doesn't work quite right now.  Guess I'll just have to tinker with it a bit more to get that right.  It starts very easy but takes a long time to warm up.  No hot start problems and no "Vision stumble" just a minor intermittent hiccup when coming off idle.  Nothing I can't live with.  Maybe when I check the valve adjustment and carb sync, that will go away too.

I felt that Yamaha mismarketed the Vision originally and should have gone after the Honda CX500 a little more forcefully.  The Vision is a great small sport tourer.  I have Yamaha soft luggage (saddlebags and tank bag) that I bought the same summer I bought the bike (1984).  For this trip, I didn't use them - I just used my bungee net to hold a small daypack on the seat.  Holds my rain suit, fleece jacket, wind shell, camera, cell phone, and glasses great.  All the necessary maintenance stuff stows neatly in the tail trunk with the original tool pouch and in the little tray by the fuse box.

To Scootertramp and anyone else getting discouraged with their V, just keep plugging away and you will have a dependable bike that's tons of fun to ride!

[Walt_M.]

Sounds like a good ride! I agree with you about the Vision marketing, it is a far better bike than the CX500. My '83 is about perfect for me, I just enjoy riding it.

[Lucky]

JC Whitney has replacement seat vinyl for the Vision, part # AGC554692U $45

[Rick G]

I have a brand new in the package  Whitney cover, that I bought for someone else, who is not going to use it . Its your for 40.00 +shipping  email me at  rgcdn@juno.com if you interested