Why do (Some) old Visionaries fade away?

[akvision]

right on BDC!

[inanecathode]

Cause they get all wrapped up in air cooled two strokes and volkswagens.

Oldest dream : RD 350+ lots of gas+oil + $$ - work = Perma High

here 'ya go Raj... buy it up, give me some gas money to get her to my house, and I'll keep her until you can figure out how to get it home  ;)


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-YAMAHA-RD350-NO-Reserve-RD-350-ALL-ORIGINAL_W0QQitemZ250578007460QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_motorcycles?hash=item3a579cf5a4




ringadingdingding

No, dude, more like "vruma-dum-dum-dum" with stock pipes.

(ignore the piston slap, its fixed now)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVOLACuOnq8

[Walt_M.]

I would almost buy it to get those embarassing crash bars and sissy bar off it. The poor thing, it's like putting a frilly sweater on a bulldog. I loved my RD400 but finally had to face the reality that I was just too big for it, like a gorilla humping a football.

[Lucky]

We haven't left, we're out RIDING!  ;D

[Raj1988]

Cause they get all wrapped up in air cooled two strokes and volkswagens.

Oldest dream : RD 350+ lots of gas+oil + $$ - work = Perma High

here 'ya go Raj... buy it up, give me some gas money to get her to my house, and I'll keep her until you can figure out how to get it home  ;)


SO what you are saying is, I buy one of the most awesome production bikes and then pay the gas $$ for YOU to ride her around?!!!!  very slick NV

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-YAMAHA-RD350-NO-Reserve-RD-350-ALL-ORIGINAL_W0QQitemZ250578007460QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_motorcycles?hash=item3a579cf5a4




ringadingdingding

[EH]

I'm still a Visionary. Has been a difficult 3 year divorce that put me in a tiny apartment and my motorcycles in a storage facility. However, now I have a small cape style home in the country with a garage and an unfinished basement. My 2 daughters are thrilled to be my interior decorators and of course they started on the room they chose for their use. They and my X live in the house we bought in 1984 and I am in hock up to my ears but I don't care. I also made an impulse purchase recently... a 2006 FZ1 in shift red of course. This is the most rock solid motorcycle I have ever ridden. I had to see what 12,000 RPM was like on the highway and I still don't know because I chickened out at 114MPH observed. The steering was still light, and it was still pulling like it was in second gear. A phenomenal machine. My SRX is roadworhy again and the Vision is down to a bare chassis that I hope to powdercoat soon and begin the rebuild. The only computer I have use of now is this one at work, but I will get one soon for my home. I will post photos and such.

[Ron_McCoy]

Still a Visionary, 63k miles on one , 12k miles on the other, both running great. I look at them as my main rides even though I have other bikes. I'm with Lucky. We're out riding.  :) :) :)

[QBS]

Hi Ron!  Good to hear from you again.  All the best from Kathy and I.

[Ron_McCoy]

Right back at you Bob. I hope things are going well for you guys.

[Glyn]

I reckon lots of us know know the issues with the bikes and are either too busy fixing them or thrashing them. Once you put on the oil cooler, change the carb for something better, change the rear shock, change the bars to proper ones, change the R/R. you're nearly finished....

[Sable]

I joined this forum in October of 2001 and was on pretty regularly until 2008.. There are many reasons why I have not been a "regular" since then, I guess life just gets in the way. My ~V~ is still in the garage, with stabil in the tank & carbs, covered with a blanket waiting for me to pull her out. I recently met the owner of Rick's Motorsports, his shop is close to where I work, which has gotten me to think about the ~V~ again :police: Here are some of my reasons why I have not been around.. in no particular order:

~ Moved to a condo where I have no space to work on the ~V~ (limited to nice days in the summer).
~ Went back to school and completed my bachelors degree in Human Services.
~ Deployed with the military for a few months at a time  ;D
~ Frustration with some of the fixes.. still have a leak on the side cover from the starter clutch fix  >:(

On a side note, the people of this forum are really great! Lucky let me come to his house for day and taught me how to rebuild the '82 carbs. Countless other people helped me source parts and gave me great advice too. I am glad to see that guys like Lucky, Tiger, CDNLouie, QBS, Ron and inanecathode are still here!

~John

[Tiger]

 :) Hey Sable...Good to see that your active again 8) Wondered where ya went to :-\

                              8).......TIGER....... 8)

[Cdnlouie]

Hey Sable good to hear from you too!  :)  You should invite us out to your neck of the woods as New Hampshire is a great riding state.  We might get ambitious one of these days as we do get down to Syracuse (NV's land) area from time to time. I love the Kancamagus Highway through the white mountains.

Get the V rolling!

[VFan]

I've been a member for a couple of years now. My lack of participation falls into two categories:
1) Often I get totally buried by work and simply run out of time.
2) I'm a lurker. There's a lot of times I'm on this forum reading through the old archives. I get a total kick out of doing this. Often it's a matter of not having a lot to contribute to the current posts but thoroughly enjoy what others have said in the past.

Going back to BDC's initial comments, I personally stereotype XZ550 owners into two broad categories. Reading through the board I can think of all sorts of exceptions to these two categories; nevertheless it's a generalization that I currently have:
1) Project bike - someone saw a good deal that they decide that want to turn into a project - results vary. There's already been several comments of this scenario on this thread
2) XZ550 perceived as a classic - some people have a cult addiction to XZ550 based on emotions they had when it came out in '82

I fall in category 2. Over my lifetime, I've owned about 20 motorcycles (not that I'm any kind of expert I just enjoy them). I currently own 3 dirt bikes and much prefer the contemporary models. Not so with street bikes. Today's bikes just aren't for me. I have quite a romance for street bikes of the late 70's and early 80's, and some extent the 90's. I remember when the RJ and then a year later the RK came out. I was totally infatuated with the notion of getting one but had no means to do so. I had just purchased a '79 KZ1000 wasn't in a position to lose money on it for another purchase. Fast forward 26 years and I see the opportunity to buy one for a good deal and all those old emotions from '82 come back. My RJ is still not in new condition but as the months go by it's heading in the right direction. And I have a lot of fun riding it along the way.

I wonder how many other lurkers there are out there just like me?

[akvision]

Yeah, well,
Interesting reading....

I like my V because it feels a lot like a BMW R90S.  It just feels right and good.  I made my decision at Steel's Motorcycle Salvage just based on how it "SET" with me on it.  It feels right. I love the look with the fairing..

I love to brag.. I have a "Vision", shaft drive, mono shock, watercooled 550 Twin V that goes like a bat out of hell.. so sweet.

Am looking forward to a 10 day ride east of Colorado to Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Lousiana, then Texas and back to Colorado.. Maybe the  Barber M/C place in Leeds, Alabama.  It will be on the AkBluV with the Hybred Harley as a sport pal.  This is coming in May.  Will do the post in May.

I will not fade away so long as I have my V and don't plan to sell it.  I like old bikes....

I will re-up my dues when May rolls around.. my 1st anniversary of visionary membership.

This is a great group.. I always fell like I am amoungst friends.

Akv

[Cdnlouie]

Vfan I would suggest another category of "My Vision found me," since I really did not go looking for a project bike. I was checking ads in the Bike Trader and saw what was supposed to be a running Vision (I remember thinking what's a Vision?).  When I got to the person's house it was a non-runner with carbs on the bench, etc.  I told the guy that I really wanted a running bike so was not at all interested in the V.

As I was leaving something nagged at me to offer the guy an incredibly low price of a parts bike and then I could go find something that I could really ride. Well...sure enough the guy accepted the offer, so now I was hooked, and home I went with a basket case, thinking I was such an idiot for doing that.

I just think the V sort of found me on that one, and she has followed me around faithfully for over eight years of trouble free riding. I rode the V when it was new (as a Yamaha mechanic) and really preferred inline fours, but once I spent some time in the V saddle (20 years later) it just grew on me even more.  Then I met some nice fellow V riders and now I can't possibly get rid of it!

I guess I can say that I'm glad the V found me that day!

[YellowJacket!]

I agree with loie and fall into the same category.  I wasn't really looking for a bike and had just finished telling a story about one when I guy I work with told me he had a bike that he was going to junk that had been sitting out in his back yard for 12 or so years.  He offerd it to me and we loaded it up into his truck the next day and took it to my house.  The rest is history.  Had it not been for that moment and google - which led me to Lucky's site then here as well as leathers site - my Vision would not be what it is today.

David

[ps2/bikevision]

yup, my V found me. my buddy had it for a few years (was his first bike) he traded his dirtbike for a cbr600 and set the vision outside. i asked him what he wanted for it and he said $300, but i was flat broke and no job so i figured i never be able to get it. a few months later we were both sitting around playing my playstation2 and he poped off with "ill trade you that old bike for this ps2" i packed it up right then and we went and got her from his house. little did i know how much work i would put into her but little by little i got her running again, and been trying to keep her running since. that was in 2003.

ive had a few bikes since i got the vision but i just could never bring myself to let go of my first bike. she brought me into the mc world and i plan on keeping her around till i cant find parts anymore.

[VFan]

...I rode the V when it was new (as a Yamaha mechanic) and really preferred inline fours... 

Louie
you were a Yamaha mechanic? How long? As someone who went through them inside and out, what models and years caught your eye the most?

[Cdnlouie]

I started very young in a Triumph, BSA and Honda dealership, probably one of the first in Canada (east coast).  I swept floors and picked up tools and then learned the trade while finishing university and going on to a career.  My last dealership was with Yamaha in the late seventies and eighties.  I retired when the Vision retired. I returned and picked up where I left off many years later.

Honestly, Vfan I am a lover of anything with two wheels.  Every motorcycle has a unique personality and I love the experience of getting to know the personality.  It's a good thing I am limited by garage space (and career) or I would not be able to resist the many orphans out there.

However, something I do miss is the unique sound of the big inline fours (with headers of course) during the seventies and eighties.  There is something about the new engine design that does not match the primeval character of the older engines.  At the time I enjoyed the flare of the Yamaha 650 turbo and the kick in the pants feel which was very new to us all back then.  I saw one this week with Tiger at a scrap yard and bemoaned its demise.

For fun the RD350LC's were a hoot and a great distraction from boring.  You had to be rich to buy gas for them, but they were worth it. I could go on about the wonderful little bikes I've owned from 80's & 90cc bikes that you learned how to sail with in the day (drafting tractor trailers) as much as ride and they are experiences that bring many smiles even years later.

I had a rich youth riding BSA's, Triumphs, BMW's, Honda's, Yamaha's and the odd Kawasaki (sorry I missed those ferocious triples...but then again I'm glad to still be here too).  The only common bike I missed were the Harley's.  I traded a buddy once in a while but it never rang my bell.

Life is always good as along as you can still straddle two wheels,

cdnlou  ;D