She's done.....

[Paul_Jungnitsch]

Finally got around to digging around in the engine of my bike that broke last summer. She had lost power, made some strange noises, when I tried to restart it the rear cylinder caught a few times and then it locked up. Didn't have time to look at it before fall, and the breakdown felt disturbingly terminal.

Front camshafts checked out ok, the bike turned over by hand, but when checking out the camshafts on the rear cylinder.....



When turning it over by hand the rear (1 and 1/2!) cams turn over, then quit, then start turning again, etc. The cam chain seems tight and the tensioner (which is quite a neat design btw) is fine.

My guess is the lower camchain drive gear to the rear cylinder let go initially somehow then caught again with the valves out of time and crunch!

83,000 km was a good run. That bike took me from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland and back in '87, and many trips around the Prairies since then. In the summer of 2003 it was my daily ride all summer as my truck was laid up, and still managed a trip to BC.

http://www.angelfire.com/trek/mytravels/motorcycle1.html

Sigh. May she rest in peace.

Kinda frustrating now to see all those cheap Visions for sale in the U.S. and none up here.

[h2olawyer]

Paul -

What a bummer.  :'(  That camshaft sure doesn't look good - maybe it discovered it had a split personality.  Hopefully somebody can come up with either the parts you need or a replacement engine.  I'd gladly help out if I had any of those parts.  Hope you can either get her fixed or find another one to ride.

H2O

[Walt_M.]

That is truly a sad sight. Hope you can get it fixed, I really enjoyed the photos and dialog from your trip. Good luck.

Walt

[Rick G]

Paul , I can fix you up with  cams  and used valves  or even a complete used head . I can get the  machine work done  reasonably  before shipping , if you like. email me if I can help. rgcdn@post .com

[Paul_Jungnitsch]

Paul , I can fix you up with ?cams ?and used valves ?or even a complete used head . I can get the ?machine work done ?reasonably ?before shipping , if you like. email me if I can help. rgcdn@post .com

Thanks, but the cam gear drive sprocket which I assumed caused the problem must be either stripped or loose on the shaft. As well the valve must have hit the piston, which wouldn't be good for it or the connecting rod, etc.

The head gasket was going on the front cylinder as well, weeping coolant for the last couple years. Being as the whole bike is such high mileage I think it would be better in the long run to get another (lower mile) Vision and use this one for spares.

Especially as I don't have to a shop to work in now, mechanic work in a gravel parking lot blows!