do not know what happened , there has been a big mix up in a group purchase of fork braces that i found. The ebay seller, vintjfan, has located 5 new fork braces that fit visions . These were to have been bought last week, but something happened , and now they are posted on ebay:
Yamaha Vision XZ550 Maxim XJ 400 FORK BRACE NEW Item number: 4609504756
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-Vision-XZ550-Maxim-XJ-400-FORK-BRACE-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35580QQitemZ4609504756QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
i really wish this had went a different way, but they guy did set up a group sale, if anyone has any information, let me know. i am thinking there has to have been import/export issues. guys, these are it ,this seller isnt able to get these any more so if you want one, better hit e-bay ,that price is 60.00 now. if you were trying to find one, there they are,
again am sorry the original deal didnt work,, i just dont know where it all fell off the table .
Quote from: kiawrench on February 01, 2006, 04:46:42 AM
i am thinking there has to have been import/export issues.
You should talk to Art Vandelay, i think he's in the import/export business...
I thought he was a latex salesman???
I want one but there's a limit to my spending for this. I never had one so I would never miss it. I'm not bidding simply for the reason so many people have gotten them for around 35.00.
Mutt
Superfly, i thought it was toothpics & matches...the long ones.
Mutt, he had them on Ebay for $30-35 for a long time, aparently he had a bunch of them, & then they were gone.? i guess after the deal Kia was trying to work may have made him realise that they were worth double what he was asking...
If i needed one i'd grab it now, it's rare that any fork brace that fits a Vision comes up on Ebay, you may be waiting a long time & they might be more $$$
of course, now that i've said it, one'll pop up next week cheap, lol
Oh, & you don't need to experience the difference to miss one, blieve me, it's like having a new front end.. i'd go so far as to say it's a safety item: along with good rubber you have waaay more control in the corners than without it.
--Lucky
Nevermind... they're gone!
I only recognise Jason's name on the list congrats!
Me? I have no idea???
no, not you, the other Jason (Schnurr)
With all due respect and no aggression intended toward anyone, I feel that I must take contrarian position regarding the need/nessessity of a fork brace on the '83 V. ?I can't speak about fork braces on '82s as I don't own one.
I rode my '83 for many many miles, carrying all levels of weight, at all levels of speed, on roads that ranged from little more than cow trails to Interstate Highways, and never even once felt the need for stability improvement. ?The bike was(and is) totally stock with 6 psi in the air forks and, for most of this milage, was carrying the factory fork oil.
One of my most memorable tests of the bikes' stability came on a dry, straight, high quality, two lane black top road that was just too inviting not to nail the throttle on. ?About the time I hit 85 mph in third or fourth gear(don't remember which) I came to the realization that although the road had no pot holes and was indeed smooth, it did have some rather significant unseen undulations(aka dips). ?As I passed through this section ?the front forks bottomed fairly hard twice. ?The bike showed absolutely no signs of wobble or any other instability. ?My heart rate, however, was approaching red line. ?I figured that anytime you start bottoming out your front suspension at well over 80 mph you could be headed for a really bad day. ?
Years later, after reading about fork braces on this forum, I purchased a fork brace indentical to those discussed above and installed it, looking for what, a solution to a problem I didn't ?have? ?I was basically operating according to the age old American philosophy of "If a little is good,... more is better". ?However, in this application, "more" made no positive difference. ?In fact I suspect that I might have picked up a bit of wobble that wasn't there before, but the jury is still out on that.
So, the bottom line to all this is that, based on my extensive personal experiance on 83' Vs, there is a case to be made for not altering the front suspension with a fork brace. ?If I had known then what I know now, I would never have bought and installed a fork brace on my bike. ?The unit is still on my bike. ?However, if further evaluation shows no discernable change for the better, I'll have no qualms about its removal.
Is there much of a difference between the '82 and '83 front suspensions? ?The only differences that I know of would possibly be the spring rates and of course the air suspension feature. ?Otherwise, they have the same slider diameters and use the same triple tree system. ?Obviously, the braking systems are different, but they is not componets of the suspention systems. ?I just don't see major differences between the two systems with the exception of the spring rates. ?Maybe that's the deciding variable, with a little bit of fork oil weight differential thrown in for good measure. ?Whats' the group got to say? ?Cheers.
here's my one word opinion-
CONFIDENCE
if you have confidence in your fishing lure... you'll catch more fish? ;)
if you don't like your lures .... fill someone else's tackle box? :)
Since there is no scientific testing we can point to about the effect of the brace on out ft ends, we have to go by personal experience.
the opinions expressed herin are purely my own & may not be transmited, reproduced or copied without express written consent by Major league baseball.
I think it would be fair to say, based on the reaction over the years by members of this Forum, that MOST Vision riders find the brace a HUGE improvement.
that said, every bike is different, they have their own variables, bearing wear, rider weight, tire type, riding style, etc. QBS, i think your findings are atypical, and if they aren't, then they can allways sell it if they find there isn't enough improvement to justify the cost. look how fast those 5 braces sold at $60 ea...
Just a note, i've never been completely satisfied with the V's ft end, but i'm still tweaking it...
--Lucky
Lucky
I have the stock 82, would I notice a difference If I did the front end mod. My front end seems spongy. Really noticeable when braking. That 5" of travel really seems excessive. This is the only motorcycle I've ever riden so I have nothing to compare it to. I definately want to do the front end mod just for the dual braking system but does the 83 feel a little firmer? Second... can I use the same master cylinder?
I tightened up the monoshock on the rear from the factory setting at the second Knotch to the 3rd and liked the results. Doesn't seem to buck quite so much.
after a lot of questions and only a few answers, it seems the problem with the braces being listed and sold on e-bay was the direct result of a pay pal snafu.
a forum member had set the funds into the correct pay pal account, the funds were accepted by pay pal as pending. this transction was to be complete until a official at pay pal decided it would be a good idea to audit a select few transactions, all funds were withheld for a week pending audit completion. this resulted in lost purchase, funds in limbo , and a seller i can not buy parts from anymore. i guess it is a live and learn thing,, i sould have just bought them and sold as singles when i had th efirst contact . again, i am sorry , . To my fellow member, pay pal will refund your money as soon a spossible, let me know when they do,, , you have my msn addy, see me there ,, tks, dave
Jay you can do a couple of things to your 82 ft end to firm up the ride:
first add an inch of spacer. replace your metal spacer with 1" dia pvc pipe an inch longer than your stock metal one (right under the cap) 1" more will give you more than an inch of dive reduction because you are increasing the spring rate.
use heavier fork oil, this will icrease dampening & smooth rebound some.
you can change over to air caps from an 83... if you can find them, or you can drill out your caps & install wheel valve stems. keep the pressure at about 6-8 psi. this will greatly reduce sag.
be aware that stiffening up the ft end can change handling charicteristics, so do one mod at a time & take that first ride with care.
upgrading to the complete 83 ft end gives air caps & different spring rate.
you can also buy progressive springs for either year.
i haven't tried the 82 master on the 83, but i've heard it works better??!! doesn't sound right...
--Lucky
I think I'll start with the longer preload tubes. I think the wife will get me the 83 front end for my birthday.
I can tell you exactly what happened with the orig deal,,,I was going to buy the lot from this guy, told him to consider them sold and I was just waiting for the funds from my bank account to hit into my paypal, he got impatient and told me the deal was off and posted them on ebay, i was pretty put off to say the least, but lesson learned i guess, but thanks kia for your efforts trying to get this deal on the go, it was out of our control,
I thought online stuff was supposed to make our lives easier?? lol
I takes around 4 days for money to transfer from a bank acct to paypal & vice versa, kind of a pain.. i'm going to try paypals debit card & see it that's any faster..
--Lucky
I'm not upset about missing out on these units. I'm sure there will be others coming along soon? ::). I just wasn't prepared to pay that much plus shipping. I have other items that take precedence such as stainless brake lines (on order). I'm going to switch out the fork oil and possibly do progressive springs before April (the dragon!). I've not experienced any shaking or instability at higher speeds although I've only had it to around probably 87 or so. Don't want to break that 82 speedo? :P. Too when throtting down, I do it slowly. I'm sure there would be some shaking if I suddenly drop the RPMs.
Thanks Kiawrench and Squid for your efforts. We'll have better luck next time? :).
Mutt
Quote from: Jays Vision on February 01, 2006, 09:14:57 PM
I definately want to do the front end mod just for the dual braking system but does the 83 feel a little firmer? Second... can I use the same master cylinder?
No, The 83 master cylinder has a larger plunger.? I realized this after I bought a rebuild kit for my (I thought) 83 master cylinder, but the 05 FZ6 Master cylinder works great with our 83 dual front brake system, plus, you then can get an adjustable brake lever.
http://ridersofvision.net/forum/index.php?topic=3898.0
Here is my 2 cents on the subject. I ride 3 bikes currently and have a certain comfort level on each. The last time I took the 82 out for a ride, I'd be willing to say the handling leaves much to be desired. For those of you have owned nothing else, you problem have nothing to compare it too so you aren't missing anything. My major concern with the handling is the need for commitment in a turn. Once you're in, trying to slow down using front brakes can lead to a pucker moment. My feeling is that the spindly forks begin to flex and a slight wobble. The bike just cleared 4000 miles and the front end is tight so I'm fairly certain it's just a limitation of old technology. My guess would be that the fork brace would help this out so I bought one.
My problem is no longer the front end, but I found that my rear shock has gotten progressively sloppy. I had it set on the firmest setting and dropped it one notch. I am going to go back to the firmest setting. However, I don't think that switching it one notch should cause the shock to be totally useless.
As far a front ends go, I have 2 82's that I ride constantly,
Blackie - 83 front end, progressive springs, taperd roller bearings, a fox rear shock, and a fork brace - never had a handleing problem, Tears up mountains great.
Blue bike -? ?Stock 82 front end, stock fork springs, stock shock, Stock ball bearings, fork brace - Did not handle well at all, front end was like a pogo stick on steroids on hard corners.? ?Come to find out that Forks needed to be rebuilt, and the ball bearings were shot.?
23 year old forks might need some maintenance, or a rebuild.? Progressive springs are a must, tapered roller bearings are a must.? ?I have noticed major handeling differences between the 2 bikes.
Quote from: QBS on February 01, 2006, 07:47:20 PM
With all due respect and no aggression intended toward anyone, I feel that I must take contrarian position regarding the need/nessessity of a fork brace...
I rode my '83 for many many miles, carrying all levels of weight, at all levels of speed, on roads that ranged from little more than cow trails to Interstate Highways, and never even once felt the need for stability improvement. ?
?Whats' the group got to say? ?Cheers.
QBS,
Are there any twistie roads in Texas?
I personally have only seen a need for a fork brace when hitting dips in the road while either countersteering out to increase my lean angle in a decreasing radius turn or when countersteering in while bringing the bike back upright exiting a turn. Under conditions like this the fork twists at a particular resonant frequency and amplitude.
A fork brace increases the resonant frequency of the forks in twist and decreases the amplitude of the twist. (a higher note)
The transient change in the direction the wheel is steering will be less angle change for a shorter period of time.
A fork brace with a poor fit could cause extra friction in your suspension travel. This might give you a greater wobble when hitting dips when the bike is verticle just because your body is absorbing more of a jolt and your reaction to it is not perfectly symetrical.
$00.02 ;)
coil
I would not ride my 82 Vision without a fork brace and probably get rid of the bike if I could not get one. I noticed a difference in balance feeling, the moment the bike moved from a start. Something was really different in the front fork movement right off the line. It continued to positively affect handling at all speeds.
Now, I do have too much sag in my front end and my bike did not have many miles on it when I first got it. I have not corrected the sag (yet) but just slapped on a fork brace and voila, handling problems solved. The front springs are real soft which does seriously affect handling and even heavier oil cannot compensate. If the front end loads up while braking in corners it can really make turning much more difficult. High speed twisties can also load up the front and no doubt contribute to wobble feel so the fork brace directly or indirectly just seems to make a big difference on the 82.
If I am remembering correctly I think I read that the 83 has a slightly altered rake from the 82 (not sure what that ends up doing) and especially the extras of air pressure which can stiffen up the front end which no doubt would greatly help the 82 issue. The 83 is no doubt a very different handling situation as attested here (adding in the change in rear shock length, etc.) and therefore not directly comparable to the 82.
Hopefully, the guys who want a fork brace will get one in due time and in the absence of the brace some fork tweaking is a good idea.
Keeping our eyes open for braces,
Louie
Hi, F Y I
I have one more "Three piece Daytona Fork Brace" that I will be placing on the ROV auction site in the near future & as mentioned earlier the proceeds will go towards this site.
As soon as the 1st one is in the mail to Coil I will list it.
Ride Safe Ken S.
Way to go Kenny! You are making some real happy campers. Hopefully we can connect one of these days.
Spring is coming,
:) How about the OnROV Spring Ride ;D :D ;) 8)