Riders Of Vision

The title fight certainly isn't over but Martin has been so strong lately. It might be more interesting next year with Marc on the Gresini Ducati alongside his brother.

And now we are reflecting on the end of the season and how it will finally settle. 
I am impressed with the Aprillias and KTMs,and disappointed with Yamaha and Honda.  Ducati have been impressive, but not the wold beaters the factory had hoped for,  . . . . . . . . . . . yet.  I will hide and watch.

I can understand lack of interest in the season so far but today's race made up for a lot.

Happy birthday Bill but I've got 3 years on you and still have my Vision along with an RZ350. But my balance is so bad that I can't ride either.

Well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILL!!!  And hopes of many more.  I think that the XZ550 vision is a PROCESS we just have to experience.  Very ZEN you know.

Today is my birthday, 72.  ROV sent me a Happy Birthday so I thought I would check in.  It was the Vision that got me back into motorcycling.  I brought a Vision back to life and had a lot of fun with it with a ton of help from this forum.  Next up was a barn find Honda Shadow 1100.  That was good for a couple years but I wanted a Harley so I bought a rebuildable Harley Road King from Copart.  Wrecked but I fixed it.  Really liked having a Harley so I bought another, this time a Harley Softail Deluxe, which I still have.  The Road King was just too heavy for me so it was sold on Craigslist.  Branched out a bit and rebuilt a Vespa scooter which is a lot of fun.  Wanted a real rebuild challenge so I recently bought a 65 Honda Superhawk which I am just in the beginning stages of rebuilding.  I'm retired now and glad to have a hobby.  All this because a guy sold me a Vision cheap because it had all the Vision gremlims,  Stator failure, Oil in the starter, and carbs that wouldn't carburate.  You guys know what I'm talking about.  The Vision taught me I can take an old bike, fix it, and ride it.  I'm still grateful.

Saw his Vision race at Laguna in 1985(I beleive) very unusual and fast. I think it was runnning 4 or 5 in the old Formula One Class.
He deserved the nickname the Wizard of Odd. Didn't get a chance to see him and did not know at the time who he was.
May he RIP

I know this thread is a bit dead, but just for anyone in the future having issues removing a flywheel on these bikes;

I discovered the biggest problem with removal, depending on what puller you use, the crank stub actually starts to expand (only a few thou) which makes the flywheel that much harder to get off.

The way I've discovered works every single time, get another bolt the same size as the flywheel bolt.
Make sure it fits through the hole in the flywheel.
Drill a small center mark in the top of the bolt to act as a guide for the puller then tighten into the crank.

Install your 3 bolt puller as normal and this will stop the crank from trying to expand.
This is the method I use now on every flywheel for XZ550 and they all come off like butter.

There have been 3 this year including back to back the last 2 race weekends.

Fortunately first lap crashes are 'rare', but obviously they CAN happen.  It is rather amazing that they don't happen more frequently, which is a testament to the skill of the riders.