Is this bike really worth it?

[QBS]

 My experience with the '83 I bought used in '84 is that it has only stranded me once.  That was due to a catastrophic Yuawasa Battery failure.  And it has certainly come close several other times.  Except for the Yawasa Battery failure, I've always been able to come up with a work around (one way or another) to keep moving.  For me, the key thing was that I road it every day, mostly in an urban environment and, as often as possible, in the most isolated places I could find. 

With many startings per week, I became very sensitive to changes in starter motor sound and output.  Therefore, I always had at least a rough idea of the charging system condition before hitting the road.  Only once have I had a stator failure in the boonies.  After I installed a voltmeter and clock from a BMW R100rs all uncertainty was gone.

Over the years, not due operator error or the battery issue, I've been blindsided three times.  Once by stator failure,  once by TCI failure, and once by the side stand safety switch.  The long term "fixes" for these failures were to add a voltmeter, carry a known good spare TCI box, and remove the side stand safety switch.

For me it's been worth it.  No other bike then or now is the excellent sport tourer that the V is.  I was fortunate that my experience began with a pristine, low milage example needing no restoration.  However, this was offset by the lack of any awareness of the challenges to come or how to deal with them.

[Rick G]

All 30 year old bikes will have troubles , this one is worth the effort, many are not.  I have had the engine out of the frame twice and rebuilt the top end . Having said that , I ride the crap out of it , I give it no mercy! Still it has served me well. I have replaced one stator in the 11 years I rode the bike and replaced some brakes and battery's . Tyres, as well as some upgrades.

I have a '90 Suzuki  VX 800 , which I bought because of it general similarity to the Vision . This gave me the opportunity to  rebuild the top end on the Vision with out stopping riding. It too lost a stator. many bikes will . The type of charging system  used in the vast majority of bikes , is cheap and compact, but suffers more failures that we would like, because its cheap and compact!

The vision is electric motor smooth, quick , great handling , comfortable  and as reliable as any 30 year old bike, better than some that are much newer. My 20 year old VX lost the stator 18 month's ago and required a clutch this past summer.
I enjoy working on my old bikes and creating up grades, of my own design.

[don_vanecek]

Gosh, reliability?  I've taken my Vision on more long trips in the last couple of years then I used to do in the early years! Bought new in 1984, yeah, its had one stator, one starter motor rebuilt, starter clutch, carbs cleaned a few times, but it really doesn't seem to want to wear out, runs as good as ever, 44,000 miles now. 

The Vision is a general purpose mid size "standard" bike that in 1982 was superior to mid size bikes prior to when it came out. In my rides the last two summers with my son in law on his 2008 Kawsaki Vucan, other then perhaps a bit better MPG (he's got EFI), the two bikes perform very similiar,we rode to the same places, the same speeds (and we didn't dog it, sometimes cruising 80-85)  both nice bikes, we had a great time, at the end of our ride two months ago, he started to have a gas leak, poor guy, something with a o ring gasket somewhere on his gas tank. But just my experiance, like all mechanical things, others may not have had the same good forture.

a picture is called for now isn't it?   

[motoracer8]

 I have a 83 Vision that I brought home in 3 boxes, I put the engine back together, parts were still available then, once the charging issues and carb probblems were delt with it has been stone reliable, it now has 50.000 miles on it.

But it was'nt a cake walk, I spent many hours making carburettor parts.  Parts are scarce and what Yamaha has is expensive and that makes many people walk away from a Vision project.

They are a cool little motorcycle and if you are a reasonable mechanic they can be made to work quite well.  Just remember it is a 30 year old motorcycle, it will never be like a new one.

[Vandal171]

I am a new Vision owner but not new to keeping old bikes on the road, just look at my sig. So far I really haven't seen any issues with these bikes that don't happen with other bikes. If you have ever changed a stator on a GL 1000 goldwing you will know what a real PITA can be. My CX500 spit an ignition stator, you have to remove the engine to change it. I had a 1984 GPZ 750 that canned a rear shock, I replaced it with a newer GSXR unit. Had a flywheel disintegrate on a 81 CM400, wasted the stator and bent the crank. The real key to owning and maintaining a 30 year old bike is finding ways to fix them better than they were when new. Sometimes you have to re-invent the wheel but the results are rewarding. Anybody can walk into a new bike dealership, plop down a downpayment and ride away on the latest and greatest but, there are only so many old bikes left out there and if nobody cared about them they would all be gone.

[QBS]

You're going to fit right in here.