1982 Yamaha Vision (XZ550) Fuel Injection Conversion

[Prophet Of Doom]

Found this while trawling the web for "images"

http://hildstrom.com/projects/vision/index.html

No doubt there are one or two here who will contact him and demand details

[don_vanecek]

Sooo, did he actually get this to not just run but drive?  Wow, what a project!

[YellowJacket!]

Cool...WOULD be noce to know if it worked out.

David

[pullshocks]

That is a man after my own heart--starting up a complex and expensive DIY project with no assurance of success when it would be far easier and cheaper in the long run to just go buy a more modern motorcycle.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who loves doing it the hard way.

[YellowJacket!]

Kinda like kidjedi, huh....

Daivd

[QBS]

It would appear that trying to inject past the butterfly, even a WOT, would present at the very least a signficant drivability issue.

[Glyn]

Or.. why not stick on a different carb?

[Kid Jedi]

tuned port injection. just measure the ouside edges of the valve and get an injector with a fan shape and have it squirt right at the open valves so its a straight shot in to the cylinder.

[inanecathode]

tuned port injection. just measure the ouside edges of the valve and get an injector with a fan shape and have it squirt right at the open valves so its a straight shot in to the cylinder.

or you could clean your carbs

[Kid Jedi]

but they just get dirty again! and the A/F on those is cruddy

[inanecathode]

but they just get dirty again! and the A/F on those is cruddy

They do? It is? That's odd, the set of carbs on my vision have been cleaned once their entire life and they're still good. In fact, every carburator i've cleaned has stayed clean all the way up to now. A/F is fine on my vision at least, i can't make it run poorly even if i try to. 45mpg isnt bad either.

[Neil]

Why not contact Babe DeMay through Memphis Shades and ask what he used on his Vision flat trackers?

[Walt_M.]

Race bike carburetion has very little in common with street bike carburetion. I spend only a few seconds at WOT. Just clean up the stock carbs if they are serviceable and ride happy. FYI, I last had my carbs off and cleaned in June of 2003, still running very well even though I am getting home to ride only about once a month.

[Neil]

Dirt trackers need precise control of their engine's power at various throttle positions to maintain traction. As they begin to exit turns and carefully add power, their carburation has to be precise through various throttle positions...or they'll be on their butts sliding into the hay bales!

[Kid Jedi]

Stock aint good enough 

Off the assembly line the vision was not a perfect bike. I love doing pointless projects like Fuel Injection because it gives my bike something that everyone almost forgot, Craftsmanship. Back in the day people used to make things like blacksmiths made horseshoes, there was a level of accountability and PRIDE in their work.

true I could do this same work on an RD400, (which i can STILL get pistons and rings for) or A Norton Commando, but better in better out.

I don't want to just get her running I want her to be what the engineers had in mind when they made her. Because off the assembly line this bike falls far short of the mark!

and doing these projects falls under the recreation umbrella that I bought the bike for. 

[inanecathode]

Stock aint good enough 

Off the assembly line the vision was not a perfect bike. I love doing pointless projects like Fuel Injection because it gives my bike something that everyone almost forgot, Craftsmanship. Back in the day people used to make things like blacksmiths made horseshoes, there was a level of accountability and PRIDE in their work.

true I could do this same work on an RD400, (which i can STILL get pistons and rings for) or A Norton Commando, but better in better out.

I don't want to just get her running I want her to be what the engineers had in mind when they made her. Because off the assembly line this bike falls far short of the mark!

and doing these projects falls under the recreation umbrella that I bought the bike for. 

Uh, well. My bike is (was) totally stock, and performed fine. The reason they 'fall short' is because of lazy mechanics that dont actually want to truely do the work to get it up to snuff. They didnt release a disaster of a bike, they released a bike with some flaws that are pretty easily fixed.
"Far short of the mark" is yamaha releasing a red and blue plastic big wheel pedal trike instead of an advanced at the time sport tourer that's fully capable of sport, and touring, and was faster, nicer, and lasted far longer than the vast majority of the competition. With some pretty basic suspension upgrades, you could very easily have an extremely capable track bike on your hands.
And if you're implying the rd400 was far short of the mark, or somehow inferior to the vision in end-of-project wise, i'd say you're hilariously misinformed. The rd series was probably the nicest, fastest, best handling bike yamaha has ever produced, and by far the cream of the crop as far as two stroke road bikes go (save for the rz500, and noone say the gt750 because that thing couldnt get heavier if it was made of depleted uranium). You could very quickly and easily have a track (or street) bike that can out accelerate, out stop, and all over out handle any motorcycle of its time, and most motorcycles made since.
As for the norton... Dude, if you touch that thing in any sort of modification mood, the classic bike gods will strike you down where you stand! I heard of it, it's true.

[Kid Jedi]

I love the RD400 thank ye, i was just mentioning it because i found brand new pistions and .25mm -1mm oversize in my catalog and thought of ya little beast

I don't think you understand my point inane

There is more to true motorcycling than exchange value of your bike.

I am doing this to have a recreational vehicle that i am proud of. any dolt can pick up a car  and get her to run, its not hard. but to go from a running engine to a tuned engine is a whole different ball game. I want a Tuned recreational vehicle. i want one that i made with my own 2 hands, one that can be called professional.

Most people's experience with the world of machines is limited to appliances. Such experience is not educational- the appliance is simply used and maintenance is mostly cleaning and calling a repair man. Automobile ownership has become appliances oriented over the years with manufactures requiring "Authorized" Mechanics to preform perodic Maintenance. The increased complexity of newer cars intimidates owners who might otherwise preform their own maintenance. Standard charges for scheduled maintenance are not cheap and constitute a significant chunk of dealers' income.
Appliances are intend to be used, but the owner doesn't get to know it.Vintage machines are the oppisite, in fact, getting to know a vintage bike is required to keep it working right. Appreciating the vintage machine and getting to know it is one and the same.

A Vintage machine must realize its design potential, the great preponderance of vintage/english motorcycles delivered to America were incapable of demonstrating the engineer's intentions.


The vision is a rare bike in that she was very modern, but has that vintage quality (Or lack there of )

I am sure that coil, tiger and Luck will agree that you don't know a vision till you have had 2 torn completely apart.

In the words of a dear friend who recently passed away:  Ownership means nothing- they say "I've owned this bike for 30 years." SO WHAT?! I've owned this body for 65 years- does that make me a doctor?


But now i am on a tangent. IF you would like I could post a few of my essays i have written since my voyage in to vintage motorcycles. the appliance paragraph was an excerpt form my notes.