Another unhappy Vision owner...

[Brian_Matthewson]

In the May issue of Cycle Canada, a reader has responded to the article in the April issue about a bad Vision experience. Here's the letter...
Absence of Vision
I was horrified to read Jeff Scott's April First Person tale of owning a Yamaha Vision. I, too, have never recovered from my Vision experience — and it's been almost 30 years. It was early 1982, after a wonderful season on board a 1980 RD400G, that I decided I must have a new bike. The specifications of the Vision at the time were amazing and the magazines raved about it. Motorcyclist said it was at least as fast as the GPZ550 and handled better, but it was the advice from my beloved Cycle Canada (you said it "did everything with panache") that
compelled me to buy one — for $1,800 more than I'd paid for the RD.1 remember being underwhelmed on my ride home that spring from the dealer. It felt like it was running on one cylinder. And then came the oil leaks, coolant leaks, and blown fork seals that kept the bike in the shop for extended periods.

But it was the performance that really disappointed. My gang in the Soo that year rode an RD400G, Honda FT500, Suzuki Katana 750 and Kawasaki KZ400. Thank goodness for the KZ400 or I would have been the slowest. Many nights, flying up Highway 17, the FT500 would blow by me, leaving the Vision wallowing behind it — I swear the Vision's frame was made from the tubing from lawn chairs. In the end I tried for months to sell it and eventually got only $1,200. The next year I bought an '83 Suzuki GS750E and an '81 RD350LC, two beauties that helped me forget the Vision. Judging by price, performance, and appearance, the Vision must be the worst bike ever made.
Paul Lake, Mississauga, Ontario

In the column next to the letter, Cycle Canada shows the cover of an issue in which they review the Vision, with the caption "In 1982 we said the Vision was a great bike. We take it back."

Two disgruntled and  uninformed owners are giving the V a bad name!

[Tiger]

 :) More for me to pick up cheap, eh!!! ;D :D :D :D :D :D :D... ;)

                  8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[Rikugun]

You have to understand when the Vision first came out it had a bad reputation for a reason :o. In addition, magazine tests suggesting better handling than the GPz were optimistic to say the least. In box stock production racing the GPz ran circles around the Vision. I say that from personal experience, at least on the east coast where I raced.

If I bought a brand new bike and had those problems I'd be disappointed too. We now have a 30 year pool of knowledge from many sharp guys to guide us through the potential V pitfalls. Once some key issues are addressed they are reliable and fun bikes to ride but that wasn't always the case.   ;)  :)

[Night Vision]

Brian, are you trying to tell us something?

[Brian_Matthewson]

NV...no, I just find it amazing that after 30 years, these guys are still pissed off!

[Raj1988]

I have to agree with these folks... If i paid top dollar for these bikes that were marketed as fighter jets and then found out they were unreliable and did not meet their inflated performance expectations, ran crappy and cost more than the competition, i would be pissed too.

Bad carburation and rear shocks(handling) are all issues we need to deal with on any 30 yr old bike to one degree or  the other. For us old bike lovers, once these faults are fixed as a matter of routine(?) during a full or semi restore, we end up with a bike that is fun  to ride and decent performance, not  to mention the cool factor and rarity of a Vision.

People buying this bike new, simply had a new bike that performed badly, was badly setup and well, just not worth its cost!!

[Night Vision]

NV...no, I just find it amazing that after 30 years, these guys are still pissed off!

yeah, that's what I used to think about southerners and the civil war...

get over it! it was almost a 150 yrs ago and I wasn't there!

[Re-Vision]

Looks like we went from cutting their balls off to thinking they were right about the Vision. The reason Southerners still remember The war of Northern Aggression so well is we are not all ignorant red-neck country hicks just like we have learned that all New Yorker's are not from the city. Ever wonder why Blacks are still angry when not one of them has ever been owned, that's what a legacy of hatred and mistreatment leaves behind.    BDC

[Rikugun]

For the record, I was never in favor of making them eunuchs as it seemed a tad extreme and stated as much :o  :D  :D


As if Vision bashing wasn't controversial enough, now you want to bring up civil war and slavery!?!?  Yikes, not gonna touch that one!  :P

[VFan]

But it was the performance that really disappointed. My gang in the Soo that year rode an RD400G, Honda FT500, Suzuki Katana 750 and Kawasaki KZ400. Thank goodness for the KZ400 or I would have been the slowest. Many nights, flying up Highway 17, the FT500 would blow by me, leaving the Vision wallowing behind it

Looking at the riding buddy bike list, RD400G and Suzuki Katana 750, I can see this guy getting clocked by those bikes; but the FT500? I've ridden one and I don't think so.

[Coil Coyle]

:) More for me to pick up cheap, eh!!! ;D :D :D :D :D :D :D... ;)

                8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

That's the SECRET! Owner ignorance!

;D

Coil

[Cdnlouie]

The truth is that Yamaha should apologize to these fellows, not for the Vision but for letting them down with proper service. I'm not sure what the policies are today, but the Japanese have had to come down off their high horse and realize that their bikes don't service themselves and if someone touches them that does not know what they are doing they can screw up as well as anything on the market. 

As a Yamaha mechanic in the 80's I received no training on new models, you were just expected to figure it out on your own, well everyone got what they expected, screwed up bikes! There is a story like this for all the bikes, but as futuristic as the Vision was, and the new technology being offerred, was way over the heads of the wrenches back then.  Note how Harley handles their V-rod by not letting their technicians touch that motor when it has issues, someone got smart.

I feel bad for these fellows as they got the screws put to them, and they don't forget! On the upside the Visions are still on the road and I guess that is going to be a real enigma for some people.

Cheers to one of the best kept secrets in motorcycle history!  ;)

[Rikugun]

Don't blame Yamaha for lack of training. That's all on the dealer. All the factories offered training but it's up to the dealer owner who they'll send - if anyone. Most don't want to incur the cost and have techs away especially during busy times. Whatever money was spent to update the tech's training would of course pay divedends later but business owners are sometimes myopic.

[67GTO]

With Toshiba copiers, we as a dealer can't sell a new model until us technicians are factory trained.

Once we pass the written and troubleshooting parts of the final exam in school, they release the product.

Should be that way with motorcycles.

Dan

[GT @ oh.]

I am a original owner as are some others and the bike was pretty good to me other then a couple vaporlock no starts and the fuse box needing replaced prematurely granted I didnt put many miles on say 6000 the first few years then she sat for long periods on n off as it is now :-[

[don_vanecek]

I must admit that about the second year into my ownership I was most likely pretty unhappy with Yamaha and the Vision myself. About that time the rust in the gas tank had become a problem and the Vision stumble had started. My warranty was now gone and I still don't know how my dealer, a little one man plus one mechanic shop missed the carb update (remember I bought it new in 1984). I think that some of these problems influenced the originator(s?) of the ROV newsletter, and so here we are today.

But you know if you go on sites for other models from the 70's and 80's you will find other bikes also had problems.     

[VisionMeister]

A poor rider and mechanic can't overcome any of the problems mentioned.
Slower than an FT?? Never crossed my mind.
Laid up in the shop with leaky fork seals?? A problem that happens to all bikes and takes about two hours to fix.
A good rear shock and good tires take care of the handling (within reason).
A good shop mechanic can synch the carbs.
My first Vision outran many of the bigger bikes of the day, my friends 83 gs750e included. He was faster as long as the road was straight.
I hated to sell it at 10,000 miles for funds for school. Bought another in 1988 and haven't parted with it since.
I swear I have more fun riding the Vision than my 900ss.

[Rick G]

I've run into people who had there clock cleaned by some on on a "better" bike, most of the time the problem is with the rider !  I've cleaned  a few clocks with my vision , but I'm careful to pick the right road. Also I won't chose off someone on a 600 sport bike. I've had my clock cleaned by those , when the rider knew what he was doing. But some I have left in the dust. They weren't up to the task.
As for reliability problems , may V's sat in the warehouse , and ended up with plugged carbs and other problems. Dealers were supposed to dip the carbs before sale and some did. Many filled out the warranty paper work and collected the money, but  sent the bikes out with no attention.

[JohnAMcG]

Reminds me of a story my pops used to tell me from the drag strip, these two guys were always racing.  So the first guy said he wanted to race for pink slips, and the second said he cannot win, because his car just wasn't as fast as the other.  So the first guy, says, no, his car is faster, he just doesn't know how to drive it.  So the second guy says, argues and argues, cuz he doesnt want to look like a punk, "if I had your car I'd win every time too!" so the first guy says, Ok, we'll race for slips, but Ill drive your car and you drive mine.  The first guy took both cars home.   

Almost as funny as the guy who showed up to Metro (they call it Metro, or used to, before they put in speed bumps, it was exactly 1/4 mile between two lights right next to a metro station, where there would often be illegal races at night) in a primer gray pinto.  Well, this guy in a souped up Mustang was giving him all this S, making fun of him and whatnot, trying to get him to race, and the pinto guy kept saying he is just there to watch, and he didnt come to race, and so on an so on.   So after much egging on, the pinto driver, says Fine, You wanna race?  We're racing for slips then.  So the mustang guy accepts, with his ego on the line, and they pull up to the starting line.  The pinto guy gets out of his car, and says, Hold on a minute, Im not ready yet.  He pops the hatch, and pulls out a set of wheelie bars and bolts them up, and cranks open a giant NOS bottle in the back.  Im not sure if it was a set up or not, but a quarter mile later that mustang guy was crying his eyes out saying "please don't take my car" and the pinto guys says, You would have had no problem taking mine.  LOL, some guys can't help but get all ego and emotional about stuff. 

[Brian Moffet]

Reminds me of the problems people had distinguishing my dad's auto-cross car.  Some people thought it was the Alpine (he had removed his tags)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Alpine

when in fact it was the Tiger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Tiger

Pretty close in looks, though the Tiger had a Ford v8 in it....