What did you do to your vision today?

Started by sunburnedaz, January 24, 2013, 02:09:20 AM

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kwells

#60
exactly. The D8EA plugs weren't lasting long. Will need to have Total Seal make me a set of custom rings since they don't exist. My compression is about 90psi so I think the compression rings are fine so I think my oil rings are going out. I just need to get it to last until then.
...a vision is never complete.

www.wellsmoto.com

inanecathode

Another thing to check with motors burning a bunch of oil is the valve guide. Hogged out valve guide plus not the most pliant valve seals in the world leads to the intake valve ingesting oil constantly. Haven't found a worn guide yet, but im sure they're out there.
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If you can't tell your friend to kiss your ass then they aren't a true friend.
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Rick G

worn guides are possible, But I have never seen any so worn , that they could not be used, ( in a Jap bike ) Coventry triumphs were a different matter . The high performance guides were bronze , the stock ones were iron. Neither  were long lived. It has to do with the rocker arm angle . OHC engines were much less prone to problems.
Rick G
Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there in lurks the skid demon
'82.5 Yamaha XZ550 RJ  Vision,
'90 Suzuki VX800, 1990 Suzuki DR350.
'74  XL350   Honda , 77 XL350 Honda, 78 XL350 Honda, '82 XT 200 Yamaha, '67 Yamaha YG1TK, 80cc trail bike

pinholenz

Today I tightened up the steering head retaining nuts. I replaced the ball bearings with a roller bearing set about a year ago. I am amazed at how often I seem to adjust them  down to take up movement as they settle. Not impressed with the lock system on the headstock nuts. I have taken to using Locktite on them for my peace of mind.

Mosfet R/R running fine. Happy bunny!
Only one '82.5  eXtreme Zen 550

fret not

You do have two nuts on the steering stem, or should have.  If you are getting more movement developing even though you have locked  (jammed) the nuts, possibly the bearings were not fully seated ( cups in the frame, and the bottom cone on the stem).  The top cone 'floats' on the stem which allows the adjustment with the two nuts.
Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

Rikugun

Typically only one adjustment is required after they settle in. I'd have to wonder if the races were driven all the way into the frame. The bottom one in particular is awkward to get at.
It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is then to persist in delusion, however satisfying or reassuring.  Carl Sagan

inanecathode

Quote from: Rick G on March 18, 2013, 02:17:21 AM
worn guides are possible, But I have never seen any so worn , that they could not be used, ( in a Jap bike ) Coventry triumphs were a different matter . The high performance guides were bronze , the stock ones were iron. Neither  were long lived. It has to do with the rocker arm angle . OHC engines were much less prone to problems.

Never seen any bad bottom end bearings on a vision either, but its a possibility with an engine ;)
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If you can't tell your friend to kiss your ass then they aren't a true friend.
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pinholenz

Changed my rear tyre from a tired Metzler to a used Michelin that had had a short  former life on a BMW.  Now running a Michelin Pilot Activ on the rear and a Pirelli Match up front. Looking forward to a run over Easter to see if the handling improves. I have been getting a disconcerting skip sideways on gentle turns with the old tyre. I thought it might be the swinging arm bearings, but all seems to be tight.
Only one '82.5  eXtreme Zen 550

Fuzzlewump

Today I POR'd my heart out for the gas tank.  :D   It was an all day job, but I wanted to be meticulous after reading several warnings to follow the instructions to the letter.

I'll tell you what, this isn't a job I wanna do again any time soon- if ever! It wasn't difficult really, just very nerve-wracking. With such limited sight into the tank, everything seemed to be a guessing game....just do your best, cross your fingers and hope you didn't screw up in there.

Total time spent on the job was several hours, but I think it paid off. To my uneducated eye the final product looks pretty promising. I won't know how well it holds up until after the bike has run for a while, but all the major rust that was in the tank was completely removed. I ran my finger inside the tank before the metal prep had time to flash rust, and there was no rust on my finger afterwards....I'm impressed! Also very-very-very pleased to find not a single pinhole in the tank. I kept a close eye on it all day and didn't find a leak.

I sanded the neck opening and put some POR around it and on the neck as well, for whatever extra protection it might add. Looks considerably nicer anyways. The excess POR was a pain to remove, but got as much out as I could and now she's sitting bottom-up drying out for the next few days.

One more hurdle out of the way, moving on to the next! I've got some electrical work tidy up (does that ever end?) and then wheel bearings, new tires, and carb rebuild. After that I can finally do a road test. I'm dying to ride, man.
Know ye not that ye are a gremlin?? Thou hast no quarter here- flee now from me!!

fret not

Fuzz, stick with it and eventually you will run out of things to do.  That's the time you take it out for a shake down and then go over everything you can think of, checking for leaks, loose bolts, tire pressure, etc. and then go out for a good ride.  Don't forget to make a report, as we will probably have something to comment on. 
Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

pinholenz

Today, being Easter weekend over here, I gave the XZ a good thrashing. Its been a long time coming, but finally got enough of the fiddly bits out of the way so we could get out on the open road with some mates for the day. 350km of coastal twisties,  high speed sweepers, long straight roads over the plains and even some gravel over an isolated backroad pass. Delighted. That's me with the gnomish grin!
Only one '82.5  eXtreme Zen 550

The Prophet of Doom

I bought my girl a sandblasting cabinet - I can't believe I never got one of these before.
Ripped the shitty paint of some switchgear in about 1 minute flat and leaves a nice satin surface for painting/powder

skaalster

In the last 2 weeks : Applied/Received my BC collector plates after having bike sit for 5 years (divorce) replaced all fluids including coolant flush, forks, rear end and brakes and fresh oil/filter. removed Carbs and soaked/dissasembled and reassembled. Started her up on second try.  She Idled nicely and then would not restart, just a click from the relay. Removed starter and was amazed at the amount of oil congealed in there..amazing it even turned over at all. order a kit on eBay and Rebuilt my Starter installed and promptly severed the nice new o-ring supplied with the rebuild kit..sigh..three different o-rings later and requisite removals she is not leaking oil anymore. I took her out for my first ride in over 5 years and fell in love again with that awesome v twin torque and sweet signature exhaust note....yes I am addicted to these bikes :-) celebrated by purchasing another Vision off craigslist...bringing my total to 3.
It is a sickness..No? LOL
-Dan

treedragon

Today  I removed the standard carb's and cut the inlet tubes from a Weber as mounted on a 906 Paso. This all prior to installing the Weber down draught carb............

Note: since I put the new exhaust on, the standard carbs have been decidedly less than awesome (but better than standard)............... except between 7500rpm and 8900 rpm where it had been positively awesome, (relatively speaking)............

So over the next week or two we might see some definitive results from the exhaust/cam changes as previously documented, THEN if the world hasn't turned into a bag of soggy jelly babies............ don't hold your breath on this.................. we will see what a relatively standard XZ will REALLY do!!
There is always a way

fret not

Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

pinholenz

Thanks Treedragon. Spent a happy hour today looking at Ducati's and especially the Paso which I didn't know anything about. I  was surprised to hear that some of these short-lived production bikes made it to NZ and was amazed to see 2 or 3 Paso's for sale on Trademe starting at NZ $3000. 

I wonder what the 0-100 kph will be for your refined XZ? I have heard some claim 3.4 secs for a stock XZ 550 (I doubt it) and 2.6 secs for a Ducati Diavel at twice the engine capacity and marginally lighter than a stock XZ.
Only one '82.5  eXtreme Zen 550

treedragon

Hehe Diavel and XZ in the same sentence  ;D   the XZ might make a good starter motor for the Diavel. They are totally ear to ear grin making awesome to ride, particularly when they have a decent exhaust on them. I doubt there are many that can match them for pure arm stretching GRUNT  8)      and they handle well............... well relatively speaking anyway  ;)

However........... the XZ wins hands down in the tight and twisties, proven fact  ;D  ;D  ;D

But I digress, today I got some time in and finished dressing and adjusting the placement of the new inlet manifolds ready for welding onto the base plate of the Weber, but not by me, and that will be the big part of the job done. The rest of this job will just be the fiddly sort things that many of us enjoy  ::) 

 

 
There is always a way

treedragon

Today the new manifolds were welded up with many thanks for the welder, then cleaned & trued up then offered to the bike with the carb on. The next stage is pump placement, throttle & choke controls and sorting out an approximation of the correct jets ready for a test ride in the not too distant future  8)  8)

So how does it look?  Rather nice, clean. With the tank on all that is visible is a nice clear view between the V's headed by two nicely curved alloy inlet manifolds.

An air box is not an issue with these carbs so I am not going to bother with much of one, just make do with directing cool fresh air directly from the nose (I built the vents into the front quite some time ago in anticipation of this). Tuning the velocity stacks and devising an air filter arrangement is another job to do.

   
There is always a way

HarryTakeuchi

The whining from the speedometer gears became so loud as to be embarassing so I took the cable off yesterday and rode home without a running speedo. This morning before I left for work I stuck the plastic nozzle for a silicone lubricant spray into the speedo cable inlet, managed to connect to the spray can from between the fairing, let it spray for about 20 continuous seconds.

When I started the ride this morning I still heard the whine so I figured there was no easy way and decided I would have to take the meter case off and grease up over the weekend, but after a few kilometers I noticed that the whine was gone and at least for the remainder of the ride to work, the screeching whine did not come back.

I don't know how long this is going to last but we'll see.
Harry Takeuchi

QBS

Remove the cable from the speedo.  Do your absolute best to force a large dab of grease into the speedo via where the cable plugs into the speedo unit.  Really work it into the speedo....... You will fail to get any grease into the unit......... However, the effort you put into the futility of trying to get grease inside the unit will have forced grease into the small space between the speedo head body and the carrier bearing that the speedo cable plugs into.  This area is what needed to be lubricated.  One such treatment will probably last the rest of the units lifetime.