AIR COOLED VISION!!??

[guzzi john]

  Ok,no such. Over 10 yrs ago I replaced my Vision w an Aprilia Futura a fantastic bike whose character(including ergos)are much like the Vision's. I recently copped a winter project in the form of a GT380 Suzie for $50(love two strokes!)and later was given another 380 parts bike. The fellow who gave me that 380 had an XV500 that I swapped an old snow blower for. After Cleaning the carbs(they were amazingly clean)and repairing the chewed wiring. IT RAN! I had to remove the mufflers and shake out the Squirrel's nest-it was shooting acorns to the end of my driveway! After more fiddling it would lose the  front spark when warming. Upon opening the TCI I found the dead cylinder would come back w finger pressure on the dead transistor. I tried re-soldering that one w no results so have ordered a pair of the NTE2317s. I'll keep you all advised as to how they work-may have to mount them outside the box as they're too wide for the oem heatsinks. It's going to be fun to Cafe the 500 into an AC Vision. I was dubious about its performance abilities but a comparison to the Vision on a Virago site was eye opening. A large weight difference levels the playing field a bit. Although slower on top end and the 1/4 the 500 was quicker in 5th gear roll ons. I don't know if it can be made to handle like a Vision but it'll make an interesting Cafe bike. Guzzi John-Champlin,Mn '74 GT380,'81GS1100E,'83 GL650,'83 XV500,'02 Aprilia Futura,'07 Kymco People 250S ???

[Re-Vision]

My first thought was that you have come to the wrong site. I could imagine a Cafe Virago   from a Virago. If you want to see an extremely unattractive bike, check out the E-Bay bike below.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1982-YAMAHA-XZ-550-VISION-VERY-RARE-V-TWIN-CUSTOM-CAFE-RACER-/130961988830?ViewItem=&item=130961988830&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466&forcev4exp=true#v4-35

My thought is that you ought to be on a Virago site and not a Vision forum. Building a Cafe Vision from a Virago seems like a technological deadend mistake.   JMO     BDC

[QBS]

Hello guzii.  Long time no hear from.  Good to see that you're still well!  God bless you.

[guzzi john]

 I re-enrolled here for the obvious info available. I am hooked to several Virago sites but they are sparser in regards to Cafe stuff whereas the Vision is one. I'm a lover of oddball bikes-have had several-3 Bridgestone 350s,a Guzzi Sport,XV920R,XS850 Standard, GR650 Tempter,GSF400 Bandit,Japanese Market XJR400. I loved my Vision and believe the XVA500 is a diamond in the rough to become a simpler & lighter Vision-like ride.GJ ::)

[Re-Vision]

Well welcome back. When I bought my Vision in 82 I also looked at all of Yamaha's bikes and I still believe none of them compare to the 550 Vision.  I may be able to help with Vision parts if you should need anything.   BDC

[guzzi john]

UPDATE!! I scored an xj650 turbo front end and it fits the 500's triple tree perfectly. The twin disks will be nice as they stopped my heavier Vision quite well. Here's a photo w unit in place and xv leg bungee'd along side. the 650 is a straight axle fork about 2" shorter so should quicken steering nicely. Now for finding something for the rear. I grafted anXVS1100 shock into my Cafe'd GL650 with good results. GJ ::)

[guzzi john]

  Got a 600 rear shock that should work. Had a dead transistor in tci and replaced both w nte2317s. The cylinder that had failed now heats that one to 110-130f whereas the other doesn't. Guys on Viragotech say test coil primary and replace capacitors. Any thoughts? Thanks,GJ

[couchflyer]

Hi John,

I went riding with you a couple of springs ago, I was on a Ducati Hypermotard.  I think you had Kawasaki sport tourer.  I cannot help with the coils, however I fixed my brakes by using a steel braided brake line and new shoes.

Mike

[Ken Williams]

Viragotech likely has good advice.  If testing the coil doesn't help you could also swap coils to see if overheating follows the coil or stays with the box. 

[guzzi john]

 High Ken,took some pix foe an update. I wiil be attempting more repair to the stock TCI if I can get the goo off the components. In the meantime an Ignitech unit is on the way. I finished the Turbo 650 fork & YZF600 shock installation. In the pix are the stock Virago shock plus an '82 Vision one and the YZF unit. As you can see the XV500 & YZF shocks are the same length whereas the Vision & YZF springs are. to make it work I simply cut the clevis ears off and welded the Vision shock eye in its place. Added clubmans and braided lines. Now I'll conjure up rearsets and see if I can live w the stock seat. I did test the coils and they're in spec-I'm thinking 30 yr old caps probably what's wrong. Also I don't have a Kawi-my Sport-tourer is a Futura.

[Rick G]

Geeze John. I wish you would have  had all those neat old bikes when I lived in MN. For those of you who weren't here then , John was an early member of the  Vision forum (different format then , this one is the third version) In fact he turned me on to the  forum in 1998.

[guzzi john]

Hi Rick,I've had about 50 total and maybe 10 or 12 since '98. I thought I was done w projects until the GT380 came along, Then a free parts 380 the owner of which also had this xv500. Swapped an old snowblower for it. I thought they were junk until I read an English writeup comparing it to the Vision. The Ignitech unit came today and works fine. The 500 even sounds good w stock pipes-throaty like the GL650. I also had an XV920R w a home brew 2-1-2 Super trapp setup I made-that was throaty and made good power as the 920's exhaust was much worse than the Vision's. I've got 6 months of winter to finish these two before riding weather comes back-Saturday's windchill will be 0! GJ ::)

[The Prophet of Doom]

Do ignitech publish the advance curve of their units? Are they the same as stock?

[guzzi john]

No idea ???

[fret not]

They have specs for most bikes, and can custom design a unit for you if you like.  They have programmable units so you can "twist the knobs" yourself.

[guzzi john]

  When I thought about the advance it came to me that they may be able to take a standard unit off the shelf and through computer wizardry ad whatever curve needed. That's way beyond me-I can't even text! But I don't care!GJ ::)

[fiat-doctor]

Yes, or look at the vision shop manual for the curve then apply computer wizardry.

I also don't think it really matters that much....  stock vision has full advance at about 3100 rpm...
Not sure that tweaking the "curve" which is all below 3100 rpm would make any real-world improvement...

[guzzi john]

   Hey we're a bit alike. I had a '69 124 Sport Coupe that I loved. Later after getting married we (I) bought our 1st new car-a '74 128 Sport Coupe(the one that looked like a shrunken Mustang). What a mistake!! 100% wheel bearing failure!!?? Traded in on a '76 Cotolla-1st(of MANY!)Toyotas. Presently my daily beater is a '95 Camry a sister-in-law bought new-318k & runs like an old clock. ;D

[fiat-doctor]

I know what you mean!  I'm a man of many Fiats, I must have owned over 20 in the years now I just have a couple of X19's.  My customers always ask me what they should get... TOYOTA is my answer :)

[The Prophet of Doom]

My father had an X19 from new.  He refused to sell it to me when he traded it in because he said it was too sporty and I was a hooligan.
Have you seen the Youtube clips of the X19 with a Hayabusa engine? Now THAT is a car for a hooligan.