Tell us about your V

[dj]

Hey all, it is to quiet on the board today so I thought I would start a thread.  There was a thread going around awhile ago about saying a quick blurb about yourselves, but now I want to hear people talk about their V's.

I'll start since I started the thread.  I have a 1982 Vision that is mid-blue w/gray accent.  My wife actually found it for me.  Our neighbor (3 houses down the road) had it for sale and she thought that I would like to buy it.  She liked the look of it and said that it was ok if I wanted to get it (the greatest thing about that was I wasn't looking for a bike at the time and I already had 1.5 bikes in the driveway).  I went down that afternoon to take a look at it and fell in love with it.  These are great looking bikes (tempermental, but great bikes).  She still needs some work to be done before I can ride her, but she is almost done (I probably just jinxed myself with another 2 weeks of repairs).  I have owned her for about 3 weeks now, and I now know 1000% more about how to work on a bike then I did with working on my other bikes.  These things are actually easy to work on (the carbs are a pain to take off until you realize to take off the front boot and the carbs just slip out!).

So far with the help of my fellow Visionaries I estimate that I have saved at least 400-500 dollars in labor for the repairs that I have done to her and I still need to rebuild the starter and the disk filter that goes on the front carb (mine was completely missing, let alone the fact that half of the tubing for the carbs were hooked up wrong).  I still don't know how this bike was running when I got her.

I haven't got around to naming her yet, but since the other bike is BEAST (a tempermental 1979 Suzuki GS1000) this one might have to be named BEAUTY, but I don't know yet.  We have only known each other for a short while, but I am already can't stop thinking about what it will be like to get her back on the road (only been on her twice and it was the most fun that I have ever had on a bike before).

So now it is on all of you guys/gals to tell us about each of your V's.  How you happened to come across your V and what you have gone through together.

[Brian Moffet]

I bought my Vision in April of 1986, from Yamaha Country in San Jose.  It had 10 miles on it and was new.

Since then I've ridden it 41,000 miles with few problems.  I've had the starter seal replaced, the muffler gaskets replaced, the stator connector replaced, and the carbs rebuilt a long time ago (I put on a filter a long time ago too.)  It's been garaged pretty much its entire life.  Until March 31, I had no problems with it.  You can read about what happened that day in the CROV ride aftermath (http://ridersofvision.net/forum/index.php?topic=4302.0) posting I made.

I don't know what waits for it now.  I've been too busy working and getting ready for a couple of other things to take a look at it.  In June I think my time will free up.  And now I have a mostly clean garage to work on it.

Brian

[don_vanecek]

Will, I had been riding a 1970 Honda 350 twin since 1971 and by 1984 it was getting in pretty sad shape. In 1984 the varies MC manufactures had lots of left over 82 and 83 model bikes and I was afraid if I didn't try to get something soon these left over models would be long gone and then I wouldn't have enough for something new. Plus I really wanted a decent bike big enough to do most everything with-commuting, touring, having fun with. Will somehow I ended up in a Yamaha dealer in Missouri Valley, IA (the dealer is long gone!) and of the several leftovers he had, the Vision was priced just right for the amount of money I had. I believe it was about $1899 with a $2 or 3 hundred dollar rebate).  It seemed to be a just right bike, big enough, powerful enough, etc. However I must confess I would have gotten a left over Seca 650 the shop had if I could have spent about $300.00 more dollars. Wonder what fun parts for it would have been, I don't think they were big sellers either.  Basically other then tires, carb work and Kreeming the tank (por did not exist yet) my Vision was a fun dependable bike up until 1993. Then the stator went out, I still drove it for another year but then in the fall of 1994 the starter finally filled up with oil and the bike rested till fall of 2004 when I got it going again. I have had several 200 mile trips with one of my kids on the back before 1993. Longest trip I've ever done was about a 350 mile (700 mile total) with my then 15 year old daughter on the back. I enjoy my Vision, I think I could currently drive it anyway (don't jinx me!) at this time. By the way, part of the reason the bike sat for so long was that I didn't have a source of knowledge and parts  (i.e, the ROV forum) back in 1994. I remember going to the Yamaha dealer in the fall of 94 asking about a starter, he told me $400.00 and knowing my stator was also out (I think he quoted about $300.00) and didn't know how I was going to come up with that kind of money! Of course those children have now grown up and now I have to share the bike with my son-in-law. HE got to take it for nice all afternoon ride with a couple of his friends, all the riding I've gotten to do so far this year is commute to work and back, it isn't fair!

[Glyn]

I've got an 82, the red one with the white stripe. Like many others on the site, it was a rough runner when purchased. Had been used as a field bike. I paid too much for it ($500 Kiwi) but at least the motor was sweet. Picked up two non runners with good cycle parts for $300 a few months later. I've had plenty of bikes in my time. Favorites prob CX500's and BSA Bantams. The R80 was a dog and the Spada was a tractor! I really like to mess in the workshop and have done all the usual mods as well as a few things others have not tried yet. IDF Weber carb and rear T600 shock prob the best mods so far.
It now pulls from 1000rpm in top cleanly with no stutters. Still battling to fix a pesky oil leak after plumbing in an oil cooler. It's winter here anyway and a tired 1980 Z200 provides daily transport, so all again is good with the world.

I've got two spares bikes looking at me now, saying do something. Toying with the idea of taking out the shaft and mounting another chain drive twin in the chassis. I like the look of the XV1000 lump and I'm sure the chassis would take it. Anyone done anything similar??  I've never once regretted getting involved with the Visions, just need to get a little faith in them like I had in my CX's. I suppose everything comes to he who waits.

That's my 2c.

[zore]

My red 82 was more or less given to me by my brother in-law who, with 2 sets of twins, felt his riding days were over.  He was the second owner and it only had 2400 miles on it when I got it.  It still has the Yokohama speed line II's mounted on it in 1989 and they seem just fine.  I took the bike to deals gap in early May and it ran like a top (after a quick rejetting)


  I've done a few mods to it, Mac exhaust, ducati monster head light and turn signals, removed the rear fender.  As for future mods, I have a ducati monster bikini fairing I'm wanting to mount on it.  After that, I think it's done.

[VisionaryDan]

I bought my Silver 82 in February of 1983 for $2,300. I orginally had mounted a Quicksilver fairing, lugage rack and a silver Shoe trunk. I rode it configured like that until sometime in 97 when I dropped the bike and cracked the Quicksilver. I removed the fairing and rode without it for the next year.

In the spring of 98 I had some nasty neck surgery that involved fusion of 5 of my vertebra. So I stopped riding and the bike and it sat until the spring of 2006. Working out stengthened my neck and when the old lady desided to run off with a coworker of mine, I figured what the hell... time to start riding again. 

I rebuilt the carbs, and got it runnung and then found this site, which has been an amazing help getting the bugs worked out: stator, YICS, starter clutch, fuse box, cooling problems... I wonder if I would have bothered if it weren't for the ROV site. 

In May of last year I bought my second Vision as a parts bike off ebay for $440. After a few fixes I had the ebay bike running (thanks to the help I received here) and I didn't have the heart to tear it down for parts as I orginally intended.

So I now own two silver 82's one with the sport fairing and one naked. It's been a lot of fun keeping up with all the Vision quirks but I have learned a lot in the last year about these bikes. Besides now if I need to tear down one, I still have a backup to ride.

Thanks again for all the help,
Dan

[YellowJacket!]

I got my Vision about a year ago from a guy I work with.  Its kind of a funny story and the bike has an interesting history. It was first owned by a fellow Respiratory Therapist that I work with in the hospital. He rode it for a couple years then sold it to another RT that I work with.  The first owner was convicted of murdering his fater in law and later committed suicide in jail.  :o  Erick, the second owner also rode it for a few years and it apparently developed the rev limiter problem.  He took it to a Yamaha dealer who quoted him more than the bike was worth, so he parked it under his deck and forgot about it.
I wa stalking about getting a motorcycle at work one day and Erick told me that he was about to aul his off and sell it for junk.  I asked him if I could take a look at it and he said sure.  Went and looked at it and it was a bit grungy from sitting outside for about 12 years and even had a small tree growing up throught the swingarm but it had potential.  Since Erick was looking for a laptop and I was looking for a bike, we decided to trade.  On a rainy day in April, we pushed the bike up on his truck and took off for my place.
I immediately started taking pictures of it and searching for info on the net and of course, found ROV.  The bike came with a Haynes manual, so I decided to study the manual and ROV before I started disassembling...I did not know what I was getting myself into.  After a few months of taking apart, getting new parts and gettin advice from here, I started putting her back together.  Wouldn't you know, she cranked on the first try but the rear cyl was not getting a spark.  After the rev limiter fix, she fired up.  A few more weeks of work and then the MSF course and she was ready to ride.  Oh what a day it was .  I had never restored a vintage bike before but with everyones help here, I accomplished my goal.
Im sure there will be more to add...

David

[Serendipity]

My V is my first bike. I took the MSF course at the end of March and brought my '82 home from it's most recent family outside of Atlanta this past Easter weekend, along with Tailwheel's '83. Both purchased from Visionary GAWolf. I wish I knew that history of mine but I really don't. It was purchased for his wife but proved to be too big for her. Luckily for me I'm not a little girl so she fits me just fine. As I undertand it, she in recent years anyways hadn't been regularly ridden, unlike Dave's 83.

When we got her it was under the condition that it may take some work before she really ran at all, but with some new tires I had her on the road (well in the parking lot at first) the next weekend. But of course, she had the famous Vision stumble so in pretty short order we changed the fuel filter and then cleaned the carbs. She ran much better for a couple of rides until she died on me and we realized just how amazingly dirty her tank was....our buddy who rescued us was amazed she ran at all in the condition her tank was in....well it just so happens we have another '82 a friend had given us about a year ago (with a good tank) so we just switched them out.

And I've been having the time of my life ever since. I plan on doing some adjusting to the handlebars to make it a little more comfy. And after we go to the Dragon (in August) and I get past my proverbial 6 month newbie mark, I plan to give her a new paint job. Not 100% sure what I want to yet...something feminine but not too girly. I don't want Dave to be embarrased if and when he has to ride mine. :D

Also, you will notice that I refer to my V as "she". I know most men call their's "she" and most women riders ride a "he". But all of my riding horses are mares (female) so it just feels right to call her a HER. So it's not a "new batwoman" thing (see post in OT forum) but more of a Girl Power thing. LOL

[Paul_Jungnitsch]

It was spring of 1987 and I had spent all the previous summer touring around Europe. After a winter back home making money, I thought that seeing my own country would be kinda neat, especially on a bike. Looking for a cheap motorcycle that spring I ended up buying a very nice '82 Vision off a friends brother. Had a nice Shark fairing and only 7000 km's for $1350 CAN. Used it to drive across to Prince Rupert, down to Vancouver Island, then all the way across the country to Newfoundland. Made it back home just ahead of the snow, in true Vision fashion with the stator in my tankbag, lights disconnected, and charging the battery up every night.

Felt the bike had paid for itself that one trip, but after I replaced the stator it kept going for almost another 20 years, making 83,000 km or so until the motor destructed in the summer of 2004. Probably because it was steadily ridden I hardly did much but change oil. One good bike, whose parts have gone on to keep other Vision's running.

One of the last trips here: http://www.angelfire.com/trek/mytravels/motorcycle1.html

[bluegillspeed]

My V is also my first bike. I was just getting into riding about 10 years ago when my father had a near fatal crash which left him physically unable to ride anymore. After the crash I lost all interest in bikes and my father and I never spoke about it. Over the last year or so several friends have gotten bikes and I guess subconsciously I started thinking about riding again. When tailweel showed up at work one day with his 83 the spark in the back of my mind found a can of avgas. After talking with dave and finding out he had 3 bikes and might be willing to part with 1 I set out on a mission. After taking a look at the bike he asked my if I could set him up with a computer as trade. Since I run the IT department at work and have countles parts laying around my house, this worked out perfect for me. When I spoke to my father about returning to riding he broke down into tears of joy and said he had always dreamed of the two of us riding together up until his accident and said that he was going to give me his bike after the accident but sold it because I had lost interest. I am looking forward to getting my bike on the road in a couple of weeks. I still have to put new tires on, change the fuses to blades, clean and reseal the tank, and fix a charning problem at which time I'll also move the voltage regulator. The bike is red with a sport fairing I look forward to many fun and exciting rides in the future.

[dj]

Hillary - congrats on the new bike.  Be thankfull that you have 2 members that live really close to you that can help you with your issues.  Remember that we are always here for answering questions.  Don't be afraid to bug Lucky, NightVision, Tiger, and a few others that I can't remember right now (they are kinda the resident experts on all things Vision!).  They have helped me and countless others out of major jams with our bikes.

[Pojo]

I got my '82 from my dad's boss. It was sitting in here garage for a long time and she just wanted it outta there. It was her son's, who was currently in jail in Iowa for starting a meth lab, and when he finished that sentence, he would have to come back and serve time for a DUI in Wisconsin. So I went there and trailered it back to my garage, where it sat for a while until I found a set of carbs. I spent a day dipping and cleaning the carbs, then the rest of the week assembling the bike. I still could not get it running, so I got the starter rebuilt, and tried to get it running with the help of my mechanically enclined cousins. With their help, and a car battery bungeed on the back seat, I took it for my first ride, and after that, I've been working on it and no it's in excellent running condition, I do have the stumble problemd, but I dont mind it, just use the throttle slowly. She may look a little sad from the faded paint and dirty engine, but she takes me where I need to go. However I am looking to sell her and get a honda, sry guys, but I need something a little more reliable, as I will be moving to Madison soon, and I dont have the time nor place to work on a bike.

[Rikard]

I bought mine last summer.
It had been sitting for the past few years (probably closer to six, seven). On the outside, she was in pretty good shape. Previous owner had done some of the more obvious fixes: soldering stator wires, adding in-line fuel filter (he never found this forum - dang, I wish he'd found you guys, I'd be riding now instead of fixing..).
When I first tried to start her up, she'd fire up, cough, then die. No surprise, the tank held about 50/50 water/gasoline. Carbs were full of green crud (looked a lot like algae). Dipped carbs, and she started, but sounded really unhappy: old plug cables. Replaced those, and noticed the starter clutch knock, so tore everything down and fixed that (thanks Lucky, great site!). I noticed the stator was looking rather crispy, but battery charged, so thought no more of it. She ran good enough for me to get to work, so I was happy.

Trip meter didn't work, nor did the reserve on the tank. I established that reserve not working was due to poor fit between tank and in-tank filter, allowing gasoline to seep into petcock without passing filter. Was going to fix this, but never got round to it. Will fix now though.

Fixed the trip meter yesterday by disassembling the instrument cluster (trip reset wheel is counter-threaded - turn it the wrong way and it'll come out - might be an alternative to finding small enough philips screw driver) and moving the 100-meter wheel to left-most position. There's a small edge on the left 'inside' of each wheel that'll make the next (left) wheel to flip forward one notch on each rotation of the wheel immediately to its right. This edge had worn down on the rightmost wheel.

This spring (a few weeks ago, actually), I started looking into the stator issue after she died on me on a test run, and sure enough, the stator was _way_ fried - I had copper 'globules' (like you'll get from dripping solder) in the stator cable sock inside the crank case cover.
Fortunately, the R/R seems to be ok (diode test checks out), but needless to say, the stator was toast.

Right now, I've disassembled the head, removed the tank (to be POR-15:ed), and removed the old stator. I'll be cutting a new gasket and cleaning all connectors in the head while I wait for the new stator and POR15 to arrive. After all this (and some helicoil on poor threads in crank case cover bolts), she'll hopefully last me this summer. I'll be adding a volt meter to keep tabs on the charging system. I'll probably relocate R/R to left passenger peg as well, just to be safe.


All in all, she's cost me about $800 so far (motorcycle prices in Sweden are somwhat hysterical - getting a running bike for less than $1000 is basically impossible). Add stator and POR15 to that, and I still concider this to be a good deal. I just hope nothing more goes south on me. =)

Oh, did I mention she has 18 owners before me... ;D
/Rikard

[zayanteman]

I have an 82 Vision that my neighbor bought new off the showroom floor in 83.  He got it heavily discounted, as many did back then, and rode it until around 99.  He then let it sit in the sideyard for a year (without draining the carbs or gas tank), before returning to it.  Not surprisingly, it wouldn't start for him, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.  He offered to sell it to me, but I declined.  Then, he tried to donate it... but no one would take it.  Then, he offered to give it to me!  I accepted that offer, and have had it since about 2000.  It was my first bike, and I worked hard at repairing all the little annoying factory deficiencies (like the starter, regulator/rectifier, gas tank lowpoints, etc, etc).  I ended up going a little crazy and pulling the bike apart to repaint everything black, and putting it back together with fun changes along the way (corbin seat, flush turn signals front and rear, windscreen, throttlemeister, driving lights, etc, etc).  I did all this work, then had the bike fail me on about twelve occasions.  The starter died (and had to be re-built) twice, the regulator/rectifier died (and had to be replaced) twice, etc, etc.  Eventually, after having dumped a lot of money and time into the bike, I began to question myself. 

I realized the bike I wanted was never going to come out of the Vision, since the inherent technical (factory) flaws kept re-surfacing time and time again.  No matter how comfortable I could get or how much luggage I could attach, the bike itself couldn't cut it for me.  In 2003 I stopped trying and parked the bike under a nice cover (after draining the carbs of course).  I've been riding a Honda Intercepter since, and haven't had a single issue yet.  The suspension is so much better, the handling is so much better, the ergonomics aren't much better, the wind protection is so much better, the speed is so much better that I've gotten to know the cops better...  (oops)

It's interesting that I started with the high-tech bike of 1982, then upgraded to the high-tech bike of 2002 (The VRF800 has V-tec, anti-lock brakes, linked brakes, etc).  Twenty years of progress has yielded some significant changes.  But I still have a place in my heart for the Vision, and started working on it again this past weekend.  Just today I looked at the Forum I used to frequent.  Saw this post, and here I am again.  I'm not sure what to do with the bike this time around.  I've got a spare engine I can swap in (the problem this time seems to be the clutch on the crankshaft, as it the starter just spins the crank without engaging the pistons very well -- occasionally they engage), and I could then go through all the classic challenges yet again.....

.... or I could swap out the ICE (internal-combustion engine) for an electric motor and build an electric bike!!!  ;D  A guy here in California did that to his a number of years back, and I visited him up in Petaluma or Santa Rosa (can't remember where) to check out his bike.  He let me ride his "eVision" and it was just amazing.  No noise, hardly, and lots of nice torque from 0rpm all the way up (as electric motors do).  If I can get ahold of him again (can't remember his name), I might try to collaborate on doing a second eVision.  That would be a nice evolution for the little bike that wants to be high-tech.

So, that's the story of my Vision.  I've got enough spare parts to keep it running forever, but gasoline is soooo "yesterday," and electric would be a good fit for the bike (shaft drive, big square area to put batteries where the engine used to be, etc).  Anyway, hope you are all enjoying your Visions, and not having too many troubles with them.

Zman

[anpmech10]

My Vision used to be my Dad's He has owned it since new. It is an 82 with the 83 fairing. I am currently in the process of getting it running after sitting for a while.

[Lucky]

Welcome Anpmech10, anything you need, just ask, you'll get good advice quickly (better than any Yamaha dealer!)
--Lucky

[d0n]

Cool topic!

After owning many many bikes I decided to get a real "motorcycle" again. My last 3 bikes were two 1993 gsxr1100's (1st one was stolen so I bought another one) and then bought a new suzuki hayabusa 1300 in 2000. After getting way too many tickets on the 'busa I sold it. It was either sell it or end up dead or in jail.  :'(

I bought a 97 honda helix scooter after that. It was a great scooter so I got another one... an 86 with less miles and an AM/FM factory Kenwood radio. I sold the 97 and have been riding the 86 for a while now.

I've been aching for a real bike since selling the busa in 2002... checking craigslist and local ebay bikes for months. I found my 83 vision on craigslist. It was listed for $1155 on 6/2/06 and then for $950 on 6/13/06. I went to look at it on 6/14 and liked it. I offered $500 and waited for a counter offer via email.

A few days later I bought it for $550! It came with 2 new helmets (cheapies), black and decker trickel charger, yamaha service manual, new bike cover, two motorcycle 83 magazines with the Vision reviews and tests, the original purchase receipt ($1995 in 1985) and the title.  :o

I rode it home about 15 miles. All the lights worked and it ran pretty good.

So far, I'm psyched to own it. I love the thump and sound of the V-twin engine.

Much cleaning, shining and some repairs to be done before it's 100% ready for the street.

This is what it looked like the day I brought it home.

[h2olawyer]

Great find at a great price.  You've got a real diamond in the not so rough!  Welcome & congrats on finding a rare 83 in decent shape.

H₂O

[QBS]

It's good to win.

[Rich]

I just found this site yesterday and it's great!
I bought my Vision brand new in Feb of '83 for $2800.00. It's an '82, serial # 00265. I was parts manager in a Yamaha shop at the time and this was a stock unit nobody would buy. I felt sorry for it and bought it. Besides I really liked the way it looked and it had some things other bikes would only dream about. I put a full fairing on it before taking it home. At the time I was riding a Yamaha XS11 and thought my wife would ride it. She rode it for a little while and then kids came into the picture & that was the end of riding for her. I rode it a few times after that but it stayed parked most of the time. As of yesterday it has 583 miles on. Believe it or not it still has the original tires on it. I'm riding a GSXR1100 now but still take the Vision out for a putt now and then. It's a great bike to ride, but I still  REALLY enjoy the big bike acceleration. I'm thinking I'll park the 1100 for a while and start riding the Vision now. It had a nasty gas leak and I found a fix for it here yesterday. So far so good. I'm looking forward to spending more time on this web site, it's a wealth of information.