motor

[Kevin]

My son trailered  his vision home from college this week. I put a new battery in  and fired it up. There is a knocking noise in the lower end. I pulled the sidecover off and the starter bolts look tight as does the retaining nut on the drive gear. I will pull the flywheel off and check things out on the starter clutch tomorrow evening. Does anybody have a motor for sale?

[jasonm.]

look tight?
Did you put a wrench on these to be sure?  All it takes is for these to be slightly loose for there to be noise. Especially the starter clutch allen bolts. A loose starter clutchis often the noise source. This is assuming the noise started to be noticed over a short period of time.

[Rick G]

You need to check the ballancer shaft nut too .  Its the one forward of the  rotor .

[Tiger]

Kevin, Jason & Rick are both right...I've done that repair x 3, on three seperate Vision's. In each case, the "problem's" where a wee bit loose. however, the noise is amplified thru' the motor making it sound worse than what it is... ::)
Pull the flywheel and do the starter bolt fix and rebuild with red loctite...Behind the flywheel you will find a 46mm nut with a locking tab. The wee guy's that built these "V"s didn't like to bend both locking tab's in place :o In each case one tab was just touching the nut the other was straight up. Torque this nut back up and bend over both of the locking tab's...and then re-fit the flywheel...and while you are in there, as Rick mentioned, you need to check the ballancer shaft nut too, its the one sort of straight up from where the starter enter's the motor.
Hope this all helps...

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

[Lucky]

That's how i got my first parts Vision (*sigh* you always remember your first...)
The owner offered it up for free, the motor had been siting in 5 boxes in his basement for years. he had taken the motor APAPRT looking for a bad bearing.  i told him what the problem was & was he sure he wanted to get rid of the bike. he said 'naw, i'm never going to put this back together...

Thanks Dr Luther Leake (Original ROV member #23)

--Lucky

[QBS]

Kevin, if the bike has at least 20k or more miles on it, and the starter clutch has never been reattached, there is about a 90% chance that the noise is starter clutch related.  If the bike has more than 25k miles on it and the starter clutch has never been reattached, you are on thin ice (that's getting thinner fast) regarding a cracked clutch housing.

[Kevin]

Ok, whew,, I got over extended with these rush to get Dustin's bike running for the Rally. I pulled the flywheel off and the bolt job I had done was still fine. The large nut holding the gear on was loose. I carefully torqued it with a chisel and large hammer, put everything back together and everything was fine. The 5 year old POR job has come loose in the tank. :(     I'll deal with it this winter. I just returned from the BMW falling leaf rally in Potosi Missouri, Seven bikes in our group rode 450 miles this weekend. Dustin rode his Vision and had many comments and lookers. One of our buddies pulled in to camp in the middle of the night and said all he could see was tents and bmw's then he made out the outline of the vision and knew he was in the right spot. I wish Carlie had gone also on the Princess bike. It's neat to have 2 Visions up and running. Thanks for the help everyone.   

[ironb12s]

Yep, it was a BMW rally alright... Tell me, did you pitch a tent in the quiet or rowdy zone?

[Kevin]

We camp in the quite area close to the picnic shelter. I did go on up on the hill to talk to the owner of the waterbuffalo. There is nothing quite like the sound of a triple with expansion chambers. ;D  Were you there? 

[ironb12s]

Oh, HO-HO!  So, POR-15 isn't the perfect sealer for the tank anymore.  And the loose liner woes will start again...  ::)

There is a spray on product at CarQuest, called Rust Converter.  Spray it on, it turns rust into black primer.  You have to remove any loose, flaking rust first, but the RC does the job.  I've got the entire front end of my Exploder treated with it and painted, in a 'rainbow of colors'.  That might be the end-all solution, that with an epoxy paint to go on top.  We've determined that J-B is the cold-weld fix for holes in the metal, but we still haven't found the last word in sealers.   >:(

Lemme show you a piece(s) done so:

LH radius arm, I-beam, spring, shock, front pumpkin

Perhaps, your tank wasn't properly prepared for the POR, which could be said for many of the failed Kreem installations, as well.   ???

[inanecathode]

Lol, thats quite an um.... colorful? Suspension system :D
Don't let the rice kiddies see that, they'll have to race you :P

[h2olawyer]

POR-15 has been used successfully for many years in the auto restoration industry.  With proper prep. it is good for a long service life.  There is a more insidious problem with Kreem.  Some fuel additives eat it, turn it to goo  & send it to your fuel filter & carbs.  Not a good situation.  POR-15 will stand up to the fuel additives.  With the need to keep the Vision carbs clean, many of us use things like SeaFoam, Berrymans, BG44K, etc.  I know I don't want my liner turning to goo & plugging my fuel filter - or worse, carbs.

Caswell Plating makes a good liner as well.  It's a red epoxy based (I believe) coating.  Has had high recommendations from some here.  I am considering it for my 83 tank when I get to it this winter.

I've seen many Kreem jobs start flaking.  Their materials are just inferior to other products.  Boulder Bike Works hates seeing Kreemed tanks come in on parts bikes.  They know they can't get much $$ for them - even if the Kreem hasn't started to flake - yet.  The owner of Boulder Bike Works calls it "that tank crap".  He didn't even know there are other, improved products available until I told him.

H₂O

[inanecathode]

I've had a por15 come out in sheets before.
I suspect the tank was/had already been lined.

[Aelwulf]

I've had a por15 come out in sheets before.
I suspect the tank was/had already been lined.

I've been thinkin' about this possiblity on my old tank.  I'm seriously considering the Caswell route on it instead due to it just in case, see how that does.

[ironb12s]

Caswell Plating makes a good liner as well.  It's a red epoxy based (I believe) coating.  Has had high recommendations from some here.  I am considering it for my 83 tank when I get to it this winter.

I've seen many Kreem jobs start flaking.  Their materials are just inferior to other products.  Boulder Bike Works hates seeing Kreemed tanks come in on parts bikes.  They know they can't get much $$ for them - even if the Kreem hasn't started to flake - yet.  The owner of Boulder Bike Works calls it "that tank crap".  He didn't even know there are other, improved products available until I told him.

Likewise, neither did I know of any other products when the time came to line my tanks.  Back then, in the early to mid 90's, were these other products available?  I might add, what products ARE available?  A list, maybe?

I think that the FatTank for my Intruder has the red Caswell in it.  I've heard that it is crap, too, from various sources, but I don't recall what was called for in it's stead.  Shall we start at poll in the various forums concerning tank liners?  Get a wider survey of the industry?   

[h2olawyer]

The known products are Kreem (yeech!), POR-15, Caswell & "red coat" from radiator shops.  The red coat is probably the best, but it is also most expensive of the 'readily available solutions.  The stuff I have isn't true POR-15 (I can't remember the brand, but it is the same stuff) and has been solid for about 10 years, now.  The tank on Tractor is likely Caswell (translucent red) done by PO.  The tank got munched this summer, so I have no idea of its durability.  The gas in the carbs was very red when I examined them just after I got the bike, though.  Haven't looked at them recently.

There's also a website for a place to ship your tank & they rebuild it & install a liner.  The highest cost of all, but probably the best quality as well.  I think DaveTN posted the link, but not positive of that.

H₂O

[ironb12s]

Yeah, and there's a fella that builds bigger tanks using Kevlar and Fiberglass over on the IntruderAlert forum.  That may well be the end-all solution, get tank that won't rust in the first place.  Want me to look into it?   :)  Might be worth taking a gander...

I'd already gotten my FatTank before I saw this, but I may think seriously about getting the 'plastic' tank if the price is good, and sell the FatTank...

*Just back from checking, the Extended Range Tank is only for the Intruder and Marauder of the Suzuki line.  Prices are about 1/2 to 2/3 what the FatTank folks want, and I'd bet that the 'plastic' (kevlar and f-glass) tanks would be WAY lighter, so no negative change to the COG.  Prices for the Suzuki tanks starts at $600.  And I've contacted them about possibly making for the ROV...*

The gas in the carbs was very red when I examined them just after I got the bike, though.  Haven't looked at them recently.

What color is the petrol from the pump?  It's not always the same, based on additives and such....

[h2olawyer]

It was NOT the fuel coloring.  Waaaaaaay too red for that.  Looked like someone added a bottle of food coloring to the fuel.  All the fuel I get around here is golden to a slight green.  Have seen some running a little to the pink as well, but never Cornhusker Red.  It perfectly matched the shade of the tank liner.

H₂O

[ironb12s]

I've seen purple fuel, mostly from the 90+ pumps, and gold to orange from the mid-grades.  If you suspect the red is from the liner...then it would stand to reason that all liners have an issue of some kind.

I'll wait to see what I get back from MCANDC1 on the ERT.  Should be able to work something out for normal and expanded tanks made out of plastics.  Normal tanks start at $600, extended at $800.