XZ550 Lemon?

[Cdnlouie]

Dear Mr. Gibson,

Your magazine has been (past tense) at the top of my list for motorcycle magazines, as I own and restore classic bikes; therefore, your articles are usually read with great interest.  Now, I understand that you like to poke a bit of fun at all bikes once in a while, but this time Mr. Lou Spokes has compromised his credibility as a reliable researcher in the field of classic motorcycles.  Do you want a credible magazine or a tabloid? I guess the decision is yours?

I just read the article on page 113 “Biking Lemons” and what obviously qualifies as the stuff “old wives tales” are made of, is seemingly presented as fact.  I would not be surprised if the author cannot produce the documentation to substantiate his conclusions (I would love to see it).  In this regard, the article seriously reflects upon the magazines credibility.  I have ridden motorcycles for almost 40 years, worked on BSA, Triumph, Nortons and many Japanese motorcycles and in much of my reading, I can't remember seeing such a rant in print.  I can hardly even remember a British bike getting that kind of review, and they could come by it honestly.

In all my years of owning, wrenching and riding Japanese motorcycles I can't think of any that have actually accumulated the degree of criticism included in this article.  There has never been a Japanese motorcycle ever built this poorly (and sold), and that's a fact.  This is far from being an "honest" tabloid version of a real motorcycle article, as the dripping sarcasm goes well beyond the realm of the ridiculous.  If it is a caricature and meant to have comedic effect, that's okay, we can all laugh at our bikes exaggerated features, but stretching the truth is quite different from outright denying the truth.

It could be possible that someone has had a horrible motorcycle experience (May God spare his tortured soul) and needs this psychological cleansing rant after 25 years, and so I hope it works for him, because he needs to let it go.

I drove a Vision in 1982 when it first debuted in Canada and was impressed then with the bike.  It was fast and with torque unlike any middleweight up to this time.  I did not own my Vision until 2000 when I brought one home with the carbs in a bag and I set out to restore this classic bike.  FYI: the reason the carbs were in the bag was because of a rusty tank and that was the only reason.  I have put over 30,000 kms. on the bike and have ridden it daily without a problem in 7 years.  I do regular maintenance and it just runs flawlessly with none of the article issues.  Seven of these bikes traveled over 2000 kilometers this last summer for a rally in Syracuse New York and everyone had a blast.  Honestly, I have never seen a Vision engine die.  They have been known to be still going after 80-90000 kilometers.  The Vision has about the usual Japanese faults (which are few for the bikes of the 80’s), but not more than any other, and arguably a lot less than many others, so if you are on a rant, I expect to see a Honda CB750 (a great bike too) falsely raked over next month and so on, to be fair.

Whatever the reason for Lou Spokes putting such an article in print, I think we can virtually dismiss it as hardly worthy of a response because the fellow is obviously just not in a proper frame of mind.  If he wanted to know the truth about the Vision (a.k.a. XZ550) then he really should ask someone who knows (like read one credible magazine evaluation of the period. I would be happy to share my copies), that much is hilariously obvious (I'm still not convinced that this is not a joke or a hoax).

If this is a real article (at least as good as an old wives tale can be), then I guess there is some obvious vindication, since the Vision will still be around when Lou Spokes isn't. Maybe the moral of the story being "he who laughs last, laughs best," because it's pretty funny already.

We might as well keep it our little secret (Vision owners), the Vision rocks!  It is the Universal Japanese Motorcycle and a few lucky people have that privilege of experiencing it!


This article really begs the question: Isn't it darn miraculous that such a horrible bike is still around and some of us stupid people that don't know any better ride clear across the country (like Kenny et al. www.ridersofvision.net) on it and never experience any of the aforementioned Yamaha design problems?  I'd say the Vision has spoken for herself!

Here's to 26 years of tearing up the pavement,

Another Bizarre Canadian Vision Rider! (Toronto, Canada)

P.S. We know you Brits are ticked at the Americans, but what did we do to deserve this!

[Night Vision]

Dear Mr. Spokes;

After reading your satire "Biking Lemon's > Yamaha XZ550", I must confess that it took me several reads to really appreciate the subtleness of the English humor. Keep up the good work! I am looking forward to your next installment when you actually "find a running example" and I expect to be as mildly amused with that article, as I was with this one.

Sincerely, "Something of a following in the USA"

I emailed Tiger earlier and asked: what's the English word for '"what the fook are you talking about because you don't know your arse from a hole in the ground"?

then better my judgement chided in, and I realized this guy must already know  :D

[kwells]

i believe pissoff is the word you are looking for..

[YellowJacket!]

i believe pissoff is the word you are looking for..

I tried that and got a message from their "respond to editor" that my IP address had been banned.  oops

David

[joevacc]

Thanks for heads up Tiger!  I just sent mine.

Dear Mr. Gibson,

In my 30 years of riding and countless motor biking subscriptions, I have never read an article so full of miss information.  Has Lou Spokes ever ridden a XZ550 Vision?  I have been riding mine since it was brand new.  I can tell you that it took me 3 years of test riding new motorcycles to find a bike that had all the benefits of my 26-year-old Yamaha.

I have personally seen examples with 70,000, 80,000 and mine 40,000 miles with nary a spring and shock refreshing.  The bike is not with out issues, poor stators, starter clutches coming loose and making noise - but Mr. Spokes missed the mark on every count in his article.

I could go on, but suffice it to say that if he had any idea what he was talking about he would not have written this article.

Perplexed,

Joseph D. Vaccarino

[Lucky]

I just posted a note about it on the German forum (www.xz550.de) with a link to a .pdf copy of the artical:
http://www.xz550.com/lemon.pdf
There may be an uprising!  ;D

[Tiger]

 :) Your welcome Joe, but simcha deserves the credit for the initial "Heads Up"... ;)

Article's like this "biking lemons" only help our cause in acquiring Vision's on the cheap and...more to the point...our resolve to showcase our handywork once these great wee bike's are up-and-running with another permanently grinning owner, sitting in the saddle having fun.

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

[YellowJacket!]

I got a  response..well sort of , from Mr. Gibson.  Heres an excerpt from a follow up email I sent him.  In the letter, I invited him to come to my house and ride my Vision.

Quote:

...I invite you to Knoxville TN to ride my fully restored XZ550 Vision on  US129 the famed Tail of the Dragon with 318 curves in 11 miles.  I'll even let you stay in my guest room.

----------------------------------------------------
Name:      David
E-mail:    xz550rj@gmail.com
Telephone:






If only we had the budget. Getting a fuel allowance to drive to Louth is tough enough.
Cheers,
Rod.

[louthepou]

CndLouie, your message to him was a lot more interesting than his own article!!!!

Lou

[williamruck]

So has anyone gotten much of a response from this guy yet?

[Cdnlouie]

I received this note from Mr. Gibson this morning (Jan. 30, 2008).  Now, I would agree that the previous article by John Nutting seems to have been a fair evaluation of the Vision weaknesses, but this last one misses the real issues with many stretched over the limit "old wives tales" spread by dealers who may have had a warranty claim, really never drove the Vision, and who just go off to some writer about their perception of a "lemon."  I do have a few more words to say, but I have appreciated his detailed response.

Hi CDNL,

I don't know why this should be, but our man Spokes seems to have touched a nerve with a handful of Canadian riders (you're the fourth), and no-one else. To be fair to him, his research for this piece consisted of talking to dealers who had experience of selling these bikes new, and dealing with warranty problems afterwards.

We also have acres of archived old magazines here; but you surely wised up years ago to the fact that journalists testing new bikes have them for a few days at most, rarely ride them for long enough to discover long term problems and have one eye on advertising contracts with the manufacturers which help pay the wages. Didn't you?

Among our writers we have John Nutting, who did ride one of these bikes brand new, and was present at the launch. He covered the bike in a retrospective MIRA Files feature in our August 2004 issue. He reports poor throttle response, clunky transmission, weave-inducing steering geometry, soft suspension, lack of power (compared to contemporaries), and concludes that it ended production in '84 because of poor sales. The XZ was, apparently, better received in the US, but it seems that not all magazine reviews were glowing...

We have the great luxury at CMM of writing about bikes without risking upsetting the manufacturer, and with years (sometimes decades) of real life dealers and riders experiences with the bikes. The Biking Lemons series has been highlighting design and marketing problems with various Japanese bikes since we began it two years ago. To suggest that all Japanese bikes were faultless is ridiculous - haven't you ever heard of a Honda CB250G5, or a Kawasaki Z400, for instance? And to hold up the CB750 as a paragon of excellence when Honda persisted in that appalling swinging caliper front brake right until the final K6 is plain silly.

All bikes have faults, and all have strong points. Most have a balance between the two, and a good bike has the balance biased in favour of strong points. I love my Z1 to bits, but have no illusions about it's handling capabilities above 80mph, and wouldn't spit my dummy out if someone pointed out it's known shortcomings.

In the interest of balance I'm currently trying to find an XZ550 for a proper road test, but am having trouble tracking one down over here. That seems to indicate that either a) no one bought them, or b) none have survived. In either case it hardly indicates a successful model.

Perhaps the only logical conclusion is that the good ones all went to Canada?

All the best,
Rod.

[Night Vision]

blah...blah.....Perhaps the only logical conclusion is that the good ones all went to Canada?

or, perhaps it's because they've spent most of their lives in cold storage  ;D

[Lucky]

I think he's just a plain asshole.
--Lucky

[tben]

He is clearly a smartass.

[QBS]

I know of a pretty good '83 that went to Texas!

[jasonm.]

The '83 was better than the '82. But I guess the writer never knew more than hearsay. AS far as handling...I honestly run faster than most...when I can. SO if his "Z" has an issue above 80. Then he is really off base. Mine is rock solid up to as fast as the engine will pull. Which is well past a ton. But having the tapered bearings in the steering may be the key. I installed them right after I bought mine w/12k on it. Were the original one's worn? Likely not, but by 20k they usually are, so why wait? I am with Tiger on getting the bikes cheap now that they are known to some as "lemons"  ;D.

[YellowJacket!]

I invited him to my house for a test ride.  He declined.

David

[inanecathode]

Wait. They're comparing it to 2003 standards? Are they high? What bike from a 1982 vintage is going to have snick snick transmission? Underpowered? For a 550 in 1982 i'd hardly say its underpowered.

[joevacc]

Lucky you made me laugh out loud!  The bearing thing is an issue for non conformists.  I'm glad that we are doing this because we, the chosen few need the perpetuate the fact that this bike was way ahead of it's time.  Is still a viable vehicle and can out handle (with $40.00 worth of bearings)many modern bikes.

Ok too much to drink tonight I'll go on tomorrow.

[Cdnlouie]

I decided on one more attempt and then I will let it go.  I also sent him a few pics of our ride to Syracuse NY (8 Visions) just to let him stew.

Hi Rod,

I appreciate your quick response to my remarks.  I will enlarge on my previous remarks in the interest of clarifying my point.  Let me just say that Mr. Spokes could do better than talk to a few dealers.  I would hope that you might be well aware of the backyard gossip that stems out of dealerships when their only experience with a particular motorcycle is handling a warranty claim.  I think we would both agree that new bike testers and dealers hold the truth somewhere in between, and the one to whom it matters most is really the fellow who drives the bike down the road.

From an historical perspective this motorcycle was an upscale Sport-tourer, not exactly the flavour for the average rider in the day.  From a marketing perspective I agree this bike was a “failure,” since it was too expensive with its many bells and whistles such as shaft drive, water cooled engine, virtually maintenance free valve adjustments, optional full sport fairing even with directed heat vents (one of the first tp engage the sport styling), etc. to become a popular seller overnight. You might say Yamaha put itself out of business with its own efficient 550 model four cylinders.  Dropping the Vision in year two made good economic sense more than good motorcycle sense, since the design has proven popular today in current high performance V-twin machines (as mentioned in the article).  Unfortunately, you are painting the XZ550 with a failed marketing label (while being true) does not affect the credibility of the stand alone machine.  It is perfectly fair to note that point, but to evaluate the machine according to its own character.   

Hindsight is often 20/20 and I propose that you take advantage of that option when evaluating a bike’s particular “lemon status.”  Listen to the dealers, go back and read a few test magazines (you don’t exactly have the market cornered on credibility either) and then see what’s happening to the bike today via internet forums by the fellows still riding these bikes.  This is the kind of research we need by a magazine that wants to give an accurate and current view (the one that matters) of motorcycle classics.

Strangely, this is one bike that has actually improved with age.  We never hear the kind of ludicrous remarks made in your article today by current riders, which does make one wonder if the Vision being so innovative was well beyond the understanding of most dealers.  It surely passed off the scene before some even figured out that it was not a "two-stroke." I know for a fact, an average dealer of the time could not figure out the Vision carbs because they had never seen a down-draft design before.  It’s no wonder most Visions stopped running soon enough after a season of sitting without fuel stabilizer because that is exactly how I came to get my bike so well preserved 20 years later.

“In the interest of balance” as you have proposed I would be happy to volunteer an article written from the viewpoint of a current rider (myself or others) and a Yamaha mechanic that saw the first Visions sold here in Canada. I carried out some of the early modifications which tweaked the first year Vision 82 and addressed all issues of any import, presenting a motorcycle that performs fabulously 25 years later.  I did not own my first vision until 20 years later and it has greater appeal to me now then it did at first, since I now appreciate what the motorcycling world has lost.  It’s too bad that Lou Spokes is simply unaware of how simple it was to correct the Vision engine shaking (lock-tite on the balancer shaft nut or peened starter clutch bolts), bike weaving (softer 83 rear shock spring with damping adjustment solved problem as well as $.10 PVC spacer to set proper front fork sag for rider over 150lbs), carb air box modification and re-jetting to solve the flat spot (I could go on with rebuttal here).

You can get away with writing an article like this because no one knows what your talking about anyway, but “in the interest of balance” I am sharing  these facts with you.  I can tell you that Yamaha was quick to correct the XZ550 early quirks, but no doubt owners and dealers did not correct them on many machines leading to many “old wives tales” being passed along to fellows eager to hear the latest lemon story.  Therefore, “in the interest of balance” as you have indicated, there is a flip side to this coin that you should get someone qualified to write.

Thanks for listening, I look forward to seeing an attitude of appreciation for classics motorcycles and the restoration of these fine pieces of motorcycle heritage.  I am only saddened that you have no running examples of the XZ550 left in your proud land  :'(.

Sincerely,

CDNL â€" Toronto, Canada