On Injured Reserve List....autopsy results

[Night Vision]

here's a couple more pics of 'Lil Stevie McQueen and RedSkunk




he's not a true Visionary....   yet  ;)

he has an '08 Raven Edition R6 back in Florida
POSER!

[Rick G]

I really like the European paint scheme , but I can pass on the seat strap.

[Aelwulf]

Aye, like the blacked engine and wheels with the red & white. :)

[Night Vision]

I really like the European paint scheme , but I can pass on the seat strap.

then you probably wouldn't like my Wilson tennis grips either  ;)

BTW, that's not a seat strap.... it's a  :o HOLY SHIT  :o strap
that sucka is F A S T

[Lucky]

we tore down Kennys used Cag Daytona he got for his birthday, cleaned the engine & painted it appliance gloss black, cleaned & painted the bare frame silver, rebuilt the carbs, new gaskets for the reed valves, ordered a new clutch drum & pinion, & found we need a chain.

he's still looking at colors for the bodywork, but the blacked out engine against the silver frame should look very clean...

[inanecathode]

I really like the European paint scheme , but I can pass on the seat strap.

then you probably wouldn't like my Wilson tennis grips either  ;)

BTW, that's not a seat strap.... it's a  :o HOLY SHIT  :o strap
that sucka is F A S T

Second on the holy shit strap. Riding on the back of a v with nothing but those stupid handles feels like you're going to fall off.

[Shop Rat]

Little known (but really important) V trivia....

Regarding coasting on a V with the engine off:  The owners manual says DON'T DO IT.  The V transmission is lubricated by engine oil pressure.  No oil pressure means no transmission bearing lubrication. 

Isn't that true of any bike with unit construction?

[QBS]

I can't speak to "any bike", just Vs.

[Rick G]

I always found the seat straps on  Japanese bikes to be a pain in the a$$ , literally  and I always took them off. The handles aren't any better. I wrap my arms around the riders middle and hang on. My feeling is that if I fall off, their coming with me. Ridding pillion is not for the bashfull!

[YellowJacket!]

Aye, like the blacked engine and wheels with the red & white. :)

I'll second that.  It looks really good.  I've been toying with the idea of blacking out YJ's silver stuff but just can't *yet* bring myself to do it.
The rear end is coming off this winter for paint and I'm going to install the painted and restored 83 monoshock I've been working on...maybe I'll just drop the motor out and do it then....Like I told my wife, I would sell the Vision when I'm done restoring it....something I plan to take a LOONNNNGGG time doing.  ;D

David

[Night Vision]

I was going to wait for winter before I got into it.... but got bored not working on any Visions for so long (touch wood) ::)

The stator was tested soon after the "event" as an open circut between one of the three phases... not grounded out as the original and the electrosux failures.

As I suspected, this stator was not toasted (sort of). When I put the used Virago stator in 9k ago, it was a nice light caramel color... it's still caramel color, but like one of the dark ones in the bag of candies as opposed to the light caramels... mmmmm candy.

anyway... since it looked so yummy, I was curious where the failure occurred. I removed the stator from the case and flipped it over....


Oooohhhh... maybe that's it... where the windings come off the posts and into the wiring clamp/casings looked crispy...
I wiggled one wire around a bit and I either broke it off or it was already broke and just the crispy chit'lin was holding it there...

that's weird I thinks... the underside of the stator is closest to the outer case and should perhaps get some benefit of air cooling.. or not :(.

It seems that this was a heat related failure, perhaps combined with vibration... maybe there just wasn't enough epoxy on the wire gang/..

But this is the first time I've seen that particular part of the stator crispify while the posts looked good.

Anyone else seen this?

[Rick G]

I'm wondering if the additional epoxy of the proper sort would prevent vibration damage?  i may try  some on my Virago stator.

[h2olawyer]

Mine have ALL failed by shorting to ground.  I'm fairly sure it is a vibration thing, but the way mine have failed, it is on a winding way down at the post, not on any of the outer wraps.  Adding epoxy out there wouldn't likely make any difference - for the failures I've experienced.

H₂O

[Lucky]

perhaps epoxy with a strip of fiberglass cloth? may insulate it too much though....

[supervision]

 I think that coming up with a way to relieve the trapped heat, would put us into a whole new demension, of life-span. 

[Night Vision]

I went to the parts well this morning and picked out a nice HONDA VT500 stator I picked up cheap awhile ago...

now I'm down to two spare stators... another Hondo and a NOS Virago stator I'm saving for a special occasion  :P


I got a wild hair and decided to investigate the side case threads that I sort of knew where not so good... I had two bad ones that were stripped out. Luckily, those two were "stop bolts" and not the one with with the copper washer that is a "through bolt".

that was a concern because I didn't want to contaminate the engine with "swarf" and when you helicoil a buggered thread, you have to break the set tang off...

I went to the local "PepBoys" auto parts store and found two types of thread repair kits... a "store brand" kit and "Perma Coil" kit. The coils in the Perma Coil kit looked beefier so $30 later it was mine.

The thread repair went good once I figured how the heck I was going to tap the holes with a stubby tap and the flywheel in the way. I ended up devising a tool that would put the Haynes fork tube tool to shame  ;D .

I found that the ass end of a 1/4" socket fit the tap. Then I (eventually) figured out that if I took a 1/4" drive 5mm socket and put its ass on the tap, I could then place a 3/8" drive 5mm hex socket into the "reversed" 5mm socket... add a 3/8" extension.... and I was in business... plans are available upon request  ;)

I actually perfer tapping threads using a ratchet and extension instead of a "T" handle tap holder.
I am able to hold the rig with one hand to make sure its square and level, while slowly ratcheting the tap with the other hand...

anyway, I think it turn out good. Won't know until the stator replacement is complete and I go to torque em down to 20 newts

[Cdnlouie]

Dave: Glad to hear the ole stator toasted previous to the upcoming fall ride.  That's a silver lining on that cloud anyway.  You got some good mileage out of it.  I like the pics of your son and Red Skunk.  Get one done in black and white and you can tell people that's you back in 82!

I am glad you mentioned the helicoil because I need to pick up a 6mm one for an almost toast sidecover bolt on my Venture. I checked last time I was in Buffalo and they were out of stock.  If you are able to get your hands on a set and throw it your saddlebag that would solve my problem too.

Looking forward to getting the guys together again,



 

[vadasz1]

Lou: try ordering from KBC TOOLS (pg. 122 in their catalogue).  It usually is stock item and can be picked up sameday.  They are on 6200 Kennedy Road below Coutney Park Drive in Mississauga.  About 10 minutes from you and me.
http://www.kbctools.com/can/main.cfm

[Rick G]

SV, I had thought of using the filler opening , with a modified filler hose , to introduce an amount of fresh air to the stator cavity . Of coarse It would require a similar opening in the back to exhaust the hot air. This would require an oil separator .  None of this is really that hard to achieve , but if vibration is a factor , it might not be of any help.

[Cdnlouie]

Oh yeah they are available here in Canada, but someone thinks that we will pay through the nose for them  ::).  Try about 4 times the cost at KBC compared to the good old USA  :o.  I'm not very patriotic when it comes to buying tools at such inflated prices.  The automotive stores in the US really do a great job with making some of these specialty tools affordable for the average Joe.  Canadian tire has done a great job in recent years here, but some stuff is still not on the racks.  Nevertheless, I do appreciate the thought and sending the info  :).

Now you've just given NV an idea how to pay for his new stator!

Thanks for the link,