anybody famaliar with the 82 XZ550 Vision

i am looking at buying one complete but does not run. even has fairing, extra parts, newer seat, etc.
they look like a nice water cooled 550.
any suggestions or ideas?
thanks.

 

Get in touch with the gentleman who wrote the Do-it-yourself for the Vision TCI located in our links section. Nice fellow and he does answer email.

 

Pluses and Minuses, of course.

They ARE nice, liquid-cooled V-twins. Shaft drive, too, IIRC.

Styling is very much 'eye-of-the-beholder'. They are very "mid-80s" style. For some, that's good; for others, it's bad.

They came with low-budget suspension pieces and this supposedly compromised sporty handling. It CAN be upgraded, or even ignored if you're not into sporty handling, but of course it's another cost.

They were also reportedly not very user-friendly in the maintenance department - spark plug removal necessitated removing the tank! Time consuming to access the valves to check/adjust - that kind of thing.

However, they were nice bikes, and certainly unique if you want a unique ride. I never heard of any inherent weaknesses, other than the suspension stuff.

I think they were only a two-year bike. The first year was a 'naked' bike, and the second year came with a factory fairing, very elaborate.

And that's about all I know. I wouldn't mind owning one.

Good luck, whichever way you choose with it.

Kirk

 

The non CV carbs were junk. XV500 Virago CV carbs made them run great. Yamaha offered carb and airbox kits for those who complained but didn't fix the problems.
Many 81-83 Yamahas had rusty tanks right out of the crate too.
My Seca has a rusty tank.
Steering into turns was terrible! Seca models were much better.

 

All sound advice.

The original airbox had some real issues, it had some sort of a "flap" arrangement and all I know for sure is it didn't work very well.

ALL '80s Yamahas had at least the possibility of rusty tanks right off the boat; there were numerous tech bulletins in regard to the issue; some dealers followed them, a lot didn't.

If you want a real sporty mid-size, find a 550 Seca or a clean FJ600. Not only did the Vision not handle all that well, it was pretty much a dawg, performance-wise. Cute, though.

 

LOL - forgot about the airbox deal. I only vaguely remember hearing about it.

No, the Vision wasn't ever meant to be a sporty bike like the Seca 550. That was the Seca's job.

IMO, the Vision was meant to be Yamaha's statement that "yeah, we can make pointless not-really-well-defined-or-thought-out motorcycles, just like Honda can..."

Still, I'd take one if the price were right, just for the unique-ness factor.

 

Well I finally did it! Went ahead and traded for a laptop I had $100 in.
so on we go to the restoration and lots of extra parts they had. even a nice vetter quarter fairing.
thanks for all the advice and I will let you know how it goes.

 

Hey, for $100 you can't go wrong. I'd have one as a curiosity, as I like orphan bikes. It's a neat concept, sort of like a Honda Hawk GT 5 years earlier, or the spiritual ancestor of the SV650. Yamaha were often innovators whose efforts were largely forgotten. Makes for some sweet used bike deals though.

 

Very much like an early Hawk GT.

And they do indeed do some innovative things that don't pan out - the Omega-framed, non-telescopic-fork GTS1000 is the biggest example, IMO.

I think it'd be cool to own one of those for the orphan-factor, but I NEVER see 'em come up on Craigslist or local ads...

Good luck with the Vision, and post some more pix if ya get the chance.


Kirki

 

I heard bad things about the Vision stators/regulators/rectifiers but then I heard the same things about the Suzuki GS series.

Check out the ADVRider thread on Visions: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthre ... ght=vision

 

since i am going to be restoring it there will be replacement parts and rebuilt parts i am sure. i am not too worried about all the rumors of problems i have heard. we will see what happens with new information and new parts and proper build and maintenance.
thanks for all the info. especially if you have specifics that would help, not just rumored problems.
thanks again.