1982 Vision 550

Yes that is it. I ordered some POR 15 this time around as they seem to have changed their product sense the last time I tried them as well. I also wanted halve quarts as that is about all you need for one tank project.

 

Covering went well. Would recommend only doing this in warm weather or a warm shop with good ventilation. The off gassing from the POR 15 is strong, also needs 50f or warms to cure so there is that. Winter time is not the best time to do this, but warm shop worked out, just can't work in there for a few days.

 

New petcock arrived the other day, just waiting for some ebay exhaust and ready for a full run up. Weather is helping and with no snow, might get to do a road test this winter yet. Maybe, will be a cold road test if I chose to do that for sure.

 

Getting back to some projects, about time. This bike is almost ready to go. Took it out for a shakedown and it was not good. Noise coming from the front end, have to take a better look. I also tried to run the bike with a broken throttle cable taped up enough to make it work. Didn't work so well. But, the bike does run up the rpm range well and goes through all the gears, so that is good. That exhaust it going to be a loud little 550, but that is okay. Also sounds a bit different from lets say a cruiser twin. That and the fact that it redlines at almost 10K too.

Was working on a friend's 1983 Honda Nighthawk 650, got her running and working good in just a few days. Bad rust in the tank, so that took three days for that to soak and rinse out.

 

Being this bike has down draft carbs on it, I came across an issue. The bike running bad, what the heck. Carbs are so easy to clean compared to the XJ bikes, was scratching my head. Pulled the carbs and opened them up. Wow, what and the hell, all this stuff in the bowl area. Is it tank junk, sediment, what is it, I thought? Well, looked into the intake of the head and saw material onto of one of the valves. Fished it out of there and what do you know. The old air cleaner inside the OEM box must have had some type of power or foam type stuff in there.

Over the years, it had lost the battle with time and the elements. I didn't notice it when I was going over the air box and the filter. Must have been a combination of things? Cleaned the carbs and put them back in, and the bike is running good. I need to find a discontinued throttle cable now...how much fun is that, and then I can ride the bike.

 

Well Yamaha, what the heck. From yr 1982 to 1983 they changed the length of the throttle cable by 4" and the free play by 3". What???!! Going to have to get a hold of motion pro and have them make me one for $90 something. Not much I can do if I want to finish the bike.

36 3/4" housing length
3" of free plan
90 Degree on one end and straight lead on the other.

 

Or get a set of universal ends in one of those repair kits, nip into a local bicycle shop and get some brake cable, make your own, re-using any specialist bits from the old cable.

 

Dave that sounds good, but having a hell of a time trying to get the solder to flow as it should. Had a few jigs set up to that and a good hot flame for the solder. Just could not get it to work. I have the old cable, and have more than enough parts to do what you are asking. Just can't get the solder to form on the end of the cable for the right size to fit the throttle grip.

 

The supper nice folks at Motion Pro helped me out today. I guess attention to detail and I missed this. XZ550 RK had the throttle cable of "11U-26311-00-00 and the XZ550 RJ cable is "11H-26311-00-00" Found one on bay, should be here soon. If you do get some custom cable by them, hold on to your hat for pricing. I think they start at $140 and go up. The Website has $97 and up, I guess they need to update the site.