Yamaha Vision Sso
YAMAHA VISION SSO
CYCLE WORLD TEST
What we’re dealing with here is one of those age-old, universal questions.
Granted that it might not rank up there alongside “To be or not to be?” But then, how many people ever actually wondered whether they wanted to be? Or whether they preferred the alternative? Hamlet’s question just isn’t one people can identify with.
This one is. If you haven't asked it, you
might know someone who has. And if you don’t, chances are you can sympathize. It’s that universal.
We’re talking about: What do you do when you get stood up on prom night?
One of two things, right? You can forget about it. Not go. Hit the sack early. But that way, you’ll never know how the gym looked in paper streamers. Or, you can do something about it. Show up at the gym, make a grand entrance, dare everyone to notice you. You just might get lucky. Someone might ask you to dance.
Well, the 1983 prom is upon us, And over there, past the punch-and-cookie table, is Yamaha’s 550 Vision. No date, but it showed up anyway. Grown up, dressed up, daring everyone to notice.
Funny. Last year, the newly introduced Vision was one of the Most Likely to Succeeds. A peppy, water-cooled 552cc 70° VTwin with shaft drive. Outstanding power for a 550. Any 550, even those with two more cylinders. We were impressed enough to describe it as a “Super New Do-Anything Bike,” in the caption to our road test (Cycle World, May 1982).
But there was one thing it didn’t do. It didn't attract many buyers. Sales were disappointing. On prom night in 1982, the Vision sat on the sofa at home, waiting for the doorbell to ring.
Shunned, that’s what the Vision was. Not because it didn't work well; it did, reeling olT dragstrip times with the best of the four-cylinder half-and-a-dollop-liter bikes. A quarter-mile time of 12.93 sec. at 98.79 mph. Half-mile top speed of 1 1 3 mph. Acceleration from 0 60 in 4.9 sec. A 10,000 rpm redline, and power all the way up to it. Nope, performance wasn’t the problem. Handling? Another no. The Vision handled as well as it performed. Why, then, was the Vision left to languish on showroom floors?
As best as anyone can tell, buyers shied away from the Vision because . . . well, because it looked weird. Now, understand there’s weird and there’s weird. Suzuki’s full-fledged Katana is weird. But it’s provocative. The Katana has developed a following for its futuristic styling. The Vision’s a different case. It wasn't designed to look provocative. It was designed to look functional. That seems to have been its downfall: sometimes functional just looks weird. That was most noticeable in the engine appearance. The Vision’s V-Twin is water-cooled, so the engine has nary a single cooling fin. Compared to the other V-Twins on the market, the engine looked, urn, industrial.
Not ugly, mind you. It was rather like a piece of farm equipment: well-thought-out, well-working, well-suited to its task. Clean. Just not attractive to many eyes.
There were a few other gripes, too. A noticeable flat spot when accelerating from one-quarter throttle. Not quite as much stopping power as it could have had. And suspension that you couldn’t really tailor.
Nothing major. But all of those nitpicks hurt the Vision in a crowded marketplace. Most Likely to Succeed became Not Bad, But . . .
Yamaha called in the styling and engineering experts. There was head-huddling. Decisions. A tweak of the engine. A twist to the carbs. A bump to the suspension. A pinch to the brakes. Some new bodywork. Then, the Vision was sent to the prom.
Here are the things that make the 1983 Vision different. It’s gained a fairing, with windscreen and lowers. The suspension has been made much more tuneable. The brake system received a second front disc. Changes were made to the carburetors, airbox and exhaust system. There’s a new styling look.
A Stylish Fairing, a Fix for the Carbs, Some Suspension Tuning; Oh What a Difference a Year Makes.
The heart of the Vision is its water-cooled V-Twin. The engine is highly oversquare, with an 80mm bore and a 55mm stroke. Connecting rods are long ( 122mm between centers, for a 2.2:1 ratio of rod length to stroke). The crankshaft spins the same direction as the bike’s wheels, and is equipped with a counterrotating balancer shaft to cut vibration at high rpm.
Dual overhead cams operate eight valves by inverted bucket followers. The cam profiles are sporty, with intake duration of 284° and exhaust duration of 276°. Overlap is 70°, and lift is 8.8mm for intake, 8.3mm for exhaust. The big valves (31mm intake, 26mm exhaust) open into a compact pentroof combustion chamber. Valve included angle is a narrow 36°, permitting rapid combustion. Because of the compact combustion chambers the Vision has a high compression ratio of 10.5:1.
Two large exhaust ports in each head lead to twin header pipes, which join under the engine before branching out into two mufflers.
In the valley of the Vee is the intake system. The airbox rests beneath the gas tank, feeding dual downdraft, butterfly-throttle automotive-type carburetors. The carbs have accelerator pumps and an enrichening choke circuit. A vacuum-operated fuel pump is mounted between the carbs. Yamaha’s Induction Control System, a two-chambered air reservoir that provides a swirl to the intake mixture, connects to the intake ports.
Power travels from the massive, one-piece crankshaft to an eight-plate clutch, then to a two-shaft, five-speed transmission and on to the driveshaft.
The engine is suspended in a welded, steel-tube, semi-cradle frame. The top brace of the swing arm connects to the single shock, which is mounted high in the frame, under the seat. In the front, the fork legs are offset from the steering head a greater distance than normal, to allow the legs to clear the framemounted aluminum radiator. Since that offset ordinarily would reduce trail too much, the axle is mounted behind the fork legs. The lightweight cast wheels have thin rectangular links between the open-center hub and the rim. Front braking is double disc; rear braking is drum.
Handlebars are adjustable up and down at the ends. The headlight is rectangular and the instrument cluster is boxshaped. Styling is dominated by the large, angular gas tank (the bottom of which sits lower than the carbs, necessitating the fuel pump). Cast aluminum plates anchor the footpeg brackets, rear brake lever and muffler brackets. The seat is generously padded, with a gentle slope. There’s a molded tailpiece, in which is stored the tool kit.
Officially, the fairing was added so the Vision could compete in what Yamaha sees as the sport-touring market. Unofficially, the fairing was added because it covers the engine. The truth, probably, is a combination of the two. The fairing is large, with the windscreen rising up to chin level and the lowers dipping below the calves. There are vents on both lowers that may be adjusted to give you streams of warm air drawn through the radiator or cool air drawn from the roadside.
The Mikuni carbs were recalibrated and bumped up 2mm in venturi size, to 36mm. To improve airflow to the carbs, mechanically operated vacuum-controlled intake flaps were added to the airbox. And the inside diameter of the front exhaust headers has been reduced just a hair for better balance. All those changes were made, says Yamaha, to combat that quarterthrottle stumble and to increase all-around performance.
In place of last year’s single 11.7-in. front disc brake, the 1983 Vision has twin slotted 10.5-in discs joining the 7-in. rear drum. In 1982, the rear shock was adjustable only for spring preload. It has gained adjustable damping. And the forks, which were not adjustable, now have air-assist and adjustable damping.
There are some new styling touches, too. The 1983 Vision is available in the color of your choice, as long as it’s black. With gold highlighting. The highlighting even carries over to gilding on the wheels, brake discs and front hydraulic fittings. Footpegs and controls are a tad more rear-set; the handlebars are a touch lower. A fuel gauge joins the instrument cluster: speedo, tach, turn signals, oil pressure light, high beam and neutral indicators and temperature gauge. The front tire is a bit wider, a 100/9018 Bridgestone 56H replacing last year’s 90/90-18.
Cornering is light and precise.
Finally, the engine has been tinkered with a bit. There are lower-friction piston rings and a shade more flywheel weight.
What Yamaha did, worked, The new Vision is more attractive. It’s more comfortable to ride. It handles better. It runs better. It is, if you’ll forgive one small pun, a clearer vision.
Power is up, but it's a gentle increase. Claimed horsepower for the new model is 68 bhp, compared to last year’s rating of 64 bhp. The small increase just seems to offset the 20 lb. the 1983 Vision has gained; dragstrip times of the two models are pretty close. The new Vision turned in a 13.04-sec. quarter-mile at 99.33 mph; half-mile top speed was 114 mph. Peak power still comes at about 9500 rpm. There’s a slight drop after that, but the engine will keep pulling well past the redline. Power, for a mid-size bike, is abundant; it starts at idle and just always seems to be around when you want it. And, it’s more of a one-stage power band than the usual two-stage wheeze-WAIL.
Part of the Vision’s ever-ready power comes from gearing that has the engine spinning fast. At 60 mph the engine is turning about 5300 rpm. That’s more rpm than any of the other double nickel rockets, and it helps the Vision’s performance. Because the V-Twin engine is especially smooth and has half as many firing impulses as the Fours, it isn’t uncomfortable cruising at 6000 rpm or so.
The only problem noticed with the Vision’s engine is a reluctance to start when it’s been parked in 40° air overnight. No combination of choke and throttle works. Five minutes of pumping the throttle to flood the engine, turn the choke off and firing the engine for a brief 5 sec. got the bike warm enough to run.
Handling is as good as the engine is strong. There’s more cornering clearance than you can use, thanks to the slimness of the V-Twin engine and the design of the frame, which has no tubes running under the crankcase. That design also lets the engine sit lower. Everything that might touch down is tucked away: pipes, pedals, stands. What scrapes first are the pegs and by then you've probably already scared yourself. Cornering is light and precise. It only takes the slightest of touches on the handlebars to make instant adjustments; sometimes, you feel you could think the Vision into a turn. Braking is acceptable for a 550, but there’s a strange twist. Last year’s single-disc model stopped just as well as this year's dual-disc model. Seems that the 1983 Vision got the added weight of a second disc and caliper, but no more stopping power. A questionable trade, that.
Sometimes you feel you could think the Vision into a turn.
We harped a little in the original test about the lack of a multi-adjustable suspension. For some riders, the suspension was much too stiff. For others, it was too mushy. The 1982 model had a tendency to hobby-horse over freeway expansion joints. With a load packed, the back end bottomed and skittered over dips and bumps. Carrying a passenger wasn’t exactly pleasurable. And, there was just no way to fix it, to correct the ride. Now, there is. By sorting through the five preload settings and adjustable damping in the rear and the air-assist and adjustable damping up front, it’s possible to tailor the new Vision to just about any riding style and road surface.
Comfort is very good. The engine is smooth, making the Vision a delight to ride on the freeway. It’s easy to feel at home on the seat. The best compliment we can make is that, when you exhaust the 200-mi. range of the gas tank and pull into a service station, you don’t feel as if you need to get off and stretch your legs. It’s more comfortable than some cars we can think of. The handlebars and hand controls are well-placed. The lower handlebars and rear-set footpegs would have been more valuable on last year’s Vision, which didn’t have the fairing to protect the rider. Some riders thought that, with the fairing, a more upright riding posture would have been more comfortable. The range of handlebar adjustment is limited, and the task is not easy. We broke one alien wrench trying to unscrew a handlebar bolt.
Much of the Vision’s comfort comes from its size. It’s a big 550. In almost every measurement, it’s the biggest, longest, heaviest 550 made. And while this is more work for the engine, it’s more comfort for the rider.
The fairing does its job well. The wind blast is directed up, well away from the rider’s chest. At high speeds, there’s some helmet-buffeting from the redirected wind blast, but it’s easily cured. Just lean forward and down a bit and you’re in a nice, calm, quiet pocket. Which you can heat or cool as you wish. Those vents on the lowers really do work. Finally, while we’re on the subject, yes, the fairing does hide the engine. The nonfinned V-Twin still looks like something out of a county fair John Deere exhibit, but you now have to strain to see it.
The Vision came through the redesign in first-class shape. The 1983 model isn’t a brand new bike, by any means. But then it didn’t need to be. It’s just a logical, well-executed extension of what it was before. Yamaha took a good bike and set out to improve it. To us, that’s the best thing about the evolution of the Vision. The bike we liked last year is still there. It’s just better.
Remember that caption from last year’s test? Do anything? Our point was that we couldn’t imagine a country road, city street or cross-country highway where the Vision wouldn’t be at home.
Well, ditto and then some.
YAMAHA
VISION 550
$3299
