1982 Yamaha XZ550
Miles: 8,839
Clean Title
Bid at post: $3,000
Auction ends: Sunday, July 13
SELLER
In 1982, when Yamaha unleashed bikes like the Vision and the Seca Turbo, they set a bold new direction for bodywork design and styling. You can draw a straight line from the Vision to the FJ1100 that came a couple years later, and to all modern sportbikes in terms of aero design and aesthetics. Although the Vision wasn’t a retail success, and only lasted for 2 years (and also came in faired and naked versions), it’s impact was undeniable in the styling of all sportbikes that came after.
Back in the day, I was a mechanic at a Yamaha shop…and my daily rider was a Vision. The last photo attached is a Polaroid shot of my bike, taken probably some time around 1990. As things tend to go, in the moment trading that bike in on something newer didn’t faze me at the time, but a few years ago when I happened to stumble across someone locally selling the machine you’re seeing now, I was taken by nostalgia and decided that I just needed to buy it…and had grand plans for a “restomod” project with it, with dreams of a frame-off rebuild and performance enchancements. As one does.
Well fast forward a few years and the reality is I am just never going to get around to doing that. So after having taking care of a few standard maintenance items, it’s time to let this machine go.
To start with, there is nothing wrong with the machine as-is. It’s ready to go as your daily ride right now. So if that’s what you’re looking for, you’re all set. However it will come with a number of extras that I’d bought, with plans for the big rebuild, so that if you’re inclined you could maybe do some or all of that yourself…perhaps just have some extras on hand.
When I got the bike it was non-running due to heavily gunked up carbs. One word of advice – these carbs are not for the faint of heart. Having been a Yamaha mechanic during the period when these were still current machines, and having owned one myself, I knew what I was in for – they’re in a class along with mid-90s Virago carbs that you just don’t ever want to have to mess with if you can avoid it. So, be sure to run some Stabil into the machine before putting it away each winter, and thank me later.
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Anyway, I rebuilt the carbs with new jet kits etc., and also rebuilt the accelerator pump. Which you might think of as a fuel pump, but no need to get caught up in terms. All Visions had a characteristic flat spot off-idle before you got underway…most folks tended to think this was a carb issue but the real culprit is the accelerator pump, which just isn’t really capable of providing the fuel needed until the revs pick up a bit. Even with the rebuilt accelerator pump it still exists, and the resolution is to replace it with an aftermarket item. Which I have and will be provided with the bike if you should choose to use it.
During my test ride after that work I discovered that the thermostat was sticking…so I also replaced the thermostat and coolant. The front brake also got flushed through with new brake fluid, and it has fresh oil, and brand-new tires. The OEM ignition switch had also stopped working…the key would no longer turn it. So I also installed an aftermarket ignition switch. It’ll come with the original switch if you want to try to mess with it. The previous owner also had installed an aftermarket petcock.
Note that generally the bike is in really good shape. The one notable issue is that at some point it had been dropped on the left side, I have to believe while stationary or possibly moving very slowly, and there is a scrape on the fairing and Yamaha badge (picture provided). Being as the fairing is fiberglass, not plastic, it wouldn’t be a huge deal to get that fixed up and looking like new…or perhaps just dab some touch-up paint on it and not worry about it. The knock-on effect here though, literally, was that when the bike fell over and caused that scrape, it pushed the fairing into the gas tank. As a result there is a shallow dent in the tank that you probably wouldn’t notice unless you were looking for it, with the tiniest break in the paint. Also the pressed edge along the bottom of the tank has had paint flake off in some spots. In an ideal world one would pop the tank off, have that slight dent pulled back out, and repaint it. But again, from the standpoint of function over form, you could just touch-up the paint as needed and not worry about it.
Along with the initial plan to get everything repainted, I have replacement gold Yamaha badges, as well as the gold graphics for the fairing. They’d have to be applied over the color coat, but then clearcoated over them (as noted on the items themselves). I also have brand-new intake manifolds for it, which I would have intended to install as a “just because” at the time of the big rebuild, as well as some modern turn signals with a much more aerodynamic design than the OEM ones, the aforementioned accelerator pump, and of particular note is what is probably the last existing new, unused, MAC performance exhaust system for the Vision. As far as I am aware, MAC was the only company producing a performance exhaust system for this bike…and granted the short production run of the machine, there weren’t an awful lot of those MAC systems made either. But I found a brand-new one, still in it’s antiquated cardboard box, that will also go with the machine. As you can see in the photo, the system consists of 2 mufflers and the header for the front cylinder – the rear header is retained, which is kind of a good idea because getting it off requires dropping the motor out of the frame.
Aside from all that, as you can see the bike is still quite the looker, even at 43 years old. If you’ll notice in the photo of the dash though, there’s not a huge secret as to why it’s in such great shape – it only has 8,839 miles on it. I know you have a calculator on your phone, but just to point out how low this mileage is, that averages out to just a smidge more than 200 miles a year. Crazy low mileage for a vintage classic like this. Sure, some paint could be touched up etc., and if you did you could get it to show quality pretty quickly. Go for the new accelerator pump and exhaust to maximize your performance, or just enjoy it as-is and save those parts on the shelf for later. The choice is yours.
Feel free to contact me with any questions, and by all means you are welcome to come out and look at the bike (or send a representative to look at it). Clear title is in hand, pickup/shipping is the responsibility of the buyer, and the machine is provided as-is with no warranty.
