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Cruiser
Posts: 164
Quad Cities, IL | Hey all, I am curious about those involved with PGR escorts, parades, frequent stop/go traffic, and regular slow moving, type of riding.
The last few weeks have been rough for me and my Vision, which has 42k miles. I ride with some regularity PGR missions, funeral escorts and yes, parades. Three weeks ago I was taking the RLAP class in IN. About 3.5 hours in I felt like the bike wasn't feeling right. So I went to the adjacent hwy for a breeze out to cool 'er down. But I couldn't get over 40 mph and it took too long to get there. The rpms would increase but no pull. Obviously I burned out the clutch. DOH! I do not blame the RLAP exercises for this. I believe bikes should be able to handle this type of training (cop's sure do). But I do believe the classe made the inevitable happen sooner.
Had to limp along 40 miles to get to MAXIM POWER SPORTS, the nearest Vic Dealer. They were AWESOME to deal with (really) and had my bike ready to go a week later with a Barnett Clutch and Spring from Lloydz. Vic OEM Clutches were backordered for 4 weeks and after many dealer calls with none in-stock we opted for aftermarket.
Got the bike back, rode 'er for a week. Then a PGR Mission for a parade came about. Naturally, I went...Riding wtih a Purpose. It was a reasonable 80F evening...well after about 30 minutes and near the end of the route, the instrument panel began to light up and she died on me. DOH!!! Required a jump after cooling down for an hour. Fried the oil again and probably not good on the internals. I am now at RJs in Ottumwa as we speak having them get 'er healthy again. BTW...the guys here at RJs have always been great.
For those who might ask, I am not a "blipper", I do not run the RPMs excessively high while riding the gray zone in 1st/2nd gear for these type of rides.
My questions:
1) Do any of you do anything out of the ordinary to minimize these issues?
2) Is there a creative way to keep the air-cooled Freedom 106 cool when it isn't moving so much?
3) Have any others experienced similar problems?
I now have an oil dipstick with temp gauge and plan to change oil after parades. I guess that is a start.
Any suggestions are welcomed. I am a bit gun-shy now, but don't plan on bagging the PGR missions. Maybe I will minimize the parades but the VISION is a crowd favorite! 
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| how old is battery? Are cables thigh?
Check stator and regulator to see if there doing there job.
Motor over heating is hard to pin point hope its not that |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1066
Peru, IN | I've ridden in a few PGR missions for hours at not much over walking speeds. I don't feather the clutch much, just leave it in 1st or 2nd gear and creep along. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1365
Central Maryland | The Vision really is not a bike to be creeping along for long distances. It needs air flow to stay cool; all of the plastics inhibiting air flow at a walking pace with the bike are too blame.
Someone did a good job in cutting out part of the inner portion within the lower leg fairing(s) to allow more airflow to the heads. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 164
Quad Cities, IL | Thanks for the posts. The battery is over 3.5 years old, but it was holding a charge without issue when tested in June so I left it in place. That said, I did replace it this week.
I have looked at the Arizona Vic inner fairing cut-outs and Napalm inner fairing vents but figured they would be most effective when moving faster than a turtles pace while parading or on a slow moving mission.
I wonder if the Reefer or Jagg Oil Coolers could be retrofit to the Vision? This seems like it would be a viable solution...and may get rid of the hot legs during the summer, too boot.
http://ultracoolfl.com/
http://www.jagg.com/
I don't wrench enough to manage this on my own but may look into it further. |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| back in the early Vic's there was a bigger oil cooler. Vic found that it was doing to good of job. So they made is smaller but that was before the vision.
maybe try taking the black valiants off the bottom when doing parades. It might help the motor to run cooler |
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Visionary
Posts: 1229
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | I'm not sure where I read it, but I think the older Visions do not put out as much amperage at idle as the newer ones do. This may be the cause of the electrical issue.
To keep the engine running cooler, I have a PCV fuel controller with a switch that allows me to switch to a richer fuel map to lower the temp. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 77
Bainville, & Mesa, AZ, MT | I think you had two different problems, they just happened to hit close together.
I do a lot of the same stuff you described, just had my clutch replaced by Kyle in Sturgis with the Barnett. I was only at 35,000 miles on mine. I have little doubt that riding the friction zone and slow speed riding is going to shorten the life of the clutch, but they are cheap and I am not going to change my riding habits. I am sure Kyle has done a few, but it only took him about 30 min to install mine. He also told me to be sure and lube the pin or hinge on the clutch lever as he has seen bikes that do not release the clutch all the way and that will significantly reduce clutch life too.
The voltage problem may or may not have been caused by the heat, by the way I don't really think 80 is too much heat. I have been in numerous parades with much higher heat than that without having any problems. It does make me wonder though.
I can understand it making you gunshy though, but feel the problems you had probably would have happened anyway. I do agree the Vision tends to be a hit in the Parades, occasionally I even get a chick that wants to ride the rest of the parade with me.
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Visionary
Posts: 1308
Sand Rock, AL United States | parade riding isn't good on a bike. I don't do it. |
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Tourer
Posts: 395
Moravia, IA | Ive got a 2008 Vision with roughly 80K miles on it....some of it pulling a camping trailer, two up with big folks on board. Ive done countless (but Id guess probably over 100 but not 200) PGR events on the bike, including parades. Ive got stuck in traffic in Branson MO where it took us 1 hour to go 2 miles......done the traffic in Sturgis several times as well. Got stuck in road construction in Indiana where we spent 2 hours to go 8 miles.
Im still using the stock clutch. The bike doesnt seem to get exceedingly hot.....I *DO* have the oil dipstick temp gauge from Victory....and while I dont remember the readings during those events I dont remember them being excessive.
While the inside of my legs probably wouldnt agree.....I think the Vision does pretty good for a air/oil cooled motor.
On a side note I live about 20 mins away from Ottumwa where your Vision currently sits.....I bought mine from R/Js. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1308
Sand Rock, AL United States | I got stuck in traffic , that dipstick read 250 degrees |
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Visionary
Posts: 1365
Central Maryland | jimtom - 2013-08-21 5:29 AM
I got stuck in traffic , that dipstick read 250 degrees
Yep. same here last summer; when it was hotter than this year's summer. |
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PGR, Parades, and such
