In 1984 my wife was going to school in LA, 400 miles south, so I wanted to get the fairing kit for my ’82 Vision but they were sold out of them. Yamaha was blowing out leftover bikes, so I traded in the ’82 for an ’83. In addition to the fairing, the ’83 had two discs in front, lower bars, and the pegs were moved to the rear. One of its best innovations was the fairing which had ducts that could be opened to direct warm air off of the engine onto your legs. Great for the winter. This bike became my favorite and I kept it even after buying several other bikes. Unfortunately it had a well deserved reputation for eating starters and stators, and after putting 60k miles on it, I regretfully sold it.

The pictures above and to the right were both taken on its maiden voyage, a tour of Arizona. As with all of my touring, I’m usually self sufficient so I’m hauling clothes, camping and cooking gear, food, camera equipment, tools, etc. This was a great trip and I finished it up visiting Lori in LA.

After taking the California Superbike School in 1985, I got the itch to go racing. Here I’m piloting the Vision through the Carousel at Sears Point during an AFM race. The Vision wasn’t a competitive bike against the predominate FJ600’s, but then I wasn’t a competitive racer either. My main objective was to have fun and keep the rubber side down, which I was successful on both accounts.

After I sold my GS550ES I took the money and fixed up the Vision. It got a new red, white and black paint job, polished and painted wheels, matching Corbin seat, custom exhaust, and a Works shock. The photo below is with my friend John on top of Mt. Hamilton, one of our favorite rides. Yes, that’s my old KZ400 that John had at that point.