Lucky you found all this where you did and not on the road.

 

Yeah, I was very lucky that I wasn't 750 miles from nowhere on a 1500 mile IBA ride! The engine was loosing oil at an alarming rate, I was just a bit low when I left for the test ride, was over a quart low when I got back about 15 miles later. I guess I could have kept adding oil and gotten home for a short distance but I would have left an oil slick behind me, not to mention on the tire!

I guess I better stop parking next to that Harley at work, the oil leak was more contagious than Covid-19

 

Yikes, that's a lot of work! On a related note, is the engine on your Vision a stressed member? I'd have thought that bike would have a frame.

 

Yes, the engine is the lower stressed member, the top is a hollow cast aluminum backbone which doubles as the airbox.
The Vision is an interesting design, they clearly started with a blank piece of paper when they designed it, there are times I think it was an engineering student's theoretical project that somehow made it to production. Another fun fact is that there are no visible fasteners on the bodywork, every one is concealed by the overlapping panels. This does make taking the bodywork apart an interesting job though, to replace the headlights you start at the seat and work forwards taking off panels and NO I'm not kidding

 

Well thats a PIA. I had the same issue with the 13 Bonneville. Output shaft seal went bad and leaked like a sieve, a considerably easier fix since no body panels to be removed.

 

88 bikes and not one leaked but I did on occasion.

Mike, thanks, those were great pictures and a good write up!

The output splines looked like new, which is a major good thing. A new belt and rear sprocket and you are ready for more fun and adventure.

As some of you know, I am an ex HD big twin engine builder and modifier and a builder of 2 stroke and 4 stroke, desert and track bikes so I've had the pleasure to delve inside many engines!!!! I got to see a V92 Victory engine completely torn apart at a Victory dealer and I was blown away by the thinking, engineering and beauty inside the thing!!!!:

Big valve heads and smooth intake and exhaust ports, maybe 30% bigger than HD, large and well thought out mating surfaces @ the head to cyl junction and cylinder to case junction, huge Rods and huge piston pins and crank bearings, way over size crankshaft bearings and journals, oversize and beefy clutch with a geared primary and HUGE gears, more fit for a 100 HP diesel tractor than a motorbike!!! (Almost everyone remembers the CLUNK of a Victory bike)

I think the 'NEW' Indian Challenger is just a design that Polaris had sitting in the back of R&D somewhere and just 'birthed' it to challenge HD and coincidentally looks almost just like it.

Sam

 

Yep as always thorough!

 

Parts finally arrived Friday!
The bad part is that I have been too busy with work and other projects to work much on the bike, it's still sitting on my lift! I did clean up all the disgusting, oily **** from the front sprocket housing area, it was caked solid 1/4-3/8 thick mix of oil and dirt and it took 2 hours and a quart of solvent but I got it clean, or as clean as it's going to get.

 

Mike, I worked in the bearing, lubrication and filtration industries for over 45 years. I always recommended that car and bike owners fitted a speedi-sleeve on any shaft when replacing an oil seal, especially a shaft that had done tens or hundreds of thousands of kilometres. And I always replaced bearings if I had a component apart, putting the old bearings back in was, I thought, false economy as they'd always seemed to fail not long after you'd put the whole thing back together again

 

Mike, I worked in the bearing, lubrication and filtration industries for over 45 years. I always recommended that car and bike owners fitted a speedi-sleeve on any shaft when replacing an oil seal, especially a shaft that had done tens or hundreds of thousands of kilometres. And I always replaced bearings if I had a component apart, putting the old bearings back in was, I thought, false economy as they'd always seemed to fail not long after you'd put the whole thing back together again

This shaft has a sleeve from the factory that the seal rides on. It’s visibly worn so I bought a new one to go with the new seal.
To replace the bearings here would be a total engine out and split job, vs just a seal job, so hopefully they still have some life left in them.


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I haven't watch the Victory forums Mike but this whole mess you've found yourself in almost sounds like you are the first to put enough miles on that Victory engine to find it's flaws. That surely isn't true is it? I had always thought that engine was nearly as good as Goldwings but it the air cooled variety. I don't see these kinds of problems with Indian 111 engines that have now gone over 200K miles and still going. So what's the skinny?

 

I've seen folks with more mileage, around 200k is the highest that I have seen on 1 engine in a Victory. Usually the failure is in the transmission, the engines themselves never seem to wear out, I've seen pictures of torn down engines with blown up transmissions where the cylinders and pistons still look new. Victory has always had transmission issues, from the first 99-02 bikes which had fatal flaws, later ones ( 03-10) were damn near unbreakable but noisy (my 08 is one of those), to the quieter but not as tough 11-17 units that work pretty well but occasionally fail randomly, often because a $3 clip falls off and wrecks it.
Indian seems to have a better trans, my wife's sure shifts smoother and quieter than any of my Victorys, though you Indian riders now have a recall for the gear indicator on all the 111s, hers failed and was fixed under warranty pre recall, then was just updated with the recall parts last week.

 

Yeah, I’ve been watching that recall. I’m in no hurry to get it done. Knock on wood but mine has been just fine. But then I never start the thing without me pulling the clutch in anyway even if I have it in neutral. Just an old habit of never trusting that I actually got it in neutral.

 

It took a while but I finally got it all back together. Just got back from a test ride.
Good to go !!!


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Good thing you have 5 other bikes you could ride.

 

Yeah but I missed my favorite! There’s something special about my 08, the 16 is just about identical and a great bike but for some reason I just find the 08 rides a bit better.
I put 150 miles on it today. No leaks, new funny noises, or anything else unusual so I’m declaring it fixed

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Yeah but I missed my favorite! There’s something special about my 08, the 16 is just about identical and a great bike but for some reason I just find the 08 rides a bit better.
I put 150 miles on it today. No leaks, new funny noises, or anything else unusual so I’m declaring it fixed

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It's like your first love, something you don't forget

 

I’m sure you have already looked into it so what’s the next thing to fail on that old gal?

 

Nothing hopefully


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Well you should here soon now Mike.

Or will the Indian Challenger bite you before then?