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'Tank-testing' as in EPA-reg. underground storage tanks, or pressure-testing compressed-gas hydrotesting?

Yeah all those '80's Yamahas are kinda cool, they're 'different.' Styling not for everyone's taste. I always liked the engine in the 550 Vision, the various displacement Secas, and the epitome of late '80's cool, the "Pure Sports" Genesis bad-boys! It was a quarter-century ago they came-up w/the 5-valve design, which hung-in there for quite awhile. I still enjoy mine every time I take it out.

Yeah, this is one of the 'Genesis Bad Boys'! :biglaugh: It's a 700 instead of a 750 cause Harley cried enough about getting their asses kicked by the 750 imports that the US Gummint imposed a tarriff on any import over 700cc. Two years later some judge determined that wasn't even legal and the tarriff was abolished.

So this model was only made for two years.

Yeah, underground petroleum storage tank testing. You probly have been exposed to it in Hazmat training....ey?
 
I am going to be working a Vision Vmax custom build this winter. Already got it scheduled. Should be a very interesting build. Somehow at the same time I need to get my Seca Turbo build completed. I still very much loved my Seca!

Sean
 
Hey Danny, always loved that model. I also owed one (750 in Canada, eh!) in my late teens. Great engine indeed, that Genesis engine is fast as hell.

Are you keeping it stock? So many great mods that can be done to improve suspension and brakes.


Congrats Danny - great story and couldn't happen to a better guy!

Mike
 
Yeah, this is one of the 'Genesis Bad Boys'! :biglaugh: It's a 700 instead of a 750 cause Harley cried enough about getting their asses kicked by the 750 imports that the US Gummint imposed a tarriff on any import over 700cc. Two years later some judge determined that wasn't even legal and the tarriff was abolished.

So this model was only made for two years.

Yeah, underground petroleum storage tank testing. You probly have been exposed to it in Hazmat training....ey?

I recall the tariff bikes. They were 1 or 2 ml (cc) below 700 to skirt the law requirement. I had a 750 '83 Kawi LTD which was one of my favorite bikes, it just looked 'right' to me. I could pull some hellacious power wheelies with it. I found it while I was out on a job inspection, came back later & bought it from the grandparents of the owner who had financed it for the kid. He owed them $ for it & had split the state, returning to the N.E., still owing them $800 so I paid that for it & took home a low-mileage couple yr.-old bike worth @ the time 3X that. It had a Kerker 4/1 & I put about 10K on it before I sold it for 2X what I paid for it. By then I was into its "big brother," the Kawi 1000, I had 3 of 'em eventually, and a yr. later bought my 1yr. old FZR 1000 w/< 3K mi. on it from a friend who bought it new. A the time, one of my friends from fire/rescue owned a Yamaha outboard motor franchise, being in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, and repping for 5 different boat manufacturers, he sold a ton of those! He was making $$$ then, I used to work for him rigging new boats on my off-days from the fire dep't. He got parts in daily from the Yamaha regional warehouse in Atlanta, so one day I asked him to order some bike stuff for me & sure-enough, it came in w/the boat motor parts, "dealer cost!" Well that was all I needed to know! I bought all kinds of stuff before he sold the business, wish he still had it! New palletized engines...! He used to win expensive trips every year as one of Yamaha's top sales outlets, he went to the Yamaha factory in Japan & said they built the bikes right along other products, the place was scrpulously clean, everyone was really polite, and the factory was huge.

Yeah, I used to do the permit plans review for the tank installations, we worked out of a 5 ft. long series of reference books, i liked 'em better than the computerized references because they were easier for me to retrieve the info I needed to ensure I covered all areas of the installation properly, you don't want to make any mistakes there, hard to correct & could be very expensive to correct. I also did the site inspections to close the permits, most of the contractors were very careful & knew what/how to do it, the interruptions in service for gas stations could cost big $$$ in lost sales for every day they were closed, so they usually made sure they got it right the 1st time. I got threatened with losing my job > once for failing someone on an inspection, "pass me or I'll have you fired!" The solution is always the same, "comply with code!" The plans review is very detail-oriented & can be tedious, you confer daily w/structural, mechanical, plumbing & electrical plans reviewers & inspectors, and they are very helpful and knowlegeable. After Hurricane Wilma knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people, the state legislature passed an law about auxilary sources of power for gas stations because once the power grid goes down, no power to pump gas! You never saw such lines, & rationing of purchases. It was almost like Mad Max, everyone scrambling for their "petrol!" I never did see "Night Rider" or "Toecutter," or "Billy," who could have used a hand... . A lot of homeowners got propane-fueled house generators, and the popular installation was 400-500 gallon below-grade tank systems, sometimes the big houses had multiple tanks. The smaller generators had above-ground storage tanks under the powerplants, those were easy. The other ones, you sometimes had to get into the ditch to make sure the code was met.

One of the coolest systems I ever tested was at the Palm Beach International Airport for a rotary aircraft hanger, we had to test the fire-supression foam system for the hanger. When they set that off, the hanger has to fill with foam, which pours out of huge eductors mounted high up on the walls, they look like 5' X 5' a-c grates, but they are hooked to a manifold system of concentrated foam. When the system is triggered, the hanger fills with foam to smother the fire. To test it, we went up in a cherry-picker in the hanger & had the contractor demonstrate the various sensors would work to actuate the system, which them filled the hanger with foam to > 8' high. If the system was left to empty the concentrated foam tanks, the entire hanger would fill, if properly designed & supplied. We didn't require it to do that, since the cost to actuate it is in the tens of thousands of $$$ range. When you are dealing with flammable metals like magnesium, the system better work! In a nice touch, someone turned-on the p.a. system to a local rock station & we listened to Led Zepplin while the hanger filled w/foam, appropriate if anyone remembers the first domestic album cover, a picture of a swastika-bearing lighter-than-air vessel trying to moore at Lakehurst NJ on May 6, 1937. The news photographer who shot the iconic picture of the Hindenberg wasn't even a full-time employee for the news services, he was what they call a 'stringer,' someone who is an independent contractor to the news agencies who runs-around to take pictures to sell to the wire services. Be at the right place at the right time, and you make $$! He became world-famous for that one shot, and when his career was over he retired to FL and taught an adult-education class for the school board in photography at the closest high school to me.
 
A good friend of mine bought one of those brand new back in the day..... and it hauled ass! At the time I had a 83 XJ750 Maxim (air cooled) and there was no comparison between them. The XJ700X styling was ahead of its time. Awesome Bike!
 
danny -> how'd you keep in contact with the two guys?
 
Hey Danny, always loved that model. I also owed one (750 in Canada, eh!) in my late teens. Great engine indeed, that Genesis engine is fast as hell.

Are you keeping it stock? So many great mods that can be done to improve suspension and brakes.


Congrats Danny - great story and couldn't happen to a better guy!

Mike

Thanks a lot Mike! :worthy:

I'm going to keep it stock....I want to see her looking just like she did when I wheeled her out of the Yammi dealer in '85. The dealer is a long time friend and I actually helped assemble the bike right out of the crate.

danny -> how'd you keep in contact with the two guys?

Garrett....The guy I sold it to is also a good friend and we've been in touch over the years, so it was just one short step to the current owner. :clapping:

Besides it's 'mountain country-northern NY'...everybody knows everybody else! :biglaugh:
 
Well, here she is!

I'm making a much bigger deal out of this than the bike actually warrants, I realize this. I mean, it's not a Vincent Black Shadow or anything like that....and there are probly lots of these around, but it's real exciting for me just cause of the history.

It's not as nice as the pics suggest, it appears that it sat inside for quite a while, but with a little elbow grease and some detailing, she can (and will) look brandy new!! :punk:

The carbs are gunked up, as expected but I believe I can handle that....this OCD thing may actually pay off! :rofl_200:

And when the battery is hooked up the headlight comes on, whether the key is in it or not....that's a little puzzling....:ummm:
 

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Looks really nice, Danny. Keep it stock, don't butcher it! Sounds like something electrical is sticking.....keyswitch?
 
Sweet deal BD! I'm sure you will have this baby up to snuff in no time, it will be a labor of love for sure! It must feel awesome getting your bike back that was part of your younger days, I know that if I could find my old DT250 I'd buy it in a heartbeat! Lots of fun things happened on that DT that first summer!!
 
that rear wheel looks a lot like a '85 rear vmax wheel!
 
Thanks guys, it's really cool having her back!

Funny story....I asked the guy if he had the owners manual and he said no, he never got one with the bike. I was a little disappointed but, if he didn't have it, then he didn't have it.

I was pulling stuff off today to clean & polish and remembered a little compartment behind the right side cover and I thought.....I wonder....:hmmm:

So I pulled the side cover off and there it was, all tightly rolled up in a zip-loc baggie....right where I had put it over 20 years ago....the owners manual!!

Now it doesn't want to unroll....I got it pressed under a couple heavy books, hope it doesn't take another 20 years to flatten back out! :biglaugh:
 
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