I've officially gone to the dark side

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I just received my first issue of the Vintage Japanese M/C Club magazine.  Very impressive!

I joined, because I am soon to become the proud owner of a unmolested 1983 Yamaha XV920.
It is a non-runner, but it is "only" $1300.

It is also a bike I have lusted for since it first appeared in the magazines back in the day.  Back then, in pre-internet days, I subscribed to almost every U.S. m/c magazine that didn't have girls or all dirt bikes in them, and had time to read them at work because I didn't have internet forums to distract me!

This is what a pretty one looks like:



It has an enclosed chain, and a neat little luggage rack that has a small locking compartment under it.
Mine is silver, but if I decide to keep it, I will probably paint it.  See below for the potential of this bike.
This is what sold all over the US:  ()

 


Here is a nicely modified one.  I would never give up the chain enclosure, though.





His name is Bob Lincoln.  He has two pages on it:
http://vjmc.org/members/bobbike.htm
http://vjmc.org/members/lincolnb920.htm


websites:
http://www.tr1.de/
http://www.viragotech.com/

[Edward]

Rob,

The virago is a great bike.  I purchased one a long time ago at an auction, fixed it up and flipped it.  You may already know about this(if not, I can tell you more about it), but, the early Viragos have an issue with the electric starter (especially the 920). It can be fixed, Yamaha had a repair kit for it but I do not know if it can still be had.  If not, you can fix it yourself without the repair kit, you'll need a little time and patience.

My friend has one that has over 50K, no second gear, blows a little smoke and looks like %#(@ but it starts right up and is a daily driver

Enjoy It!!  

[nhmaf]

Hi Rob !

Well - this is a day for surprises !

I was also going to mention the starter issue, but Edward beat me to it.  A friend of mine had the Virago/shaft drive cersion of the bike for several years and it is a pretty well sorted out bike - I think the flatter bars and non-chopper treatment of the XV920 will make it a better overall ride and longer distance cruiser.
And, it is an air-cooled twin, so it has that going for it, too.   I am not positive, but I think that these also have screw-type adjusters for valve lash - so it will be as close as you're likely to get for a Japanese airhead equivalent ;-)

I don't know if you can get the leg shields to fit on it, though ?!?
 

[Justin B.]

I put a few miles on the "cruiser" style a couple years ago and only got rid of it because it didn't make sense to me to have a bike that would cause me to stock a completely different set of maintenance items.  The little riding I did (less than 1000 miles) was commuting and it was really a very comfortable bike with the benefit of shaft drive.

[nhmaf]

Those were/are pretty decent bikes, but I never could understand the little rectangular headlight thing they put on the cruisers - I guess there were alot of things back in the 80s that didn't make a whole lot of sense but were considered stylish at the time..

Another little "odd" bike that I like the looks of was the Yamaha Vision (550)   V-Twin liquid cooled number - those are somewhat collectable now.

[MrRiden]

Somewhere I have an issue of the British magazine Classic Bike. in it there is a reworked Virago made to resemble a Vincent. It has the swoopy tank and seat lines evened out and it made you look twice.
rich

[nhmaf]

Rob -

If you haven't already done so, you'll probably want to check out this website/forum - isn't as active as ours is though !
http://www.viragotech.com/

[NC Steve]

Congrats Rob, that sounds like quite a coup!

I was always a big fan of the Yamaha V-twins, especially in the XV 920 form, much more so than the Viragos. They were all good bikes but the XV did it for me, although they never sold well and were scrapped quickly and replaced with the various Viragos.

A great find: get that puppy running soon!  

[Justin B.]

I think the XV with a shaft drive (I know, more loss) would have been perfect.  I read tests where the MC press salivated over the European version chain drive model.  I enjoyed the Virago's low end grunt but found the gearing a bit short to be out on the interstate all day.

Rob, I wish you luck with it, but you are not giving up on Beemers, are you?

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Rob, I wish you luck with it, but you are not giving up on Beemers, are you?

Justin, that R65 is a bigger part of my life than I care to admit.   It won't be going anywhere.

[Justin B.]

You have me a bit nervous...

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

As I mentioned in the CB750 thread, I may end up doing a quick turn-around on this bike.  I'll have to wait and see.