My friend has a 1983 Yamaha Virago 500 at his house in New Hampshire. He is going to give it to me if we can get it running and he will keep it at his house until I get my own place to live since I am forbidden to have a motorcycle while I live with my parents. Is this a good starter bike?
Right now, the Virago needs a battery, a new front headlight assembly, to have the fuel tank pressure washed, to have the carb cleaned, and a fix for the turn signals (you need to keep clicking the button to make it flash. They already replaced the signal modulator [?] to no effect). So, any ideas on how to fix the turn signals? Also, he mentioned there is some rust in the fuel tank and there is a sealant available to coat the tank and protect further rusting. Does anyone know what this stuff is?
One of the determining factors as to whether Bike X is a good "starter bike" is your physical size. Another is what you will be using it for (short trip commuting or longish trips).
My first bike was a "leftover" Yamaha Seca 650. One of the reasons why I bought was, admittedly the looks, but another was that at 6 ft 4 and 200 lbs a smaller bike would have been too small. After reading the various reviews in mags I was sure it was what I wanted because it was touted as having a great long distance riding position and a very large fuel tank and since I was going to be riding in "Bumf**k, Tx and all points away from there this was a perfect bike.
If I remember the Virago 500 is a smallish 2 cylinder, chain driven bike...if you are smaller than I am/was this may be a decent bike. I don't know the fuel tank answer you are looking for, but the turn signal problem may be a bad switch. I know, it's kind of "out there" but it can't hurt to try taking it apart to see if there's any corrosion involved. It sounds like this bike wasn't ridden much and wasn't properly stored during the long winters.
The fuel tank stuff is called Kreem. You can get it from most any motorcycle shop, or online at www.denniskirk.com. The 500 Virago is a shaft drive bike; it's pretty typical of early 1980s Japanese cruiser bikes as far as looks and ride, but my understanding is that it was a pretty reliable bike. First thing I'd do is get hold of a shop manual, preferably a factory one but the Clymer motorcycle manuals aren't bad either.
I found one road test online: http://www.thevirago.co.uk/viragoarticles/xv500/c/xv500virago01c.asp
Like most any vehicle these days, there's a Virago Owner's club. http://www.viragoownersclub.org/main.htm
I'm 5'8" and about 150lbs. I've been on the bike and it's about my size. Getting a hold of a FSM or Virago-specific parts may be hard as I've been told the 500cc Virago was only sold in the US for one year. A friend of mine used to work at a motorcycle dealership/shop and still has hook-ups there, so we'll definetly be leveraging those connections. When it is in NH, my other friend and I would share it as a learner bike to drive around his rural town. If I get the bike, I'd probably keep it for a little bit, then sell it and get a newer bike.
Stuart, thanks for the link to the Virago forums. I'm going up to see the bike tomorrow and if my friends and I aren't too busy playing paintball I'll get a tally of what the bike needs and post it there.
stroker
New Reader
7/12/08 7:42 p.m.
It's probably an okay candidate for a starter bike, but I think you're going to be surprised at how much money it'll cost to fix all those items, especially if you're paying a shop to do the carbs. It'll make a nice commuter and I'd think be fine for one-up riding on the interstate.
I had an '82 Vision with the same turn indicator problem but I never bothered to have it fixed.
Kreem can be difficult to apply. Be careful if you do that to not gum up the rest of the fuel tank or other fuel parts with Kreem left overs. I had a rusty tank on a Honda Magna. I filled it with parts cleaning fluid, threw in some ball bearings, and shook it really really well. That knocked a lot of the rust off the inside.
I agree with Integraguy in that this bike wasn't stored properly or just left to rot somewhere. You will need to go through the carbs. You'll end up rebuilding them to make them work right.
The turn signals could probably be fixed with a new switch. You may even be able to source one from a motorcycle junkyard. They'll have ads in the back of most motorcycle mags.
The battery you can more than likely find at Wal-mart. That's where I sourced a new battery for my TL1000S a year or so ago. I paid around $30 for a pretty powerful battery. Yours might be cheaper.
If it sat for this long it's probably going to need new tires too. Check for cracks and other signs of rot.
Also, your fork seals will probably start to leak after a bit of riding. This is due to the rust on the forks that accumulates after sitting.
