Cafe Racer!

[Nelsdou]

It's been awhile but I tore down the '82 Yamaha Virago and got a number of pieces blasted and powder coated.  New head bearing and swing arm bearing.  Removing the original swing arm bearing was a PITA being stuck in there for 34 years.

In this pic the frame is more of backbone as the engine is a stressed member. The swing arm suspension to the frame is a monoshock.


On the rebuild I took an option to a scrambler theme by change tires, wheels and handlebar. By swapping these three items I can interchange between a cafe racer and scrambler at will. At least that is the idea. I found that I can bolt on the wheels from a 82 Yamaha XZ Vision that are 18 inch diameter and narrower width that will accomodate moderate knobby tires. The same diameter wheels front and back also balances the look getting further away from looking like a cruiser.





After assembling everything except for switching our the lowbars for the dirt tracker handlebars, I got it up today for a shakedown run just to make sure the the wheels and brakes worked OK. The Vision front wheel uses a different brake disk that required some minor fitup issues with the stock Virago fork and brake caliper set up and so far so good.  I also rejetted the Mikuni carbs pilot jets one size richer, and that vastly improved the engine performance and drivability. Something else I am fiddling with is a Supertrapp muffler that one can adjust the number of flow discs to better match the carburation so more experimentation is in order.

More pics to follow.

[gitano]

Great to see you, Nels! Man! That's some work!

Paul

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

That is why Barry Sheen had a British company wrap a proper frame around his works Kawasaki without Kawasaki knowing about it.

When did Barry Sheene ride a works Kawasaki?

[Nelsdou]

I saw a recent ad, "See the bikes that make Sheene a star", and the associated photo displayed a Suzuki.

Pics as promised:




The tuning is coming along great, I believe I have the carb jets and the number of disks in the Supertrapp muffler properly matched

[gitano]

Dudn't look real comfortable even with a soft-tail, :) but nice work!:eek:

Paul

[Nelsdou]

It has a mono-shock mounted between the rear swing arm and frame, just below the seat. The spring coil is dampened by a charge of air up to 60 psi and there is a regulator of sorts to adjust the dampening rate.  At least I thought that was how it worked.  Without the air charge the stroke is greatly diminished as well.  I rode it once without any air charge just to see what it was like on the coil spring alone. No fun, it was like riding with your butt on a skateboard.

[gitano]

Just a really nice looking job, Nels!

Paul