Virago's

[PBJ]

Hey guys i just helped a friend buy anV 86 virago 1100, the pretty two toned one with the Gold accents. The bike runs but has been neglected, there is what i understand to be a chronic starter problem and this bike seems to have it. Like it has a broken tooth or teeth. Also the rear cylinder doesn't kick in right away.

 

I was going to look up a Virago site but figured some of us most own this bike which is very popular and considered a 10 best cruiser.On top of that this site is the best anyway. So if you own a virago or have a wife that does and you have worked on it . please give me a shout.

 

I'm also going to need A NEW front wheel because the bike was hit by a car while stored on a barn. Its not terrible but noticeable. The bike is for a friend and i want it right.Carb claning and that stuff i can do but if theres anyone with one of these nbikes athat can help me or knows of someone I'd be very grateful to get in touch with them. Also anypone with spare pARTS , I NEED A REAR TURN SIGNAL. Let me know thanks.PB&J.

[jemorrisonjr]

There is a place here in wisconsin that has 12 Viragos...

Cycles Plus Inc

701 N Lincoln St, Elkhorn, WI 53121 » Map (262) 723-1415

 

The best place for parts is Pinwall cycle on ebay....

[SC89Venture]

Great bikes for sure. Starter problem should be resolved on the 86 model. Make sure you have a good hot properly charged battery. Google virago owners club, great people willing to help. There are 2 forums that are pretty active. Check your electrical connections at the battery and electrical components as well. Some folks even assigned a 2nd negative battery cable for a more secure ground. 1100 model had a fuel pump, make sure crankcase is not full of gas. These bikes were bad for the float bowl needles not shutting off resulting in a crankcase full of gas. Do a sniff test and if you smell gas, dump the oil and replace oil and filter. On oil filter, replace with hole sticking out or facing you, some folks installed the oil filter in backwards and that will starve the upper end of engine. AIS systems are easy enough to disconnest and plug, it is under the left pod cover. Right pod cover covers the air filter.

Plenty of info at those two sites.

Edited August 10, 2010 by SC89Venture

[eusa1]

tried to call and offer you some help, feel free to call me back.

mike

[Black Owl]

The 1100 Vieago is a great bike. I down sized from my 1300 to the 1100 and it definately put the fun back into riding. Have a friend with an 86 1100 Virago, and he has no problem with the starter.

 

Also, there are lots of parts available for the 1100 on e-bay.

[TDunc]

ALL my pills are blue!!! How did you get them with gold accents?:confused24:

[eusa1]

the wife enjoys hers!

[camos]

This is a very helpful Virago site. Looks like it is now necessary to register before the forums can be read but it's free and well worth doing.

 

The first gen Virago starters were a chronic problem but was fixed in the 2nd gens after 85. The xv1000, available in 85 only, was the first of the 2nd gens with the fixed starter so 86 and on should not have the chronic starter design problem. If your starter does not sound right there is likely something wrong. To begin check and clean the battery connections. The hot side is straight forward just the battery end but the neg/ground connects to the engine down by the brake light switch and is a definite source of corrosion. The hot to the starter should also be cleaned. Adding a second ground from the battery to the frame is a good thing to do, #10 wire will be adequate but #8 is probably better.

 

Any old bike that has be neglected should have all the wiring checked over for obvious damage and all the terminals separated and cleaned before putting back together, then use dielectric grease to help with water resistance.

 

I put E3's on mine last year and they work great, the rear is a bit larger that stock but fits comfortably.

 

While everything is a lot simpler, there really isn't much difference between restoring a shed queen Virago or a similar state Venture.

[PBJ]

Thanks to Mike(euas1) Clive and everyone else for the great response. You all are fantastic. Thanks clive for all the advice on the electrical system. i'll be checking all that. I appreciate the advice from all of you.

 

A special thanks to Mike ( euas1) for two phone calls last night to not only help me find a starter shim kit on E bay but also found me the front wheel that happens to be at a dealer only 30 miles away from my home.

 

Mike I also want to thank you for the pictures you posted of your wife on her bike. Her's looks fantastic I especially like the hard bags I see they are Leatherlikes( right?) The windshield and light bar looks good too. Carol now has a lot of ideas to work with as far as how she can outfit her new toy.

 

Thanks again all of you and any other suggestions or ideas I will gladly accept. Also any other pictures of your Virago's would be appreciated so Carol can see what others have done.

 

You guys and gals are the BEST!!!

 

Oh it doesn't hurt that Virago in Latin means "Maiden Warrior" Carol really liked that.

[PBJ]

I JUST WHAT TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT I JUST SPENT SOME TIME AT A LOCAL BIKE SHOP IN FAIRPORT NY. WHERE I WAS ABLE TO PURCHASE NOT ONLY A FRONT WHEEL AND ROTORS, BUT A FAIRLY NEW FRONT TIRE, ( $175.00) PLUS A REAR TURN SIGNAL ASSEMBLY($24.00) PLUS A ALMOST NEW REAR DUNLOP 491 FOR $50.00 . I JUST HAVE TO ORDER A STARTER SHIM KIT AND THEN ADD SOME ELBOW GREASE AND THE BIKE WILL BE IN RUNNING SHAPE STILL FOR UNDER $1000. TOTAL. WHAT A DEAL!

 

I JUST TOOK SOME PICTURES OF THE BIKE AND ITS BIGGEST WORTS AS A BEFORE AND AFTER COMPARISON. I'LL POST THEM AS SOON AS I DOWN LOAD THEM INTO MY COMPUTER. CAROL AND I THANK AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP . PHIL. PB&J.

[Yammy]

My wife had one. The starter problem is very easy to fix. There's a small bendix spring (that might not be what yamaha would call it). Anyway it locks one way and slips the other. It's likely slipping both ways, which won't let the bike to turn over. It's not an expensive repair and is easy to do. Just behind the side cover. There a nice bike

Hope this helps.

[Yammy]

I got talked into the shim kit but it wasn't the problem. It will be a temp fix, the bendix or maybe it's called an idler gear is the likely problem. After changing it, I was playing with it and it would slip when turning it one way and lock the other. I thought I had just wasted my money because it seemed okay. But it will slip only when it's in one position. In the bike you'd swear the gears are chewed up.

[PBJ]

Thanks for the insight I've ordered the kit anyway just in case. I'll see if this works or not. Anyways I had promised a picture of Carols new bike So here it is

[PBJ]

Parts bought and work starts next week, (have to work this weekend). can't wait. thanks again to all will post after pix when its done.

[Freebird]

The bike looks good. I've owned 3 Viragos, though the first two were the original 750 and 920 models. I later bought Eileen a 535 but she didn't care for it too much. It had a lot of rake and she found it hard to handle due to that. It was a nice bike though.

[PBJ]

And i'm ready to start the work on getting her bike ready this week. With all the parts in hand I'm ready to start the work.I'm also going to polish the front forks while i have the front wheel off. It probably wouldn't hurt to drain the hydraulic fluid in the brakes and clutch. Then I'll check the electrical connects as Clive recommended.

 

Anythings else I should be looking at? Oh and it goes with out saying a can of sea foam will be going into the gas tank and maybe the oil pan as well,Anything Else???

[camos]

You will find out soon enough there is a cable activated clutch and the rear drum brakes are activated by a pull bar and lever. There is a mark and an arrow on the rear brake lever that indicates the condition of the brake shoes. Somewhere in the middle is good but getting close to the mark means the shoes should be inspected/replaced.

 

If you are planning to put some Seafoam in the transmission oil you should do that perhaps the day before an oil change then run it around a bit. Pay attention to how the filtre is installed before changing it as the filtre can be installed backwards which will mess up the engine. The oil level should be filled to about 3/4 up the window. A bit closer to the top could be better because it will help prevent the oil light from coming on when cold and when going up a hill. When the engine is running there will be no oil visible in the window so don't be concerned. When checking oil the bike should be on the centre stand on level ground.

 

Be careful when reinstalling the front wheel that the speedo drive is properly aligned with the drive teeth or it could get pooched. Would be a good idea to oil the cables, speedo, clutch, brake and choke cables with clean engine oil. The rear brake light switch is just above the rear end of the foot lever, right about where the neg cable from the battery attaches to the engine. Make sure it is adjusted properly as it may have to be disconnected to clean the terminal end.

 

About half the electrical connections are in the headlight bucket so don't forget to look at them as well. There are some fuses under the seat but there is also a fuse panel under the idiot lights below the instrument cluster.

 

Remind the rider that the ignition switch has a park light position just past the lock position. Essentially, don't ever use the park position except perhaps in an emergency except the hazard lights would probably be a better choice. The park lights will kill the battery in less than 8 hours. I know this from experience.

 

As with the Venture, so with the Virago, the primary drive splines should be greased as well as the swing arm bearings and drive shaft splines. If you don't know the condition of the rear end oil it should be changed as well.

 

Magnum TM 80 horns are a close match to the OEM ones with a serious blast to them.. well worth looking into.

[PBJ]

Wow Clive thanks so much for all of that. Some of it, about the oil I knew. I also have a Xs1100 and the filters for that and the venture are the same. Should i assume the Virago is similar to the venture oil fILTER?

 

Yes I know all too well the parking light setting on Japanese bikes,i have it on my honda and did that once years ago. Luckily it was at work and someone took down my license number and gave it to a guard in the plant where i work and they tracked me down.

 

I'll remember to check all the fuses and electrical connectors and i had planned on greasing the rear end as it seems to be a Yamaha trait. My Honda has never had this problem and that's an 84. I'm printing this out alone with other suggestions in order to make sure carol has a great running bike. Thanks again guys I'll keep in touch.

[eusa1]

very good and true information camos!

every little clue can be helpfull, and could be the one to save a ride, or a rider.

 

ride safe, ride often..mike

[PBJ]

Once more Clive and Mike thank you so very much. Mike I'll let you know about those highway bars this week.

[PBJ]

Mike and Clive,

 

My son and i have just finished getting Carols Virago all finished . We found one carb jet larger than the other. We bought a used set of carbs and replaced the jets. The bike starts and idles fine. Riding around at 30 mph the bikes fine but when you twist past half throttle nothing happens. The bikes still trying to excellerate but no matter how far you twist the throttle theres no extra power.

 

In pulling the carbs off we noticed the vacuum mechanism under the left "air cleaner" pod. Theres an L shaped tube off of that without any hose on it. Is this part of a vacuum advance for the carbs? If so where does it go and what does it attach to?

 

I changed the plugs, I checked for spark all is well there. I ran just the front cylinder alone and it held idle fine and even sounded okay. But when I disconnected the front cylinder and just ran the rear it ran rough and back fired loudly.

 

Please can you give me any advice Guys Thanks Phil.

[Freebird]

Are you sure that the jets weren't SUPPOSED to be different sizes? I'm not sure on the Virago but on the RSV, the jets are not the same size in all the carbs.

[ddoggma]

Everything sounds great, they are smooth rides. Check the dates on those tires, make sure they are not too old. Have fun.

[rod]

The jets are supposed to be different sizes. Mukini carbs 118 on the front and 122 in the rear I think (going off the top of my head). You can plug all that smog crap it is worthless and causes problems. Are you running the stock air filter? Viragos need the air to go threw the air box to run right. For after market air filters you need to restrict the air. Email me if you need help. rod-virago@cox.net Rod

[camos]

In pulling the carbs off we noticed the vacuum mechanism under the left "air cleaner" pod. Theres an L shaped tube off of that without any hose on it. Is this part of a vacuum advance for the carbs? If so where does it go and what does it attach to?

Under the left pod is the AIS. Yup, just like the Venture. As we know, vacuum leaks can cause problems. The PO removed the AIS on my Virago so I've never had to deal with it. Here is a link to instructions on removing the AIS.

 

I changed the plugs, I checked for spark all is well there. I ran just the front cylinder alone and it held idle fine and even sounded okay. But when I disconnected the front cylinder and just ran the rear it ran rough and back fired loudly.

Backfiring is often caused by a lean fuel condition created by a vacuum leak, gobbed up jets, carb boot leak, unsynced carbs or poor spark.

Edited October 2, 2010 by camos