Virago Archives - BikeBrewers.com https://bikebrewers.com/tag/virago/ Europe largest directory Cafe Racers, Scramblers, Bratstyles & other Custom Bikes. Sat, 12 Mar 2022 14:28:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 Project Scout II by Industrial Moto https://bikebrewers.com/project-scout-ii-by-industrial-moto/ https://bikebrewers.com/project-scout-ii-by-industrial-moto/#respond Wed, 09 May 2018 05:33:44 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1785 You may recall a similar looking bike built by Industrial Moto late last summer. We featured it in 2017. Someone liked it so much they wanted one for themselves and commissioned Industrial Moto to build another one. While this version is based on the original Project Scout concept, it incorporated a few changes. Maybe the [...]

The post Project Scout II by Industrial Moto appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (9)

You may recall a similar looking bike built by Industrial Moto late last summer. We featured it in 2017. Someone liked it so much they wanted one for themselves and commissioned Industrial Moto to build another one. While this version is based on the original Project Scout concept, it incorporated a few changes. Maybe the most noticeable is the color of the rims. The customer wanted to feature more of the Solar Flare orange in the color scheme. This Scout II also has front suspension sourced from a Yamaha R1. The front brake master cylinder and reservoir were re-located under the gas tank to give the front end a cleaner look.

The gas tank is originally from a 1974 Suzuki GT750. The wheels came from a Honda CB750. The subframe and seat are handmade and the seat was finished by Tuffside seats. The electrical system includes a MotoGadget m.unit that uses a smartphone as the proximity key and allows the rider to program the display, brake and turn signal functions, as well as report faults and act as an alarm system. We do not expect to see this bike off-road, but the word “ruggedized” factored heavily into the design.

As with all of Industrial Moto’s bikes, all colored surfaces are powder coated to match the specific color scheme, including every exposed bolt head and nut. The motor is completely disassembled and rebuilt with new bearings and seals. Front and rear suspension are rebuilt and modernized. Footpegs and controls are handmade in Industrial Moto machine shop. This bike may be similar to the original project Scout, but it is still a one of a kind build.Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (4)Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (1) Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (12) Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (11) Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (8) Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (7) Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (6) Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (5) Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (3) Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (2)Yamaha XV Cafe Racer (10)

The post Project Scout II by Industrial Moto appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/project-scout-ii-by-industrial-moto/feed/ 0
Sweet Thai Chilly https://bikebrewers.com/sweet-thai-chilly/ https://bikebrewers.com/sweet-thai-chilly/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2018 04:56:22 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1775 I can't help it, but we got a submission of another awesome Yamaha Virago. And just like Bal Deo's Virago I've posted last week, it's an XV750. It's not on purpose, it's just how they roll in. This bike is built by Oran, owner of Buriam Siammotor, a motorcycle dealer in Buriram. This mid-sized town which located in [...]

The post Sweet Thai Chilly appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
XV750 Cafe Racer (11)

I can’t help it, but we got a submission of another awesome Yamaha Virago. And just like Bal Deo’s Virago I’ve posted last week, it’s an XV750. It’s not on purpose, it’s just how they roll in.

This bike is built by Oran, owner of Buriam Siammotor, a motorcycle dealer in Buriram. This mid-sized town which located in north-east of Thailand was selected to held Moto GP at Chang International Circuit for the first time in 2018. Oran’s family has a long history of selling motorcycles and he’s involved in the business as a youngster. A couple of years ago he bought a 1982 Yamaha XV750 without a clear idea behind it. “Simply because I love the unique sound of the V-twin and that the bike was from my year of birth.” He decided to turn this Virago into a sleek looking cafe racer.

With the help of Mee Classic Shop, a custom bike shop in the same region, Oran managed to create his very own version of the Virago cafe racer. Oan: “Many people told me to stop wasting my time with this project, but the harder they told me, the harder I pushed to get the bike ready”. Most of the parts saw the hands of the builder and he brought the machine back in shape. All parts have been painted, polished or powder coated to bring back the “shine”. Unlike many others, he did not go for the standard Mojave gas tank, but he used a complete hand-built aluminum tank. Combined with the custom subframe and seat, the bike got a beautiful classic line.

XV750 Cafe Racer (23) XV750 Cafe Racer (20) XV750 Cafe Racer (16) XV750 Cafe Racer (13) XV750 Cafe Racer (12) XV750 Cafe Racer (8) XV750 Cafe Racer (5) XV750 Cafe Racer (4) XV750 Cafe Racer (3) XV750 Cafe Racer (2)

The post Sweet Thai Chilly appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/sweet-thai-chilly/feed/ 1
Bal Deo’s Virago Cafe Racer https://bikebrewers.com/bal-deos-virago-cafe-racer/ https://bikebrewers.com/bal-deos-virago-cafe-racer/#respond Tue, 20 Mar 2018 07:48:06 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1774 Just like the Honda CB or BMW airheads, the Yamaha Virago is one of the most popular base bikes for custom projects. And yes, it has been done over and over again. Some good, some bad, some terrible. And when a bike design is being consolidated, it gets harder and harder to stand out. Some [...]

The post Bal Deo’s Virago Cafe Racer appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (7)

Just like the Honda CB or BMW airheads, the Yamaha Virago is one of the most popular base bikes for custom projects. And yes, it has been done over and over again. Some good, some bad, some terrible. And when a bike design is being consolidated, it gets harder and harder to stand out. Some bikes simply stand out by design, other bikes have something that isn’t so clear to point out. The latter works for this machine built by Bal Deo, a photographer from Vancouver, Canada. If you have a photographic memory and take a quick look, it’s easy to put this bike in the line of the Virago that was built by Moto Adonis. But it also has some similarities with the XV920 by Ugly Motors. Nevertheless, a cool machine that deserved a spot right here. Words by the builder:

Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (4)

Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (2)

Due to some medical issue and going through a rough patch, it was hard not to feel depressed. By profession, by trade, I’m a photographer with microelectronics and some mechanical engineering background. Always loved bikes and surfing the web came across a couple of bike sites that had a wonderful piece of art in term of the builds. There’s nothing more inspiring than look at beautiful art in any form and shape. Hence my journey begins with finding a donor bike. So the most popular for cafe were BMW, Honda, and Yamaha Virago. It happens that while traveling the beautiful countryside of Canada BC, I came across a true “barn find” with 20K on the clock. So my donor bike was a 1982 Yamaha Virgo 750.

Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (12) Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (10)

I wanted to the bike to look dominant yet pleasing and simple to the eyes. Having a comfortable ride factor was a priority. The main challenge was to keep the build costs down by using the original components much as possible, however, it should be hard for people to recognize the bike as a Virago.

The wiring was completely removed, besides the stator and regulator wires, The electronics were based on the motogadget M-Unit and M-button. You simply can’t buy better, the guys at Rivival Cycles were wonderful in support, considering this being my first build. The frame was sandblasted, cleaned and powder coated, The rear subframe was completely removed and a simple seat pan was fabricated and the frame modified by my friend Jeff (the welder), who’s great in understanding your vision. Initially, we considered moving the battery box underneath the bike and go with a smaller lighter lithium, anyone who knows a virago and their famous starters, for the first version we stayed with a modified stock battery box. The wheels are stock Yamaha virago Rims, however, the tire size was beefed up by using Bridgestone – Exedra MAX 140/90-15 for rear and 120/90-17 for the front.

Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (11) Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (9) Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (8)Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (6)

The top end was completely rebuilt, including new seals, oil filter, adjust valves, and new matte black paint with fins cleaned up to give the lines perspective Aftermarket stainless steel exhaust to give a, even more, simpler clean look. The front end comes from a 2001 R6 with a 2007 R1 fork with a modified stem. We had two padding size for the seat, one comfortable ride, the other “it’s all about the looks”. Unfortunately, at the time of taking the pictures, the “look” seat was borrowed by a friend for his build. The upper shock mount was welded into the frame with very little effort, as we measured, drew up the plan and measured again, and again…

You simply can’t go wrong with careful planning. I had a pretty good handle on from my engineering days.

The overall ride is just wonderful. I’m 6’1″ and find the seat to be little higher, this may be fixed as I would like the front to be lowered by another inch or so. This is pretty simple by moving the clip ons to the topside of the stem, which would give a more comfortable ride.

Bal Deo's Virago Cafe Racer (1)

The post Bal Deo’s Virago Cafe Racer appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/bal-deos-virago-cafe-racer/feed/ 0
Yamaha XV920 by Ruthless Customz https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv920-ruthless-customz/ https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv920-ruthless-customz/#respond Wed, 28 Feb 2018 07:34:08 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1764 In a world where everybody is looking at each other through a little screen, it's becoming harder every day to be original. Same goes for building custom motorcycles, it's hard to build something that's not been done before in one way or another. Another difficulty is that everybody seems to know what is good or [...]

The post Yamaha XV920 by Ruthless Customz appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
Yamaha XV920 Custom (10)

In a world where everybody is looking at each other through a little screen, it’s becoming harder every day to be original. Same goes for building custom motorcycles, it’s hard to build something that’s not been done before in one way or another. Another difficulty is that everybody seems to know what is good or not. Luckily, our Dutch buddy Sergei Papyan, owner of Ruthless Customz based in Rotterdam (NL), was not afraid to start working on an ’83 Virago XV920.

With a pretty filled stack of skills and a budget of around 7,000 euro’s, Sergei started working on the Yamaha. He wanted to create “an aggressive modern cafe racer“. Let’s sum up some of the most striking mods: the front end comes from a 2007 Yamaha R1. “This was my biggest challenge,” says Sergei, “I’ve never done it before and I wanted the bike to be 100% safe. So swapping something pretty new to something pretty old made me put a lot of effort into this mod”. The gas tank comes from a KZ650R which is mounted at an angle that, together with the custom rear end, give the bike that aggressive stance Sergei was looking for.

Another out of the box item is the headlight. We usually see around, classic looking headlights on custom Viragos. But Sergei didn’t want that; to keep it aggressive and bold he mounted a more modern looking headlight which you may know from Diamonds Atelier machines (this one and this one). To keep the bike as clean as possible, the bike was completely rewired with even the ignition put out of sight; it’s below the seat. The whole bike got a new paint job with a tight, two-tone palette of black and grey.

Follow Ruthless Customz

Web | Facebook | Instagram

The original post was featured earlier on Pipeburn, but as you may know, we always like to give fellow Dutchies some extra attention.

Yamaha XV920 Custom (5) Yamaha XV920 Custom (4) Yamaha XV920 Custom (3) Yamaha XV920 Custom (8) Yamaha XV920 Custom (9) Yamaha XV920 Custom (1)

Yamaha XV920 Custom (6) Yamaha XV920 Custom (2)

The post Yamaha XV920 by Ruthless Customz appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv920-ruthless-customz/feed/ 0
Industrial Moto’s Interpretation of The Yamaha XV https://bikebrewers.com/xv-industrial-moto/ https://bikebrewers.com/xv-industrial-moto/#respond Wed, 06 Dec 2017 06:54:18 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1722 The Yamaha Virago is one of the most popular base bikes for custom projects and there are some really beautiful and unique projects out there (check out my Top 10 here). There are some builders out there who simply nailed it with their own interpretation of the Virago. And designs like that are the best [...]

The post Industrial Moto’s Interpretation of The Yamaha XV appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (3)

The Yamaha Virago is one of the most popular base bikes for custom projects and there are some really beautiful and unique projects out there (check out my Top 10 here). There are some builders out there who simply nailed it with their own interpretation of the Virago. And designs like that are the best input for shed builders. But it gets harder and harder to create something unique out of Yamaha’s XV-models. As I speak for myself, I’m a bit tired of all those Virago’s with the same setup with some clip ons, a leather hump-back seat, and a Benelli Mojave gas tank. But Industrial Moto managed to deliver yet another unique version. Just after they’ve delivered us this XV last week.

Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (2)

Enter “Project Scout”; It began as a 1983 Yamaha XV750 Virago with 2,100 original miles. The design is a tribute to the rugged off-road look of the 1970s International Scout 4x4s once owned by the industrial Moto family and even sports an original Scout badge on the tank. It features many handmade parts, including a hand milled triple tree with embedded tach/speedometer by Motogadget. Custom handlebar and foot controls, handmade foot pegs, exhaust, and an air intake that flows with the theme of the bike were all hand machined and powder coated to match. The sub-frame and seat are one-of-a-kind, handmade features, upholstered with a black tweed fabric by Tuffside seats.

The suspension has been modernized with a GSX-R mono shock in the rear, and rebuilt forks from a ’92 CB750 out front. The CB’s matching 5-spoke wheels didn’t go to waste either. Industrial Moto built a forge and filled the rear hub with new aluminum, then machined it to fit Yamaha specs for the shaft drive hub. The wheels were fitted with Heidenau K60 Scout tires to finish off this unique build. Combining all this with a tank from a 1974 Suzuki GT750 Water Buffalo tank completed the brawny look.

The motor and chassis were completely re-built with all new seals, gaskets, and bearings for the forks, wheels, steering, and brakes, and the carburetors were rebuilt and re-jetted. An all new charging system powers the hidden Anti-Gravity Lithium battery. The electrical system is controlled by Motogadget’s m.unit blue. This feature rich device pairs with the m.ride app to allow full control and status monitoring of the bike’s electrical system, alarm and maintenance schedule from your phone. Your phone can also serve as the keyless ignition system, but for those that want the traditional keyed starting system Project Scout is equipped with a keyed ignition, as well.

Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (4) Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (7) Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (9)Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (8) Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (1) Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (10)

Yamaha XV by Industrial Moto (5)

The post Industrial Moto’s Interpretation of The Yamaha XV appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/xv-industrial-moto/feed/ 0
Yamaha XV “Project Vasquez” by Industrial Moto https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv-project-vasquez-by-industrial-moto/ https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv-project-vasquez-by-industrial-moto/#respond Mon, 27 Nov 2017 08:50:41 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1718 Maybe you'll remember this awesome Honda CB750 Nighthawk Cafe Racer? If not, you really should take a look. It was build by Industrial Moto and shows us what these guys are capable of. Their latest project is called "Project Vasquez" and is based on a Yamaha XV.  Project Vasquez from industrial Moto was built on [...]

The post Yamaha XV “Project Vasquez” by Industrial Moto appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
Project Vasquez (8)Maybe you’ll remember this awesome Honda CB750 Nighthawk Cafe Racer? If not, you really should take a look. It was build by Industrial Moto and shows us what these guys are capable of. Their latest project is called “Project Vasquez” and is based on a Yamaha XV.  Project Vasquez from industrial Moto was built on commission for a customer in Ohio. Design cues for this bike were derived from the big gun carried by a character named “Vasquez” in the original Aliens movie. Overall the design is more traditional Café Racer than industrial Moto’s previous builds.

Project Vasquez (7)

Starting with a 1980s Yamaha Virago, industrial Moto converted the suspension using GSX-R forks and rear shock. Two seats will be provided which the customer can change easily, along with passenger foot pegs for two-up riding. The tank was stripped to bare metal and finished with a wire brush, then lettering and stripes were etched with the sand blaster. Only the customer knows the significance of the “Racer 74” logo, but we think the end result looks pretty good.

Lots of hand made parts went into this bike. The upper triple tree, subframe, seat supports, exhaust and foot pegs were all made in-house. The muffler is a unique unit built to match the shape of the upper tree. Seats were provided by Tuffside, and the electrical system is controlled by a Moto Gadgets m unit. All powder coating and paint is done in-house, as well. Every exposed nut and bolt head is powder coated to match the color scheme.

This is industrial Moto’s first bike to be equipped with front and rear cameras. The rear camera and control unit are mounted under the seat, with the front camera mounted under the bottom tree. Bar end mirrors and turn signal indicators keep the front looking uncluttered, and the led brake/indicator strip provide a clean look in back.

Follow Industrial Moto

Web | Instagram | Facebook

Project Vasquez (10) Project Vasquez (9) Project Vasquez (6) Project Vasquez (5) Project Vasquez (4) Project Vasquez (3) Project Vasquez (2) Project Vasquez (1)

The post Yamaha XV “Project Vasquez” by Industrial Moto appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv-project-vasquez-by-industrial-moto/feed/ 0
Yamaha XV750 by KSC https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv750-ksc/ https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv750-ksc/#respond Fri, 03 Nov 2017 07:50:20 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1706 This machine right here is built by Kustom Special Components, or KSC, from Italy. One of the team members, Massimo, is an Italian engineer living in the UK. The KSC shop is located in Italy and is run by his partner Fabio, who is specialized in machining parts and welding. They took a Yamaha XV750 Virago as [...]

The post Yamaha XV750 by KSC appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
XV750 Cafe (15)

This machine right here is built by Kustom Special Components, or KSC, from Italy. One of the team members, Massimo, is an Italian engineer living in the UK. The KSC shop is located in Italy and is run by his partner Fabio, who is specialized in machining parts and welding. They took a Yamaha XV750 Virago as a base bike with a clear plan: building the new wave version of this classic bike with some race spirit.

The first look clearly shows that they were pretty serious. It looks modern, has an aggressive racy stance and the materials and color palette just seem to work out pretty well for the Virago. Rest of the words by Massimo.

XV750 Cafe (12)This project is a modern review of a classic motorcycle; built with a racing spirit. From the base motorcycle, supersport tires and dampers were fitted. Front yokes and rear damper attachment point were reviewed to improve the ground clearance and guarantee the full damper travel. Seat and footrest were redesigned in shape and position to replicate the seat position and rider weight distribution of a supersport bike.

While the original rear brakes were retained the front brake system is derived from competition, courtesy of Brembo Racing. The engine was kept as original after a full rebuild. A K&N filter was installed and a fully handmade exhaust system was designed and fitted. The silencer is made of two stainless steel machine from solid ends and an outer aluminium cover. The electronics were reviewed with a lighter and minimal loom with the main electronics located underneath the seat. Battery and regulator are located next to the engine underneath the rear swing arm pivot axle. The dash was converted into a full digital version.

Front light system is a bespoke design; the aim was to produce a tide line in lateral view and sink the projectors as much as possible into the front forks. Rear light system is embedded into the seat. The bike is ready to be road legal that is why it is presented with the rear number plate (installation arm is a bespoke design as well) and with the side stand installed. The colours recall the classic Yamaha racing brand of the 1970-80’s; the red band is the main element. On the tank the side black band fades into white to keep the good mix between classic and modern. On the front fairing the right hand black stripe fades into green to recall the Italian flag colours.

PS. The bike got a spot in the BikeBrewers Top 10 Yamaha Virago Cafe RacersXV750 Cafe (13) XV750 Cafe (14)

 

XV750 Cafe (2) XV750 Cafe (11) XV750 Cafe (10) XV750 Cafe (9) XV750 Cafe (8) XV750 Cafe (7) XV750 Cafe (6) XV750 Cafe (5) XV750 Cafe (4) XV750 Cafe (3)

The post Yamaha XV750 by KSC appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv750-ksc/feed/ 0
Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer by Ugly Motors https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv920-cafe-racer-ugly-motors/ https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv920-cafe-racer-ugly-motors/#respond Wed, 04 Oct 2017 06:30:31 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1692 Recently I've posted the 10 Best Yamaha Virago Cafe Racers, and I guess it already needs an update... This awesome XV920 cafe racer is built by Jakub Beker from Poland and owner of Ugly Motors. The bike was recently featured on another website. Usually, I don't repost stuff from others, but sometimes I make an [...]

The post Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer by Ugly Motors appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer 1Recently I’ve posted the 10 Best Yamaha Virago Cafe Racers, and I guess it already needs an update… This awesome XV920 cafe racer is built by Jakub Beker from Poland and owner of Ugly Motors. The bike was recently featured on another website. Usually, I don’t repost stuff from others, but sometimes I make an exception, just like today. Words are by Jakub:

I’m 31-year-old IT specialist who found his passion in real steel 70’s and 80’s motorcycles. I got a lovely and very patient wife and two kids. I work alone and only in my extra time because I nee a day job to cure home finances. My workshop could be called semi-professional. I got some really cool stuff there because I work on bikes for over three years, but it’s all financed from my own back pocket. My workshop is located in a building on the 1st floor, so I have to pull up the bikes with a self-made crane through the window. With this massive 1983 Yamaha XV920 is was pretty extreme!

Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer 3

This XV920 Cafe Racer was made for one of my clients. We’ve met in October 2016 made some vision and define some basic routes we’d like to follow with this bike. Then we’ve started to pull some ideas from the web. It’s obvious there were few bazillions of Viragos out there but we’ve wanted to make it stand out and be more refined than the bikes we see on the internet. My client was very aware of what he liked and got a very good taste of color matching and features he wants and the ones he wants to skip just by a simple law of budget.

I’ve made it clear that the donor bike got to be in a mint condition if he wanted to make the build fast. Next day he saw this 1983 US-model online, just 100km from Gdańsk where he lives. He went there and made a good deal with the owner.

Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer 9

After I’ve picked up the bike, I’ve set up a clean and fluid process build, it was easy enough because I’ve made XV750 just one year ago. First I’ve needed to place the original bike on the new forks. I’ve bought ZX12R ones which are huge and stiff enough to pick up 240 kg of bike weight. I’ve got very talented lathe craftsman as a friend so he made all the conversion (ZX12R fork to XV frame). Then I’ve decided that upper triple clap was crap with integrated clip-ons so I’ve made a new one and added “traditional” fork mounted clip-ons. Then I’ve used Honda CBR 954RR rear shock to get rid of the leaking original gas shock and make the stance more aggressive. It was welded to a new frame mount. Next step was to fit the tank and design rear frame. I had a vision for that in my head for a long time. Simple and clean: 1 inch tubes with minimal frame mod, and integrated LED tail light.

Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer 7

After that, we’ve made this 100% custom exhaust. This job was made by another friend of mine who is one of the best welders I know. He joins stainless steel like it’s made from one piece. I always like to underline that we got very good craftsman’s here in Poland. Then I’ve made the seat from Italian leather. At last I’ve focused on the gas tank. To make it as raw and man-made, I’ve tried a new technique which was to zinc raw steel. I’ve made olive-gold stripes and cover it with a clear coat. It looks raw and nice with grinder marks here and there but in the sun it shines like a diamond.

Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer 4

I guess the design process was the easiest part, I’m saying that not to flatter myself, but with this model biggest challenge is to make it technically work well. We all know what happens to the starter motor in old Viragos. I know some XV’s start pretty good but it’s still in another universe to let’s say how Honda GL500 (from the same era) starter works. I’ve ordered almost every starter motor part from Yamaha dealership and then it worked fine and reliable. XV’s had some problems with carburetion but it was also fixed.

The best part of this project, in my opinion, is that the bike is a collective of all the ideas and refinements I can imagine from the projects I see all around the world. Even if you look at the exhaust you might say it’s like others one Web but look at the front 2in1 collector from a side. It lines up and makes the bike looks even cleaner. Another good part is that I’ve managed to build this bike in fairly low budget and only 3 months.

Photos by Bartosz Mokrzycki

Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer 5Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer 8

The post Yamaha XV920 Cafe Racer by Ugly Motors appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv920-cafe-racer-ugly-motors/feed/ 0
Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv535-virago-flat-tracker/ https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv535-virago-flat-tracker/#respond Thu, 03 Aug 2017 05:38:02 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1663 Cool Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker built by Dino Maltoni from Mendoza, Argentina. Nicolás Fernández about the project: This bike was an awesome challenge for us since it was in an extremely poor condition. As with most of our projects, we started by disassembling the entire bike. Our plan was to create a flat tracker, [...]

The post Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker (1)

Cool Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker built by Dino Maltoni from Mendoza, Argentina. Nicolás Fernández about the project:

This bike was an awesome challenge for us since it was in an extremely poor condition. As with most of our projects, we started by disassembling the entire bike. Our plan was to create a flat tracker, with the typical yellow/black color scheme of the legendary XS650 raced by Kenny Roberts. The frame was modified in order to get a better, flatter stance. The custom fiberglass gas tank only is built for an aesthetic function, while it’s fake: the real gas tank is located under the custom fiberglass seat, covered by polished aluminum fenders. This gives the bike a better weight distribution, which definitely helps on the dirt track. But it’s not only built for the track, it’s completely road legal. The custom 2 in 1 exhaust with custom muffler may look aggressive, it gives the bike a distinctive sound.

A lot of time was put in little details and parts, take a look at it yourself:

Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker (3) Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker (4) Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker (5)Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker (6)Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker (2)

The post Yamaha XV535 Virago Flat Tracker appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/yamaha-xv535-virago-flat-tracker/feed/ 0
10 Best Yamaha Virago Cafe Racers https://bikebrewers.com/10-best-yamaha-virago-cafe-racers/ https://bikebrewers.com/10-best-yamaha-virago-cafe-racers/#comments Fri, 07 Jul 2017 07:10:07 +0000 https://bikebrewers.com/?p=1586 From mild-mannered cruiser to hard-edged café racer, change is a beautiful thing. Check out this Top 10 Yamaha Virago Cafe Racers and see if you agree. The Yamaha Virago was a significant milestone in the Japanese Cruiser family tree, but before we get there, here’s a quick cruiser history lesson. Not surprisingly it starts off with [...]

The post 10 Best Yamaha Virago Cafe Racers appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
Top 10 Yamaha Virago Cafe RacerFrom mild-mannered cruiser to hard-edged café racer, change is a beautiful thing. Check out this Top 10 Yamaha Virago Cafe Racers and see if you agree.

The Yamaha Virago was a significant milestone in the Japanese Cruiser family tree, but before we get there, here’s a quick cruiser history lesson. Not surprisingly it starts off with Harley-Davidson. Back in 1969, Harley-Davidson was on the brink of fading away, when a last- minute rescue from AMF saved the day. That was initially good news, but the Japanese superbike invasion had already begun, with the revolutionary 750 Honda. Plus, Harley Davidson was getting a kicking. Later that same year, Easy Rider hit the big screen, and  North America went chopper mad. Willie G. Davidson was bright enough to see the potential of and in 1970, cobbled together a new model from existing stock. The bike was the Super Glide, and it saved the company’s ass.

Towards the 1980’s all of the Japanese manufacturers had some lightly customized model in their line- up. But the brown stuff hit the fan in 1981 when the Yamaha Virago rolled onto the showroom floor. The 750cc Virago was the first Japanese V-twin cruiser to take the fight right to Harley’s door, and they didn’t like it at all. Verbally mauled by Yamaha for having the audacity to produce a V-twin cruiser. Harleys were sufficiently rattled by this and lobbied for an import tariff that loaded an extra 45% on imported motorcycles over 700cc.

Anyway, enough of the history lesson (you can read more on Wikipedia if you like), suffice to say that the tariff was eventually lifted, leaving the Japanese manufacturers free to follow in the Virago’s wake.

Disclaimer: this is a totally subjective selection. Want to share your thoughts? Feel free to comment.

#10: XV750 Take Two by Hageman Cycles (1/2)

XV750 Greg HagemanWe are looking at the top 10 Virago Café Racers here, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Greg Hageman would have two in that list.

The first thing that catches your eye on this beauty is the gas tank. The 1973 RD350 unit has been brought back to life and looks just right perched on the top tube. Hageman usually makes a rather nifty subframe that bolts on to the standard Yam backbone. But in this case, he’s fabricated a complete subframe, to take the club man style seat.

This innovation cleans up the back end and makes that engine look huge. Keeping things clean is a blacked out 2-1 exhaust that finishes in a Norton Peashooter type silencer. The forks are from a ’08 R1 and piggyback reservoir Öhlins make sure the back keeps pace.

#9: All Hail the King XV750 by Ville Hanninen

XV750 Cafe RacerSome people can look at a grungy old bike and see its potential for a cool custom while others can look at a single component and build an entire bike around it.

Finnish custom builder Ville Hanninen falls into both categories. This whole build started with a ¾ fairing found hanging on a friend’s wall.  Being a massive fan of road racing, Ville decided there and then to build a café racer in homage to his all-time favorite racer, King Kenny Roberts.

Finding a 1983 XV750 that looked like it had seen better days, the intrepid Finn fabricated an entirely new subframe. He also made new trees to fit the R1 front end and constructed the seat unit. A 2-1 exhaust and GP silencer completed the look, with the only thing left being a King Kenny speed block paint job.

#8: This is Sparta XV750 by Sparta Garage

Virago XV750 CafeI love custom bikes from far-flung places. It usually means they’ve been built with passion and against the odds. Exactly the case with this XV750 built by Spartak Malkevich of Sparta Garage in Belarus.

According to Spartak, a customer brought this Virago into the shop. He had already christened it Tramontana (which means, strong winter wind) and although it had the Suzuki GSX-R 750 front end, it was so poorly fitted, it needed major metal surgery to rectify. The blacked in an engine, weld-heavy exhaust and matt paint, work well to give the bike a real-world functionality that still screams custom.

#7: Skinny Beast TR1 by Schlachtwerk

Yamaha TR1-R Café RacerGerman Bike builder’s Schlachtwerk is better known for their Kawasaki W650 conversions than their drag racing prowess, that was until the unleashing of the Skinny Beast. It’s one thing, giving a Virago the look and handling capabilities of a café racer. However, turning an aging TR1 into a rip-snorting, nitrous guzzling strip shredder is entirely another, but that’s’ what Tom Thoring did. 

Taking a grossly overweight TR1 in full touring mode, he kept cutting it down until the overweight Yam was almost half its original weight!  In its first guise, it was a street sleeper, before going on to part-time race duty, with Tom finally going the whole hog in 2016.

The bike now has a seriously souped-up engine and Nitrous injection and has dominated German one-eighth mile sprints for two years running. But the picture of the bike you see here isn’t really up to date. Tom keeps re-inventing this custom bike and just transformed the TR1 into a hardcore drag racer with a strechted rear and and some serious performance upgrades. Check it out here

#6: Proportion is Everything XV750 by Plan B (1/2)

Yamaha Virago XV1000 Cafe RacerYou can have the best parts or the most incredible paint, but if you haven’t got an eye for detail and a feel for proportions, you’re a non- starter. Christian Moretti of Italian custom outfit Plan B, has both of these qualities in huge bucketfuls.

This nifty little XV750 has a real club-racer vintage feel to it. Helped considerably by the handcrafted seat unit that flows seamlessly from the Benelli gas tank, which in turn sits on a lowered frame section. The look may be from yesteryear, but the suspension components are bang up to date. A Ducati 916 front end sitting in custom trees graces the front, while a Yamaha R1 shock on a strengthened swinging arm sits at the back.

#5: New Wave XV750 by KSC

XV750 Cafe (15)

This is what happens if you mix the Italian design DNA with a classic XV750. This bike is the new wave version of the Virago and is built by KSC from Italy. A bike with a minimalistic design, high-end parts, and a racy spirit: it not only looks beautiful, it also performs pretty well while the KSC team did a good job on adjusting the handling to more modern day race bike standards. A Yamaha R1 front end, custom and adjustable Sachs rear shock, Brembo braking, complete engine refurbish and saved a lot of weight.

Read more about this bike here.

#4 Industrial Power-Plant XV750 by Moto Adonis

XV750 Cafe Racer by Moto Adonis

If you look at most custom bikes specifically built for a customer, they’re usually pristine works of art you could eat your dinner off. Daan Borsje of Moto Adonis in Holland built this XV750, and it looks meaner than a junkyard dog.

It’s got a rawness and a sense of purpose that mirrors the original, classic café racers of the 50′ and 60’s perfectly. Adding to its hard knock looks is a Yamaha R1 front end. While the back has a fabricated subframe to accommodate the short bench seat. A MotoGP style megaphone looks just right on the exquisitely crafted down-pipes. And the vintage Benelli gas tank together with the engine casings have been sandblasted back to the raw metal.

#3: Classic in the Making XV750 by Hageman Cycles (2/2)

yamaha-xv750Ex-Harley-Davidson technician Greg Hageman gave up his monthly paycheck from the Motor Factory, to pursue his dream of building custom motorcycles. Over the years, Hageman has earned a justifiable reputation for building beautiful custom bikes. His calling card is to create a simple elegance that belies their technical excellence and this beautifully executed 82’ XV750 is a perfect example.

Built for the second season of Discovery Channel favorite, the Café Racer Show, Hageman stayed away from any drastic alterations. Preferring instead, to focus on attention to detail, such as blacked in Mac Performance exhaust, matching matt black rims, fins, clutch cover, and headlight. The standard carbs have been re-jetted, with a K&N filter on the frame airbox and Italian café racer specialists Tarozzi supplied the rear sets, clips-ons and fork brace.

This Virago Cafe Racer serves as an example for many, many XV-builds. In fact, this Virago Cafe Racer Top 10 only contains four bikes with that exact same gas tank. And while this lacks originality, it shows us that the overall design is pretty timeless.

#2: Grade A from Plan B TR1 by Plan B (2/2)

Yamaha XV750 Virago Cafe Racer

Some bikes beg to go for a ride, some demand you look at them and drink in every detail. Fireball is one of those rare bikes that possess both qualities. Just by looking at the quality of the handmade aluminum parts, you realize that this motorcycle can only come from one part of the world, Italy. 

Just take a look at the gas tank made from sheet aluminum. Beaten stretched and curved on an English wheel into a three-dimensional work of art, its simplicity framed by the elaborate stainless exhaust. The same goes for the skeletal sub-frame and seat, and the billet triple tree, clamping on to 43mm USD Showa’s.  That’s a Ducati 999 swinging arm back there too. If this was Plan B, imagine what Plan A must have been like to execute. 

#1: Metal flake Masterpiece TR1 by Roland Snel

Yamaha Virago Cafe Racer (TR1)

It’s a funny old world when a bike manufacturer puts a shaft drive on their custom cruiser (XV750), but chain drive on their tourer! (TR1) But regardless, this is one of the best-looking, nicest detailed yam V-twins around. It was built by amateur builder (!) Roland Snel, also from Holland and it’s based on a 1984 1000cc TR1. The front end was lifted from a Ducati 916 and topped off with an Ohlins steering damper and digital speedo. On the back, a Triumph Speed Triple Showa unit keeps things bouncy and inline with the upgraded front.

A tangerine, metal flake paint job graces a Benelli Mojave gas tank, which is paired beautifully with a Motolanna seat unit. Machined cylinder fins make the engine pop and the orange anodized rims tie in perfectly with the tank. And you don’t need a keen eye to see where the inspiration of this bike came from…

Wrapping up

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Virago Cafe Racer Top 10 from around the world. And the fact that we can produce such a feature proves three things: firstly, the café racer style is embraced right around the globe. Secondly, craftsmanship knows no borders. And thirdly, never look at a bike and think, no way, because someone somewhere will have turned one just like it into a work of art.

Like top lists? Check out these articles:

The post 10 Best Yamaha Virago Cafe Racers appeared first on BikeBrewers.com.

]]>
https://bikebrewers.com/10-best-yamaha-virago-cafe-racers/feed/ 3