I sold off all of my bikes a few years back, and have been itching to get back on 2 wheels since I moved back to SoCal about this time last year. After seeing a bunch of cool cafe builds in the interwewbs, I've had the itch to build something that feels like it's my own. This thread is my attempt at building something cool, with also sharing it with you all.

I started the search for a donor back in June of this year (2018). I've always liked the Virago, and like it even more when turned into a cafe. The mono rear suspension, shaft drive, and overall availability were all factors in choosing the Virago. My Dad also had one when I was a kid, which added a nostalgia factor.

Anyways, after searching for a while, I finally found a donor on OfferUp. She was in rough shape from sitting for who knows how long in the previous owner's back yard. But, it was bone stock and intact, so I pulled the trigger:






After a short haul, I got the bike home and rolled it into the garage on flat tires (which sucked ass):








Once in the garage, I got to work! I started by stripping off all the 80's : :






Next up was a front end swap. I got a set of 05' Bandit 1200S forks, which were almost a direct swap. For better braking, I also added dual 3 pot Tokico calipers from a 99 GSXR 750.







The tank was pretty crusty, so I went to work removing the internal rust. Sadly, during the process, I found the rust issue was worse than I initially thought. I found some holes in the bottom, so I sourced another used tank and repeated the same process, which essentially entails filling the tank with Muriatic acid and nuts, giving it a good shake, then rinsing and repeating until clean.

Tank #1







Second attempt on tank #2

Next, I added some clip-ons, then subtracted some more parts for cleaning. I also began prepping the bike to swap in a XV920 motor I picked up locally:







Looking a bit cleaner...:






On to the seat debacle. I thought I knew how I wanted the shape and look of the seat support to be. so I went to work creating what I had in my head:






Once the support was mocked up, I went to work on the seat pan, which I made from sculpted MDF and epoxy. Once it was done, I sent it off to upholstery:

While I was waiting on upholstery, I got the 920 motor freshened up and swapped into the bike (old 750 motor left, fresh 920 motor right). I also got some parts back from powder, which I installed. Lastly, I installed a XV1100 rear wheel, new rear tire, and fresh brake pads all around:










After a few weeks, the upholstery shop finished the seat, and I put everything together. I was a bit disappointed, to say the least. The bike just didn't capture the vision I had in my head. The seat installed on the bike looked decent, but not great. Unwilling to settle, I decided it was time to go back to the drawing board and rebuild the seat support.

So, I went to work on a new seat support, this time looking to do something more modern looking:





Once I had a rough shape, I mocked up the seat again with the new support. And, once again, it fell short of my expectations. I felt like the seat shape itself just wasn't lending to the lines of the bike well. When I initially designed it, I thought the hump on the rear would give some added body on the rear of the tail, but it wasn't jiving with the build in my head. I decided it was time to make some more changes, and scrapped the seat altogether.





After looking at some other bikes, I decided I wanted to change the shape of the bike a good bit. To do so, I swapped in a 79' Kawasaki KZ400B fuel tank and new seat. Once I had them mocked up, I knew it was a winning combo. The lines flowed, and the bike was finally coming together like I had originally intended. After adding some final supports and attaching points to the seat support, I bolted everything together. I also added a Cyron Lighting Beast Integrated headlight, which looks awesome.

Once the bike began taking shape, I started adding smaller details. I installed the old factory horns, fuse box, aftermarket rear sets, a carbon fiber front half fender, and some other stuff. These details may not all stay, but I definitely like incorporating some of the cool vintage factory parts back into the build:





Cleaning up a little by doing little prep work on the tank:

Torn on what to do about lighting, I decided to try some LED turn and brake lights from Morimoto. I might try and do something fancy with the arrangement in the rear later on, but this will do for now. Morimoto "pindicators" are pictured up front, and their ModPod LEDs are pictured in the rear:





Annnnnnd finally, here's the current state of affairs: The bike is half apart, with more parts off to powder:






With much of the big stuff knocked out, I've still got some big tasks ahead. Probably next on the list is to clean up the wiring harness and install my Koso D1-OLED gauge display, which will surely be tedious and time consuming. Then, I've also got to bolt on my Mikuni VM34 carbs and tune them up:





Thanks for reading along. I hope to have some more more updates to post in the near future!

Wow I was skeptical when I saw virago build. But being a fellow Yamaha owner, I ride a 14 bolt r spec, I had to check it out.
You did work that looks great and I really like that copper colored tank. That's a great color.

I'm starting to think this should be what you do when you retire.. small custom builds. It seems be it bike or car you always have a way of adding a unique take on it that could work out very well for you financially.

19gsx91 said:

I'm starting to think this should be what you do when you retire.. small custom builds. It seems be it bike or car you always have a way of adding a unique take on it that could work out very well for you financially.

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Thanks, Joe. It's just nuts and bolts. If only building bikes and cars for a living paid the bills...

Building a bike seems so much funner (easier) than building a bigass car

GST with PSI said:

Thanks, Joe. It's just nuts and bolts. If only building bikes and cars for a living paid the bills...

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In my case taking them apart pays the bills. It's not the nuts and bolts man, the level of detail and ambition. I'm sitting here reading this like THIS MFER BUILT A SEAT!? which should really speak volumes for how deep my laziness runs at this point, that and the daughter steals my time.

Needs the tank dropped little to hide the frame. Nest build though. I'll try dig up a picture of my rat bike I built in 09.

Wheels and forks are off a 70s kawasaki 250 Enduro. Engine is a Yamaha Seca 550. Header is parts of a China dsm turbo header. Port spacing is actually really close!! Way too much motor for the chassis/brakes but sounds cool and handles good for a home made on really old tires. Goals of this build were cheap unique and get it running. Has a lot of rough edges to work out. Some day I might. First thing is I need to make a tank for it. Has a plastic dirt bike tank in there now.

That engine really needs cv carburetors, those carburetors are designed for a two stroke dirt bike.

Vegas smith said:

Building a bike seems so much funner (easier) than building a bigass car

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It's more fun in the sens that it take me longer to get sick of wrenching on it. It's certainly easier.

bastarddsm said:

Wheels and forks are off a 70s kawasaki 250 Enduro. Engine is a Yamaha Seca 550. Header is parts of a China dsm turbo header. Port spacing is actually really close!! Way too much motor for the chassis/brakes but sounds cool and handles good for a home made on really old tires. Goals of this build were cheap unique and get it running. Has a lot of rough edges to work out. Some day I might. First thing is I need to make a tank for it. Has a plastic dirt bike tank in there now.

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I dig it!

motomattx said:

That engine really needs cv carburetors, those carburetors are designed for a two stroke dirt bike.

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These are pretty common upgrades for most 4 stroke V-twins. What would you suggest?

Did some more wrenching on the Virago. I installed the Mikuni carbs, threw in some new plugs and got the 920 motor fired up. Sadly, it was blowing smoke, so had to swap the 750 motor back in.








The starters on these bikes are notorious for being a bi***, so I installed a new unit.






Once the 750 motor was back in, I got to sorting out all the wiring. I picked up a Koso D1-OLED integrated meter, so I needed to wire that in, hide the rest of the harness, and get the speedo wired up and installed.

Here's the stock Virago cluster compared to the Koso unit, and of the wiring progress.









Got the lights working.

Once the bike was wired up, I did some maintenance stuff, like new front brake pads and final drive oil.








Got it all buttoned up, and went for a ride!






Anddddddd, since the Virago is a single seater now, I've got to build the wife her own cafe racer. Picked up a CX500

Looking good. Reminds me of a less oil leaking less falling apart version of my buell (95 cyclone).

The cx500 sound cool, and don't mind jammin gears at 10k, but the one I rode needed 25% more power IMHO, but your drastic weight reduction should help. The stupid shaft drives on these have always been a turn off for me.

A mikuni is a mikuni is a mikuni, don't matter what it's for, it's just a little bit of jetting away from being for something else. Personally I'd look for some. Keihin fcr 39s from a 250f.

bastarddsm said:

A mikuni is a mikuni is a mikuni, don't matter what it's for, it's just a little bit of jetting away from being for something else. Personally I'd look for some. Keihin fcr 39s from a 250f.

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Lol your talking to a Gold level Yamaha tech here, a Mikuni is definitely NOT just a Mikuni, there is no accelerator pumps in a two stroke carburetor, a four stroke need them or a CV style carburetor, and thats the LEAST of the differences, but the first one you will encounter when you go to accelerate and the thing gags on you most of the time.

Blah blah blah. All your gold level stays means is you can follow directions. Size the carb right and jet it, and its just fine. There were millions of 4 strokes made with a big old round slide and no accelerator pump.

I pounded out thousands of laps on mx tracks on air cooled 4 stroke 400cc with a 38mm vm round slide and no pump. Was just fine, sure if you lugged it way down low an whacked it open it may bog, but you shouldn't do that anyway if you want to win.

bastarddsm said:

Blah blah blah. All your gold level stays means is you can follow directions. Size the carb right and jet it, and its just fine. There were millions of 4 strokes made with a big old round slide and no accelerator pump.

I pounded out thousands of laps on mx tracks on air cooled 4 stroke 400cc with a 38mm vm round slide and no pump. Was just fine, sure if you lugged it way down low an whacked it open it may bog, but you shouldn't do that anyway if you want to win.

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Your obviously ignorant of what you speak, Gold level has nothing to do with following any instructions, it means a week stay at Yamaha headquarters in Kenesaw Georgia being tested on bugged machines to see how you go about diagnosing and making repairs to it, every move is scrutinized and only the best make it through. At the time there were only 5 or thereabouts of us in America, I dont know how many there would be now but likely still very few, this isnt some ASE type of certification, nothing like it.

There were not millions of four strokes made with no accelerator pump, round slide or not doesnt matter, a four stroke needs a CV style carb and or an accelerator pump to run right in all conditions period, do you really believe that companies get their jollies spending money on complicated carburetors if they didnt have to? really man?, just because something worked for you once doesnt make it right or ok for the application, running and running RIGHT are very different things, I can run my car with no fuel system on a can of starting fluid if I want to, that doesnt make it RIGHT or ok. I also have pounded out TENS of thousands of laps on an MX track and held a pro license and a top 100 national number in MX and SX, when I finished racing I decided that I wanted to stay involved in the motorcycle world which is when I took a tech position for Yamaha who had a relationship with me through pro racing and made it a smooth transition for me, so thats my story from then to now, I DO know of what I speak, this is one subject I am an expert on.

Still wrenching on this thing. I added some new ignition stuff.






Then spent some time tuning the carbs. Got them all sync'd up and running great!






While I was screwing with the carbs, I added a set of shorty velocity stacks from Dime City Cycles.








More maintenance stuff.





And some moar pics out ridin.

Bret, man where do you find the time buddy. Always something sick from your camp. Well done. Looks amazing as usual

Updates!

Put some more miles on the build. The motor on had 13k original miles on it, but who knows how long it sat before I got it running. I also put a few hard miles on the bike to make sure she'd hold up










Speaking of hard miles, I decided to put the bike on the dyno to see how far off I was on my carb tune. I see now why people say tuning carbs is an art. It's obviously not nearly as intuitive and doing some third gear pulls and reviewing the ECMlink data on the couch over a beer. Anyways, the bike was a bit on the lean side. I used the data to richen up the tune. I ended up going from a 195 main to a 210, and swapped in a richer needle (6DH4 from a 6DH3).






After changing up the jetting, I synchronized the carbs again.