Another XV750 Cafe Build...how original, right?

cole.pinnow

New Member
Hey guys! Just picked up another project! This will be my first bike build, so please play nice. Ever since seeing Greg Hageman's Virago cafe build, I fell in love with the mono-shock Virago. So surprise, surprise, I will be using his bikes as models for my build. I also really, really like nuckingfuts' build as well as T.Stanley's build.

Here are some pictures of the bike the day I got it...picked it up off of eBay for a decent price for a running bike.




It's "only" got around 20,000 miles on it, and came with aftermarket head pipes, and stock Harley Davidson slip-ons.
First thing to do was order new carb boots - these have definitely seen better days, and were very boogered up with RTV.


I've got the crazy box of rocks starter problems, so I started with the starter itself. Most people shim the starter, but instead I did the set-screw idea.



Once I get back from spring break I will be pulling the crank case cover off, so I can look at the #2 idler gear. Hopefully it's not too trashed, and I plan on putting a small hose clamp on the clip to tighten it up around the bendix gear. I haven't decided if I should order a new #2 idler gear.

So far I have ordered:
Avon grips
New air and oil filters, as well as 10W-40 Yamalube
Progressive springs
15W fork oil
Tarozzi clip-ons and rearsets
All Balls fork and dust seals
Shorai Battery
New Spark plugs
Stator cover gasket

I plan on using a Motolanna seat, and hopefully building my own subframe. I'm in college (mechanical engineering), so I have access to SolidWorks - so I'm hoping I can figure something out with a few measurements and some time.

Updates to follow!
 
here's a suggestion - get your bars and rearsets in place before you make up the seat / subframe. You will then be able to get a comfortable ergonomic relationship between all three elements.

Just arrange some support for your butt [ piece of wood ? ] and raise lower it until your hands / elbows / knees relationship is comfortable and not cramped.
 
beachcomber said:
here's a suggestion - get your bars and rearsets in place before you make up the seat / subframe. You will then be able to get a comfortable ergonomic relationship between all three elements.

Just arrange some support for your butt [ piece of wood ? ] and raise lower it until your hands / elbows / knees relationship is comfortable and not cramped.

That's a great idea. Thanks!
 
That is an Arrowhead 4 brush start from Taiwan. It's pretty good, doesn't need to be shimmed.

The box of rocks sound is from the idler gear smashing into the flywheel gear. Make sure the idler gear teeth are in good shape and spring clips wire do hickies are still there.

Lastly make sure your battery is in tip top condition.

Looking forward to seeing what you have planned.
 
XVRacer said:
That is an Arrowhead 4 brush start from Taiwan. It's pretty good, doesn't need to be shimmed.

The box of rocks sound is from the idler gear smashing into the flywheel gear. Make sure the idler gear teeth are in good shape and spring clips wire do hickies are still there.

Lastly make sure your battery is in tip top condition.

Looking forward to seeing what you have planned.

Wish I would have known that before I drilled and tapped it, but oh well I guess. lol. As far as teeth, yeah I will check them out and order a new one if needed. Possibly order new clips as well.
 
XVRacer said:
Lastly make sure your battery is in tip top condition.

DEFINITELY check this out before you go buying a bunch of parts or modifying anything. Thought the starter was going on my Sportster a couple years back, turned out to be a battery on its way out. Didn't have enough juice to really kick the starter, so the gears would just kinda grind over together and sound like all hell breaking loose. Sometimes it's the simplest things.
 
Came back to a few packages after spring break...




What is this? Is there a gasket/seal that can be replaced (PN?)? It is leaking like a sieve... I have looked all over the place and can't find what it's called.
 
Not bike related but...

Washed, clay bar-ed (barred?), and waxed my car the other day. Mmmm.


Only to wake up to this. Thanks Wisconsin...


A picture of my girlfriend's driver's side mirror from that same day...
 
I feel you with the weather. I pulled the old Goat out of the shed, got a new battery, started and drove it to class/work only to find out it was supposed to snow for the next week in Michigan. Gotta love it hahaha
 
cole.pinnow said:
What is this? Is there a gasket/seal that can be replaced (PN?)? It is leaking like a sieve... I have looked all over the place and can't find what it's called.

on the oil leak...that is your oil sensor. If you look at my thread at the beginning you can see that mine leaked bad. My O-ring was torn. Easy cheap fix but getting the sensor out wasn't fun. If I remember correctly it was a pain to get out cause there is no way to grab it and pull...but i could be wrong...it was 3 years ago...

On the weather...I hear you. I am north of Syracuse about 40 miles and i want get out and powder and paint but I have an un-insulated garage. I can do some things but not everything I want to. It will get nice as soon as work sends me out of town. The weather will stay cold while I am home and in the office.

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1982/VIRAGO+750+-+XV750J/ELECTRICAL+1/parts.html

part #37. No O-ring part number for some reason. I think I found the solution on the virago forum. Google it.
 
Virago1113 said:
on the oil leak...that is your oil sensor. If you look at my thread at the beginning you can see that mine leaked bad. My O-ring was torn. Easy cheap fix but getting the sensor out wasn't fun. If I remember correctly it was a pain to get out cause there is no way to grab it and pull...but i could be wrong...it was 3 years ago...

On the weather...I hear you. I am north of Syracuse about 40 miles and i want get out and powder and paint but I have an un-insulated garage. I can do some things but not everything I want to. It will get nice as soon as work sends me out of town. The weather will stay cold while I am home and in the office.

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1982/VIRAGO+750+-+XV750J/ELECTRICAL+1/parts.html

part #37. No O-ring part number for some reason. I think I found the solution on the virago forum. Google it.

Sweet! That's exactly what I was looking for. The part was called something like "protector" on bikebandit, which didn't help.
 
cole.pinnow said:
Sweet! That's exactly what I was looking for. The part was called something like "protector" on bikebandit, which didn't help.

Yeah the protector is in the Crankcase micro fiche, the sensor is in electrical. The protector is exactly what it is called...for the oil level sensor. Don't mess it up removing it. They are like $150.

I totally forget how I found my O-ring but this may also help...

http://viragotechforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29570&p=287937#p287937
 
Virago1113 said:
Yeah the protector is in the Crankcase micro fiche, the sensor is in electrical. The protector is exactly what it is called...for the oil level sensor. Don't mess it up removing it. They are like $150.

I totally forget how I found my O-ring but this may also help...

http://viragotechforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29570&p=287937#p287937

Yeah...found that too. Thanks again. I ordered a bunch of stuff from partzilla last night but forgot the o-ring (mentioned in aforementioned thread). Tried cancelling it like 3 minutes after placing (around 11pm, so after hours), so I didn't receive a response until this morning stating it was already in shipping and they couldn't cancel. Total BS in my opinion...I'll be making a trip to Harbor Freight then I guess. I'm not paying insane shipping/prices on one o-ring.
 
Friday I starting pulling out the wiring harness to go the barebones route that TRV has so graciously provided us with. It sure was a PITA to get off with the carbs still on the bike. After opening the headlight, it was clear someone had been messing with the wiring before because there were wire nuts (ones that were the wrong size to begin with) everywhere. I got (what I hope to be done correctly) the wiring harness today. I want to upgrade the power wire to 4 gauge, just have to figure out which part of that needs to be changed out yet. Should I just send the 4 gauge (power +) from the battery to the starter switch, then to the starter motor? Or replace all power wire post main fuse (from fuse to R/R and On/Off switch)? Here's the wiring for powering the bike. Any help appreciated (AKA, outline for me on this diagram what I need to switch to 4 gauge LOL!).


Here is the mess of wires eliminated.
 
Thanks for that diagram Cole. We are rolling down the same path with our builds. Looking forward to seeing more here.
 


Since lowering the forks 2 inches, I had to also shorten the side stand. I got real technical and took off two finger widths, which in my opinion worked out perfectly. It's been a while, but I was still able to lay a good weld. I also had to buy a new brake reservoir/master cylinder because it didn't fit with the clip-ons. The first replacement I bought didn't fit, so I ordered one with a more remote reservoir. It's on the way from China so we'll see how well it works. I really didn't want to cheap out on this, but couldn't afford the one I wanted.
 
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