'82 cafe XV750

biker_reject said:
Whoa! That's a seriously cool pic of Englebert's ride! Yeah, it would surely suck levering a bike off the pavement! OK, if the shocks were beefed up internally and 18" wheels used, do you all think it would reduce the problem of clearance???

I'd try to place the front mount of the rear shock a bit further back. That'll raise the rear (and increase the ground clearance) and it'll give it a more aggressive stance (it'll improve the steering too, but you'll need a steering damper if you overdo it)
 
Finding a tire that is beefy, that will fit the rear swingarm, for the 18" wheel will be tough.


I have the 18" rear wheel, from a seca, on my 920, and it has a super skinny tire to clear the driveshaft tube.

it's not super beefy looking, but it works
 
Studying the pics, I think I'm higher than Zero ... I have more fork length showing between the lower outer tube and the lower clamp - I'd guesstimate at least 1". I'd say I'm closer to the other bike in the 'for sale' add (the one with all the drillings).

Gonna leave it alone for now until I get a subframe on there that will support the seat (and me!).

Put the front EX pipe on tonight (down the RH side). No front tire clearance issues. If I pull the muffler back - which is what I was going to do while extending the tube - I can tuck the tube a bit closer to the case .. but the tube is even or slightly above the bottom of the sump now. Chrome is all blued and scratched up - a good candidate for a cut/weld system ... wrap here I come! There is a copper-colored wrap available now - might try that or black ... not a fan of the white as it gets dirty fast.
 
Cafe-XV750 said:
100_2058.jpg



Trying to decide if I want to do gunmetal grey or Yamaha blue tank & seat stripes and a tank forks logo - might add a wheel pinstripe in the same color too.

Good Call !

Just finisched painting mine.
Its a XV750 Tank and a Duc monstro seat for my XV920 Cafe project.
( http://www.motor-forum.nl/forum/list_messages/257955/Virago-V-Twin-Racer-1.html )

Keep up the good work !

BR,
Tetter
 
I just bought and received a rear wheel/front wheel adapter package from Matt. All I can say is Wow! and that he doesn't charge enough he needs an agent (I'm very glad about the last part :)). The hub/disc adapter is actually a work of art.
Thank you Matt!!!
 
Have sold all original 10x rear-to-front wheel conversion kits.

If you are interested in buying a kit, let me know via PM and I'll put you 'on the list' for the next batch ... need at least 5x people to consider making another batch.
 
I got my front tire on & opened a photobucket acct. Not sure if I did it correctly, but I'll try to post the pics. It needs some cleaning up & a new tank(one I have has a small hole in it). I am also having an issue w/ front tire spin. When I tighten the nut, the wheel slows at spin. If I back it off, it spins freely. Do I need to make the spacer smaller?

http://s998.photobucket.com/albums/af105/dep378/cafe%20virago/?action=view&current=P4080412.jpg

<a href="http://s998.photobucket.com/albums/af105/dep378/cafe%20virago/?action=view&current=P4080409.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af105/dep378/cafe%20virago/P4080409.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
Hey man!

Looks like I missed a lot of great progress while I was away this winter. Looking awesome!

I can't help you on the spacer, but as for the PhotoBucket picture posting, you want to copy the "Image Link" code into your messages. It should start with a tag like [ img ] That'll get your photos inline rather than links.

Hope to see you on the streets of Ann Arbor soon!

Dan
 
Cafe-XV750 said:
Think she's too low?

Finally had it warm up enough around here to venture out to the garage and get the 3.5" lowered forks and front conversion on my bike. Also had the rear wheel off for painting and put it back on. Been cleaning/polishing and painting stuff too.

Here is the first pic of her on the ground with the tires aired up ... about 3.5-3.75" of ground clearance at the oil sump drain.
100_2058.jpg


What do you think? I think it's badass, but it is REALLY low (and my weight isn't on it)! Even if a little higher I think I'll fab up a 1/8" thick steel mini-skidplate to protect the sump.

Rear of the tank is about 1.5" higher than stock in this pic - might push it to 2".

Going to shorten the front of the seatpan a bit (to pull it forward - have the back of the seat closer to the rear wheel center) and graft in part of the XV seat (the part that covers the back of the tank). Will eventually be painted black and have some covered padding.

Trying to decide if I want to do gunmetal grey or Yamaha blue tank & seat stripes and a tank forks logo - might add a wheel pinstripe in the same color too.

Need to bend up the new rear subframe tubes and start welding too.

Hard to see with all the crap in the background, but the OE gauges are lowered about 1" (headlight will be lower the same) ... might drop them and just go with a simple single round speedo that would sit a little lower.

Eventually I'll pull of the centerstand and shorten the kickstand.

Lots more to do ...

Any comments?



Hey Cafe XV750, It's my first post on forum. I too building my first project bike, a 81 750. I am realy regretful while reading through the post, did not found out the site earlier nor early enough to know that you have kit already availalbe. And had gone through designing and machining my own 16" front wheel spacer which cost me more than 3 times the price of the bike itself and and an mind bugging 4 digit bill that made me to sleep on sofa for few nights. Those whoever plan to do up a conversion please you must purchase through him and trust me he didnt make a buck on it. Mine cost over a grand and quality isnt even as pretty as his. ( I will see if i can post up some pic later the weekend). BTW I am too in the point of lowering the fork about 3.5~ 4" in mind and would like to ask you did you reuse the stock virago fork tubes or not?? (It seems 78 80 XS750/850 have fork tubes already around 4" shorter) If all parts are orignal does 3.5" drop too much and can it possibililly lead to bottoming out internally on road bumps??? Did you do any type of custom sectioning on the chrome fork tubes ??? I work on cars the whole time but having to lower 4" on a long tube fill with 2 springs, air, oil, shock and seals make me really worry. Your work seems top notch and ahead of everyone else therefore more info to help me on my drop will be greatly appreciate.

Thank You
 
Sorry to hear you conversion was so expensive - gotta shop for a reasonable machinist. I should be kicking-off another batch of conversion kits in a few weeks ...

My 4" lowered forks just have the internal springs cut and internal spacers installed - there is only 2" of fork travel remaining. I'm a bit worried about that too - the forks have heavier 15wt oil in them and aren't aired up yet - but will have to wait and see how she rides - so far it 'feels' OK static. I'm sure they will bottom if hit hard enough. I actually got the forks from a forum member (different forum) who was experimenting with lowering - he's done a 2" lowered set (has 4" travel) and will test them out soon.
 
sounds awesome just be aware, that energy has to go somewhere, when you bottom out forks it does not stop there, i have seen this happen and the guy end up tank slapping and going down due to front end whoble. be sure that you test the rebound on the forks, why did you cut the springs rather than add a spacer to the dampter and cut the top spring spacer? did you cut the tight coiled side or the open coil side of the spring?
 
Can't find (totallyredvirago's) mod thread over on VTF, but IIRC:
- bottom (open) coil side cut and squared: 4" removed (target lowering amount)
- longer spacer installed up top: 4.5" spacer(target+0.5" for spring preload)

I still have my OE forks and plan on using if I don't like the lowered ones.
 
I'm afraid those forks will beat you to death man. 2" just isn't enough travel...even on smooth roads.
 
Hey,

Got the adapter looks amazingly professional! Don't hesitate to order from Cafe-XV750 if you want the front wheel conversion!

Here's something from the XJ forum that should help your lowering courtesy of Hillsy and OSS. No need to cut any springs...

fork_shorten_exploded_view.gif
 
Has anybody ever try to convert 78 80 XS 750/850 fork tube into XV750 ???


XS750/850

OEM Part No: 2F3-23110-00
Diameter: 36mm
Length: 580mm or 22.83460 Inches
Finish: Chrome Plated
Fork Type: Conventional http://www.fastfromthepast.com/servlet/the-1121/Yamaha-XS-750-1978/Detail



XV750
OEM Part No: 4X7-23110-00
Diameter: 36mm
Length: 707mm or 27.83459 Inches
Finish: Chrome Plated
Fork Type: Conventional http://www.fastfromthepast.com/servlet/the-1187/Yamaha-XV-750-SE/Detail


The length difference is roughly 5" shorter. maybe can solve the bottom out problem ???






They are both air shocks and look very identical. Anybody ever done it before ??
 
Progress is crawling - have made my seat subframe hoop, but still more to do. I've been getting a Honda XL185 road-worthy to have something to ride ASAP.

The XS fork idea is interesting - perhaps I'll pick up a set and see if the XS upper tube and lower 'guts' can be swapped into the XV lowers as I don't want to change over to the XS wheel/braking system. Looks like 'E' ('78)/'F' ('79)/'G' ('80) model forks need to be used as 'SE' ('78)/'SF' ('79)/'SG' ('80) model forks appear to be longer (ie. XV length) ... the 'E/F/G' model was a standard and the 'SE/F/G' model was a chopper-look.

XS standard fork assemblies measure ~30.75" top-to-axle center
XV fork assemblies measure ~32.75" top-to-axle center

I still need to pick some XS forks up and see if parts can be swapped.
 
Matt - Two quick questions for you. What tire did you end up going with on the front? And also, because it's hard to tell from the pic, have you done anything with the 2 hardpiped breather lines welded to LH side of the frame? I keep looking at mine and think about chopping them out and trying to fill the space and smooth it over.

I've had my bike for 8 days now and it is now in pieces in the garage. I have a million things I need to do but I'm thinking of cutting the tabs, lugs and excess bits of the frame to make it look cleaner.

I might even start my own thread, you can see the work I have yet to do and it might spur you on ;D
 
I'm using the Bridgestone 130/90-16 - pic in an earlier post. Matched my nearly-new rear tire well.

I've decided not to experiment with XS fork parts yet - have a set of 2" lowered XV forks coming that I think will work much better (height and travel). Will post pics when I have them fitted.

My frame (and it's paint) is in really good shape so I'm not doing to cut off too much just because I don't want to refinish ... not doing a full teardown either. Leaving the breather lines but there are some small L-shapped wires that I'll probably cut/blend in. Zero's frame appears to be stripped of everything, smoothed, and repainted.

Also working on mounting/orienting my seat and seat subframe ... will post pics when I've made suitable progress.

Yeah man get your own thread going too ... I need to come up with a name for this one!
 
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