Uncommon virago cafe

[Wangofree]

Nice CBP. That will definitely tighten up the spacing. Good work.

 

[Rich Ard]

I like it.

 

[CBPayne]

Hey thanks

 

[beachcomber]

I bought the Monza style gas flip cap from DCC. It comes with a brass ring that is supposed to be brazed to the tank so the lid can be screwed on. The ring sits all the way in the cap and there isn't any material to be brazed. I've taking the project to two different welders and both say the same thing, we need more material. They don't understand why the designers of this kit wouldn't leave at least a quarter inch more material. I'm curious too and I'm going to try get a hold of DCC and see if they know something.

Also both welders want a black iron ring cause the brass will take to much heat and will warp as well as the tank. So I have get a hopefully just a piece of 2.5" black iron pipe and take it to a machine shop because the threads or not npt.

In the UK the caps have an alloy adaptor neck ! When I asked the question I was told that the caps were designed for alloy tanks [ maybe 30 years ago ! ] or more predominantly - GRP tanks.

Yep - piece of 2 1/2" scaffold tube works !

 

[CBPayne]

Its my first time doing a real paint job with this tank and I'm not really sure how things are going. I'm thinking not so good. There is too much info and at the same time there is not enough. :-\

 

[caferay]

Its my first time doing a real paint job with this tank and I'm not really sure how things are going. I'm thinking not so good. There is too much info and at the same time there is not enough. :-\

Unless you have a very clean area and a good gun, just lay down the color thick enough to sand out the orange peel.

Patience rules. Let the tank dry for days in the hot sun to get a good cure before sanding, or polishing the clear coat. With little experience, rely on polishing, with lots, polishing may not be required.

You can make a cheap spray booth from PVC and plastic paint tarps, covered on three sides and top, water down the floor for dust control, you should have puddles.

 

[CBPayne]

Hey Caferay, thanks for that info. Tarps would be a lot easier than the plastic $%#& I've been using. I'm glad you said something about the spray down for dust, great idea.


What the opinion on this fairing going on my bike. Put that on there then maybe some rubber gators...Vintage yeah! ha-ha

 

[CBPayne]

I got most of my exhaust piping in this week, I have the slip-on muffler left to buy yet. I really feel like I need to wait on attempting to rebuild the exhaust until after the bike has been wired and the tank situation is under control so I can start her up. Then after the exhaust goes on or at the same time it does I will be installing the rearsets.
Today I worked on cleaning the tank a little and mounting the GFP seat I bought, looks very nice. I put some flat bars across the railing to give the seat some support then drilled and tapped those braces so the seat will bolt down with four flat Allen heads. Tomorrow I will be starting the wiring harness. Since I'm new to this wiring it seems tricky on where to place your different items under the seat and have your wiring not binding or chafing.

 

[Rich Ard]

I would suggest mounting and finalizing the rearsets before exhaust fab - it's pretty common to see people having to cut corners on foot placement because of the exhaust if it's done in that order.

 

[CBPayne]

I would suggest mounting and finalizing the rearsets before exhaust fab - it's pretty common to see people having to cut corners on foot placement because of the exhaust if it's done in that order.

I know what you mean. I feel like Ill need to crank and ride the old gal before I go changing the exhaust and the jets in the carb for the velocity stack. But I will need to install the rearsets before I change the exhaust. On my rearset the left side will be somewhat easy to install the brake side not so much.
I figured I might be able to remove the oem set up and just run linkage straight to the rear drum. I hope there is enough leverage in that set up for the rear brake. Can anybody answer this? A while back ago I purchased a cb750 oem style master cylinder, now original it was set up for just one caliper. The one I have is supposedly a remodeled, I guess basically a retro master cylinder with new internal design to power two calipers.

Hey Rich do you know anything about the virago coil upgrade to Harley Davidson coils?

 

[Rich Ard]

There are a number of threads on the Virago Tech Forum about it - I had some issues switching to 5A coils and am using another set of 3A coils at this point with a big fat spark. A coil's a coil, though, and the Dyna or Accel coils are PRICEY.

 

[CBPayne]

2013 Sportster 48 shocks on my bike, good or bad idea? I'm wondering because I found a set on craigslist for $100 bucks.

 

[beachcomber]

2013 Sportster 48 shocks on my bike, good or bad idea? I'm wondering because I found a set on craigslist for $100 bucks.

Even here in the UK, where we know much less about Harleys - we DO know that OEM shox are absolute CRAP.

My pal at RAM has just bought a 3 year old 883 Sportster with 4000 miles on it - the shox are FUCKED. I went on the UK H-D forum and sure enough - that is one of the main threads - poor OEM shox.

 

[CBPayne]

I doing a front end swap. I bought a 82 xv920 but it was the wrong forks, too wide. So I got the right ones now. It's the single disc forks. I'm building the front end from Greg's doc chops 920. I believe I got everything I need for the swap except for the brake and the rim. Now I just need to stop getting sick.

 

[xb33bsa]

who is the chick in your avatar?

 

[CBPayne]

Can anybody reaffirm that an 86 Yamaha fz600 forks are 36mm? I was looking at allballracing.com fork conversions to a 86 xv700 I was going to use a xv920 and I already bought those bearings for that swap. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a plug and play. Now I'm thinking about changing the top triple tree to a 86 fz600 and maybe the bottom too. Also does anybody know if the fz600 triple trees are all aluminum? Anyways at allballs the conversion bearing list for the xv920 is top(25 47 15) bottom(30 55 17) and the fz600 top(25 47 12) bottom(30 55 17).

 

[CBPayne]

Can you tell a difference? I may go one step further on the next three.

 

[HollywoodMX]

I know what you mean. I feel like Ill need to crank and ride the old gal before I go changing the exhaust and the jets in the carb for the velocity stack. But I will need to install the rearsets before I change the exhaust. On my rearset the left side will be somewhat easy to install the brake side not so much.
I figured I might be able to remove the oem set up and just run linkage straight to the rear drum. I hope there is enough leverage in that set up for the rear brake. Can anybody answer this? A while back ago I purchased a cb750 oem style master cylinder, now original it was set up for just one caliper. The one I have is supposedly a remodeled, I guess basically a retro master cylinder with new internal design to power two calipers.

Hey Rich do you know anything about the virago coil upgrade to Harley Davidson coils?

You cant use the Harley coils. They are twin fire, virago's are not. I have the min dyna's. Nice units but pricey..

 

[xb33bsa]

I know what you mean. I feel like Ill need to crank and ride the old gal before I go changing the exhaust and the jets in the carb for the velocity stack. But I will need to install the rearsets before I change the exhaust. On my rearset the left side will be somewhat easy to install the brake side not so much.
I figured I might be able to remove the oem set up and just run linkage straight to the rear drum. I hope there is enough leverage in that set up for the rear brake. Can anybody answer this? A while back ago I purchased a cb750 oem style master cylinder, now original it was set up for just one caliper. The one I have is supposedly a remodeled, I guess basically a retro master cylinder with new internal design to power two calipers.

Hey Rich do you know anything about the virago coil upgrade to Harley Davidson coils?

you CAN run a rod straight to the rear drum and the leverage could figured out to give the same feel at the pedal
however doing so makes it impossible to positively position the brake pedal,so that it has a comfortably,handy resting position from which to brake
reason being you cannot have an up stop on the pedal, because every time you hit a bump, every time the wheel travels any distance in its suspension,it moves the pedal, A LOT
in other words it is exactly the wrong way to do it,but many do do it this way,most dont ride enough to care or are just too ignorant to know why it works like shit
it is fine for a show bike
you need the linkage to the stock pivot for the brake just do it

 

[teazer]

You cant use the Harley coils. They are twin fire, virago's are not. I have the min dyna's. Nice units but pricey..

Mini coils work well with modern ignitions but according to Dynatech they are not suitable for Dyna S or early style factory ignitions. What has been your experience with them for the long term?