matt ingram
New Member
Hi guys
I am Matt, and I am a UK expat currently living in Greenwich CT. I already have one working bike, a 2001 GSF600 that used to be an S (faired), but now is not.
What may be of more interest to the DTT crowd is my later acquisition, a 1981 yamaha Virago. This is the mono-shock version that seems to be a marmite kind of bike, love-em or hate-em. I paid a whopping $250 for mine, along with 2 spare engine blocks (?!), 2 spare sets of original carbs of varying degrees of roughness, plus three boxes of assorted spares. She isn't exactly what you would term running at present, but I'm working on it. I already ripped off the old seat, sub frame, headlight and fusebox, clocks etc. I also disassembled and painted the swingarm, cleaned up the rim a little and painted and fitted a Hagemans sub frame, while painting the tank also, so she's in a good spot.
Unfortunately the day after buying her, I was effectively forced to relocate here to Greenwich, where I live in a hotel, so facilities and warmth in which to work on the bike are pretty limited, plus it's cost me a fortune so I'm a bit strapped. Nonetheless, trying to at least plan for progress.
over the next year or so I'd like to get her on some modern USD forks, and update the rims to spoked items, but for now I'd settle for her running. PO says electrical issues, but knowing i was moving I tore her apart and did paint jobs first before tackling that. I'll be plumbing her back together over the next week or so.
Thanks all
Matt
I am Matt, and I am a UK expat currently living in Greenwich CT. I already have one working bike, a 2001 GSF600 that used to be an S (faired), but now is not.
What may be of more interest to the DTT crowd is my later acquisition, a 1981 yamaha Virago. This is the mono-shock version that seems to be a marmite kind of bike, love-em or hate-em. I paid a whopping $250 for mine, along with 2 spare engine blocks (?!), 2 spare sets of original carbs of varying degrees of roughness, plus three boxes of assorted spares. She isn't exactly what you would term running at present, but I'm working on it. I already ripped off the old seat, sub frame, headlight and fusebox, clocks etc. I also disassembled and painted the swingarm, cleaned up the rim a little and painted and fitted a Hagemans sub frame, while painting the tank also, so she's in a good spot.
Unfortunately the day after buying her, I was effectively forced to relocate here to Greenwich, where I live in a hotel, so facilities and warmth in which to work on the bike are pretty limited, plus it's cost me a fortune so I'm a bit strapped. Nonetheless, trying to at least plan for progress.
over the next year or so I'd like to get her on some modern USD forks, and update the rims to spoked items, but for now I'd settle for her running. PO says electrical issues, but knowing i was moving I tore her apart and did paint jobs first before tackling that. I'll be plumbing her back together over the next week or so.
Thanks all
Matt