Picked up a 83 Virago 500k tonight. lol

[Diskman01]

If the parts are that hard to get you may be able to make some money if you part it out on Ebay.

I think the bike is too old for anyone to pick one up for a daily driver, and anyone who knows about these bikes avoid them. Sooooo..

I did think about parting on eBay, but I don't really have time for that OR the energy to take a bike apart and store crap for a while. I decided that a "sort-of" running bike is better than nothing. Make it safe and as reliable as possible.. Ride and list it.

Parts ordered. Wifes stoked about getting it working so I guess the budget is $1000 or so. Will see what happens.

Lets see how far down this rabbit hole goes I guess.

[Diskman01]

Well, the XV500 made it's first trip across town last night! Replaced several gaskets, drained 1.5 gallons of gas from crankcase, added a shiny new in-line gas shutoff and fixed a TON of little things.

Fired right up and discovered that the rear cylinder header tube was not even connected to the horizontal muffler. Repaired it late last night with some steel and brazing. MUCH quieter. Now to repair the huge slots in the actual muffler tips that someone cut to make it louder.

Plans for this evening, change oil again, change final-drive lube again, adjust clutch, flush front brakes, finish fixing rear brakes. The holes that PO cut in the mufflers blow directly on the rear brake-drum face and linkages. Drum brakes HATE carbon buildup from hot exhaust. Makes all the moving parts not so happy.

Rebuild front leaking forks too. sigh.. At least it runs strong now!

[Diskman01]

Seems like a common "modification".. Crusing Flea-Bay for an exhaust system and I found this gem.. Same slot, same location.. LOL

Nothing like exhaust gases blowing directly on your rear brakes.

[Tat2demon]

Strange. Would like to know the reasoning behind that.

[Diskman01]

Strange. Would like to know the reasoning behind that.

To make the little 2 banger sound more "Harley-ish". lol.. Ended up welding the hole up. Sounds MUCH better now.

New fork seals ordered Friday..

Gonna be fun..

[mikubuilder]

funny, I just picked up 82 xv750, and it also has that cut out...I thought some bracket was attached there

[fredintoon]

- - - Re-listed on Craigslist. Gonna take it in the shorts on this one I think. Wife was real psyched about a bike too. It's small enough for her to ride. dammit

Hi Diskman,
the "usual suspect" for a bike with a seat height low enough for a lady is a Suzuki Savage. Nice little popper, they have made 'em for years. Alas the truth in advertizing laws caught up with the name so it's now called a Suzuki Boulevard.

[jetmechmarty]

If your wife is five feet tall, she can flat foot a Virago 1100 or any of the later ones.

[Tat2demon]

He's keeping the bike. Disk and his wife rode over to my place a couple days ago to check out my new seat. That 500 is a sharp little bike. She seems to be enjoying it.