Project Virago

I thought you had one Doc?

I beieve Doc has one from a Hardly Davidson, not the Cambell Geometric one you earlier mentioned?

That,s right Dave, this is the exhaust diverter valve from a Harley Rocker along with the pipes chopped and modified.

it ought to work in the same method surely Doc?

I can,t see any problems Peter, should be pretty plain sailing, have been keeping my eyes open  :shock: for some more of these on Ebay, have found a couple, but, the frustrating    thing is they have been collect only and too far to go, still never mind, will keep on trying, regards Doc Cox.

Have just been looking through You Tube and found this Virago one, a good looking bike by Docs Chops

Very Nice looking bike! Sounded nice too  

Thats a great bike  

Yes those guys turn out some nice bikes, more work on the exhaust today, starting with the restrictor valve to the exhaust, had to make a step down pipe as one end of the valve is smaller than the other, could have butt welded it but this means the joint would be more prone to cracking, the rest of the system will be sleeved in a similar manner,




Here is the valve assembly marked for welding




First weld of the system, plenty more to go




Started making  a strong clamp for the rear box, wanted to make sure it clamped evenly all around the pipe to avoid unsightly black moisture trickling from the gaps, this is the first step




here is the collar on the pipe, knocked down carefully and beaten to death to swage the exhaust down



Then up to the rear pipe, the tube had to go through a severe angle so an extra piece was put in to accomplish this, this is the tube and spacer




the pipe prior to spot welding, will only put a small weld on just in case it has to be moved, the pipe is in a very tight spot and may need a bit of extra working




At long last the system is coming together, doing these parts took me about three hours today but was well worth it, more tomorrow.

Cracking on now Doc, starting to really come together now, the work you are doing is cool.    I bet some of us are getting as keen to see this done and dusted as you are, ooooo the waiting is killing me  

Keep up the good work Doc, A very interesting thread this    

I am also keen to see what you have done every time I switch the computer on, work harder, work harder you slacker. There are 24 hrs in a day don't you know, sleeping is for wimps.  

"


                                Point taken Dave      

                                          

                                  " I WILL SLEEP WHEN I AM DEAD"

                                                        

Mr Intruder wrote:

...sleeping is for wimps.  

Amen to that    

  Funny posts    Also brilliant to see the job coming together with such a great walkthrough being done  

You've clearly got some brilliant skills Nigel, I enjoy seeing all the photos of progress

Here we go again, "NO SLACKING" "CRACK ON", had a rethink on the rear pipe and have changed it for the better, as you can see space is a bit tight at the rear of the engine, 








So a pair of hard drive magnets hold the exhaust flange in place while fitting the rear pipe





Instead of using the spacer have cut the pipe to allow it to go through a sharper bend




This now allows the pipe to sit on the flange without trying to balance a spacer as well




Have then cut down the pipe and bent each piece into place cutting a small "V" so each flap can fit next to each other instead of overlapping to make a neater job





This was then ground down and cleaned with a linishing disc for a smoother finish,




Still not completely smooth but will finish it off tomorrow with a file and emery tape






Hopefully start on the bottom siamese joining piece tomorrow.

So well thought out    

Thanks Crash, seem to have gained momentum now after the initial planning and cutting stage.

looking good now Doc!

Thank you Peter, have finished a couple more bits of the system, the rear pipe fitted a treat and looks like should be there, when making something for any of my projects I always try to make the item look as if was fitted from the factory or better





Now the rear pipe is fitted I can go back to the siamese pipe joint  and fabricate the joining pipes starting with the back one, here it is after bit of filing and bending




This is the internal weld, will also be welding on the outside for extra strength





Then on to front pipe, the cutout is to clear a part of the engine casing





Also had to make another pipe adapter for the system , used part of the front pipe that I had cut off





So, that,s a bit more completed, more tomorrow folks,  

Keep up the good work Doc it's looking good  

Looking forward to it Doc.  

I wish i could weld as it would save me a lot of hassle sometimes. 
Like the other day when i had to have a broken stud removed & it cost me £10- just to do it! bummer!

WOW this is getting there  

keep up the good work cant wait to see it finished

Morning guys, good to see interest hasn,t dropped on the project yet, the encouragement is a real boost, had to revamp the system a bit but no real problems, had to notch the end of the pipe so it would clear the cutout piece





Then a row of cuts on the end so they could be slightly splayed out so as not to be a restriction in the system





Here is the pipe in question after welding, grinding and linishing




This is the outer pipe of the siamese joining box with its first location weld



A closer shot just prior to welding





These are profile shots of the system all tack welded and ready for the full weld up








Unfortunately couldn,t complete the weld up today, directly after the last weld the gas ran out, but, am not to bothered as there are still other bits that can be done in the meantime, so, here is a photo of the garage yesterday just after the Lister Diesel and large generator had been picked up by the buyers, and there is still room for improvement




So, have a good day everyone regards Doc Cox  

looks great    will u be wrapping the down pipes? hehehe and the two into one straight through gunna let of a fantastic sound I just had standard pipes on my one with 8mm bit of metal rod banged through the baffles sounded a lot better and breathed better will you be rejetting the carbs if I remember right they do a kit for these bikes

Looks ace Doc, really coming together matey, lovin it

fat intruder wrote:

looks great    will u be wrapping the down pipes?

Morgan I think it going to be really tidied up and the smoothed out and then he is having it ceramic coated from what Ive read. Should look flipppn ace and a real one off

First time we have been able to properly visualise the finished pipe, excellent work so far Nigel.  

thats looking really good now Doc, should'nt take you long to do it all when you get the gas then?  

Excellent work Nigel.

Very nice work Doc! The exhaust looks very professional  

Thank you everyone, initially the pipes will be wrapped and ceramic coated at a later date, will be stripping the carbs first and cleaning them in a sonic cleaning tank, currently looking on ebay for one, will be getting the bike rolling road tuned by a firm in Bristol, this will save a lot of trial and error time and I will know that at whatever speed the bike is at the fuel mixture will be correct so no danger of overheating or burning anything out, and once I get the gas it won,t take too long to finish the system.

if I remember I think the head gets hot on them the one at back if your standing at the front of bike probably something to do with the oil getting to it or something not sure also have you considered fitting some sort of mesh to stop any shite coming through the frame into the carb then engine that happened on mine and balls it right up

Good evening everyone, haven,t done much to the project, have been busy but successfull, having a look through You Tube and found this one, it reminded me about the thread a while ago about the new Yamaha "V" twin, this was a competition run by Yamaha enlisting some of the top bike custom shops and I think these Guys have come up with a good interpretation of the original bike, and what surprised me is the run of the pipes on the engine and the size of the tubing....

That looks like the exhaust your making! It'll look great    It looks like Marcin's done the decals too  

Great video  

Should be very interesting to see your personally made and designed exhaust pipe ceramic coated.

I popped over to Nigel's yesterday with my wife & guess where Nigel was? Yep you got it, working on one of the angles with the exhaust he was not overly happy with in his garage. He's is like a Duracell bunny, he never stops. 

wonder where he puts the batteries Dave  

I reckon from what I have read from and about Nigel he will have a solar panel strapped to his head for power like any self respecting powered bunny  

It was nice to see Dave and Margaret, funnily enough I have put the large solar panel on the shed and it will be wired in this weekend, also a big thank you to Dave for kicking the Viruses out of my laptop..... :cmate:  Again, they seem to like me, I have actually slowed down quite a bit from when I was younger, probably better at time management now  

Ha Ha many a thing said in jest  

Good to see you & the sugar plumb fair as well Doc & no worries about the laptop, it was my pleasure to do something for you.
Good idea Crash to strap a solar panel to Nigel's head, although he might go from a blur to invisible if he had any more gusto.  

My wife says I am like a battery... Ever Ready.... 

You need connecting to the grid Doc, Frankenstein lives  

Doc Cox wrote:

My wife says I am like a battery... Ever Ready.... 

Oh yeah, I better phone DHL so the don't send you ta Wales in your Truck or the farmers could be moaning a bit.  

A friend of mine had a 50cc Ducati sport, and we used to call that the "Electric Sheep"  

At long last have done some more to the exhaust, wasn,t happy with the way the top pipe followed the line on the casing, so, have done some more cutting and feel it looks better now....



This is an insert to clear one of the casing bolts







Haven,t done any welding for a while but the welds are improving, have been looking at buying a DC Tig welder as these give a much better result with minimum distortion









A quick coat of paint to make it look better and give an idea of how it will look when Ceramic coated,





Here it is looking much better






The only sting in the tail is the Y piece distorted after welding and will have to be re-cut and welded to let the back pipe fit properly, that is one of this weekends jobs