Project Virago

That is looking very nice Nigel, I think the black front pipes with the bare metal muffler looks cool. Is that the way it will stay looking when Ceramic coated?
Great job so far.  

Nice job Doc, Project Virago is coming along nicely   ,  with Dave about the black headers and silver muffler  

Thanks guys, the silencer looks OK but it has rust pitmarks all over it, but have the Dunstall style one from ebay very much the same style as this one,

Looking good Nigel,thanks for the update.

That is actually looking very cool to the max, almost freezing cool  

Thank you Crash, a much appreciated compliment, sorry for the lack of progress reports, but, as you all know life is busy when you have a family    but they are worth it   and with computer problems   , have inherited (Scrounged) my Son in laws old laptop and with a bit of work it seems to be playing OK.  Have started on the electrics again, .....




A certain amount of head scratching has gone into this as the wiring system is part American and part English   but the wiring diagrams in the Haynes manual are on the same sides in the book so it is easy enough to cross refer from one to the other, Have relocated the fuse box from the front forks....



To the side of the frame steering neck...


And with some Spirap is already looking much neater...



Will be out to the Garage ( Playpen ) in a while to resume work ( Play, Well that,s what the Girls call it   )so more to come, regards to all Doc Cox.

Good move with the fuse box,and good luck with the wiring,makes you think how much wiring these modern bikes have.

Nicely thought out Nigel.  

Thats a good thought to move stuff like that where you want it to be, good one  

Nice pipework Doc,   

Also like the practicalities of the moving of the fuesbox, but will it suffer from the same problem as the RD250/350LCs in that you can swap one of the fuses from its original position to place between two of the fuse positions & it effectively bypasses the ignition switch .... enabling cheap transport home for those that know this dodge ? ..... I was shown that by a Security guard at the place I worked about 30 years ago !

Cheers     Yam

Nigel we are waiting     Its bin a month now since our last update so crack on matey  

Great contrast in that series of pics... First one looks like an explosion in a spaghetti factory, and someone by the last shot, you've made it really tidy. Great job, and very interesting to see.   

Sorry Crash, have been extremely busy the last few weeks, I don,t like to go at this half cocked so decided to wait until I could do it correctly again, also have lost the camera,    it,s somewhere in the shed or garage, has made a nest somewhere    so until it is found will be learning how to use the phone camera, and I know they take good photos after having seen the photos on Daves threads, bear with me guys not long now for more info.

Good news   Mrs. Doc Cox has found the Camera    have just been loading photos to photobucket and will be updating Project Virago ASAP.

Good on you Nigel, will look forward to the latest update.  

Right, Here goes.....( Cue sound of cracking knuckles ) this was some work I did last week, won a set of straight bars on Ebay and decided to see what they looked like on the bike




Also tried a temporary fit for the ignition switch just to see what it would look like in this position, will make a different cover if it suits it there




They don,t look too bad but once the tank is back on this will give me a much better perspective, also you will notice a general loss of wiring from the frame around the neck,










Have also been correcting some of the dodgy wiring





The top left wire is the high amperage cable for the starter and you can see the main power feed for the rest of the bike, this developed corrosion which in turn led to high resistance that made the connectors get very hot and caused the damage, the new main power wire is top right and is substantialy thicker, this will give a lower resistance to current and help dissapate excess heat , this will also have a separate feed from the battery and the connector on it is one that I have cleaned up and re-soldered, recycling whenever a part is suitable for it, that,s all for tonight guys, regards Doc Cox.

I'm liking the flat bars Doc    it just shows with the potential wiring faults you've rectified, how much trouble you could have buying a bike this age  

I agree with Simbo, older bikes are scary for the likes of me. For guys like you that will go right back to basics and aint in a rush, I spose its a a battle that you can relish and know you will win. The end result of having a bike that you know inside out and know is really good to go will give so much satisfaction  

I like the straight bars Nigel but the end look/style of the bike you have planned should possibly dictate the bars used. It will be interesting to see how the bike develops when you have finished getting the initial, although big job's of exhaust and wiring finally completed to your satisfaction.

Starting to take shape,are the straight bars 28" for they look small?,it's going to be a good un when finished thats for sure.Well done Nigel.

Very nice project   

And you got me thinking..... My friend has an old beat up Virago 750, maybe I should see how much he wants for it.

Not that I need another project, but it would be fun doing something extreme to it.

Thanks Guys, I think it does pay to go through an older bike thoroughly then you know what you are dealing with right from the start, not doing exactly what I am as this is my way on all my vehicles, but patience does pay dividends in the end, yes Alfie, those bars do look a bit short, I think someone has narrowed them down by a few inches, so if anyone has a set of straights surplus I am in the market, regards Doc Cox.

Hi Kim, go for it, these are a very simple bike to work on and spares are easy enough to get hold of, its well worth joining the Virago tech site and there is a guy called Doctor piston who has a small forum with a lot of good advice, these are not large bikes and do handle well, let us know how it goes, and don,t forget, plenty of photos especially a shot of it in the shed or garage where you find it, look forward to hear more, regards Doc Cox.

Good evening everyone, another lovely day, been out in the garage doing a cull and tidy up, at long last have got round to sectioning an old Virago exhaust, been itching to see what was inside




This doesn,t look to bad on the top, .....but




It was a bit crispy




Not exactly the best gas flowed exhaust, must be like trying to breathe through a box of tissues, Because.....
" If you can,t Fart, You can,t Breathe "




The base had this gauze in it,



This absorbtion material  underneath was not very thick so I think they were relying on the baffles to quieten it down





However it did give up some usefull brackets and covers





Beware the grinder, it bites, although the good thing is that because it is spinning so quickly it Sutures the wound rather than cut it so there was no excess blood.

Have just found this on the Virago tech site, has anyone else seen it before, if you would like to see it just enter Chrome exhaust wrap on Ebay

That was interesting just to see the innards off the pipes, not sure about the design to be honest. seems a bit strange really. Good to see you have an understanding of medical stuff Doc    I like the idea of the chrome wrap, could be good but it would be interesting to see how it held up or if it would just go dull unless a lot of work went into jeeping the shine there, interesting stuff?

It was interesting to see the insides of that type of muffler, bit of a weird setup though. Seems like a lot of nothing to me, extra weight for the sake of it. You home made pipes will be far superior to that useless lump of metal from stock.

Interesting viewing Doc   There's a few bikes with exhaust like that these days, with a collector box and then a stubby end pipe, I've always wondered what they looked like inside with regards the the pipe layout and stuff? I'll bet they stick the cat in there these days as opposed to putting them in the end can like they used to do.

Have finally managed to get a bit more done to the bike    more done to the wiring, as you can see in the photo the connecting block is in the wrong place





The easiest thing was to swap the wiring round and shrinkwrap it





Now it is in a much more suitable position, also you may notice there is much less untidy wiring in the area now




Also decided to strip and repair the clutch cut out switch as many a bike has failed due to these switches being faulty, and, this problem can be a real pain to diagnose,

This is the old switch, will still put it in the spares box for a full repair later, the newer one still didn,t look too good,






The tiny copper ferule on the end is all there is to make contact




As you can see the contacts are pretty grubby







This has been reassembled ready to be wired back in, also hunting some wire spoked wheels, will update you all in the next post.

  It's looking so much more well organised & tidy every time you post Nigel. Your attention to detail is great and I have no doubt that this bike will be far more superior in many ways than it was even when it came off the assembly line.
 I would like to say job well done but I know from knowing you that it is far from completed but when it is, it will be a special bike.

Cheers Doc that reminds me i've some soldering to do i'de fogot its laying on my bench awaiting my attension   buy the way the virago's looking tidier

Coming along nicely Doc  

Thanks Guys, it was good to get my teeth back into the Virago again, have had a very busy last few months.

You are doing a cracking job Nigel,it is going to be a credit to you when finished.   

Looks like you're cracking on now Nigel! Keep up the good work mate as we're all watching & I expect Mr I is watching & making notes for his project Virago!

Thanks Peter and Alfie, have been back in the garage tonight hunting down some stainless steel brackets to modify for the headlight mounts, have also been on ebay and found this Virago, not a bad looking bike but a bit over-priced I would think, let me know what you all think, to warrant that price there should have been more attention to small details, or, am I being too critical

Ebay link

Failed link now corrected.

Something missing here, time for some fabrication...





A nice substantial piece of plate...




A few hacksaw cuts and the rough shape is there...





Some grinding and filing a little later






This is just a temporary mount for the headlight





That looks better and the bracket tucks nicely out of site, this will be powder coated later.

looking more like a bike now Doc! 

I agree Peter, When the headlamp is missing the bike looks so incomplete. Really tidy job Doc, headlights nice & tight to the forks.

Looking good doc 

Looking good Doc! I also like the indicators situated on the engine mount   will they be staying in that position?

Bloke on an oldish harley overtook me yesterday.... His indicators looked like they were mounted on marshmallows!  They were a complete blur!

shame on you Mal being overtaken by a hardly ableson hehehe

It was as I was filtering onto the slip road to leave the motorway....

Taking shape well Nigel,well fabricated.

Thanks everyone, will be getting some more done tomorrow, Yes Simbo the indicators will be staying there, again they are tucked out of the way but still very noticeable when operating.

Picked up a couple of Virago spoked  wheels off Ebay the other week, and the guy also had the engine that has done 30,000 miles so bought this as well...





So, decided this was a good time to make a substantial engine trolley out of the offcuts from the shed build, this should last me until the end of my days...




Here you can see the thickness of wood used

Sorry hit the wrong button then


One set of strong castor wheels from a skip somewhere!!!





And here is the result, so much easier to move the engine around and there is room to fit another one on the trolley, will be painting it later to give it a more period look and putting some brackets for straps on it. And the bonus is that it was the same height as the caravan steps and all I had to do was walk it on also the steps are just the right height to sit on when working on the bike.

Dave, just had a look and you were right the reflection in the mirror is my friend Ali,