Advice needed, Virago

 

Anyone in the is NG own / have experience of a Virago 535cc, year
1995.
I've just bought one and I have some questions / suspicions re it's
handing and performance.

Anyone care to lend their experience of this bike??

Please.
John Hewitt, Malaga, Spain

 

John

My Dad had one for 2 years, 1995 also, an N-Reg here in the UK.

Let me know your questions/suspicion and I'll ak him for you.

M.

 

I've owned Virago 700cc for 2 seasons. I found it to be a very reliable but
got used to it's power real fast. Now as an XJ Maxim 750 owner I grin
everytime I go for a ride. What kind of questions you got?

SnoSheriff - www.XJBikes.com

 

Why not let us know you questions and suspicions are and maybe somebody can
help.

I was in Granada a couple of weeks ago and came across a Virago 535 which
was looking very sorry for itself.  Not lavished with the same TLC as are
the bikes owned by members of the VSOC (in the UK).  You probably would have
had suspicions about that one as well.

 

"Nildram, nospam and Andy Coles" - the order has no significance!
Thank you for the response…

One.
The suspension is very 'unforgiving'. Holes in the road and speed
bumps are transmitted straight thru to the rider. The front tele forks
and the rear suspension don't absorb very much. [ Comparing it to my
present Yamaha scooter, which has lousy suspension, this bike is
almost the same ]

Two.
The front steering head bearing is very stiff, like if I raise the
bike so that the front wheel is 'up ', it stays just where it was put.
It does not freely 'flop' to left and right.

Three.
Power developed is very low, with very poor acceleration.
[Sarcastically], speed increase is achieved by shifting up a gear,
twisting the throttle has only a small effect on the speed - and the
last thirty degs of rotation seem to achieve nothing.
[ In comparison, I have owned a Triumph 650 twin, and a Honda 500
twin. Both bikes had 'get up and go, go' ]
The response is so poor that I wondered if I have a problem, gas
starvation? or a sticking choke? [ took out the plugs, they're clean
and whitish - thus not excess gas, hence choke must be out ?]
NB. Choke works AOK for starting, and bike idles real smooth when hot.

In short, I'm beginning to think that what I have is a machine built
for 1100 cc, [ weighs 400 lbs. plus ] scaled down to 500, with
performance to match!!

Comments and advice appreciated


On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 15:57:59 +0200, jhewitt@arrakis.es wrote:


John Hewitt, Malaga, Spain