Project Virago

Doc, could you send for this 'Where's wally' figure, put him in your garage,
and let us have hours of fun trying to spot him? Love those bikes by the way.

Ha Ha good one Badger

C'mon Doc play the game

Always game for a bit of fun, but, who is Wally ? will have a look on ebay to see if I can find one, have also managed to scan some of my photos of the Jeep and other bikes, ie.

this is the Virago I built in 1986, Harley hardtail frame, Honda XL 250 forks, Kawasaki tank, exhausts by a guy called Len Hartley who is unfortunately not with us anymore, if you wanted a figure of eight in an exhaust pipe he could do it, thought you would like that bike Dave,  8)

WOW you built that, excellent bike Doc. You really knows your business for sure

She is a beauty Nigel, you must have been well proud of that build project.

Yes that was a nice Bike, I think out of all the bikes I have owned would like to still have this one, it rode well was very comfy and sounded nice plus being so light had a good turn of speed and acceleration, it was built in the style of an old flat tracker.
The next shot is of my 1979 Honda 750 sport, again a lowrider, back end was lowered by relocating the shock mounts and the front forks were shortened by a friend of mine,

You definately put some very cool bikes together Doc. Can't wait to see what you do with the Virago you just picked up

i had one of these had a lot of fun rideing it will the xs front end change the rake of the forks lot of poeple cafe racer them they look graet when finished i just took mine apart and redid everything to look standard. shame it wasent that long ago that i got rid of all the spare parts i had in garage had 6 barrels heads engine caseings side caseings spare wheel loom wireing seet and god knows how much more bits and bobs a bout 6 or 7 boxes in total but i got rid of it all now i think i still have red and gold decals that go round the side of the tank on british models xv750se before you lacer over them (witch are like rocking horse shite or rarer) maybe some brand new yamaha gold writeing that screws to side of tank and possibly the gold bits that stick to side panels that say special you can have them if you would use them if i can cum across them in garage

Thank you very much for the offer, they would be an asset for the bike rebuild, the XS front forks shouldn,t alter the rake too much but I think the benefit of having better brakes and forks that will handle better will offset any deficits of altered rake angle , will also probably be shortening the forks this will lower the centre of gravity and also help with the handling....... this a shot of my modified 1980 Sturgis at the "94" Bulldog Bash, the amazing thing was that I rode into the show behind a totally standard Sturgis, the guy riding it was as surprised as I was,

Crickey you really do modify every bike you own in a big way, that looks so very different to a standard 1980 sturgis. As do all your other bikes look so different from stock ones

Have been trying to decide what type of seat to put on the Virago and came across this one on Ebay, not exactly going to buy at their price but gave me food for thought, ........ we have a lady locally who does leatherwork and is a dab hand at making seat covers, Cobra leathers is her trade name and will do all sorts of leather work, Dave probably has her number, more to come :-

This is the bike I have taken inspiration from for the colour scheme and finish, ie, satin black with stainless bolts....... When I first saw it was not quite sure about it, from the first glance it looked like someone had thrown a few old bits together and sprayed them black but after a closer look you can see the detailing and engineering that has gone into it, this is the P120 Fighter from Confederate motorcycles, have a look at the test drive on you tube, will be doing a bit more to the decent one this weekend, photo,s will be taken and submitted, thank you for all the interest and feedback, regards Doc Cox

hi doc been thinkin about the xs front end the xj that came out in 1980 (the one with square head lamp) has uprated braking and suspension over the xs models if thats what your lookin for it also has the same wheels as the xv750se (10 spoke cast ally) not sure if they take the same size tyre but it is twin disc you probaly know this anyway but maybe food for thought all the best morgan. satin black and stainless bolts sweet look gold and black always look cool together aswell

Hi Morgan, thanks for the info, will be adapting the XV wheel to fit into the XS forks, on closer inspection of the XV front wheel there is a plastic blanking cap on the other side of the disc and underneath there are holes for another disc to be fitted so will be adapting the XV wheel to fit in the XS forks and using the XS discs on it, gold and satin black are a good look, while looking through the internet I found a spoof bike some one had built for Sherlock Holmes in steam punk style, this has been done in gold and satin black, looks really stunning

OMG what a freak fantasic what a ride

Wouldn't that be cool to chuff chuff down the road on that & I agree balck and gold look ace together. Always reminds me of the old JPS formula 1 cars of yesteryear.

Yes Dave it would be great, would certainly turn a few heads, there is a firm building these to order but would hate to think what the price is, and now just for Mr Crash some photos of the jeep, ( I hope )

The above photo is where we found it in a friends garden, and the next is the strip down,

Body after repair

Galvanised chassis, all parts where possible powder coated

Will be downloading a photo of the finished article shortly, this took two years and about 1000 hours to complete, but we have spent many trouble free miles including a trip to the first world war trenches at Cambrai, and a few runs up to Tong offroad site, but as we all know life goes on and it is currently up for sale, regards to all, Doc Cox E=MC2

cant wait to see the virago doc,i had one a while back,ill put a pic on

Great looking bike Phill

I had a Virago 1100 a few years ago lovely bike, I often wonder why I got rid of it.

pledge wrote:

I had a Virago 1100 a few years ago lovely bike, I often wonder why I got rid of it.

Well thats an easy one I think Ray. We often think the grass is greener & very often find that it isn't & it's only when we sell that we realise just how good what we just had was. Done it, done it, done it & bought the crappy T-shirt myself a few times.

Yes that sounds about right, I nearly traded my Intruder last year for a new Triumph America, glad I did'nt, because about now would be wondering if it was the right thing to have done

Nice looking bike, yes I often wonder why I sold mine, still that,s life at least I now have one to ride and one to play with have been pruning a few more excess bits off the good one and expect to lose over a stone in weight when the standard exhaust comes off, regards to all Doc Cox E=MC2

Good evening, here are some better photo,s of the jeep and a tidy........ish garage, not a great deal of progress on the Virago yet but have been buying bits off Ebay for it, a couple of tidy speedo,s to tidy up the front end and some bullet indicators, also looking at a TR1 Rolling chassis, getting my spares cache" up to scratch, sorry haven,t found a Wally yet for the garage, regards to all Doc Cox E=MC2

doc found the decals i said i had have yet to come across any other bits but there somewere no idear how i'll get them to you but i'm back on the road very soon so maybe i could meet up somewere and hand them over if you sill want em did have a quick look and cant find anywere that has them for sale

Have started to clean up the headstock area, have removed the speedo and tacho, assembly, this will be replaced by a single chopper type speedo, won,t bother with a tacho, ( don,t rev them high enough to worry about it ) the ignition key will also be moved to a better place, the headlight bowl will be replaced with a smaller one off a sportster and all the connecters will be moved back down the frame under the tank, have now decided that straight bars will look better than the semi straights I have put on, ( back to Ebay ) 
   



luckily all the connecter blocks in the headlight had minimal corrosion on them,.........."STOP PRESS"  ..... While sitting here on the couch my wife has just suggested I could do with a decent sized shed in the back garden,  "God I love that lady" watch out Dave, will be some shed envy coming on   well, have to go now. regards to all Doc Cox, E=MC2

Congrats on the shed Nigel.

alfie92 wrote:

Congrats on the shed Nigel.

Can't beat a good shed

Every man should have a shed, although I know what you mean about shed envy.
When I popped around to daves last year I had some of that for sure. Insulated walls and ceiling, Gas heater, cooling fans, radio, TV, fridge, comfy chair, a work bench that must be 10 or 12 feet long and a lovelly wife that brings him drinks and food. the list just goes on and on.
Its not fair, I got a garage with holes in the flippin roof and a door missing

Fat lot of good it does me though Crash, when I am out in my friggin truck for a week at a time.

Hey Nigel a new shed ah, good on you buddy. Make sure you don't let her make you get one from Homebase or B&Q. You need to build it yourself to get a proper jobby shed. Show her the design & measurements for it in centimeters and then build it in inches, it worked for me.
If you want a hand, give me a shout and I will come tooled up.

Thanks for all the support for the shed, had one a few years ago that was a good size but time and the weather killed it, thanks for the offer of help Dave, yes will be building it and drawing up my own plans, already have a good idea of what it will look like and it will be 8 feet by 13 feet, sloping roof facing west to put the solar panel on, large windows, will try to get some old double glazing ones so they can be opened in summer, two doors, one will have a canopy to sit under for the sundowners, and the other will be a very wide door with another canopy to keep the rain out in summer !! will look to use recycled wood to keep the price down, using insulation the same as Dave and waterproof felting on the wall, trying to make this a long lasting shed, regards to all Doc Cox, E=MC2

Doc I can get hold of a set 6ft double glazed sliding patio doors & frame if you are interested in them for the shed. They even have the locks and keys with them.

Thanks for the offer Dave, but they would be too big, but could you keep your eyes open for a couple of windows and doors please,

No problem, I am on it. I will make some phone calls.

Got you a uPVC double glazed door & frame, waiting to hear about windows.

Thanks Dave, have been drawing up some plans for the base today and clearing some stuff out of the garden to make more room for the shed, will be do the wall plans tomorrow, regards to all, Doc Cox, E=MC2

Evening all, sorry for the absence but have sold the jeep at long last and have been putting up shelving in the garage and having a really good throw out, also taken a weeks holiday to clear the loft of forty years of accumulated stuff !! so far have done five trips to the tip with the back of my truck full every time, still carrying on with the Virago, trying to do a bit to it every day to keep up the momentum, have also found a guy on the net called Dr. Piston and he has some very good tips and mods. on his site, regards to all Doc Cox, E=MC2.

That's weird! I was in the garage fitting some heated grips to the bandit an hour ago and thought to myself, I wonder how the Virago project is going Keep up the good work Doc

Good evening everyone, a bit more on the project, have removed the speedo / rev counter assembly and front indicators, and found some items on ebay to tidy up the top yoke, can,t decide which speedo to use yet, the larger one is off a 535 Virago and the other is a classic chop style, any ideas folks? the indicators will tuck in quite nicely but still give a good light for motorists,



also have to sort out the clutch cable this has been crushed by the lower yoke at some time but this is a minor problem, have been thinking about making a hydraulic clutch for it, regards to all, Doc Cox, E=MC2

Back again, bit more shed news, have made a start on Saturday and managed to complete the base by Sunday afternoon, took about seven hours in total, was busy cutting out the joints with a saw and decided there was a quicker way so, marked out all the joints an then drilled a hole in each corner of the joint, bought some blades for my jigsaw with a good coarse cut that were longer than the normal ones, this allowed me to cut through to the hole an then turn and cut in the bottom of the joint, worked out a lot faster,

At the moment it is all numbered and sat in the garage ( minus Jeep) in kit form waiting to be put in the back garden where the walls can be constructed, was going to use clear double acrylic sheet on the roof but decided in Summer !!!!!!!!!!!! I would end up cooked so have another idea for putting more light in, more at a not too later date, regards to all Doc Cox E=MC2

Sorry nearly forgot finished base

Evening everyone, have done a bit more to the Virago, have finally got round to removing some ugly Hemorrhoids from the rear of the bike, ie. the indicators, tail light, and number plate mount, this has cleaned up the back end nicely, will also be fitting a smaller non euro, plate, haven,t found a rear light yet but that won,t take too long