1982 Yamaha Virago
This was my pal Nick’s bike. It was an ’82. He had this bike after two others were wrecked underneath him. He and I rode together for a couple of summers. Then both of our bikes started acting up. I bought this off him for $300.00. and immediately did a top end strip on both banks of cylinders. The rings were shot, especially the rears. My pal Jon helped me on this one as well. We put it back together and I sold it to my buddy Jay for $500.00 which just about covered the cost of buying it and parts. I also was introduced to economies of scale within motorcycling with this bike. Rings for a CB350 were about $8.00 a set (I think—whatever it was, it was really cheap). Honda made a billion of these bikes so parts are dirt cheap. One set of rings for a Virago was $35.00. Yamaha didn’t make too many of these early ones, so prices were huge. I may be buying this bike back from Jay soon. I hope.
Having problems with your Virago? Check out these Virago Tech Tips.
