A Passion
for making changes where it mattered on the bike, and
different from others, started in 1984.
XV 920 - Virago 1981
From This
To This
In one winter.
And I have plans for the
winter coming.
List ov Mods - 1981 XV920
Straight Pipes
'81 XV750
- Tank - New old stock, wet
sand from 400gr to 200gr, then Buffed.
- Fenders -front stock - Rear,
two butt welded
- Horns
- Fuse Box - moved form lower
triple tree to rt side on frame
- Triple Tree
- Sissy/Grab rail - altered
and used as fender support.
- Headlight bucket and lense.
-
82 XV920 Forks, and single
brake disc and caliper.
Curly Zed Bars - Totally
rebuilt from a the set I had in early '80's
custom forward controls . . .
Foot Clutch . . . under the
leg jockey shift
More to list - coming soon
Need to get a hold ov me ???
doc @at@ doctor-virago dot com
Below is a pictorial ov the progress
As I saw it on Kijiji Fall
2012
At Home
Taping wheel for paint.
These are all the same colour
- I guess the lighting was just dif for the photos
This is the tank I got off ov
ebay, cheep and pristine
Below is a photo shop
mock up of what I need to rake the neck to. from 29° angle
to 49°
Got exhaust pipe
straights and 90° and 55° angles and place fit and weld.
Coming together slowly
I cut the Curly Zed Bars
apart completely to rebuild them, Grip bars reworked and
re-welded, and the cross bar cut off as it was beyond
repair, and used the shaft from a 100yr old Human shoe
repair anvil.
The Cross bar is from a
100yr old human shoe repair anvil, rough but efective.
B&W photo for fun
I have just laid the 2 front
fenders over the rear wheel to see for planing
Cut the two fenders so I could
Butt them together, used a piece of the cut off to use as a
backing plate, Drilled some holes in the first fender and
spot weld it to the backing plate and then spot weld the
other fender in place.
Kinda rough welded together
Just laying there.
Using the '81 XV750 Grab-bar
for a sissy, it is just C-clamped on for to look.
Click on photo
for larger image in new window
The Power ov Equivalence
As of late I have been moved emotionally. It is directly
concerning the build of my XV920. It has approached me
slowly, and unnoticeably head on, directly staring me in my
face. This build is the most important hands on physical,
task that I have ever attempted. It is more powerful than
the homes I have renovated, cars that I have worked on, save
the first, and EVEN comparing it to the ZR1 Corvette that I
fabricated and installed a Fixed four point roll cage, with
a removable fifth point, that was inspected and passed for
racing by some Body that does that. Comparing it to the
chassis and roll cage that I built for a 1928 Mercedes kit
car, That the guy was putting in a Blown V6 and XKE Jag rear
end. Comparing it to the tubular A-Frame suspension That I
fabricated for a 1950 ford panel van, and installed once the
dropped forged I-beam front end was removed.
It started the other night, I was lookin' at the XV920 swing
arm, and how I had it mate to the backbone and drop frame,
that it was parallel. I was looking at the factory
construction, the design, the things that nobody sees
because there is so much body parts in the way. I was
looking at the history of this work of art, the work of art
that it was before I touched it. And I started to become
overwhelmed with the scope of all that it means to me. And
tonight I got a further, glimpse, or rather view that I have
of it all. And that part is the, what it means to me and how
it relates to the things that I have done in my life.
I started to see the Equivalence to all of the above, from
the first starter and clutch I installed in my first car
(1970) and before that the tyranny that I fixed in my first
bike when I was 14 years old. I compared this all, as if I
was now 18 years old in 1974. Today I am working on an Off
Shore Motorcycle that is 32 years old. If it was back when I
was 18, in 1974, the equivalent motorcycle could have been a
1942 BSA, or Triumph. Back in those days that would have
been the coolest . . . for me.
But it is today and I am working on that motorcycle . . .
and it is the coolest for me. And I was down in my workshop
last night and a neighbour kid came by, and he was wowed by
Shamya Twain, the Copper Chopper, and after he listened to
the things that I had to say about my build, he didn't even
take a breath and told me about his plans to fix a car so
that it is ready in two years when he is 16. And I waited
til tonight, as I didn't want to burst his bubble last
night, and I went to his door, and asked him If I could
explain to him, the beauty, of not taking the first rust
bucket that comes along for free, but looking for a dream,
and working towards the purchase of it, and then building a
dream of his own. A dream that he can embrace for his entire
life.
I came home today, and sat with my future ride, my future
bride, coffee in hand . . .
. . . and contemplated The Power of Equivalence
We don't just build and ride motorcycles . . . we
build and ride our dreams.
Just
some final Photos . . . before I tear her down . . .
. . .
for a final weld paint and remove to outside for final
assembly.
