Following on from our first post, we’ve had a very busy week on the XV750 tackling majority of the fabrication work. We are building this 1982 XV750 Virago, that was generously donated by one of our members, to giveaway to one very lucky member of the community!
Once we are in final assembly stage we’ll let you know how you can enter to go into the draw to win.
Kustom Clipons
We started with making custom clip ons with inbuilt switch housings. We decided to make as much as possible for this build, rather than spending. The overall build is going to be quite aggressive and ‘in-your-face’ so we wanted to put in as much detail as we could.
Starting with some 7/8 tube, Oxford grips from thirdgrear.com.au, a set of Nissin controls with radial Master cylinder that I had stashed away and a set of 6 buttons from Axel Joost. After a bit of brainstorming I came up with a super simple button housing that we could make on the lathe and then weld to the bars, creating a smooth one piece look.
I made bungs on the lathe and counter bored them so the button would recess in and sit flush.
I then made a simple jig with an angle iron and welded in the length of 7/8 tube to keep it stable while marking out and drilling the holes, where the button housings would slot into. Being that the buttons are in a set position, it was important to measure multiple times to ensure both spacing and positions, relative to controls was 100% correct.
After the holes were drilled, I removed the weld from the angle iron and slotted on the controls as a test fit. Perfecto!
Tank & Electrics panels
The replacement tank from Thirdgear.com.au sat exactly as we wanted, much lower than the Benelli tank that came with the bike. However, it was much wider and left a large gap off of the frame at the front of the bike. We figured this would be the perfect spot to mount the minimised electrical system. The Virago utilises the frame as an air box and is a very unique shape. We opted to make some base plates that followed the shape of the frame and fit snuggly against the inside of the tank, giving us the perfect spot to mount all the electrics.
This area will be home to the Motocell Gold Lithium Battery, Ignition unit, Stater solenoid, Regulator / Rectifier and the Axel Joost Electronics box.
We opted to make small bungs for the electrics to screw into, so they sit just off the frame, allowing us to keep the wiring super neat and run it under each piece of hardware, and help keep things cool.
This bike has had quite a few modifications in the past, so we took the opportunity to neaten up and fix a few blemishes in the frame. It’s going to be even better than new.
Scratch built subframe
The Virago came with an off the shelf bolt on subframe, but we want to make this ours, so opted to make one from scratch. The goal was something more narrow and tapered at the back and sitting on a slightly more aggressive angle. We trailed a few different mounting positions and ended up with what you see here. All bent by hand by Luke S.
Being that the tail sat so high, we decided to mount the rear PBM 3-in-1 at the base of the subframe, just sneaking in with view requirements for RWC.
Quick clean up with our pipe linisher, that we managed to buy with the Workshop Tee fundraiser and it’s looking sweet.
Luke whipped up a seat pan with a sheet metal lip that wraps around the tank so Savvas has a nice line to work with for the upholstery. Doing this gives a much better fit around the curve of a tank and stops the ’squished’ material look, when the seat is pushed up against the tank.
Wheels
We’ve also started stripping the wheels to get ready for paint. We want to go with a raw-brushed lip and blacked-out centres to match the engine side covers. Luke has spent countless hours sanding these rims (and his finger prints off). These are going to look great.
There’s still heaps more to go and we are waiting on a swag of parts that will give us a big leap forward when they arrive. Once we have a rough ETA of completion, we’ll post up all the details on how you can win this build and help the space get through these lockdown.
Stay safe in the wastelands,
JimmyG.
