differences between 85 virago 700 and 1000

My brother in law just bought an 85 virago and there is no identifying marks saying what size it is. it doesn't say on title or bike. he had an 85 xj700 and says this bike has more power. does anyone know an easy way to tell the 700 and 1000 apart? thanks

 

Look on the the engine and see if you can find a small rectangle that something like : 698cm or 1089cm, or similar. I'm just making up numbers there for example's sake so don't take those particular ones as gospel. Just look for some numbers like that.

Now lets do it the EASY way... does it have chrome rear fender, or does it have a body-color fender?

Chrome = 700
Body color = 1100 and i think the 1000, too....

Or give us the first half of the VIN and we can do it that way..........

Dave Fox

 

Careful fiddles. I picked up what I thought was a 1100 virago, but turned out the body was a 700 with an 1100. Easy to swap on the 700 engine and fender may not be sure fire. I found this out by entering the vin numbers into google. Enter your engine vin into google and it will give the specs on the engine and I'm assuming same for the body but not sure on that.

 

Easy way to tell if its a 700 or 1000 does it have a petcock on the side of the tank.. If it does its a 700 1000s have a fuel pump and a 2nd tank lower in the frame. Fuel lines come out of the 1000 in the middle of the rear of the tank under the mounting bolt.
He will not notice much of a difference in power between the 2 maybe 4 or 5 hp on a motor that revs slow and only turns 7k rpm you wont notice much. More then likely if its a 700 his old bike had carb problems they are really bad about that i have had to get rid of hitachi carbs on them and replace them with later mikunis just because you cant get to the slow speed jet.

Very bottom of the front cyl it will say 699cm3 or 998cm3. There is a chrome cover over the fuel pump by the rear pipe on top of the motor on the right side if its a 1000 you can see the fuel lines going into it. Also right under the red starter button there is a switch that says reserve on the 1000.

As far as if its had a motor swap 700,750,920,1000,1100 all interchange only difference is top motor mount isnt this easy i have went thru so much crap when i had both of mine at the same time i swore i would never own another the only thing thats easy on them is valve adjustments lol

 

Yeah, that's why I mentioned both ways, plus just one of the body styling differences... and there are a few differences......the fuel pump being one of them. I didn't want to get into a whole long list of things to check, but a few things that would either tell right away, or be indicators that something may have been transplanted.

dave fox

 

thanks guys!!!! the info you gave helped a ton!! it is a 700. I remember seeing the petcock and rear ender is chrome. I will look for numbers on front cylinder to make sure but at least I know what to look for. once again thanks!!!

 

My experience with the 700cc Virago vs. the 1100 Virago is that the 700 is much easier to push.

Yamaha named the bike right.
"Virago"
The word refers to a masculine aggressive woman. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a virago as: a loud, overbearing woman.
Synonyms from Merriam-Webster include: dragon lady, fury, harpy, harridan, termagant, shrew, vixen.
Applicable. The Virago was sweet-looking. Those two Jugs highlighting a sleek-looking profile on an erotic frame. Just like Jennifer Love Hewett!

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Virago as a woman regarded as noisy, scolding, or domineering. A "Bitch". ::: BINGO :::
Dictionary.com refers to a Virago as loud-voiced, ill-tempered, scolding woman; shrew. ::: Bullseye :::

Many a Virago owner would refer to the thing as a: "See you next Tuesday", ... when following the instructions for Overhauling the Starter from the pages of the Workshop Manual, Xeroxed-off and folded-up in their wallets!

I have a lot of great memories about the XV700N that I owned.
My favorite being when I signed-over the Title to the guy who bought it from me after initialing each of the printed-in-block-letters stipulations on the Bill of Sale.
> Final Sale
> With ALL Faults
> AS IS
> Will often fail to start!
> NO Guaranty.
> NO Warranty - Express or Implied.

 

Hey Rick!

Quit beating around the bush and tell us what you really think of the Virago. :lol: