Just bought a 1983 Yamaha Virago 500 for my wife!

Anyone know of a good forum for this bike as this one is for my MaximX?

Thanks a bunch,
Chuck

 

Sorry to hear that, they were terrible bikes. Probably the best thing I ever did was get rid of it and the ex-wife (at the same time too!).

 

Ha Ha Ha Ha! Did they just ride off and disappear together into the sunset?

 

I used to have a 750 Virago and it was a pretty good bike. I bought a brand new 1982 750 Virago in 1986 for $1595. Back in the mid '80-s you could always get some really good deals on non-current brand new bikes. Today in good condition that same bike is actually worth more than that.

The ride was a little too stiff and it wasn't as quick as my 650 Maxim, but it was a pretty nice bike.

What didn't you like about the Virago?

 

The 500's were only produced a couple years, my friend has one. He's put a lot of time into it , and it's alright for now, but parts are incredibly hard to come by and expensive. search virago tech for the forum.

 

Stupid thing would die when you cornered (the carbs were side mounts, duh! Why would someone do that intentionally?). Other than a bad carburetor design I really shouldn't say it was a lousy bike. It was a small, comfy bike for a very reasonable price. I just got so ticked about the carb issues, it durn near got me hit a few times.

 

Then there were the starter problems.

 

What sort of starter probs?

 

Did the smaller bikes have the starter problems? I think the 750 and 920 had problems due to too wimpy of a starter and poorly designed starter gears. I had never heard much about the 500, but from what i gathered, the 535 was derived from it. So they were in production for quite a while at that displacement. The one example i saw was a nice looking bike, but I found the side mounted carbs and YICS tank a bit odd.

 

I don't know if the 250 and 500 had starter problems but there sure are a lot of articles on the internet telling how to fix the 750!