Been awhile.

Its been awhile since I posted, a while since Ive worked on the Virago. I had abdominal surgery yesterday and I just got home minutes ago. Im really sore, I have 5 incisions and 2 of them hurt.  Should be up and running in a week or so, then back to the bike as soon as the Doc says so.

seat came in

My $10 ebay bidsnipe came in. Looks ok to me. Of course duct tape is the only thing holding everything on still.

Progress!

Been broke as can be past few weeks, and so I of course have gotten very little done with the bike. Today I went to a shop nearby that specializes in dirt track cars. They have everything, even steel tubing for framing. And they have it cheap, I got a +/- 4 foot length of 1 1/4 DOM bent and cut for my upper brace for the hardtail. $23, beat that.  And tonight I did some cutting/fitting. First heres what I started  with today.


Got the cutoff wheel and got rid of the seat rails and more of the frame.


Then I just started fitting. Nothing is tacked on yet, just getting the angles. Did a 4" radius bend with the tubing at almost 180*.


I cut the top mounts off of the shocks I had taken off, they will be welded to the tubes and then fastened to the rear hub where the shocks originally mount.


Ill get the frame cleaned up before I weld this on. Especially near the backbone, want it on there good. I will also get some more of the tubing for the vertical brace from swingarm, using what is still there as of now for slugging. And of course the new piece still needs cutting down to length, should get some of it done tomorrow. Gonna load up the bike and head over to use my step dads welder. Want to also knock out the tank mounts while Im there.

Freedom or Death and BikerMetric

Trent from BikerNetMetricNews has went out on his own with  Biker Metric . He kicks ass and his new site will kick even more. His Freedom or Death Bash is goin on right now in Austin Texas, and I wish I was there too. Good luck with the new site and that kick ass bike of yours.

ahhh summer

Picked up some scrap steel yesterday. some angle iron that I will cut into tabs for the tank mount. And some round stock for the struts. Im still not sold on the struts. Seat will be here in a few days too. All the rest, hopefully soon. I wish I had patience.

D-Day June 6 1944

The Allies invaded Normandy today 66 years ago. My grandfather flew the C47s that dropped the 82nd Airborne early that morning before the 1st waves of landing craft hit the beaches. This picture was taken at Omaha Beach by Robert Capa, he took several rolls of film that morning in the 1st wave. Most of the pictures were lost due to an over eager technichian who hurriedly tried to develope the pictures. I cannot imagine what it was like for those men on that beach that day. 3000 of them didnt make it off of it.

Im still here.

I havent done anything constructive to the bike in 2 weeks, I simply havent had any money whatsoever to spare. I have the old seat on ebay to sell, I also have the new seat and springs on ebay waiting for my payment. TCI and regulator are in New Mexico waiting on payment, I get paid tomorrow so I will finally get them on the way to me.  Also after scanning Craiglist everyday I may even get a shot at another virago for a good price. An 83, different rear suspention, with a 750 engine. Im going to be very good so I can get that too.

Even though I havent worked on the bike, Ive been thinking and looking for ideas. Reading up on certain issues, and Ive got a pretty good idea where Im going, when I get goin again. Should be next week. Unless I get some welds done this weekend.