94 Virago sitting for 9 years

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pelli247 · #1 Unread post by **pelli247** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:32 am

Hey everyone,

I'm a new rider and on a pretty tight budget. I, unlike all my friends my age (20), want a cruiser instead of a crotch rocket. Anyway, one of my father's friends has a 94 yamaha virago 1100 that has been sitting for about 9 years. Some facts:

Stored coverd, in a dry place
Southern California (no real temp change or humidity)
Maintained until he stopped riding
No body rust
Low miles
He did not do anything special before storing it (just parked and covered)

I know that I will have to do some work to get it running, but I believe it is worth his $400 asking price. Any ideas on what to do?

jonnythan · #2 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:42 am

That's a great price.

Change the oil, the final drive oil (real easy, just like a regular oil change - a drain bolt, a filler hole, and about a cup of 80W-90 gear oil), tires, spark plugs, and put in a new battery.

Check the air filter, the throttle cable, and the clutch cable and make sure they work.

Drain the gas (be sure to drain from the fuel lines going to the carbs as well) and use a flashlight to see if the inside of the tank is rusty. If not, put in fresh gas, and see if it starts up.

If it does.. awesome. Enjoy it.

If not, you'll probably need to thoroughly clean the carbs, which isn't that bad. If the inside of the tank is rusty, you'll need to remove it, clean it, and reline it. You might also need to replace the fuel filter, rubber fuel hoses, that kinda thing. Good news is that the bike is super easy to work on.

The tires, battery, and oil will run under $300 total, but they are necessary. Get the tires at Iron Pony or Chaparral Motorsports. You want the Dunlop D404 - 100/90-19 on the front and 140/90-15 on the back. I don't think you need tubes on that bike - if the rims have wire spokes then you do. If they don't have spokes then you don't.

#3 Unread post by **Sev** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:45 pm

If there was gas sitting in the carbs you're going to have to clean them.

jonnythan · #4 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:59 pm

Sev wrote:If there was gas sitting in the carbs you're going to have to clean them.

Not necessarily.

pelli247 · #5 Unread post by **pelli247** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:12 pm

Thanks for the replies.

I am glad to find out that I can get away with some minor fixes. I wanted this bike to be "mine" so getting to play around with it won't be a problem. I assume that Virago parts are readily avaliable, however.

jonnythan · #6 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:15 pm

pelli247 wrote:Thanks for the replies.

I am glad to find out that I can get away with some minor fixes. I wanted this bike to be "mine" so getting to play around with it won't be a problem. I assume that Virago parts are readily avaliable, however.

Yeah, parts are very easy to find.

www.ridenow.com and www.mrcycles.com have complete part diagrams and sell virtually all of the OEM parts. They have the cheapest prices for OEM parts on the net.

eBay is also awash in Virago stuff.

#7 Unread post by **Sev** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 4:56 pm

jonnythan wrote:
Sev wrote:If there was gas sitting in the carbs you're going to have to clean them.
Not necessarily.

Stabilizer will not last for 9 years. Sorry, but by that time it'll have evaporated likely leaving behind all kinds of impurities. And the idle jets are FREAKING small. 10 to 1 odds you'll have to clean them to get them to work right.

Then again, you're the mechanic, what do I know?

jonnythan · #8 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:08 pm

Sev wrote:
jonnythan wrote:
Sev wrote:If there was gas sitting in the carbs you're going to have to clean them.
Not necessarily.
Stabilizer will not last for 9 years. Sorry, but by that time it'll have evaporated likely leaving behind all kinds of impurities. And the idle jets are FREAKING small. 10 to 1 odds you'll have to clean them to get them to work right.

Then again, you're the mechanic, what do I know?

I don't need to be a mechanic to know that I saw it happen.

Here's the story:

A 1989 Honda CB400 had been ridden into a garage in 1994, covered, and the owner died in a car accident shortly thereafter. The bike sat in the garage until 2006, when my friend bought it. He replaced the battery, spark plugs, tires, spark plug wires, fuel, and oil. He cranked it over for about 4 seconds and it fired right up. No mucking with the carbs at all.

Sometimes you get lucky, eh?

#9 Unread post by **Sev** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:25 pm

I could very easily make the argument that the carbs had been drained prior to the bike being stored for 4 years. In which case they would not have gummed up.

Nibblet99 · Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:28 pm

Unlikely the guy foresore his death, and set the bike up for storage Sev