Wrench'n Ride'n

The VX1100 I bought was the last of the Viragos. It was a 1998 SK model. This last model was a bitsa. Seems to me that Yamaha were getting rid of their stock of major Virago parts. My one came with wire spoke wheels and the black tank. I have heard that I could have got the cast wheels if I wished. But there was one thing they fitted that they should have checked. The starting system. More on this later. I took the sidecar off the VX1000. Took sidecar and XV1100 up to HRD and Ron fitted a new subframe to the VX1100 and set up the side car. I found that the engine in the XV1100 was rougher than the XV1000. The stroke was longer on the 1100. Also the top speed of the 1100 with the chair fitted was 10kmh slower than the 1000. Don’t ask me how I know. ;-) I just know. Know what I mean. In 1999 the 1100 and chair took me to Queensland for the Virago Owners Rally. With the 20ltr Jerry can rigged into the fuel system the range of the 1100 was close to 400kms. The Virago comes with ...

I am not the only one in my family that likes motorcycles. My Grandfather on my mother's side had bikes. During WWII he served with the Australian Army Supply Corps. Here he drove and rode anything and everything. I have heard that in New Guinea he would ride ahead of a convoy making sure that the road was clear. After the war he used to have ex-police Harley's. My grandfather in Palestine during WWII. During the 50s, my mother used to ride a Vespa. My father used to have a Triumph Tiger Cub and did some marshal at the old Mt Druitt race track. My oldest daughter has informed me she wants to get a bike when she is old enough. That's only a year and a bit away. So yes it runs in my family.

As a teenager I knew a guy who had a Yamaha SR500. One of the first ones with the black tank and gold pin striping on the tank. When I saw his SR500 I loved the look of that big single engine. I knew one day I would have a SR500.... Now roll forward a some years. I still have the GSX250. It was blue to start with, now it is red after a bad accident. It has a rebuild engine. And yes I took all 8 valves out and put them back in too. I meet the woman who is to be my wife. After riding around Sydney on dates with her on the back I knew the poor 250 will not take us on the freeways. So I went hunting for a bigger bike. A single if I could get one. My heart was working overtime and I was not thinking straight. It was love you see. So when I saw a SR500 I had to have it. Did I do any form of mechanical check? No! I paid cash and off I went. I had to learn to kick start the thing. Yes it did sprain my right ankle starting it once. It had shot swing arm bearings. And the top end was ...

Saturday 21/07/2007 Bruce, Kieran and I meet up for a ride. We had meet each other on the MZOG • MZ Owners Group. The day was sunny with patchy cloud and cold. Bruce arranged and led us on this ride. He picked some great narrow winding countries road for us to travel on. We meet up at Mac’ers at Kellyville. I arrived first. As I stood having my cup of tea I watched the different groups of bikes heading out on rides. BMW big off-roaders, Ducatis all off hunting for a great bit of road to traveller on. Bruce arrived first. His bike is a very well looked after and tweaked MZ Tour. Heated grips, Givi pannier racks, different rear shock and small screen at the front. He has the Traveller faring brackets fitted in place so he can change fairings. Bruce arriving on his Tour. While we waited for Kieran to arrive Bruce started my apprenticeship into all things MZ 660. This was greatly needed by me and in that ½ hour I learnt far more about my bike than I had in the month of owning it. Then Kier...

Me with my MZ. Photo taken by my youngest daughter.

Another sunny day. So out for another ride. This time I wanted some freeway riding and some rough country side riding. I was able to adjust the rear shock. A bit of WD40 sprayed onto the adjusting collar and I at last could change the spring setting. So that was a good excuse to go for a ride. Went down the free way to Campebelltown. Then out to Camden and back along the Old Northern Road to Eastern Creek and back along the Freeway to Granville. The engine is smooth at 100kmh freeway riding. The Virago mirrors at this speed are clear as well. Must be because of the metal backs. Top gear at 100kmh and roll open the throttle and she goes up to 120kmh quickly. I have not taken her up to the advertised 160kmh she is supposed to do. Don’t know that I want to. 120 is fast enough for me now days. The Old Northern Road has had a lot work done to it over the years as it is nice and smooth now days. Fare few bikes out too. Nice to see that motorcyclists still wave to each other. Well not all. Th...

Today I took a ride up to Wiseman’s Ferry. This is the first ride out of the suburbs for me and the MZ. The weather here in Sydney was beautiful and sunny but a wee bit cold. For those of you how don’t know where Wisemans Ferry is it is about 60kms north-west of the Sydney CBD. There is car ferry across the Hawkesbury River. The pub there is a popular place for motorcyclists. The road in is nice a twisty and drops down to the township with a number of tight slow speed hairpin bends. Just right for a light weight single. ;-) The MZ was great on smooth winding roads. But on the rougher roads she was bouncing around at the rear end and the front was not much better. Not the bikes fault at all. I have not changed the rear shock settings. Trouble is it’s a real pain getting at the shock with the C spanner. There is hardly any room to move the spanner to adjust the shock. The front may just need a different grade of fork oil. Maybe a lighter grade. It has seen years since I last rode to Wise...

Here is a trip down memory lane for me. Bikes I have owned. Well photos of the ones I have owned. Some I don’t have photos of. Let’s roll back to 1978. My first bike. A Yamaha RX125 2 stroke. Love the yellow Bell helmet. Off my ‘L’s and 'P's a big step up. ;-) 1981. A Suzuki GSX250. This bike took me to Queensland, at least 3 rallies in Victoria and many rallies in NSW. She started out blue. Then I had a bad accident. Replaced all the body work with a red tank etc from another GSX250. In the end she died when she threw a chain and smashed the crack case around the drive sprocket. I wanted to go to the Cane Toad Rally in 1982. I knew the 250 would struggle going up to Mackay. So bought a brand new Yamaha XJ650. Helped the 2 guys I toured with both had these bikes too. I kept the 250. I have a habit of having at least 2 bikes at any one time. I did go to the Cane Toad. What a long trip. Did it all by myself too. This photo of the XJ was taken at Kosciusko Rally 1982. After a tune...

1/7/2007. Hope this works. Here is a video my wife took in 2003 from the sidecar that is fitted to my Virago.... The Virago is suffering from termal starting problems. It will be sold soon as is. Cheers for now.