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The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Virago Custom by Greg Hageman

By Paul Crowe

Yamaha Virago resto mod by Greg Hageman
Yamaha Virago resto mod by Greg Hageman

Yamaha could have done then what Greg Hageman does now, but then it wouldn’t be special, would it? They produced the Virago, a nice looking engine hidden in a Japanese cruiser, somewhat popular at the time, but leaving things like this to the imagination of builders yet to come.

Yamaha Virago resto mod by Greg Hageman
Yamaha Virago resto mod by Greg Hageman

Most of you have seen Doc’s Chops customs before and this is just one more, built around what started as a 1982 Virago. Out went the 750cc engine and in its place they shoehorned in an 1100, the Suzuki GSX-R front end seemed like a good idea, then along came a Benelli tank and all of the other usual Hageman touches. It’s no one thing, but everything brought together by a builder who has an eye for aesthetics and you get this. You see a lot of other builders swap a few pieces trying to replicate what he does, but all too often, it turns out badly, while Greg’s builds just work.

Yamaha Virago resto mod by Greg Hageman
Yamaha Virago resto mod by Greg Hageman

If you’re in the market for a nice custom resto mod like this, it’s for sale for less than what it would cost to build one yourself.

This auction has ended, but check out the Yamaha Virago Motorcycles on eBay for more interesting examples.

Posted on September 25, 2015 Filed Under: Vintage Motorcycles


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Comments

  1. Sarath says

    September 25, 2015 at 11:26 am

    I will try to be the first person to say this – I hate these artsy and highly impractical builds. Look at the lack of the front fender. Or the minimalistic rear end. Either the person who did this doesn’t ride motorcycles, or has never ridden in the rain. And that rear tire sticking out without an appendage or license place holder to cover it – that goes against some safety regulation. And those fat front tires which scream “I handle like a turd in the corners”. I can go on, but you get the point.

    Yamaha didn’t do this because they didn’t make a garage queen. Bikes are meant to be ridden. There are several other types of jewellery that money can buy. I would prefer a basic practical naked bike over this anyday.

    • Paul Crowe says

      September 25, 2015 at 12:22 pm

      Well, you’re no fun at all. 🙂

      There are lots of builds that are impractical and if utility is the measure of everything, you’re better off in a car or truck. Yes, you could tack on a lot of fenders and DOT required bells and whistles, but a lot of that stuff is usually the first thing someone strips off when building a custom. Fenders are definitely useful, though a quick glance at builds by Mule, for instance, and his street trackers, shows not everyone wants them on all the time. Tastes vary.

    • Pete M says

      September 25, 2015 at 10:15 pm

      Yamaha didn’t do this because they built the bike back in 1982…

  2. Clive says

    September 25, 2015 at 12:44 pm

    Its true, removing fenders is what makes motorcycles dangerous and impractical.

    This bike is beautiful. Ive searched the googles but i cant figure out: did he stuff that shock in the frame or is that how the virago was designed?

    • JP Kalishek says

      September 25, 2015 at 7:53 pm

      That was the design of the original Mono-Shock rear suspension by Yamaha. They Motocross bikes had the same design, and suffered fade in races due to the shock getting too hot because there was little air circulation. Still, they had more travvel and to compensate they also at first carried the radiator on the forks so they too could get overheated as well as have a bit of cumbersome weight on a moving steering component.

      I used to compare the old Yamahas to GM cars. They might have something first, but often it was not very well thought out and others came along and made things better, and they made some really odd decisions for a while.
      Unlike GM, they seem to have stopped doing stuff that makes you wonder how they stay in business.

    • Sebastian Wiers says

      October 5, 2015 at 2:56 pm

      Its by design, although that looks like a better shock than the air unit that came on the stocker. If you see a stripped down gen1 Virago and a Vincent Black Shadow side by side, the basic layout is startlingly similar.

  3. JP Kalishek says

    September 25, 2015 at 8:09 pm

    not a big fan of cruisers in general, and the Virago was one of the ugliest to me, but that motor looks perfect in a Cafe bike, and even though I am a Honda man, I’d not turn that down.
    I’d prefer a better rear end treatment though. Something that continues the lower line of the tank and matches the curve of the top of it to hide the electrics box. A front fender for rain too, I ride rain or shine.
    I’ve had a tracker with no fender, and it got a bit annoying to get extra water flung into my face in the rain.

    • JP Kalishek says

      September 25, 2015 at 8:15 pm

      oh, and on the rear I would do a hugger style fender mounted to the perfect for the design swing-arm, that just kept a bit of muck out of the shock and electrics but would not be enough to keep it off one’s back.

  4. Bicho says

    September 26, 2015 at 9:58 am

    Actually,yamaha did something more “standard”,not really a cafe racer,but definitely no cruiser ! It was called the YAMAHA xv1000 TR1 , and it came complete with chain and sprocket……..wich are nicer for a “racer conversion………

  5. Pigiron says

    September 27, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    Nice radical bob.

  6. Blake P says

    September 29, 2015 at 3:47 am

    A lack of fenders does not make a bike unsafe. It is in Florida after all. A fork brace would help but those short USD forks would have very little flex for how this bike would be ridden. It’s not a garage queen, and I would argue that the world is full of riders who have ridden more miles on “unpractical” and “unsafe” hard tails than the naysayers here have on anything with two wheels. That said, one could still build this for a fair bit less than the asking price. I’ve seen a few examples that would come in under 5k.

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