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V IS FOR VIRAGO: YAMAHA'S XV1000 & XV700 |
| SURELY DESERVE A PLACE |
| AMONG MOTORCYCLING'S |
| MOST BRAZEN FASHION |
| ACCESSORIES. |
You're not rich, but you re not poor either. The family station
wagons paid for. you've Just moved from that cramped condo Into a
spacious suburban ranchette, the wife's a regular at the local
health spa and the kids are already in grade school and your boss
says you're one of his brightest rising young middle managers. The
future looks good, but vaguely. . . disturbingly . . . familiar.
1 mean. Is this all there is?
What ever happened lo those fast times at Ridgemont High when you
cruised the strip and those carefree college days when you used to
whiz around on that old beater during your post pubescent. premarital
period?
True, it wasn't much of a motorcycle. But it got you to school, to a
succession of part time jobs and Into the grasp of lots of ladles
adventurous enough to jump on that duct-taped back seat and one
day, you promised yourself, you'd build yourself a real chopper.
Then came graduation, marriage and a . . . car. You became mired In
Maytags. Motorola's and mortgages.
Now it's been years since you rode a bike, but lately you've been
feeling the old fantasy rising up from deep within. You're
constantly daydreaming about maybe getting a motorcycle just for
weekends and summer commutes to the office. Something light, low,
simple and a little sexy (hey. even married guys need a little lift
for the libido once In a while).
And that chopper you promised yourself way back when? Well. the
If you're one of those who want to look just a little bad without really being bad. there's good news. Yamaha realizes that guys like you who grew up in the '50s and '60s arc heavily influenced by the American—read chopper—styling idiom. The company's answer Is the Virago, in 1000 and 700 displacements. These are two cruisers with the details American guys and gals go for: air-cooled V-twin engine, small fat rear tire, big skinny front tire, kicked out front end. teardrop tank tilted to the sky. low slung seat, pullback bars, dual shorty mufflers and chrome, chrome, chrome.
All the Japanese manufacturers tried every manner of parallel four and twin before they finally capitulated to the timeless love affair that Americans have with the V. But Yamaha was the first to understand clearly those values of simplicity and "The look" inherent to the air-cooled V. Everyone else got strung out on unnecessarily high tech. DOHC 16-valve water-cooled V-fours. and SOHC. twin spark plug, three-valve water-cooled V-twins.
How clearly did Yamaha gauge consumer preference? Well, by the time you read this, there won't be a 1984 Virago XV1000 In sight on showroom floors. They're sold out- The XV700. on the other hand, hasn't done as well and should still be available for a while. And. of course. The 1985 models will soon be available, and you can be sure they won't deviate much from the style of the two models you see here.
So let's take a ride, shall we? The first thing you notice about Viragos is their seat height and radical ergonomics. Barely 28 inches off the ground, their seals look soft and inviting. They aren't. True the upper layer of foam is soft, but it's only a thin layer beneath which lurks a seat base that would make the upholstered two-by-four of a Guzzi LeMans feel comfortable. Of course. 1 weigh 190 pounds (wet weight!). Pierson, who weighs 110lbs found the seat of the 700 delightful. Obviously, weight is the critical factor here.
For me. the problem of inadequate padding Is exacerbated by the de rigueur cruiser slouch dictated by the radical pullback bars and forward mounted pegs. The only way I was able to endure rides over half an hour long
