Virago 700 and 1000

If you've already paid the piper, you might as well get up and dance.


Yamaha's stylists are whistling a different tune this year. We're not sure of the title, but the notes were penned in Milwaukee with lyrics by the ITC. Yamaha might not know the name, either, but it certainly knows the score, which is written all over the new Virago 700 and 1000. Yamaha's vee-twin cruisers are completely redesigned this year, and the theme for the change is Milwaukee-bred, and as American as John Philip Sousa.
And the H^D-influenced styling is a change, because since the beginning of the cruiser wave, Yamaha customs have been decidedly non-Harley in appearance, a blend of English Traditional and Yamaha New Wave. While some of that mix remains in the new Viragos, the new features for 1984—staggered dual exhausts, side-mounted air-filters, "split-look" seats and an all-new, twin-shock chassis—have distinct Milwaukee overtones.
Yamaha isn't talking, but the shift in styling themes is understandable. The ITC tariff on 700cc-and-larger motorcycles has effectively removed any reason not to copy H-D's styling, and the run-away success of last year's Harley-look Honda Shadows is a powerful argument for an All-American styling theme.

The ITC decision figures into more than just styling for the Virago 700. To avoid the tariff on the smaller of its two new vee-twins, Yamaha reduced the displacement of its 749cc engine to 699cc, lcc under the ITC's cutofT point. And for those riders willing to pay the ante for front-row performance, Yamaha also has the Virago 1000, a high-zoot cruiser decked out with gold accents and five-spoke, mag-style wheels instead of the 700's chrome and wire-spoke wheels. The 1000'fi engine is based on the 920, but the displacement is up to 981cc. In addition to its larger engine and more elaborate trim in comparison with the 700, the 1000 also features more suspension adjustment.
 

Engine displacement is changed from '83

but the vee-twin appeal never changes

The 1000 has an air-assisted frontfork, and adjustments both for damping and preload at the rear. The 700 has a spring-only fork, and adjusts only for preload at the rear.
The two Viragos are otherwise quite similar, so it's not surprising they handled alike at Willow Springs. Although a racetrack is far from a cruiser's home turf, both bikes took to the nine-turn course surprisingly well. The steering on both bikes felt light, and both were stable and predictable when pressed through corners. A lack of cornering clearance was also predictable, but once set up in a corner, neither cruiser wallowed or felt underdamped. Off-track performance was equally good; on a test ride over some \ of the pockmarked roads around the racetrack, the 700 displayed excellent suspension compliance.

Twin shocks and twice-pipes are new Virago

But the look is old Milwaukee.

Differences between the two showed up most clearly, of course, in engine performance. The 700 was remarkably smooth, but the engine was noticeably weaker on the low-end than last year's 7.50. There's no such lack of power with the 1000, however; the larger engine makes good power just off idle, and it has the kind of flat powerband and instantaneous response that have endeared vee-twins to American riders for years.

Viragos have always been competent on-road performers, and despite the 700's understandably softer power, the new ones are even better. The problem recently has been their showroom performance. But for this year, Yamaha has given the Viragos the look that might very well move them out from behind the Shadows. —Jim Miller*