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Suprise in the mail yesterday.........

Iowawegian

By Iowawegian
in Watering Hole

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Iowawegian

Iowawegian

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Someone made my day yesterday (hoot, hoot!!)

I got a package in the mail and what a wonderful suprise!!! Ran right home and put them on!! From one Virago owner to another....thank you very much! Here's a pix of how they look on my forks!

Also wanted to post a pix of my new paint job. She use to be an ugly, and I mean butt ugly, burgandy and gold.

This is a great family to belong to! Thanks again for making my day!!:bighug:

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big mike

big mike

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Thats pretty cool. Nice touch.

 

Just a question for you virago enthusiasts, what year did they quit making the 920 Virago. I have an oppertunity to look at one for my brother, but the guy that is selling it doesn't know what year it is, he's selling it for his daughter, who dumped the boyfriend she bought it for.

 

Thanks,

Big Mike

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Iowawegian

Iowawegian

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Thats pretty cool. Nice touch.

 

Just a question for you virago enthusiasts, what year did they quit making the 920 Virago. I have an oppertunity to look at one for my brother, but the guy that is selling it doesn't know what year it is, he's selling it for his daughter, who dumped the boyfriend she bought it for.

 

Thanks,

Big Mike

 

Don't have a clue, as mines an 1100 but I bet Black Owl could tell you!

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gibvel

gibvel

Posted
Posted (edited)
Thats pretty cool. Nice touch.

 

Just a question for you virago enthusiasts, what year did they quit making the 920 Virago. I have an oppertunity to look at one for my brother, but the guy that is selling it doesn't know what year it is, he's selling it for his daughter, who dumped the boyfriend she bought it for.

 

Thanks,

Big Mike

 

Mike,

 

The 920 was made from 81 to 83. In 84 it was bumped to 1000cc.

 

This stuff may also help.

 

The subject of Virago model numbers may draw a yawn from many riders, but a few of us aging diehards actually have an interest in this kind of thing. So for those of you who do--pop a fresh battery into your pacemaker, and buckle up your helmet! You're about to get into some really exciting stuff. Presented here is the result of a little research on how Yamaha assigned model numbers to its Viragos, followed by a rundown of all the US models. This information is as complete and as accurate as we could make it, and carries no warranty for being totally error free. Comments and particularly corrections will be most welcome. Now let's take one of the most complex and mysterious model numbers, break it down, and try to figure out what each letter and number means:

 

Our model is XV 700 CSC

 

"X" Back in the seventies Yamaha used XS to designate their bigger street machines by this model designation. Some of these bikes were were: XS650, XS750 triple, XS1100, etc. "RD" was used for two-strokes. "SR" was used for singles. Apparently when the V twins cam along, Yamaha decided to retain the "X" which I think we can assume means "street".

 

"V" Almost surely stands for "V-twin"

 

So, RULE #1 would be that XV stand for Street V-Twin.

 

700 The "700" is easy. That's the displacement of the engine; although, as we know, this number does not always reflect the exact displacement. In this case the engine was actually 699 cc., bringing it under 700 cc., to avoid import tariffs.

 

So, Rule #2 would be that the number stands for the 'nominal" engine size-the size used in ads.

 

But now the plot thickens! As a general rule, the letter right after the displacement number reflects the model year of the bike - the year the bike was made. Yamaha uses these letters for most of their bikes-not just Viragos Here are the letters for the years the bigger Viragos were offered.

 

 

1981-H 1982-J 1983-K 1984-L 1985-N 1986-S 1987-T

1988-U 1989-W 1990-A 1991-B 1992-D 1993-E 1994-F

1995-G 1996-H 1997-J 1998-K 1999-L

 

You will note that the letters don't run sequentially.

 

Also, if there was something special about the bike, a letter designating this would be inserted before the letter for the year.

 

So we have a number of models with these special letters inserted:

 

1981 RH (not technically a Virago, it was a chain drive. The "R' may have stood for "Euro".

 

1982 RJ Same

 

1983 XV 920 MK (where "M" stood for Midnight Special-an all-black bike with gold trim.) Also applied to the 81 750.

 

 

 

And years 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997 where we saw the XV 535 SF,SG, SH and SJ models where "S" stands for "Special"

 

And years 1996,1997, and 1998 where we saw 1100 SH, SJ, and SK models where "S" also stood for special.

 

So, rule #3 is that the letter after the displacement tells us the year, except where there is something special about the model.

 

Finally, we come to the easy one. Rule #4 is that whenever you see a "C" as the letter after the year letter, it means "California Model." As in XV 1100 JC (1997 California model) (A primary difference - maybe the only one - between California models and other models is the addition of an evaporative emissions control system consisting of a charcoal canister which collects gas evaporating from the fuel tank and carburetor. This gas is then sucked into one of the carbs when the engine is running.)

 

So now you should be able to look at the model number: XV 700 CSC and rattle off exactly what it stands for. It's a Virago Series, 700 cc, Cast Wheels, 1986, California Model, Yamaha motorcycle.

 

Finally, a few comments on some of the models. From '81 - '83 all Viragos were shaft drive, mono-shock, with the exception of the "Euro" models which were also mono shock but had chain drive. In '84 Yamaha went to the more cruiser-like look. As part of this, the mono-shock was dropped in favor of dual shocks for all models from then on. From '83 on, all large models were shaft drive.

 

The 535 was first seen in 1987. It dropped out of the line-up in 1991/2, but came back in 1993 and lasted through the 2000 model year.

 

The 250 came into the lineup in 1988, dropped out from 1991 to 1994, and may still be a current model at this time.

 

A WHOLE DIFFERENT SET OF IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS/LETTERS WERE USED FOR SOME MODELS IN CONJUNCTION WITH SERIAL NUMBERS. FOR SOME OF THESE GO TO THE FRONT OF THE CLYMER MANUAL.

 

US Virago models by year:

 

1981

XV750H

XV920RH (Chain Drive)

 

1982

XV750J

XV920JXV920RJ (Chain Drive)

 

1983

XV500K (Only one year)

XV750K, XV750MK (M=Midnight)

XV920K, XV920MK

 

1984

XV700L, XV700LC

XV1000L, XV1000LC

 

Just found this on another site. It's a VIN decoder. Try putting the VIN in this site and see if it can let you know what year it is.

 

http://www.motoverse.com/tools/vin/yamaha.asp

Edited by gibvel
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gibvel

gibvel

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I'm a member, and it's a nice sight, but I find I get answers a lot faster here. It's also harder for me to manuver around the sight compared to this one!

Understood. It took me a bit of searching to find that info!!

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Freebird

Freebird

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I had a black 920 but don't remember what year it was. It was a great riding bike though. Only problem I ever had was the the starter would turn it over very slowly when it was hot. Never failed to start but sure made me wonder a few times. Also had a 750 or 700 close to that same year.

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