Yamaha XV750 Virago - Hard on the Spine - dated 1999
I am now officially a born again biker! I was involved in the motorcycle trade in UK and South Africa as a technician (or mechanic as it used to be known) and previously owned 10 or so bikes ranging from a 1936 KTT Velo to a Yamaha XS750, and also the opportunity to ride many other machines as part of my work.
After a 10 year, self imposed, non-motorcycling period I returned to motorcycling through the encouragement of a non-biker friend who had got the bug and decided that he wanted to get a licence to start cruising. Due to the fact that I spent a number of years in South Africa, Swansea had no record of my licence on their computer, so therefore, as far as they were concerned, I did not have one, even though I could physically show it to them. They were not interested in my protestations and so, in appalling weather conditions, I took my bike test again*.
(*previously : UK 1959, South Africa 1967).
A newly purchased jacket kept my upper body warm & dry but, unfortunately, the waterproof golfing over-trousers that a friend gave me developed a split in the crutch and I ended up sitting in a pool of water. The decision to buy an open face helmet also seemed less of a good idea. It rained the whole time and the test was taken on a 600cc Yamaha Diversion! In spite of this, or possibly because of it, I enjoyed the experience. The guy who carried out the test, and who was also in radio contact with me, followed me on his BMW and was a 'very very nice man', his calm and pleasant attitude helping me to relax. I was a bit uptight due to self imposed pressure, after all I have been riding for 41 years, and also the knowledge that friends, who said "no pressure", would seriously 'extract the urine' if I failed!
The next test, of course, was to see if my wife, Angela, could be a 'biker's chick or would she start screaming and demand to dismount as soon as we set off, it had been a long time since she had ridden pillion.
We bought a 1994 XV750 Yamaha Virago import as a compromise, powerful enough to tour two-up but riding position precludes exuberant cornering (ain't that the truth). It was a twin shock model with 11000 kilometres on the clock, clean but showing its age a little, we paid £1750.00 which, in retrospect, was too much. We did about 30 miles on that Saturday and had to adjust the rear shocks to stop grounding the centre stand, especially on left-hand corners. The next day and another 150 miles out to Llangollan and the Horse Shoe pass, the last time we rode on 2 wheels up this climb was on a tandem bicycle, and on to Betys y Coed. We started in sunshine, turning cold and wet later but finished in the dry. Handling was interesting! Power was enough and cruised comfortably at 70 mph, achieved about 45 mpg. Unfortunately we managed to associate Virago with Viagra and had to think carefully before telling people what 'bike we ride. Angela said it’s probably near the truth as I would be very stiff after a few miles with that riding position! I also had this reoccurring nightmare where I have "I LOVE MY VIAGRA" tattooed on my arm and only notice the error when somebody points it out. The ponytail, tattoos and earring in one ear were accessories that could follow later.
I added the usual extras, screen, pannier bars and panniers, high sissy-bar, noisy exhaust pipes and a few chrome bits & pieces. The carbs required an overhaul to eliminate a serious flooding problem, which caused the front cylinder to go on strike and also severe contamination of the lubricant requiring an oil and filter change. By now it was obvious that the pillion passenger was not happy with the centre stand touching the road on the twisty bits. After removing the centre stand the exhaust was touching the road on right hand bends, shortening the custom pipes improved this but not a lot, especially when loaded for touring. It was like riding with a coiled spring on the pillion seat and me trying to tiptoe around the corners!
Therefore, when it came to riding down to Bordeaux over Easter the other half decided to fly and let me go on my own. An early morning start from Cheshire down to Portsmouth saw us arrive around 10:30, 220 miles and 3 stops for fuel including the initial fill-up proved that the fuel tank ain't big enough. I say us as friends travelled with me just for the ride on their Yamaha Wildstar Classic, returning home that afternoon. On t'other side I realised that I had forgotten to bring any French connection telephone numbers with me and would not be able to let my wife know about my progress. This, on reflection, was probably a good thing in light of what was to occur later. I got down to Granville, 90 miles from Cherbourg, at about 10:30 and still had not seen a petrol station open, the only one in the town that was in action used card payment machines requiring you to know your pin number, yes you guessed it, not a clue! ( I later found out that they only accepted French cards anyway)
With the bike running on reserve I tried 3 hotels, all claimed to be full. Decided to sleep on a bench in the town centre but became the focus of attention for local hooligans in cars who were using the narrow streets as a race track. Moved to the forecourt of one of the local garages and slept, wearing my full kit, in a dark corner until the place opened for business. Back protector makes a good mattress if a little hard.
Off at the crack of dawn on the road to Fougeres in the rain and then on to Nantes in a torrential downpour. Progress was halted because, even with the screen, visibility in the rain and spray was so bad that I could not see the road signs. I just took the next turn off and sheltered in a supermarket cycle parking area until the weather became a little more gentle. Just after this the one and only bike fault occurred, the starter button stuck in and the starter was continuously engaged, I was filled with panic because, as we all know, the starter is the Archilles Heel of the Virago, but a good smack on the switch with a handy stone cured the problem never to return. The journey continued and so did the rain, at Niort I finally gave up the battle of trying to find my way with out using motorways as my maps and directions were, by now, sodden useless (I think that's the phrase). At least on the motorway I could point myself towards Bordeaux and just ride, even I couldn't miss a big city like that! Journeys end was 50km west of Bordeaux at about 7:30 p.m. and I had covered 428 miles that day in stormy conditions, I was so wet that the dye was running from the franc notes in my wallet, my pockets were full of water and no part of me was dry, so much for wet weather gear!
At the end of our stay my wife decided to come back with me to make sure I did not sleep rough again. We pre-booked a Fomule 1 hotel in Cholet and enjoyed some sun amongst the rain on the two day trip back to Cherbourg, it even snowed when we stopped for food at Fougeres. The return channel crossing was a pain as the high speed ferry broke down and limped home with one engine out of action, this caused us to disembark quite late so we spent the night in a hotel on the sea front at Portsmouth, over three times the price of the Fomule 1 hotel and certainly no better.
We used the scenic route back to Cheshire clocking up 1500 miles in all for the round trip. I loved the sound and look of the V twin engine, never did get on with the handling or riding position and. when the new Triumph Bonneville was previewed I was most impressed by the design, it looked exactly how I thought a road bike should look (yes I am an old git), but I could not reconcile the financial outlay required to obtain one with my natural tendency to be broke. After the French trip there was much deliberation about whether to get a touring bike, we trolled through the adverts and local dealers, nothing exciting found and did we really want a plastic covered powered suitcase! It was decided that I should get what I really want so the Virago was traded for, yes, a Bonneville. My views on that? That's another story.
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