I‘m buying my first motorcycle, a 93 yamaha virago 750. Has low miles since it wasn‘t ridden much so it obviously needs some work and care. I‘m going to be changing all the major fluids, filters, and tires, but I wanted to know how picky motorcycles can be on maintenance. I‘m a good mechanic on cars and trucks, but some of the stuff I saw in my bike‘s repair manual seemed like overkill. Like every 10k miles, you need to replace the fork oil and seals, lube the swingarm bearings, and replace the alternator brushes. Is all this really necassary, because I intened to use it as a daily commuter? I can certainly do all of that with a few special parts and some more tools, but I‘m hoping it doesn‘t come to that on a bi-yearly basis or so.
Hi, The best I can tell you is you will need a vacuum gauge to tune the carbs. Stay safe!
I tend to agree with you but it really is best to just get in the habit of doing maintenance by the book (the owner's manual) since that's sort of like a checklist item. It just helps you to get into the mode of being thorough regarding maintenance. After all, you've only got two wheels rather than four, so it's similar to an airplane in the sense that what would be a minor problem on a car turns into something completely different, and potentially much more serious when a motorcycle is concerned. Just consider it as a part of the enjoyment of riding, not much different than getting used to going to the gym on whatever schedule you use. Have fun, and I love Viragos as well. Great bike.
riding bikes for the last 40 + years. change the fork seals when they fail start to leak change the fork oil at 50,000 miles engine gearbox oil at 5000 miles brake clutch fluids every 2 years brake pads as required TIMING CHAIN this is an important one on the VIRAGO. tall motor with a long chain20,000 miles swing arm bearings. 25,000 miles. all the milages given are approximations. Im riding a Ducati 800 sport at the moment change the timing belts as per the manual. the rest is open to interpretation if you ride the bike hard service it more often if it gets an easy life you can double a lot of the service intervals.
