1982 Yamaha XV920R Project Bike

[Hellgate]

Well the motor is going to get dropped for a heart and lung transplant.

I just picked up a 2003 Yamaha XVS1100 motor from FleaBay, $600.00.

This gets me the following:
1) 95mm pistons vs 92mm
2) Nikasil lined cylinders vs. iron slug in aluminum
3) Larger cooling fin surface
4) 47mm intake valves vs. 43mm
5) Stroker crank and rods
6) 1100cc vs. 920cc
7) Internal rotating parts that weight about 7 lbs less!
8) Much better squish area

The idea is to use my existing 920 cases (chain vs. shaft drive) and transplant the crank, rods, cylinders, pistons, and heads. Add my existing stuff from the 920; carbs, starter motor, etc.

Then tune with the following:

1) MegaCycle Cams/springs and retainers
2) Deck heads by .025 to increase the compression
3) IgniTech adjustable TCI

Brah-hahahaha!!!!

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[Hellgate]

New saddle, buffed cases and motor bits, cleaned up rearsets. Custom Wilbers shock due in next week or so. Runs great!

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[Hellgate]

Here's the majority of the parts that are going from the XVS1100 motor to the XV920R cases.

Based on what I've learned on dis-assembly I may very well try assembly. As long as I follow Mr. Yamaha's manual to a tee, I'm good to go!

$300.00 in Yamaha small parts due in on Saturday. All I need are my pistons and cams.

And a totally rockin' TR1. I had to change my undies after seeing this one!

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[Hellgate]

Custom Wilbers in the house!

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[Motogiro]

You better get some sticky tires on that thing! :rockon:

 

[Hellgate]

I've not updated this in a couple of months...

Donor crank and rods

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Donor parts

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Rebuilt start clutch idle gear 1 and 2

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Ready to drop 920 motor from frame

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Top end off

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XVS pistons vs. XV pistons

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Stripped

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Removing the flywheel, what a PITA!

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XVS vs. XV cranks, 4 lbs lighter!

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XVS vs. XV cranks, 4 lbs lighter!

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[Hellgate]

Torn down to short block

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JE pistons!!! 10.6:1 vs. 8.3:1 Yes!!!

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JE vs. XV920R OEM Pistons

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Black ceramic coating on XVS cylinders. 1100 vs. 920!

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Black ceramic coating on XVS cylinders. 1100 vs. 920!

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Ceramic coating on headers

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30 years of funk on pet****

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Tons of funk in fuel can from fuel tank

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New pet**** vs. old

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Old pet**** wouldn't stop leaking, solution

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[Hellgate]

OEM TCI

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IgniTech TCI, fully programmable

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Rebuild swingarm pivot, all new parts; bearings, bushings, washers, seals, etc.

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Grinding off un-needed rear drive adjustment tabs. Gotta have a grind shot, right???

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[Hellgate]

Lots of little things the last few months.

1) Dropped motor off at builder. Not too much progress here, but I'm too busy to do any work on it myself.
2) Body work is at the painters.

From the FZ1 thread:


More minor work today.

1) Installed new OEM dampers for the tach, still trying to figure out the speedo.
2) Installed back ordered swing bushings, now 100% new, OEM.
3) Polished right side replacement case cover.

I was cleaning up the case covers and discovered the original cover had a crack all the way through it. I managed to find two off of Virago Tech . com for free. I polished the best one up today. This one is an XV750 cover. Interestingly the casing marks are cleaner and better on the 750 vs. the 920. Not sure why.

I bought real polishing compound today; Zipp Strip, TC6, WR1, and JR1. I also bought a #60 buffing wheel. It's amazing how having the right tools makes the job easier. Once it was polished I used Turtle Wax Chrome polish to remove the residual compound. The oxidation is pretty bad and deep, but she cleaned up okay. I thought about having the original cover welded up, but I'd never trust it.

That said this is 2.5 hours into this thing.

Oh, and I popped the swing off, 15.53 LBS!!! Next year I need to get the YZ conversion back on track. If anyone find an old Metachex swing let me know.

New rear motor mount bushings are due in a week. It took 10 weeks to get them made.
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New motor mounts arrived on Friday! 10 weeks to get these puppies. I'm just glad Yamaha is still making them. The 30 year old ones were rock hard. The new ones are nice and rubbery. There was some wear on the bushing, but not too much.

I'm still mulling over how to install the speedo into the can. I'm thinking Windex and a plastic knife to shove the speedo damper into the can.
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More small things done today.

I FINALLY managed to install the speedo damper. It ended up being very easy. I used Windex to lube the damper and worked it into the speedo cup. Hooray! For some reason this one was bugging me. I made a mountain out of a mole hole... Lesson learned.

I also pulled the cams out of the old 920 heads. From what I can find they are the exact same grind as the 1100 cams. I want them in case I decide to have a milder grind made. I have the second to most radical of four grinds. With these cores it is only $250.00 for another set. Without, SOL as there are no more cores from Yamaha.

It's a good thing I got new cams and rocker arms. The old cams are toast, burnt toast! Note the pitting. Both cams are pitted on the exhaust lobe. This is after ~28K.

I'm also looking for new switch gear. My old stuff is simply worn out and I can't stand vintage switches. Once you have a modern bike they are terrible.

For the throttle side I have Motion Pro FZ1000 throttle and an '06+ Yamaha R6 starter/kill coming. They look great and are minimal.

The clutch side is a different story. That assembly is a total POS and reminds of the "dark" days of motorcycles! The '70's. I was riding my wife's Suzi GZ250 yesterday and Eureka! I can install a GZ250 clutch side switch.

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No direct work to report on the bike, however I did order a number of goodies this week. I'm also happy to report after two months I will be gainfully employed on June 03. I was laid off on April 02. The day after I returned from vacation. Bastards. On a side note, as this is kind of a blog for me, we plan to be in OKC for another 14 to 16 months. We can't get back into our house in Austin until September 2104. Never do a two year lease...

So on the way I have:

1) Motion Pro Throttle
2) Motion Pro R6 Kill/Starter switch. I'll solder this switch to the XV plug.
3) Suzi GZ250 left hand switch. This will be soldered on the corresponding XV plug.
4) Two NOS XV920 coils. I buy NOS whenever I can. I learned in the PX in Iraq, if you see something you think you might like, buy it now as it will never be restocked. NOS parts are the same.
5) New OEM sparkplug wires and caps.
6) New Rick's starter relay
7) New Rick's R&R

There are also 4 relays. IF I can find NOS I'll pick them up.

I've also noticed that with the beginning of summer my "XV920R" search went from 220 hits during the winter, up to ~1050 hits. Not bad and good NOS shopping.

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I started work on the switch gear today. Soldered the plug from the XV onto the R6 start/kill switch.

I also fitted the Motion Pro YZR1000 throttle assemble, which didn't match the photo in their ad. Regardless I got it to work.

I really like the cleaner look and I'm sure it will work much better than the old stuff.

The quality of the kill switch is not the same as Yamaha. This one is K&M knock off, the detail, and the quality of casting isn't the same a OEM.

Hopefully I'll have the GZ250 left switch soon and I can begin that fitting. Being the bonehead that I am I order the GZ250 kill, not dip. Too many watch items on Ebay...

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I've been traveling for the past 6 days.

I got home and this had arrived! Now the painting can begin!

It's an AirTech Dunstall, wide fender! I waited a month for this puppy.

It saves almost 4 lbs off the front wheel alone. Amazing. I think that makes 58 to 63 lbs off the bike. I need to check my list of mods.

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[Hellgate]

Oh YES!!! Moto!

Yamaha XV920R - YouTube

 

[Motogiro]

This is going to become your favorite bike! What a job you've done on this! I don't know how I've missed some of the posts but I did.

I like that fuel set up! Lol! Be careful or you'll get busted for running a still! Blah

 

[Hellgate]

Sooooo close to riding it. This weekend? Maybe?

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[Motogiro]

Stunning job Pete. I want to hear this motor! Love the oil cooler. Definitely gives me an idea for and extra cooler for my SV. I tried adding a small fan on my existing oil cooler but being just behind the front exhaust pipe the plastic fan blade warped and stopped spinning. Reminds me of another oil cooler I saw on a Duc cafe racer.
Beautiful work Brother Pete! :rockon:

 

[darius]

Sooooo close to riding it. This weekend? Maybe?

Fantastic restoration. I hope this weekend works out. :rockon:

 

[Hellgate]

I've not posted in a while.

The bike runs GREAT! Stock red line is 7,000, the new red line seems to be about 7,800. She pulls very quickly and there is NO need to downshift from 5th gear, just twist and GO!

As of today she has about 225 miles on the new motor. With the winter that has not stopped, work travel, and Moto Guzzi adventures on the weekend, I've not ridden her as much as I would have liked to.

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[FinalImpact]

Great read from the past while sipping morning coffee Pete!

Somehow the Tea-pot looks out of place....

My god man, how much does that crank weigh??? The counter balance is HUGE!!!!

I kow JE knows what their doing but I was kinda surprised the new pistons had no oil holes for the wrist pin like the OEM.

Q? what is the finished weight of the bike?

Awesome job and dedication! Looks pretty stunning!

 

[Hellgate]

The change in cranks save 4 lbs!

The new motor is really nice. "Smooth" for a Virago, lots of power. Yesterday I gave her the berries for the first time. Second gear straighten my arms out!

Because I'm running a larger rear tire, and the taller 5th gear from the XVS I changed the counter shaft sprocket down from an 18 to a 17. 1 to 4 is closer and lower now. She really rips.

Today I'm working on installing a programmable ignition unit. With this the rev limiter will be raised from 7,000 to 8,000 rpm. In race trim the factory bikes used to pull to 9,000, so 7,800 to 8,000 should be the sweet spot.

I also had to re-shape the upper cooling fins on the heads so they wouldn't contact the intake boot. The XVS has about 100% more cooling fins than the old XV set up. I didn't take that into consideration when the motor was apart for the rebuild. Oops.

I used a Dremel tool, metal cutting blade and the Dermel, flexible extension to do the cutting. Once I figured out the right technique it went pretty quick.

Before:

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After:

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[Hellgate]

I've taken 63 lbs off the bike! Wheels 8 lbs, battery 10 lbs, exhaust 12 lbs, enclosed chain drive 630 to 530, 17 lbs!, brake rotors and rear conversion from drum to disc 7 lbs. etc. Rear shock 2 lbs, etc. It really adds up.

I figure she is now about 475 to 485 lbs. Stock was about 530 to 540 or so.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

Wow, what an amazing project. You've really made this bike your own. I would be proud to ride that! :thumbup:

 

[Hellgate]

I found an RZV500 rear wheel in Japan for...$45.00.

It's an 18X3.00" wheel and will give the 130 tire the correct profile. The current RZ350 2.50" wheel pinches it a bit. It also saves about 1 to 1.5 lbs off the wheel itself.

As we are moving back to Austin, hooray!, this will need to wait for a few months.

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