Ymaha Virago 1100

YMAHA VIRAGO 1100

CYCLE WORLD TEST:

The magic and the muscle

IT'S ALMOST LIKE AN EPISODE OF The Twilight Zone. You pull into a gas station on the Yamaha 1100 Virago and are almost guaranteed to evoke some kind of comment from the attendant. “Now, that's sharp,” he might say, or, “I’ve gotta have one of those. That’s the most beautiful motorcycle I’ve ever seen.” Then, when you stop at a light just 10 minutes down the road, someone will glare down at you from a pickup and say, “So they're still trying to copy a Harley. Why don't they just give up.”

You look down to make sure you're still on the same bike. You are. You expect Rod Serling to appear with his smoldering cigarette and explain what’s going on. He doesn’t.

Apparently, the only explanation for this phenomenon is that beauty is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder, just like it says on the souvenir coffee mugs. And the Virago has such a striking appearance that it prompts people to make some sort of comment, pro or con. But while everyone is paying so much attention to the styling, they’re missing the Virago’s real main attraction. Because if those gas-station attendants and pickuptruck drivers ever do actually ride an 1 1 00 Virago, they’ll understand what this bike is really all about: its engine. That big V-Twin motor has so much torque and such a broad, delightful powerband that it overshadows everything else.

Much of the urge in that mile-wide powerband is new this year, although the previous big Virago engine, a lOOOcc version of the motor that began life as a 920 back in 1982, was respectable in its own right. The ’86 engine's increased output is due primarily to a 5.8mm increase in stroke, which ups the displacement to 1063cc and lifts the low-end power to a formidable new level. The Virago still isn't in the same League of Locomotives as a V-Max, but it's at least on par with any production-line Twin in existence. Yamaha also made an effort to smooth out the power by adding flywheel inertia and advancing the timing on the front cylinder. The latter results in moreeven firing pulses in the big, 75-degree V-Twin.

Because that 75-degree layout is close to the V-Twin ideal of 90 degrees, the Virago already is fairly vibration-free. The engine uses no counterbalancer and so does shake and throb somewhat, but it’s hardly what you could call annoying. In fact, there's something very satisfying about the feedback you get from the big, rumbling engine.

On the other hand, the Virago offers less-than-complete satisfaction where comfort is concerned. The suspension is rather harsh, especially in the rear, making the rider aware of practically every bump and dip in the road. The seat, which is thin and hard, doesn’t help matters any. The forward-mounted footpegs and swept-back handlebar place the rider in a bolt-upright position, so he takes all of the impacts squarely in the rump. Most of our testers did. however, prefer the Virago’s riding position to that of the Honda Shadow, which forces its rider into an even more-reclined posture.

Conversely, the Shadow has considerably more ground clearance than the Virago. There are very few motorcycles that will touch their footpegs down as frequently as this Yamaha will. That characteristic effectively prohibits hard charges on twisty roads on the Virago.

But that doesn't seem very important in view of everything else this bike has to offer. The motor is outstanding, and whatever your taste in styling, you can't deny that the Virago is one of the most nicely finished motorcycles Japan has ever produced. The paint and chrome all are of extremely high quality, and the detailing is outstanding, right down to the gold trim on the engine.

This same sort of styling treatment was applied to the 1985 Virago 1000, giving it a visual allure that didn't go unnoticed by the motorcycling public. People were so taken by that bike’s show-quality appearance that they made it Yamaha’s best-selling model last year.

So there's no doubt that styling has made the Virago a success. But you can bet that with the 1 100 Virago, it will be the engine that guarantees the bike remains a success. E3

YAMAHA VIRAGO 1100

$4499