Ever wondered why so many bankers, stockbrokers, fruit machine attendants and trainee tax officers want to look like Hells Angels? Like hard lovin' dudes of the road. I have, and so probably did Mr Kawasaki when he decided to bolt on a teardrop tank, king & queen seat and silly handlebars to his beloved Z900, giving the world and his wife a new baby, the Z900Ltd. Of course, that was quite a few years ago and will only be recalled by those with long memories or serious students of motorcycle history.
At that time, many usually quite sane men-in-the-street type characters actually carried out similar modifications on their various Bonnies, Hondas and BSAs in order to achieve that self same badass look. All that Mr K did was to pre-empt their labours and simultaneously give birth to that ubiquitous beast the factory custom.
After the initial sniggers and jeers of derision (I'm still jeering - Ed) had died down the other Jap manufacturers realised that there might be some mileage in this concept after all, and pretty soon they were all at it. Some of the Yamaha and Kawasaki efforts were actually quite pleasant to look at [My arse - 2021 Ed.]. Suzuki and Honda obviously thought it was all a big joke at the time. All things considered, though, something was lacking: that essential degree of style; that elemental ruggedness; that (damn the torpedoes) Harley-ness. What was needed was a big lumpy V-twin engine in a hardtail frame. What we got was Yamaha's XV750.
The motor was naturally the centre of attention in this unique machine. Two biggish OHV cylinders spaced at 75° in that classic V-twin configuration. On the road it feels stable enough, giving a credible 60hp at 7000rpm. It will push past this red line in top if you're feeling a bit throttle happy, but expect large repair bills to ensue.
Where Harleys score is in their method of power delivery, their huge engine capacities endowing them with the sort of torque curves Massey Fergusson would be happy to emulate. Unfortunately, the XV can only play act in this department. True, it's not as peaky as many 750 fours but overtaking at 50mph plus speeds is much improved by dropping down a cog from top if you really want to shift.
I don't feel that enough development went into this power plant. It could have been a winner if only a few small but annoying problems were corrected at source. Major gripe is the starter motor. Every XV owner I have ever met has had one of these wailing, gnashing, inadequate jokes fail and or blow up on them. Mine started to go at fourteen grand and finally gave up the ghost one and a half grand later. Because of the regularity of this occurrence, replacements from breakers are like gold dust and with Yamaha asking two hundred odd quid for a new unit and with no kickstart fitted, I would suggest a bus pass as an optional extra to ownership of one of these fine machines.
Fuel economy is also poor. 45mpg from a 750 V-twin is a laughable figure. I suspect that the huge twin 42mm CV carbs are to blame here. Harley get 50-60mpg on their big 1340cc Glides using a single 36mm carb. Perhaps surprisingly, the rest of the bike holds together pretty well. Yamaha seems to have captured the right kind of styling when they first introduced the bike, and it still looks pretty good. That fake hardtail actually conceals a very good deCarbon mono-shock hidden under the seat.
Handling is good to excellent depending on how much care is taken in setting up the suspension. The mono shock can have air pumped in for a pressure of between 0 and 55psi. Yamaha suggest 10psi for solo riding but I've found that the bike will bottom out all too readily and wallow in bends on this setting. By increasing the pressure to around 45psi and also keeping the front forks (also air adjusted) near their upper settings a new bike emerges.
Cornering takes on a Laverda type stability and bumps and potholes are soaked up like water on a dry sponge. But wait a minute, we're supposed to be talking about a boulevard cruiser, not a lithe, rapid scratcher. Well, the XV's a bit of a greyhound in wolf's clothing. Like a greyhound it takes a bit of persuading to slow down when the race is over.
The front brake is a real let down. A single disc with a very pretty but relatively tiny caliper is not enough to halt the Virago's progress when it's going faster than 55mph. This can catch out new riders and really put the frighteners into them. Experienced XV pilots show their colours by dropping down a gear or two and dumping the clutch, the rather fierce engine braking doing as much as the disc. A happy by-product of this technique is virtually limitless front tyre life - after 13000 miles the front Avon still looked as good as new. All the same, the XV benefits from having an extra disc bunged on.
I haven't mentioned the rear drum brake or shaft drive because they are both well sorted units capable of carrying out their. tasks with a certain amount of aplomb. The shaft is so good that it intrudes into the rider's consciousness no more than a well adjusted chain.
Long journeys on the XV are to be avoided if at all possible. The engine is the sort of mill that makes you want to eat up lazy miles, but as with many cruiser style bikes the riding position leaves more than a bit to be desired. A combination of forward mounted footrests and high cow horn bars may help you to look like Peter Fonda but after 50 miles at 80mph you'll be wishing you'd taken the train. Crippling stomach cramps and aching legs don't exactly fire the spirit of freedom. You can alleviate the problem to a certain extent by fitting lower bars (which I did) and rear-sets (which I didn't). You'll lose cred but save on the orthopaedics. In fact with a few minor changes the XV transforms itself into a very practical piece of machinery.
And practical or at least potentially practical just about sums up the XV750SE. It's no coincidence that you may have heard similar criticisms elsewhere. This is because they are so blindingly obvious to anybody who's had to ride one of these bikes. None of the problems are insurmountable and if intelligently tackled will guarantee you a versatile, user friendly machine.
The XV won't out scratch a Ninja, or out tour a Gold Wing, or out pose a Harley, but at the end of the day these bikes are limited by their single purposeness [Is that even a word? 2021 Ed.] and rarely used to their full advantage. The Virago can be ridden with little skill (apart from that brake) and will do anything and go anywhere, and this presumably is why it's so popular with all those bankers, stockbrokers and trainee tax officers. But the XV... a near miss.
Jon Dalton