Stu_B

Hi Jim, Glad to hear you are now part of the 1300a clan! Yep get the 02 mod, you won’t regret it, as you say Alchemy are now stocking them... Re RSTD bars, I met up recently with Rinfield ( Dave ) from the forum, and he has them on his bike... they look good, mind you he tried mine and seemed to think maybe mine where a bit different from his... maybe mine have just been twisted to a different angle.... Dave’s was a US import, and we did a bit of an investigation as to the differences... mine has an Immobiliser, his has an alarm... the US has more reflectors on the sides of the forks and on the rear number plate... Mine has a four way flasher and a high beam flash.. its hard to say, but I think the US exhaust might be a bit bigger than my UK one, I have swapped mine for a Road House slip on, so we couldn’t be sure. I have removed my backrest, and rear seat... SWMBO has her own bike, but I can appreciate yours wanting the back rest. Scotland was great thanks... went up as far as Inverness on the East coast then across the Great Glenn to Sky! Probably best roads / scenery I have ever seen! Better get back to work :-( Stu

I think what you are missing is fuel injection :-) the standard fuelling on the 1300 is a bit harsh at low speed compared to carbs... this makes the ride a bit jerky at low throttle openings. by adding Jacks 02 mod it sort of tames the fuelling a bit... I don’t know how but it does! Also on the 1300 top is very much an overdrive unlike the 1100 where you feel u need another gear... 9whats the 650 like?) so without the mod you only really use top above about 60, if you add the mod you can get away down to about 50ish... it sort of gives you a bit more V Twin chug. I was speaking to the guys from Alchemy at the weekend at Britona they are buying a job lot to resell in the UK CBT what’s that... something you youngsters do? a bit like rap music or something??

Hi Jim, Did u get your bike? If so what do you think of her? We just back from a week in Scotland, great roads, great scenery, great bike! We did 1750 miles in seven days, I have the standard bars, I'm 5'11 ish and find the riding position fine (mind you my back was a bit sore by the last day :-) ) Have you started customising yet? All the best Stu

Hi, I have the Yam OEM screen... 17" version... I also had a fair bit of buffeting untill I fitted a set of Buck lowers and tilted the screen back a bit ( which needed a modification with my trusty dremel )... not sure if any of that will help with a National cycles screen... is the same fixing as OEM? Stu

Hi Jim, Welcome to the forum! I have a 1300, done about 7K miles since I got it last year. I replaced the "full size" with a show plate, and so far so good ... I spent the first few weeks with the big plate in the panniers :-) hope you enjoy yours when u get it, they are a great middle weight, a good blend of performance and handling All the best Stu

Yep and why cant we have the full range of bikes in the UK! Warriors look great, never ridden on though

I think the confusion is in the name... Road Star (Midnight ).... that has the 1700 lump same as the Warrior.... never officially imported into the UK. The new Midnight Star range.... is the 950 1300 and 1900.... I think they are called V Star in the US... I think the 1700 lump is an old air cooled unit. Still I stand to be corrected Stu

Hi Dave, Sorry to take so long to get back to you.... I have been away for a few days. yep happy to meet up how about trying to find somewhere in the middle... how about Slough? I have never been to George White Motorcycles, or do you know somewhere better? All the best Stu

Hi Dave I'm down the M3 at junction 4a, and more than happy to meet up somewhere... I'm a member of the Virago Star Owners Club, maybe you could cruise over to the next meeting... I joined centre 12, but I think 13 is close to where you are based, I don’t know anyone from that centre, but I'm sure they are a nice bunch, and maybe there will be other xvs 1300 owners there... http://www.vsoc.org.uk/ will get you to the clubs main page then u can surf to each individual area. Our next meet is on the 10th June in Henry, but if you want meet sooner let me know and I'm sure we can work something out.... Re drilling, I have a hole saw, but I borrowed the extension chuck from the tool shop I got the saw from... I think it might be a bit cheeky to ask again without buying anything :-) Also I wouldn’t want to drill out yours "just in case"... but trust me its a simple procedure, you don’t even need to take the exhaust off.. let me know what you think Stu

Hi Dave, I brought mine from new its a 2008 model I have had it a year and have now got 7K mines on her, I guess you are just coming up to the first service? .... I would be interested in knowing how wide the end of your exhaust is... as I said the biggest saw I could get down mine 1.25"... the Yanks mention being able to get 1.5", still everything is bigger and better over there :-) Drilling is easy, you cant go wrong, if you look down the exhaust you will see a blank end about 12" down... the hole-saw will drill out a sort of old penny size metal... mine got "stuck" down the pipe... as soon as I started the bike it shot out the end :-) I'm not sure if its loud enough for you, but its better than stock and cheap as chips! I'm not sure where you are, I'm based near M3 J4, so if you want to listen to a drill bike, feel free to ride over Jacks mod will smooth everything out, you can go at least 10MPH slower in top with no jerking, you will be amazed... well at least reasonably happy :-) Re screen, is your a Yammy OEM... mine has six bolts, and if you take the screen off it leaves a bit of stainless on the front... is that what you get?... Assuming you are riding screen less, I understand why you are getting tired after an hour... I don’t think I could manage 30 Mins without my arms falling off :-) I'm not sure if RSTD bars will help that much, you will sit up a bit straighter, which I would have thought would be worse than leaning forward? I got to say with the screen and lowers I drove from Netherlands back home a couple of weekends ago, about 400 Miles in a day with problems... well I was a bit stiff, but hey 400 miles is a fair old trip! If you go down the RSTD bars I don’t think you will be able to use the standard grips, I believe the standard grips wont fit... our bar end weights are different ISO Grips are made by KURYAKYN I think you are quite near alchemy bikes... they sell em, not cheap but v nice... this is a link to there site, in the UK http://www.alchemybikes.co.uk/productZoom.cfm I have done the following mods Screen (small and medium screen) Drilled exhaust Rear foot rest replaced New grips Sissy Bar Rack OEM panniers Crash bars Sebil horn ( you will want one if you hear it :-) ) Red LEDs on engine Flashing "pace car" lights under dummy cover on LHS Best of luck with any mods you do Stu

No problem... Yep the Mod comes complete with instructions, and a picture... its really simple to do, if you look at the exhaust you can see where the 02 sensor fits the exhaust... follow the lead up under the panel, there’s a plug and socket to connect it to the bikes ECU, simply unplug plug in the mod at both sides and away you go... much smoother and slower in all gears before the engine starts to lug... Yep I have drilled my exhaust... to be honest found a slightly damaged one on e bay for £25 so drilled that "just in case".. its easy to do, the forum has details, only thing is I could only get a 1.25" hole saw inside my exhaust, the yank pipe may have a slightly larger bore... is yours a UK spec or an Import?... anyhow its easy to do, the hardest thing is getting an extension bar, the guy where I got the whole saw from had one which he lent me... took about 5 mins to drill out. IMHO The sound is much better, maybe not as nice as full system, but much better than stock. Re bars... if you look on the forum there is a WKPI section at the top... in there are loads of mods and info on all sorts of things, including the bars. I think the best place to get most of the stuff is Shane at SS customs, drop him a mail and he will get you a "landed price" in the UK... mind you, you may end up paying import duty if its over £70 (I think) I have the standard bars and find em OK... I'm 5' 11"... you bigger or smaller?... do you have a screen? if so what one... All the best Stu

Well I hope I'm not breaking any rules... The Forum link is http://forums.prospero.com/vstar1300 The forum is just for XVS 1300,s loads and loads of hints and tips... As I remember you simply pay pal Jack and he sends you a "cable".. There is also a section that will show you how to make your own mod, but for $50 it seemed easy just to pay. Also check out bucks Lowers... which aren’t exactly pretty to look at, but if you have a screen really help with buffeting, I also did the screen tilt mod, which makes the screen look a bit better, and reduces buffeting to zero ( well it does when combined with the Buck's Lowers :-) ) hope that works for you... Stu

You can Jacks O2 mod from Jack ... I found him on a US 1300 forum, I'm not sure if we are allowed to give links to other forums, but I'm sure a Goggle search would find it... The Mod costs $50 plus P&P, he will ship to UK no problem. The Mod takes a few mins to fit, and comes with instuctions.... As I have said before, best $50 you will send on bike

That’s a nice combo, my wife currently has a Suzuki Intruder 800, I have the 1300 myself.. She is seriously thinking about trading the Suzuki for the 950... We did a trip from the UK to Netherlands last weekend to a rally where they had a demo 950... it fit her really nicely, just a bit lower and lighter than the 1300, I agree with your comments re 650 and 1100, both fine bikes in there day, but the new stuff is better in just about every area. Only bike I'm seriously tempted by is the Strat.... 1900cc.... nice

Of course its all a matter of personel taste... but ride one.... Sooooooo much better than the old stuff As for adding stuff... hey thats half the fun, adds your own personal touch Still I guess it would be a boring world if we all wanted the same thing

Hi There, The 02 mod smooths the whole ride out... so you can go MUCH slower in the gears and get a clean pull away... no jerking or snatching... how it works I have no idea, but trust me it does... Drilling exhaust is a bit of a leap of faith, but again it makes the sound much nicer, not to loud, but much more like a big V twin... nice thing is you cant see any change... the drilling part is right inside the exaust. With regards to riding groups IMHO you could do a whole lot worse than the Virago Star Owners Club... there are centers all over the UK, I'm sure theres one near you.... Follow the link for more info http://www.vsoc.org.uk/ I'm off to Holland Next Weekend with local club, but I belive there are guys from other sections... With regards to wind... you are maybe much stronger than me... after an hour at 85 I need all the proctection I can get Stu

Hi haxman, I don’t know where you are "in the south" but Farnborough Motorcycles ( used to be Infinity ) have got the 950 the 1300 and the 1900 in stock all in black all sitting next to each other! Well at least they did last Saturday... At 6'3" have you thought about the 1300 or the 1900... we where looking at the 950 for my 5'2" wife... which she thought was fine... I have had a sit and it seemed a bit small, for me 5'11", I have a 1300 and its fine .... a friend has the Strat, and I have to say its a nice big bike... Mind you I think mine handles a bit better I guess in the end its what you feel comfortable with, frankly all great bike's, not a bad one among them! :-) All the best Stu

Not fitted one to my bike, I would be interested in what you think once you do yours... I did try taking off the air box cover and just running with the air filler... not sure I could tell the difference... maybe I just didn’t twist hard enough

The mob is exactly as you say looks just like a cable... if fact there is a resistor in the ground wire... no idea why or how it works, but trust me its the best $50 I have spent on the bike With regards to the screen and panniers... In my opinion, leave em on panniers are way to useful not to have, and screen makes cruising at 85+ easy. You do get buffeting from underneath the screen, this is best fixed with some Bucks Lowers... which I must say are a bit ugly, but boy they do work well....I think that was probably the second best mod I have made The third best was drilling the exhaust... FREE... well I did need to buy a 1.25" hole saw, but I still have that so I count the mod as zero cost Stu

Great choice, I have mine a while now, and love it.... I don’t suppose you have done any mod's yet, but I can recommend a few... get Jack's O2 mod first, cost is only $50 and boy does it help the low speed running, not that its bad straight out the box, with the mod it will pull much better from low speed in high gears I'm off to Holland in a few weeks and off to the Alps in July... they are a great bike and the handling is superb fro a cruiser... I recently passed my advanced rider on mine, and its surprising how many guys on "sport bikes" struggle to keep up :-) Enjoy it! All the best Stu

Can you not just move the lever so the front is high enough to slide your toe under... I have UK size 10 and it works fine

Why do you want your knees on the tank anyway??? The 1300 has an air fillter on one side and a dummy cover on the other... maybe the 950 is the same? I have stuck some stroke lights under mine, so u get a nice red flashing effect in between the cylinders Ive not seen one in the flesh, but I read a review in Bike or Ride, so I assume they are being imported, mind u yu can pick up a 1300 for a song, so it will be intersting to see where they pitch it

Well I for one would be intersted in a 1300 forum... whats the address!

Well the 1300 spec sheet says 303Kg... I wouldnt want to pick one up Backing into parking is easy... well compared to my last bike which was a Honda Blackbird it is.. Not sure bout the 950.. A mate of mine who rides a 600 was suppired how easy it was to handle... all the wieght is low down go on buy one... u know you want to! :-)

The 1300 will drive off the clock... (Just) which is an indicated 130, mind you I wouldnt want to try without a screen, Handling seems OK, Again not much to compare with, the wife has a vs800 which is a fair bit lighter but not as stable at speed and no where near the same aceleration...