Wyn

Hi I've noticed that the xv250 virago is identical to the xv125 virago to look at (as far as I can see). Apart from the engine capacity are they essentially the same bike? And would parts be interchangeable between the two bikes? Thanks in advance, Wyn

Ah dont know about that old bike run but theres a show on in carmarthen soon, Aug bank holiday I think. So what bike is it you have?

Cheers jimmymck, very helpful. I've taped the wire up for now (think I'll replace the whole connection). Since taping it up the battery has been charging fine and starts pretty instant. Just waiting for some nice weather now to take it for a test spin. Thanks.

Thanks DirtyDT. Were you on your hols down there? That's not far from me at all and Im in Carmarthen quite regularly. Once I have taken some photos I will put a new post in the workshop section and I shall try cleaning the carb and rubbers at the weekend. I appreciate your quick reply. Many thanks.

Sorry, posted before I'd finished. Ooops. Delete some how?

Hi I'm 23 and travel 55miles to work so decided that I wanted a bike as its a far cheaper way to get about and a lot more fun, so did my CBT and went searching for 125s. I read a lot of reviews on all sorts of bikes and decided to stick with a Japanese bike over a cheap Chinese one. I definatly wanted a comfy one as the journey takes about an hour and the cruser style ones seemed to look the comfiest, with their sofa like seats. The XV Virago had caught my eye and had brilliant reviews, so I decided to go and have a look at one I had seen for sale for £900. I met a woman who was selling it on behalf of her son and claimed he had hardly used it and it was always dry stored. The bike had a little cosmetic damage where it had been dropped in the past and light paint damage but the engine sounded great. I offered her £850 and she accepted. I drove it all the back to my house (60ish miles) with no obvious problems. BUT... I was then going to show it off to my family and friends but on the way I stopped for two mins and the bike cut out and wouldnt start again. After looking for obvious problems I bump started it and got it to my parents house and had a friend come and look at it. He found that one of the rectifier wires/terminals had been arcing out and suggested it might be the generator windings but wasn't confident. Also he noticed it wasn't responding well under acceleration and it would occasionally cut out on idle, he suggested a good blast would clear the carb which helped the acceleration issue a little but had to be kept on half choke to avoid cutting out on idle. I realise now why it was probably a little cheap for one of these bikes. And I reckon I could have offered her a lot less and she probably would have accepted it just to get it out of her hands, but hey-ho I hope I can get it back up to scratch. I intend to take it to a garage to give it a proper service but any advice from experienced Yamaha enthusiasts or if you have had the same problems I would really appreciate your input. Thanks in advance.

Hi I'm 23 and travel 55miles to work so decided that I wanted a bike as its a far cheaper way to get about and a lot more fun, so did my CBT and went searching for 125s. I read a lot of reviews on all sorts of bikes and decided to stick with a Japanese bike over a cheap Chinese one. I also wanted a comfy one and had a look at crusers. The XV had caught my eye and had brilliant reviews so I decided to go and have a look at one I had seen for sale for £900. I met a woman who was selling it on behalf of her son and claimed he had hardly used it and it was always dry stored. The bike had a little cosmetic damage where it had been dropped in the past and light paint damage but the engine sounded great. I offered her £850 and she accepted. I drove it all the back to my house (60ish miles) with no obvious problems. BUT... I was then going to show it off to my family and friends but on the way I stopped for two mins and the bike cut out and wouldnt work. I bump started it and got it to my parents house and had a friend come and look at it. He found that one of the rectifier wires/terminals had been arcing out and suggested it might be the generator windings but wasn't confident. Also he noticed it wasn't responding well under acceleration and it would occasionally cut out on idle, he suggested a good blast would clear the carb which helped the acceleration issue a little