Mackie Mac, the main man at Cambridge Pinstriping, had sold his Spitfire chop and was looking for a new project into which to sink his pearly whites and he knew exactly what it was he wanted to get—a Yamaha XV750. Now, you’re probably wondering why Mackie would choose the 750 Virago, given that they are neither particularly common nor cheap There have also been a significant number of them that have been converted into café racers; admittedly rather cool café racers, but all pretty much of a matching formula.
Well, he liked the looks, they’re mega-reliable once a few glitches have been ironed out, and he was keen to do something slightly different from the normal way of ‘caffay-ing’ the XV. But he couldn’t find one at the right price. Or, for that matter, find one at all…
However, he did manage to hunt down an XV500, which is the 750’s smaller brother that has virtually the same frame and style. Not only was it available, but it was the right price. He bought it there and then.
Naturally, it was stripped down immediately and Mackie started thinking about how he was going to rebuild it. Rather than tread the path most trodden and use a tubular subframe and boxy Yamaha two-stroke twin or Benelli Mojave fuel tank (the Italian one is especially popular), he decided to keep the standard tank and make a subframe from 3mm thick steel sheet. Cutting the sheet to shape, he created an hourglass-shaped subframe, all neatly braced and boxed in for strength. The new subframe also meant that the rear end of the fuel tank was jacked up, giving a top line that was far more suited to a sports-oriented machine and disguising the swoopy factory cruiser look.
This story is from the Issue 255 edition of 100% Biker.
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This story is from the Issue 255 edition of 100% Biker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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