Known in the business as ‘BNG’ (Bold New Graphics).
I think Yamaha sold the same Virago for about 25 years. Just a different color every model year.
EDIT: How did I not see the post directly above me? Oh, I’m drunk. That’s why.
“Virago” was always code for “loser”. That’s how they got away with it.
I’m not into cruisers. What was wrong with the Virago?
Well… seating position, handlebars, cheesy hardware, seat, forks… should I keep going?
But it sold for years.
Doesn’t that apply to any cruiser-style bike?
That’s a Fair Cop!
Pretty much what @Gatopescado said.
IMO Virago was one of the seminal cruisers. And represented mediocrity from the day it was born until the day it was killed.
The fact it was named for a pejorative term for a mannish aggressive woman didn’t help. Not that too many buyers knew that.
Think female warrior instead.
Yeah, that was the vibe they were going for for sure.
Probably not as bad as the famous (and apocryphal) story of the Chevy Nova’s sales problems in Spanish speaking countries. But I suspect this was one more brick in the wall that led to multinational corps naming most of their products with made-up words, not real ones.
This might be of interest to the folks in this thread:
Yeah, pretty much, but I also think that was the target. As his first bike my brother had a 1980 or 90 something Virago 700 that he bought used off a friend who’d owned it since new. It was fine, and probably perfectly adequate as a first bike. His friend had owned it for 15 years or something, but finally upgraded to a “real” (non-Sportster) Harley.
It was built as a cheap Harley competitor, and really aimed at people who wanted a cruiser, but didn’t have Harley money.
My first was a Vulcan 750, which was a considerably better bike, and was attempting to also be a cheap Harley competitor, but took the added step of trying to be better than a Sportster 883. It had good power, was liquid cooled, had dual front brakes, and handled pretty good (for a cruiser).
Having ridden both, though as a new rider, my reviews would be:
Virago: exactly what you expect for a low cost, designed in the 80s, Japanese cruiser
Vulcan: better than what you expected for a low cost, designed in the 80s, Japanese cruiser
When I’d see someone on a Virago, I would just assume it was someone who didn’t do any research before going to the motorcycle shop. Someone who wanted a motorcycle, didn’t want to read reviews and didn’t want to spend much money but still wanted a new bike.
In the sport bike world, I typically assumed the same about the 90s and 00s Suzuki Katana. A coworker bought one and as I was being genuinely enthusiastic about seeing a new rider in the garage,I’m asked him what drew him to that particular bike. “It was what they had.” A ringing endorsement!
I think the only ones I ever sold were because the GSXR’s and CBR’s were all sold out.
Not always. There are some Sportsters that have the opposite of all those bad attributes (unless you’ll classify some Sportsters as not being cruisers). I’ve owned two and they were fun.
Now the Virago = Steaming Pile O’Shit. Who ever thought two gas tanks was a good idea? Yamaha. Maybe their guitar maker got assigned to the moto division on a dare.
Eh, to each their own. I like my Harley.
I find the seat very comfortable. If you don’t like the seating position, that’s fine. Different folks, different tastes. No biggy.
It might not be your style of bike, but there’s nothing cheap or cheesy about the hardware on a Harley.
I’ve never ridden a Virago so I can’t say how it compares, but overall I definitely prefer cruisers.
I’m in the “not all Sportsters are cruisers” camp. I was a standard along the lines of a Bonneville until the 1980s, when motorcycle companies made pretty much everything a cruiser. The Sportster was pulled into the mindset hard, with the occasional special edition making a swipe at flat tracker or cafe racer style cues.
I had both a XL1200R as well as XL1200C. Loved that R version. But I also loved that C version after suspension upgrades. Both could out-get most “cruisers” I was passing, but the R had the definite advantage.
I now ride a Buell as my main long distance bike. It outperforms all of these with the same base engine. And has better braking and suspension.
So far only dinky little motorcycles have been discussed; here is a Youtube video of one with some size:
Very cool, but there is no way in hell that I would even think about trying to ride it. That beast weighs more than a lot of cars.
The neighbour still has the R1. My trashed XJ600 is awaiting restoration. Today I received a triple-tree with the ignition, an original gas cap, and a seat lock, with a key, for the XJ600. I’ll use those instead of the Chinese copies I bought a few years ago.