Virago Purchase | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Virago Purchase

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don't get side tracked by the China discussion
has nothing to do with a Yamaha Virago
"This engine is used in the Chongqing Hi-Bird 250, Diamo Cruiser 250, Keeway Cruiser 250 (QJ250-L), Keeway Dorado (QJ250-V), Kingring JL250V, Keeway Supershadow 250 (QJ250-H), Lifan LF250, Lifan LF250-B, Rhino Hunter Sport chopper, Roketa Vado MC-18, Vento V Thunder 250, Vento Colt 250, Yamaha XV250" <- um, XV250 is the Virago :| so it might have a tiny bit to do with the bike in question.

& I certainly wouldn't be ordering my replacement parts from my local Yamaha dealer: US $60.0 20% OFF|Motorcycle Cylinder Kit for Yamaha Virago XV250 V Star 250 Route 66 Qianjiang QJ250 H QJ250 L QJ250 J Keeway Cruiser 250 2V49FMM-in Engines from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
 
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that is wrong
the engine in the Lifan bike is a Chinese knock off
but I ain't going down the rabbit hole with you on this
 
that's where the water gets really muddy, Yamaha has engines made in China, as does Honda. When you look at small equipment pressure washers and lawn mowers, you can buy powered by Honda/Yamaha equipment. Its from a factory in China and the engine is built to a Honda/Yamaha spec. The SAME factory will produce an engine that sure looks on the outside like a Yamaha or Honda, but the internals may be a different spec. Some will argue they wont source a different main bearing when they are building the 'same' engine. If your making 1,000 units maybe not, but when your building 300,000 units any savings of a buck turns into millions.
As I've said here before, they will build to whatever level of quality your willing to pay for, and can hold them to.
 
So I'm looking on Kijiji at the Yamaha XV250 (Virago) and they all seem to have low km's and are fairly cheap, is there something wrong with that type of bike? Or are they just a bike you can buy for a cheap price?


Great bikes...Virago name just predated the Vstar...same bikes...owned a couple in the 80's ....similar to the Suzuki Marauder. If later models were made in China I would avoid those.
 
There is nothing wrong with either the Virago 250 or Vstar 250 (literally the same bike with, a different sticker on the tank). They've been built unchanged since the 80's, if they were maintained properly they are bullet proof. Most have been through several sets of hands as a beginner bike for 1-3 seasons and then sold to the next beginner who did the same.

If you find a clean one that has any sort of service record you'll be fine. If I were in the market for a small displacement cruiser it would be #1 on my list.
 
I had a Virago 250 as my first bike. It was a ton of fun!
In some ways I wish I still had it just because it was a blast to boot down country roads.
The reason you see so many of them going cheaply is that as soon as you start riding with others on more powerful bikes
you start having to wring that poor motor for all it's worth to keep up.

Again, they are great bikes, and you'll get most of your initial purchase price back when it's time to upgrade.
 
And replacement parts are cheap, and can be mail ordered right to your house from alibaba.
 

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