🛵 YAMAHA VIRAGO XV 535 Petcock Restoration | Petrol, Gas Fuel Switch Valve Solenoid Repair Rebuild

[@TheSniala]

Very good tutorial, it's exactly what I was looking for for my fuel reserve valve.

[@Florian-Art]

Glad I could help

[@joeycottontail943]

Nice vid. Mines leaking and I just tore bike down to do this. Thankfully my tank looks much better than this. Going to grease final drive and do new rear tire also while it’s apart. Only paid $500 with 4k miles on odometer. Shame that many of these got scrapped because of this fuel system tragedy.

[@Florian-Art]

Excellent, I just payed 500 pounds in parts to repair the front forks, change wheel, tyre, fender, bearings etc. Change fuel hoses if the tank is off, grease final drive, check swing arm bearings, grease pivot shaf, check rectifier and clean - there are many jobs too keep you busy this winter if you go OCD on it. Have fun!

[@Paulscnccreations]

Hi last week i bought a 1989 yamaha virago 535 trike, on the day of arrival i had no idea of how much fuel was in the tank so i filled it up. It only took £6. However after riding 50miles the bike spluttered and stalled, it failed to restart untill i put petrol in. Again it only took £6 to fill up. Long story short. Somebody has removed the reserve switch on the handle bars and they have cut the wires coming out of the solenoid. The pepcock is turned to on. However that won’t work as it’s technically shut off untill the solenoid engages and opens the valve. So at the moment i can only do 50 miles or so before refuelling. The system is supposed to take 13.5 litres. So i do not understand why I can only get 50 miles. I would like to put the bike back to original so that means i need to buy a switch and complete pepcock/ solenoid. i know that the wires from the switch are red/gren and red/white. But i do not know where they connect too. I think it’s behind the head light. Can you confirm this? Can you please also confirm where the solenoid connects to in the harness. I’m struggling to find a wiring diagram. And i do not know if the plugs on the harness have been cut. The trike was sat for 7 years and had only done 70 miles in the last few years. I have done 150 miles-ish over the last weekend. My plan is to remove the lower tank clean it up and iether fit a manual pepcock or restore it to factory as mentioned. Your help with this would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[@Florian-Art]

Hi, it's a great bike so congrats on that. I'm not a mechanic so take everything I say with a grain of salt. -First if you don't have the manuals Clymer and Haynes get them they will help you because the main forums online for Viragos are almost gone and Facebook is filled with idiots. -The Viragos initially had 8.6l tanks, the top one was just for show at some point around 1990 (or something) they increased the capacity to 13.6 litres. The top tank was holding the rest now. Are you sure you don't have the small 8.6 tank in yours. - The reserve capacity is 2-3 litres max. You get that extra 2 litres when you select the RES position on the bar switch (you don't have it so ??? ) Considering that you have a trike I guess that the mpg will increase if you don't get the extra 2 litres and you have the 8.6 litres tank you will have available from full around 6 litres to play with. As I don't know how much a trike mpg is, 50 miles with 6 litres for a very old bike sound ok-ish? _ You should really talk with the former owner to know exactly what he did to the bike when it was converted first because we have no idea how much he messed with the original wiring, carb settings. - If you have the 13 litres capacity tanks then without the reserve you should have 11 litres available. Now 11litres in 50 miles consumption is clearly a problem in the fuel delivery system. I would start changing the fuel filter and take a good look at the fuel pump ( you can find a new one on evay for 10-20 pounds) I have one and it's excellent. If you want I can check out what I got and give you link. Why do I believe is the fuel pump if you have the 13litre tanks Well the top tank holds 5 litres or so and if the pump is lazy or defective the system will still feed the carbs with fuel by gravity force alone. Carbs are under tank and as long as the fuel level is above that fuel will be pushed to them via the ultra complicated system anyway. I am just bouncing ideas here so double check before you do something to the bike. Also if the bike works nice now leave the carbs alone they are a huge pain in the ass, to mess with. - Yes the wires from the bar switch all go in the headlamp thingy, it's a rat nest there. I don't remeber the colors I did the rebuild 2 years ago. I will have to open the headlamp next week on mine to trace an earthing problem so I will take a look for that too. But just open the lamp there are only two screws holding it and trace the wire. From there it hoes in the harness on the right side of the bike and it connect to the petcock(reserve solenoid) wires near the starter solenoid again on right side under the little plastic cover (under the seat) . Remove the passenger seat, unscrew the bolts that hold the main seat, pull it back to take it off , then remove the bolt that hold that little cover and you will see the wires. Sorry for the lack of tehnical terms but I really can't remember the names of all the parts. You have wiring diagrams in the manuals - I have them both if you struggle to find them online. I will think a little bit more about this and If I get a better idea I will add it here. Let me know if you solve it and if I can help you more. Good luck!

[@valtarijunkkala]

Would you mind showing how to get the lower tank off? I can't seem to figure that part out and can't find a video of it anywhere. On my virago I got all the tanks bolts off and I have taken off the bolted on piece of the frame that is in the way. Still can't find an orientation where the tank would fit out of the frame.

[@Florian-Art]

Ohh.. I think I have a video about that somewhere but it will take time to edit and upload. I managed to take it off without removing the back wheel from what I remember but it was a PITA. If you have a bike jack just remove the wheel if not some said they managed to make it easier to remove by deflating the rear tyre ( more space). There are 5 screws that hold that tank (1 in front under the battery holder that has a rubber seal, 2 on top of the tank and two at the back that also hold a plastic mud flap). Let me know if you manage to do it if not I will look for that video I made and try to upload it but I'm quite busy at the moment. Good luck!

[@valtarijunkkala]

@@Florian-ArtThank you. No luck with deflating the rear tire, guess I am going to be picking up a jack soon.

[@Florian-Art]

@@valtarijunkkala Hmm it should get out, I will upload a quick video tomorrow. Did you remove that metal bar on the left of the bike it's like a rib thingy from around the regulator/rectifier area to the top frame. You will need a jack anyway eventually to work on the drum brake, check/grease the swingarm bearings etc. It's a great investment if you plan to keep the bike and do your own service.

[@valtarijunkkala]

@@Florian-Art I am guessing the deflation didn't help because my rear tire is rather stiff even without air pressure. Yes I removed the metal bar, that part was in the instructions in Haynes manual. I am getting a jack, I am expecting to remove the rear tire early next week. Again, thank you so much, you have been very helpful.

[@valtarijunkkala]

@@Florian-Art Update: Removing the rear tire did indeed solve everything. Now I can finally get to the contents of this video! Do you have like a paypal donation link or something?

[@dylantendoornkaat6155]

How did you get the tank out? I removed the petcock with the tank still in place, it's was a real nightmare

[@Florian-Art]

Check the previous reply. Remove frame rib on the left of the bike. Deflate rear wheel or remove. You will need a center stand or jack to lift the rear up for that. Cheers!

[@dylantendoornkaat6155]

Thank you very much! Everything is working again, what a hassle it was ​@@Florian-Art

[@Florian-Art]

Yup is a rear PITA , the whole fuel delivery system is just overcomplicated. The carbs are another nightmare of a job. Good luck!

[@dylantendoornkaat6155]

Thank you, I'll need it. Carbs are the next step to clean and readjust. Cleaned all the rust out of the tanks, fuel cock and pump. Hopefully she'll be good to go after this surgery. Luckily it's all worth it and much fun to do! Keep up with the videos man, very useful!

[@Eana-of-Sussex]

Its odd ... the fuel comes down the tube inside the fuel tap.... out the tap and back into the tank, up a tube and out the top!! What a palarva.

[@Florian-Art]

Yup it's a weird one because it has two fuel tanks. Fuel cap -> Top tank - rubber hose - secondary tank - petcock - up back to the secondary tank - fuel filter - pump- carbs pfff.... . I was thinking to gravity feed the carbs from the top tank and just add a fuel filter between but there are two problems that I can see: 1- the top tank holds very little fuel and it's a hungry bike and 2 - the fuel pump has a safety measure to stop the flow if you crash it. If you wonder the second smaller rubber hose that goes from the top to the bottom tank, on the side, is a breather pipe. They made it as complicated as possible for no reason at all.