Owning an old bike...

[EazyDuz]

I have a Virago which is discontinued now.
Its running well but i was wondering about parts availability. Most are still available but smaller parts like carb floats/carb gaskets and smaller engine components seem to be impossible to find now. Doesnt this put anyone off owning an older discontinued bike?
Just wondering how long i should keep it, as i dont want anything to break down in the future only to find its impossible to fix due to no parts...
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To shreds you say? Tss tss tss

[Vincent]

Find your self a decent bike specific forum. They can be a good place for trading hard to find parts, (unless it's the VFR Club where they take a slightly different view ), but on the whole, I've found fellow enthusiasts will help each other out if they can, not only with parts but with suppliers details etc - which is nice You might grow out of the 535 before you know it anyway.
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Space Is Deep

[pinkyfloyd]

I rider a Firestorm. That was discontinued around 10 years ago and I can find plenty of parts for it. Ebays always full of parts for older bikes. Keep an eye on there and get yourself onto a dedicated forum as said above.
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[EazyDuz]

[DrDonnyBrago]

[Vincent]

I get some of my best bargains form the States. Only problem with eBay USA is that those sellers that do ship overseas, (and it's always worth asking, even if they don't list overseas post), seem to charge way over the top. I reckon it might be the same as Japan where the sellers like to use the easiest service and not the cheapest.
A mate of mine has just picked something up for his Virago, (different model tho), from there that he couldn't find in the UK.
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Space Is Deep

[yambabe]

Here you go again, stressing over little stuff that is unlikely to matter!

If it helps, my OH rides a 1981 XS650 - they were discontinued in 1985 and he has no difficulty keeping it going. If he can't find original bits there are usually parts off other bikes that will fit.

There are tons of 535 viragos still on the road, and tons of parts for them. There is also a Lifan 400 that is pretty much your bike with a sleeved-down engine and most of the engine parts and almost all the body parts you need will be available from them too if you can't source them elsewhere. Most of them will go straight onto your bike.

But seriously - carb gaskets? I've just asked the other half when he last had to buy a carb gasket for any of the bikes we have owned over the years. His answer? "Never".

You are an over-thinker Mr EasyDuz. If it ain't broke, you don't need to worry about fixing it until it is..........
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[CaNsA]

Listen to Yambabe, she knows about this stuff.

[Bezzer]

Carb, fuel tap parts are probably the easiest thing to find for most older/discontinued bikes. Places like NRP will have everything you might want. https://www.nrp-carbs.co.uk/
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I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[KDub]

No problems here, and all the bikes I've ever owned were discontinued by the time I got round to owning them.

[Ariel Badger]

7 years ago I used either a 1930 or a 1939 bike as my everyday transport and did a lot of miles.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[CaNsA]

Im riding around on a 20year old bike.

Motorway miles.

Its fine.

[Tarmacsurfer]

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

^^^Yeah and they wired him up wrong.

Still using a 32yr old 250 commuter. Plenty of spares.
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Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Shaft]

[Richy CB1000]

Mines 20 year old, no problems getting parts. Even the rubber surround for the speedo that was basically perishing leaving me with a wobbly speedo.

Every one was telling me there are no OEM parts available or pattern ones for the clocks area on your bike.

Walked into a Honda dealer and just asked. "Yep it'll be two days to get it, they're £6.82"!

[P.addy]

Mines about 13 years old, 42500 miles and discontinued. Its fine finding spares.

[m3-paul]

TZR250 here and Yamaha can still get parts for it. In fact in a couple of hours I will be ordering an obscure little bolt and set of washers for an engine mount/damper assembly.
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Yamaha TZR250 - love the smell of TTS!!!!
CBR900RR Fireblade - so much fun

[Tarmacsurfer]

To get back on topic, mine was made in '92. Never had serious problems finding parts or grafting parts from other machines to fit.

The only downside to riding an older machine is going out on a date and discovering she is actually younger than the bike you ride
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[_matt]

Im on a 1990 Virago (or XV 535, whatever you prefer to call it, same thing as far as i'm aware) and haven't had any problems with parts. EBay is a goldmine of broken bikes and cheap bits if you're looking to stock up, otherwise, Yamaha themselves still provide a good deal of OEM parts for older bikes
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1990 Yamaha XV 535 (Alive Again!) / 2007 Jinlun Texan 125-11 (formerly 2k3, wrong details, now going rusty in the back garden )

[DrDonnyBrago]

[MarJay]

Don't worry about it. Usually bike manufacturers keep parts going for 20ish years. You can still get some NOS parts for my 1986 RD350F2, and there are always breakers.

I'd say if you wanted to keep the bike concourse then I'd start to worry a little bit when it gets to 15 years old... but there are always second hand, pattern and re-manufactured parts around.

Take my MZ for example. The MZ factory is long since dead, my bike was built in 1993 and yet websites like MZ-be.de and the like still provide gaskets and piston kits and consumables.

I think you're worrying unduly about a Yamaha Virago becoming unmaintainable.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Blau Zedong]

Yamaha YR5 - 40 years old. As Marjay says, if It was 100% original and I wanted to keep it that way I might have a few issues getting bits (but not that many). But I had no issues finding the bits to put it back ont he road and no issues keeping it going either.

GSXR750 - 21 years old. Ebay for expensive bits and anywhere else for everything else.

Stop being a faggot.
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18:54:48 Rob Fzs: jews don't give away stuff for free

18:54:59 Rob Fzs: unless its their clothes/ hair/ golden teeth

[nowhere.elysium]

The only thing that I've actually struggled to get hold of for my 30-year-old GS has been the seat unit. Still managed to get one, though, so it's not that bad. You're determined to find hardship where there isn't any, by the sounds of it.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Teflon-Mike]