Wojtek's Cyclops Virago
By Anthony van Someren - 28 Oct 13
This Yamaha Virago 750 is not your average looking custom build, with a whole host of unique ideas and parts from interesting sources, all showing a great imagination as well as solid building skills.
The bike's creator and owner, Wojtek, spends most of his time in the garage and since this build he's had enough inquiries about various components and parts for him to seriously think about setting up shop, but either way, building more bikes is definitely on the agenda.
The build started over a year ago when Wojtek sold his previous bike, an SV1000, as he wanted something completely unique. He went through all the usual magazines, blogs and websites looking for inspiration but he was already forming an idea of what he wanted.
The plan was to mix a few styles, using a lot of raw metals; such as copper, brass, aluminium and stainless steel, to give an old motorcycle feel, but there was clearly a post-modern influence too.
Most of the bike was built by hand, from the exhaust and silencers to the front and rear lights, as well as modifications to the frame to accommodate the front end from a TL, swingarm from an NTV and rear shock from an R6. There's also been a healthy weight loss of around 40kg, about the same weight as a petite girlfriend.
The fuel tank was modified, as were the footrests, plus a new airbox and the brake and clutch levers were reversed (we don't know why either). There is also a single-sided plate holder and plenty of other details apparent from these photos, but this bike isn't about a parts list, it's really all about that silhouette with those extended headlamps and the clean rear end.
It took five months to build and Wojtek is very happy with the bike, which he has named Cyclops, (which doesn't really need any explanation). It was built to ride around town but he's found himself on much longer trips, a few at over 400km, so we can assume it's comfy too. Thanks for sharing Wojtek.