Hi all,
I'm a UK Kawa rider looking for a second bike to use as an everyday ride, i've been offered a 81X reg TR1 in exchange for my Toyota MR2, (about the same amount of luggage space i reckon)
Unfortunately i don't really know a great deal about these machines and they don't seem incredibly common over here, any idea what kind of price for a bike of this age, (it's been restored apparently, i haven't checked it out yet)but no MOT and it needs a starter motor.
I would be grateful if anyone could help out re the potential price and also re the price of a replacement starter motor or an alternative that will fit.
I eagerly await your replies and hope to be cruising to that lovely V twin tune soon.
Mick

Here is the answer to your starter problem.  A bit expensive, but I got one and it is worth every penny.  Much better than the original starter motor.  Like the original though you will have to take off the left side cover and juggle the starter gears to get everything back together, but it is definitely a huge improvement.
http://www.partsnmoreonline.com/PNMSite/XV%20Virago%2024-2009%20starter%20motor.htm

I paid £500 for mine about 2 years ago. It was a non-runner and the previous owner had tried to turn it into an xv920 by adding high bars and swapping over the rear sub-frame. The seat was held on with zip-ties as was the rear damping adjuster. He said the bike had packed in after some noise from the rear cylinder. After lots of faffing about getting the engine in and out a couple of times and changing cylinder head gaskets etc I finally discovered that the big end bearings had failed. Two days later, I read that this was not uncommon. So now you have been warned! I bought an engine from a breaker for £250 cash. The starter motor and starter clutch were not included, so I used the parts off my dead engine. After a short while the starter clutch failed. Again, this is common on this machine. If you buy the bits just to sort out the starter clutch problem it will cost about £120. Then you have to start worrying about the starter motor itself. If you look at some yamaha virago (similar engine) web sites you will see many postings about starter woes and how to get round them. Also the tci unit is liable to fail. Mine has an intermittent fault which can cause misfiring and non-starting. My machine now has an mot, after I replaced steering head bearings, and I've even ridden the thing around a bit! I've read that front cylinder head gaskets are liable to weep oil because of the way the engine hangs in the frame. Mine both weep anyway.
My advice to you is to stay away from tr1, unless you dont mind getting your hands dirty now and again. I can live with mine because I like the idea of an air cooled 1000cc (nearly) twin. I had this theory that working on the engine would be easy, so I could have some fun with it. In practice what happened was that I got more work than I bargained for. Still fun though.
Regards, Derek.