CAFE VIRAGO BUILD - Subframe And Tailpiece

 I torch bent some tubing and made the hoop frame, then cut some shorties and milled fish mouths in the ends to fit the mounting collars and tubing. The mounts were machined from 1" stock. I machined a set of 1" rounds and tig welded them to the frame just behind the tank. The rear mounts of the subframe use the stock mounting points on the frame.

                             With the subframe in place the bike is taking shape.  Now its starting to look cool, not a girl bike anymore.      

 Whack out an arc from some aluminum sheet and get it on the english wheel. This part took about 45 minutes to make, with one annealing.

I really hate to call it a Virago anymore, its turning into something I would ride. The lines are a bit modern as the horizon line of the tank to tailpiece is jacked up, but has a nice retro look at the same time with the little round bumstop. I'm thinking about a nice frame mount bikini fairing in aluminum to balance the aluminum tailpiece, I'm not sure of what's up yet in terms of the finish on the aluminum parts and I'll see when the tailpiece and fairing are done.