This Yamaha Virago XV750 was Eric Meglasson’s first attempt at building a custom motorcycle. By the time he’d finished the bike, the Oregon-based architect was running a small custom motorcycle company—his own.
The chain of circumstances started when Eric bought a lightly-modded but very classy Honda CB450 cafe racer. “The Honda inspired me to attempt my own build,” says Eric. “After lots of EXIF surfing, I settled on a Virago as the donor bike.” Eric liked the idea of a large air cooled V-twin, and particularly loved a XS750 from Classified Moto.
“That bike served as my motivation,” says Eric. “I actually got Classified Moto to perform the fork and triple clamp swap—I couldn’t figure out how to get it done on my own. John Ryland was extremely helpful.”
The forks, calipers and clip-ons are from a 2001 Yamaha R1, but the switchgear and front wheel are from a 2009 R6. Eric powdercoated the frame, swingarm and wheels, and fitted a custom seat frame from Vulture Cycles. The seat pan and pad are from Dime City Cycles, and Eric made his own headlight bracket, air filter mount, tail light and turn signal assembly, and brushed steel fork guards. The two-inch stainless pipes are terminated with modified V&H baffles.
While Eric was building his 1982 Virago, a friend took an interest and bought a Yamaha XS850 triple to customize. “We ended up helping each other quite a bit,” says Eric. “Then more friends started noticing what we were up to, and we were commissioned to build two more bikes!”
“We had no intention of becoming a custom moto company. We just wanted to build ourselves some sweet, unique bikes to ride, and we were heavily inspired by some of the great builders on Bike EXIF.”
Eric and Josh finished all four bikes around the same time, and hosted a small vintage bike show to celebrate. They’ve now formed Spin Cycle Industries, and have a couple more commissions already. “We still have our day jobs, though, as we haven’t managed to make much money!”
Images by Alan Brandt Photography.
