hi my name is tim, i bought my first bike and it needs to have a valve adjustment and i started it but as i was losening the nut it dropped down into the small hole. i would like to know if anyone has any idea to get it out? i have the tank and the carbs off but i dont know how to get that nut out.

Or try some sort of vacuum nozzle set up..tho I would start with the idea Rex had,magnets come in real handy for just that sort of problem! be patient !

wow thank you guys the magnet was a great idea i am going to go out and but both a magnet and the screwdriver.

I have found that the vacuum idea works pretty well too, especially if the item you drop is stainless steel or aluminum - neither of which is magnetic. Had this happen while working on my sons car when we dropped an aluminum bracket that settled where it couldn't be reached.

I cut the bottom off a small water bottle and taped it to the end of the vacuum hose, then put a hole in the cap and inserted and taped 1/4" tubing. Just stuck the tube down there and presto - up came the bracket on the end of the hose.

It's amazing how much suction there is when you narrow a standard vac down to 1/4" !!!

Easy Magnetic Screwdriver or minny magnet. Wrap heavy insulated copper wire tight around from one end to the other end of the screw driver or heavy straightend coat hanger. (single layer, no overlap) Then brush the bare end of the wires on a dc current source. A car battery will work but do not hold contact very long as the wire will heat quickly. Safest way is to wire a switch in rather than hold the ends by hand. Most battery chargers now have safety circuits to frevent a short so they will not work for this. Also I have found that the magnetised screw driver can be a pain to use for most anything else as even when holding a screw on it also is attracted to the sides of a hole and causes more dropped screws and needed retrevals. Good luck with your project. Note from experiance, don't turn the egine until you have the "lost" part in hand. Nicked gears are tough to fix inside the case.

okay niether of those worked i spent all day working on it. does anyone know what happens to a motor when its pipped upside down or if that would even help. or should i just take it to a shop?

sorry guys my web did not bring up the last 2 posts. ill try the vacume idea. its my first bike so i want to see if i can figure the ins and outs of it so that if and when i get a new one i can easyly fix it.


thank you all

Sometime back when mastodons roamed the earth Hgsc90's idea worked for me on a Honda Hawk, except that I used the cycle battery & cotton wrapped bell wire on the shank of a long, cheap screwdriver

timmy it sounds to me your gonna learn a whole lot more about that virago of yours mate.You might have to start pulling cases coz those little buggers are elusive as hell.Generally they go down the timing chain and settle in the timing cover somewhere..Goodluck with that mate..CHEERS

Hey, kinda off topic for ya, but not knowing how much you know or don't know about the Virago, I've got a smidge bit of advice for ya since I had one, and know others that did, too.... go out and buy yourself a couple spare starters, and make sure you know how to change 'em yourself, it's an expensive job that you'll probably need done more than once if you have the bike very long. They also have a reputation for burning the piss out of their plugs, ESP the rear one, so play around with differnt temps and different brands, then make sure to keep at least one set in the tool bag. They guy I bought mine from a few years back said that for a while he was fouling plugs so bad that he'd have to change them on the side of the road sometimes... usually a set of plugs was only lasting 2-3 months. Heard that from more than one person about more than one Virago, too. Of course, keeping an extra set or two of plugs is a pretty solid thing to do, anyhow.

wow all of this advice is really helping me out. i know so much about this bike already. so this weekend is going to be the best. i have all the parts i THINK i need for the job. i bought band new dunlop tires crank case gaskets for both sides. and the gaskets for the carbs. and spark plugs. after this weekend it should be purrin down the road!

thank you everyone!

i have a new problem. i can start the bike in nuteral but when i put it in first or second it dies. i have no clue what to do. get a clutch kit?

This may be a dumb question... but do you have the kickstand down???

Many bikes have auto kill when put in gear with the stand down.

yes it does and i checked it out and it was bypassed and the wire was loose. so i put it pack in. and it starts up in any gear. but now it wont go anywhere. i put it in first and give it a little gas and let the clutch go and it wont move. and the nuteral light does not come on.

Don't know... sounds like it may be a tranny problem. Clutch would have to be pretty bad to not even try to move.

Have you tried second gear?

And the "dooh!" question - is the chain/belt to the rear wheel there?

May be time to call in the experts!