When a motocross crash put Nick Mercer into four minutes of cardiac arrest (along with a badly broken arm), he put his dreams of becoming a professional racer on hold. During the three month long recovery he started to tinker with the small collection of used motorcycles that his father found on Craigslist. Inspired by Greg Hageman of Hageman Cycles and John Ryland of Classified Moto, Mercer picked up a welder and started practicing.
He paired the skills he learned from working on his own race bikes along with his passion for graphic design, and transferred them to street bikes manufactured long before he was born. Along the way he picked up skills in powder coating, painting and fabrication and he’s soon hoping to pick up TIG welding. Now 20, Mercer has already churned out 15 bikes in his Littleton, CO-based shop, 485 Designs.
Four of those bikes have been Yamaha Viragos, a model that he particularly enjoys for its versatility. His latest is a 1982 Virago frame with a 1982 920cc V Motor, fueled by a Virago 750 gas tank. It was a customer-commissioned build but Mercer said he had complete creative license. The logos on the tank were customer-requested because of the client’s involvement in drift car racing. He said he spent six weeks on and off building up the Virago and estimates he has between 40-45 hours into it.
Nick Explains the Virago Build
“I bought the frame off craigslist and built it around that. I have three other viragos sitting around, a bunch of boxes parts and the 920 motor that I used. The motor was fully resealed, all new gaskets and generally freshened up all that it could be. Every nut, bolt, washer, everything was gone through from the ground up.”
“I polished all that I could to get it looking new; lots of custom fab was done. The sub frame we built (polished, baked to color & clear powder coat) along with the custom pan upholstered locally. The frame was cut under the tank (where all electronics are stuffed) to fit a Shorai battery, custom baffled end piece for the two into one exhaust.”
“We redid the wiring harness, modified GSXR stem to fit the Virago frame. The rear shock was disassembled powder coated & polished. The rear tire is a 160/80/15, which required some modifications to fit. The front end is off a 2004 GSXR 750 with a polished lower triple and polished rotors.”
Mercer has been a regular customer of Dime City Cycles. Here’s his DCC parts list for the Virago.
Right hand side control (on/off & start)
Looking forward, Mercer said he has five bikes lined up ready to build and another 12 sitting in, around and outside his 1500 square foot shop to use for parts and inspiration. As he learned from his father – he comes in to help out occasionally – he still finds his donor bikes on Craigslist but now he’s becoming known around the greater Denver area and bikes are starting to come to him.
For more information about 485 Designs contact Nick Mercer at www.485designs.net, Facebook, and Instagram.
