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San Diego 98 vfr800 restoration


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You mention dialectic stuff. That is a cleaner and is not electrically conductive. Oxgard is a conductor and should be put on every connection, esp. ones you suspect. It contains an abrasive to scratch the metal parts to assure a good connection. Hope this helps. 

Good luck. 

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Sorry, I've been calling Oxgard dialectic grease this entire time. Got the bike from the shop (Ivan) and he got it running. Problems? The idle sits at 2,000k rpm, the cooling fan is hitting something, the step isn't properly aligned and I still need to properly work on routing the throttle/brake/choke cables. 

Ivan is a tough Bulgarian SOB so he didn't tell me too much on what he did do to get the fuel pump to prime again beyond securing the connections on the CPU and replacing the fuses. Interesting because I KNOW i checked those problems but human error is a thing. Either way, to make sure it's all secure on the tray, he did some actually nice zip tie/platform magic so now the CPU is secure and is sitting on shock absorbent material. (was going to do it anyways but that's nice). If any of you are in San Diego, it's Ivan's Fastbikes. What they charged me, and with how busy they were, it might as well of been pro bono work. Shout out to Ivan's shop. 

Should of done this waaaaaay earlier but I recently looked at how the manual suggests all the cables be routed. The current issue way back then, before too much was touched, and now is that the choke lever is really hard to move, which I'm guessing is the root of the high idle problem. It's also very hard to close that contraption up too. The throttle cable still doesn't retract quick enough so that's just more sanding to do. Some of you guys said that you just took a knife and this and that but how much powder coat did you actually take off? At this rate, I might be getting down to the original dimension of the handle bar... which seems right upon further reflection. 


Edit: took a grinder to the handle bar and now that's fixed and so are all the other little things. No idea what to do about the cables until I can get a tickle trickle charger so start the bike. The mechanic suggested that the idle surged when he would turn the handle bars a certain to and fro. 
 

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The idle speed and choke are one and the same thing on these bikes. The choke cable pulls on the starter valve plate (which opens all the starter valves together), and the idle screw (in through the rubber bung/hole on the right frame spar) pushes on exactly the same plate. So if your choke lever is not moving freely then it will keep the idle speed high.

 

Let me know if you need any diagrams for throttle cable routing. You may just need to back off the slack adjuster under the bars to give enough freeplay so that the throttle doesn't open when at full lock. If you need more than that adjuster can provide then you need to access the other end of the cables on the side of the throttle bodies.

 

Glad to hear that the bike is up and running.

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Thanks brother. So just to reiterate, adjusting the screw on the right side of the bike can possibly fix the choke lever stiffness issue. Even if this was something that was never an issue before? Perhaps playing around with the screw and lubing the cable will do the trick? Also when I was moving the lever around, with the choke contraption open, I see that with the lever all the way up, there is a little bit of slack. Also, the lever goes a lot further up and down from than it used to. 

If you have any diagrams, beyond the repair manuals, than I would greatly appreciate it! I took a grinder to peel some powder coating and now I'm getting proper and quick return from the throttle. 

Thanks again.

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No the idle screw won't fix a stiff choke lever. A stiff choke lever that won't rotate properly closed will keep tension on the cable and keep the idle speed up. If you can move the choke lever fully off (anticlockwise looking along the bar) and the cable has some slack, that is good, and the high idle should be just due to the idle screw.

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Thanks brother. Got the idle fixed to to 1200 plus fixed some massive exhaust leaks in the front ports. Very convenient method to adjust that idle. It went from sounding like a ticking lawn mower with a ticking time bomb to how it should. The neighbors definitely did not enjoy any of that!  Forgot how that wolf exhaust sounded and how loud it is! Mean! Will have to get some proper sound bites/video of the bike when she's more in tip top shape. Do any of you want a ride by video? Let me know, it's the least I can do. Btw, I don't know how your exhaust laws are in NZ, or the rest of the world, but in CA (supposedly) the legal limit for bikes 86' - current is 80 decibels; aka nothing. Pretty dangerous when you think about it, even when taking the Doppler effect into consideration.  

Tomorrow is lubing that lever cable and properly threading the wires to where they need to go. How it sits, none of the cables seems (operative word) to be having to bad of a time beyond that choke. 

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Good to hear (see what I did there?)!

 

Must be exhaust leak time, I found one of my front headers was leaking at the head, and has non-standard stud nuts so someone has been in there before me. I tightened them once I had the fairing off, then broke a mounting tab on my cheap Chinese right side fairing on reassembly, so I have some gluing to do now.

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You've certainly had some similar problems to me.

 

The Service Manual is a godsend when it comes to cable routing - this, as well as sanding/knifing the bar sorted the sticking throttle tube, although it rubs slightly on the bar end too, which will need to be addressed.

 

Fingers crossed that this is the final hurdle for you!

 

 

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It's been figured out. The choke cable was binding. I also had to tighten the center nut cap (not nut). 

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Will try to get you some sound bites. Now that it's all done and I've had my 1 week of enjoyment, anyone in the soCAL area want to buy a bike? :( 

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That looks chuffing brilliant - it's a real shame that you won't be able to keep riding it and enjoying all your hard work. 


Someone is going to be a very lucky new owner - yours has to be one of the best condition 5th gens out there - GLWTS.


Where was the cable binding btw? Was it down to the cable routing or incorrect cable tension?

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Thanks brother! So the choke cable was routed in the front of the strut and not in the back so whenever I turned to the right, it was just being pulled to it's length's limit. Funny part was due to the powder coating it took me HOURS to get that top tree off to get that job done. 

Went to a hookah lounge, with friends, and parked the bike in the front. My friend's friend saw the thing as he walked in and asked who's ducati was that and is it for sale?  LOL. Either way, it's gone. It's been raining dogs and cats on and off here so I told him to get some sound bites and video eventually. These bikes really do look cool... when you get to see some one else riding them. Not shedding a tear, I swear. 


Thank you Loftust and the rest of vfrdiscussion for helping me out with this. Couldn't of done it, and especially at this level, without you guys. Hopefully in Poland I can find another one and travel around with my cousin and his Vstrom! It'd be great to see some of you guys and try some of that hose water beer you guys have in UK! ;D 

Just another
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Beautiful! I am surprised you can let it go after all that hard work and how nice it came out.Hopefully you make a few bucks and it goes to a good home.

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It was always going to shift quickly, but I'm surprised it went THAT quickly! I hope you got a decent price; the new owner is definitely one lucky SOB.

 

We drink beer made from river water, twigs and all, down here; let me know when we can teach you how to drink it! :wink:

 

Keep in touch - I'm sure we can arrange a meet :smile:

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Well lads, I'm moving to Poland this morning and starting a new chapter!  In 16 hours! These are in a very niche market since San Diego is a military and border town; so its R1, BMW 1100 and GXRS for days. I've seen one other 5th gen and just a handful of 6th gens. Had to sell her quick because it was coming down to the wire with who was going to buy the thing. Only wanted to sell it to some one I knew was going to love it and I think I found that guy. It was love at first sight for him. He's never heard of VFRs and now he's obsessed. Told him about the forum so maybe he'll join. He still owes us a video of that wolf exhaust in action! I don't even know what it sounds like lol. 

All in all, probably got a good 400 miles out of her. New sprockets, new chain and de gunked drive system really did the trick on how smooth those miles were. I'd say if any of you are needing to clean the chain more anally retentive than you should than take that front sprocket cover off and give it a good clean. The newer electricals kept her revving like a charm and making sure the exhaust leaks were taken care of (vs. how it was before) really kept her humming great. The first painter really fracked me out of any long term enjoyment with this thing. Have half a mind to tell the local riders page about my experience but alas that drama is over with and enough people know by now. After all he's the "victim" supposedly. So, including with the great internals, I got to ride as new of a 5th gen VFR as I think I'll ever get and it was really a blast. Some great roads here and was able to give those KTM 390's and Duc monsters a run for their money in the twisties, if you can believe it. Can only imagine what you guys are doing with your bikes in what must be in or around some great roads. These bikes age like a fine wine and oh how sweet it is!

Thanks again y'all and I'll try to keep in touch. Supposedly planes trains and automobiles aren't too bad of a way to get from country to country. Will see how the situation is once I get there. 

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