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1985 VF500 ... Out of hibernation


ScottSturgis

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 I also degreased the engine and took some sand paper strips and cleaned the exhaust. I read a tip about using aluminum foil to mask the engine. I'll let the exhaust dry out a bit, treat it with rust converter, then spray it down with ceramic heat paint.

 Be-fore:

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During:

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 Before:

headers%20before_zpsoidujzdl.jpg

 During:

headers%20after_zpsvaxjzoba.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
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 I hear about people wrapping their bikes....am I doing it right?

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 At least the aliens or the government can't see me know.  8)

 Nah, I made a brief attempt to loosen and remove the rear exhaust nuts and quickly decided that IF I could get them off, I'd probably never get them back on. I read about this on the internet and gave it a try. I think it'll work OK. The exhaust was sanded down and now has three coats of ceramic heat paint on it. I'll cure it in once I get the bike running.
 Oh, and got the oil and filter changed today, too.

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:goofy:   clever solution, never seen this before. which goes to show one is never too old to learn....

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  • 2 weeks later...

 Got the valves adjusted on today. Man, that was.....fun....

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 The good news is that the lobes, cam chains, etc., all look beautiful. No wear at all that I can see, Everything internally that I've seen on this engine is awesome.

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 The job would have gone even quicker if I didn't have to spend an hour trying to fish out this damn wrench. It slipped, dropped, slid and fell....RIGHT into the oval hole on the INSIDE of the swing arm! My buddy was actually successful in fishing it out for me using a couple of magnets. I was thiiiiiissss close to removing the damn swing arm!

wrench_zpscvgtiyqn.jpg

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 Carbs should be done tomorrow. To be honest, it gives me the heeby-jeebies seeing the parts like this. I would have used Tupperware, ziploc baggies, etc., but my carb guys knows his way around these things and is something of a mad scientist. I've yet to get a set of carbs back from him that weren't flawless.

 He said I made a good call in pulling them. All O-rings, bowl gaskets and fuel tees were shot. Otherwise, not too bad. "After" pics coming soon.

carbs%20apart_zpsocdqrixc.jpg
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I'm the same, completely stripped down two 6th gens to make one bike and just put all the bolts in one box (per bike). I remembered where they all went. Maybe twice had to think for a minute. I was already very familiar with the 6th gen though. Then I can never remember if my sister's birthday is the 6th or the 8th of January.

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I'm the same, completely stripped down two 6th gens to make one bike and just put all the bolts in one box (per bike). I remembered where they all went. Maybe twice had to think for a minute. I was already very familiar with the 6th gen though. Then I can never remember if my sister's birthday is the 6th or the 8th of January.

What's important is important, no?

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

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 I hope I remember how all  the hoses, wires and cables are routed. I usually take pics, but I wasn't expecting this to drag out quite this long. And there's a whole lot of "unclip this wire and drape it over here so I can reach this" kind of stuff on this bike.

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That kind of stuff is pretty obvious. I'm in the same position at the moment. Engine on bench, cables and hoses all over the shop. Sometimes hard to believe it can ever result in a functioning 100mph machine.

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17 hours ago, ScottSturgis said:

 Carbs should be done tomorrow. To be honest, it gives me the heeby-jeebies seeing the parts like this. I would have used Tupperware, ziploc baggies, etc., but my carb guys knows his way around these things and is something of a mad scientist. I've yet to get a set of carbs back from him that weren't flawless.

 He said I made a good call in pulling them. All O-rings, bowl gaskets and fuel tees were shot. Otherwise, not too bad. "After" pics coming soon.

carbs%20apart_zpsocdqrixc.jpg
carbs%20apart1_zpsspk40asu.jpg

That dude must be good at jigsaw puzzles!

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 The cowl had a couple of broken tabs. One was already missing, the other was only held on by the bolt. My Dad did a couple of repairs for me....

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cowl%20repair1_zpshwllbbkc.jpg

 ... and I hit it with a little white paint. Both of these areas are pretty much invisible when installed, but now they're fixed!

cowl%20repair2_zpsaegdbsmh.jpg

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 Heard from my carb guy tonight. Carbs are done! Now you see why I use him, especially on carbs this complicated. I still do some carbs at home, but if they're even a little bit iffy I just drop them off. 
 I plan on picking them up in the morning and hopefully getting them back on the bike in the next few days.
 
 Before:
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carbs%20apart_zpsocdqrixc.jpg

 After:
carbs3_zps8pvcwsgj.jpg
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carbs6_zpsoff8ac6t.jpg
carbs7_zpsjp3bvbky.jpg
carbs8_zpskyk7c5lq.jpg
carbs9_zpsfez15ttu.jpg
carbs10_zpsugeywdep.jpg

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 Carbs are in! Now to just get the cooling system back on and filled and install the new battery. You might also notice that I cleaned up the Kerker mufflers a little bit, too.


carbs%20in_zpsl6zxngpk.jpg

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You know, today I'm pretty bummed about this bike/project. I truly thought I was coolant away from firing it up and getting the bodywork back on.
I'm not getting 12V to the headlight and tail light and can't figure out why. Then I noticed that the plunger in the aftermarket master cylinder (I know...should have listened) isn't retracting fast enough and the brake switch stays on.
In an attempt to check the start switch to see if it's the cause of the no-headlight, I now have a dragging throttle, which wasn't like that until I opened up the RH control again. I see no real way to fix that or access the start switch without taking off a bunch of stuff and getting back down to the carbs. The carbs that I just had rebuilt and installed two days ago.
So....instead of going for a ride in a day or so, I know have several things on the punch list that I don't know how I'm going to fix. Maybe I'll go work on my CB550 project. I can do those in my sleep.
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Good luck. I've had good luck stepping away from a project for a while. Inspiration sometimes comes from a lack of pressure to get things done.

Be warned though; as a procrastinator, sometimes the step-back is prolonged, it seems, forever.

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 The good new is, SHE LIVES!!!! And once it was running, all those weird electrical things started working. The headlight is still a little hinky. It's got something to do with the little switch inside that turns off the headlight when starting. The little spring/pin doesn't spring back as it should. I sprayed a little WD40 in there and I can make the headlight work. Hopefully, it'll get better in time. 
 The engine sounds smooth as silk with zero valve train noise. No smoke or leaks. I'll keep tweaking the carbs 'til I get them just right. 
 I had to bypass the fuel pump to make it run. I'm seriously considering leaving it bypassed and just unplugging it, unless someone can tell me why I shouldn't.
 It feels good to have a few things go right!

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The fuel pump doesn't seem to work. I'm OK with bypassing it, but I'd like to know the proper procedure for doing it. What to unplug, etc. Or....if it's really beneficial to run it, what replacement are you using?
OR..... now that I've primed the carbs and made it run, should I try hooking it back up? I don't hear it doing anything. Didn't even see fuel in the filter until I bypassed it.
 
Also, I've only got ~1700cc of coolant in it so far, including the overflow. I've ran it, burped it, squeezed the hoses, etc. It's full to the rim of the neck when not running and drops down some when it is. Should I continue trying to get the last ~300cc in there?
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A lot of times its the fuel cut relay, not the pump itself.  Near the pump there is a small relay.  Unplug the connector and jump the wires on the harness side and see if the pump works.

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1 hour ago, ScottSturgis said:

 The good new is, SHE LIVES!!!! And once it was running, all those weird electrical things started working. The headlight is still a little hinky. It's got something to do with the little switch inside that turns off the headlight when starting. The little spring/pin doesn't spring back as it should. I sprayed a little WD40 in there and I can make the headlight work. Hopefully, it'll get better in time. 
 The engine sounds smooth as silk with zero valve train noise. No smoke or leaks. I'll keep tweaking the carbs 'til I get them just right. 
 I had to bypass the fuel pump to make it run. I'm seriously considering leaving it bypassed and just unplugging it, unless someone can tell me why I shouldn't.
 It feels good to have a few things go right!

 

Glad it's running.  Do yourself a favor and start looking for a slightly newer design Honda starter switch assy.  Like a CBR-F2.  Those early VF switches are old and fragile.  I think the F2 is literally plug and play.   At the very worst you might have to release a couple wires from the connector and relocate to match the harness side.  I am re-fitting all my VFs.  

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I rode it today! Stayed in the neighborhood and kept it under 5K RPM, but so far so good!
The replacement front master cylinder works great but the switch is crap. Brake light stays on most of the time. And still no neutral light (and neutral is a tiny bit hard to find when coming to a rolling stop).
No complaints, though. I think I'll like it!

Even though I tested the fan during the rebuild and know it works, I never heard it come on. The temp was slow to climb and never reached halfway across the gauge. I did make several short trips and it's overcast and cool here today.

And I noticed that even though the '85 calls for 2 turns out on the mixture screws, it seems to like 2.5 better. I'll go through the procedure in the manual for setting them later on. At two turn out, there's a fine line between a 1,000 RPM idle (or barely above) and a 2,000 RPM idle. No air leaks...I checked. At 2.5 turns it sounds better and I can get an ~1,100 RPM idle or a tick more. I'll keep adjusting them until I can get 1,300 RPM or so, per the manual.

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done1_zpsar8z5owt.jpg

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Looks great!  Good Job.  With stock pilot jets, you'll need to be at at least 2.5 turns out.  If you find yourself going past 3, you prob need the next size up (40).  Did he document what was in the bike?

 

Also when you go past 3 turns out the spring pressure on the screw is less and they can be prone to vibrate out into the v of your engine.  Sometimes I give the spring a little "stretch" when I know I might be going that far out.

 

Again, very pretty bike.  It will get attention.

 

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Fixed (for the most part) the front brake switch and neutral light. I was about to take a break from this thing yesterday, today I'm loving it!

 

 I set the mixture screws at 2 turns out because that's what the FSM says. It says 2.5 for the '86. My carb guy actually had them at 2.5 and I went back in. All internal jets are stock.

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FSM is for stock and the lean factory setting.  As the weather warms up you will prob go back to 2.5

Especially since you have stock jetting with a full aftermarket exhaust.

 

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I put about 135 miles on it over the last couple of days. One full tank of gas and then some. I found out where reserve is  8) .I also found out that I can lock up the rear wheel if needed.
 In mixed riding, with some idling and carb fiddling, some around town and some interstate (70-75 MPH for 70 miles or so), I got 45 MPG. I don't think that's too bad.

 The clutch sometimes has an ON/OFF switch feel from a dead stop, but period magazine articles report the same thing. The repro brake master works and the front brakes are good, but the return spring in the bore is weak or something. The plunger is slow to return and the brake light stays on too long. I just unplugged the wires for now. I've been talking to a guy that can restore and rebuild the stock ones. Not just kits, but media blasting, powder coating, new sight glasses, rebuild kits, etc. It's not cheap, at around $150/ea., but I'm seriously leaning that way. As I get older, I really appreciate genuine parts and stock stuff.

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