New To Me 86 Vfr700

[atx]

I recently inherited my uncle's 86 VFR 700 and am getting to work putting it back on the road. He has had the bike for as long as i can remember, in fact it was one of my earliest memories of something mechanical really sticking with me. I've been working on cars as a hobby for close to 20 years, but swore i'd never get into bikes since my mom had been in a wreck years before i was born and had scars to prove it. Well since my mom isn't around to be terrified of me riding and my uncle passed that bike on to me i figure i'll give it a shot. I took my MSF class and have been learning on a friend's little crf230, and want to get this sweet old viffer back on the open road again.

This is the most recent pic i could find of it, still digging through family photos to see what is out there. This was at least 5 years ago, because the bike was put into his friend's shop awaiting work in 2010.

This is how the bike looked when i picked it up last weekend:

And in my home garage:

As far as i can tell most of the parts are there. I took all of the fairings off and cleaned them up a bit in the tub(don't tell the old lady) and did a quick clean on the bike itself with a bunch of micro fiber towels and quick detailer and it looks much better. I'll start scrounging for parts later on, for now i'm just figuring out where i'm at. I've ordered a POR15 motorcycle tank cleaning kit and an engine gasket kit so far, but expect much much more to be needed. I hooked up a spare battery to see if the electrics seemed ok, and everything seems great. The blinker relay made a rapid clicking pace sort of like it was yawning itself awake, but seems to be great now. All the switches operate very smoothly. The spare battery i had does not have enough CCA to spin the motor, but i spun it by hand with a ratchet and it feels great. The oil looks good, and the coolant isn't bad either. I will of course change all fluids once i've gotten it to run a bit.

Came with the factory shop manual, what a rad cover:

It has cleaned up nicely so far.

It has a small ding in the tank, i'd like to just stop that rust and touch it up a tad but i'm not worried about it being perfect.

My main question right now is about POR15 and the fuel pickup screens. I'll have to do research as i'm sure someone out there has mentioned whether or not they are bad for screens, but if someone knows off hand that would be most helpful. I'm worried the por15 might clog the screens or act weird with them. As far as i can tell from peeking inside, and according to the shop manual the screens are not removable. Fuel was left in it and this thing could use cleaning for sure, but i might be able to get away without rust converter stuff though i'm not sure since it is so gunked up right now. The carbs look great and everything moves freely, but i do have new carb boots and a ton of carb cleaner/dip in case i have to pull them off and clean them.

I'm up in the air about tires, bur the battleaxe bt45 v rated ones look to be great in the stock size and are rated well. I'm thinking about ponying up for a lithium battery since they are not much more than conventional or gel cells these days if anyone has any opinions there. I'd like to replace the chain right off the bat. I have some fresh brake pads and i'd like to install stainless lines to call that good. Most of the rubber hoses seem to be in good shape and feel nice and flexible, but once it has fired up i'll know what i should be replacing. I'm tempted to pull the valve covers and check that the valves' lash is in spec to be safe, but i'm not sure if that is needed just yet. The k&n filter came apart when i pulled it off, not sure if it has been jetted for it(if that is done even) or if i should go back to the OEM style filter or what. I've got a tailpipe wideband o2 sensor I could hook up when i get it going to be sure i guess.

I'm new to bikes in general, and have been lurking for awhile and doing searches for things i had questions about, and i'm always open to suggestions and lessons. I've got an 84 supra and lost track of how many little tips and tricks i've gotten that have really helped make things easier on me.

[duccmann]

Sounds like your on the right track.....fix her up and make your Uncle proud.....looks like something fell over onto the tank.

[CBVFRbikeboy]

I haven't lined one of these tanks myself, but I did have one that was done by a PO. Based on this, I wouldn't do it to any of my VF tanks

[atx]

Ouch that picture is worth 1000 words. I did some research for about an hour last night and couldn't find any pics, but a few posts from vw guys saying it will clog screens. Your pic is just more evidence against it, so thanks for putting me straight.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1732252

"If I recall the consistency is like good latex paint. The material is supposed to seal pin holes so your mesh filter will get clogged for sure."

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/ever-use-por-15-gas-tank-repair-kit.83172/

"It worked great for me, too great actually. I didn't think about the pickup screen in the tank before sealing it. So I realized I couldn't get any air through the pickup and something must have gone wrong. Had to knock out the rivets on the pickup to pull it out and found out it turned the screen in to glass. So be sure to pull that kind of stuff out before trying it. "

I guess i'll try the first 2 cleaning steps of the kit and try it for awhile. If it starts to rust again or give issues clogging the filter i'll look into a less viscous lining kit maybe? My half brain idea was to slosh the coat around and then blow the lines out in the hopes that the screens would clear off a bit, but at least this filter is easy to change out. The one in my supra requires loosening an engine mount and jacking it up by the oil to get enough clearance to get at it.

Looks like bike bandit is having some stuff on sale this weekend for decent prices. I'm going to go on a bit of a shopping spree i guess and try to get enough parts to make some good head way.

Yeah not sure what happened to the tank honestly duccman, but i'll do my best to make this thing nice again for sure.

[MaxSwell]

Welcome to the asylum. (we are nuts for these machines). I love it that you are keeping a VFR on the road. Good luck.

[gll429]

DONT put the tank liner in there.

just use some liquid plumber in the tank and fill with hot water.. it will eat the rust .

then you drain, flush out with gallon of gas, just add the gas and rotate the tank, empty the gas.. .

fill with good gas.

[Switchblade]

Welcome and the man knows his sh$t ^^^ ...

[atx]

So i'm trying to find a replacement gasket for the petcock, all i can find is the entire assembly, though i wouldn't be opposed to just buying the entire deal if that's what it comes down to and keeping mine as a spare... They do have the o-ring for the level sensor at least, between those my tank should seal again once i clean her up.

I think i've decided on stock size steel ring/chain from JK 16/46

http://www.bikebandit.com/aftermarket-parts/motorcycle-wheels-and-final-drive/sprockets/jt-sprockets-steel-sprocket?m=151672

For chain i'm really not sure, 110 length 530 o ring type seems to be what i'm finding recommended. This one is made in japan and is on sale

http://www.bikebandit.com/aftermarket-parts/motorcycle-wheels-and-final-drive/chains-universal/tsubaki-530-omega-o-ring-motorcycle-chain?m=151672

My garage is looking like a motorcycle butcher shop at the moment, love it.

[St. Stephen]

Looks great, make sure you post pics when you're done! OK, never done, but when close.

My spouse was six months pregnant when I told her I really, really needed to buy a new, left-over 1985 VF700 "tariff bike" in 1986 (still married, obviously). It was my ride while the kids grew up, finally trading it for the first year 6th gen.

Check the fork seals, mine went early.

Although I stick to Michelins now, Metzlers worked great on the 700, had plenty of grip for the de-stroked engine and lasted forever.

The engine has all that great V4 character, sounds great even with stock exhaust, and is virtually bullet-proof, making roughly 60hp with all the 750 internals after losing 50cc of stroke. And you don't have to remove anything to change the oil & filter. Good luck, keep updating!

[atx]

I'll try out liquid plumber on and water on the tank, sounds like a great way to go and can't make things any worse than they are honestly.

I'll scope out my fork seals, they don't look too great actually. I was reading about the air pressure portion of it in the manual, weird stuff.

I disconnected the fuel pump relay and jumpered that per the shop manual instructions to prime the system and it fired right up. The carbs need to be taken off and cleaned up for sure, but what a promising sound.

Anyone have carb rebuilt kit or rebuilder advice? With a little googling i found this thread with a few guys recommended. I'm not trying to beat a dead horse or anything, and understand if nobody wants to chime in on the same issue again :P

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/81547-carb-rebuilds/

[gll429]

your pilot jets MAYclogged . the carbs need cleaning..

the K&L carb cleaner wire set is the way to go

its NOT the same as a welding tip cleaner. there are 3 super fine wires in there..

if you want to take a shot yourself..
i will start with i am a honda tech..and i have had lots of VFRs since my 16th bday.. :)
step one..DOWNLOAD THE MANUAL

if you bike has been sitting with gas in the carbs..
YOU'RE GOING SHOPPING NOW!!!
30 bucks.. a one gallon can of GUNK CARB DIP.. this is NOT spray. gunk is the brand.
DO NOT GET BERRYMAN DIP!!
it SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS!!!!!!!!
did i mention berryman brand sucks??

$4 a spray bottle of silicone lube.
$4 a spray can of carb cleaner..
if you have an air compressor.. that would be great.

$15 get 2 cheap pry bars about footlong and a big rubber mallet.

$1 each get several aluminium foil baking pans 1x1 or about that.
$1 plastic pan the size of a kittylitter tray.
$1 a small flat blade screw driver that will be used to get out the pilot jets.. which i can promise you are clogged up. the same size as the pocket drivers the snap-on guts give out. and you should already have a 6 , 7, 8,10 12, 13, 14, 17 18, 19 sockets.. you will only need the 7mm here.

$7 a cheap impact driver.. the floatbowl screws may be 'screwed" if others screwed them up.
$5 a hammer.


first up.. you all ready have the tank off.. and the air box.. leave the 4 carbs connected!!there is no reason to separate them from the plenum .

next.. unscrew the 2 screws holding the throttle cable clamp in place to the carb... and you remove the cable in 30 seconds.

since you have the airbox off.. you can how the choke cable come off.. use your finger to slide the choke.. and pull the slack cable out .and remove if from the carb.
loosen the front top clamps on the intake boots..

and REMOVE the rear 2

place the 2 pry bars under the rear carbs. right where they meet the rear head.. and gently pry them up both at the same time. bet they pop up in 5 seconds. if they dont.. make sure you loosened the clamps..
now that the back 2 are out the front 2 pop up with a gentle push with the pry bars under the front.. very easy..

now that the carbs are out..
remove the float bowls. and the jets..
PAY ATTENTION TO THE JETS!>> make sure the front 2 match ditto for the rear 2.. its possible all 4 are the same . but its just as likely they will be different.


remove the carb tops and the springs and slides..

place the cabs in the foil bottom side down. and shape the foil to get a good fit.. place in another foil pan.. just incase the 1st will leak.. and repeat..
you will now place this in the kitty litter plastic tray.
pour the gunk carb dip into the foil and let the carbs soak.. drop your jets in there too.. and in a few hours go check them.. if the brass looks like new..and you can SEE through all of the jet holes. you're ready to rinse it all off.
you MUST rinse it with water until the run off stops turning white.!!!!
let dry.. or blow it off.
blow out all the holes in the carb with air compressor.. or carb spray.


reinstall the jets and floats and float bowls, ditto for the slides and tops.
lube all pivots with silicone spray..lube all choke slides ect etc..
lube the intake boots..
install the front 2 carbs FIRST! they will pop right in. next..
lower the rear 2 and then place the pry bar tips just inside the lip.. press down on the carbs.. the prybars will act like a shoe horn and presto! your in! ! if not..you may need the rubber mallet to drive the carbs down. install the top clamps and all the other stuff.

honestly.. i can never understand why people complain about installing and removing the carbs. my 1st try took 5 min off and 5 min on. that was 25 years ago.. my god i am getting old!

[atx]

Whoa thanks for that man, thanks to the wonders of amazon i should have the wire cleaner set here by next weekend

http://www.amazon.com/Supply-Carb-Cleaner-Kit-35-3498/dp/B001DDMB2I

i couldn't find a download of the manual, but i've got a hardcopy. Would be nice to print a few pages at work that i know i'm going to get all wrecked though, like the carb section hehe

I was able to find Mac's 6402 locally but couldn't find the Gunk brand dip, found decent reviews on the net.

I'll be hitting the dollar store for the pans before the wire stuff comes in. Already have a compressor, impact screwdriver, etc. Can't wait to give this a go. Worst case i still end up sending em off i figure :P

[gll429]

the cable removal..

the carb removal

[atx]

Most excellent, thanks for the pics. I'll take some pics of the carbs being cleaned so you can add them to your guide. Not sure if you meant 1x1 foil or 12x12, which would be my guess, here i am thinking well maybe he means cram each carb into its own 1x1. Once i have it all off i'll figure out what sort of container to fit the carbs and document it for posterity. Now to order up some tires for this puppy, hopefully i can find some cyber monday goodness :P

[gll429]

LEAVE THE CARBS CONNECTED!!! DO NOT REMOVE THEM FROM THE PLENUM!!

thats the metal 'lower airbox"

i just grab the biggest pan i find normally a 12 by 16 or some thing usually too big which is fine as its a buck :)

then just mold it around the carbs in a loose manor as to allow the gallon of cleaner to clean as much as possible with one soak.

[BluRoad]

Gamble, your gaskets shipped today via USPS.

Welcome to the VFR community. I actually had already viewed your thread before hearing from you. I hope you will consider yourself lucky to have acquired such a beautiful and significant model. The history of the V4 interceptors and the '86-87 in particular is very interesting, and the VFR a unique model amongst all the others out there. Sophisticated, techie, exquisitely engineered and built. I hope you consider keeping your bike in the family for years to come.

You've gotten some good tips here. The carb removal procedure is spot on. And I agree with the suggestion to avoid the fuel tank lining products. From the photo, your tank doesn't look so bad in any case. Be sure to fit a fresh fuel filter, you can get them online for about $5. I do a lot of carb work — the gas these days is no help to those of us with carburetors! The carbs can be intimidating the first few times, but they only go back together one way ;-) Be gentle with the rubber diaphragms and check them for holes/tears. Personally, for use with the stock mufflers, I make a couple of modifications from stock:

* K&N filter

* #40 lo-speed jets (available via ebay item # 221908233172)

* Turn the idle jet out 2 1/3 turns

These bikes don't need a jet kit, unless you're racing (really racing). They do respond to a performance slip-on and carb tuning, but not much. The engineers got it right, with the exception of lean lo-speed jetting, which was common back in the day. More important is carb syncing, but if you don't mess with the adjustments you're probably in the ball park as far as syncing. Don't use premium fuel, but if you don't ride regularly a shot of Star Tron is a good idea. Use #9 heat range NGK plugs like the manual says.

If the carbs are still on the bike be sure to shine a light at the undersides of the carbs while there's fuel pressure (pump on) and check if the fuel supply tube o-rings are leaking. They're cheap, but tricky to install. They're usually OK. New carb insulators (boots) are always a good idea. I just got a couple of sets from partsfish.com for about $50 a set shipped. BTW, be sure and check around for parts, there's a reason Bike Bandit has the word bandit in its name.

Your bodywork looks really good in the photos — that ABS is valuable. And cherish those mufflers, they're getting hard to come by. If you swap them out, put 'em on a shelf. BTW, the headlight fairing is a snap to remove if you leave the headlight attached to the fairing.

Check your charging system with a volt meter, and then clean any and all connectors and especially the grounds. Take the ground wires off, scuff and clean 'em. Lithium batteries have their own issues and are not necessarily the best for bikes, your call. I like to reduce the rear sprocket by one tooth to slightly lower cruise RPM and give your shifting foot a bit of a break. BT-45s are a good tire for our bikes, and the correct size front is important for handling. The fork should be disassembled, cleaned, and the seals/dust covers replaced just because of age. You don't need to disassemble the TRAC mechanism if you don't want to. ATF is fine, our fork tuning is by air pressure. One reason to do the forks is to check the steering bearings — often bad in my experience. Upgrade to tapered bearings if needed. Speaking of bearings, I've never found a bad wheel bearing in my VFRs.

Joe Nelson

V4Dreams.com

[squirrelman]

I'll try

I disconnected the fuel pump relay and jumpered that per the shop manual instructions to prime the system and it fired right up. The carbs need to be taken off and cleaned up for sure, but what a promising sound.

Anyone have carb rebuilt kit or rebuilder advice? With a little googling i found this thread with a few guys recommended. I'm not trying to beat a dead horse or anything, and understand if nobody wants to chime in on the same issue again :P

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/81547-carb-rebuilds/

Having owned and worked on many VFR700/750s ( plus Hawks and VTRs) since 1990, i can offer to clean your carbs or do whatever it takes to fixumup at a very reasonable price. I get alot of carb work from VFRWorld, and have a great reputation. Please PM me for details.

You won't be able to tell how well or not the carbs are working until you try a near-top speed run. But if the bike will idle smoothly at about 1000 rpm after it's warm without the choke on, you're OK.

In over 90% of the dirty carbs i get for cleaning, only the slow jets and main jet holder tubes actually need cleaning, and only in the worst cases do carbs need a complete stripping and soaking in solvent. Certain air tests can confirm the carbs are clean without resorting to soaking and disassembling everything.

A note to joe nelson above: in practical terms, almost everyone who runs any air pressure in our forks finds that it pushes oil past the seals even if they're in good shape. Steering bearings are almost always needing replacement by about 30K miles, and i'm no big fan of the tapered rollers even though they last longer. I believe the coating products can be used in our tanks if high-pressure air is blown into the fuel line into the tank to dislodge the sticky coating while it's still wet and the petcock is rotated between On and Reserve.

[atx]

Well the NAPA brand carb cleaner worked a treat. The carb dip was entirely a new color and had all sorts of particles in it. I rinsed it off with water until it was coming out clean as suggested, then blasted it with compressed air to get all the water out, then i used a few cans of carb cleaned to make sure all the water was gone. Did a little light scrubbing while using the carb cleaner, only the gasket surfaces and the bowl areas has some slight old gas type residue, everything else came out squeaky clean.

These are the pans i found that worked best, the little ones were great for the individual parts. Pro tip: don't use sharpie on the pans and expect it to last... I wrote in sharpie which pan was for which and it all got eaten away in the water hose blasting process with even a little carb dip touching it... I did the carbs first, poured the entire gallon into the foil and let it soak a few hours. The foil pan itself was placed in a bigger plastic container i had, which is good because the foil ended up leaking just like y'all said it would. After i took the carbs out i poured the carb dip into the 4 carb parts bins and let them soak while i cleaned out the carbs with water/air/carb cleaner.

All the sharpie markings are gone of course, but they did help me keep it all together while taking it apart. They honestly look really clean already, so hopefully they will work great when i put them back together.

We had a little mishap when getting the carbs off, not sure if i can jb weld this part back on or if i should just source a new #3 carb to be safe... Basically my buddy slipped with the pry bar and broke this little nub off. Heating up the boots with a heat gun made them come off much more easily, that tip was a real time saver. I tried prying them without that and it was a no go, little heat and they came free with ease.

While i've got the carbs off i'm going to go ahead and pull the radiator and valve covers and check/adjust the valves, it will never be easier to access than right now i figure.

I'm coming up with a parts list order for all new brake seals and hoses(found galfer ss lines on sale), front fork rebuild stuff, and wheel bearings, but now you guys have me thinking i might as well do the steering bearings while i'm at it too. I've set up ebay and craigslist searches for a center stand as well, that is my unicorn part i think. OEM size battleax bt45v's came in for the 86 this weekend, now to figure out how best to clean the wheels without damaging the paint. I tried soap and water and it was not cutting the mustard.

I've struck a deal on my uncle's 96 vfr to ride that thing around while this one is in the works, so i can take my sweet sweet time doing it. Sticky front brakes on the 96 and those parts just came in, so once that is sorted i'll be ready to roll. Just tossed some oem size angel gt's on it, should last me awhile.

[gll429]

that broken bit.. wow! thats a molded "T" air passage way..you can see the hole

DONT weld it..

put a small. aka TINY drop of crazy clue on both sides broken post. either ther carb OR the post.. then press in place and hold .let it dry.

get EPOXY 2 min set. mix a little and drip on to the broken post at the crack.. repeat until the cracked area is covered and add a bit more little by little to build it up for strength .

its a non stressed part. so you should be ok with that!!

[atx]

You know i didn't even think to try krazy glue/epoxy, i can give that a shot first and if it fails and the nub ends up on the side of the road somewhere i can then try the jb weld treatment. I have been told that it appears to be part of the choke enrichment circuit, so it is not too critical how i plug it, so long as it is air tight.

Y'all have been a huge help, thanks for everything. I will post more pics next time, hopefully with another progress filled update. We just got a puppy so things have been super busy at home, hard to get out in the garage when she needs to be let out every 15 minutes or she'll pee on the floor. I wanted an older already potty trained dog, but when this one popped up on the adoption site i had to jump on her. She looks identical to my current dog that is too old to pull me on a skateboard anymore. Hopefully she picks it up just as well, but we'll see. First step is not going to the bathroom inside though...

[squirrelman]

After any deep soaking you need to lubricate the throttle shafts with oil.

[gll429]

After any deep soaking you need to lubricate the throttle shafts with oil.

yes all the sliding and pivot points.. dryslide... triflow or silicone lube wd40 doesnt last long on it..

[atx]

I tossed some silicone lube wd40 on it for now, i'll head by my local tactical supply store and check if they have dryslide, if not i'll either make the trek to cabela's or order it. As it turns out i've got plenty of time to kill. I did a dumb thing and need to order a new carb bowl... Basically i melted one trying to burn off some rubbery old residue that was being a pain. I've had great luck doing it in the past on car parts with a propane torch, but i guess this tiny little motorcycle part has a low melting point hehe

Ah well, while the carbs were off i went ahead and adjusted the valves, super easy to do per the manual. The exhaust valves were dead on, the intakes were all entirely too tight and had to be loosened up a couple feeler gauge sizes to get it right.

I fixed some cosmetic stuff recently. Replaced the tach cluster lens with a spare part from my uncle's grab bag of parts he had already collected.

I broke one stud in the process, though i suspect it was already cracked. I tossed some super glue in the cracks and hopefully it stays.

I went ahead and tore apart the fuse box to get one little captive nut for the screw that holds the cover on. Must have been about a dozen screws to get to that thing, even had to loosen the ignition key assembly to slide it off. I tossed some super glue on it once i got it all back where it should be, hopefully that helps it stay in place.

Things are looking good now though, very happy with how it turned out.

I'm waiting on a big order of parts to come in from partsfish(could not believe they still sell the oem grips, and that they are reasonably priced), galfer lines came in recently, and i just finished cleaning up the wheels with a little elbow grease and purple power(they're good 10 footers, or just cell phone cam res they look good too hehe). I'll toss on the best set of brake rotors i have and get the oem size bt45's mounted and balanced this weekend hopefully.

I ended up using a ratchet strap and a hook that was already in the ceiling from a previous tenant for a punching bag to lift the front end to do the wheel swap with the spares i've got. I made sure and hung off it myself to make sure it was sturdy enough for the bike, as it sits i probably weigh about half what it does so i figure it was a reasonable test.

My hoses all look pretty good, but i ran across this by chance and was wondering if anyone has experience with this particular kit. A bit spendy, but should last quite a long time.

http://www.oppracing.com/product_display/76664-samco-sport-silicone-radiator-hose-kit/

I'll post pics and a break down of what all i'm replacing when it comes in, if anyone has any suggestions to things i should definitely do while it is apart i'm all ears.

[squirrelman]

Dija inspect, clean and lube the steering head bearings or replace them ?? The original bearings are usually in need of replacement by about 35,000 miles.

[atx]

Ack i know i was forgetting something, thanks for the tip. I'll take a peek at em when i have the front end lifted to swap the cleaner wheels on. Hopefully this weekend.