Full Restoration of a very neglected £750 (approx $935) 2001 Honda VFR800Fi

[RossR]

I just watched the first part. Professionally filmed and nicely presented. The guy has a well equipped workshop and knows what he is doing. He strikes me as one of those guys who could fix anything. £750 (approx $935) for the bike. 

 

 

Honda VFR800

[Mohawk]

He says he picked it up for £750 (approx $935). I had  a crashed one I picked up for £350. Good engine, lots of other good bits but damaged frame & scrapped panels as side hit by a car damaged both sides. The sale of parts came to nearly £900, so was a good job. 👍

[RossR]

Hey Mohawk,

 

Thanks for catching my mistake. Too early in the morning when I watched it, before my morning coffee. LOL!  I have edited it. After seeing how badly neglected it was, I think that he overpaid. Just going to watch Part 2 now which starts with repairing plastic.

[Cogswell]

That bike was ka-rusty . . . I've not seen one end up like that.    It's sort of the opposite of the owner well-loved bike . . . this one might have a stack of dealer service invoices, but it turned out terribly.   This guy may not even keep receipts, but I'd very happy to buy that bike from him when he's finished.   He's doing a good job of resurrecting it.  I like his approach to fixing things that are NLA, such as the small rubber boot covering one of the switches on the instrument panel or welding up patch pieces to repair the headers.  The plastics should prove interesting . . .

[RossR]

Just watched Part 2 and 3. It's on repairing damaged fairings with a soldering iron, and removing scratches from a windshield. IMO, it's worth watching because he is actually working on 5th gen plastic and has formal education in this field. He did comment in the Comments section of Part 2 that the bike was in a shocking state. 

 

Part 3 is on diagnosing and fixing the constant flashing FI light with no codes. This part is not applicable to N. American bikes because  as far as I know we do not have the HISS security system for that Generation. Worth watching to see why one should not always follow uninformed Forum advice.

 

He spent an enormous amount of time fixing the bike, but he is the kind of guy who takes something that others would consign to the junkyard and then resurrect it to it's former glory. The fun is in the satisfaction that comes from diagnosing and fixing, not in costing out the hours. Correct me if I am wrong but I read 124,497 miles on the odometer. In the UK people ride their bikes year round, rain or shine, and the winter salt (plus neglect) possibly accounts for all that corrosion. I must admit that I too, was pretty shocked at how bad it was when he dismantled the bike.

The engine compression on the bike was very high. A testimony to these engines even when not well maintained!

 

He has a well equipped workshop because his main business is repairing bicycle carbon frames.

 

Cogswell, when I watched Part 1 I had exactly the same thought as you. I would buy a restored bike from this guy in a heartbeat because he leaves no stone unturned and does things well. He said that he wants this bike as a keeper. Here is an excerpt from one of his youtube Comments. It should warm the heart of any Viffer enthusiast.

 

 

 

"I’m still not sure why I added this (and now a 2nd one) the the list of projects..I guess after the Royal Enfield and the Norton I wanted to try a Japanese bike, not so much as a full restoration but as a riding bike. I actually bought another in frustration, then managed to sort the 1st one out so I have 2 which could help pay for 1 etc. After my experience on the old bikes this VFR is anything but basic! It is a fantastic machine, visceral unlike the new stuff my friends ride today. I’m very glad I’ve done something impulsive!"