2001 VFR revival

[natnif]

Hi folks, 

 

I'm new here so wanted to say hello and introduce my project. I recently acquired a 2001 VFR that has been sitting for a while. It was parked with a rough running issue. It needs some love but has the bones of a good bike. 

 

I charged the battery and she fired straight up! 

On initial inspection, I have a sticky front left caliper, evidence of brake fluid leaking there as well. The fan doesn't come on. Fork seals are blown and forks need a tidy and it needs a really good clean. 

 

A question if I may. I couldn't run it for long as the fan isn't working, but the whine is LOUD. I know they whine with gear driven cams but I'm wondering if this is normal? I'll attach a video if I can figure out how! I'm thinking maybe just a lack of oil as it was sitting so it might quiet down with a few miles, but just thought better to check

 

[adkfinn]

Sounds pretty normal to me, the cam gear whine is either a feature or a bug depending on how you feel about VFR's, but it is a major component of the soundtrack for sure.

 

For some of us - it is music, it sings the song of our people

[Skids]

That is definitely the sound of the gear-driven cams.

 

Difficult to tell if they're louder than normal, but the noise itself is normal for that bike.

 

Best of luck with the revival, I completed one on an 01 a couple of years ago.

[Burger]

good luck friend, it looks like your revival project is off to a way smoother start than mine was

 

 

[squirrelman]

youre gonna have endless problems if that bike was in a flood.  if water got into a cylinder you can consider the bike a write-off.

[Burger]

3 hours ago, squirrelman said:

youre gonna have endless problems if that bike was in a flood.  if water got into a cylinder you can consider the bike a write-off.

wasn't in a flood, just sat outside where a bunch of rainwater leaked past the flapper and into the airbox. already changed the engine, most everything else has been replaced or rebuilt.

[natnif]

Thanks for the reassurance! It's been about 15 years since I've been on a VFR so although I knew about the whine (which I like) I wasn't sure if it was louder than it should be. I can crack on with sorting out the forks/brakes next and hopefully she'll be ready for the road in a few weeks...once I find the time! My main problem at the moment is I don't have anywhere to do the work. The bike is outside (covered) but I don't have anywhere I can leave stuff disassembled so need to figure out a way to store fairings etc so they don't get ruined being off the bike for a few weeks. 

 

@Burger I've read your thread, impressive work! I don't think I would have been brave enough to take on a project that big.

[natnif]

A few pictures of the starting point. 
It's filthy, covered in cobwebs so needs a wash and a lot of degrease from chain oil fling, but that can wait for the moment. 
My first job is it is currently idling at 3k revs when warm. I'm guessing the piston on the wax unit might be stuck from sitting up so I lifted the tank to get at it.. The airbox screws look nasty so it might take some time to get those out! 

The current short list of jobs:
front left caliper partially seized

Needs a new tyre valve for the front wheel. 
Fork seals are blown
Sort the fast idle. 

After that I can take it for a short spin to see how it runs and there will be a much longer list at that point! It was apparently not running well when parked so that's why I want to take it for a spin to see if it is acting up under load. 

[Skids]

So sad to see a VFR like that. 

 

Best of luck with the revival.

[Terry]

The fast idle system may also be the starter valves being seized in the open position, or the thin hoses for coolant to the wax unit might be clogged so hot coolant is not reaching the unit. That is assuming it is not just the idle stop screw being set too high. 

[natnif]

On 8/17/2025 at 9:25 PM, Terry said:

The fast idle system may also be the starter valves being seized in the open position, or the thin hoses for coolant to the wax unit might be clogged so hot coolant is not reaching the unit. That is assuming it is not just the idle stop screw being set too high. 

Thanks for that - got it all pulled apart and she's now running sweet. A combination of a vacuum hose disconnected and the wax unit piston being seized. 

Next job is the fork seals....hopefully tackle that at the weekend

[bmart]

If you bother pulling the forks apart....do the front end. Proper springs and valving. It will make all the difference in your riding experience and safety. 

[natnif]

21 hours ago, bmart said:

If you bother pulling the forks apart....do the front end. Proper springs and valving. It will make all the difference in your riding experience and safety. 

I'd certainly like to do that, but my priority for now is get it on the road safely. I won't do springs this time around. I need to make sure she runs well first, I can't do that with leaking forks so fork seals, get her on the road for a few weeks and then see how she's running and what she needs. I reckon the shock will be knackered as well so I would aim to do that and a proper overhaul of the forks next year. A slight false economy, but it's only costing 50 quid to sort the seals so not exactly breaking the bank

[natnif]

I made a bit of progress over the weekend along with my helper! 

Front wheel removed and forks out. They are not in great shape but have cleaned up reasonably well. I dropped them up to a local mechanic to do the fork seals and oil as I have nowhere clean to work. 
The downpipes are looking fairly crusty, I'm not looking forward to taking those off! They go on the list for winter. It does look like the oil cooler lines have been changed which is good. 

I took one look at the calipers and ordered good second hand ones which arrived a few days ago, so I'll try refit everything this week and hope to get out for a first spin at the weekend just to see what else it needs. 

 

[bmart]

That sucker looks rough! You're a beast to take it on. 

[natnif]

A few weeks with not much happening

 

A few weeks with not too much happening as I turned my attention to other things but I did make a bit of progress....at least with diagnosing issues!

 

When I put all back together a few weeks back it ran, but not happily. So! new plugs are ordered (will be here Saturday) and I've also sourced some vacuum hose to replace everything as lots are cracked or at the very least well dried out and waiting to crack. 

It would settle to a very high idle (4-5k) while it was warming up, so I figured I better look at the wax idle unit. I drained the coolant and popped off the hose which revealed some nasty white powdery gunk so I'm guessing someone has just had water in there which has oxidised. I'd say flow was at least partially blocked to the wax idle unit. while I was in there, I also realised the starter valves are fairly rusty looking and just aren't moving freely at all so I've ordered a good second hand throttle body which should take care of all of that. Now that I think about it I should probably test the thermostat while I'm in that far. 

 

Tomorrow if the weather is on my side I'll sort the rear brakes and loosen the throttle bodies off so that when the "new" ones arrive, I can just get on wioth putting it back together. Hopefully all those jobs will see her running properly in the next week or two. 

Oh, and it looks like I have an oil leak to sort too. Brilliant!

[mello dude]

Whoa... you got quite the journey there! 

 

Best Wishes! 

[FromMaine]

20+ years ago I bought a 1985 VF1100S Sabre in boxes, the frame, engine, etc fit comfortably into the back of my Ford Taurus station wagon. Took me 18 months to sort it out, and eventually I took my daughter cross country on it. I thought that was an accomplishment.

 

What you are doing is, well, a whole different level.

 

As a fellow 2001 owner all I can say is Good on ya mate. Keep the updates coming.

[natnif]

Thanks for the encouragement folks! It's certainly a bigger job than I anticipated but I'm just working through it step by step and learning plenty along the way!

[MBrane]

Ah, the joys of restoring something that's lived in salt air all it's life. Ugh. I commend you sir. I live far enough from the ocean that corrosion is not an issue, but not so far that things get baked, and coated in dust.

[natnif]

18 hours ago, MBrane said:

Ah, the joys of restoring something that's lived in salt air all it's life. Ugh. I commend you sir. I live far enough from the ocean that corrosion is not an issue, but not so far that things get baked, and coated in dust.

I can almost see the sea from my front door so yes, its definitely a factor! 

New throttle bodies arrived today and they look in far better condition. I'll hopefully get to look at those over the weekend....maybe!

[natnif]

I got a few hours at it today. Not as much progress as I would have liked, but this bike is just so filthy and covered in crud, everything takes longer! 

 

First up was removing the tank but I didn't want to do that until I had cleaned it up a bit as under the filler cap was pretty manky and the vent was completely blocked. A good scraping, vacuum and a few baby wipes later and that was looking much better. 
Tank off and airbox off. Some of the hoses are in poor enoguh condition so they go on the long list for replacement

Fairings off as well which went alright. Coolant drained (looked fresh enough) 

Swapped out the plugs (also looked reasonably new)
Tried to remove throttle body but just didn't have the correct long screwdriver to hand, I tried to see if I could get at it with extensions but it quickly became clear it wouldn't work so I'll buy a long screwdriver in the morning and see if I can get them off tomorrow afternoon and then start the process of putting it all back together

[natnif]

Success! I got the throttle body off and this thing just gets worse the deeper I delve. 

[Captain 80s]

Is this the rag that you set the end of on fire?

 

[mello dude]

@natnif..... sympathys sir...