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A Nice Find With An Unexpected Twist


tomk1960

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My buddy Michael has been on the fence about adding an Interceptor to his collection. He rode my VF1000F last year and really liked it, so I figured it was just a matter of time. Then I got the VF750F and he sort of wrote it off as "too slow." Something made him change his mind and yesterday, an '83 VF750F showed up in the local CL. I called the seller and got some info and after I got the lowdown, I told Michael to jump on it. He picked it up this morning and brought it home all excited - here it is:

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He hasn't really done much cleanup work to it yet, but even like this it looks pretty nice. Plus it came with the solo seat cowl. Then it gets better...

He ran out and bought a battery and new plugs, then installed them. The tank was bone dry, so he poured in some gas and it fired up! And I'm not talking just for a brief moment - it quickly warmed up and came off the choke like it had just been run yesterday. According to the seller, it had been stored for years in a dry garage. Evidently the PO drained the tank and bowls and stored it right.

The tires are good and it came with the title, owners manual and tool kit. Naturally it needs fork seals and brake work, but for $500, I'd say that he made a major score.

Michael will be joining the forum soon to keep us posted on his progress with his new baby.

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Very nice!

It's good to see the earlier generations being cared for properly.

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Hi Tom,

Very nice low mileage VF! Several years ago, I picked up an '83 that had caught fire and melted the front end. I think I paid $100 for it. I had a friend who happened to have a complete front end, wire harness and plastics for one sitting in his garage, so I gave him $400, rebuilt and detailed the bike, and rode it for a week or so. Had a real mean sounding Yosh system on it, a little too loud for me, but fun for a week. I stuck it in the CycleTrader and sold it in 2 days for about $2000, IIRC. Hope your friend enjoys this one. Looks great! :fing02:

Ded

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I went over to Michael's house yesterday and helped him bleed the clutch master cylinder and slave. The MC was gunked up with some pretty disgusting gell-like crap left from the old brake fluid. He had already cleaned it out and replaced the internals, so we just had to get the fluid moving again. After all the air bubbles were gone, it didn't seem to want to shift and the lever didn't feel right. So we took it out into the driveway and started it up, got it into first and just got it moving. Next thing you know, things must have broken free in the clutch the the lever felt fine. We both rode it around the block several times and next thing you know, it was shifting like new again. So this little milestone makes the deal even that much better.

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Hi everyone! So by now you all know that I saw this bike on CL and for $500 I figured why not. I was actually selling a few porcelain license plates that I had found a few years back and I'd much rather look at an old bike in the garage so the $500 from the plates went for the bike. Like Tom said I first cleaned some of the grime off of it then completely tuned it up. It fired up and after a few smokey minutes it settled down and seemed to run fine. The clutch master, lines, and slave were filled with old DOT3 so I cleaned and rebuilt the master bled it with Tom and it worked fine. Rear brake master was also clogged so it was cleaned and rebuilt. I should have cleaned and rebuilt the rear caliper but figured maybe it was fine. I was wrong. The clean master pushed the pistons out fine but they locked onto the disk. So today I rebuilt the rear caliper, new seals, polished the bores and pistons, and what do you know I have rear brakes now. Somewhere in the mix I soldered the start/stop switch and the horn was addressed…thanks TK. Tomorrow I plan of cleaning the front forks and replacing the fork seals and at some point later on in the week adjusting the valves.

Is the cam chain manually adjustable or is it hydraulic? I know it’s in the head like my CBR1000F just curious because the bike seems to have a chatter that is very noticeable at low RPMs but disappears when the bike is going. I did download the shop manual but it is vague concerning the CCT. Could it be the mythical upper oiler? It’s not burning any oil and it seems to be running strong other than the noise. Sounds just like the Hurricane when its cold too.

Well for a guy who actually had an RC-51 in his sights as the “next” bike, I glad I found this one. I’m looking forward to getting it all sorted out and road worthy. From what Tom says, this a great forum and I’m glad I can be part of it! Looking forward to chats, rides, and meeting some of you guys soon.

-Michael

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Welcome Michael. This is indeed a great place to hang your helmet. Quite the stable you have there and it's nice to have Tom in your local corner.

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I'll up it to $605 but that would need to be in canuck money . very nice find and looks to be in very good condition with a few maitenance things to do .Nice find .

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Quite an amazing find and even more amazing that it is in that condition!!!!

$615 cash + a copy of TOTW2

:goofy: Now the stakes are high!!!

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I read everything that Mike Nixon had to say about these bike and I did some research on line and I'm going to buy CCTs for the front and rear to be on the safe side. I disassembled the front and and tomorrow ill clean and rebuilt the forks with new seals and ATF. I'm also going to pull the valve covers and adjust tge valves and check the cam chain tensioners. I probably hit the covers with the sisal wheel too.

Any thoughts on:

1. The special Honda tool used to hold the lobe

2. The cam chain tensioner poke refrenced on Old Honda service bulletins

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Well I think I found the (hopefully and not "a") cause of all the racket in the engine...Is this tight enough?

Anyone on the "POKE" method of manually adjusting the CCT, last chance.

-Michael

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