fabio222 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I'm ashamed to say that a Greek couple's VFR 750 was stolen while they were holidaying in Cork, Ireland. It's my home city, a place I am really proud of, and usually a nice place to be. To hear something like this happen to the couple broke me heart. News report of it is here: http://www.thejournal.ie/man-motorbike-stolen-cork-1626149-Aug2014/ They had ridden through all of Europe to get to Ireland and when they came out of their accomodation one morning, the bike, with all of their gear in the panniers and topbox, was gone. It was later found dumped in the River Lee not far from the accommodation. It turns out the thieving b******* could not start it so dumped it instead. Thankfully the biking community in Cork rallied around for Niko and his partner and assisted them in returning to Greece, albeit without their precious VFR. Members of biker.ie were particularly involved with this. I am also proud to say that my club, the University College Cork Motorcycle Club, were able to take the VFR to our workshop where we are drying it out and refurbishing it with the hope of putting it back on the road so Niko and his partner can return to finish their holiday someday. He really appreciates our efforts but this is how biking works. You can follow updates on the refurbing of the bike on a little blog we set up here: http://vfr750rescue.blogspot.com Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/uccmotorcycleclub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Texfoto Posted August 25, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 25, 2014 Awesome gesture. Humanity is not dead. We forget bikes can be lifted into vans. A real shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted August 25, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 25, 2014 Humanity is not dead. But plenty inhumanity too I'm afraid..... If yous are running into items that you need/need to buy, I will chip in. Cork is a lovely city; I recall her having lovely curly hair.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Thank you (and your mates) for your efforts! I am happy to chip in if you guys need some bucks to get the bike sorted out. I joined this forum 11 years ago, and almost on a daily basis I am reminded of why I am still here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zupatun Posted August 25, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 25, 2014 Lovely bunch you have there in Cork! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Thank you (and your mates) for your efforts! I am happy to chip in if you guys need some bucks to get the bike sorted out. I joined this forum 11 years ago, and almost on a daily basis I am reminded of why I am still here. Murray, Maybe they can help you finish your bike after the are done with this one????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Finish what bike? Oh, that bike. I suppose... hey wait a minute, why doesn't JZH get this treatment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 As a Greek fellow-rider, I can only express my respect to all the people involved in helping Nikos. Such things remind us what motorcycling is about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rush2112 Posted August 28, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 28, 2014 Good on ya Mate! Stories like this fuel the soul and restore faith in humanity. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dustin Posted August 28, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 28, 2014 Glad to hear Cork is a friendly place, I'll be there in 3 weeks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Welcome you found it. Thank you and I in my turn for your incredible kindness to Nikos and I wish with my turn and be able to know the country you next year. If at some point someone passed brother and Ireland friend from my home would be very happy to accommodate him. Alexandroupolis is my small town and is 40 kilometers from the border with Turkey. Thank's and drive safe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semiaz Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 The answer to the thieves was extraordinary. Bravo to all of you for the help you offered to a biker in need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornetgr Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 From a greek vfr guy,thanks to all irish lads for helping nick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabio222 Posted September 3, 2014 Author Share Posted September 3, 2014 Glad to hear Cork is a friendly place, I'll be there in 3 weeks :) Dustin, give me a shout when you're in Cork if you want to talk shite about Viffers - I'll send you a PM with my email if you want to get in touch or ask any questions about the place. I had my own VFR in the club workshop last night to replace the rear brake master cylinder - this is what it looked like having two RC36s in there at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Just read up on the blog, coming along nicely. Regarding connecting a battery and turning the bike over, and nothing happening... it might be worth dismantling and cleaning the engine ON/OFF switch assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingDeck Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 And checking the clutch switch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabio222 Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 There's an update on the blog - engine turned over when both wires that go to the stator were accidentally connected. Proves the starter motor works anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checksix Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Blog was updated again. It's not clear if they got it running or just reassembled it and shipped it back to the owner, but it looks like a happy ending. Such a nice thing to do. These guys really raised my spirits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Kudos to the Cork College Motorcycle Club! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabio222 Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 Yep, the insurance company on Nick's side really did get moving fast. I've been away for the the last week or so and didn't get to say farewell to it but we did manage to stop the rot and prove that it is worth continuing to work on as the engine does turn over. Nick is going to keep us informed from here on in. All I can say is that I am extremely proud of the University College Cork Motorcycle Club and very glad to be a part of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveller Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 So here I am as well on this topic; I wish I didn't have the dubious honour of being the ...star of this story but what can you do? Sometimes these things happen when you're travelling and at the end of the day as long as we are ok and the bike can be repaired, no harm no foul. It's a bit of a bother to have to go through this whole rebuilding process but I was planning to do that at some point; I guess it will happen sooner rather than later. So I'll pick up the story where the lads in Ireland left it off. Like Fabio said, the bike did leave from Ireland in a bit of a hurry. The insurance company moved very fast and caught us all off guard. The boys there had the bike in pieces for a few weeks and were taking their time mainly cleaning and emptying out the water in an effort to stop the rusting process. They managed to that and then turned their attention to the starter relay which was properly shagged. At about that time the insurance company collected the bike and brought it over to me. So Saturday was the first time since the incident that I really got down to working with the bike and seeing what kind of damage had been done.I cleared out my parking space and turned it into a service shop of sorts, complete with floodlights and a good range of tools.With that out of the way it was time to start but I was not alone; joining me was a good friend who has been wrenching on motorcycles for quite a few years and has a fair deal of knowledge especially in electrical systems. He had come fully prepared; he studied Honda's service manual and brought a full set of tools; multimeters, diodes, testers... You get the idea.So our plan was to pick up working where the lads in the UCC had left off.We knew that the engine could turn over if you jump the leads of the starter relay but other than that we had no idea what we would find.Was there power to the other electrical systems when you hook up a battery? The dash? The indicators/lights? The switches?So we stripped off the fairings and got to work.As I said this was the first time I could really inspect the extent of the damage done by those idiots who stole her and my findings were revealing.It turns out that these morons had taken quite a bit more time trying to start her up than I originally thought. Basically they focused on the central lock trying to pry it open so they could start the bike up.However they soon found out that the lock is secured by safety bolts without heads! They did their best to etch out an indentation to try and turn the bolt. Yeah good luck with that; the only way these babies are coming off is with a grinder.So with that plan failing they moved to plan B; brute force (and ignorance). They hammered the lock on the right side, cracking it but still failing to get it open and after finally failing to hot wire her I guess they got fed up and chucked her into the water for being such a hard nut to crack.Generally the bike needs a lot of work. The plastic parts are all either scratched or broken and anything that wasn't aluminium or stainless has already rusted.The fuel tank's interior especially is a mess; when I opened it up it was empty but it was still quite wet and already starting to rust. (Maybe I should have removed the fuel right there after the incident and filled her up to the brim with fresh fuel or some oil but I guess I had so much on my mind that it just didn't occur to me.)Anyway first thing's first; we had bigger issues to sort out.I knew that the starter relay was toast and that we had ordered a replacement but I also knew that the replacement was still on the way when the bike got picked up from Ireland, so with my broken relay in place there was only so much we could do.However my mate had other ideas. Most relays come as one piece unit; a plastic box with the four prongs for attaching to wires.In our case though the relay came -or at least it could be seperated- in two parts.The main relay which is usually encased in resin and should in theory still be working......and the plug with the prongs itself which as you can see was utterly devastated.The dying battery was flowing current through the plug essentially performing electrolysis to the copper until there was nothing left.Now the good thing with this was that when that plug went it cut off all power to the rest of the electrical system thereby saving it from any further damage from flowing current.In the meantime we could try to turn the engine by jumping the leads like Nevin and Martin did.We hooked up a beastly Odyssey battery and with a big pair of pliers we shorted the cables.Sparks were flying everywhere and indeed the started wirred into life but only just; the engine was very reluctant to turn over. Problem #2.We put the bike in 6th gear and tried turning it by rotating the back wheel; it moved but again with a lot of effort. So we took out all the sparkplugs to have a look. 3 looked clean and dry but the one in cylinder #3 was dripping with water.Peeking through into the cylinder we could see that telltale light coloured cream of oil mixed with water.For a moment I thought about getting to work to tear the engine down but common sense prevailed and we just decided to crank the engine over to let it spit out all the gunk in there.With the plugs taken out the engine was turning over freely and I must admit it was a wonderful feeling to hear her whirr away like that.So we turned our attention to the relay. As I mentioned the replacement was still somewhere in the ether between Beijing and Cork so my friend had come up with a very neat solution. Using some thick wires and a fusebox he fabricated an electrical bridge of sorts, replacing the missing copper connections of the relay plug.The end result was anything but pretty but it was worth a try.And what do you know? It actually worked like a charm! I flicked on the ignition, clicked the start button and the starter motor was whirring away like nobody's business! Result!We were over the moon; not only was the starter working but all the electrical systems had come back to life as well like nothing had happened; lights, indicators, dash, the works!With that out of the way we had an even crazier idea. What if we tried to get her to fire up?Would that even be possible? The guys in the College didn't manage to do this and we had no idea if the rest of the systems were up to the job. But the hell with it; the bike was giving us such positive indications that we just had to try.We heated up the sparkplugs with a hot air pistol drying them completely and then we tested all the spark leads. They were all sparking brightly; the ignition seemed to be working fine.We put back the sparkplugs, connected the leads and came up with another temporary solution -this time for feeding the motor with fuel. You see the fuel tank was full of a horrific red sludge; no way was I pouring THAT into the engine and the cleaned up carbs!So we came up with a very simple solution; a funnel and a small plastic nozzle attached directly to the fuel hose of the carbs and fuel out of a milk bottle.It was the moment of truth. I turned on the ignition, fuel was poured into the funnel and I tried to start her up. The engine was turning and turning and turning but no result.We were flabbergasted. Why wasn't it even firing once?We checked the carb bowls to see if there was fuel in there. Liquid came pouring out so at first glance it seemed ok. However it didn't take long to realize that this liquid was just water!Turns out that the fuel pump and its hoses was full of water which I guess the guys hadn't emptied out yet and with the engine turning over the water went straight into the carb bowls before the fuel had the chance to get there.So here we went again the familiar route; emptied out the bowls completely, unhooked the fuel pump to remove any water, took out the sparkplugs to dry them out etc.We put it all back together and this time I was also recording the whole thing.This was quite an event. If she would start it would be no small thing now would it? The engine hadn't been started for over one and a half months and that after being fully submerged and left to soak in water.So anyway without further ado here it is: First attempt to start up the VFR.This is dedicated to all of the wonderful people who went out of their way to help out two complete strangers with amazing acts of kindness. Your efforts were not in vain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted October 6, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted October 6, 2014 That's dam amazing CONGRATS !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Recalcitrance Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Great story. It's nice to see such caring and generosity. Gives the word "community" a refresher. Thanks for sharing. Made my Monday start off well. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checksix Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 This thread reads like a novel, with villains, good guys, a damsel in distress, an uncertain outcome, the climactic moment, and a happy ending. What a great story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveller Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 This thread reads like a novel, with villains, good guys, a damsel in distress, an uncertain outcome, the climactic moment, and a happy ending. What a great story. Hehehe that's a great analogy mate! You should see the intro I wrote about the whole incident in the Greek forum for my friends over there. Maybe if you guys want I'll translate it and put it up here at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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