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New to me 1990 VFR750


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Hi folk new to the forum.  I posted this to another VFR forum so for those who may frequent both my apologies for the redundancy.  This forum seems to be more active so I have been visiting this one for a while now hiding in the shadows.

 

In short my brother who lives in FL, I am in CT, was up in CT a few weeks ago and was picking up some stuff he had left up here. Those things included a few bikes one of which was a 1990 VFR750 he had picked up a couple of years ago. When I went to see him the first thing he said is "you want it" so I now own a VFR for "free". I honestly didn't know much about the VFR's as I am mainly a cruiser guy. I currently own a Kawasaki Vulcan 2000 and have since purchasing it new in 2007. I have been riding for 30 years so bikes and I go way back. The only thing my brother knew about the bike is that he got it from a guy who swore the only thing it needed was a carb rebuild. My brother on the side picks up bikes, fixes them up, and sells them so this is just one of many he has. 

 

So I got the bike home and tore into it. The carbs weren't bad at all. Had a full tank of old gas that had to go. The only thing the carbs needed was a good cleaning and new float bowl gaskets. The jets weren't bad but as I had to wait a few days for gaskets I let soaked while I waited. 

 

The rear cowl on the bike was pretty beat up. Both sides had cracks and chunks missing. So while I waited for gaskets I learned about ABS slurry and ABS glue and went to town on them. They came out ok but my paint job well it could use some help. At some point I will redo it.

 

Once the gaskets came in I assembled the carbs and on they went along with the air box and tank. Through in some fresh gas and she fired right up. The only thing I had to do was adjust the idle. 

 

I noticed the temp gauge didn't seem to be working so I didn't run it to long. In the end with the help of the service guide and a voltmeter the issue was with the wiring on the cluster. The positive that feeds two of the cluster bulbs, the fuel gauge, and temp gauge was open. Easy fix. Gauges work now.

 

You may notice from the pictures below that it has a twobrothers left handed exhaust. Full stainless steel header. Whoever put the exhaust on added two inch spacers behind the left side rear passenger footpeg. Not the best idea as it pushed the left side of the cowl out which caused most of it's damage. So no rear pegs for now. Wife already said "I'm not getting in the back of that thing" so no issue for me.  Also the rims are chrome and so is the swing arm.  The chrome is showing it's age but polished up good enough.  Has some pitting but it's not going to be a showpiece.  I plan on riding it!

 

I have also done brake pads and a new front tire.  When I took the picture it wasn't registered it yet but it is now.  I have put about 150 miles on in the last week and so far so good.

 

The bike has some marks and bruises.  It looks as if was lightly laid down at one point. As it's 29 years old I think it still looks pretty good. I didn't even wash when I took these pictures.  I need to take some new ones as the chrome really shines now.  

 

20190714-162554.jpg

It was missing the centerpiece on the rear cowl. Found a white one on ebay for 22 with shipping. I think the white goes good with the seat so it's staying white.
20190714-162543.jpg

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you're doing alot of  good things for that bike !

 

just in case you might be interested, i have na good engine for that bike and a freshly-cleaned set of carbs.  😎

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Nice brother. 🙂 

 

You've made way more progress in a few weeks than I have on my bike in more than a year. Good job. 

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1 hour ago, GebruikerNotLID said:

Nice brother. 🙂 

 

You've made way more progress in a few weeks than I have on my bike in more than a year. Good job. 

Thanks - I seen you posts you bike looks great.  My bike has been around so it's never going to be perfect without a bunch of money.  It's a rider.  

 

I had a the week off after the 4th of July.  I picked the bike up on the 5th.  I spent a good part of my vacation working on it.  I had a good time doing it.  

 

Still have a few things on the want list.  I do have some used EMGO mirrors heading my way from a 2000 VFR.  Last weekend I installed a voltmeter but I pulled the voltage from the headlights which show 11.6 volt when running.  I get 12.5 off the battery.  The 11.6 volt bugs me so I have a relay coming.  I plan on running the voltmeter off the battery and have it switched from the relay.  That will be this weekends project.  Won't take long.

 

On the want list is new grips and a throttle lock.  The rear disk could use replacing but that will wait for now.  The brakes work really good since replacing the pads.

 

This bike brings me back.  Something about a carbureted V4 rumbling through them headers.  Just idling sounds good.  

 

 

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Welcome to VFRD!  I haven't seen a 3rd gen with shiny wheels since Dave Matthews' California '91. 

 

MatthewsRC36withKerkerLeftExit1.thumb.jpg.57751ddcdc50310eac26c01f3165e03e.jpg

 

Are the wheels actually chromed, or are they mirror-polished?  Either way, it would not have been cheap!  And the TBR header--what a find!  You can polish that C2 end can, too.

 

Ciao.

 

JZH

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1 hour ago, vfrcapn said:

Nice looking bike, congrats. Sounds like it's in good hands. 

+1 :fing02:

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Welcome to the asylum. Great looking machine. You obviously have great taste in mc's.

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On 7/31/2019 at 11:26 AM, vulcannut said:

Last weekend I installed a voltmeter but I pulled the voltage from the headlights which show 11.6 volt when running.  I get 12.5 off the battery.  The 11.6 volt bugs me so I have a relay coming.  I plan on running the voltmeter off the battery and have it switched from the relay.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that. But you obviously know about the dodgy electrics on these bikes. There is plenty of information here at vfrd on the subject. I hope you get it sorted. 

On 7/31/2019 at 11:26 AM, vulcannut said:

On the want list is new grips and a throttle lock.

 

I wrote up my throttle lock experience, if it helps. You can find it in my restoration page. Again, lots of others have good ideas on that. For grips, I've been hunting for decent grip glue. I've tried several household glues. None works for me long term. I know there's the real thing. Grip glue. But even that gets mixed reviews. Please let us know if you find something that works for you.

 

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Thanks everyone.  Yes the wheels and swing arm are chrome.  They are showing their age but still look good.  Someone did put some money in it years ago.  The last owner only put 200 miles on it from 2004 to 2015.  He was 82 when he titled it in 2004.  Yes 82!.  The gentleman passed in 2016.  I put more miles on it in the last week than it had in the last 16 years.  It just rolled 30k miles.

 

I was riding it all week until I noticed on my voltmeter reading looked low.  Yes thanks to the advice from other posts I installed a voltmeter.  The rectifier let go.  Pretty obvious from the crack in it and the burning electronic smell.  It was the stock one that had no cooling  vents.    I have another one coming and while at it I went and ordered a wire harness from wiremybike.  Discovered wiremybike from older posts as well. I also have some CPU fans I may try and fabricate a bracket to help cool the rectifier.  

 

The bike is out of commission for the moment but not for long hopefully.  So for now back to my Vulcan 2000 which is no slouch.  Riding it is a blast.  I have owned it for 12 years and every time I unleash those 2053cc it just makes me smile.

 

Ride safe folk!

 

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26 minutes ago, GebruikerNotLID said:

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that. But you obviously know about the dodgy electrics on these bikes. There is plenty of information here at vfrd on the subject. I hope you get it sorted. 

 

I was pulling the voltage from the headlight feed off the fuse block.  At some point someone had tapped the wire as when I got the bike it had neon lights on it under the rear fender and inside the cowl.  Needless to say the neon lights were the first thing to go but I used the same feed from the headlights which is at 11.6 volts.  When I go straight to the battery it was 12.5 volts.  I looked online and found others who reported the same so I wasn’t to concerned.  Maybe there is more to it but this was all before my rectifier quit.  

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10 minutes ago, vulcannut said:

when I got the bike it had neon lights on it under the rear fender and inside the cowl.

 

I'm trying to imagine an 82 year old rider with chromed wheels and neon lights. I'm having a hard time seeing it.  🙂

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1 hour ago, GebruikerNotLID said:

 

I'm trying to imagine an 82 year old rider with chromed wheels and neon lights. I'm having a hard time seeing it.  🙂

I know.  The man was born n 1922 and he titled it in 2004.  I would guess he never put neons on.  

 

Also the bike with the exhaust it has isn’t the quietest.   I definitely give the man credit even if he only put less that 200 miles on it.

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On 8/3/2019 at 9:44 AM, vulcannut said:

I know.  The man was born n 1922 and he titled it in 2004.  I would guess he never put neons on.  

 

Also the bike with the exhaust it has isn’t the quietest.   I definitely give the man credit even if he only put less that 200 miles on it.

That would reinforce the saying "one does not get too old to ride; one gets old by not riding" or something like that. :ph34r:

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19 hours ago, GebruikerNotLID said:

 

I'm trying to imagine an 82 year old rider with chromed wheels and neon lights. I'm having a hard time seeing it.  🙂

 

"Great-Granddad, can I borrow your VFR for a week?" :goofy:

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On 8/3/2019 at 10:44 AM, vulcannut said:

Also the bike with the exhaust it has isn’t the quietest.

You may also not know that older exhaust systems can be repacked. Apparently the material burns away after a while and they get louder. Several members have posted about this and there are videos online. OTOH you may like it loud...

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3 hours ago, GebruikerNotLID said:

You may also not know that older exhaust systems can be repacked. Apparently the material burns away after a while and they get louder. Several members have posted about this and there are videos online. OTOH you may like it loud...

Thanks for the info.  The loudness doesn't bother me.  It's loud but honestly my Vulcan is louder when I get on it.

 

 

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12 hours ago, vulcannut said:

  The loudness doesn't bother me.

it never does. instead, the noise bothers others.  😣

12 hours ago, vulcannut said:

 

 

 

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18 hours ago, CharlieFoxtrot said:

Sweet VFR!!  I have one too, and am in Stamford.

kool deal - I am Naugatuck currently but I just took a contract on the house and if it goes through I am heading to TX in a few weeks.

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20 hours ago, CharlieFoxtrot said:

Where in TX?  My sister is in Katy.

 

If you can't fit the VFR in the moving truck, you can drop it at my house.  I'll keep it exercised til you can pick it up.   🙂

Working out of Carrollton which is just north of Dallas.  Going to live in the RV (I have a 33ft Class A) for a couple of months until we figure out where we want to live.   I was living in Cedar Park TX 7 years ago which is just north of Austin.  I look forward to 10-11 months of riding again.  

 

The VFR and my Vulcan will be making the trip. Already have that planned.  I'll leave furniture behind before I leave my bikes. 🙂 

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