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85 VF500F Gasket Sets


sportfour

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Have a new to me 86 VF500F.

 

Per the PO it has an 85 engine in it as the 86 engine failed, rather dramatically I am told. Given what I have experienced going through the bike I am not surprised. It is amazing what people can do to machines. I am at the beginning of the sorting out process. The 85 engine seems to run fine but I am somewhat confused to find that it looks to be fitted with post 85 carbs, VD31's.

 

I have quite a bit to learn at this point as I sort through the parts maze but didn't think VD 31s would mate up to 85 heads as the insulators are  different part numbers. I do have a spare set of VD56A's that came with bike. I have also noted that carb gasket/o-ring kits are only available for the pre 86 carbs from Honda. The plan is to make it into a runner.

 

My first plan is to secure an engine gasket kit. I've seen names like Vesrah, Centauro, and a few others; which is the best of the bunch and where should I go?

Thanks.

Steve

 

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Did you lift the valve covers yet and inspected the cams?  

I would do that first....

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Don't worry about gaskets yet. Do a valve check. Inspect the cams. Look into the spark plugs to get an idea of the piston condition. Do a compression check. Change the oil.

The cam springs are an issue. Somewhere I have a picture of my rebuild process, and there was a noticeable variance in spring length.

Also 86 engine is different than 84/85, so be careful when looking up or swapping parts.

It took me about 5 months to find NOS OEM gaskets for my 85 rebuild. But if I had to risk it, I'd try the Vesrah set.

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I've used Vesrah full gasket kits for other engines and the size and fitment was spot on. If it was me though I don't think I would open the engine up beyond the valve covers. There are so many parts that are unavailable to rebuild a vf500f that it's going to be pretty expensive if you can even get everything you need. I have an '86 and when that engine goes down I'm gonna start looking at doing an interesting engine swap.

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21 hours ago, Hamhock said:

 If it was me though I don't think I would open the engine up beyond the valve covers. There are so many parts that are unavailable to rebuild a vf500f that it's going to be pretty expensive if you can even get everything you need.

 

 

I hear you on that. Sort of an easy does it approach for me. I was looking for a project bike that had a level of distinction......and have become partial to the Honda V4's.

 

I have several other nice VF and VFR's and this one is only intended to be a runner anyway. I am partial to small displacement machines as I grew up with several RD's and also currently run a race prepped R3 as a track bike. The 500 is a good ergo match for me and though not a stroker I do like the package.

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On 10/23/2020 at 7:38 PM, sportfour said:

 

 

I have several other nice VF and VFR's and this one is only intended to be a runner anyway. I am partial to small displacement machines.......

not many know much about this small V-2, but it's a blast to ride and easy to work on. engine is 1/2 of a VF500 but without the problems.

 

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On 10/25/2020 at 3:22 PM, squirrelman said:

not many know much about this small V-2, but it's a blast to ride and easy to work on. engine is 1/2 of a VF500 but without the problems.

 

You say without the problems. But they share a lot of the same parts, and mine had the same failure my 500 had.

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On 10/25/2020 at 3:22 PM, squirrelman said:

not many know much about this small V-2, but it's a blast to ride and easy to work on. engine is 1/2 of a VF500 but without the problems.

 

 

 

That's a real cutie. Didn't Honda offer that in some form of teal, I like yours much better.

 

Here's my 86 VFR 750. Lucky to stumble across it. Needed attention in some areas but all squared away now. A delightful ride

 

 

 

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