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Long time fan of the 500


ssracing66

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Hey y'all,  

I think I bought my very first vf500 in late 84 , it was red and i loved that thing ....Sadly I traded it on for a Ninja 600  in 86 and rode green bikes for a few years.

I bought another one in 1990 (used) and fell in love with the V4 once again .  I added some of those Lockhart Philips lowers and  a Vance & Hines  4:2 pipe...

 

a couple years later I got interested in road racing and  before I new it I was racing lightweight CCS classes on a pretty stock VF500  ...and it was fun! (notice the Hurricane 600 wheels  that bolted right on) 

IMG_2735.thumb.jpeg.1dc9c3bb01506d754629ebd1cb1a9efe.jpeg

 

as the seasons went by the bike changed  quite  a bit.... Megacycle Cams  , Hindle 4:1  jetting  , ignition advancer,  Fox Shock , Gold valves in the forks, carbon fiber rear sets .

The bike was fast :

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By 98 the bike had been totally transformed  and was virtually unrecognizable except by V4 fans  . raw Hurricane wheels were swapped out for CBR F2 wheels, and  Michelin slicks.

Carbs were worked over ,  engine completely rebuilt  , competition valve job, Generator and flywheel removed. total loss ignition,  and the bike had  a full set of RC-45 bodywork .

 

I think I reached my daily pic limit 

to be continued 

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38 minutes ago, squirrelman said:

what's really impressive is that it hasn't blown up.....................yet (like so many others).

One of the first things I did  was replace the stock oiler pipe with twin braided SS  oil lines and a double banjo bolt (drilled out)  for the oil gallery connection

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This is the full blown lightweight super bike in 98  . 

At this point, the bike was able to squeak out 73 RWHP @ 13K ,  and the howl that bike made doing that was glorious. 

The Hindle 4:1 pipe changed the sound but the megacycle cams were responsible for the bark and howl at high RPM 

It's got treaded tires in the photo, so we must've been racing in the rain that weekend .

I sold it to a guy in Georgia in 99 ,  Wish i still had it, but at the time I felt it was tweaked so far that it was a grenade and the pin was MIA.

 

IMG_2737.thumb.jpeg.78fb963e4801a7840f03d11a4120146d.jpeg

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  • Member Contributer

Welcome to VFRD from across the pond!

 

 

If the cams were out of tolerance, they'd gone pop by now......  Regular oil change and valve clearance checks do the rest. 

Once properly warmed up, mine regularly sees redline....  Come rain or shine

 

 

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Makes for a nice tourer as well...

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13 minutes ago, Dutchy said:

Welcome to VFRD from across the pond!

 

 

If the cams were out of tolerance, they'd gone pop by now......  Regular oil change and valve clearance checks do the rest. 

Once properly warmed up, mine regularly sees redline....  Come rain or shine

 

Thanks Dutchy, 

Yes,  I remember reading  some engineering analysis back then that blamed improper warmup and/or poor maintenance  for 99% of the cam-related failures .

My racebikje there had a modified spark box (remember those two CDI's under the seat?)  that enabled it to rev past 12.5, and it spent a lot of time  at or near redline during that race season without trouble.  

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  • Member Contributer

the 84/85 cam journals were not line bored, the 86's are. that helped.

 

In addition to poor maintenance,  Honda reportedly also realised that their process to manufactue the cams was too "economic". Resulting in tiny air bubbles underneath the surface.

"Stealing"oil way from the bottom to lead it to the top (aka oil mod), I never beleived that. But some did.

The 86 had a larger oit sump and modified oil pump.

 

 

 

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Some modification notes:

 

CBR600F1 (Hurricane) wheels were wider and a no-mod replacement and gave you a wider selection of 17” tires (f&r) I remember using pirelli dragons 🐉 with those wheels.

 

CBR600F2 wheels were wider yet again and were compatible with all the modern race rubber at the time.  I remember milling something like 8mm off the brake rotor bosses on the font wheel, no notes on the rear by I recall machining custom spacers out back 

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