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Rescuing a '91 VFR750F


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  • 2 weeks later...
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Following up rebuilds like yours are both inspiring and depressing. They give me an idea of what my bike is supposed to be like and at the same time give me an idea that my bike is never going to be like that. 🙂

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On 1/27/2021 at 1:50 PM, Gebruiker said:

Following up rebuilds like yours are both inspiring and depressing. They give me an idea of what my bike is supposed to be like and at the same time give me an idea that my bike is never going to be like that. 🙂


What does your bike still need or what would you like to upgrade?

 

Mechanically I think my bike is in good shape (now), but until I ride it and run it through the gears I can’t say for sure. Cosmetically it is “ok”, stand back 10 feet and it looks good. 

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21 hours ago, mtnpat said:

What does your bike still need or what would you like to upgrade?

 

Mechanically I think my bike is in good shape, but until I ride it and run it through the gears I can’t say for sure. Cosmetically it is “ok”, stand back 10 feet and it looks good. 

 

What I think my bike needs mostly is a more proficient owner... 😁  But bit by bit I've managed to cobble it into better shape than when I got it. Cosmetics were always going to be the hard part because they'd been neglected, and they are an ongoing project when I get bored. 10 feet? More like 50... Mechanically I lucked out on mine. I give credit to Honda for that and the previous owners. I never had to tear into it the way you chose to do on yours. So I'm happy and confident enough riding the thing right now. Still, upgrade jobs occur to me all the time. I should really sort out the R/R stator circuit, as you've done. Repack and polish my yosh...as you have done. Things like that. If I ever decide on renovation to a higher standard, your thread will be one of the inspirations. Thanks for posting! Let us know when you get some rides in.

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18 hours ago, Gebruiker said:

Let us know when you get some rides in.

 

I definitely will, I'm looking forward to riding the VFR750!

 

My other Honda V4 sport touring bike is 750 lbs dry and is my favorite street bike to ride.  I'm thinking a 550 lb Honda V4 sport touring bike is going to be really nice!  I'm hoping it's a cross between my ST1100 and my wife's SV650 with a similar aluminum frame to the VFR, and a 90-degree twin which is an awesome engine. 

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I'm going to give my gas tank another vinegar treatment this weekend because using my bore scope I have discovered some rust on the ceiling of the tank that did not get soaked when I filled the tank.

 

When filled sitting upright, you can't actually completely fill it and touch all parts of the inside of the tank because the filler neck is lower than the ceiling of the tank.

 

I will be cleaning out the layer of preservative oil currently in the tank and adding 2-3 gallons of vinegar and this time turning the tank over so that the top of the inside of tank gets covered with vinegar and the rust dissolved.

 

 

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Have you looked at using a battery charger and getting all the rust out by electrolysis?

 

This is one of many YouTube videos 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Thumbs said:

Have you looked at using a battery charger and getting all the rust out by electrolysis?

 

This is one of many YouTube videos 

 

 

 

I've done this many times.  It's easy, cheap, and doesn't harm the paint at all.  It's pretty amazing.

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Unfortunately, that ceiling rust will come back because top of tank is always exposed to air & moisture. I recommend POR-15 fuel tank sealer after you get last bits of rust out. I've had very good experiences on old classic autos with steel tanks.

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5 hours ago, Thumbs said:

Have you looked at using a battery charger and getting all the rust out by electrolysis?

 

This is one of many YouTube videos 

 

 


I have thought about it and was planning to go this route if necessary. The vinegar did a great job of dissolving the rust so I am thinking I won’t have to. 

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5 hours ago, DannoXYZ said:

Unfortunately, that ceiling rust will come back because top of tank is always exposed to air & moisture. I recommend POR-15 fuel tank sealer after you get last bits of rust out. I've had very good experiences on old classic autos with steel tanks.


You’re right, thanks for talking me into it. I just ordered a tank sealer kit.

 

No reason to not do it right. 
 

I’m going to go ahead with my second treatment with vinegar, but this time after flushing and drying the tank I will coat the inside. 

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  • 1 month later...

Spring is approaching and a mans (and woman's) thoughts turn to motorcycles.  I was able to get some parts I have been needing and now I have hope that I will be able to ride the VFR for the first time soon.  Here are some quick but exciting for me updates.

 

First off, some of you may remember this:

 

IMG_5084.thumb.JPG.6e153d673f9ac8aa7ec00762c4f1a397.JPG

 

IMG_5079.thumb.JPG.3264edf64348dfb4713a48c8ee6316fb.JPG

 

Not that attractive and half-ass functional, my plan was to tape it up properly and make do. Well @RC1237V saw that and was like I can help this person, so without my asking RC1237V offered to send me an airbox lid that did NOT have 15 holes drilled it....we would swap and I would send him the holy one.  His thoughts was since my bike was mostly stock and was likely going to remain that way it deserves a nice factory piece.  What a great way of thinking and I was like heck yea, thank you.  Now I have this:

 

1746675997_ImageuploadedfromiOS(1).thumb.jpg.765293fdc58637c5b27d950737ef486b.jpg 

 

1744931099_ImageuploadedfromiOS(2).thumb.jpg.3bf4af1bd7391019652d906b93221c7d.jpg

 

I did finally figure out what the holes in the lid are for.....they are to hold spanners 🙂

 

IMG_6111.jpg.c12e1de65153b01f6835d3af0ac279c0.jpg

 

The key piece I was missing though for this bike was a windshield, you see mine looked like this:

 

AF2DCADD-C1CF-42FF-8C8A-78DD2D74920E.thumb.jpeg.561ab3ed6eb9b2b0ae1c6841fc6d513a.jpeg

 

That stain is on the inside.  While I had the screen off fixing things I tried wet sanding with some 600 grit and it did not even touch it, that is when I gave up.  Then I remembered that RC1237V had one or two bikes that were being converted to naked street fighters and that he mentioned somewhere about having extra parts.  I reached out and we came up with a great deal on a windscreen, heck he even threw in some dash surround parts for free which was really nice.  I think this is much better:

 

1294942852_ImageuploadedfromiOS.thumb.jpg.b65547c0bf5b626bdee8cedcc2497a72.jpg

 

Just a couple of things left to do.  The first is taking another swing at the gas tank, I'm going to clean the inside again and then seal it.  I bought this recently.  It looks to be pretty time consuming to do it right so I need to blank off most of a day, as good a reason as any to take a vacation day:

 

875101047_ImageuploadedfromiOS(3).thumb.jpg.8fe80c9898793d7a694e46de91743e9d.jpg

 

Then it will be time to replace the 12 year old tires with these Metzlers that I found at a great price ($205 shipped).  I will post up when I do.  I have a home made bead breaker that has served me well for years.  For  mounting the new tires on the rims I have found the zip tie method to work amazingly well.

 

IMG_5348.thumb.JPG.6ca3899d472909bb1ad4022fbc4658c2.JPG

 

Get all that done and I just need something to put here:

 

225904236_ImageuploadedfromiOS(4).thumb.jpg.59d273533dd57986b65d1d5dab2c703e.jpg

 

I have an appointment with the Virginia DMV next month.  I wonder if the state safety inspector will say anything about the red turn signal lenses?  They are hooked up and work but are not amber.  I do have the add-on set of amber turn signals that bolt so if I have to to pass inspection I can put those on.

 

Thanks for reading, good luck with your riding, bike builds and 2021.

 

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Rear turn signals are not required to be amber.  Just think of all of the vehicles (including new Harleys) with just red taillights that also function as the signals.  What is illegal, is to wire rear amber signals as running lights, but I have never heard of any motorcyclist getting grief for it.

 

I believe Honda added the "extra" signals because the DOT requirements of how far apart they needed to be were ridiculous at the time.   God, some of those rear turn signal stays were LONG in the 80s and early 90s.

 

I was in Germany in the early 90s and bought a set of amber VFR lenses to bring back with me.  I sold those same lenses 3 times for well over $100, as they kept coming back on trade-ins.  Then I would swap in some red ones, and re-sell.  😉

 

Then in 1994 those signals were integrated in amber on the VFR.  The gig was up.

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12 minutes ago, Captain 80s said:

Rear turn signals are not required to be amber.  Just think of all of the vehicles with just red taillights that also function as the signals.

 

That would be good.

 

I was wondering if the red lenses are US spec and the amber ones Euro?  I have seen pics of both.  I wouldn't mine a set of the amber ones.

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5 hours ago, mtnpat said:

 

That would be good.

 

I was wondering if the red lenses are US spec and the amber ones Euro?  I have seen pics of both.  I wouldn't mine a set of the amber ones.

It would appear so. My 91 I had in England a few years back had amber lenses, and as Capt. 80's pointed out so did the German bikes.

1564626865_DSCF21741.jpg

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Indicators must flash orange over here.

Yes, you may fit white lenses/housings, as long as the bulb itself is orange...

 

image.png.37d37bcde777721d0837d3aa89fdf26d.png

image.png.b636d7cefcb63ea31dc83f28b0c7bfcc.png

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  • 1 month later...

What an awesome adventure this has been to read about. The bike looks brilliant and I'm super impressed with everything you've done to it.

 

As my '93 is sitting naked and tankless at the moment this is really inspiring me to try and get as much care and repair done as possible. Sadly my lack of any ability, knowledge, a garage to work in or much in the way of tools is going to limit it to plugs, filters and rubber hoses as much as I can. This is still a big step up from adding petrol, my previous best effort at bike maintenance 🙂

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First, @moroseduck, thanks for the kind words.  And if you are able to change spark plugs and hoses you are doing good. You don't need a lot of tools to work on a quality bike such as your Honda, eventually if you can gather up a good metric socket and wrench set, two torque wrenches of different ranges, some feeler gauges and a multimeter you can troubleshoot and fix most things on a VFR.  Not many specialty tools are needed unless you get into rebuilding engines and transmissions.  So good luck and post up any questions, I'm sure someone here will answer.

 

NEXT - my 91 model VFR is tagged and on the road now!!  I've done two rides, the first only 15 miles, the second 40 miles.  The bike has performed pretty flawlessly.  The K&L fuel pump is doing it's job nicely, so is the Shindengen voltage regulator/rectifier and Yuasa battery..  The sealed gas tank is doing it's job too, no contaminated fuel or fuel filter.

 

The engine sounds great and I have not found any flat spots in the power yet, the tune I have started with and the carb sync seems pretty close to being on the money.  Starts and idles well, revs fast and smooth.  I'm pretty impressed with the 6-speed transmission too, nice solid shifts, even when I miff the shift.

 

Two oil changes already with 15W40 Rotella-T, one when I initially dumped the overfilled crankcase and once again after the first 15 mile ride I did.

 

The re-packed Yoshimura exhaust I am pleased to announce is in my opinion is not too loud, it has a nice tone and doesn't get rowdy until you get up to 6-7k RPMs, just cruising around it is not obnoxious.

 

The Brembo front brakes are working well, providing good modulation and power, I haven't had to really test them yet (thank goodness), just a few hard stops.

 

The suspension is ok, the shock actually feels decent for my weight (165 lbs) and riding style, it has both compression and rebound damping in the amounts I want (a touch more rebound than compression) and the spring rate is not bad.  The fork does not have the stock spring because it came with the bike extra, so probably an aftermarket spring was installed at some point.  The fork needs more spring rate for me as it has too much sag and I'm not really feeling the front end.  My plan is to freshen up the fork oil and at the same time check and see what springs are in there and how much spacer.  I'm thinking about adding a fork cap that includes some preload adjustment, that should make tuning easier.

 

Anyway, without further ado, here are some pictures!!!

 

vfr2.thumb.jpeg.70fdb51f459990474b3351c93a9d43f1.jpeg

 

vfr6.thumb.jpeg.eaa71ef5c5450138142f52285b54a887.jpeg

 

Here is a shot in the garage while I was still working on it.  I went with a stock 170/60-17 rear tire and am glad I did, I think it looked stupid with the 180/55-17 it had on it.  You are a 750...be proud of what you are! No need to go all American Chopper on these bikes.  Just my opinion.

 

vfr4.thumb.jpeg.a3f7f0179f7eaf595801ae18fdbf5c38.jpeg

 

Now I just need to find some new people to ride with!  Open invitation, anyone who would like a tour of the twisty rolling roads in and around the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia let me know.

 

Thanks again to everyone who has chimed in, showed support or just followed along during the VFR build.  Please let me know if I can help anyone with anything.  I'm in Virginia 85 miles West of Washington DC just South of Front Royal.

 

 

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I've been waiting for this last report! Thanks again for all your upgrade posts. The bike came out great. And Shenandoah has got to be terrific territory for a VFR. Have fun. 🙂

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42 minutes ago, Gebruiker said:

I've been waiting for this last report! Thanks again for all your upgrade posts. The bike came out great. And Shenandoah has got to be terrific territory for a VFR. Have fun. 🙂

Thanks Gebruiker.  Good to hear from you.

 

I plan to have the bike totally legal with a state safety inspection before too long so that my wife does not frown at me when I say I want to go for a ride.....I actually have 5 bikes with expired stickers....what a pain in the backside.  Can't wait to get the VFR out to really stretch it's legs, compare it to my ZRX1100, etc.  Hope to be posting some scenic mountain riding pics early this Summer!

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Wow, looks awesome! Very thorough restoration, with attention to detail. I enjoyed seeing your progress!

 

Also please post a link to where you found that fuel pump....😁

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...
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I finally got around to taking pictures of the ZRX and thanks to Danno I know how to load them now. You mentioned you wanted to see the bike so here goes.

 

Well 2 of them don't want to seem to resize so I guess this is it.

233142DD-2389-44BC-8813-FC965D04A01E_1_201_a.jpeg

F9DA4A35-495A-4848-9A7C-9A94E562C423_1_201_a.jpeg

3E9B4323-8675-4BDE-B113-20A05763E1BE_1_201_a.jpeg

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On 4/9/2021 at 6:40 PM, mtnpat said:

First, @moroseduck, thanks for the kind words.  And if you are able to change spark plugs and hoses you are doing good. You don't need a lot of tools to work on a quality bike such as your Honda, eventually if you can gather up a good metric socket and wrench set, two torque wrenches of different ranges, some feeler gauges and a multimeter you can troubleshoot and fix most things on a VFR.  Not many specialty tools are needed unless you get into rebuilding engines and transmissions.  So good luck and post up any questions, I'm sure someone here will answer.

 

NEXT - my 91 model VFR is tagged and on the road now!!  I've done two rides, the first only 15 miles, the second 40 miles.  The bike has performed pretty flawlessly.  The K&L fuel pump is doing it's job nicely, so is the Shindengen voltage regulator/rectifier and Yuasa battery..  The sealed gas tank is doing it's job too, no contaminated fuel or fuel filter.

 

The engine sounds great and I have not found any flat spots in the power yet, the tune I have started with and the carb sync seems pretty close to being on the money.  Starts and idles well, revs fast and smooth.  I'm pretty impressed with the 6-speed transmission too, nice solid shifts, even when I miff the shift.

 

Two oil changes already with 15W40 Rotella-T, one when I initially dumped the overfilled crankcase and once again after the first 15 mile ride I did.

 

The re-packed Yoshimura exhaust I am pleased to announce is in my opinion is not too loud, it has a nice tone and doesn't get rowdy until you get up to 6-7k RPMs, just cruising around it is not obnoxious.

 

The Brembo front brakes are working well, providing good modulation and power, I haven't had to really test them yet (thank goodness), just a few hard stops.

 

The suspension is ok, the shock actually feels decent for my weight (165 lbs) and riding style, it has both compression and rebound damping in the amounts I want (a touch more rebound than compression) and the spring rate is not bad.  The fork does not have the stock spring because it came with the bike extra, so probably an aftermarket spring was installed at some point.  The fork needs more spring rate for me as it has too much sag and I'm not really feeling the front end.  My plan is to freshen up the fork oil and at the same time check and see what springs are in there and how much spacer.  I'm thinking about adding a fork cap that includes some preload adjustment, that should make tuning easier.

 

Anyway, without further ado, here are some pictures!!!

 

vfr2.thumb.jpeg.70fdb51f459990474b3351c93a9d43f1.jpeg

 

vfr6.thumb.jpeg.eaa71ef5c5450138142f52285b54a887.jpeg

 

Here is a shot in the garage while I was still working on it.  I went with a stock 170/60-17 rear tire and am glad I did, I think it looked stupid with the 180/55-17 it had on it.  You are a 750...be proud of what you are! No need to go all American Chopper on these bikes.  Just my opinion.

 

vfr4.thumb.jpeg.a3f7f0179f7eaf595801ae18fdbf5c38.jpeg

 

Now I just need to find some new people to ride with!  Open invitation, anyone who would like a tour of the twisty rolling roads in and around the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia let me know.

 

Thanks again to everyone who has chimed in, showed support or just followed along during the VFR build.  Please let me know if I can help anyone with anything.  I'm in Virginia 85 miles West of Washington DC just South of Front Royal.

 

 

 

She's a looker!  :wub:

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