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MBD and me...


rhoderage

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August 22 2012 I purchased my 2002 VFR800... I've been on VFRD for the duration of this time and its been a tremendous resource.

 

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BUT you folks have turned me into one of yourselves... and for a few years now I've had real interest in a 5th gen

 

In the meantime I moved to a house with a garage.  The hunt has been on for a winter project... I've done a lot of work on my 02 and the increased confidence (and quantity of tools) makes me want to try a full rebuild.  Budget was <$1000 to buy it. 

 

Doing the daily search online, find a local 5g which has a write-up indicating that the fuel tank rusted out and the bike wont run due to debris.   He just wanted to get rid of it... we emailed and chatted... I rode over to take a look.  $900 and 3 hours later he's taking it out of his truck in my driveway.  Was it fate?  I did NOT expect a VFR to be my <$1000 project, and I couldn't be happier!

 

So we have a 1999 VFR800.  Not quite 47000km. Original colour was yellow.  Non-running currently.  New battery.  Ancient scary tires.  No exhaust can. Cheapy ebay REPSOL fairings with paint runs under the clear & decals... good from 10ft [they will attach better than in pics; mount points on bike are tweaked, and there are only a few bolts currently holding all the plastics on... yikes].  Bike lived outdoors for a couple years per the PO, and parts are weathered.

 

Shout-out to my wife for agreeing and not being angry.  I can't believe she was cool with it... she's a keeper.

 

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The plan:

I don't know!  The goal of the 'winter project' was to refurbish a bike I wanted to ride on a low budget, ride it next summer, and sell it the following spring unless its a keeper. [I still don't know if I'm allowed to KEEP multiple bikes].  The first step is to get it running... once riding season is over, I will take my 6g tank and hook it to the 5g and see where we are at unless I can de-rust or replace* the current one by then.  In the meantime, fairings are off, and I'll be digging in looking for anything else which needs repair.

 

Looking forward to some quality garage time over the next year!  I'll keep this thread updated with progress.

 

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MBD can be a terrible wonderful disease! Good luck this winter, my bet is that it will be a keeper. Too bad you folks have to keep so much snow removal equipment on hand, there would be room for several more bikes in that garage!

 

Every time I am about to post some really snarky comment on VFRD I stop and remember that my VFRD brothers and sisters are going to guide me every step of the way when I finally buy that 5th gen. Keep us posted on your progress.

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Whooo boy you got that one! I was hawking that repsol for a while then saw it listed again with the rust issues... Hot damn!

 

I wonder if you can get the tank rust taken care of with white vinegar?

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Its a great question and I will try the various rust removal techniques... this appears to be the original tank, it has yellow paint underneath the orange.  Would be great to save it; visually its ok with no real dents or outside rust

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I've related this previously - but will again for laughs and giggles.  I once dated a woman for a while who, when she first came to my home saw my motorcycles in the garage.  As she looked at them she stood pensively and placed her index finger on her lips, then used it to point at the bikes and said "those will have to go".  Almost instantly, the thought raced through my mind that said "no, . . . YOU will have to go!!"  And in short order she did.  Took her home, dropped her off and never saw her again.   She would have had an easier time coming between a steak and a hungry shark than between my bikes and me LOL! 

 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled build thread. 

 

 

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On 8/16/2021 at 12:13 AM, Terry said:

May be an image of text that says 'Marry a girl who says things like: -I'm proud of you, can't believe you're mine, -You're right. was wrong, -You can do it, baby, I don't know where this motorcycle came from looks great next to all your other motorcycles. new but it'

 

 

I did :tongue:

 

 

23 years ago and counting..

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Though my wife doesn't really like motorcycles, she is very tolerant of me and mine.  Mostly she just gets bored with me talking about it all the time.  :laugh:  But seriously, I'm very fortunate!

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Back at it... not much has happened since summer; busy with work and life.

 

Spent some time cleaning up the chain a few months back; it looks to be in good shape along with the sprockets.

 

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Fast forward to today.  On vacation for the week, so planned garage time with wife support!

 

The bolt which connects fuel line from tank to fuel rail had been removed during previous troubleshooting.  I also removed it, and pushed some paper towel into the rail to see if there was rust / debris contamination from the fuel tank.  Didn't take a pic at first, this was a re-do (and a poor one), but yes the first swab was all brown and rusty.  I swabbed the end hole and the hole which lines up with the banjo on the fuel line from tank.  Same result in both, rust.

 

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So that said, the throttle bodies will be coming off so I can attempt to clean the fuel rail and injectors.

 

 

Since there is an unknown maintenance and troubleshooting history, and with the tank already disconnected I never tried to run it, I figured I would pull a spark plug next and see if there was any noticeable issue there.

 

Looks like a spark plug ... no rust or debris ... anyone see a problem here?  I think its all good, will pull the other 3 eventually to be sure.

 

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So that said, I'm optimistic that the rust and crap from the fuel tank only made it as far as the rail & injectors.  So lets pull the throttle bodies; never done that before, have avoided it on my 02 through the years... but its time

 

 

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This is as far as we've taken it today.  Tomorrow I will get into the throttle body.

 

Still undecided on how far to go with this... original plan was just get it to run, ride it for a bit and sell it.  But now I have a 5g... why would I want to sell it?  Trying to decide how heavily to clean the V... and whether to start buying parts or focus on getting it running.

 

To be determined!

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Plug looks like super-rich mixtures. If that's #3 or 4 with #1&2 being clean, you may have failed FPR.

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Thanks Danno... appreciate the feedback.  FPR is definitely a potential culprit for the poor running condition that I have basically zero info on!

 

It is #3.... I'll pull the others in the next couple days and post for comparison.

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2 things going on here today...

 

First, starting point after yesterday's endeavor

 

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Lets take a look at the throttle bodies...

 

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The injectors themselves...

 

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Their seats in the fuel rail... complete with debris

 

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Gunk appears to be rust particles and gasoline from said crudded up fuel tank...

 

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At this point I figure I'd better pull the other 3 spark plugs and see whats up... I had already pulled #3, it came easy (felt 1/4 turn past finger tight).  #1 was stiff and I was immediately worried about whoever had played with it before... but after a bit of pressure it let up.  I then went around front and moved the oil cooler; #4 and #2 were both 1/4 turn past finger tight, and I was perhaps a little surprised to see what came out...

 

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So if I were guessing, the front bank #2 and #4 are original or at least have been in place longer than #1 and #3. They have more burn on the porcelain and more soot on the electrode end. #2 and #4 are the same type, the CR9EHVX  9.  However #4 is gold colored base, #2 is silver colored base.

 

#1 and #3 are identical, CR9E. 

 

Service Manual says CR9EH-9.

 

Continues to make me curious about what has gone on with this bike 🙂

 

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Hopefully I can get these parts all cleaned up and go from there.  Will remove the injectors from the rail and start cleaning that up this afternoon... think I should replace these plugs?  I'm inclined to want 4 known new/good/ all the same

 

Feedback / comments / insight always welcome.

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So we pulled the injectors... plenty of rust crap on top and in the inlet.

 

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And some rust remnants on the rail output

 

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I guess at the moment the goal is to try to flush them with carb cleaner and do the 9v battery trick... will see what happens and go from there.  If I can get a reasonable spray, hopefully these are salvageable... we have a good local company who does injector cleaning, had my 02 injectors done a few years back.  If they aren't salvageable I can replace them.  More than anything I just want to get to a 'good enough' state FIRST so that I can put everything back together and test fire the bike.  I knew all about the rusted out tank and the crud dragged through the fuel system.  What I don't know is if the PO was being forthright... ie is the engine snafu'd?  Really want that answer before I start paying for parts.

 

I'm really enjoying this bike so far... and the wife thinks I'm nuts, so win/win 🙂

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1 minute ago, rhoderage said:

I'm really enjoying this bike so far... and the wife thinks I'm nuts, so win/win

I agree with both of you. 

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you'll want to flush injectors backwards. Toyota has kit for this. I suppose you can use carb spray/air-compressor, some rubber hoses and 9v battery

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Lots to keep you occupied, if that’s the goal. I dragged my own 5G out of a longer than planned period of non use recently. I thought tank was rusted, but believe after cleaning that it was “just” fuel lacquer. My saving grace was that I’d also mislaid/lost the keys so I couldn’t start it. I was lucky that none of this got further than tank end of fuel hose. I think I’d have struggled if it had been like yours, so hats off.
 

FWIW, I have had good luck with citric acid cleaning up rust. I did use it on the tank, but not sure how much rust it had to deal with. But I’ve used it on other rusted items. It has the advantage of being cheap, safe and mostly gentle on other materials. Disadvantage is that it probably takes longer. I only compared to a UK proprietary rust remover, but now believe that was mostly citric acid anyway. You might be leaving days but if you’re not in a hurry it’s worth a go.

 

It will attack other metals and plating (e.g. zinc and cadmium plating on fasteners, copper strip on electricals) so keep to the steel. That of course means removing pump and level sender and finding a way to reseal the tank with the mixture in it. On some non-bike rusted items I used it on it removed remaining paint when left on for days. That was a positive in that case, but some care advised.

 

Good luck with it.

 

p.s. Have my bike in the garage from its usual she store to do some bits and my wife saw it. She said she’d forgotten how lovely looking it was. She knows the way to my heart 🙂

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