JFGarro

Thanks Captain 80s and Viffer! Yes, I believe there is a need of compromise for the right look of the RC30. The first thing I noticed: the OEM handlebars are hitting the upper part of the fairing, and because of the reservoirs, is gonna be difficult to simply put below the triple tree top section. The structure holding the gauge cluster, must be modified for the front lights to fit. I need to study images of the RC30, so I can keep the overall dimensions. This won't be easy, but is part of the fun!

I'm still waiting for the new parts to come (from Partzilla & eBay). So, in the meantime, I put the RC30 replica front fairing for testing purposes. What do you think? If I choose the RC30 look, I'm gonna keep the steel fuel tank (I don't like the idea of a fiberglass replica holding many gallons of fuel), so the adaptation process for a RC30 replica rear cowl will be a really pain in the a... PD: looking inside the fuel tank, it looks like new! And sorry for the mess, I need to take a entire day for clean and organize my work space in the garage.

I didn't know that! Thanks for the fact!

I followed the indications of this video:

Thanks for the comments and the support. This will be my first work in a real bike, previously only just did small works in other bikes, like my CT70 Dax upgraded with a chinese 86cc engine (plug & play process), and my other bike's maintenance (2019 Honda CB650R), and of course many cars. Since a time ago, I've been thinking in a new and bigger project (because mental health and keep me busy besides work, things like that), and this bike is the perfect candidate for make me a hole in my wallet 😂 I want to take this in a slow fashion, enjoying the ride as they say....

Small update: after a meticulous wash and a week in a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution with times under the sun (because of the UV effect), the expansion tank looks like this. Not a new look, but compared with the before state, a lot better.

The last task for the weekend, was to polish the OEM exhaust terminal the last owner give it to me. I don't have pictures of the previous condition, but the finish was dull and stained. First I sanded it with 1000 grit sandpaper, then 1500 and 2000, and for the last step I used Meguiars metal polish compound. I believed I could achieve a mirror look, but the final result is better than the original state. Now, I need to wait for the packages with parts from eBay and Partzilla, so I can continue with the process.

The new radiator is ready! At first, I wanted to paint it black (like an OEM unit), but decided to polish the tanks, and can't be more happy with the result. Added the fan unit and the front grille, and bougth new hose clamps. For now, I gonna keep the hoses that came with the bike (they aren't hard yet), but at first sight of leaks, I'll buy a new set. PD: I know I need to find a new ground connection for the fan unit 🧐

Take out the gauge cluster, removed the cover and polished the plastic lenses. After many years of rain water, the lower part of every one was a mess because of hard water deposits. I used a soft Meguiars polishing paste and many toothpicks to loosen the deposits, and the lens now looks like new again. Also, take the black plastic and painted with a small paintbrush and diluted paint. I used diluted paint (50/50 paint ant thinner ratio) because I wanted to preserve the plastic texture of the cover (the left part looks like brushed aluminium, the right part like normal plastic texture of many 80's japanese cars). Now I need to buy new light bulbs, because many of them are dead....I need to compare normal bulbs with LED bulbs (white ones, and maybe green ones), this because I wanted to preserve that 90's look: if the LED are too bright, I belive that look can be lost

First things first, the cooling system. Take out the radiator, hoses, water pump cover and the thermostat. I found the leak from the radiator: the first near the cap, the second below that same tank. And you can see from the picture, the radiator is bent in the left side (probably from a drop). Went to 3 repair shops here in Costa Rica, but none gave me warranty for the type of repair they can make, so I decided to pay for manufacture a new aluminium unit with a one year warranty. I must wait now some days until the new radiator is finished. If you're curious, I paid about $150 for the new unit.

Hi! In this thread I'm going to write the process of my bike's transformation, from the first steps to make it road worthy, to (I hope) the final transformation into a RC30 look alike. The very first task was to take out the fairings that came with the bike, and check everything, from a mechanical point of view. There are some electrical connections and things the last owner put in it, like a chinese starter relay (without fuse) to a unknown origin R/R. There is no fuel filter, and I believe the fuel pump is dead (no sound from it with the key in the ignition position). Also, there is a huge leak from the radiator, so the coolant level (a mix of green car coolant, rusty water and a gelly like sustance used to stop leakings from the inside) was very low. Further, the oil filter is from a car (and there is a leak from it), the brake master cylinder is from an unknown bike (it's smaller than OEM, so the brake feel and stoping power isn't there), and the bike is overall very dirty. So, here is my bike, in the current state (sorry for the mess around, is a small garage with limited space for work in my bike).

Hi! My name is José Garro, I'm from Costa Rica. About 1 month ago, I found a marketplace ad for a 1991 VFR750F...in my country, this bike is pretty rare (I believe fewer than 5 exists here, the Honda dealer didn't sold premium / big bikes on that times). This is a USA versión, with about 33.000 miles, but with fairings from an unknown bike, and the last owner wanted to make it a cafe racer. The price was right (about a 1.200 dollars), so I bought it without even riding it! The bike starts and rides ok, but has sufered from poor maintenance, for example the radiator was leaking, and the bike had a mix of car coolant, brown water and a bad smelly gelly like sustance (I believe some agent for stop the leaking from the inside); the front brakes are non existent (the master cylinder is a small non OEM unit from China), and there is a loud clacking sound from the clutch basket (it dissapears when the clutch is pressed). My first step for this bike is make it road worthy: an aluminium radiator is on it's way, together with a new thermostat, OEM brake master cylinder with a new reconstruction set, new fluids (coolant, brake and clutch, engine oil with an Honda new filter), and a good condition used clutch unit from eBay, among other things. My future plans with this bike, besides enjoying it, are unclear, but I would like to give it the RC30 look (for me, one of the most beautiful bikes ever), but this will be in a few months (or years?) from now. I'll like to open a thread with the progress for this bike, but for now, some pictures...the first three the day I bought it, another two for the current progress, and the last one an unexpected gift from my brother.