My VF500F adventures!

Hi all, I'm new here. Thought I'd write a bit about my Interceptor 85 500, and the experiences I'm having with it.

I found the bike through Craigslist, drove about 40 miles to pick it up with my dad's trailer, paid $500 for it.

The story I got was that the original engine smoked, it had been swapped with an 84 engine, and never completed. The guy I bought it from said that they had it running a year ago (I'm guessing on starting fluid) and that when they turned the fuel on, it leaked badly.

I pulled the carbs off (the plate wasn't on them, and from reading here, I learned that's why it probably leaked so badly) and pulled them all apart and cleaned them like there was no tomorrow! I had a few passages that just didn't want to clean up, but I eventually got them. put them all back together, and on the plate. The bike would now run, but not very well.

After pulling the carbs a few times to fix linkage issues (springs coming out, from them being loose from the plate) I finally had the bike ridable. It would not idle right, no matter what I would do, even though I had the idle screw all the way in. I put about 50 miles on it, then I started hearing a pretty bad noise. I finally decided that it had to be a rod, since it would double up the knock as the RPM's were coming down. I work as an automotive technician, so I know a thing or two about engines!

From here I decided to pull it apart (last Sunday) and see what was going on. Turns out that number 4 rod had spun the bearing. Looking at the crank, it needs work. When I bought the bike, he included the original engine (that smoked) so I tore into it. First thing I found was the oil had water (coolant?) in it. I decided that I wasn't going to try to just throw that engine on and go! I ripped id it apart and measured the crank. All looked good, so I put it back together with that crank, and a couple rod bearings from the original engine. I checked the clearences with Plastigauge and all looked good!

My next headache came when trying to get all the cams in time. I've timed engines with 4 cams many times before, but for some reason this one was just giving me fits! Turns out that I was "reading into" the directions and trying to align the front cams to the TF timing mark on the crank pulley. After finding the answer to that problem here on VFRworld, I got it all in time.

I returned to working on it today, putting the covers back on it, tightening the last bolts, and all that. I did find out why it wouldn't idle, and maybe how I killed it. Somehow the carbs were WAY off, and #4 was the only one open with the idle screw ran in. I did an eyeball sync for now.

I put the engine back in the bike, filled all the fluids. After some cranking (didn't even turn the fuel on until I had cranked it enough to turn the oil light off) turned on the fuel and after some more cranking, it fired up! I couldn't get the idle right again, when I remembered that I forgot to tighten the carb boots! Tightened them up, and for th efirst time since I've owned the bike (about 3 weeks) it will actually idle close to where it should!

I still have lots to do, such as adjusting and syncing the carbs, and looking into a couple leaks. Overall it's running pretty good now! It's got some flat spots in different RPM ranges (Most notably around 6000 which seems to be common from reading on here) and really needs some suspension work, and a better fitting seat.

I'm just happy to be riding it again! I'll post a few pics when I get some time. I have some from when I got it home (the shop where I work) some with the engine out, the crank damage, and a couple with it here at home.

 

Way to go guy! Good job.

I hope you have a sense of acheivment like I hopefully will when I get my VF back together.

What's the deal with the flat spot at 6,000rpm?

 

awesome sounds like a good deal and now got her up and running I love hearing I guess reading stories like this...fine job...

 

if it was not for the other engine I would have taken the thing back. glad to hear that you were able to bring it back to Life. check this out to change your rear suspension.
Daugherty Motorsports - Motorcycle Suspension Performance and Modification

 

Yes! It is a GREAT sense of acheivement! More than I get from the day to day automotive stuff that I do. I rebuild transmissions, and everything else, including an engine that I'm in the process of putting together now for work, and this is better than all of that!

Form what I gather, the needles inside the sliders need raised slightly. I need to get everything else in order before getting to that, such as the idle mixture, and syncing the carbs.

Nah, I wouldn't have taken it back, not for the $500 price tag. The guy I got it from was not the one that had done all the work. He admitted to not knowing HOW to work on it. He got it from the guys that did work on it, and the one that owned it didn't finish it because he inherited some $ and bought a new bike, I think a ZX-14. If I didn't have the other engine, I would have just had the crank fixed, as I know an EXCELLENT machine shop that would have fixed me right up!

On the suspension, I do plan on checking out Jamie for the good stuff! I just have to get the $ saved up!

 

I do have a question, and maybe I should put it in a new thread, but here goes anyway.

According to the Clymer's manual, the 84 and 85 engines had smaller crankshafts than the 86 (the 86 specs are in the supplement portion). When I was measuring the crank in both of the engines (the original 85 and the 84 which is a much lower serial number) they both measured out to the specs for the 86 crank. Now I have noticed that when looking for parts, the engine serial number cutoff for some of the parts is somewhere aroung 100000 and both of these are higher than that. Is the manual not completely accurate in these specs being for 86, not just any engine over that serial number range? Even the carb jetting is different in 96, and one of the sets I have, has the jets that the 86 calls for (which is 90-something.) Also, the build date of my bike is 7/84 which would mean an early 85.

Just curious, as it can get confusing trying to order parts!

 

My magna vf500 heads are totaly worn out. I can't ride it again till they are fixed.
If ur extra heads would work could i buy them off you?

 

I'll have to wait until I get around to rebuilding everything, which may be as far away as the winter. I'm just not ready to part with them, incase I need them.

 

Update!

Update time!

I've put a couple hundred miles on the bike now, and it has not been exactly a smooth deal!

I fixed the oil leak from the clutch pushrod seal, as seen in my thread about it.

I have this problem that seems sort of common, but not exactly the way mine is acting. After running for a while, I seem to drop a couple cylinders. It started on the first decent length ride I took (only about 30 miles, staying close to home) and it just seemed to run out of fuel, which I think WAS the case. It did it twice, so a couple days later I performed the fuel petcock modification, making it a manual petcock. I decided to connect the fuel pump back into the loop, and I made it only about a mile down the road and had to take it back out of the loop.

So, I thought I had it fixed, but NO WAY! I took another decent length ride (20-30 miles) and it happened again. I thought I was out of gas, at only 75 miles on the tank, so I put it on reserve. Got the bike started, but I'm pretty sure it was running on 2 cylinders, with it cutting back in once in a while. After a few miles, all was fine again.

A few days later (this evening to be exact, so I remember more exactly what happened) went for a ride to a friend's hog roast (about 8-10 miles) then took a few miles out of the way to get home. Earlier in the day, I had cleaned the tank went, in the fuel cap. Just after I passed my road (I decided to go into town, about 3 miles further, to fill the tank back up to check mileage) it started missing a little, then dropping to what fealt like 2 cylinders again. If I gave it heavy throttle it would run. I started it at the end of my road, and had to rev it hard to keep it running. Got it to the gas station, fueled up went inside for a minute, came back out and it ran like nothing was wrong!

Here's where my thinking, and automotive experience (ASE master tech) is pointing me:

Next time, I'll pull over and pull the fuel line to make sure fuel is going to the carbs. I'm not thinking this is the problem, since it seems to be running on 2.

Check the crank sensors (triggers, or whatever they're called on the bike.) I might hook up the osciloscope to each to see if the waveforms are the same, then run it up and down the road to warm it up and test again, or even strap the scope to the bike, and take a recording when it happens. I have options on iths one.

Check the coils, primary and secondary resistance cold and warm, and maybe even scope the patterns, primary and secondary.

Of course, I AM going to do a general electrical connection check all around to start with.

Is there anything else I should be looking for? I'd really rather not have to go through the scope testing and all, but I DO want the thing to run right!

 

the running out of gas sounds like the tank is not venting, try spraing carb cleaner in the little hole in the gas cap. that sould fix it. check this out might help. http://users.rcn.com/kochc/moto/spark/ig_repair.html

 

fun fun fun! it looks like you will be staying busy :biggrin:

 

Yeah, I think I have my work cut out for me! At least I have access to the equipment to use to make a definitive diagnosis!

 

i know how it is bro i've been there before and there right now mine is giving me a fuss at the moment but she usely quits bitching after i ride her like a two dollar whore

 

Once again, another error in the Clymer manual. Do yourself a favor and get a Honda manual.

The "84" engines had the smaller journals but none of them made it to the street in the US. Any that were shipped like that were replaced by the dealerships before they were sold. These were only the very first ones to make it into the country. They can easily be identified by the 5-speed gearboxes. All 500's with a 6-speed are the "newer" engine.

 

Thanks for the info Jamie! I've always had a distrust (and dislike) for aftermarket manuals in the Automotive industry, and now I can see it's the same in the Motorcycle industry!

I might have to go to the shop and mess around with it for a few, or just stick around after work tomorrow. The cool thing is that it's only 1.8 miles to work, so I don't have to worry as much about it breaking down!

 

Mine runs good when rode hard, but only for so long! Then I gotta coax her into going another round!

In other words, when it runs, it runs pretty good! Just need to get this dying out, or half dying out situation ironed out, and the carbs desparately need synced. Unfortunately, the carb sync tool I have (belongs to a good friend) doen't have any mercury in it, so I'm either buying a new set, or getting some mercury for his. I think I might get a new set anyway, soe that I ahve the adapters, since his are long gone.

 

I got to the root of the fuel supply problem, while creating another problem, trying to fix yet another problem! Follow that?

Here's my latest chapter in the VF500F adventure "series"!

So I decided to buy a brand spank-me new carb sybcronizer tool (carb sticks, manometer, or whatever you choose to call it) and get my carbs working together properly. I bought the current MotionPro set, Mercury free, about $100. Get them calibrated to the bike, hook them up to the individual cylinders and couldn't get anywhere close on any of them. They were WAY off. Ends up, the bike sucked the fluid out of the number 1 tube, and a little bit out of number 4. While trying to get them close, I made them worse, and replicated the running out of fuel problem, without a ride!

I pulled the fuel line, and nothing came out, so I KNOW that it IS a fuel problem. The only things between the end of the line I had pulled from the carbs and the fuel in the tank were the petcock, lines and filter. That filter wasn't letting anything through. It's not clogged, just won't flow freely enough to gravity feed. Pull the filter and and fuel flows like crazy. So, I decide to check out the pump, and verify if it actually does work, or not. Turns out that when I had it connect last, I trusted where the hoses were connected being right, and they were wrong! So, now I have the fuel pump verified working, and running with no filter. I have not had a problem yet,and I have rode far enough for it to happen!

Back to the carbs now. Once I got the fuel delivery fixed, I restarted the bike, and I got all kinds of oil smoke out of it. Not sure (still) if it's because they were so far out of sync, or what the deal was, but I've not noticed it anymore after it all got burned out of the exhaust. It was smoking BADLY!

After the smoke starts pouring, I mess with it a little bit, then give up for now. The next day I ride it to work, running worse than ever. I don't mess with it, I had work to do.

The next day, I was waiting on parts for 2 jobs, and nothing else was going on, so I got permission to work on my bike for a while, until something came in. So, I pulled the tank, and the air cleaner. Looking in at the throttle plates, I confirmed that they were WAY off. I also pulled the plugs and ran a compression test, since I never had. It turns out that the rear head was about 50 PSI lower than the front! NOT GOOD! I pulled the rocker cover. After READING the manual (instead of looking at their pictures) I had the rear head out of time. Argh! Damn clymer's manuals! That thing is going in the trash as soon as I get something better! GOt the timing sorted out, compression was better, put the plugs back in.

Now my attention turns back to the carbs. Ugh! I'm remembering why I like fuel injection so well! I finally decided to static sync, (or bench sync?) them by visually matching the front 2 carbs, then pushing #2 closed (it's held open by spring pressure) from the inside, and matching the amount it took (approximately) to the rear 2 carbs. Fired the bike up, had a couple little issues, got it all back to gether, and rode it. Smoothest it has been yet! It didn't run so well that day, but really seemed MUCH better the next! The hesitation, or lull at around 6000 is minimal, and will likely be gone once I get fluid in the syncronizer, and get the carbs synced properly. No running out of fuel anymore!

Now on to pulling the front wheel and balancing it (neighbor has a bike shop for the balance!) Then I'll ride the hell out of the bike! I'm unsure about taking it on a couple hundred mile poker run this weekend, might have to take the Ninja, and miss out on the power!

 

I forgot to mention that the idle is much better now! It idles smooth, and doesn't hang like it was doing. I still need to tweak on the pilot screws, but it's at least close now!

Also, I still only have the purchase, license, tax, and bettery prices as the only money spent, other than tools (that will get used on other bikes!) Well, I did buy some small hardware parts, totalling about $25-30.

 

Have you found/replaced the carb plate yet? If you have not and are looking for one I have one off an 84 500 you can have for the price of shipping. PM me if you are interested.

 

I'm good to go on the carb plate. When I bought the bike, it was there, just not installed. Sorry to confuse!

Thanks for the offer anyway! This is what I love about most of the web forum communities that I participate in!