V4 nut's first post.

Hi Ya'll,
I'm a sucker for discarded bikes and have found happiness working on my old V4 Hondas. Most of my background has been riding dirt bikes, but about 8 years ago I rolled the dice and picked up a non-running 1982 V45 Sabre real cheap at a bike auction. Long story short, I've been riding it for 7 years now and am hooked on V4s.

Last year my wife stumbled upon a literal barn find 1983 V45 Interceptor that had been sitting in a machine shed on a farm for nearly 20 years. She gave it to me for Valentine's day! Needless to say it needs much work but I think it's a great project bike - it's all there and doesn't look abused. I've done a lot of mechanical work on cars and bikes and am kind of a finesse guy so I'm not intimidated by it. I am about to fire it for the first time - maybe this weekend?

I've got a question. The Interceptor seat is mint, but I'm almost afraid to sit on it after it has been setting around for so long - maybe it will crack up right away? Any recommendations on a product that may soften it up and preserve it? Thanks in advance - great site!

 

Congrats and welcome to the sight.

You might want to try some sort of leather conditioner - Meguiars is decent stuff. I honestly don't know if that'll work, just making a suggestion.

Good luck. Got any pictures of her to post?

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Here's a shot of the Interceptor from the day my wife and son trailered it home - it's straight from the tomb. I had wiped off the seat and bodywork, but the rest still had 20 years of dirt on it. I'll try to take a couple of shots to bring the project up to date.

 

coool......she still has the original pipes, what a great find. love the colours.
check out my albums for the original gen 1 sales brochure if you wanna see any detail shots of them as new.

do her justice and bring her back to life. maybe try some armorall on the seat, its supposed to be a good vinyl protectant.

check the airbox too, other members have found it is a handy place for mice to set up house! especially since she been undisturbed in a barn for so long.

good luck and keep us updated with your progress.

 

Amorall makes a leather/vinyl conditioner which is pretty good. I would suggest drowning the seat in it and just let it sit to soak in,then repeat.

 

If you need any original OEM parts. Try this place SHSpowersports.com. They have some of the lowest pricing for OEM stuff and they ship it fast. About half the time others take. They are in Grand Rapids MI. Good guys.

Nice looking bike. A little soap and water and some tweaking you should be good to go. Carbs most likely need to be gone thru. This is the place for help. Good luck.

p.s. Check the front brake sliders. They slide on bushings and pins. Most likely corrosion has gotten to them.

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Thanks to everyone for your input! I've been working on the VF lately and have been making good progress. The bike was so dirty and I hated working on it that way so I've torn most of it down just to clean it up. I pulled the valve covers off and the valvetrain looks solid - the cams, chains, and sprockets are all in excellent shape - yeah. I dumped a quart of oil over everything to pre-lube the top end before firing it and to help flush out the crankcase.

GreyVF750F, I checked out your gallery - sweet bike! Where did you get your little windscreen spoiler lip? How well does it work for you?

I'm kinda new to this forum. If I want to do some "project update" posts with a few pictures of the VF should I continue with this thread or start a different thread somewhere else? Just want to do the right thing. Again, thanks!

 

I say continue using this thread. The bike looks like a great find! Glad to see it's going to get some TLC and fulfill its intended purpose of carving some corners and putting a smile on the rider's face.

I look forward to seeing more pictures, you can't post too many. A video of the bike when you first get it running will be really cool to see as well.

 

Good stuff, your wife is a keeper for sure!!!

How many miles on that puppy?

Check out my restoration thread for more ideas!

 

Project Update:

I've put quite a few hours into the VF recently and thought I'd give an update. I've been giving it a THOROUGH cleaning and using it as a way to get to know the bike and make it nicer to work on. (Crazy huh, I haven't even fired the engine yet.) If nothing else, I'll have a lot of clean parts to ebay. :biggrin:

I've opened and inspected EVERY electrical connector on the bike, flushed with contact cleaner, and re-assembled with dielectric grease. I hate electrical gremlins when I'm trying to work on a bike.

I'm not touching the wheels, forks, or brakes until the engine checks out.

The time to fire it up is drawing near (really). I keep getting pulled off the project by things like fixing kid's cars, etc. I am still determined to get it fired up before the riding season is over though.

Anyway, here are a few pics... (finally )

First day home, straight from the tomb, bodywork wiped off.


Rear of bike stripped and cleaned.


Rear re-assembled, front of bike stripped and cleaned.


Carbs rebuilt, SS allen head screws make them SO nice to work on.


Upper radiator/fan assembly cleaned, flushed, and re-assembled.

 

How many miles, & are you a member on Honda Sabre, Magna, Interceptor BBS - Index ?

 

Thanks for the post. Your thread is how I stumbled across VFR World in the first place (yeah Google). Your project looks awesome - I await completion. :biggrin:

I think my VF has about 14k on it, not really sure, haven't checked since the day it came home.

 

About 14k and nope.

 

did the VF750's come with dual radiator fans?


looks awesome great find!

 

Yup, dual fans are stock. My 1982 VF750S (Sabre) has one radiator and one larger diameter fan. I don't know about others in V4 family.

I see you have a VF500F. I've got my eyes on another rescue project - a 1985 VF500F. I'm thinking it may make a nice bike for my wife (lower seat height and much lower weight than my VF750F). What do ya think about a VF500F as a "wife bike"? (No offense ladies.)

 

the 500 would make a awesome beginners bike as like you said less wieght and seat height and not a lot of power to hurt yourself...mine i've taken a different way however but for you wife it would make a great bike!


http://vfrworld.com/forums/first-se...4-restoring-adding-modern-touch-86-vf500.html heres my thread on the 500 i own

 

Project Update II

Finally got the Interceptor ready to test fire.
Thought I'd put up a few more photos to show what I've been up to.

Flow testing fuel pump. Minimum spec is 22oz per minute - mine flowed 34 - cool.


Leak testing carb assembly before installation by pressurizing with fuel pump. No leaks - yeah!


Carbs and upper radiator assembly installed.
Experienced VF750F mechanics will note huge mistake!

Learn from my mistake - connect throttle cables to carb linkage BEFORE installing carbs!
Connecting them after installing carbs really tested my abilities and my patience, but I got it.

All fuses have same blue colored element - might be originals.


Spark plug boot components with 5k ohm resistor.
One plug wire measured open - was corrosion between resistor and soldered wire ferrule.
Glad I checked them all before trying to start bike.


Coils and spark plug wires installed - just about ready to fire!


Here's a link to a short video of first start - YES! (Please disregard large dork in video...) YouTube - First start for VF750F
Bike started right up after cranking a while to fill carbs.
Check out $5 test fuel tank - sorry Motion Pro. Spare car battery works great for test sessions.
I thought starter sounded really whiney until I watched a few other VF750F videos on YouTube.

Check out small white objects flying from right muffler during video.
I've got the world's only V4 popcorn popper!
I later removed the mufflers and found out why!
That's about 1/4 of the junk that was in the exhaust system.



Engine ran pretty good considering carbs haven't been tuned yet.
Didn't smoke either - VERY good sign for an engine that has sat forever.
Should run much better with exhaust cleaned out and carbs adjusted.
That's all for now.

 

Well, spring has arrived on the tundra and I've started working on the Interceptor again. Pulled the whole front end and tore apart the forks - they were puking all over the front brakes. Not in too bad of shape. I'll replace bushings and seals though. My steering stem bearings have a rough spot when the front end is on center (typical) and need replacing. Lower grease seal doesn't seem to be available from Honda. Anyone ever use an "All Balls" bearing and seal kit (P/N 22-1020) for the steering stem on a first gen VF750F? Looking for real experience here. Thanks.