1986 VF500 New Project

For the price of a case of beer I've acquired an '86 VF500 with 51K and a well neglected past.
Oh it's all there, but I seriously thought of donating it to someone after getting it home.
The top of the engine is caked with oil and dirt.

While buttoning it all back together I found the loose ground so fed some fuel in the down line and to my surprise it actually started and idled a bit. No smoke or odd noises other than what sounds like a slightly loose tappet on the left front cylinder.
Everything electrically appears to work.
The PO evidently gave it a go by dismantling to get to the carbs, and changing the oil an filter.
So I got interested again ...
On closer inspection it looks like all the oily cake is from the crankcase breather hose being disconnected and blowing under the tank. Someone had evidently 'de-smogged' it.

Details:
Been sitting appx 5 years, handed down at least 3 times, supposedly put away dry...
Tank had some rust and about a pint of turpentine in the bottom. I've cleaned it out and got the petcock working.
It seems to be leaking now...do I need a petcock kit? Are they available?
After installing the tank with fresh fuel it started and ran for a bit but died when given throttle.
Now she wants to start but just can't quite do it.
I'll attempt to drain the carb bowls nex, and get some fresh sparkplugs.
Is there a plain gravity feed petcock I can by?

The clutch reservoir literally has powdered corrosion in it.
I'll flush this, but what fluid to use? Brake fluid ? Mineral oil?
Is there a slave cylinder kit available if I need one?

Front brake master appears shot but I have a replacement.
One of the PO's said the front brake was mushy.
Less than mushy now.
Easy to swap this out.

All the body work is there some busted tabs, could use a tailsection and fresh(er) chin spoiler.

Any advice on this will be appreciated.
Not sure what the best way is to get parts yet.

I want to keep this low-budget...so far so good... :wink:

 

e-bay for most of the smaller parts. Daugherty Motorsports - Tank Valve Petcock Modification

 

Welcome!

A new petcock should still be available for the 86, but I'm not 100% sure about that. As mentioned, I have a section of my site where I show how to convert the stock 84-85 models to gravity feed. Keep in mind that the 86's were gravity feed from the factory, so yours should not have a vacuum line going to it at all.

Just like the reservoir cover states, you should use only DOT 4 brake fluid in the hydraulic clutch system.

Really, your local dealership will be your best friend in this case. Tell them what you have and that you'll be buying a lot of parts from them. Ask them to set you up with a discount in their computer. This is standard procedure for all dealerships and it will ensure that you get a good deal every time you order something. Talking to the parts manager helps a lot, the Joe Blow behind the counter doesn't care.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

 

Unless the master cylinder bores are really eroded away, Honda offers repair kits for them that include everything you need, relativley inexpensively. You can buy slave cylinder seals separately if needed.

 

I have a different petcock than the Daugherty web linky shows...no pipe going into the tank, rather standard affair.
Any idea what to do?
It's not flowing gas for sure. It was leaking, probably thru the diaphram vent hole that didn't have anything connected when I had it on the bike.
The bike was running then stopped.
Bike seems to run if I feed the intake hose with a turkey baster...

 

Yes, thet 86 petcocks are different. You can still modify them in the manner I show on my site. The general idea is the same. That should fix your diaphragm problem, but there are other things that can make a petcock fail. If you modify it to have manual operation it will likely be just fine.

 

Thanks for the response Jamie.

So in my case I just cut the one diaphram and plug the one vent hole?

Also, what's the best way to seal the petcock to the tank? There wasn't a gasket.
I used red gasket seal but that didn't fare well with the gasoline.

 

Yep, just cut the center out!

Some silicone sealant should do the trick, though a new gasket assembled dry is really your best choice. My guess is that you can't get those gaskets anymore.

 

good, will do.
And plug the diaphram tube?
Oh, and one more, heh heh, that spring in the pic I posted, know where that goes?
I think it was under the diaphram cover...