Next: Oil Pressure woes...

Too funny (and sad)....

 

More sad I think.

I wish they made a revised V-4 500cc with gear driven Cams and better top end.

It'd be the perfect bike.

 

The VF500F has an Achilles' Heal - or two - (top end oiling, hardfacing of cams and rockers and the durability of the valve springs) - no debate here - but then again if you take good care of the engine it will last a long time. It is a glass is half full for me when it comes to the VF500F. It's hard for me to berate this bike no matter how much in jest. Really I think the Honda team did an amazing job on this model - way back in 1984.

 

I find it hard to look at a bike like a 1986 VFR750F and then look at my 1986 VF500F without thinking:

"Why don't I have an oil cooler?" hwell:

"Why don't I have gear driven Cams?" :frown:

"Why don't I have a stronger Valvetrain?" :sad:

Like I said earlier. I like the bike. It's the perfect size for me and I like the fuel economy.

But I feel worried about the reliability of the bike.

Can I make the top end reliable? Probably.
Will it be expensive? Definitely.
Is it worth it? Depends on who you ask.

We don't really have any hard evidence that says the bike will definitely last forever if you take good care of them. When I found the bad cam on my bike all the valves were very close to spec. (Some were in spec)
I don't beat the piss out of the bike, and I use good oil, and I change it more often than I should. So why'd it happen?
Poor design, Poor Parts....poor slowbird. :tongue:

 

Before you buy one off ebay send me a PM. I've got a spare (or three) kicking around in my parts boxes that I'll sell you.

-Jake

 

Has anyone put it soooo much wrench time with a vehicle that they are almost afraid to drive/ride it. Or push it too hard...cause it may break.

Am I crazy?

 

That would be AWESOME! Especially if you have verified that they're good.

No, you're not crazy. I'm a bit skeptical on riding the bike very far, and I started just riding a little further each time. As for pushing it hard, I run it right up to about 10k RPM's through the gears at least once every time I have it out, other than when the oil pressure problem popped up it's nasty head.

 

Man - what a depressing conversation. We would have problems with any 25 year old bike. Our problem is that we love our V-4's and the first gen look and there is to big a chunk of ourselves emotionally invested in them to let them go.

....but man, what a different world it would be if Honda did go on to make the same changes on the 500 as they did with the 750, lol.

 

As much as I rip on these bikes I do understand. (and sometimes laughing at something helps you not cry/punch/shoot/pee on/poop on something....you know?) :tongue:

It really is too bad. If you got all the good stuff from the VFR750's and mixed them with the VF500......wow. It's like a world where unicorns existed. So Magical.

 

I know one is good 'cause it's in the motor that I was using last summer before it started floating valves. They other two would be crap shoots as I've never had them in a running motor. Either way I can open them up and make sure everything is shiny before I sell you one.

-Jake

 

I'll let you know as soon as I know what's going on with it.

 

Quick "update".

I don't think the bearings are hurt. I came home yesterday after a nice rain shower/thunderstorm to find the bike on it's side. I righted it, checked it over, let it sit for a couple minutes to let the oil drain back, and started it to make sure it was ok. It was just as if it hadn't fallen, signals all intact, just a small dent on the good side of the tank. Anyway, the update part, I let it idle for a short time, and I didn't like how bad it was rattling, so I gave it a bit of throttle to get the oil pump spinning enough to get the pressure up, and it quieted down nicely. When I let it idle again, it stayed quiet, even after I let it run long enough that the oil light started to come on. It was idling around 1100 RPM's at that time, which is lower than I usually have it set. I jsut don't have the idle worked out yet, pilot screws set, sync, etc...

Things are looking good for me now!

 

This is not good. I have the bike apart. It needs to come apart MUCH further before it can go back together.

The oil pump wasn't exactly "NEW" looking. I got the pump that I had bought from Jakobi on here ready to go in and I saw that the boss where the pump feeds pressure to (that is sealed with an o-ring) is broken. The pump was probably able to make enough pressure, it was just pushing it right back into the pan. I can't tell so far what happened, just that I need to either pull it apart and put all the good parts into the case from the spare engine, or get creative, or find a used engine. Ugh...

I'm about to go squirrelman on this thing!

 

That's bad news! You are missing the whole summer...

That is a lot of work. Good luck.

 

I'm not missing the summer, I still have a ninja 250 to ride!

 

True. I forgot you had another bike!

 

So, I figured out what happened. I was dumping the3 drain pan (carefully) and found the pieces that had broken off, and one of the dowels from a cam cap. I vaguely remember one not being there, when I thought it was, and just grabbed another out of the parts pile. I shoulda pulled the oil pan. Ugh. Now, I'm screwed into doing more work. :facepalm:

 

Not sure I'm following - did an alignment dowel end up going through the oil pump?