It's official. I'm a VF500 addict.

Outside is as your drawing; inside the metal sheet is flat, no ledge.
Internal shape of the tank is just as external surfaces are, only differences are 2 additions:
1. A reinforcement of a small rectangular internal plate with nuts for petcock mounting,
2. A tube where fuel enters the tank as seen in previous picture

 

I see, more like this then,

 

Yes, that's the one

 

Get it running (basically only carb work), add it to the stable, and ride the shite out of it, of course!

 

Just got off the phone with the folks @ Seafoam. So far, I am right on course. Rep told story of a customer with an old Ducati with the same story (old bike, parts NLA, didn't want to rebuild carbs, sat for 8-10 years with gas in the tank & carbs, etc). He did the same thing I'm doing (filling carbs and float bowls with it) and he let it sit for a week, drained float bowls in order to get more gas in there (Seafoam is not very volitile i.e. won't fire easily, so it needs a better than 50/50 mix with gas to start) and it started up with fresh gas. Ran like crap at first, but got better and better, let it run for 15 minutes or so, went for a ride, good as new. He said to add Seafoam to the new gas as well, which I did today.

So....rep says letting it sit is the key. I was thinking about 2-3 days, but he suggested more like 7-10. The longer the better. It's made to break up varnish over time (it's not chemical-based, it's oil-based, so it works slower @ breaking up fuel varnish.)

He also suggested bumping the starter every now & then to stir things up.

He felt confident it would surely work if let to soak about a week or so. So, as a forum group test, I'll wait it out and see what we see. I'm curious already...

 

Also today:
New clutch fluid (old stuff was...not good. It was low in quantity and had solidified around the cap). New front and rear brake fluid as well.

Brake pads are good all around. Adjusted/cleaned the chain. Rear sprocket is good.

Everything else is done. Not much else to do except kick back and...wait. Damn this motorcycling is excitin' schtuff, huh?

 

Thank you for the follow up post on using Sea Foam.

So I'm guessing, based on the amount of time that the rep said to let it sit, that Sea Foam is not caustic - i.e. it won't damage the floats. This is good to know as standard carb spray is way too harsh to use on plastic (brake spray is okay).

 

Correct. It does not have any caustic or bad chemicals in it. It's oil-based. You can pour it into the crankcase (and they suggest that as well for lubrication) and leave it there till the next oil change. He also said if any got on the cylinder walls (from me bump-starting it now & then) it would be a good thing and help lubrication @ start-up.

 

Good deal. Thanks for the post and for giving Sea Foam a call. Great intel!

 

UPDATE:
Today was a good day. We know for sure we got a runner now. I knew it would start since it caught yesterday, but it didn’t run long. Today I pulled the plugs, laid them on the head, and could only see a strong spark on two of them. So, since Pep Boys had them in stock and they were cheap, I decided it was worth the $10 for plugs.

Brought them back, and this time I had good strong visible spark on all four before putting them in. A couple of cranks later, and it started! It smoked A LOT from the Seafoam, but it gradually (without me touching it) settled into a loping pattern: it would rev up a bit, then come down, all on it's own without any input from me. Like it was going thru the motions and warming up really, just like the guy @ Seafoam told me it would. If I gave it any throttle, it died. So I let it idle for about 15-20 minutes while I cleaned up the garage a bit. It went thru about a quart of gas, and smoked a hell of a lot, but it got better and better and the up & down RPMs slowed and then eventually stopped and it settled into a fast idle. If I cut the choke, however, it died. If I gave it gas, it died.The fan came on right on the mark and cut off correctly too on it’s own, so that was good to see. No leaks anywhere that I saw either.

Eventually it got to the point that it would take WFO throttle inputs where it didn’t before, and you could snap the throttle open and closed and it would respond accordingly, so that’s a good sign. I did not get it to the point that it would idle off choke yet though, but I think we’re close. I filled the carbs with some more Seafoam (the rep said I may have to do it 2x for better results), so I’ll let that sit a while. I may have to find somewhere else to start it...the smoke rolls out the door like the garage is on fire and will keep doing it until all this stuff gets out of the engine. Great huge clouds wafting all over the ‘hood is sure to get me in good with the neighbors. Frankly I’m surprised I haven’t heard from them yet. I would have been all over my arse by now if I were them.

So, we’ll let it sit a bit more and see if that helps. Probably less than a week this time. I’m not ruling out a carb clean at this point. If it still won’t idle, the carbs will have to come off to clean the enrichner circuit/idle circuit (IIRC from doing this on my 85 model? That sound right? Wasn't it the enrichner non-removable tubes that I slid some clear hose over and filled with carb cleaner and let sit for a while? I'll have to find that post. I remember being jazzed about the method and the results, I think...).

Anyhow, wanted to post the results from the Seafoam soak. I'm amazed that it worked as well as it did. If you have the time, it may work for you as well.

More to come...

 

Well, I got it all put back and running, but I'm having issues. It won't start twice in a row practically now. I pulled the plugs, and they are fine, not overly wet. I laid them on the head and saw no spark when cranking. I pulled the coils and tried to figure out how to check them with my multimeter and the SM, but didn't come up with anything. Re-installed the coils and traced the coil wire down to the male/female plug on the left side under the cover. Unplugged it, plugged it back in (the plug with the black plastic clips on it) and it started and ran. Once. When I cut it off again and tried this unplug/replug trick again, it wouldn't start. The problem seems to be that I'm not getting spark, but from there I'm stumped.

I was thinking reg/rec, but I'm not really 100% clear on what that does exactly. If it is bad, will the coils get spark to pass onto the plugs? Again, this bike (and the R/R and coils) only have 2300 miles on it.

 

yet another update...
just went out and tried it again, and it started right up. Cut it off and restarted 3x and all 3x it started fine.

What could make it hard to start when hot/warm after idling/riding in first gear slowly only a few minutes? When a R/R fails, is it no/no go, or does it sometimes fail when warm (no idea why I think R/R...just wondering)

 

The reg/rec has no effect on the ability of the engine to start or run. If there is enough juice to crank it over (from the battery) then there is enough for it to run. It sounds like maybe you have some bad connections somewhere. What are the condition of the contacts?

 

All the contacts (at least on the left side under the cover that are attached to the bracket that clips onto the R/R) are clean and dry. All fuses are intact and clean. Odd thing: I've gone out 5 more times tonight off & on and it has started every time, first try. Now I am perplexed.

And I got something else with it, it seems. I put my license plate on it and rode it about 2 miles to a gas station to check the air in the tires (both low) and put a gallon of gas in it. When I was going down the hill, I gave it lots of throttle, got up to about 60mph in 4th or 5th and got a lot of oil smoke out of the pipes. Like crop-dusting quantity. A schload. Blue smoke trail for the entire 2 miles and while idling at the light. At idle at the gas station, it continued to smoke. Shop owner there rides too, and we both looked for leaks on the pipes and saw none. It is coming out of the ends of the pipes themselves, nothing dripping on the headers or the engine itself. I came back and rode it around my 'hood with my neighbor (hard-core engine guy) watching and he said he saw very little smoke if anything...nothing like I saw in the mirrors when I was leaving. He thinks that it's b/c it's sat for so long and the rings need a little seating since they were without lubrication for so long. When riding at a casual pace, though...nothing. Switching gears, riding slowly in circles in the 'hood and cul-de-sac and taking it easy...nothing. Idling in my garage...no smoke at all. Rev'ed to the moon in my garage in neutral...no smoke at all. On the centerstand in 1st/2nd/3rd gear and rear wheel moving...no smoke. It seems now to only smoke when hard on the gas and attempting WFO. Granted, the bike has not been started/running in 16 years, has not moved under it's own power for those same 16 years until today, and the 5 miles I put on it today was the first miles in a loooong time, but wouldn't it smoke all the time if it were the rings? Could the rings REALLY be bad already on a bike with only 2300 miles? Valves not closing fully perhaps? Deposits on valves keeping them open? Ideas/similar tales of woe?

 

This bike has been asleep for 16 years. Run it a few tanks of gas and I bet you see a huge improvement. Give it time to break back in. Stay close to home for a while, just in case.

 

My concern is that it's not smoking at start-up. Normally when it smokes only at WFO it's the rings or valve stem seals. Let's hope just getting some miles on it clears things up.

BTW - I'm assuming there is new oil in the bike. I bought a VF1000F one time that was advertised as having a bad engine because it smoked. After changing the oil to some 20w50 (it was summer) I never saw another puff of smoke. That was 12 years ago.... and I put 100 miles on that bike this week with no engine problems.....

 

Yeah, the oil/filter change was the first thing I did. 3.XX quarts of GN4 10W40. Think a heavier weight oil might help me out?

PS just started it again for the first time today. No choke, and it fired up first time and ran/idled great. No smoke.

Are rings/valves/valve stem seals still available from the Mothership or anyone else? Any chance they would not need to be replaced, just de-grimed instead if they are all NLA?

The valve stem seals are rubber, right? So....16 years without oil/lubricant would make them hard and brittle and subject to not closing tight around the valve stem, hence oil leakage?

 

I wouldn't get the cart in front of the horse. Just ride it around a bit and see what happens. Bikes that have sat for a long period will do weird things at first.

 

Good advice. I've already named these chickens. More to follow once I ride it a bit. Thanks all...

 

Hope this works out okay. I can't imagine too much could be wrong given the very low mileage.