Potential New VF Owner

Check your starter button, the headlight runs through it. The button has 4 contacts, 1 set for normally open (start) and 1 normally closed (headlight circuit).

Yellow/red and Black are normally closed (head light circuit)

Blue/White and Black/Red normally open (start circuit)

my switch went out and I soldered the headlight wires together and the put a push button for the starter. The headlight stays on when I press the start button but it works. I'm going to have to do the same thing on my Sabre before long.

 

Thank You!! I was going nuts trying to figure this out. I wasn't concerned about the headlamp not being on when I was test running the engine. The PO had given me a box of stuff with the bike, one of the items in the box was a headlamp bulb so I thought the bulb was burnt out. I replaced the bulb, still no light. Thanks again.

Update!! After reading an older thread about the start switch/headlamp problem, I went to the garage, diddled the start switch, suddenly it popped out a bit and the headlamp came on. I sprayed some dielectric grease/anti-corrosion solution into the switch, it is now working just fine, headlamp goes out when I push it , headlamp comes back on when I release it. This forum has helped immensely in getting my 500 on the road, thanks to all.

 

Rode it today!! Runs great, surpasses my expectations. Put 40 miles on it, stayed close to home in case something went wrong, nothing did. I think it's a keeper!

 

Congrats!!! Nice looking bike.

 

Great news! Congrats. Nice to see one back on the road.

 

Sweet, good to see another vif on the road.

 

A thought on this - while the '84 and '85 model years do not need the fuel pump and can rely on a gravity fed system, without having fuel starvation issues, the fuel pump does help to even out the flow across all four carburetors.

When removing the fuel pump you made need to increase the fuel level in the bowl (decrease the float height) to compensate - or - you could add a second fuel line tapping into throttle body no. 4, as the race bikes ran back in the day.

From '84 FSM:



Location for second fuel line:

 

Makes sense ic, I did set the float levels at the absolute minimum fuel level, perhaps gravity just wasn't enough to feed all 4 carbs properly. As long as the pump system is working OK, I am going to stay with it. I don't relish the thought of removing the carbs again just yet.

 

Good deal.

If I could ask, what dimension did you set the float heights to?

Thx!

 

I made a cut-from-plastic sheet gauge which spanned the carb body gasket flange and was cut to measure .250" I tilted the carb body so that the needle was just seated and set the float tang so that the bottom of the float just touched the gauge.

 

Okay, thanks.

 

Huge thanks to all of you that have helped me get my bike on the road, your assistance & knowledge is greatly appreciated.

 

Always nice to read a post like this in the First Gen Forum!

 

Update. I now have over 500 miles on the bike, not the 1st problem so far, I am absolutely thrilled with it. Two fillups calculate to 52 mpg, but I have been riding slowly due to the old tires. I had new tires installed today, went with stock size 100/90/16 on the front, 130/80/18 rear, now I won't be afraid to exceed 55 mph. Next couple of days are supposed to be nice, I am going to get in all the time I can before the weather shuts me down.

 

good to hear it's been doing good for you. wish I could get over 50mpg on mine

 

Nice work creaky. Glad to hear you are enjoying your 500.

Kudos on showing patience when working through the mechanical issues you encountered.

 

Thanks ic. Rode 150 miles on the new tires today, about 130 two lane county and state roads, 20 miles interstate to see how it cruises. This thing handles so well that I can see how one could become overconfident and get in trouble. First impression on the slab was "Holy crap, look at the rpms at 75mph!" Doesn't seem to struggle at that speed tho, a twist of the throttle and it pulls smartly from 75, I cut off at 100, fast enough for these old bones. :scared:

 

Well done creaky!

Do you have any mods scheduled, on the shop clipboard, over the winter months?

The 500 is a great handling bike which can be improved even more with suspension upgrades. I have an F4i mono-shock mounted and can recommend this. I am also penciling in a fork emulator kit from Race Tech.

Both of these are fairly straightforward installs and relatively easy on the project budget.

Glad you are up and running and enjoying the waning days of this year's riding season.

 

The only things planned for the VF over the winter are a fork oil flush and change, suspension greasing and some cosmetic detailing. At this time in my life, I will not be pushing the bike to its' limits, so I think suspension mods would be wasted on me. There are a few nicks and scratches to touch up, I have done some searching and Colorite seems to be a good choice. I haven't found anything on frame paint color, do you have info on that? The flat black paint on the wheels needs to be redone as there are several spots of aluminum showing through. I will be heading for FL right after Xmas. I usually take the dirt bike, but am seriously considering breaking tradition and taking the VF instead.