1986 VF1000R Restoration Completed

1986 Honda VF1000R Restoration Completed

I had been looking for a 1986 VF1000R for about 6 years before I found one that was in the shape I wanted in order to completely restore it to as close to showroom condition as you could get. I found this bike back in early 2008 with only 3300 miles on it and it was completely stock - exactly what I was looking for. I put about 300 miles on it to make sure everything was good with it, then I started the tear down. It's been about 2 years now and I just finished it.

To be honest, this bike was easy to restore because it was already in fantastic shape when I bought it. The previous owner was also the original owner and he took great care of it. I pretty much tore the bike down to the frame and replaced all of the normal maintenance items - spark plugs, air filter, coolant, oil / filter, fork oil, battery, brake pads, tires, etc. I also replaced just about every chrome screw / bolt on this bike. All of the bodywork including the gas tank and forks needed some minor touch up. The paint is still original. The shop I used has done the touch up work on my other two bikes and they do a fantastic job. You can't tell where any of the old stone chips / scratches were. Last of all, the most important element for restoring a bike is the amount of elbow grease that you put into it. There are countless hours that I have into just cleaning and polishing this thing. Hopefully you can see that in the photos.

I've previously restored an '86 500 and 750 and just like those bikes, money was not an issue. In order to do it right, that has got to be your mindset. I've got more into this bike than I could probably sell it for. At last count, including the purchase of the bike, I've got about $7000 into it. With no intention of selling, I can justify the expense.

For those of you who really love this particular bike, I hope you enjoy the photos. I've also added the best (only) photo I have of my 1986 collection. All 3 bikes are in near showroom condition. Thanks for looking.

 

Outstanding!

This is one sweet looking kR.

 

Nice work!! Great classic collection you have!

I grabbed the images from your gallery to make them viewable:

 

Michael - Thanks for fixing. It looks like I accidentally uploaded the thumbnails.

 

Fantastic job. Looks killer.

 

Soooo much better looking than most new sport bikes.

Nice workmanship!

 

Dude that bike looks fucking amazing my hats off to you excellent job...now im jealous your stable of bikes is awesome

 

Nice work, cool collection. It was tough going into the Honda shops in the 80s I allways saw cool bikes I wanted to buy. Now I don't have that problem anymore...now when I go to dealerships there's nothing much to get excited about for the $$$$ they want.

 

very nice work. that is one truly beautiful machine.

 

Nicely done Sir. I highly recommend you celebrate & NOT just sit that thing in a garage. It needs to be ridden.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Nice job Stewart. Well done sir.
That's quite the collection you have there. :drool:

I take my hat off to you too. :hi2:
This is the very first VFR750 I've ever seen that actually has the centerstand on it.

 

Wow, and I thought I had issues with RWB. Nice bikes.

 

Always loved those bikes.Nice job it looks real good.

 

Great job, what's next?

 

Beautiful, just beautiful!

 

Very nice! Good job and nice collection.
Mike.

 

you haqve MAJOR issues with RWB

nice clean up job.....I thought when I first read your post that you took a wreck and restored it..... nice job though......I agree with KC-10 celebrate and ride that thing...

 

Terrific job man! I wish that I had the time/patience/money to perform a resto like either one of those - let alone all three. It's inspiring to see a completed project.

 

Everyone - thanks for all of the positive feedback. It's great knowing that the work is appreciated and that there are still fans of this bike out there. I will say that I am surprised that I didn't get any "are you insane" comments about the $7K price tag. I can only assume that it is because you guys realize that it takes money in order to complete a project like this - which is why each of my bikes took at least 2-3 years to complete. Did anyone notice the license plate?

 

Good question. I've been working on these bikes since 2002, so right now, I don't have anything on the radar. The only other bike out there that interests me is the 1993 Honda CBR900RR. Toe Cutter would be glad to know that that bike too was a RWB model. I haven't even priced them so I have no idea what they're going for.