1985 vf1000r?

I agree with you gearsau. On my 500, I stopped counting after $6K, but I was pretty much done by that point. When I restored the 750, I kept tract of what I did, but did not track costs. I'm doing the same now for the 1000. For me it just doesn't matter what it costs. It takes me 2-3 years to do each bike and I'm going to finish them no matter what the final tally is.

 

2.5 years and I'm close to $5K on my 1KR, including a couple years of registration. Could have done it for a little less but it was a good learning experience. Would have cost me the same to buy one in similar condition.

 

Forgot to mention, that I bought a TOP END OIL KIT as well. Braided brake lines ..well... I put them on in June , 1984...... 3 weeks after I bought the bike...And, of course, they are still perfect after 25 years, not like rubber brake hoses. All my body work in in good condition. Do have a vrack in the lower fairing when it fell over one day, but, to look at the bike, you would swear its brand new... The body work sits in the spare bed room

 

Well the person selling the bike didn't take my offer so I guess I am still looking

 

Just as well then. I don't think it was a great buy. Are you looking specificially for a 1000R? If so, you've got to be patient, but they do come up now and then.

 

I am looking for any early in vf700 or greater in red white and blue paint, but I really like the vf1000R. I have been looking for about 6 months now and have never found anything in good shape with red, white, and blue paint for less than $2500.

 

It cost alot to restore anything old to new condition. I was able to find a unmolested VFR700 with 5k orig miles and only damage rt lower from falling over. I drove it home with orig tires, it was stored over 20 years, it still cost over 2k to make it look new, it has been 100% reliable so I'm happy with my investment. The VFR700 is a simple bike, I could see spending much more on some models. My 2 cents is it cost a good bit just to make a old bike reliable and road worthy, just common stuff like tires, chain/srockets, brakes, batt, carbs/fuel sys, fork seals, oil/filters and misc can be a grand or more doing your own work. If you decide then not to spend more it still may only be worth what you paid for it. Paint work is alot of work and was a big chunk of my resto (paint & supplies/decals/lower fairing $700) doing it myself. My next resto will be a CBX but I'll be very selective on the bike I start with, if you go to Tims CBX website... parts cost are very high.

 

Yeah, I've kept my eye out since I bought my 1000R and I haven't seen many (if any!) in factory RWB in that price range that were road worthy. Not saying you won't find one, but just understand that you may have to be willing to break that price barrier to get one in the condition you want. Mine was mechanically ready to go (aside from fork seals) when I bought it, but like I said before, all gloss black, not RWB. Wait long enough and eventually you'll luck out I'm sure! If you want a black one with spare fairings and extra parts, I might part with mine though hahahaha :tongue: I'm undecided on that though...

-Paul

 

well you let me know if you make up your mind. Depending of how much you are looking to get I might be interested.

 

Here's a couple for sale in Australia right now. Its nice to see the prices rising down here

classic VF1000R for sale - eBay Honda, Road Bikes, Motorcycles, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 28-Feb-10 22:56:44 AEDST)

Honda VF1000R Classic Bike *ORIGINAL* - eBay Honda, Road Bikes, Motorcycles, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 03-Mar-10 19:04:14 AEDST)

 

Hi Guys. New to the Board. Just bought 2 of these VF1000R's. I am searching through the old posts here to dig up info when I see this thread. I BOUGHT THAT BIKE! LOL.

Kid must have had it for sale for a long time. I rode it and there was zero noise from the engine. It shifts nice and smooth. It sputtered a little so I am sure it needs a tune up and carb cleaning. I paid $960 for it. I plan to restore to it's former glory.

The second bike didn't run, starter he said, is painted black and someone tried to make the RH side tail piece out of aluminum and bondo so I gave him $400 for it. Parts bike or second runner once I rebuild the starter. I got a used tail off eBay. I am currently looking for an 86 headlight setup. When I get it tuned I will have to meet up with you New England guys. I am in CT.

Thanks,
Dave

 

I offered the guy $1000 back in February must have taken him 10 months to finely come down that low.

 

He had it on CL for $1100 or $1200 OBO. I called him and said I had cash and what was the rock bottom. He said $975. When I got there I had $1560 on me. I said do you have change or will you take $960.

He seemed a little hard headed about the whole scenario on the phone. It was like I was inconveniencing him, but when I got there he was a real nice guy. He was also getting married so I think he needed to get rid of it for the cash.

I left a box of spare crap behind he said he would mail me, but I never got it. I did get the original pipes though. I don't think he rode it at all since you saw it.

Did you end up finding a bike. There are 4 in CA that are in pretty nice shape. Otherwise that one in NJ is still for sale. If he would take $2000 it might be worth it.

 

I have not found one, and I stopped looking. I have recently decided to sell my 96 cbr600 so i might be on the look out again

 

Search Craigs List in NJ for one. The guy posted a build thread on one of these boards. He did a lot of work to it and it looks pretty cool with the CBR tank, tail, and rims.

I wanted to restore a bike so that's the reason I got it.

 

The bike in question looks very complete and not really in that bad of an overall condition - well worth $1500. This is especially the case if it runs and you can ride it to inspect the mechanical condition. Good carbs, gearbox, etc will save you a lot of time and grief down the road. The paint job can be fixed and this bike would be a great machine!

 

Glad to hear you're keeping one or two of these beauties alive peregrine!!

I kind of wish I still had mine, but I ended up selling it after buying a 2003 GSX-R 1000 this spring. The 1KR had tons more character and was a more comfortable machine. I truly hope to have another one some day, either already factory colors or one I will restore. I lucked out when I sold mine though and was able to get $2K for it (along with a bunch of spare parts). It was mechanically excellent, but was all gloss black sadly...

Keep us all updated on your restoration, I love seeing these projects progress!!!

-Paul

 

I will keep you guys posted and I am glad you had the pics of what I bought so that saves me some time.

I plan to get this one mechanically sound and very rideable. I don't want anything radical, but I do want 180 on the rear and the F2 front. Plus I want to change the rear shock out and have the front forks reworked. I also want to do something about the exhaust eventually. That will be a bigger project than the resto I assume. I just want the header tuned so I don't have any issues.

I will try and get some pics of the 2 of them and start a build thread. I am hoping to start getting serious by February.

I will get the above one mechanically sound and then do a full resto on the other and once that is done go back at this one. That way I can ride and restore at the same time.

Why buy 1 when you can have 2 for twice the price? Anyone remember that line from a movie with Jodi Foster?

 

I use that one quite a bit. It kind of loses it's humor with the wife when you have 11 of them....... just a little bit of advice there.

 

Yes sir, it's official...... you have Viffer disease.... there is no cure. Tell you wife it is terminal. Sorry