Buying 1985 VF500F Interceptor

Hello.

I'm buying a 1985 VF500F Interceptor with 23k miles for $1000. Waiting on the guy to get a replacement title (he lost his copy). The bike was dropped on it's right hand side & scuffed up the plastic but didn't break anything beside front brake/clutch handles & RH foot peg. Went to look at it today, guy flooded it hard so at least I know the starter is stout. Once it fired it idled very smooth even though it was 28 degrees outside.

Is there anything I should watch out for in particular when buying a VF500F?

Can the aluminum covers on the mufflers be rotated if I drill out the rivets? The side facing out has grind marks on it.

What is the best oil to run in this engine?

Are all the oil filters for this bike the same? (single pass vs. double pass)

Am I getting a good deal?

Thank you for your time.

PUNISHERGTO

 

1000 dollars is a bit hi for a bike that is old and been dropped. just because it has low mileage doesn't mean it is worth 1000 bucks... think about how haard parts are to find for this machine as well... I would offer him less ...if its what you want well thats up to you..

 

Thank you. I am in the middle of nowhere Kansas & there is an acute shortage of Cool out here. If you go to Cycletrader & do a search for ANY 1985 - 2000 bikes within 100 miles of zip code 67432 there will be ZERO bikes. Wow. I used to live in Houston & there were 100's of bikes for sale every day. My point being: please consider my location when determining whether $1000 is a good deal or not. When I started looking for a bike I was surprised by the lack of choices here in Kansas. Everybody wants immitation Harleys & mopeds I guess...

If I lived near civilization I would agree that $1000 is a little steep for a dropped bike.

Thanks again.

 

Mileage over 20k for a bike that has not had diligent maintenance weighs in here. As you may have read there are a few caveats to owning a VF500F. The valve train being at the center of this. Damage due to valve float at extended high engine rpm (above 9k) can damage a retainer and cause a valve to drop. The fix in the past has been to replace the inner and outer valve springs at the 20k mark. The snag is that these springs are NLA. There are currently a few owners researching aftermarket options (upgrades) for this.

Setting the valve lash correctly is also very important. More info can be found on this site on this topic by using the search tool. In conjunction with this it is very important to let the engine properly warm up before riding. Many owners unfortunately do not do this simple step which leads to premature engine wear. More info on this topic an be found in Julian Ryder's book Honda's V-Force.

In terms of the bike's suspension I would also recommend replacing the mono-shock if this is original. These shocks were not the best when new and after 25 years are beyond tired.

There are many options, here is one:



In terms of oil filters I would recommend using OEM.

Others will most likely weigh in here. I'm a fan of the VF series. This said it is important to go into the purchase with the understanding that this is a vintage bike which requires a different outlook compared to owning a new model.

If you like the bike, have a good set of mechanical skills and enjoy building a spare parts bin the VF500F is a great addition to the stable.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

another thing to keep in mind is that the little V engine is in a pretty cramped space. I've been turning wrenches on bikes since I was 8 and still find aspects of the V4's a little bit of a challenge due to the space and layout. They are definitely not like working on a CB. Just my personal opinion, if you not comfortable pulling an engine out of a car and rebuilding it then the V4 may be a pretty big bite to take unless you have a very deep wallet. I'm not trying to scare you away from the bike, just my 2 cents which in todays economy is worth about $0.000000000000000000001.

 

Do you have any pictures of the bike?

 

Thank you for all the replies.

The valvetrain: The guy says he always took it to the "Honda Place" for any work it needed & from what I could tell by looking at the seller, I would be really surprised if he ever wound it past 7000 RPM. The tires looked like my grandmother had been riding it. The seller has owned the bike for the last 10 years & hasn't ridden it regularly for 3 years.
Can the valvetrain catastrophically fail with no warning? The motor sounded very good, I used a stick against my ear & touched it to various places on the engine (especially the rocker covers & heads) while it was running & everything sounded very smooth. I don't plan on winding the motor past 8000 or 9000 RPM (and then only occassionally) & will probably change the oil every 1000 miles or so. (I'm used to long-stroke Harleys so anything over 6000 RPM feels like I'm abusing it!)

I do all my own mechanic work & have owned various bikes for 28 years, mostly older bikes. I have pulled & installed many engines over the years, mostly Pontiac & Chevy race engines in 1/4 mile cars so a little V4 motor I can pick up & toss on the bench shouldn't give me too much trouble. (Until I open it up!) I'm not going to pay some dude $60 an hour to do something I can probably do better as long as I have a good shop manual to guide me. Never have & never will. A couple of my buddies are "official shop mechanics" & I wouldn't let them tighten my bicycle chain (and have told them so!).

Also, as long as the NLA valvetrain parts don't come apart, there seems to be a lot of VF500F parts available on Ebay. I also have a 1975 Harley FXE Shovelhead & there are 10 times as many VF500F-specific parts as there are for the FXE. The cosmetic stuff (radiator reflectors, clutch & brake handles) will cost about $30 & the maintenance stuff (oil filter, oil, spark plugs, air filter, new o-ring chain) will run me about $100. You can't get squat for Harley parts for $130.

Building a supply of VF500F parts is no problem, I have more Harley parts than I can shake a stick at already. A little variety wouldn't hurt. So maybe getting a parts bike wouldn't be a bad idea?

How do I post a picture of the bike? I uploaded one to my user profile, I figured it would show it on the left side there but I guess not. I will try again.

Thanks to all for the input. It is greatly appreciated.

 

sounds like you'd be a capable owner. In that case it basically boils down to if you really want the bike or not. You can say you'll keep the revs down but once you get on the little thing it'll beg you to open it up worse than a gremlin for a chicken leg and glass of water after midnight. My v45 Sabre rarely ever sees anything over 7 but the little baby ceptor ends up going over 6 or 7 every time I get on it, it's just too darn fun not to mention it lacks the torque to deal with the north east GA "hills" with out it. I paid close to 1000 for mine knowing it had carb and clutch probs and when I got it home I found it had shifter problems from the "mechanic" that owned it. Some people here would say I'm crazy for spending that much on one of these, personally I'm happy with mine even after not being able to ride it for a while when I got it due to an idiot previous owner. BTW good looking little bike.

 

Love it!

The 500 pulls strong right up the 12,5k cutoff. It can be a bit of an effort to keep the revs in check on these bikes.

 

my 84 is kinda flat feeling below 8 then between 8-9.5 or so it gets lively and past that it reminds me of either a 2 stroke hitting the the pipe or a v-tek that just kicked in, I've had it break the back tire loose more than once in 1st on cool days and cold rubber when it hits 10k.

 

Spoken like squirrel man himself.

The bike looks great I paid 1500 for mine and I've sunk a shit ton of money and I would change it at all its a great bike that would run circles around alot of machines.

 

And that's why we come here to a forum that is full of information that will help him with this decision. Not sure what you want me to say the 500's have crappy suspension yea they have oiling issues but the bike is still a awesome machine.

 

Did not pay much for mine, and needed very few parts. been stocking up the small one I know that will be hard too find. mine runs like a rocket .. love my bike. just need to send Jamie my CBR rims to be finished. sounds like U shold have no problems . Good Luck

 

Then you be the guy to explain to him then.

 

I would so expect and plan to get the oiler kit. upgrade suspention with a more modern set and make plans to drop weight. I'd pick one up if the price wass right.