1985 VF500F Bowl Gaskets

My recently purchased 85' VF500F surges badly at highway speed. It idles fine & wide open throttle seems to be fine but at steady highway speed it lacks power & surges. I closed the chokes & it ran considerably better so I think I can safely assume it has crud in a jet/orfice/tiny place in the carburators. Also, the bike has not been ridden regularly in 3 years(not me, the guy I bought it from. I can't stay off it!) so the fuel system is probably in less-than-ideal condition. If I am just pulling the carburators & giving them a good cleaning, what parts will I need? I have been looking for carb bowl gaskets but other that pay $40 per carb, where can I buy / how can I fabricate or substitute carb bowl gaskets for my bike? I'm not trying to strip the carbs down completely, just inspect/replace any rotten o-rings & blow carb cleaner & compressed air through all those ports / tubes / jets. Also, I'm going to remove the pilot screw plugs so I can clean those circuits too. I'm a firm believer in taking digital pics of something complex before tearing into it & will only tear down one carb at a time. I plan on building my own 4-carb sychonizer to tune the bike because I don't think the last owner was very maintenance oriented. I think he dropped the bike one time 3 years ago, got scared of it, & never rode it again. How often do carbs need to be synchonized? All of my new parts have shown up EXCEPT for my VF500F shop manual so I'm going to wait until I have the book to pull the carburators. I have a new set of spark plugs but I'm thinking I will save them for after I do the carburators lest I dirty up new plugs with off-spec carburation. Don't think changing plugs now would do squat anyway, seems like a fuel delivery problem. Am I missing anything? Thanks in advance. PUNISHERGTO

 

More info on aftermarket carb rebuild kits can be found here:

Welcome to V4 Market - The Store For Your V4

A great carb rebuild tech manual can be found here:

The Motorcycle Project Book Nook

Good deal on purchasing a copy of the FSM. This will help you to keep an even keel when working on your bike.

Good luck with your carburetor rebuild (keep them on their base unless you have logged in some serious V4 carb hours) and let us know how you make out.

 

Thanks! Will the Magna carb kits work on my 85' VF500F? I looked up carb kits for the VF500F on that website & they didn't have anything. One of those kits for the Magna is exactly what I need but will it fit my VF500F? If they don't have VF500F-specific carb kits, what carb kits will fit my VF500F? I just don't want to buy the wrong kit. Thanks again.

 

I have not ordered kits from the V4 Marketplace so I can't say for sure which kit you need.

You may want to contact them:

Welcome to V4 Market - The Store For Your V4

or send an e-mail to Billy Carr:

Billy C's more or less complete price list

Let us know how you make out.

 

Pulled the fuel tank, there is so much crud in the bottom of the tank that I'm going to have to remove the petcock to drain the tank completely. From what I can tell from the parts microfiche (my FSM hasn't arrived yet) the petcock does not have a gasket or seal between it & the tank. Is there a gasket or o-ring between the petcock & tank? Thanks.

 

you could check with
JamieDaugherty

I got mine from him shoot him a PM .

 

Yes, the Magna and Interceptor carb kits are the same. Good luck!