Where does this go again???

So the white death has ended again here in Ohio and its time to start riding again. And of course my bike is being a giant douche. I wanted to have the bike rebuilt by now, but work and school restraints have gotten in the way of things. I sent it to my neighbor who is a honda/bmw guy to have a look through things and he had the same work problems and sent it back to me ripped apart and I want to make sure every cord is back where it should be so it doesnt explode into a ball of fire the first time i get it out on the road again. The surging and throttle lag I had last fall may have been attributed to a screw that was completely missing that might have been creating a bad vaccum. Shown here... Now I'm running into things that i'm not sure where they belong, because I didnt take it apart. The first is the gas tank. The small tube that runs under the tank connects to one of the outlets shown here. Which does the tube go to??? The Clymer manual didnt really help. The next one really scares me bacuase I dont remember it being like this. It is an electrical plug that runs out of the back of the bike along the left side near the coolant bottle. There is nothing even close for it to plug into... The next is this metal mother that runs below the fuel fliter. It kinda hooks to the frame, but yet again... there isnt really anything for it to plug into? Other things to work on.... Shift linkage bent. Damaged fairing stay. Leaking gas line. Burnt out tail light. Hole. Most of these things should be quick fixes. I really was thinking about selling the beast, but I knew it wouldnt go for much in a non-running state. So I might as well try and fix it and ride it before I move to the GSXF that I want for some touring. Thanks for any help!!!

 

where in OH IO are you ?

 

I think I have the answer to most of those, but I leave it to those with a 500 in their garage to answer with clarity. I will comment to be taken with a grain of salt, roughly running backward up your pictures.

I have a seat in excellent condition, but shipping would be too high from here. I also had an extra shift link but I let that go with my bike, unfortunately. Same thing with an extra tail light. I really wish I kept those bins to help folks out, but the buyer wanted them.

Change that fuel line. It's a safety issue

There are tab fabrication kits that work pretty well. Do a search. It looks like someone tried the old fiberglass method.

I believe that the "metal mother" is the shock air pressure valve. It should have a cap on it.

I would be concerned about that wiring to. I believe that it connects to the unit behind the coolant container, but the cut ground and that loose white wire are concerning. I would look at a wiring schematic in the shop manual to see what is what.

There was a petcock post a few days ago with great pictures, look it up.

Good luck.

 

After checking out the wiring diagram in the FSM and inspecting my bike, here is my take on two of your problems. Fuel valve.....the small diameter vacuum hose from the carb connects to the port nearest your finger in the pic; the other port above it is an atmosperic vent, no hose on it. Electrical plug.......according to the wire colors it looks to be the connector for the fuel pump relay. The cut white wire and the cut green wire should be attached to a plug that connects to the fuel pump pigtail/connector. On my bike, the white wire has black/blue sleeves on it where it is connected to the fuel pump plug indicating the correct wire color coming out of the fuel pump. Hope this makes sense. Michael has provided answers to you other questions. If I can help further, I'll be happy to.

 

About 40 some minutes from you in Grove City. Kinda out by 665 and 71?

 

As far as the seat goes, it is in good condition everywhere except the tear. I'm probably just going to patch it, not replace it. I just dont want it to get even bigger or start holding water. The shift link will definitely need replaced, and I can probably just pick up a light bulb online. I can probably just pick up a length of hose at the hardware store. Is the shock valve ok without a cap?

I almost guessed the rear port was the correct one. The vacuum hose was bent at the rigth angle for that one, but I wanted to be 100% correct. The other plug scares me. I don't remember it being like this. Could this cause big problems? Tomorrow evening I will go reinspect and maybe snap some more pictures if I get stuck. :tea:

 

The fuel pump and relay are not required (you can go with a gravity fed system) but if you are keeping these, here is how the plumbing should be routed on a stock '84:

 

Interesting.... mine may already be on a gravity feed already because I don't remember mine looking like that picture. I really have to check when I get off of work... pictures to come...

 

Michael.. your in Ottawa? I will be moving to new york.. about 80 miles south of you.. this summer...... after we get settled we will have to get together for a ride...

 

Upper New York State? Sounds good!

 

Well apparently I was running on a gravity feed. Because I just took some pictures and it looks nothing like yours. Man your bike is clean.... :tongue:





Basically what mine does is run out of the bottome of the tank and then run right down to the fuel filter. I'm a tad worried, but I ran it last summer so it shouldn't be an issue.

 

I can now see in the pic that the fuel pump and relay are long gone, their residence is the compartment behind the coolant bottle.

 

As Creaky noted, the stock fuel pump and relay are long gone. Not to worry, the '84 and '85 500s have a track record of running fine without the fuel pump. The inline fuel filter, that you currently have installed, may cause too great a restriction though.

For reference here is the exploded drawing of the '84/'85 petcock along with a photo of a stock '84/'85 petcock. There is a filter screen on the petcock which does help, though adding a minimally restrictive inline filter is good insurance.

 

That thing is remarkable.

 

I removed the stock fuel pump, filter, and all the plumbing a little while back. The photo I posted above was taken as a record of the stock setup in case I wanted to return the bike to stock at some point. I most likely won't go this route, but it is good to have for reference.

The area cleans up nicely with these items removed. I was working on a shock conversion at the time (F4i shock courtesy of DMr) .

In the photo below, I was thinking about stashing the reservoir in the previous home for the fuel pump. I have since mounted this along the back frame rail and completed a 17" wheel conversion (you can see the stock 18" wheel in the photo).

 

When you say you removed the stock unit, did you replace and relocate it with a more compact aftermarket unit, or did you just go to a gravity feed to save some room???

The F4i shock is sick..... :rockon:

 

I went to a gravity fed system. Removing the fuel pump and going to a gravity fed system has a track record of working fine on the '84/'85 VF500F.

 

Alright, its been a few days since I replied, but I've been working pretty hard on the bike. Since I had a major gas line leak I completely re-did the gravity feed system. I went and got a new line kit from AAP. We soaked the line and started fitting it, and realized it wouldnt fit over the outlet off of the petcock. So we cut a 2" long piece of the old line to fit over the oulet and used one of the metal connectors in the kit to fit it to the new line. I know thats technically one more link that can fail, but it works for the time being. Emptied the tank and put brand new 89 in her. We also made sure the plugs werent fouled.

Battery was dead, so my buddy brought over his tender. It didn't charge long enough to get a good pull on the engine. So we pushed it.... and pushed it... and pushed it..... and drank a beer.... and pushed it some more. The problem was it had just sat so long without running, even if you got a little fire, the minute you even touched the throttle it would die. Finally got it to take with the choke, and we let it sit just to let it warm completely up and get brand new gas completely through the engine. It rode well down the street, and felt crisp on the throttle. The only thing I'm still feeling is even when warmed up, it still wants to peter out at idle when I completely close the choke. So stop signs are a hassle. I still think the idle screw needs turned up a little.... ideas????

Other than that, I just need to gets some new rubber on her, and a new shift link and I'm ready to rock.

 

On my last 500 I was changing my idle fairly frequently. It's real easy to reach down at a stop if you know where it is.

 

It's the giant black screw off the front of the carbs that can be accessed from the right side, correct?


Ordered a straight shift linkage bar from ebay today for $3.99. Should be coming from Vegas tomorrow. Going to get new rubber on friday.