My '86 VFKR Project

Ridden them both back-back, this is spot on. The R pulls like a train at speed but the VFR is the one for flicking and commuting about town.

 

I had the good fortune to borrow a friend's pre-VTEC VFR800 down in AZ, and it is certainly an easy bike to ride fast. Even hit the limiter in top gear for several miles. I wish I remembered the road name/number. I was chasing a friend on his ZX9, the road was flat as a billiard table, perfect pavement, two lanes each way (with a natural divider in the middle), all the 'corners' were marked at 60mph and we were doubling that in every single one. That VFR was sweet. He took chances I wasn't willing to take and got far enough ahead that I couldn't see him, the road got straight, and I wacked 'er open and tucked in. The only glance I had at the speedo it read 157, and that was before the limiter kicked in. I backed off enough so it wasn't bouncing off the limiter and caught him after he backed down to a buck twenty or so. Good times indeed. :wink::wink::wink::wink::biggrin:

and yes, it was downhill that whole time.

 

Yes indeed. :thumb:

 

Had a few more minutes with the KR today. Had a brainstorm regarding the turn signals and it turned out to be correct. The 'common' (green) wire is fine; but on the front signals the 'hot' wire has apparently been swapped somewhere in the harness. I unplugged them from the light blue (R) and orange (L) wires and connected them to the wire that should be for the running lights. Signals now work perfectly both front and rear.

Makes me think it may be wiring harness issues that are causing other things, even though they shouldn't.

Engine start is a bit easier, and throttle response once she's warm is almost normal. Sea Foam is working well!

 

Looking better - ready for a ride!

A couple of new pics; but first a brief progress report...

Headlight relay only works intermittently, so I have it jumped (headlight on) until my replacement relay arrives. Signals are fine now (see above). The front brake light switch worked perhaps two dozen times tested at random after disconnecting/connecting the potential connections and applying dielectric grease to all; but alas, after reinstalling the fairings it is again MIA. I'll pursue it later. The switch for the rear brake works fine. Carbs are getting better each time she starts, so...

Couple of pics of the bike this morning after reinstalling fiberglass and a quick wipe down:

She definitely looks better without the stickers and numbers. :wink:

Time for a shakedown ....

 

She's lookin' good!!

 

Quick Shakedown report

Took Vikki out for a short ride this morning, down the hill into Pine Grove for gas and back. All the mechanical bits on the bike are working well, and the throttle response was better when I got back than when I left. Transmission, clutch, brakes are all fine.

I now understand what's been said regarding handling. Stable as a rock. Ten feet long? Well... maybe not quite; but she does require a fair amount of work to hustle through the twisties. She does reward that work with decent speed though, and lord that engine has GRUNT!

WOOOHOOO!

 

Glad Vikki is coming around and playing nice.

 

That's my feeling too. For me, the R is a straight line bike that has great bottom end torque and nice acceleration. It's also nice to look at too. Anything beyond that, I prefer any one of my other rides.

I'm glad that the bike is coming together for you. It definitely looks better without the stickers.

 

Bike looks great, hope you have many more good miles on her! :thumb:

 

From the November '85 Motorcyclist (the issue with the 24-hour 'test' of the kR):

Year Weight 1/4 ET 1/4 Spd Top Gear @ Redline
-------------------------------------------------------
1984 574 lbs 10.94 123.1 152 mph
1985 618 lbs 11.17 122.0 160 mph

Looks like they increased the weight from '84 to '85 and they made the gearing taller. Both things would definitely lengthen the ET.

From the 24-hour test - they did set a new record for distance (at the time), and although the things you might expect faded when the air temp was 100+ and the sun was beating down on the track (brakes and shock faded), they had no trouble with the bike until very near the end. The clutch was slipping at the top end of 4th gear, so they slowed down, riding around in 4th gear, losing 10 seconds per lap, and still set that distance record.

My favorite quote from the article: "Once you learn to think of the VF1000R as a big, fast, flashy (sport) tourer, everything falls into place"

Perfect for my intended use!

 

A Quick Update

Things have been busy with other bikes and things, and with my Trophy 3 disassembled in my shed (waiting for bits to rebuild the petcock after I clean the tank) I decided to get some external help with the throttle response problem. I'm convinced that the SeaFoam did what it could, and the bike idled fine with no choke, ran reasonably well; but the throttle response still wasn't right. I listened carefully without the hindrance of a helmet and ear plugs and heard what I am sure is a vacuum leak. Not really wanting to dig that far into the beast (I've done my share of work on V-4 carbs), I rode the bike down to my friend JT at Total Performance Racing yesterday.

Just got a call. Seems the joker who had the bike apart to 'refresh seals, gaskets, hoses' etc. did a really sloppy job of reassembling the carb rack. One of the intake manifolds was missing it's clamp entirely, and two of the other three were loose.

I should have her back this evening!

Also picked up the correct paint to finish the fairing repairs (from ColorRite), and as soon as my shed is available again I'll be doing that work so she looks respectable!

More as things progress...

 

Thanks for the update.

 

beautiful bike you got lucky bud are you sure its an 86 it has the dual headlight the 85 had i have an 86 and it has the single.. just curious bud

 

It's great to have your suspicions verified. I bet you can't wait to get it back together to see just how good it should really run.

 

The title says '86. Actually JT said he thinks it looks like it may be a Euro model. Dunno until I can park it next to another US '86 I guess.

Turns out the 'sloppy' reassembly was a little worse than that. One of the manifolds has a crack running almost 3/4's of it's length, and another one (both on the front) has enough damage to question it, so JT ordered replacements. Should be here on Tuesday.

I was hoping for a nice 'test' ride this weekend; but it'll have to wait until next week. I am definitely looking forward to doing a bunch of riding to get a better feel for the bike. I know it's fast enough, and stable enough. Now to discover if these olde bones can handle being folded up... :wink:

 

yep could be a euro or someone cratered the front and found an 85 donor 1 or the other.. if the carbs are in good shape and the ignition system goood hang on m8 hahahhaha ittl b a blast take er easy in the turns at first to get a feel for the front end if it has 2 much dive you may need to change the oil in the forks it has an antidive hydrailic circuit on the front forks as well when you hit the brake it activates it.. should be a blast though.. cant wait to hear back from you about ur roundabout..

 

Based on everything I can find, it was the '86 that got the dual headlight - along with a few other details (gold upper triple clamp, aluminum clipons, etc.). The Euro version has a completely different color scheme, and many other detail differences.

IOW, I'm thinking this is indeed an '86 US bike as the title states.

 

Your bike is an '86 which is the only year that they had the dual headlights (in the US). The '85 had the single headlight and a slightly different paint scheme. And yes, the '86 had the gold triple clamp. Keep the updates coming.

 

Seems there's been a delay in the delivery of the manifolds and clamps...