84 VF500F will not start, Help?

I bought an 84 VF500F that had been sitting around for 28 months now. I have read several posts and articles concerning bikes that have been sitting for too long and ofcourse I decided to mess around with my bike. Tried starting it last Friday: I turned the fuel valve to "ON" and fuel started leaking. So I did further reading and investigating and found out the fuel pumped had been removed. So I thought they had done the gravity fed modification but come to find out the fuel valve diaphragms had not been touched but it acted like the modification was done on it. When you turned it to "ON" it leaked and when turned to "OFF" it didn't leaked. After a few minutes of cranking it started up and then died out and has not started since then. Monday I went head and did the gravity fed modification according to Daugherty website. Took the carbs off and cleaned them and put them back on and still no luck in starting it up. Today I took the carbs off and checked them again and they seemed cleaned so I left it alone. I replaced the spark plugs, changed the oil, put fresh fuel in it, and charged the battery. Put everything back together and still no luck in starting it up. The person I got the bike from said she had it running before once but was not much of a rider so the bike stayed in the garage untouched for 28 months. Fuel does get to the carbs and it does get a spark. Any help would be appreciated, I would hate to take it to the dealership!!

 

Ok… so you have gas and you have spark. If the bike has sat for a long, long time, then she is probably going to be stubborn when it comes to getting her to turn over. My 84 was the same way. It sat for many years too.

First thing to try, get a friend or two. Bribe them with pizza and beer if you have to. Find a suitable street road and push start the hell out of it. A hill will be nice to help start it, but it sucks getting it back up the hill. The battery can be completely dead with this too, but a charged battery will only help. It should only sputter and die for awhile. Don’t touch the throttle when it’s puttering, because that will only kill it. Finally, it should turn over with full choke on. Just let it sit as long as it will with choke, but try to back down the choke SLOWLY, or that will kill it too. Watch the temperature gauge so that it doesn’t overheat while running with all that choke. You may have to let it sit and idle 2 or 3 times just to get the fluids run through the carbs and new oil circulating through the engine. You never know what kind of crap is gunked up in that bottom end after sitting that long. Make sure you have the freshest gasoline. No old crap with stabilizer...

For mine, I let mine sit for about 15 minutes before it died by itself. Pushed again and let it sit for 20 minutes before I was comfortable taking it down the street and back. The next day I had to push it down my driveway again. I let it sit for another 20 minutes. After that, I could button start it!

Try that, and if it doesn’t work, you may have something deeper.

 

Thanks Porkchop for the advice. I actually pulled a newbie and misunderstood the article about the gravity fed modification. When I went to start the bike the other day I never turned the petcock to "ON". I had left it in the "OFF" position the whole time. I feel like a dumbass! So today I went to start the bike and I set the petcock to "ON" and it started up. The problem now is the idle I think? It starts with full choke on, after awhile(about 30 minutes) I looked at the tempature guage and the guage indicated it was warmed up(the needle was about half way). So I turned the choke off and the bike turns off too. I started the bike again with full choke on and it stays on as long as the choke is on. The idle goes back and forth from 1000 to 3000 rpms. After an hour or so of running it with the choke on I was able to turn off the choke and use the throttle but as soon as I let go of the throttle it turns off. Does this mean I need to adjust the idle or should I just take it to the bike shop and let them adjust the carbs?

 

I would say that the carbs need a good cleaning, the old gas has probably gummed things up. You will need a service manual to guide you through removing and disassembling the carbs, preferably the Honda factory manual, Clymer is OK, but not as good as the factory one. Do not, repeat, do not remove the filter base plate that the carbs are attached to, remove the carbs and plate as a unit. Move your thread to the 1st and 2nd gen forum, you will get plenty of help & advice, lots of knowledgeable guys there.

 

Creaky is right - you probably need to do a more thorough job cleaning your carbs - especially if the bike won't run off choke. Here's the definitive thread on carb cleaning, compliments of TOE CUTTER:
http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/22449-cleaning-carbs.html

Read thru it a couple of times and study the pics - compare them to what you've done. You can't do a good job without a good hi strength carb cleaning solvent - I use Berryman's B12 Chemtool myself - and lots of compressed air. Getting the gunk out of the jets and all the passageways in the carb body is very important! Be patient, take your time, and don't mix up the parts between the carbs.

 

Thanks Creaky and Pops. I will give it another go at the carbs. I have attached some pictures of the carbs, looks like someone had done some modifications to it. There is this spring on the carb don't know if it does anything shown in Pic 1. Then in PIC 2 & 3 show the throttle link(bracket/lever) is this correct or should I replace it since someone did some welding to it. Pic 4 is just a picture of the carbs.

View attachment 16802 View attachment 16803 View attachment 16804 View attachment 16805

 

Yes, what creaky said.

Are you sure you didn't steal my bike??? Because we have had the same things wrong. After I got mine running, I had the whole idle problem. I figured it was the idle set too low. I fidgeted with that for a few days, but nothing helped. I ended up having two clogged jets, and a stuck float valve. :lol:

 

Can't bring up your pics for some reason. If you determine that there are parts missing or damaged, I have a set of '85 carbs that I am parting out.

 

Sorry, trying to load the pics again.

 

If the bike won't idle without any choke after 2 minutes, the carbs are not clean enuf.

You need to clean and flush your fuel tank or debris will clog carbs. Your carbs were fettled by crude barbarians, and you need to eliminate that bogus spring, and if idiots use bad tools and strip the screw heads like yours, they should at least visit a common hardware store and replace the buggered screws with new ones, dammit !

And for best starting and idling, throttle plates need to be all aligned (synched) properly, and i see one open way more than the others, not good.

Do a search on "bench synching" carbs, but be sure no springs are missing under the synch screws first.

 

Thanks squirrelman. I figured the spring didn't do anything but I wanted to make sure. How would I go about flushing out the tank? Should I replace the throttle lever also?

 

"Search" is your friend for tank flushing. I dunno what's the "throttle lever" you mention.

 

I will search for it thanks again squirrelman. In pic 2 & 3 where the throttle cable connects to it, someone has done some welding on it.

 

I have cleaned out the carbs. As I was putting it back together, I decided to check the floats. According to the manual it should be at .24 but I measured them at .28, is that too much of a difference, should I set them to .24? All carbs measures the same.

 

Match the FSM:

('84 FSM)

 

Thanks to everyone for your advice and recommendations, it is greatly appreciated. I took the petcock off to flush the tank and I pulled the fuel screen set out and ofcourse I tore it up. The tank has some rust but nothing that the screen couldn't catch. I have been looking online for a replacement but no luck. Does anyone know where I can get one? Or what can I do about it?

 

The filter screen is unfortunately NLA.

 

After all these years, probably ALL VF500 tanks are a bit or alot rusty, so look up tank cleaning threads then COAT the tank interior with something like the "fuel tank sealer" from Plating Kits Electroplating Kits Aluminum Anodizing Kits Powder Coating Systems Metal Polishing And Buffing Supplies - Caswell Inc.

 

+1, Casewell's Epoxy Tank Sealer is the bee's knees.

 

Creaky do you still have the 85 set of carbs?