200 Dollars and My First Bike

Hello from Tacoma, Washington!
I am a 20 year old student who just bought my first bike! I have been in need of a set of wheels for quite sometime now, never thought it would be a motorcycle instead of a car. And yesterday I was just was browsing on craigslist and saw this 1986 VF500F for 200 dollars. Not knowing much about Motorcycles, especially ones before I was born, I showed my father. He instantly recognized this bike and told me it was a great deal for a great beginner bike. I have had some mechanical experience mainly with VW's. So I figured now was better than later to get this bike and make it my project! I am a complete beginner in this realm but I would love any advice, websites, information, and part stores that are relevant to my bike and I hope to get it running soon and can show my progress along the way! So far needs carb rebuild, shocks, muffler, ferrings, and a good tuneup! I definitely plan on repainting and going back to the red white and blue color scheme.
Thanks,
Dom

 

Hey Dom, welcome aboard! Nice little project you've got yourself there. This is a great forum, lots of experienced folks with a ton of wisdom that are more than willing to share with a newbie. Be warned though, there are a few folks here that will also question your sanity for purchasing a 1st generation V4! :crazy:
Tink speaks the truth - go thru the bikes mechanicals first - don't get carried away buying parts and paintjobs before you verify you've got a good solid platform to build upon. Head on down to the 1st Generation forums and peruse what everyone else has to say and what projects they're working on right now. Also, get familiar with the Search function. You'll want to learn all you can before you start tearing into things. That's the biggest thing that's kept me out of trouble on my project so far. Search, read, read, ask questions, read some more, then pick up the wrenches! Most of all - enjoy!

 

Congrats and enjoy. You get an "atta boy!" for posting a picture on your first post!

Wise words spoken by Pops and Tink. Don't let the naysayers steer you away from the bike, but I'll say it one more time: Make sure she's mechanically sound before dumping your hard earned cash (especially that of a college student!) into this bike.

Other than that, best of luck and definitely keep us posted.

 

Nice find. I really like the 500's. Welcome to the forums and listen to the grey bearded ones. :wink:

 

:welcome:

Most VF500 owners usually need decent tools, multiple service manuals, space to work, time, replacement parts, another bike to actually ride and more money.

"History only repeats itself; it has no choice regarding the VF500."

Wear and tear gets most things eventually.......some soner, some later. VF500 ? HAHA ! Since back when they were new we know that first bikes get more abuse than average, and these were first bikes back then, i believe. Not enough maintenance or inept maintenance.

Honda tried to make something at lower manufacturing costs and compromized best design this time.

Seems like most 500s demized due to lubrication, valve, cam, head gasket failures, cam chain tensioners, neglect or "third-owner first-mechanic" syndrome.


Due to rarity, i'd bet clean, good-running, low-mileage VF500s are a smart investment for
speculators, antique dealers, over-optimists and owners of purple dogs.

 

The squirrelman has spoketh!
:chaingun:

 

Yep, my wife has a Ninja 500. It's dirt simple to work on and parts almost fall from the sky. When she isn't looking I steal it and giggle like a school girl inside my helmet.

 

Hey Dsal,

Congrats on the purchase, you got it for a good starting price. But everyone here has given some great advice. I was 21 when I bought my bike a few years back. Make sure you have the time and funds to dedicate to the bike. Parts CAN be found, but some are hard to come by. As The Squirrel hath spokeneth... the engines had poor design resulting in top end oiling, dropped valves, and cam wear. If none of those problems are found, years worth of grease, internal crap from sitting, and abuse is usually found.

Carb rebuild is not overly hard, but getting them completely clean and working properly make take some time plus a little trial and error. Your fairings don't look in too bad of shape. Finding replacement fairings will be hard, and they usually wont be clean. Rapair yours and repaint them in the color you want. Either do the painting yourself or a tech school will usually do it for free if you provide the paint. Shocks and forks send to Jaime Daugherty. He can re-spring and re-valve your forks and can convert a CBR shock to fit the bike which will vastly improve the performace compared to the saggy ass stocker.

Jamie's site can be found here >>>> Daugherty Motorsports - Motorcycle Suspension Performance and Modification

Since IC isn't here yet, I will say from experience... if the bike did not come with a Factory Service Manual, find one now. Don't settle for the crappy free Clymers manual found online. The FSM is really 100x better and will make your life easier from the get go.

But have fun with it and don't go into this thinking you will have a bombproof bike that you can thrash up, and you will be just fine!!!

Welcome to the Gen 1 madness.....

 

Welcome - heaps of info here, looks like a good buy from the outside, as above, check out the cam wear and give it the once over before pulling out your wallet. Mind you your old man said it would be a good buy so I suggest team up with him and his wallet for a Father / Son VF500f Rebuild experience and it should end up perfect!!

 

I can't agree more. I will add though put the wrenches down, walk away if it don't feel right or your having trouble, read search, ask..

If everything seems fine and you want to continue the project, definitely a manual is the next most important thing. The free download manuals are good but not as convenient as a hard copy, keep your eye out for a Honda manual though, you may need to pry if from a dead guys fingers to get it. I just 2 mins before reading this thread purchased a VF400F for £18.99GB + £15.00 postage on ebay, puppylove687 in the UK is floggin of a heap of Honda original manuals. -edit: she was selling them

I'm new to VFRWorld and found the site a wealth of knowledge in the few short days. Listen to what the VFeterans have to say about the bike, in the end you are the judge.

 

Thanks all for the great advice and info! I really appreciate it! Few updates on bike-No visible cam wear, nor major engine issues. Found standing water in valves from sitting but luckily no oil so that was a sigh of relief on my part! Been reading, reading, and more reading but definitely feel the need for a hard copy of a service manual versus the clymers that I had downloaded. Luckily, with the help of my dad this father/son project is moving steady. When examining the carb it seems as if the casing that attaches each arm-to-valve with the throttle cables broke(will post picture soon) so that is a bit of a head scratcher. Got lucky from the guy that sold it to me because he had found the mufflers and they weren't in too bad of shape, a little bit of more background on it was that he used it as a weekend bike/project up untill 2010 so its good to know it had ran in some relevant time! Few more pics of it cleaned up a bit more and where the standing water was down below. Fingers crossed that I can report more good news!
-Dom
- All Cleaned Up and stripped down

where the standing water was

 

Doesn't look too bad man. $200 was a steal compared to what I paid. Frame looks pretty good. Definitely a fresh coat of primer and paint needed.

Does she have a fuel pump or gravity fed???

 

Enjoy! VF500 was my first running bike.
Let me know if you need carbs/ fairings

 

The world needs more optimists like you, dsal. You find standing water in the valves, but close your post by saying hope there is more good news!

That's awesome. Good on ya, kid!