Won't Shift Below 3rd!

I love a happy ending.

 

I would take the rod off and straighten it, I doubt it would cause a problem the way it is but it will look better straight.

 

yeah agreed, the two hondas I have, have dots on the shift lever as well as the splined shift shaft. Idea being, to line up the "dots." Freaking morons at the shop to let a bike out like that. Farking shame, thats what happens when you pay young people with limited knowledge chit for their labour. Side Bar: Shops around here won't touch bikes that are over ten or so years old. There are some slave driver dealers that have $100/hr labour rates that will take on these bikes but they have some old seasoned salty dogs doing the work, and even then you have to hear a liteny of chit about working on "turds." eace:

 

I used to think that way.

I deal with this in IT every day and I have learned to pose the question, "Do you think that the guy who installed the shift lever upside-down, who did not even test shifting the bike, cares about anything? The answer is a resounding, "no." Talking to such a person has no effect. They will continue to their dying days being brain-dead.

If it weren't for the threat of a prison stay, the thing the so-called mechanic would remember is if the customer returned, dragged him over the counter, and beat the snot out of him. THAT would stick with him and the threat of that happening again would have an effect on his work ethic.

Anything short of a robust beating is wasted time. I would advise to stay out of that shop as going there you risk catching whatever infects the people within.

 

Customer service is quite dead. I for one thought the poor economy would have brought a different result as the need to retain or collect new customers was required to stay in business but the opposite happened. Dead is a door nail it is.

 

Boy did I get that feeling when I called the Honda dealer about doing a valve adjustment. You would think I asked for them to calibrate my Saturn V rocket!

I suppose these people are like much of the work force in that they come into work, and want to do the same thing repeatedly, and never be challenged. I see no love of motorcycles there if they see an older bike as something different, something less.

I would be interested in solving this problem of making fixes to old bikes less costly and more efficient. Some form of using modern tools such as software to spread knowledge and procedures. This is all brainstorming but if anyone has ideas I would very much like to hear them. Even IM me.

 

We already have the software available to do the repairs to older bikes, it is called VFR World

 

Forum is obviously a great resource, as I quickly learned. When I'm using the Clymer manuals I sometimes think it would be helpful to have an updated and interactive version of those - color photos or videos, links to this forum or other resources, etc. I guess some would argue that the charm is going in there and figuring things out with those gritty photos and a little poking around...

 

The manual was written in 1986, when there actually were a lot of 86 VF5F's around, it was before color pictures or video. I believe there is a place in France where inhabitants of that era carved a manual into the wall of a cave, but you would have to take the bike to France for it to be of any assistance.

 

ROTFLMAO.......... Now that's funny right there. Those manuals were shit when they came out. Missing info, wrong info and stuff like "no carb rebuilding info, they tell you to take it to the dealer." They are good for door stops and fire starter material IMO.

I have an on line 84-86 FSM if you want one. Not sure how to send it seeing it's 250mb file. Anybody help with that?

Go search the web for FREE manuals. They are (were) out there, that's how I got them. I'll see if I have a link for it.

 

ROTFLMAO.......... Now that's funny right there. Those manuals were shit when they came out. Missing info, wrong info and stuff like "no carb rebuilding info, they tell you to take it to the dealer." They are good for door stops and fire starter material IMO.

I have an on line 84-86 FSM if you want one. Not sure how to send it seeing it's 250mb file. Anybody help with that?

Go search the web for FREE manuals. They are (were) out there, that's how I got them. I'll see if I have a link for it.


Edit: Here's a link for a 84-86 FSM it may take a while to download as it's 250mb. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...6 Honda VF500F Interceptor Service Manual.pdf

 

I rebuilt my first boat motor about 4 years ago , an 80's Suzuki. Motorcycles and cars I had experience with. This was alien to me. The manuals left a lot out and were often wrong. Took a while but figured it out and it's still run it great.

 

Find the guy who did the work, find out which car is his, and do the same to one of his windshield wiper arms.

No words required, he'll "get" it

 

I gotta add my 2c - if you actually PAID them any amount whatsoever to 'diagnose' your oil leak, and left with less money and a bike with the shifter on upside-down... you MUST go back there and give them this feedback (bring the excellent pics you posted) and demand satisfaction via a refund. Only speak with the manager. That is completely unacceptable and could have contributed to a crash. Bikes come with first and second gears for a reason, and a bike shop which errs and then denies/refuses to correct is certainly one to be avoided.

 

Now that's a solution.

 

They are in New York so they must be a NYS DMV registered repair shop. That is where you take your complaints. DMV Repair Facilities is consumer friendly and has the power to force them to return your money, pay fines etc or they lose their repair shop registration. 1. Did they give you a written repair order when you left off the bike? 2. Did they give you a completed repair order when you picked it up and did it specify exactly what they did and if the repair fixed the original issue. 3. Did they give your a printed receipt for the amount paid? 4. Did you sign a form that said there were no issues upon your picking up the bike? You will need all these items for your complaint to the DMV. If you need contact info and some additional direction PM me with your personal contact data as my computer in my Law Office has all that DMV contact data on it and at this hour on a Sunday morning I'm not in the office. There are ways to deal with them that do not involve risking criminal charges as much as "Self Help" would be gratifying. Glad you got it sorted. VF 500F is a really fun ride!

 

Pay by credit card if possible. Tons of details on why on the net.

 

Manuals will always be mediocre because there is no impetus for them to be great. The writer should be told, "You will be killed if we are unable to do this procedure from your instruction". Then manuals would be complete.

Everyone chimed in, "get the manual" but the issue that needs to be addressed is what RIDEVFR said, "Shops around here won't touch bikes that are over ten or so years old." Anyone should be able to ride a motorcycle and feel they can easily have it fixed, just like a car. People should not have to be wrenchers to enjoy the sport. Many times there is no where to go professionally. I would love to solve that widespread issue.

 

Just like some old Chinese guy said, "Don't let nothin but fear hold ya back" . The Chinese version is longer and the old Chinese guy probably didn't have a bike either. This could probably best applied to the restoration and repair of rickshaws. A favorite page on the Beijing version of Google.

I am up for buying a few of those 2005 obsolete bikes for cash in the amount of 50 pesos. Let's start with a low mileage MV Agusta. Much less for a Harley of course.

 

Then open your own shop and then franchise it. Back when I started riding most if not all had to learn how to work on their bikes because the bikes were not that reliable. You could have problems any time and any where. No cell phones back then to call for help. Actually most who rode were ones that could fix their machine.

Some of the problems with working on older bikes is getting parts, a lot are discontinued from mfg. The time it takes to do some of the work required cause of multiple problems and the new mechanics don't have the knowledge of older systems like carbs and try to find a book on them. The shops spend more time trying to find pieces parts needed than what they can charge for working on them. There's just no profit in it for them so they have to draw the line somewhere. Plus some bikes are not worth what a dealer would have to charge to fix and half way thru the customer just says the hell with it and leave the bike at the dealer/shop.

If one can't work on their older machines then they shouldn't buy them. How many shops are like the one that did the work on his 500. Can't even get the shifter right. The only older bikes that are still worked on by shops are Harley's cause not much has changed with them in 70 years.