1986 VF1000R: "Two Face"

Progress.

I can't believe I got that upper cowl stay straight... but it is.



Used some 85 bodywork to make sure the all of the mounting points are correct before creating the Franken-Bike.


That took a while, bodywork off and on and off and on making the last adjustments after spending some time with a torch and a big vise out in the driveway a while back with just the stay. Every single mount point now lines up and accepts the correct hardware. Left footpeg mounts are replaced. Left bar is actually bent after all as you can see. I'll use the press and some hard wood v-blocks to bring that back in no problem. Next, tear the front end back apart and remove the upper stay for some paint. At that point I'll do the steering bearings and install the 91 CBR1000F/91 VFR750 hybrid front end.

And tear the rear apart to service the linkage before installing this getting ready for some wide CBR1000 wheels

 

looking good!! I like that rear shock.

 

looks good!

 

This damn thing is going the wrong direction! It's getting smaller.


Carbs out to clean and document. They will be getting new float bowl o-rings and fuel and air cross over o-rings beacuse now is the time to do it. And, because the carbs are out, I am going to replace all the coolant pipe o-rings in the V of the motor, also because now is the time. The left bar is now straight, one of the upper radiator brackets is now re-enforced after being made a little flimsy from being moved a bit in the crash. And I extracted a stuck master cylinder cap screw (which those can turn ugly really fast). One of the coils has a huge crack in it, it will get replaced. The carbs were a bitch to get popped out. Finally after heating the boots really good with a heat gun did they give.


But I found the spare key when I took the tank off! It was sitting down on the rubber shield in front of the carbs after it apparently slid down there at some point and wasn't retrieved.

 

I had a hell of a time getting my carbs out too, carb boots were like rock, they're being replaced.

hopefully they're easier to get back in once I have new boots. i saw a video on youtube re the trick for re-installing in a trouble free way, we will see if it works

 

now that's a win...

 

Still going wrong direction. And if you've never seen the opposite of what you would normally do...



VF1000F wheels on a 1000R. Only to keep it a roller and start working on the Comstar wheels for another bike.

And another conversion done today.

 

Bodywork is "halfway" there.

 

what kind of switch gear is that on the right hand bar ? does it require a standalone throttle block ?

 

RC51. Separate throttle housing is RC51 as well. The connector is the same, and on a 86 VFR750, all you have to do is unpin the wires and re-assemble to match the wire harness. The connector is correct for the VF1000R too (still have to match locations), but the lead is too short and must be lengthened because of the long route that it takes going around the radiator cooling shrouding.

Need to drill a new locating hole for the RC51 throttle housing.

It is cleaner looking and the switch is a much better design.

 

OK, thanks a lot

 

Upper cowl is now "one piece". 85 left, 86 right. It is solid and was fine tuned to the upper cowl stay.


And the 86 remnants.


The lowers aren't going to match up quite as nice in the center, but it doesn't really matter down there. They will be close enough. There's a lot of differences between 2 sets of hand laid fiberglass a year apart.

Coolant pipes under the carbs were ready. Failure was imminent on this one.

 

Since I needed to lengthen the leads I used a CBR1000RR switch that has the wrong connector. These lengths will put the male/female connectors behind the right frame/air intake cover for easy replacement if it is ever needed.

 

Very nice work. It's going to be pretty sweet when it's done.

 

Thanks man. It's not gonna be real pretty up close, but it will mechanically sound with some nice suspension and wheel upgrades. I have to keep reminding myself that this is not a restoration, it will be something that can be ridden hard, ridden in the rain, and not worried about.

 

The mirror holes had some damage around them, so I came up with some covers to hide it.

Held down in place by some thin, double sided foam adhesive.

The metal cap has an o-ring underneath to apply a little pressure when the mirror is installed. It's rock solid.

 

Nice work. The devil is always in the details. It's one thing to look decent, it's another thing to look decent and be functional.

 

Nice job ! Very neat.

 

I was a little skeptical, I didn't think it would look that good. But I knew it would look better than chewed up fiberglass holes that the rubber grommets are always coming out of. And this bodywork is not getting glass repair and paint. I have enough of that in my future.

Took me 2-1/2 sets and about the same amount of hours of hand filing and fitting. Each side of the cowl was slightly different so I could start with rough mirror images , but had to hand file and sand the contours to fit. Still not perfect, but pretty damn close. Locating the holes was time consuming too.

 

Vent tube o-rings I sourced were REALLY close, but even lubed up with red rubber grease they just didn't want to go in. I have 2 more options on the way. The cross section thickness that is needed is proving very hard to find (except if you wanna pay $130+ for 4 of the Honda "Gasket Sets"). Fuck that. I'm going a couple sizes smaller diameter of the same thickness to see if when they are stretched a little the thickness will come down just enough. I might wait to put these back together until they come to test, but I have a couple more sets of OEM if I'm impatient. Really don't like having "exploded" carbs sitting on the bench too long.

I do need to figure this out cuz I have 6 more sets of V4 carbs to go through. Most of the vent o-rings that come out are fairly reusable and not really deteriorated, just compressed from time. My friends carbs we just went thru didn't "engage" very nicely, they were pretty loose. And he wasn't getting my Honda ones.