Matt Tries – 1984 VF500F Overhaul

I may have used my company IPass/EZpass transponder when I went out to PittRace earlier this year, and half the toll booth cameras registered my tiny 4x8' trailer as 3 axle. Considering that was about $200 in tolls... I think I'll buy the cans of paint while I argue with the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio that I wasn't pulling a 53ft trailer. I'm covering the bike in a garbage bag next time I make that trip.

 

Ohh the humanity (yellow)!! hahaha Project is coming along. I wonder if they used Jasco? I use that to strip multiple metal paint jobs on moto tanks and stripped powder coat off of parts that didn't come out as expected. Brush on and wait. Works fairly quick on regular paint, not so quick on powder coat.

That big rig looks suspect. Why are you hiding coolers in your truck?!

Tyga makes some sweet stretchy bike covers BTW. Maybe a cool Suzuki one!

https://tyga-performance.com/product_info.php?cPath=71_1541&products_id=5562

 

Just found this thread, hugely helpful and intuitive website being able to filter threads, also cool that this dude makes quality footage of doing vintage bike servicing.

 

I'm not familiar with Jasco. Maybe that's it--but something tells me they've got something even more evil that us regular consumers can't buy. I still have some of a can of the aircraft stripper gel that is just nasty stuff, and that would have still taken me forever. I'll keep my eyes open for some of that Jasco though to give it a shot.

̶4̶0̶0̶ ̶c̶a̶s̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶C̶o̶o̶r̶s̶ ... errr... a case of water and some gatorade, Mr Justice!

Thanks man. Just trying to encourage other people to take on the their own projects and keep more of these machines alive. Luckily there's still places like this one (hope VFRW continues on) where people can find actual useful information.

 

I would be so bummed if VFRW goes down... more like upset. So much good stuff on here.

 

Same. I've actually tried to sign up there a few times and never got the confirmation email, so... never been active there. But I reference it all the time. It's the only discussion in documented human history of aftemarket rearsets for the VF500F.

___

Well today was the day of my lofty goal of having the VF500F painted and ready to go. I wanted to make it out to the Motoamerica races with it. Not quite there yet. But I still go to ride up there with my dad and my buddy and had an awesome time. The new pavement looks so good. Lucky for me I get to try it out on a track day on Monday. I had to ride my boring vstrom (which wasn't so bad because I could store all our gear in the bags). My dad just got this absolutely ridiculous 100th anniversary BMW RNineT which he absolutely appears to adore.


I did get to see this beauty while walking around though!


Next up is sinking a bunch more time and money into buffing and polishing tools/materials. Well, after I get the yellow down on the tank.

 

Love that RC30… maybe a close up pic of Dad Bavarian Bad Ass next time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Good day for riding!! Sounds like we all won!! Nice NineT

 

"I can't believe how light it is. I've been riding harleys for the last 30 years and I forgot what it's like to ride a bike like this!"

 

F*ck
Dad has good taste!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Beauty BMW

Dad does have good taste, He had a VROD too if I recall

 

Stray and anybody else that seems to take pleasure in doing decals... idk how you do it. It's so damn nerve-wracking. These stupid things are so expensive and so easy to mess up.


I wet sanded all the fairings and polished them to a pretty decent finish.


Then I applied the first decal and realized there's absolutely no way in hell I'm doing this again in the future. I'm not not clear coating over these fairing decals. So I pulled everything back off and re-sanded to knock the shine off of them. I'm now at the point where I've applied all the decals that aren't part of the tank or main fairing.


This is the one I'm least proud of. Getting those long ass strips to line up is a nightmare while trying to keep them laying flat. And I got cocky and tried to do the rear "Honda" decal dry. Ugh.


All things considered though, I think it's looking okay. Unfortunately, now the hard part starts. The topcoat yellow on the tank has been curing for several days and now I need to lay the black on both the main fairing and tank.


Should be fun.

And speaking of fun... a few weeks ago I took part in my first ever "GTL" race. And I learned that 25 minutes is a lot longer than 10 minutes, and I'm not nearly in as good of riding shape as I thought I was. Survived.

 

Yep. It's a head-turner, that's for sure. And it whistles and sings as opposed to gurgles and vomits like you'd expect which is my favorite part about it.

 

That yellow bike is beautiful!

Where did you race? I may have been there.

 

The VFR is looking great Matt !, the more decals yo do the better you get, I'm still learning how to do the convex and concave surfaces better.

Nice form there on the race track shot, looking like a pro ! 25 minutes is a long time on a race track I imagine. Id be gassed after 10 for sure. Still jelly that you get to do that ! Did you find that your form/concentration etc got worse as you got further into it or you were ok ? Id imagine that Id get sloppy as I got tired.

Is this the race that I saw on youtube and you were doing the in picture commentary on ?

 

This was at Blackhawk Farms in South Beloit, IL. And thanks! Just don't squint or you'll start to see all the mishaps, hah.

I think a third hand would probably be the most useful tool for the tricky decals. I don't think I'll have any problem with the fuel tank decals--but the main fairing might get a little interesting. I need to mock up some paper templates first though based on the decals so I can figure out how to mask off the tank/fairing to put down the black. The decals is pretty wide for most of it which gives a bunch of room for error--and then it gets quite thin at the front requiring much more accuracy. That'll be the trickiest bit.

That picture is from a race about an hour or so after the one I did some commentary on. 43 bikes on the grid between the different classes. It's mainly 400s and then probably 8-10 bikes up to SV650 size like I am on. My mental concentration/stamina was fine for the distance. I'm struggling with shifting issues on that bike that were throwing my left leg into cramps (I think there may be a bent shift fork...), right arm was also giving out from working the throttle, so I just found a 400 to follow about half way through and logged experience.

 

Looking good! Bike and track pics. Awesome.

 

SV in the HOUSE!! nice race pic Matt!! Glad you finished the 25 min. Next is to race the 6hr endurance race with me.
Your VF is looking slick dude!! Yellow never looked so good!
Stickers are my favorite, but I am no Jedi master with stickers and paint over.

 

Be careful what you wish for--I know what coast you live on, and I just squeezed some new grease into my trailer bearings!

I'd love to get into endurance someday.

 

I couldn't think of any way to properly mask off the tank and main fairing for the black painted portions. I started with tape and realized it was hopeless. I know those Cricuts are all the rage so I ordered a roll of vinyl. I cut the decal backing as close as possible and traced out some masks.




I cut the masking decals in half while they were on the bike. That area will get covered over by the actual decal. I gave it a spray, and I'm not mad about it.


Going to wait a few days for the topcoat to harden up and cure before I put the decals on the main fairing and tank. Then I'm clearing the shit out of everything and hoping I don't regret that choice.