Matt Tries – 1984 VF500F Overhaul

I sanded the side panels and polished it to the best of my abilities, and they look worse than before I started. I didn't want to screw up the tank. I know that there's an art and the "right" materials for it--I just don't know what it is nor do I think I have them.

Racing has been a trip. It's so damn humbling but also accelerates your learning so fast. I'm still the biggest wiener on the planet when it comes to riding on public roads, but you learn so quickly what bikes are actually capable of. What I'm struggling with most right now is getting out of "track day/gentlemen" mode and learning race craft. I'm unable to commit to passes on guys I'm faster than. But I know it'll come with time. I just have a lot of self-preservation and "you go ahead" I need to work out. Stacking up a bunch of P2's in amateur (experts are on another plane).

Fun thing. The bagger racing league was there with us at Blackhawk in July, so there was a ton of camera crew and dudes in friggen skylifts in the trees and whatnot. I watched the replay when I got home and noticed they caught the end of the lightweight supersport race on their filler feed. I'm on the outside trying to get a run to the finish. The red bike (on the inside) ended up winning by a bike length. But what was funny about this was I could feel that P3 bike breathing down my neck the whole last lap (I hadn't felt him before). He ends up blasting past both me and the eventual winner on that last straight by 0.6s to the checkered. Turned out it was a CBR600 that had gotten lost and ended up on a lightweight grid and wasn't logging official laps.

I was so damn confused about the end of this race until I saw this replay.

 

He was just trying to push the pace LOL!

 

There's nothing wrong with being polite on a race track. You don't want to be one of those riders who's willing to put someone in the ER for a wooden plaque with a plastic thing screwed to it. Nearly all of the super fast guys I'm on track with pass me without changing what I'm doing at all.

Passing is a lot about planning. Inexperienced riders follow the person in front of them waiting for that last second opportunity. That is mostly frustrating. Plan the pass a few turns before. You'll know where you're faster. Get it all lined up and execute...without changing their trajectory or speed.

 

I've got a question. How many revolutions should I be able to spin the front wheel of a VF500F with the front wheel off the ground but the calipers installed? I'm only getting about 1 revolution. It's actually about the same on the VFR700 which has new everything and hasn't seen the road yet.

I know that the solid rotors will have more resistance/drag than a floating or semi-floating rotor. It just seems like a lot more resistance than I get on my SV650. I wanted to ask before I undo all the safety wiring in case 1 revolution was normal.

 

That sounds a little snug. 1 revolution is not normal, I don't think your calipers are floating properly or the side where you manipulate the fork leg for proper caliper bracket clearance was not not done properly.

The VFR that hasn't been on the road yet is a different story, but it better spin pretty freely after everything has bedded in and normalized on a break in ride.

 

Safety wiring the two caliper bolts on those is tricky. If it's too tight across the front of the caliper, it can't float properly and will bind. Tech used to give me shit until I pointed out why it needed a little extra length for pad wear and caliper movement and then never had another conversation.

But your pic doesn't seem to be the case.

 

Damn, alright. Thank you. I'll pull the calipers off to verify that the wheel is spinning freely without calipers on. I'll try popping the calipers back on then and re-torque to see if that resolves things. If not I'll start pulling the calipers apart.

 

Do I see gap at the front of your axle cap?

And is your safety wire taught and touching as it passes by the caliper?

 

I wonder if this might be the case. I backed the bolts off and it was able to rotate about 2.5 turns with the same effort. Torqued the caliper bolts to about 16lb-ft and it's now spinning about 2 turns same effort.

The safety wiring was touching the caliper before I pulled it off just now. The bolts were already drilled (wrong spots because I assume they've gotten moved around) but still felt it was better to wire them than not wire them.


Regarding the axle gap, I'm betting I probably have those too tight as well. Manual calls for 13-18 lb-ft.

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Left side--looking at this one again, I bet this is part of my problem. Comparing it to yours, I need that gap at the rear and not the front.

 

You tighten the front fork cap nut all the way first, and then tighten the rear. There is an arrow pointing "FRONT". If you have one off and put it on the bench, you will find the rear is shorter than the front for that reason. Same thing with (most) tubular handlebar clamps.

The upper caliper bolt moves with the caliper as the pads wear, so you are very limited with where to anchor your safety wire. Another option would be to drill the "rib" on the caliper right below the bolt and anchor the upper bolt there. Then you could anchor the lower bolt to the lower caliper bracket bolt. I just decided to give it some slack and check that box, I wasn't actually worried about my caliper bolts.

 

Got it--thank you on the clarification about the axle holder installation. I did find that information in the manual last night, and I think that's probably helped straighten things out. Realistically I know I don't need to safety wire these bolts, but it's just not a lot of torque on them and their backing out can be pretty consequential--so I'd prefer to do it.

I see what you mean with the upper caliper bolts and why they can't be super taught. I do go from about ~2.5 revolutions to about 1 3/4-2 revolutions after I tighten things and wire them after redoing it.

The reason I even bothered looking at the wheel rotation was that I was trying to fit an adjustable brake lever. Obviously one of the worries about a different brake lever is that it may not retract enough to allow the pistons to retract and just continuously build pressure. I'm going to give it another ride around later this evening when I'm home to see if it feels any better.

The plan is to take it to Blackhawk Farms for a track day this coming Monday, so I'm working on the safety and comfort items now. Thanks for the explanation and the pictures of your bike. There's not a ton of places to go looking for that information!

 

"Bro! Is that a fuckin' Interceptor dude!? It's fuckin' awesome!" - guy that rolled his window down when we were stopped at a stoplight. I gotta be honest, it got me pretty pumped! hah

Besides the front wheel free spin, I've been working on a couple final touches getting ready for what's supposed to be a 93°F day at the track on Monday. Took it around the war-torn streets near me and on the freeway for a while, and everything feels good. GoPro's made the trip (if I bin it I at least want to capture it on video), foot controls feel good on my boots, and the Helite airbag tether seems like it'll be fine.



Without a doubt the best change I've made was finally getting an adjustable brake lever installed. Not sure when I even bought it--tried a bunch of them including one from a VFR750 master I'll likely install at some point to no avail. Did some grinding and got this one to work. I feel so, so much more confident with a brake lever that fits my hand.

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Good or bad, I'll let ya'll know how it goes. Assuming I pass tech inspection. If I don't pass I'm just going to lie and say it went great.

 

I agree, it looks awesome!

 

Awesome Matt. Have a great day at the track "Dude", you will at the very least look good "Bro!"

 

Have fun at the track, Im looking forward to the video !

 

Have fun! Be careful.

 

Thanks guys. I'll do my best to have some fun out there! Fixed my truck's AC this morning by replacing the compressor clutch/pulley/coil setup, so at least I've got that going for me.




Man I wish Pitbull made TRS pins for this bike. I've started to take for granted how easy "strapping" my SV650 down is.

 

Mentally smoked. Had a great time. Learned a lot about the bike--strengths and weaknesses--and learned a lot about my own deficiencies as a rider. I'll post a write-up and hopefully some pictures a little bit later. BT-45's put in some work and exceeded my expectations.

 

Nice work! Really looking forward to the write up.

I can BT-45s for years on my CB-1 on the road and track. I never lacked for grip. The limiting factor was the shape of the tire, which I rode off the edge of more than once!

 

Please post some video on your channel too Matt ! loving the track time Vids you post, just watched the latest 2 yesterday.