1985 VF500 first bike, concerns etc.

Hey all! I bought this 1985 VF500 a few weeks ago as my first bike (new rider), I paid a little over $2000 for it and it had a new fuel pump, thermostat, tires and some other parts put into it before I bought it with only 11,000 miles and it runs good with no issues. It's all OEM and the bike is pretty much in tip-top shape, and I bought it with confidence since I have a relative who owned this exact model of bike who offered to help me with it.

I am worried about a few things however. As a new rider, I want to get out on the road a lot and I'm not sure about if this bike would be good to ride frequently maintenance-wise and if I'd have to do more than just change fluids on a short-term basis. I also have a little bit of experience working on my old dirtbike but I've heard that these engines are very complicated which makes me anxious as well. I've seen a lot that parts are hard to come by, and that was on forums from a decade ago so I can only imagine how hard it is now if anything happens to it. I really don't want to drop this bike either because the fairings are in great shape.

I was just hoping to get some input from those who know these bikes, such as any kind of maintenance I should look forward to in the bikes current state, and just general advice.

Thanks!

 

Surprised no one has replied to this yet. So here is my 2 cents :

Like all bikes, oil & filter changes are you friend

Make sure your valves are properly adjusted, not hard to do on these (not shim under bucket, just an adjustable tappet), best use 2 feeler gauges at the same time

Check your cam shaft lobes while your cam cover is off, these bikes can have cam issues depending on how they were ridden and maintained. Im not 100% sure if the 85's got the oiling system upgrade or if that was 1986.

as far as dropping it and damage goes, thats a problem with any bike, you don't want drop it, so, do your best, be careful, and enjoy the bike.

ride safe,

 

I honestly thought I had.

Pretty much what sc says.

The 500s were most negatively notable as having bad cranks in some early 84s. Honda's recall campaign was extensive and exhaustive. The chance of a 84 slipping thru is tiny, if not impossible. I have never heard of anybody thinking they got one that didn't get the engine replaced.

The V4s did not necessarily suffer from an oiling issue, as in lack of quantity or pressure. The issue was two fold, they were very real, and they didn't necessarily overlap:

Cams were machined from castings that were of a new, as it turns out poor, procedure. Inclusions or bubbles were uncovered (or nearly uncovered) after machining. Those areas exposed/failed, pitted and could then potentially take out the follower if/when the hardening had worn thru. There are some engines that have pitting but have never gone farther than that. There are some engines that got lucky and were assembled with "good" cams. Properly scheduled oil / filter changes help, as with any machine. Old, used, acidic oil that sits in the pits certainly does not help.

Early designs were not machined using a line boring technique (pre 86), where the head and cam holder were machined together for the cams and always stayed married to each other. The early models were machined to a tolerance and employed semi "floating" cam caps. Sometimes a particular group of parts came together where the tolerances of the mating parts all ended up being perfect together as a system. Sometimes tolerance stack allowed the opposite to happen, leading to odd wear and difficulty adjusting the valve lash. Honda came up with some BS "Cam Holder" tool, but it was just a PR move. Just use 2 feelers at the same time as straycat suggests.

Some later engines got updated oil line banjo bolts, but this was also just to say they did "something". The fact that some (many) early engines have lasted 10s of thousands of miles without any abnormal wear or failure shows it is not a lack of oil. Old oil, and lack of oil due to poor maintenence, does not help an engine that runs hot, high RPMs, and has LOTS of moving parts. Just like any other machine. These bikes were relatively cheap for the futuristic level of power and refinement they provided, which means they could be ran very hard with little maintenance, by inexperienced, and uninterested, new-to-the-sport owners. And then reported as being unreliable.

86 engines were still assembled using cams ground from castings. The castings were generally better, but you can absolutely have an 86 that has "updated" oil line banjos, line bored heads and has pitted cams that spent life with a loving, responsible owner. The 86 500 did get a deeper oil sump and revised oil pump with it.

Enjoy the 500, they are great bikes. Keep the revs below 9 most of time and keep your red-line runs short and enjoyable. The valve springs were not that strong to begin with, and they are weaker now with age. 500s like to "float" valves, mushroom valve stems and break them dropping valve heads into the combustion chamber. Ask me how I know.

Oh, and don't drop it! Hah!

 

I apologize to the OP and straycat for the "ummm... actually" thread jack.

I was done with work, bored and I just kept typing. Wasn't trying to step on anybody, everything straycat said was on point.

-Mike

 

Thank you both for the advice! Yeah I started to get worried when nobody responded, lol

But yeah, I'll make regularly scheduled oil and filter changes. I'll be sure to use 2 feelers as well for the valves, its interesting how the earlier models have semi floating caps, a bit inconvenient but eh. Its a long story (bike title stuff) but I managed to reach out to the proper title owner of the bike, who said that he paid to have the bike sent out to a proper VF mechanic who properly did a rebuild of the engine, so hopefully if there were any cam issues they got fixed at that point. Nonetheless, I'll try to check the cams, possibly during winter while I'm not riding just in case. Valve heads in the combustion chamber doesn't sound like a fun time either, I'll do my best to check them and not rev it too hard.

And thanks, I have enjoyed the bike this weekend I feel like it makes good power without having to rev it out completely, and it is quite nimble in the turns even though I'm still trying to master the handling.

 

No worries! The info about the cams and the history is good to know

 

The engine is a jewel and the chassis is very capable, even in stock form. Suspension upgrades, aftermarket shock and cartridge emulators with the proper straight rate springs, along with "modern" bias tires and it is a formidable weapon on a tight back road.

Enjoy. Have we seen good pictures yet?

 

For sure, these engines seem pretty awesome and I feel like (at least for this bike) they make more hp than other 500cc engines (I love their sound too). And I'll definitely consider upgrading the suspension and stuff down the road, would be cool to have it handle even sportier and nimbler

Thanks, I will! ^^
I also didn't think to take any detailed photos of the bike before returning to college yesterday, unfortunately. I did go for a little ride to a state park with my uncle on his own bike and took a photo against the backdrop though