WaveyDavey Enters the World of VF500F

It doesn't "have to go", you can create a stop and it can tuck up higher.

I have a 500 center stand where I cut a slot in the top of the eyelets and then installed the collars and bolts on the bike. Slot it in and lever it up. I wouldn't do any real hard wrenching like that, but it is nice for chain adjustments and perhaps rear wheel removal. I have a lift for serious shit.

 

I will have to take a look at that when the time comes. I have a harbor freight frame lift that works great on the dirt bikes as nothing hangs below the frame. I had to fabricate a set of wooden blocks and spacers to get it to lift the Honda with out lifting it by the collector or oil pan, generally frowned upon.. I may weld up some kind of adapter for lifting the 500. I don't presently have a welder....another trip to Harbor Freight?

 

I jack on collectors and oil pans (with interfaces) all the time. Shit I even jack up 86 VFR using the headers. Have for years with zero issues.

 

Agree with Cap ... never had an issue as well.

 

I just caught something on the 500 the other day, I wanted to mention. I noticed that my right side fork blade had slipped up about a quarter of an inch! I took off the the fairing and the headlight fairing support to enable getting at the pinch bolts with a better wrench and torque wrench. The lower bolt was not quite up to torque(32-40 ft lbs) unfortunately I did not test the torque before tightening. I am pretty sure that I had them in that range if not the upper part of that range. They are a biatch to get at without taking the aformentioned stuff off first. So I took the right side lower bolt all the way out applied blue loctite and re-torqued to spec. Here is where I question... did the lower bolt shake lose, possibly due to the Racetech upgrade and 15wt fork oil combined with 40F riding temps on New Mexico Famously rough asphalt?? Or...was I a hack and muffed the torque? I will be watching this very closely for a while. I did not loosen the left side to apply blue to that bolt as well. I have been reluctant to apply loctite to these as I have been having a really hard time getting some of the old fasteners out of the bike when they have no apparent loctite on them?

Just for your amusement!

WaveDavey

 

Good to know! I will continue to use my wood blocks as interface!

 

You were a hack and muffed the torque. ;-) The modified suspension in no way changed the tightening / torque requirements of the front end.

 

Dammit!

So here is something I lost my shit over.It is a small thing to some but I felt like the world was off of its axis. My Right side handlbar (the side the bike was dropped on) looked ever so slightly lower than the left. Well See below... The near field bar is the one that I bought the bike with, the far one is my Ebay purchase. The world is back on axis. One small step for man, one giant return to balance.

 

I have friends who (believe that they) can't ride unless they believe that everything is perfect. I don't care if I have two different bars, grips, lever/pedal position. adapt! lol

 

I am good when the most likely thing to break on the bike is me!

 

I have a couple semi-related questions pertaining to the 500. I have put a few miles on the bike all casuall non canyon burning rides staying below 9K rpm mostly at moderate highway speed.
1. I am curious what other folks have known to get for fuel economy riding in such a manner, should anyone ride in such a manner. I don't seem to be getting very good economy? I also don't seem to be able to get the tank totally full due to design (Certainly not 4.49 US G)??
2. The bike revs cleanly without any hesitation above 3.5 -- 4k up to 10k but starting from a stop it is pretty stodgy. I have never rev'd high from a stop and dumped the clutch. Don't really feel the need. I am just somewhat concerned that it is pokey with out much torque a low rpm. It has been a while since I have ridden a high reving bike, I have mentioned before that I ride in the dirt alot with my KLR, (685) so maybe it is a matter of me applying the same technique from the KLR? I am also old.
3. When the engine is warmed up the idle is about 1.3k when you rev the throttle the bike will jump in rev pretty quickly but will not always back down from rev very quickly when you let go of the throttle? Stodgy?
4. I have not vacuum tuned the carbs yet but did a pretty thorough job with measurement of the butterfly v.s. the vent hole when installing the carbs.

Am hoping to get some feedback while working up the nerve to start diddling with the carbs, when the bike remains prettty darn satisfying to ride!

The Race Tech spring upgrade and heavy weight oil up front are sweet!

WaveyDavey

 

1. Fuel economy isn't great. Last time I checked a tank I got about 43mpg on a freeway burn to watch the AHRMA races.
2. You may be able to tune some of that out if without pulling anything if your air/fuel screws are incorrectly set or have managed to back themselves out a bit over time. Those screws are easily accessible on this carburetor while it sits in the bike.
3. I fight with this quite a bit. When my bike is hot hot, my idle is too high. However, if I set it where I want it when it's hot, it makes starting hard and I run the choke longer than probably recommended. I've just gotten good at modifying it at a stoplight if need be. I'd rather have a high idle than otherwise.
4. Hitting the sync screws on these bikes succkkksssss. Best off nailing that bench sync as good as you can.

 

I think I have watched your youtube channel? Fork Seal Replacement Maybe, I dunno. The yellow paint job looks familiar. I have had the same issue with the idle setting. I set it to 1300 when the bike is at "Operating Temp" but after 45 mins on the highway then pulling up to a light it is at 2200? I am at 5300 t0 6000 feet above seal level most of the time, with stock pipes, I did not do the High Alt. adjustment as the manual says that that is if you are constantly over 6000 feet which I am not. I have the pilot screws set right now at 2 and half turns. Next time I get back from a ride, I may do the turn in until the rpm starts to drop then back out again, at each carb per the shop manual? All in all though it runs really smooth, it's no rocket ship though!

 

Probably. I had made quite a few videos over the years documenting things that I hadn't seen other people post videos about. Should be pretty clear I'm not an expert on those. I've been slowly delisting the videos if I happen to go back and watch something dumb I did or said. Which is most of the time. Idk, I don't regret making them though. I've gotten so much useful advice and made several real-life friends from people I met at the racetrack that had seen one or two of them.

You're high enough above sea level that you may need to lean that thing out a bit. Try bringing those air/fuel screws in a half turn and see if you experience any noticeable difference. It doesn't cost you anything but a couple minutes. Pretty sure I'm at 2 turns with 40 pilots less than 1000ft above sea level. I don't expect it to be a silver bullet fix. You're probably going to end up wanting to get into the carburetor to clean it and document/possibly swap jets based on your environment. But that is where I would start.

 

4.1 gal. for an '86 is what's in the manual. I've never been able to put that much in it though.

 

I had a 55F day here in the Desert so I took the 500 out for a spin to get her warmed up. I turned the pilots in 1/2 turn to 2 turns out. The idle that was set at approx 1300 did not seem to change too much. I rode up the highway did some starts from a dead stop. It did seem that there was a tad more throttle response under 3K rpm. Really seemed to be peppier rolling starts in 2nd gear? This is pretty subjective. There is a road race engine builder here in town with a dyno if I feel like I really want to understand whats happening. Have to find out what it will cost for time on the dyno? Super Great People if anyone is ever in the neighborhood, don't bother with the Honda / Kawi dealer in town. https://speedinmotorsports.com/

I will keep all posted again thanks to all .

Dave

 

A 500 should pull away from a stop very smoothly and linearly, with little effort. Not much finesse or technique should be needed.

WD, I really hate to say this, but I think the carbs are still not right somewhere. I've thought this from the beginning when you first started riding it. I've never had that problem with my 500s. Shit even my race bike pulls away smoothly at low rpms. I can just let the friction zone take it away barely above idle and then dial in more throttle as I progress.

Your idle should not be changing like that either. The only bike I've had that problem with is a VF750F that I knew the carb boots were nearly toast, but wanted to make sure everything else worked before going back in if I had to. I'm sure I have an intake leak somewhere on that bike when it gets hot. The idle will creep up a couple hundred and sometimes hesitate to drop into idle. Runs perfect when first started and the beginning part of a ride.

Everything you describe would lead me right to the carbs on a 500.

Good luck!

 

whats the big deal ?? its normal for a warm engine to idle faster that a cold one, so get used to adjusting the idle speed screw as needed.

 

Every engine I've had idles higher when cold due to choke/enricher.

 

ok but idling OFF choke is the deal here as you know