My latest 2nd Gen Interceptor - an early '86 round gauge RC26 w/latter '87 Blue fairings (?)

The fellow who GAVE me the bike said it was an '86. But when I saw the photo of the bike (which didn't show the gauges) it had Candy Wave Blue/Silver livery used only on the '87's. Hmmm.....something ain't kosher!

The second photos he sent did show the round gauges, the VIN plate, and the color label. Then a light bulb went off.....someone decided to remove the factory RWB plastics and tank and replace with the '87 Blue/Silver versions. Wow.....didn't see that coming!

The fellow that gave it to me saw my social media presence on another forum and just wanted to make his wife happy by freeing up space in his garage with a bike that had been parked after the owner got two other bikes. A Ducatti and a Triumph. So the bike was mine for the transport cost - plus it came with a spare (Corbin) seat and a bunch of rebuild kits.

What's cool is it did come with the original blue colored two up seat in VG condition! He is sending me the title after he gets it 'processed' out there (AZ).

Apparently the bike sat in a barn for a while (evident by a layer of dust/dirt). But I see no evidence of corrosion and after stripping her down today looks like a fairly straight forward rebuild.

I already have all the proper plastics plus fuel tank so just got to work on the carbs, brakes, and clutch. I also have a new Motobatt battery charging.

The brand new never used rebuild kits that came with the bike are both brake masters, master and slave for clutch, and carbs. Also all 4 blinker stalks.

I also have carb kits from Joe Nelson and some brake caliper kits I keep handy.

The fuel tank did not come with a cap but did have the petcock and sending unit. I won't be using that tank anyway but can use the parts off it plus I have plenty of caps - so this bike with be one of the ones that will have 2 different keys.

Haven't check the tire date codes yet. I aired them up this morning so we'll see if they hold OK.

The other great news is all the Blue plastics I removed are in remarkably good condition. Even the tail fairing only had one broken tab! And came with a nice complimentary American flag!

The aftermarket windscreen is also almost perfect and it comes with a Kerker exhaust!

I'll go back tomorrow and pop off the carbs. I forgot to bring my extension Phillips head today.


A few before & current status pics......











The stuff I removed.......



And the kits......

 

The bike isn't without a few warts.

The right side lower fairing stay has been snapped off and the Kerker has an indentation on top.

 

That ain't too bad. good pic up...again!!

 

Thanks - so far I think it will clean up nicely. Interesting aspect about the fairings. First how weird it had a full compliment of the Blue/Silver and I will be able to use ALL of those on another application. Then secondly that I have ON HAND all the replacement pieces in the factory issued (proper) RWB?

Just bizzaro world......

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This morning I removed the carb set, the clutch slave, and the right side front brake caliper. The allen bolt wasn't budging on the left front brake caliper so rather than force and strip it out - I will return with my allen socket 3/8" drive, a hammer, and torch for the extraction.

Old insulators look pretty good - except one with a turned in lip.

The guys at the end of my stretch there run a moving company and were washing down their truck, so now I have a way to wash off the bike as they leave their hose there on the side. Just gotta roll it down there.

While there I did some other cool stuff. I replace the battery in the '86 White bike I got from Kaplan and got it going again after sitting for months like a red-headed step child. That bike runs really nice! I need to re-install the helmet lock/seat release on it which I removed to get a key made.

I also hooked up my battery charger to the RWB clone I bought a couple years ago that has also sat for too long. And another battery charger on the '86 round gauge 700 I got from Matt (Cold Devil) so I can get both of those going again.

After those two I also have the Marysville 'White '87 I got from Wisconsin to get going again. Doing all this out at the storage units and in the mornings - a couple hours - sweaty but not as hot as later on. The revenge tour! Feels good, too!

 

Will have to take another look but for some reason I'm not sure this bike has the warning lights bar under the gauge cluster. Unfortunately none of the photos I took include that part of the bike so will have to take a look next time I head over.

Luckily, I just got one recently with a parts score.......so I'm set just in case.

 

How in the F do you fold a front insulator?

 

I couldn’t possibly fold one of those, definitely not ever.. just know it was inexperience. Lol

 

A front?

 

A ratchet strap may have been involved. Or maybe the lip was already "tilted" a bit on that side when the carb pushed down.

Not everyone knows how to get the carbs in - and a lot of crazy methods exist on YT.

Just speculation.

 

Maybe… I dunno. I didn’t do I swear!

ok I did it. It was the reason I joined the forum. It was my first VF bike, and I was making a mess out of the project.

 

I will re-use those except the folded one. The last one I did (see pic) also had the Honda insulators and they all stayed in place and looked OK to use again - so I did! Nice to have the factory clamps stay in place as well.

 

Next up today will be the carb, brake, and clutch slave work. Masters probably tomorrow but we'll see.

In the meantime I changed out all the blinker stalks and cleaned those and the mirrors up so they look great now. Also got all the body pieces I will need together. All look fantastic except the lowers have some graphic warts which I can always work on later if I want. That headlight cowl already had a nice windscreen on it and it's the same brand as the one that came with the bike. That cowl, the battery covers, front fender, and tail fairing are in excellent condition - not even any sign of past repair work. I hope this bike is mechanically worthy...lol....