Care and feeding for my '86 VF500F

Hey everybody, I'm new to this forum, but it looks like a solid community to me. I just picked up an 86 VF500F as a commuter, and also as something cheaper on insurance and gas than my last bike. I have two questions to start off with...

Why is 20w50 the oil of choice for these bikes? From the manual it seems like 10w40 would be preferred, and it's what i'm used to putting in newer bikes I've had.

Do I really need special tools to perform a valve adjustment? Again, I'm more used to shim and bucket style valvetrains ... the Clymer I have suggests that I would need to find two fancy wrenches in order to do this, and I would rather know for sure than pull off a valve cover and find out.

Thanks for your advice! Also any other tips you might have would be appreciated ... but no real problems with it so far. It runs quite well!

 

As far as actually measuring valve clearance go, you only need a set of feeler gauges, which aren't hard to find.

This bike has a hair over 30,000 km on it (18,000 miles), and I know for a fact it hasn't sat too long for any point of its life. I haven't noticed the slightest amount of smoke or even the smell of burning oil yet.

However, another thing just came to mind. Whenever I fill the bike with gas and park it, when I come back to it it smells really strongly of gas. Even if it hasn't moved for a day or two. Is this common? As in, do the gas caps do much on these bikes, or is mine in need of replacement?

 

I'm getting ready to try to do the valve adjustment following the clymers manual as well, do you have AIM? we may be able to go through this togathar to make things easier! GL with the bike, I Love Mine

 

My bike used to proliferate the smell of gas, but it doesn't anymore. I couldn't say what changed other than than I did a carb cleaning. So perhaps one of the floats was sticking?

 

Gas smell - stuck float or leaking petcock. Remove petcock and clean/inspect the o-rings. This may fix the leaking petcock.

Also, I turn off the petcock when the bike is not running.

Valve adjust: The heads were not line-bored so the cams typically have slop and rock up and down. This can lead to an inaccurate valve adjustment by doing one valve at a time. The solution is to use 2 feeler gauges at the same time.

Use the same size feeler gauge (bent at a 45 degree angle) under each valve adjustment screw for that rocker arm. This will keep the cam from "tilting" while you do the valve adjustment.

The cam tool from honda lifts the cam up - reducing the slop. Just use the 2-feeler gauge method.

After adjusting the 2 screws for that rocker arm, rotate the engine until pressure is put on the screws and they raise up toward the top of the head. You can now tighten the locking nuts without the adjustment screw rotating. Rotate the engine through 2 firing cycles to help them seat and check the valves again. If they are out of spec, adjust again. If in spec, rotate the engine until the screws raise up and torque to proper setting.

You may have to put one valve tighter or looser during adjustment so that after rotating the engine, they are within spec.

 

Do NOT use 20W 50 in a VF 500 ; Honda does not specify that oil and heavier oil can cause a lack of lubrication in certain circumstances. I will never understand we people think they know more about engineering specs than the factory. Here is a link to an article I wrote about motor oil that explains the issue.


http://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng9.shtml

 

Then the service manual is lying?!

Just read through my manual for the VF500 and it's definitely 20w-50 depending on the climate.

 

I run 20w50 in my 500's during the summer and 10w40 in the early or late portions of the season. Due to the lack of an oil cooler these engines can run some elevated oil temperatures, the heavier oil helps under these conditions. Just make sure to let the engine run for a few minutes to warm up before taking off.

 

Thanks, this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for regarding the valve adjustment.

 

No disrespect intended to Mason45...but Honda began align boring their V-4 heads beginning in 1986, with the exception of the 1100cc engine. This is evidenced by the little half moon plugs on the head, directly adjacent to the camshafts (left from the cam bearing boring process)...you'll notice yours doesn't have them, Mason, however the 86 models do. Also if you try to buy cam bearing caps separately, you can for 85 and older...but in 86 they only come with a complete head. So...none of the VC adjustment "voodoo" associated with older models applies to your bike TwistedKestrel...if it's an 86. I've found the align bored heads make lash adjustment more straightforward and consistent. I would have posted this morning but I wanted to check the OE service manual at work to make sure this was correct info, it is. BTW, the clearance spec is slightly different for 86 models also. Good luck.

 

Even better! And I wouldn't say you are disrepecting Mason45, dizzy, rather you are supporting the information they provided and further clarifying it. Alright, I think I'll give it a go, just going to wait for a warm day next week.

 

Dizzy, no direspect felt. You are 100% correct. My mistake as I did not realize twisted had an '86.

 

Actually, the 85 VF1000 engines were all line bored. This is really a moot point because line boring is not an issue when it comes to any topic. It does not contribute to nor prevent anything. The valve adjustment procedure is the same (and just as easy) for either design. This comes from my own personal experiences.

 

You can easily make a tool to hold the valve tappet in place. Just take an
1/8" steel bracket and bend the end to a 45 and then cut an 1/8" wide notch in it, and viola you've got a wrench.

Chris

Mine looks like this.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee287/cromanyak/IM001718.jpg

 

Colddevil the recommended oil is 10W40 - I know there is a table that shows 20W 50 in the manual - don't use it.