Hello all! new beaterbike.

Hello i recently purchased my first bike a 86 VF500. she sure isn't too pretty but she was only $300.









I bought it not running, I can tell this thing has been molested some lots of striped out screws and what not. choke lever totally in-operational, with the cable off the lever works fine, each individual choke linkage moves freely but when they're all together absolutely locked up. i took the carbs off did a full serious cleaning. putting these back on i have some questions: first what hold the carbs together? i would think these ought to bolted to each other, but only the right two and left two have one screw holding them together. second how do the throttle linkages connect? right now only three of them have they're own return spring, the right carbs linkage is easy with the rod but the left side just kind of touch with about 30 degrees of slop i know this is defiantly wrong, i found 3 little springs on top of the motor i hope these are part of the answer. also the black thubsrew next to the throttle cable doesn't go to anything. carbs are on now, she runs good ides too high and needs a little starting fluid to get it started. I've been a car tech for about 3 years, but I'm new to bikes. I'll post again in the 1st gen section if i can't figure this out soon.

THANKS!

 

Doesn't look bad at all in the pics. Keep her goin'!

 

Looks pretty good for 300 bucks.

 

Welcome aboard

 

Thats not a beater, thats a classic at a good price that just needs a little TLC.
Welcome!

 

thanks, updates to follow, just got 2 new tires, runs great now, fork seals on the way, bodywork in progress.

 

did the new tires take some of the shimmy out of the ride?
My bike was a diamond in the rough before new tires.
new tires and proper tire pressure made my bike go from a dangerous situation to "carving like a razor" to quote vfrhusband.
Everyone that rode my bike before I bought her thought there was something seriously wrong, It would stand up in corners , etc etc.
90% tires, 10% rider, was the problem.
I hope you have a similar experiance with new tires.
On a side note, I bow down to my bike at this time. Now any problems are 90% rider and 10% bike.
On a mission to get more edumacation, just couldnt do it with the bike in peices. Now that she is whole again, I am on the hunt to tak the advanced rider course.
Not that I am advanced, but education is key.
Hope all works out good for you brother.
-C

 

Welcome, and good find! I really liked my 500.

 

"Not that I am advanced"

I am not in opposition to the opposite.

 

Great find for $300
Welcom to the mad house.

 

I never even rode it before the new tires, they were 8 years old and rotted out. she rides great as far as i can tell. (this is the only bike I've ridden and no one else has been on it either.) currently in the middle of fork seal replacement.

 

Welcome aboard and good luck on the mods.

 

Sounds like you are doing just fine. Don't pay too much attention to Krispy. He feels it necessary to make his personal shit public and he really doesn't know that much about bikes or riding. He whines better than most everyone else though. Think of it as entertainment on the scale of The National Enquirer and some of the more meaty things on Utube.

I hope he makes the Oprah show before she retires.

 

It doesn't look like anyone has commented on the 3 little springs. Those are part of your carb sync screws and go just below those screw on a leveling plate that has a little nub to hold them in place. They pop out very easily after 24 years as I have found out, so I'd recommend going to a hardware store and getting yourself a set of springs that match them (Honda charges $5.50 per spring). I used 1/4" x 1/2" x .035 and trimmed off the end ring to make the fit. You can get a pack of 6, so use them to replace all 3 levelers and the other 3 on the screws if you choose to do so.

As for the way they are linked together, I'm surprised you haven't been hammered with everyone telling you to never remove the filter plate. Normally the carbs are removed from the intake with the air filter plate still intact (not unscrewing the 8 screws hiding under the gold c-covers) The reasoning for this is that the crossover lines for the fuel system are extremely fragile and once broken are a bitch to find replacements for. If you didn't crack or break these, consider yourself very lucky.

Black thumb screw is your idle adjuster. If mounted correctly the throttle pulley plate should rest against the screw.

After you get the springs in, turn each screw in all the way (not snug) and then back out 4 full turns. Take a sliver of regular paper and open the throttle plates to see how much drag you've got on the paper when closed. Try to match the feel equally and she should fire up without any assistance and idle on her own without stalling.

As for the choke issue, it sounds like something is on backwards. If each choke piston moves freely with the same amount of pressure individually, then they should all move in unison when attached. Check to make sure that the screws are not over-torqued and that everything is moving in the same direction when you pull the choke cable.

 

yea everything is working good now, i just have some valve-train noise, except for the idle, I'm missing the part that goes in between the idle screw and the butterfly linkage. so for not i just have the cables adjusted so it will idle. looks like I'm going to have to buy a whole rack of carbs to get that part. i'll put new springs in next time i have it apart to put the idle lever in.

 

I'm confused. You say it's the 'part' that goes between the idle screw and linkage, but the only 'part' I know of between them is the spring. That's the one I was talking about, and there are 3 of them that go under the 3 adjuster screws.

Click on the pic for a better view of what I'm pointing out... (2) Synchronization Spring



Also I've got to point out that you can have them sync'd and if your missing that spring it ain't gonna run right even though the machine says your Hg's are good, and if your carb is not set properly you are going to have noises in the motor that will simulate the need for a valve adjustment, clutch knocking and many other odd noises. Chances are that doing a valve adjustment is unwarranted and won't fix the issue. I'd go to the hardware store and get those springs replaced, dial in your carbs properly and if after doing that you still have noises at the valves, then I'd worry about the adjustment. Just my opinion.

 

:welcome: First of all, ignore "badbilly", most of us do... for some reason he has a personal vendetta against a couple of forum members and feels it necessary to take up space with his verbal dribble... he's kinda an :asshat:

That aside, WELCOME! looks like you found a sweet deal on a classic there man... the 500 is an excellent commuter if that's what ur lookin' for, but it'll carve canyons nicely too... your mechanic background will be a +, and if you ever need help the mates here are the ones to ask :thumb:

Enjoy the forum and join in the madness! :joker:

 

Lazy in AZ: I have all the parts in the picture and it seams to be performing well, I'm sure a on bike crab sync would make it a little better, I'll prob just cut/weld a screwdriver together to make the adjustments with and then make the homemade carb sync tool. it's hard to explain what the idle lever part is because I've never seen it before. i just know that the black plastic idle adjustment thumbscrew doesn't get close to touching anything.

just a note the noise only happens when warm.

thanks for the warm welcome!

 

Looks like you got a great deal and a good plan. Welcome.