Hi. I've been lurking the site for a couple months trying to absorb all the info and think its great. I was given an 86 Interceptor 500. Its background is unknown though the speedo shows 10k miles. It was missing the gas tank and most of the plastic. But you cant complain for the price. I was able to find a tank on ebay for $25. Its a flat black which looks pretty cool with the red seat. The front brake was froze so the brake lever was removed. I hope with cleaning and excersizing the piston it will free up. The guy I got it from said he clean the carbs but do not think he took them apart. He said he had it running last year but it would not idle. Which leads to my 1st question, should the carbs be gone through 100% or get it running, adjust/sync and see where we are. So far I have not started working on it yet. I am gathering parts and reading posts. Would like to get it running to register it for the road. Ultimately I would like to sell and trade up to a larger bike. I'm 5' 11" and 240lbs. The 500 seems a little small for me. Thanks for listening.
I would definitely either pull the carbs yourself to clean them or pay someone else to do it for you. My brother had an old 1000 interceptor for a while and the throttle would sometimes stick open because (in my opinion) he needed to clean the carbs. You'll want to have the carbs synchronized afterward too. Sweet score on the bike BTW. I wish someone would give me one with only 10K miles. That baby's barely broken in. Looks like you just need some plastic for it, which I'm sure you can find on ebay for less than $200. If not, I have a complete set (except for the chin fairing) that I'd let go of.
Thanks for the replies. Sorry for the crapping pic. It looks better on my blackberry. What I will probably will do is flow some gas through the tank and see what comes out, take apart the fuel strainer and see what that looks like. Maybe do the pet cock mod I read about somewhere on the site or another members site. start the engine and let run to get the oil warmed up berfore changing and go through the carbs. I have rebuilt 2 stroke snomobile carbs (Mikuni) before. These look a little different and smaller. I have a print out of the carb cleaning instructions from the v45 magna/sabre site. Is there a similar step by step instruction for brake caliper/resevior cleaning?
hey welcome to the site. I'd do a complete carb clean but don't seperate them. pull the bowls off pull out all the inners but don't mix them up. the bike won't run if you do. found ziplock works best. mostly every part you'll need is on E-bay. good luck.
When you pull the carbs, do not remove them from the air cleaner base, otherwise you'll have springs going everywhere. I would try to get them cleaned and then see where you're at. The 500 is a great bike, but it might be a little small for your weight. You could try to gear it down to make up for it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Matt - check your manual. If you remove the carbs from the base plate, the carbs will come apart and there are springs that link the carbs. You need to be careful when separating the carbs. I've done it, so I've been there.
