restoring & adding a modern touch to a 86 vf500

cover's are back!:thumbsup:

 

I have no idea y you keep saying the forks wont work, They worked just fine on mine with no issues. Just modify your radiator mounts, and move it put a bit, no problem. :thumbsup:

 

i've never tried it before but i hear it wont work

 

They are too short. Remove the fork caps and let the forks completely compress. Do you have clearance? When I checked this I did not.

 

I had plenty of clearance. Once question for you though, were you running the handlebars above, or below the tripples? I ran a set from a honda hawk below the tripple trees and had only half and inch or less fork above the tripple.

 

I never got that far. The issues I observed made me stop to purse other things. I'm not sure about the clip-ons you are using, but CBR ones would never work mounted under the triple. There would be interference with the bodywork.

I've got a spare set of VTR1000F forks now that I'm thinking about trying on the 500 because they are fairly long. Even so, the rough measurements that I've already taken tell me that it's going to be very difficult to make them fit. If you are running the forks almost flush with the upper triple that is certainly helping out!

 

man how long does it take for threegaskets to get here shit i've been waiting a damn month for one so i just reordered the one and plus two, ..........sigh

 

Uh oh, are you gonna be able to make it to the tail of the dragon ride?

 

i should be able to, if these dicks send me my parts

 

Place for body parts

Go to HONDA VF 500 1983-86, VF500 fairings, bodywork, fairing, upper, lower, mid, seat side, race, street, fender, tail, undertail, tank. AirTech makes complete replacement body parts. They are unpainted though, so you'll hafta prep & paint'em yourself. I was thinkin of updating the plastic on my 85 VF500, then changing the color to 2000 SuperHawk Yellow.

 

yea ive seen those parts kinda high for my taste

 

teaser shot!! enjoy :thumbsup:

 

She's looking good Matt. The white wheel on the front will be the cherry on top. But just one question.....Where is the glorious Honda Wing decal for the tank?

Regards,
Rollin

 

well it turn's out that sticker is hard to come by than i though! ive been looking but i havent found one yet i want it back on there but honda is a bitch and had to discountinue them.

 

CBdecals.com - Decal Kit Solutions for the old Big H Models



Sorry Matt, I don't have any stator cover gaskets. Try Cometic or Vesrah, one of those two probably have it.

 

thanks for the link JD but they dont have the sell sticker for the 86 500's :frown:

 

Nice 500, you've been doing a good job building it up.

I just read a little in the thread, and see there is some question about F2 suspension. I have a complete F2 front end and rear wheel on my 500 which I used to race. I did absolutely nothing to the front end, it bolted right up and I have had no interference with the radiator. Keep in mind I was braking hard while racing. F2 brakes are pretty awesome after the stock 500s, BTW. I am using a RC45 front fairing so the clipons are below the top triple. The fork legs are slid up in the triples to adjust the ride height close to stock and I have plenty of room above the triples should I go back to the stock fairing. The rear of course had to be modified, the sprocket carrier and caliper hanger were machined. Had to use bolts to attach the sprocket in order to have swingarm clearance. I got this from a guy I raced against down in Georgia, he had done it to his along with other mods (he had a VFR tank mounted, and IIRC used VTR250 valves as they have a necked stem).

 

Just went back a bit further, that rear cowl you have is for the 500. I saw one on a bike back when they were new, plus I have the factory one on my 750 and it is completely different. Yours fits pretty far back, IIRC over the top of the little rear spoiler. Not too sure how the 500 mounts but it might be similar to the 750. On that one there are two steel threaded bushings that mount into the stock seat, with dedicated screws that hold the front of the cowl. On the 750, the rear lock lines up with the stock seat lock which gets replaced with a different bracket for the cowl lock to go into. To mount yours correctly you will need the fittings which I doubt are available.

 

thanks for the info bro i was going to paint it and just figure away to mount that bitch!!its just sitting around the shop.......nothing new to report with the bike......sigh......but!..i am thinking of doing a coil on plug setup for the 500 i still need to do some more home work and new's update on the Fi kit for these bikes the company says they have a prototype throttle bodies made up so we shall see!? if they can make a cheap FI kit i'll be the first to pull those f@#$in carbs of..:thumbsup:

 

Hey, I've been reading up on this here, and first I just want to say Thanks! You're pretty much going through all of the hassle I would go through. I love my VF500. I own two of them (and a 86 VF700).

Not to rehash bad memories, but do you think your wipe out was due to improper geometry from a new swing arm or just a sloppy front end? I notice on my 85 VF500, I have to constantly fill up my front fork tubes with air because they leak, and after they run out of air they get really mushy. This can happen in as little as 6 hours. I'll ride to work on a nice stiff bike, and on my way home I'll be slopping it up in mush city. I was wondering what I could do about this. Now, I am thinking F2 front end.

So you run an F2 swing arm? I did read you have to swap out the bearings from the VF500 wheel into the F2 wheel. Are there any mods I need to do to the actual swing arm and VF frame? The F4 shock fits and works fine without mod? F2 Shocks are too short?

Also, I know stepping up from a 120-130 sized rear tire to a 150 isn't that giant of a leap, but I am wondering how this affects overall power? A larger tire is obviously more mass to move, which I could see resulting in some sluggish off-the-line performance. No Doubts, when I go out with my buddies, one rides a 93 YZF600, the other rides a 2004 CBR600RR, I can usually get up to 80 or 90mph quicker than they can. I've come to realize that this is because I can gun it off the line rather than worrying about over-throttle. I'm also 6'3, 230lbs, so no worries about wheelies here either.

I'd really like to keep my VF500F stock for collector purposes, however, I find the 80's airtech suspension less than reliable, especially when you hit a bump and 5psi is knocked out of one of your fork tubes. I've seen the seal rebuild kits, but I wonder if these are going to make my stock tubes air-tight again.

I also realize the VF500s are pretty cheap; they might not make it to the status of Honda's other bikes (Cb750, goldwings, all go up in value if you take care of them). What do you guys think, are these bikes collectors or beaters? They seem to have a high rate of failure if you're not johnny-on-the-valve adjustments. I know they did not succumb to the lubrication issues the bigger VFRs had, but I don't see many 500s past 30k. Thoughts?