Student at MMI (Phoenix,AZ) '86 VFR750f Interceptor

Greetings to all in VFRWorld! My name is Harry and I'm a student at Motorcycle Mechanics Institute here in Phoenix, Arizona currently enrolled in the Honda program and scheduled to graduate in March 2011. I'm an experienced rider, having spent most of my time on 2 wheels commuting with an '02 Rebel 250 back and forth to work and many, many rides to the hills totaling nearly 14k miles. I've also spent some time with the SV650, Katana, CBR600 and a few precious moments with an '85 Gold Wing.

I am in the process of acquiring an '86 Interceptor from a friend of a friend that doesn't ride anymore. She has been very well maintained and care for, but has spent the past 2 years or so sitting in the garage. She is going to require some much needed TLC such as a carb clean, sync, fluid flush, tires, brakes, sprocket and chain - all of which I should be able to do either on my own at home or with the help of my friends and instructors at school. The plan is to get her up and running and have her as my primary commuter to and from school, and as I learn and progress in school she will be my ongoing project with a full breakdown and rebuild by the time I enter Honda 24 near the end of the program.

I've been a fan of the VFR style since I can remember, second only to owning a Gold Wing which I plan to do eventually. To be able to own this bike and fix her up like this is so awesome! I can't wait to pull up in the bike lot at school and watch all those heads turn, and to take her to the weekly bike meets in Scottsdale. The best part is going to be taking her for a long cruise up to Flagstaff... the back way... that's gonna be the best!

 

congrats and welcome to the maddness, dont forget to post some pics.

 

Welcome aboard. Your skills from school will be needed to get her back on the road. As you can imagine, parts are getting harder to find.
There are a few members there in Phoenix so keep your eyes open for other VFRs!

 

Separated at birth?
I started riding on a 250 Rebel when I lived in AZ in the 80's.
Moved on to old Goldwings (take a look an 75-79; those are the best Wings made. Interesting engineering)
Now, I'm on a 96 VFR.
Stick with Honda, kid.

 

Welcome to the madness amigo! My last bike was an 86 VF500. I'm in Maricopa, so hit me up when you're ready for some serious riding. I'm retired and have LOTS of time on my hands.

 

Thanks for the welcome! I just picked up my bike this morning. It was a very emotional event for the woman that I bought her from, as she had become very attached to it over the past 10 years. I got it home and got her in the garage, fully intending to leave her alone till I got a manual and figured out how to dismantle her properly and start on a good old fashioned carb cleaning, but my buddy convinced me that after sitting for 2 years in the garage with the fuel shut off that all she needed was fresh gas and a battery to get started.

So, a trip to Checker Auto for a $35 Energizer, some carb cleaner, a fuel filter and a gas can and we spent the next 2 hrs dumpin the lacquered fuel out, sprayin the inside of the tank down and then doing the fill drain, fill drain thing till she ran clean. Took a bit to get her to fire up, but once she did it was no holds barred for her! She idles very rough, which I believe is a combination of needing new plugs and needing another filter, but once we got the air/fuel mix adjusted a bit she roared pretty damn sweet down the street in my neighborhood! After 2 hrs of playing around and trying to get the idle, we parked her and let her rest till another day.

Going to help my buddy work on his bike in the morning, and then I have school. But will get back to her again soon, and maybe with any luck I might be able to get her purring again without having to rip her apart to do it. That is, as long as I can get her to pass emissions :/

I posted 2 pics of her (one is the VIN showing her being #26 for the year), and more will come. I'll get some before I head out in the morning.

 

good luck getting the bike running nicely again, shouldnt be too difficult for a mechanics student!
I read you posted photos, but I cant see them.

 

Teus, click on "photos" on the tool bar above and look for ones posted by Lazy. They are there.

Lazy, those plastics look awesome. How are they close up?

Oh, and, where in Mesa are you? My mother in law lives at Stapely and Southern. I used to live near Fiesta Mall back when it was still nice.

 

Drewl, I live around Ellsworth and Broadway in East Mesa. The plastics are in really good condition for their age. There are some blemishes and a few cracks here and there with the biggest being on the left front fairing from a stand still drop (go figure) but aside from that there are no visible signs of damage. I'll get some better detailed pics up soon. I tried to take some in the garage but with the flash they didn't turn out well so I'll have to wait till I can get some shots of her outside.

 

Lazy ahhh ok your the one at school who told me about this site, I am the one with the VF500 ya was talkin to the other day. can't wait for ya to roll into school on it, then we will have to plan a ride sometime

 

Ha! Welcome Lost! I see we both have the same ideas about this lovely State of ours LOL

Yeah, this is a great site and tons of info. Was super cool to meet someone that has an '86 VFR ... AND goes to school with me, too! When I am ready to take her up to class, I'll let you know. I plan to ride up to Flagstaff that first weekend that I get her running (via Wickenburg and Prescott of course) so if you're up for the ride....

Also, I didn't have time to mention this at school, but I am the VP of AZBikeClub (MC) with over 60 members right now. If you're interested in joining go to Yahoo Groups and look us up!

 

Welcome both of you. I have a highschool buddy I think goes to school there as well. Names Damon. He might be taking a break to make some cash.

 

Just finished up Theory 2 and moving into Clinic 1 on Monday. Haven't met anyone there named Damon but then again when you're talking 2500 students in three schedules, it's hard to pick out a familiar face at times

 

welcome, Lazy, very nice acquisition you have there. when you get going on the rebuild look me up. I just picked up my second and meshed the two together. I have lots of leftovers including a torn apart engine that was pretty much ready to go back together minus rod bearings which are almost impossible to find. I even have some cosworth high compresion pistons I might be willing to part with if you are so inclined to go that deep. Godd luck and keep us posted.
Fredsncoma

 

Thank you Freds, will hit you up if I need anything. I'm not sure how deep I'm gonna go, right now it's planned for just the carbs but I may pull the head just to peek inside if the carbs are THAT bad. If they are fairly clean then I'm going to hold off on getting into the motor until later in my schooling so I know what the hell I am doing.

On a side note, for anyone that is interested or may know someone that is interested: I have posted 2 classifieds on VFRWorld, one for a muffler set and another for a seat. Both were spares for my 86 and right now I could use the cash rather than having extra parts that I most likely won't need anytime soon. Thanks

 

I can't imagine a set of carbs bad enough to pull heads so don't go there unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. It is almost impossible to grenade one of these motors with the gear driven cams. Your time would be better invested in getting a CBR600 F2 front end and rear wheel on that girl.

 

I would concur with Fred. I converted my front end on my first 87 (ToeCutters help) with a front set-up from 2k VFR and the rear wheel from an CBR F2. Best thing you could possibly do to one of these beauties.

 

Just a quick cleaning of the carbs will most likely take care of the idle issue, got two to do today with the same problem from sitting.Here is a link that may help.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/22449-cleaning-carbs.html

 

Ah. There wasn't much out there when I lived there. My dad worked that beat for the Sheriff's Office in the 90's. Now East Mesa butts up against West Globe.
I would like to ride down there sometime(14 hours from here) and hang out with all you moto folks.

 

Supertex n Freds: I wasn't aware that there was an issue with the front end of the '86. I know of a problem with the front end dipping down too far on a hard brake, but that's not been consistent on the 2nd Gens as far as I knew and required individual testing to determine if it was a problem.

Also, I'm hoping that the carbs aren't totally crapped up inside when I take them apart here in a few minutes. My buddy and I dismantled his friends '03 Kawasaki 750 and did a carb clean and engine rebuild on it. The carbs were filthy... I mean dog ass nasty from sitting for 3 years outdoors, and we had to replace just about all the wear out items inside the crankcase and do some serious cleaning on the top end. It was bad.

I don't think that Maxine is gonna be that bad cause she spent her 2 years of sitting inside a comfy garage. However, if I take it apart and it looks as bad as that Kawi did....