V4 nut's first post.

Awesome post. Good luck on the build! Been hooked since my 82 magna!

 

More progress. I finally finished rebuilding the front end. New steering head bearings and seals, new fork bushings and seals, new dust seals on front wheel, new front tire. Might have some new pics next post. I got tired of paying for mounting and balancing so I got my McGyver on and built some tools for cheap. I built a tire changing stand, a tire bead breaker, and a wheel balancer. The balancer worked great - we'll see how the wheels run down the road. Next step is to remove rear wheel assembly and clean and check everything out.

I'm going to need a new drive chain, the sprockets are in good shape but the old chain is rusty from not moving for years. Anyone have suggestions on a good value in a chain? I don't want junk, but don't really need some super high end chain either. I don't think this bike will see more than a couple thousand miles a year. Right now I'm riding my old V45 Sabre to work.

 

Final Project Update - Maybe...

Just wanted to let everyone know that I finally got my VF750F project on the road. What I consider the "Phase 1" part of the project is pretty much complete. I just need to sync the carbs and clean up the stator cover and I'm done for now.

I have put almost 200 miles on it - mostly just short "shakedown" runs checking everything out. I plan to ride it next season and then probably start "Phase 2" - tear it down to the bare frame and paint it. Non-matching blue tank is a replacement for the totally rusted out original - doesn't look too bad for now. I might even go with R-W-B when I paint it.

I've done a LOT of work on this bike (a lot of it grungy), but had a lot of fun in the process. I also learned a lot about this particular model and that's always cool. I really like riding it, it has a good reach to the bars and the amount of wind blast at highway speeds makes for pretty neutral weight on the bars/wrists. I'm surprised at how smooth it rides - my V45 Sabre has horrible rear suspension that just pounds you (and the bike) when the road isn't perfect.

I found a brand new MAC Performance 4 into 2 ceramic coated exhaust system with removable baffles. I don't think they've made them for a while - lucky Craigslist find. They took a little wrestling to get on, but I didn't have to cut or drill anything to get them to fit. Pretty happy with them so far. I wasn't really looking for more power, but the original mufflers were rusted out on the bottom and the new system seemed pretty cool. The new system is also a lot lighter at 12.6 pounds; the original was 21.2 pounds.

Take Care - and I mean it. Last night I came across a guy who had gone down with his bike on a country road. He was in bad shape so I called 911 and got him some help. They ended up taking him away in a helicopter. He wasn't wearing a helmet - DUMMY!!!

Anyway, I didn't keep up with the picture taking, but here are a couple of shots to show you where the bike is at, and a reminder of where it started. Adios...

Ready for the road.


Asymetrical looking exhaust system keeps overall pipe lengths equal.


Here's where we started - right off the trailer after being rescued.