new member to the VF club, Hopefully

Im looking at this VF 1000. The owner doesnt have a title on it, and IM haveing trouble finding a year on this color scheme. Can someone help me out. Its real cheap, and Ive always liked the bikes themselves, and planned on buying a 750 once I sold my current ride, but I dont want to pass this up. Sorry for the lame intro.
Im a mid 30's CNC machinist who's bween riding for a few years now, mostly vintage 2 stroke. Looking to get a VF.
Kris

 

Welcome aboard
Good luck

 

Engine serial number starts out as SC15E.
Is this an 84 or 85?

Thanks for the welcome .

 

its probably a repaint.... before you sink any money into it, take the VIN down to the DMV and have them check it for you, If it comes back "clean" explain that the title is lost and what you would have to do to make it "within the law". there was a guy here that dumped a bit of money into the bike he bought to have the Highway patrol take it away because it was a stolen machine years back. If your "friend titled the bike at one time a replacement title can be issued... or is it a bought it from a guy who bought it from a guy who bought it from a guy bike?

 

Welcome Kris. +1 to Crusty, I'd do a lot of research into this one before purchase especially in the shape it's in. You don't wanna buy a basket case that has all kinds of paperwork hassle to go with it no matter how much you want this particular model. I'm sure you could find a better example with papers if you've got the time to look around a bit.

 

Iver been looking into that stuff. My father in lay had a bike titled here in michigan pretty easily, as long as the VIN is clean. Ive gotten that from the owner and a check is in progress. Thanks for the heads up.

With the blue seat and it psooibly being repainted it sprobably an 84 or 85 correct?, with chain drive cams? Either way, it looks like a fun project and fun ride.

 

Welcome aboard!

 

wow she looks like she's been rode hard & put up wet! i had a chance to ride a 1000R and those bikes are scare fast! looks like it'll be fun

 

Use the search function here to check on top-end oiling issues, cam lobe flattening, cam-chain tensioner faiures, damaged transmissions after some years, and other well-known built-in defects of the entire VF series bikes......besides the difficulty of getting parts.

If you're interested in riding more that wrenching and searching for parts, there is a 750 for you: find a VFR 700/750 from '86/'87 and benefit from the improvements Honda engineering made specifically to fix the VF series weaknesses.

The VF bikes were great when they were NEW, while they were new but didn't hold up well at higher mileages, and any post -1990 600cc bike you could easily find on CL would be a far better choice in terms of brakes,weight, handling, reliability, availability of parts, and durability----even a freakin' Yamaha !!

 

Thanks for all the warm welcomes, and input. I have been reading up on the imminent cam failures and tensioner issues that were prevelant on these. And as far as being able to get something a little newer, a little more easy to get parts for, and a little more common, is not for me. Thats why I ride a vintage 2 stroke triple everyday. Wrenching is commonplace around here. Here's a pic of mt GT550 Zook'e. I'll pull the carbs and clean em, check the cam chain, and do some other routine checks. If its too far gone, than its a parts bike at that point.

 

They model year of the bike I would think is buried somewhee in the VIN. I just don't know where on a bike without looking

 

RAndy is right .the year is in the VIN...
I had a similar deal with my VFR, It hadn't be registered in five years,when I got it. I wasn't gonna register it for another year while I worked on it, but I went down to the DMV and started the process tehy charged me back registration fees and penalties for the entire time it wasn't registered. All i gotta say is I am glad it wasn't stolen....

 

Reading Honda Motorcycle VIN:

1. Obtain the 17-character VIN from the motorcycle seller or from the motorcycle itself. The VIN is located in different places on different motorcycles, but will likely be located on both the right side of the frame near the steering stem, and on the back right edge of the rear engine case.

2. Verify that the first character of the VIN matches the supposed location of the motorcycle's manufacture. A 1 or 4 means the motorcycle was manufactured in the United States, a 2means Canada, 3 means Mexico, J means Japan, K means Korea, S means England, W means Germany and Z means Italy. Any other number or letter means that the motorcycle was manufactured in a country that does not host a Honda motorcycle manufacturing plant, meaning the VIN is fraudulent.

3. Ensure that the second character is the letter H. This position refers to the vehicle's manufacturer, and H is the character for Honda vehicles. If the second character is different, it is likely that the VIN number was stolen from another vehicle.

4. Inspect the 10th character of the VIN, which should match the model year of the Honda motorcycle. The code starts at number 1, which designates manufacture in the year 1971, and continues sequentially until 9 in the year 1979. The codes then start with the letter A in 1980, and continue through the alphabet (omitting I, O, Q, U and Z) until ending at Y in the year 2000. The characters then revert to numbers, starting with 1 in 2001 and continuing to 9 in 2009, and which point the character returns to a letter again with A representing 2010.


As found on line. Good luck

 

Well I picked it up. I got it for $200 as is. Its missing the side and tail plastic, 1 header pipe, and mufflers. It goes through all the gears, and has no evident oil or coolant leaks. The tires and fork seals need replacing as expected. Ill get the carbs off and the tank off too and give them the once over, and over again im sure. And its a definite repaint, but a decent job though. Too bad all the plastic isnt there.