help! electrical gremlin or something else

update: after ruling every electrical component out we dove into the wiring harness , boy was it a mess. we also had another same year vf500we swapped all of my component s to his bike and the problem stayed with my bike. so we have narrowed it down to the harness has a short somewhere. the new one should arrive tomorrow hopefully the two we had were no better shape than mine and one was for the wrong year. this bike has definitely been a learning experience and an adventure. in the two years i have owned the bike it sadly has only seen a thousand miles from me, i think it has spent more time apart than anything. on a side note had the compression and the valves checked and all is well for now... from what i here its only a matter of time, thanks again for all the advise i will be sure to post pics when she finally comes home!

jay

 

Wow....the harness eh?

 

yeah, i went down to the shop today hopeing to pick her up the harness we had sent was no good the connection were all shot luckily we got a our money back, does any one have or know where i may locate a wiring harnesds for a n 84 vf500f, let me know the mechanic is looking as well i figured i would double the effort i really want to ride! on a plus note he did tell me that the ol interceptor get a ton of compliments so thats nice at least she looks good standing still!

 

HEy , does anyone have an 84 vf500f wiring harness for salethat is in good shape having a hard time finding one

 

Its alive!!!!!

so after about a year i heard my 500 run today , man did it sound sweet! When i asked what the issue ended up being , my mechanic told me just about everything everyone here had mentioned, so many thanks to everyone. The main culprit started with bad wires which cause the pickups to go and this that and the other thing. Finally its done and that's all that's important. So after 2 years of not riding maybe finally ill get to ride this season.

 

That's great. All you have to worry about now is the valves. :behindsofa:

 

Dropped valves are not caused by the valves themselves rather it's the valve springs that are the culprit here, at least from what I've read.

If I could recommend: change the oil every 1,000 miles, inspect the lash every 4,000 miles, keep the revs in check and let the bike properly warm up before riding.

The VF500F is a great bike, praised in its day for its neutral handling, electric motor smooth engine, and aesthetics (which still measure up today). This said, it does require careful maintenance and a knowledgeable owner to ensure longevity.

 

thanks Squirrel ! i will watch out for those valve issues. Ive been looking into a third gen for my next bike, the 500 is now more of a weekend warrior. Thanks for the info on the springs invisible. ive been reading the forums now for months and that seems to be the general consensus. I do have a parts bike so that helps motor is good but wires and frame were wrecked. I always let her warm up and never shift to high in the rpms . this forum has been a savior so many times and the amount of knowledge here is amazing.

thanks to everyone it has been a journey with this bike and i have a feeling that its just beginning!