Looking at an 85 VF 500, questions....

Hey everyone, first post, stumbled upon this forum and a few others looking for information on a bike I'm going to look at.
The bike in question is a 1985 VF 500, with, get ready, 75k miles.

Obviously I'm bringing some questions with me, how reliable are these engines up in that range? And it sounds like it has some valve noise from one of the heads, and I have read they used to have problems with oiling, but that they were fixed in the 500's. And what could potentially be wrong up there? I idealy would love to find another engine and freshen it up, but even finding that is pretty scarce.

Would it be smarter to pass it up and find a lower mileage one? The price is pretty cheap, and the bike actually runs fine, just makes a little noise, but I'm thinking long term and I'm assuming another engine would be a wise investment.

What do you all think? What would it be worth? Or should I not even be concerned with the noise? Any help you guys could send my way would be great. Thanks!

Regards,
Steve

 

scally,
The mileage should not be a concern if it has been maintained. Engine parts are very scarce. Gasket sets are avialable but only from canada or oversea's. Cylinder head parts are still pretty plentiful. The 86's are known for eating the valves on the front head. 84 & 85's are known for blown the crank out of the bottom if you abuse them. The 500's don't have an oiling problem. There is a gentleman named Dave Dodge (DRP Racing Products) out of N.C. that is the man when it comes to V-4's. I have talked to him at length and he has tested the 500's when he developed his oil mod kits for the v-4's. The 500 he told me had plenty of oil volume and pressure to the heads. He saw no difference when he installed his oil mod kit.There are used engines out there. A good one goes for about 500 and up. I have 2 500's. 1 is running the othere is in the process of being redone. I have found engines and parts on e-bay. Also Dave Dodge has some parts on hand. The 2 biggest things I would look at is the gas tank and if there is any blow by. Rings and pistons are very limited in avialabilty. If you would rebuild the engine you can get custom pistons made for about $600 a set.
The v-4's should have a little vale noise. If there is no noise the valves are to tight. As for potential problems 1)mushroomed valve tips.(valves adjusted too tight.) 2) Cam tensioners and guides worn 3) cam pitting (unlikely) 4) worn cam housing 5) valve seals and guides.
The most likly is cam tensiors and misadjusted valves. Both are fixable. Cam tensionors are still avialable.

The 500's are a great learner bike and a great road bike. Forgiving, fun, plenty of power if it is tuned right. And lots of funnnnnnnnn!!!If you can get it cheap $500 to $1300 you would be in great shape.

 

I love the 500s, BUT, I'm 6'3" how retarded would I look?

I need to stop looking at first gen bikes and focus on stuff I can still find parts for...lol