The project begins. 1986 vfr700f with 71k on the clock.

As was promised earlier, here is a post detailing the bike, it's current condition, what absolutely needs to be done, and what I plan to do.

To start with, here are some stats.

The bike is a 1986 VFR700f. It has 71k on the clock, bought it with 62k. Has run pretty solid for the most part, but I think it may be time for a tuneup.







As you can see the plastics are pretty scuffed and the paint is just plain old.

I will be taking off the plastics and restoring them myself. I have a buddy of mine that does excellent paint work, so he will be in charge of paint once I get them in a decent condition.

What should be replaced:

- Front fender. Mounting holes on the fender are pretty much shot. She wobbles and flops all over the place. Don't believe it will be fixable but front fenders for these bikes don't appear to be too expensive.

- Windscreen. The screen originally had a purple tint to it but was still see through, then the previous owner decided to rough up the inside of the screen and blast it with rattlecan black. I would like to be able to see through the darn thing so I will be trying to get a clear replacement for this.

- Brake pads, possibly rotors while I'm at it. The brakes on this thing do still have some grip left in them, but overall they're just way too squishy. Rotors show lots of grooves (not so much warped, just lots of wear) so I may be better off replacing them while I'm at it as well.

- Choke cable. I broke the choke cable a month or two ago. Hasn't been too much of an issue, she'll still start without much effort so I haven't bothered as of yet to tear it down and replace it. However since a lot of the biking is coming apart this winter anyway, figure now is the best time to replace it.

- Sprockets. The sprockets on the bike appear to be stockers, but the teeth are pretty worn. Will end up going with stock teething or 2 up in the back for a little more acceleration.

- Clutch. Clutch isn't necessarily in bad shape, just feels worn. If you're giving her the beans she'll slip between shifts in the higher revs. Nothing a new set of plates and springs won't fix.

- Fork seals. These are one of the more troublesome bits. I've never replaced fork seals before. Should I do them myself or take them to a shop?

- Wheel bearings. They still run smoothly, they're just noisier then all hell. Probably have never been replaced.

- Brake and clutch levers. I broke the brake lever off this fall with a small accident. Well actually the accident only bent the lever, I broke it trying to bend it back. Probably should have tried heating the metal first.


And that's that really. Not a whole lot needs to be replaced since it was taken pretty good care of. She's just old and needs some TLC.



Now, for some questions.

- What will be my best bet for stripping/sanding down the panels and fixing the cracks? Sand block and heavy grit? Wire wheel? Never paint stripped on fiberglass before. Any tips and tricks would be very helpful here since the whole bike needs to be stripped down to the nubbins. Any tricks for stripping the tank?

- Pertains to the above. What is my best bet for fixing cracks and whatnot? As you'll see in one of the pics the tail end has the common crack down each side.

- Motor seems like she needs a good tuneup. I assume a valve clearance is in order since she's got a bit of the ticketytick from the top end. Is this something I should undertake or should I take it to the shop for it? Everything else seems in good order. Will do plugs and (possibly) wires while I'm at it.

Anything else I should look into with this type of mileage?(70k+)


For painting I'm going for simple. Glossy black with white decals similar to the ones I have on it now under the clear coat.


Aaaaaand that's it for now. Any comments, questions, tips, tricks, or whatever are more then welcome.

Updates will be few and far between due to time constraints and my monetary situation.

The overall budget for this bike is 1500$. I believe it is doable. If you have spare parts I can use let me know, I will be happy to pay for them so I don't have to bother with shady people on flea-bay.

Cheers and regards,
Shane C.

 

You might want to check you clearances on you rotors before you chuck them.
Replacements get a little expensive.
If you still have the original ABS fairings you will want to do some crack repair with a solder iron and ABS material from a hobby store. Google ABS crack repair and a website or two should show you some different techniques.

If you plan on getting new sprockets then get a new chain.

 

Appreciate the feedback.

I don't have any real equipment or tools at the moment so it will be a few weeks before this project really takes off. My bike is also stored a good half hour away from anything so it's a pain to go work on it unless I make a day trip out of it. Running back and forth is no fun.

One of the first things I'll do is check the rotors to see if they're in spec. Like I said they still seem to be in *decent* shape, so I'm unsure as of yet.

Thanks for the sentiment on ABS as well, as you are correct on them being the original fairings. This part will be much easier then I assumed it would've.

However the front fender mounting holes are still pretty much shot, but for the price I've seen them go for (30-40$) I may just get a replacement. The rest should be easily fixed and sanded down.

 

:welcome:

Steering bearings need replacement at 35,000 mile intervals, so check yours.

you'll need to flush and replace all fluids, but plug wires are top quality and almost never actually need replacement.

get the factory service manual before diving into any serious work.

 

Thanks for the info! and welcome.


I did fork seals on my previous 87 700 f2 and it was doable. (I'm not a mechanic!)

The biggest challenge was propping the bike up to get the front wheel off. Of course, I had a service manual and followed it closely.

pretty bike!

 

Couple notes I left out;

The bike has had regular maintenance ever since its purchase in 86. It has never sat. It has seen regular use every year, varying from 500-2k miles a year for the past 10 years or so...not sure before that.

Oil changes were done every 3k throughout life. Original owner and PO (There have only been 2 other owners of the bike, both great mechanics) both kept good maint. schedules.

Coolant flush and whatnot, including new oil filter were done when bike was purchased. Regular oil changes every 2500-3k or so ever since.

(To Squirrel) Steering bearings are in great shape. Have had no problems there.

New tires and chain were purchased less then 4k miles ago. Chain has been kept in spec and lubed so it's pretty much perfect.

 

Well Jerry, you tried..

 

Looks like it'll be a good project.
Here's a link to the Honda Repair manual if you don't already have it
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

Good luck on your restoration

 

Squirrel is right. Bearings might make a huge difference and if the old ones fail hen your bike will look REAL different. :kaboom:

 

Not to worry. With a busted off brake lever headshake will be kept at a minimum.

Bite em Coogs
Hoot em Owls

 

Yeh, I always had a rule for my bikies/It was almost an analogy having to do with silverware and dining. If I had to eat a crappy microwaved meal, it would be more pallatable on a nice china plate and with some decent silverware. That being said, I always wanted nice levers on what-ever I was riding at the moment and wouldnt think about straightening bent chit or worse riding with broken levers. Its almost like walking around with a hole in the arse of your pants. Cheers, I got some crappy micro-waved dawg food waiting for me. :smile:

 

I would agree on the basic maintenance listed above.
The plastic repair, I prefer to prep the plastic like you would if you are welding steel. Bevel it on the backside. I use a MEK and ABS solution that I allow to sit over night in a chemical squirt bottle. The MEK melts the ABS shavings and when used on the prepped fairings, will bond and form a nice weld. I tried the soldering iron method once, it worked but was not as pretty of a job for me.

 

lol.

So a busted lever is the difference between life and death? It's still useable(can still wrap 3 fingers easily, all 4 if i need to). Not sure what the big deal is. I guess to some people looks mean everything.

To me, they most certainly don't and my other projects are living testaments to that. I care more about the motor condition and the ability to ride it then I ever will about the darn thing looking "pretty".


As far as steering bearings, they were replaced at 60k. They are more then fine. Wheel bearings on the other hand actually should be replaced as they're getting a bit noisy.

 

Dragone omitted to mention that MEK is a VERY dangerous chemical, rated as highly carcinogenic, so forget about using it unless your health doesn't matter.

There is a very useful method of straightening bent levers which involves use of a large hammer with the lever placed on a hard floor or wood block. You get ONE big hammer hit, which must be judged correctly, cuz two hits can break it.

 

Thanks for the heads up with MEK. Upon further research it doesn't appear to be *that* harmful(it is classified as an irritant, EPA no longer classifies it as an HAP), although there are still risks involved. So if I do decide to go that route i'll make use of a good respirator and proper ventilation.

I didn't even use a hammer, I just used a big ol' pair of vice grips and brute force. Clearly that didn't work. No matter, as the brake lever still worked fine for the rest of the season.

 

Hi again! Amazingly, I'm not dead. Just happened to not have ready access to a computer for the better part of the past 4-5 months. And I'm a computer tech by trade... ironic. Oh well, couple months in northern Maine is a fun trip for anyone. Just not for business intentions.

Getting back near bike season in my area, and after some interesting adventures I've managed to find a half decent garage to work in. No heat to speak of, but nothing a 100k BTU salamander can't fix.

I didn't have any tools to begin with, so firstly picked up the obvious; sockets, wrenches, drivers, also picked up some lifts for the wheels so i can get them up off the ground and whatnot. also bought a compression tester, the honda service manual, and some tools for wiring. i still need to pick up a torque wrench and some other bits, but what i have so far will work just fine.

So here's where I currently stand and what I've been working on. The garage is about 40 miles from where I live, so it's only realistic to go out there on weekends. Lots can be accomplished in a couple days though!

I also don't currently have a camera. I hope to have one before I go down next weekend to work on it again.

I bought a lot of new stuff for the bike as well. A small list;

New seat cover (already reupholstered)
New K&N Air filter (already in)
New Brake and clutch levers (already put on)
New headlight lamp (already in)
New clutch plates and springs (unsure of how to prep/put these in so may have the local shop do it)
New oil filter
New front and rear wheel bearings (waiting on my wheel lifts to get here to do these.. old ones are still alright but might as well, pretty cheap)
New front and rear brake pads (rotors were good shape, prolly get another year or so out of them)
New decals! (all white honda lettering with anything saying VFR in red)
New paint! going glossy black. rims will be white. (doing this myself actually; rattlecan job. I'll put more on this further down)
New front fork seals
Bought new inner panels as well for the fairings as mine were long gone.
Couple other pieces in here I'm sure I'm forgetting.

I'll be running a compression test as soon as i get ballsy enough to take it down to where I can get to the plugs. I have a lot of other things I'm trying to work on right now so trying to do one thing to a time. Engine runs great, just lots of miles, and I'd like to see if the valves are still in good order. (this motor has never had oil burning issues, so I assume if there's any compression loss it will be from the valves if there's any loss at all). There's nothing really warranting me to do a compression check. This is a precaution more than anything because I want this done right the first time before anything resembling a problem even begins to come up.

Right now I've just been focusing on the little doodads Ive ordered coming in, putting them on or working on them as I receive them. Ive also started sanding, repairing, and painting the plastics. Picked up one of those Black&Decker Mice for sanding, darn thing works awesome! For 40 bucks, does the job great. Get in the nooks and crannies pretty good too.

The rear tail was pretty much trash. I wish I had pictures on how I fixed it, 'cause it was a pretty dirty fix in my opinion. But, it came out in aces. The tail had already been repaired in the past with aluminum brackets and rivets, as well as fiberglass over the whole deal. It hadn't held very well, all 4 joints in the tail section were busted up and moved freely. No bueno.

So, I did what any redneck would do, and went to my local Napa, picked up some plastic epoxy and filler primer and set to work. I sanded it down to the bare nubbins and left the aluminum brackets on the insides as they were. I slathered on the epoxy in layers to attempt to get it as even as possible. Which was still pretty much impossible. I figured that was okay, as I could sand it down later. Also put it into every little crack or space i could find on the insides and left as if for extra strength (I hope).

Sure enough, let the stuff cure for about a week inside the house in nice warm dry heat, and was fairly easy to sand. Sand it down, layer or two of filler primer, let it set for an hour. Sand it down, rinse, repeat. Did this 5-6 times per side, and it came out pretty damn good. I didn't care about the top sections covered by the seat too much so those were left fairly rough in hopes to help improve the strength. Not like anyone will see it anyway.

Still a couple little teeny tiny spots you can see in the paint if you look up close but I think some of that will come out once I get the vinyls on, start putting clearcoat on and finishing the pieces/buffing/waxing... not the most professional job in the world, but I was fairly satisfied. I've also got the two side panels finished, those came out great. Epoxy was 15 bucks and the filler primer was 5 bucks I think. Money well spent.

I'm using this stuff called Krylon Fusion for the actual color coat. $4.50 a can at Walmart. Stuff works awesome. Just got it sanded and smooth, didn't even prime the side panels before paint and they still look 10 times better than before. Very smooth when it dries, great sheen to it. Stuff hardens and bonds with the plastic, gave it a fingernail test and no problems. Not sure how I'm going to tackle the tank yet though.

Only bought a couple cans so the rear tail and the two side panels are about as far as I got after a bit of playing and trying and testing on the panels to get something that looked good.

And that's about where I'm at right now. About 700-900$ left in the budget after everything has been purchased (Even after buying a new helmet, nice padded jacket, and gloves!).


Now, a couple things to bounce off you guys..

Any idea on where to get a new choke cable and or how to fix a busted one? I've jury rigged a little solution for now but I left the original cable intact in case there's a repair I'm unaware of. The little ball on the wire inside the choke mechanism came out.

My fuel hoses from the tank down in look pretty old. Not leaky, just old. Looks like if I moved them too much or pulled too hard for some reason, could be an issue. Thinking I should just replace them? Any ideas on replacements?

Any good ways to get clutch plates prepped for installation/any tips for installing them? I've inspected and played around in clutched before but I've never actually installed a new set of plates and springs.

Assuming I may need to open the top end of the motor to check the valves out, any ideas where I can get new gaskets in case mine are junk? They don't currently leak and may be salvageable, just like to be prepared.

I'm also looking for a front fender that's in decent shape... anyone have a spare? Color doesn't matter. Will pay nicely for it. Mines pretty roasted and would rather get a new one instead of attempting to repair it.


Quite a bit to read there but I attempted to keep it fluid and easy on the eyes. Happy to be back in action!

Regards,
HTR

 

Checking the valves to see if they need adjusting is always a good idea.
Usually the valve cover gasket can be reused, but I've had bad experience with the rubber grommits on the bolts leaking...they can be purchased at your local Honda dealer.

Also, check the cams for bad wear.
....and when it's all done a compression test is always a good idea.

The plugs are very easy to get to....the fronts can be accessed by removing the lower rad bolts and swinging the rad upwards.

Good luck.

 

Blargh, busy busy busy, but another weekend down and more stuff accomplished. Had a camera and took pics but none to post yet. Forgot the camera up at the garage.

All the fairings are painted as well as mirrors. Ordered a new front fender cause mine was broke as a joke. Tank still needs to be done but was saving that for last untill I found a solution to the fuel hose. New hose on the way, along with tank spacers so i don't get that gnarly wobble. Still waiting on my decals, once those get here i'll slap those on and get to clear coating.

Also got the front rim re-painted in white. Not the cleanest job but I'm not really one to get excited about details and pretty. Looks good enough for government work. Hope to get the rear wheel done next weekend.

Talked to the infamous Cobalt Racing's vfrchuck today - new inner panels ship tomorrow! yippee!

Also got the new clutch in, oil filter changed, and obviously new oil. She's going into the shop sometime in the near future for a fork seal rebuild, and new front and rear brakes and bearings. All in all, getting there - still quite a bit to be done. Looks like I'll be another 2 weekends out atl east - but that seems to be matching up with the weather nicely up here in the armpit of the universe. Not losing my mind yet.

I hope to get some pictures up before next weekend.

Cheers,
Shane.