Have a 1986 VFR700FII That I'm sorting out. Pleanty of questions..

1986 Honda VFR700FII Interceptor with 14.5K on the clock.
Engine idles and revs fine, but there is a lack of power out on the road. (will not accelarate past 75? in fourth gear on the highway.) I have put a can of BE-12 in the tank and hope this will clean out the carbs as I ride.

The speedometer dosn't work, I have been judging off the tach for speed. The drive cable looks good, but no function. Is this common with these bikes and where do I start to trouble shoot this?

The other minor issue is it leaks some oil from the crankcase. Seems like it is comming from where the covers meet the crankcase. Or is there a spot I'm not seeing that is a common issue?


The bike is very solid and has all of the body work. That being said there are cracks here and there that I would like to repair. Most notably the solo seat cowl and the front cowl. (The front cowl has a missing chunk around the right forward most fairling attachement bolt hole.)

The question is: What type of plastic am I dealing with here and what is the best repair method to start learning?


Thanks for all the help in advance.

 

WELCOME !!!!

For the speedo problem look at both the cable and the drive unit on the front wheel. Most common issue is broken cable. If the instrument itself is bad, you'll need to find one on ebay.

Leaks from crankcase almost always mean someone was in there and either re-used a bad gasket or somehow screwed up the assembly. Hondas don't leak.

ABS plastic. Many repair methods, but i prefer using a soldering iron to melt and fuse the 2 sides of a crack together, but the odor is awful !

Speed? Is it possible you're not running on all 4 cylinders ?? Not easy for a new guy to tell. Touch each exhaust header about 30-45 seconds after startup to check for heat. You'll need to get way low to check the rears, and if you find one cooler than the others, there is your problem.

Enjoy.

 

Thanks Squirrelman. Yeah, I knew the engine had been worked on. Kinda sucks that it leaks. (Considereing the effort required to tear it down and put it back together, over the cost of new gaskets)
I'll have to check the cylinder thing, but it runs so smooth at idle I would be lothe to place the blame there. (With it sitting dry for six years before I got it.)
There are two cables listed in the fisch, which one is the one prone to failure?

 

Oh, and here is another question I forgot to add. If I want to "Sea Foam" the engine, what vacuume line do I use to suck it in?

 

Probably just trickle it into each carb throat after pulling the air filter. While you're in there, you should check that each vacuum slide moves up and down equally in response to throttle cuz it's common for them to stick after prolonged storage.

Carbs probably need cleaning, paying special attention to main jets and the jet holder tubes if you can't reach top speed. Do not attempt to clean carbs without first studing the Honda service manual. Chemicals won't cure everything. You might also try replacing fuel filter, and be sure to check petrol tank for rust.

Regarding the leak, find out which side it appears to come from, left (alternator cover)or right (clutch cover) and proceed from there. Gaskets are cheap, and the alternator cover is a breeze to fix, but clutch cover is a bitch cuz of so many bolts.

If oil leaks from alternator cover it will sooner or later rot out and destroy the hose under it going to the water pump, in which case you'd loose all your coolant in about one minute and be lucky not to crash when antifreeze gets onto the rear tire......happened to me, and i was lucky not to crash or damage the engine.

You're going to LOVE that bike !!!

 

When a chunk was missing from my VFR 700 this spring, rebuilt the area with composite material. I used a chunk of foam roughly shaped like the missing piece. I added some composite reinforcement glued on with spray glue. I then painted on the epoxy and wet out the composite. I sanded all the areas before hand with 36 grit and shaped it with the same grit after. It is a lot of work but if you put some reinforcement on the front after thinning the plastic you can get a smooth part.


Here it is after the layup and some rough trimming.


On the parts that were cracked which I had both parts. I set them up in alignment then after heavy sanding I put a layer of material on the inside. After curing I did a secondary thin layup on the outside.


I work in carbon fiber so that is what I used along with cotton flox US Composites epoxy and some light fillers. At the end I use some bondo filler to smooth over tiny ridges.

I found a cheap red spray paint that is a good match for the small sections of fairing.

Here is the same side of the bike after work


I only do this for my own machines and am strictly an amateur. There are a lot of good ways to repair and can be mixed and matched to best effect. Good luck.

 

The solder method is probably the easiest method for repairing the ABS panels on these bikes, just be sure to salvage the materials involved and buy some extra ABS material strips to help in welding the soldered pieces. You can buy ABS strips from hobby stores. Look up ABS body repair for guidance on these techniques.

Only use seafoam in the oil RIGHT before you do an oil change to get a little cleaning action in the crankcase and other areas where oil goes.
It tends to really thin the oil out and you wouldn't want to ride in hot weather with thinned out oil.
As far as using it in you gas, use it as much as your heart desires (or you pocket book). But do not attempt to replace a true carb rebuild and cleaning with dumping seafoam in your tank, it works good but not that good.

 

I have had good results (most of the time) with Seafoam using this method if the carbs are just a little gummed up. Make sure the petcock is turned off. Remove the fuel line from the tank, insert a small funnel. Fill the funnel with Seafoam, start the engine and run it at fast idle until the exhaust begins to smoke. Shut the engine down, reconnect the fuel line to the tank and let the bike sit overnight. Next morning, drain the float bowls, turn on the gas, start the engine and run it at fast idle until the smoke clears up....don't do it in the garage unless you have a pest extermination to perform.

 

Hey Skymasteres. Has the cycle had any modifications done such as an aftermarket exhaust? My bike was doing similar things in regard to speed. I had a fuel filter that was going out on me (starting to reduce flow), that helped some, Then I found a small bit of leaf in one of the bowls after I had performed several cleanings on the carbs. For some reason it didn't want to show itself until I had used lung power on each orifice to try and get a 'feel' for blockage. Not suggested. But it helped quite a bit getting that outta there. Also check your float heights. Squirrelman, suggests cutting a credit card with a 7.3 millimeter slot across the long side of an old credit card leaving enough uncut on either side of the slot to straddle the floats and rest on the gasket surface to get you measurement. Its the bees knees. That really helped a lot. The PO had the floats way off, running really lean with not much fuel in the bowls. Last but not least, check your jets sizes. See if they are stock. If you have any mods done your bike may be running lean at that speed thus not providing much power. I bumped mine up two sizes and the motorcycle became a completely different animal. Oh! and before I forget. check your valve clearances/lash. Mine were running very tight originally. Once set it seemed to run smoother and gave me some peace of mind. Then after all is said and done. Sync the carbs. Hope this helps.

 

Well, I'm not totally sure about mods. I know it has mostly everything stock including the exhaust. I'll have to look up how to check the lash on the valves.

Since a picture says a thousand words...

 

That "oil leak" may be
A) chain lube slopping off and not a leak.
B) countershaft seal leaking
C) clutch rod seal leaking.

 

Well, I know it's not chain lube. (It leaves a small patch every time I park it.)
After cleaning it up and looking at it closer, I think it's the shift lever.
But it might be leaking from both the countershaft and shift lever.
It just sounds like all kinds of pain to fix those leaks....

 

Doubt it's the shift lever cuz engine oil level is below it.

 

Okay, well I suppose that's a good thing. Isn't the counter shaft above the oil level as well then?

Also, is it possible to get at the spedometer, to remove the drive cable, by taking off the canopy? Or do I need to remove the whole upper fairing?

Oh, and I finally fixed the cracked holes in the fairing. Thanks for the tip on the soldering iron for ABS repair.

 

Yes you are right you can change the speedo by removing the windscreen so you can get to the bolts and cable. That is how I did it.

As far as oil level vs seal location, I would disagree with the squirrel, if it were not going to spew some oil they wouldn't have put a seal there. Example would be oil dipstick and oil filler they both have o ring seals.

Ive not changed either seal in my engine so I don't have the difficulty factor. In a Yamaha the old seals are pried out and a new one pushed in. If nothing else your chain is getting a bit of lube. I don't like seepage in my bikes so I feel your pain.

 

Okay, I'm bighting the bullet and rebuilding the second set of Carbs that I have. Are there any pitfalls that aren't so obvious in this process?
Also, the donor carb I have is off of a NJ bike. My FII is a CA bike. Is there a simple way to remove all the crappy CA tubing?

 

heh he...crappy way to remove..... just be sure and cap all the vacum lines... and the two copper tubes coming off the front of the engine just cut them and fold them back then solder them closed.. tehn all the canisters and emission shit just remove... PM TOECUTTER and he can show you exactly how it should be done.. "hypothetically speaking"