New guy, first bike

Do you mean substandard on a scale of 1-10 or 1-100. There's a big difference there. I sold the Chilton when I sold the Audi. I have a Haynes on a Yamaha I have and the factory manual too. I have a Chiton and a Haynes and a factory manual on a BMW I have too and a factory manual on the speed goodie heads on the BMW. I don't have either a Chiton or a Haynes on either Honda but I hope someday to have them. I will add them to my prayers.

I am unfamiliar with the aftermarket manuals for your bike but I would be willing to bet that you would have better luck with the factory issue in finding those sloppy bearings and replacing the leaky fork seals.

 

Heh, some other Audi guys here. I have had my share of Audi's as well. Just have a regular C4 right now, but have had C3 and such in the past. Enjoy your project(s).

 

With a handle like that I'd steer that Audi clear of leather bars..

 

Ever had a B chassis? They turn SOOO much better. Not to mention lighter. The only negative is none of the US model B chassis cars came with a turbo motor. Of course with 034 or VEMS you can take care of that.

 

This !!!!!

Before you ride it too much, or more specifically let the engine run too much - Change the oil and adjust the valve lash! The VF500 motor is prone to cam scoring and valve failure. The best thing you can do is keep it lubed properly and keep the valve lash in spec.

 

I changed the oil at the end of last season, but haven't opened the vc's yet. I suppose I'll need to do that sooner than later. Though I am seriously thinking about selling the vf for an sv650. I mostly just want something I don't have to think about. We'll see. Nothing is in stone yet.

 

Depending on how much you can sell the vf500 for.... I would get the sv650 and never look back. I love my interceptor, but its old and filthy and prone to death. =)

 

Well durn, another Bulgarian lost to the Suzukikins and after all we taught him about dressing right.

 

Back from the dead. Never sold the VF500, never bought another bike. I had a rather major life disturbance come up which kinda shot the rest of my 2012 but I'm excited to actually ride this summer.

The weather in Minnesota has been strange this spring. We've had a taste of warm weather this week (as high as 53 Fahrenheit! lol) and tomorrow will be our first truly warm day of the season! Almost 70 I am told. Very exciting. With spring comes the irresistible urge to ride and do stuff to the bike. I wrote a list for this summer. It's a big one. Today I got the first few things knocked off.

VF500 refresh list:
DONE. Fix front turn signals
DONE. Remove rear turn signals and rails
DONE. New turn signals, rear
DONE. Rear fender delete
DONE. Reupholster seat - might have to re-do it. not happy with the folds.
. Straighten foot controls or purchase new ones
. Restore instrument cluster
. Turn signals, front
flush, or mirror indicators?
. Fairing mounted mirrors?
. Find out what's wrong in steering head
. Lower front end. Fork oil? Springs? Seals.
. Tank: fill and paint
- bondo, primer, tape, white and black paint, cc
. Wind shield?
. Chin fairing?
. Replacement front brake cylinder?
. Custom 4-1 exhaust?
. Paint headers?
. Replacement rear shock?
. Repaint all fairings
- sand paper, primer filler, paint, cc
. Plasti dip wheels white
- white plasti, cc

Should be fun.

And because all threads are worthless without pics..



Those LEDs are hardly blinding, but I think they will good enough. Directly behind the bike they are definitely visible. They are questionable from angles of 30* or more. At night they are very clearly visible from almost any angle.

 

I've been making some progress on the bike, though slowly. Nearly all last week was less than 50 degrees and SNOWY. Minnesota weather has been absolutely batty. It snowed on May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. :crazy:

This tank was a TURD. I stripped, bondo'd (that was harder than I thought it'd be), and primed it. Then the snow began and I had to let it sit for 6 days. Luckily we seem to have finally emerged into spring and I was able to paint it today. I like it!



During the lull I thought I'd take a quick peek at Ebay, just to see if there were any cowls available. Bang! got one shipped for 25 bucks. The previous owner apparently painted it black with really thin flat black spray paint and then gobbed some red stuff on the side. It sanded out just fine and looks great now (minus the slight damage to be fixed later). One of the mounting tabs on the frame is missing so I'll have to fab one in but that shouldn't be very difficult.



Now it's all painted and it looks SO GOOD! Hundreds of times better than before. I'm really excited to put it all on the bike tomorrow.

 

Nice work. I love seeing people putting the effort into keeping the older bikes running and looking nice.

 

Thanks. I really did put a lot of effort into it and feel the end result was completely worth my time and energy. I LOVE how it looks now. It is... uhg. There's no comparison to before and after shots. Sadly, I jumped the gun a little and put the new pieces on this morning. Not even 24 hours after painting. That was a mistake, but one I think I can fix with a little more effort and patience. I learned a lot doing this so next time will be even better. And now for a little comparison.

As of late October, 2011..




As of tonight. Wee bit of an improvement.