Recommissioning a 1999 VFR 800fi 50th Anniversary Edition.

I am now the proud owner of a VFR 800fi 50th Anniversary Edition. I am the second owner, it has just under 5000 miles on the clock. The previous owner moved abroad and left the bike in storage at a friends house. Whether it was moved or the storage location became damp is unknown. But the bike now has light corrosion to the fork bottoms, within the visible area of the engine in behind the front wheel, rear shock, center stand, side stand, rear sub frame and of coarse the exhaust headers/manifold. The mechanics of the bike brakes, engine, suspension and electrics are going to be given an overhaul before the spring when I hope to start using her. Both my brother's in law work in the motor trade one is a mechanic the other is a sprayer and they have both volunteered their services for copious amounts of whiskey and beer in that order. I have volunteered to do the preparation and donkey work as they call it as far as my abilities will allow.

As far as the fork bottoms go I have seen a how to fix thread elsewhere which is a good guide to follow for this work and the likes of the stands and sub frame are an easy fix for my brother in law. As far as the painting goes does anyone have any recommendations regarding the paint to use on the engine, front cylinders and heads? This I assume is going to be a high temperature paint of some description. Being an alloy are there any paints made especially for this type of material or ones to avoid that could damage the metal?

The mechanical work is where I have most questions. I live on an island off the north west coast of Scotland as such who do the UK members recommend for parts supply at a reasonable cost (I am a tight Scot after all).

I am considering rebuilding the suspension components is this a DIY job are there kits available? Or is it better to send them off to a specialist for this work. If the cost of rebuild is not prohibitive what is usually involved as the rear shock body and spring is covered in light rust and hopefully looks worse than it is.

Again do any UK members have any recommendations regarding suspension specialists.

What fluids are recommended (without going to Honda) by members oil, coolant, brake fluid. Would a full flush of the oil, coolant and brake systems be recommended as the bike has sat unused for a long time.

Finally brakes there are numerous brake pads available on the market the bike will be used for the occasional tour but mostly for pleasure riding (fast road no track days) when I'm at home. Are braided brake lines an advantage considering the combined braking system that this model utilises.

Thank You for the time it has taken you to read this and any advice/recommendations will be much appreciated. I work in Baku the noo and I hope to start the rebuild from mid October once I'm home again, so any parts recommendations etc will be ordered using the web for delivery before I get home

 

Congrats on the new bike. Might I ask what the 50th Anniversary Edition is? In 2007, Honda released the 25th Anniversary RWB bike so I'm kinda confused...

 

By 50th, I take it you mean Honda's and not the VFR?

A lot of our members buy the Racetech Gold Valve kits and springs and do the installations themselves. But for the rear shock we usually buy an aftermarket shock or seek out a specialist like Jamie Daugherty (Daugherty Motorsports - Motorcycle Suspension Performance and Modification) and have him do his magic. I chose the latter for both front and rear, having Jamie rebuild a stock shock and I handled the forks with the parts he put together for me.

I'm a Paddy and Guinness man myself.

This you'll have to wait for the UK members to chime in.

This is a loaded questions of sorts, as everyone has an opinion and they vary as much as the number of brands out there. However, the best advice I can give is to just look at the recommended viscosities and types that the manual recommends and use your best judgment on brand selection.

I have heard a lot of guys buying the EBC HH pads and loving them. I have yet to replace mine, but I did order a set of steel braided lines (HEL) and they are supposed to arrive this week. I have always had SSB lines on all my rides so why stop now right. I'll see of it was worth the investment in a few weeks I guess. The only caveat to the linked braking system is the bleeding procedure.

Cheers!

 

View attachment 19794 View attachment 19795
As promised here's a couple of pictures of the bike

@ OOTVS - Thank you for the reply. I've seen Jamie Daugherty referred to on a few occasions on here I may check him out on the net. I knew the fluids question was a bit loaded it does come down to personal preference/experience as you mention :smile:. I'm very interested to find out how you get on with the brake lines though. It sounds that your going with your own experiences with them. By the way are you changing all the lines or just main lines?

@ Meatloaf - The paint scheme is what makes it a special edition the bike itself AFAIK is standard. It was a paint scheme that was available across a few bikes in the range at the time (this is only what I have read on the net when I was researching the bike before I bought her, So don't shoot the messenger if I'm wrong) There was another bike available at the time that had performance upgrades but this was a very limited edition of 100 bikes.

Cheers Tagan :wink:

 

I assume you have the VFR anniversary edition, your pic isn't showing:



Nice bike and congrats.

Jamie is a good bet but you can probably go cheaper by finding a UK suspension shop and avoiding shipping to the US and back. I'd look for an aftermarket shock to mount and have a shop rebuild the forks unless you can deal with lots of small parts and valves. I did mine myself, a couple times now, it gets easier with experience.

When I repainted my VF1000 motor I used a standard off the shelf high temp rattle can paint and it's held up very well for the last few years.

I stick with the EBC HH pads, they've worked well.

Welcome to the site, fellow tight scot here too, :smile:, but riding through that country is definitely on my bucket list!

 

Aye Aye VFRcapn that's the bike I have. Don't know what the craic is with my pics I posted will try again when I have time . Thanks for the recommendation re the pads

 

pics?? :thumb: