Hello All, I'm new the whole VF world. I have had many of the 70's Honda twins and inline 4's however, so I'm not new to Honda motorcycles in general. I recently picked up what the title says is a '84 VF500F. However, I was just reading an article on the Interceptors, and it says "Unlike the bigger Interceptors, the 500 has no damping adjustment on the fork, a concession to price in the cost-conscious middleweight class." Mine, however, has a 4 position dial on the front of the left fork. Any ideas, and if someone knows, could they tell me what these 4 positions mean? I'm assuming more or less rebound/damping, but what is the difference between a 1 and a 4?
If it is like my 750 that is the TRAC system that is an anti-diving valving device that is supposed to prevent diving upon hard braking. It never really worked well and 1 is the least amount of resistance and 4 will be the highest setting of anti-diving resistance. Odds are your springs are worn out on the front and will need replacing- just make sure you get the proper single rate spring for your weight. Odds are your rear shock is spent also and is too light a rate of spring anyway.
That's what I thought... But everything I've read says the 500 doesn't have it. The springs seem pretty good. The bike has 11,000 original miles on it and has been sitting on a stand in a heated storage unit since 1996 (winterized).