New VF700F owning member from Champaign, IL--with the bike in Oakland CA

Hi all,

I've had the motorcycle bug for a long time, and I kind of fell into VF ownership haphazardly. I sold my 2012 CBR250RA that I had (setup with rearsets, full exhaust and chip tune, penske 8987 rear, gold valve, sprung etc etc) to a friend for about what I put into it and he gave me a running '85 VF700F. The bike came with a full Yoshimura system (yay!) and a Corbin seat (boo!). I promptly lost one of the side covers on the freeway. She ran well and had good power for a slow old pig, and I fell in love with the old bike. I replaced the headset and the tires and it ran great for the first 2000 miles I had it.

Unfortunately, it appears that the guy who put the system on the bike did not change the jetting! It never ran hot, but it did recently blow the head gasket, and I'm taking it down to give it an overhaul. I'm planning on sending the shock to Jamie Daugherty to get some ride height and some better valving, putting cartridge emulators and springs up front and doing all the nice stuff to the head. The bike is in good shape overall and it deserves some real attention.

The bike itself lives in Oakland, CA at my parents house. I grew up here and went to Berkeley, and it's where I caught the hill carving bug. It serves as my transportation when I'm home and I'm really itching to get it completed on winter break. I am at my parents on an unexpected visit and I'm trying to take it down and get the heads serviced so everything is ready to go in December when I next visit.

Bio info: I'm a PhD candidate in Materials Science, studying thin film solar cells. I've worked as a Process engineer in MEMS and MOS and as a racecar engineer. You know, all that boring crap that pays for 2 wheeled vehicles.

Here are some photos for fun. I put an inverter on it which I used to power my Combo amp on motorcycle camping trips. I love this bike and look forward to owning it for a long, long time!

 

And here are some of my other most favorite (and least favorite) bikes. Which are which will be a guessing game.

 

Welcome! Good to see another gen 1 owner here....hopefully it all goes back together and is back on the street soon. Did you find a replacement sidecover?

 

Not yet, I was more concerned with the fundamentals, like brakes, tires and suspension. I've got an old fiberglass lower cowl that will hold the oil required to track one of these old things, I want to eventually paint it all, put the cowl on and be able to do vintage track days. Also I wanna get some good baggage and make a seat that will work for my 6'5" frame. Those Corbin seats are great for short people, but suck for me!