New project. Just picked up a 2001

The seller said the engine started smoking when he parked it 2 years ago. Bike only has 55k miles , but he said he rode it really hard anytime it was taken out. Almost all of his riding was in hills near Berkeley and before he moved to berkeley, in malibu canyon, mulholland etc

The tires have good thread in the middle but the edges are gone. So my plan is to find a used engine and swap it in. I picked this up for friend who was not going to be free till next week. But if he doesn't want it I am taking up the project.

 

Nice find!
Looks pretty stock from the pictures. Maybe just a set of valve guide seals and you may be ok?? Worth a look before you dump that cash on a replacement engine that has an unknown history.otstir:

 

I just bought a 2001 last week myself and have been doing the eBay search for misc. stuff. Found a few gas tanks and seats for sale, looks like you might be missing those bits? Good luck on your restore!

 

The bike is completely stock as I got it. The PO had staintunes, helibars and a corbin seat on it. But he is keeping those. He said he is going to get another 5th gen when he is ready to ride again. He had some neck surgery and will be while before complete healing.

btw the bike is complete. All the parts are there. The tank side fairings, seat and air box where removed. i just put them inside the car.

Valve guide seals are my first suspect. But i figured the fastest fix would be either find a complete parts bike with good engine, a wreck etc or see if local salvage yard has an engine. VFR engine are hard to move so, salvage yards are usually willing to deal in person. A used engine from fleabay will be my last resort.

 

So I got bit by the trackday bug and shortly after that got into Dirt and supermoto. So any free time I had was spent riding and all projects came to an unplanned halt and this bike sat in a corner

Having a handful of bikes to ride didn't help with the motivation to fix anything too.

Anyways yesterday I came across a wrecked 1999 with 27k miles and picked it up. There's no way I will find the time to diagnose and fix the motor from the 2001, With this new donor bike I can get the other bike going in one day. I will likely do the engine swap this week or next. Juts need to set aside a day and be on a mission to finish what I start the same day

Here's the donor:







The rider walked away from this.

I paid $650 for the bike. Will be parting out the rest of it.

I am thinking about fixing the cracked plastics from the wreck and painting it rwb

 

The engine swap process (More of a frame swap actually) is underway and I am past the half way point. I checked the valves on the new engine and was glad to find all of them in spec. Valve check is a walk in the park when it's out of the frame. I am using the 1999 throttle bodies and keeping the cable/lever for fast idle.

I wanted the use the 1999 headers. But It's dented and have to use the 2001 headers with the cat and lambda sensors.

Forks need resealing. I have a superhawk front end with racetech springs and valved for my weight sitting in the garage. Debating if i should go with that and ditch the linked brakes.

The 2001 frame is now bolted to the 1999 engine and swinger assembly now.



Just have to continue reassembling the rest of the bike....one bolt at a time..

 

Enjoy following this. Keep us posted.

(Glad that rider was OK on the '99. )