New member in NY. 1985 V700 Interceptor

Hello all, I'm John from upstate NY. Just got my first bike. I restore old mopeds and scooters. A guy posted on craigslist looking to trade his 85 700 for a Moped get his son. Even trade. I'm pretty stoked. The bike has been sitting in his basement since 2010. He said it had a flat cam lobe. He gave me 2 top ends to scavenge parts from. My plan is to try to get it running and see how bad it is. I'm sure the carbs need cleaning. Any tricks to cleaning the carbs without having to take apart the brackets? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

Nice find. There is a great thread on cleaning carbs on this forum. Let me find the link for you...

 

Well, I can't figure how too link it on my phone. But its title is 'cleaning carbs' written by toe cutter.

 

Member "Squirrelman" cleans and rebuild carbs, he is in the Buffalo area. Take carbs out, but don't separate!

 

Yes! Do not separate the individual carbs from the air box base or from each other for just a cleaning. Reassembling the 4 carbs and air box base is very tedious and not for anyone with limited patience.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll search for the carb cleaning post.

 

As Allyance mentioned, i'm in Buffalo, willing to help, and know a fine gentleman here (former Dunlop tire engineer) who has 3 VF700s in average condition he wants rid of..........cheap !

 

Hey squirlman. I'm in Little Falls about 3 hours east of you. I got extra parts with this. He said it has a flat spot on a cam lobe so he had gotten 2 top ends to use for parts. The parts look questionable to me.

 

It's alive! So today I drained the carbs of old gas. While I was draining them I pulled the drain screw and sprayed carb cleaner in the screw hole and watched all the nasty crap flow right out the drain. I figured I would give it a shot before pulls the carbs. I ran fresh gas and it fired right up. Ran rough at first but smoothed out and idles and revs good. I'm happy. I didn't run it long. Now I'm going to go through the brake and cooling systems as well as all fluids before I attempt a ride. Any suggestions for other things to service on a bike that sat for 7 years?

 

Here is the aforementioned thread.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/22449-Cleaning-carbs?highlight=carb

 

Watch the temp gauge carefully when you get into slow traffic. At anything above 2/3 the fan should switch on if the thermoswitch is OK, but many fail and can cause overheating.

 

Well, if it has sat for 7 years, All of the fluids should be changed: Brake & Clutch, Oil, Coolant, along with the air & oil filters. The tires are going to be old, possibly dry rotted, but at the very least not as sticky as they should be.

 

Thanks guys. Fluids are next, was planning on tires. It appears that there is brake fluid leaking from the reservoir on the handlebars. Should I expect to buy a rebuild kit for it?