Greetings from California

About a month ago I was searching Craiglist for bikes under $500 as I would often do and I came across a 1985 Honda VF500. There were no pictures posted and I couldn't imagine the bike so I did an image search and instantly fell in love. I got in contact with the guy as soon as it was a decent hour (found it at about 3am, a few hours after it was posted) and he took the ad down later that day. (The guy I bought it from actually works at the same hospital I do so I think he is happy that he'll be seeing it around) I went and checked it out and fell even more in love with it. It's rough, with some scratches and worn paint and dings and dents. But I loved it. I love it. It had been sitting for a year, but right before it sat it received around $800 dollars of work and parts including new tires, chain, tune-up, oil change.

After checking it out I went back about a week or two later and picked it up after renting a trailer from uhaul. Brought it home and started tinkering on it. Drain the old fuel and pour new fuel in. Changed the oil and filter. Inspected the air filter and the bike in general. It has a dead battery so I still need to get that, as well as a front brake level assembly because according to the guy it was replaced with the wrong one. It also needs a new left handle bar assembly or maybe something else to fix the choke. Hoping with a new battery and figuring out why fuel isn't coming of petcock and I can get it to start. Ive been doing a lot of research on here and then I realized "wait a second why haven't I joined yet!". Gonna try a few things I found before I start asking questions.

I am excited to work on it and eventually ride and I'm excited to be a part of the forum.

 

Hi and welcome to the MadHouse:welcome:

It sounds like you have got the VFR bug. I really hope you manage to quickly get your 500 running well. Sadly any bike left unused for several months with fuel in the tank/lines carries a strong prospect of fuel degredation which can block the carbs and even the petcock. When you get a chance please post up a photo or two of the bike. Its easy click the insert image icon, then follow the prompts to select images from your computer. If your VF500 becomes a project, then don't forget to take some "Before" photos. Far too often people rip into major renovation projects as soon as they take ownership and only later realise they have few if any photos to compare before and after.

If you need a hand there are a fair few VFRW members in SoCal and quite a few are very happy to help wrenching.

If you fancy a chance to meet up - then track down the R3 thread covering this years Memorial weekend VFRW meet and ride-outs at Atascadero - and perhaps make R3 the deadline to get that bike running!

:vtr2::vtr2::vtr2::vtr2:

Take care


SkiMad

 

Welcome welcome, that little Vf500 is a great one. smh here, with a smile I'm also wishing you the best, stale fuel can be a PITA to deal with, so we'll say a few prayers for ya.

 

Awesome, work at the same hospital```````meant ta be`````` welcome and ill be the first ta say````pictures or it didn't happen bro
Enjoy

 

Here's a pic in the previous owners garage! I still haven't taken decent pictures yet. Thanks for all the greetings everyone!

 

Good job Mr

 

:welcome: to the madness :wave:
Good luck getting that Ole girl back on the road........ray:

 

That photo looks familiar. Is the previous owner a member here?

 

Thanks for posting the pic Petey, the bike looks VERY much worth $500! Best of luck getting her rolling.

 

That's a good find! Welcome to the forum.

 

welcome , welcome , you will enjoy your ride.