Matt Tries – 1984 VF500F Overhaul

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by Colddevil, Feb 14, 2020.

Tags:
  1. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    5,822
    Likes Received:
    2,352
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Nice! Emulators and some springs, yes. Go Sonic or RT straight rate.

    Isn't it amazing what a difference that makes? You don't realize overy time how shit something has become.
     
  2. Colddevil

    Colddevil Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2008
    Messages:
    648
    Likes Received:
    292
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Map
    Absolutely. The best part is not hearing the whoopie cushion whoosh! when I sit down on the bike or hit a bump in the road, hah. I'm actually excited to start tinkering around with this bike suspension specifically just because I know the feel of it better than anything else I've ridden.

    I'm working my way through Racetech's Motorcycle Suspension Bible to try to understand how all of this black magic works. While I'm starting to understand most of the theory of it, it's a different thing to be experienced/knowledgeable enough to actually feel meaningful differences. That's what I want to make a bigger leap towards in the coming years. Straight rate and some emulators sounds like the hot ticket!

    Thanks again for your help with finding the right shock and everything, Cap. Oh, and I was able to get out back on track once more this year, so any jitters have since been banished.
     
  3. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    5,822
    Likes Received:
    2,352
    Trophy Points:
    158
    There ya go. Cool.

    With the frnt end properly sorted, the little VF becomes a formidable weapon. Just keep the revs below 10 and embarrass some people.
     
  4. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2017
    Messages:
    910
    Likes Received:
    198
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Houston TEXAS
    Map
    Thanks for the report Matt...the limited rides I have taken on the 500 really show what a POS the rear shock is.

    It does nothing to keep the rear wheel planted it seems. Great you were able to ride before the glaciers arrive up there! Hope you heal quickly also!
     
  5. Colddevil

    Colddevil Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2008
    Messages:
    648
    Likes Received:
    292
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Map
    I think about your valve story every time I think about giving the bike a little more beans than normal when hopping onto the freeway ramp, so I'm already training myself to keep those revs down! Maybe someday I'll get to the embarrassing other people, need the skill first. One good thing about getting to the track is that it's forced me to become a lot more outgoing. I've learned that there's just so much to learn, and the quickest way to do so is reaching out and talking to people. I'm not a terribly outgoing person, but it's forced me to be, and that's been great. Been talking with a few of the control riders that also teach rider classes, and I'll be jumping into those once the ice thaws next year.

    Thanks Jim. Almost healed up fully--got really lucky. And I never felt like the rear shock was dangerously bad, but it's definitely pretty bad. I don't think it's a necessary upgrade since the 500 brought me many years of smiles on just the stocker with just standard lazy riding. It certainly feels a whole lot better with a competent shock in it though. And it doesn't make sneezing noises anymore!
     
  6. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2017
    Messages:
    910
    Likes Received:
    198
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Houston TEXAS
    Map
    LOL, Sneezing noises! Mine does that also!
     
    Colddevil likes this.
  7. Colddevil

    Colddevil Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2008
    Messages:
    648
    Likes Received:
    292
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Map
    If you want to see a 500 that's probably making a lot of sneezing noises, watch the #6 in this VF500 Cup race from 1986. I've timestamped the video at around 11:20 when you can see him just bouncing all over the damn place!

    **Edit--I guess the timestamp disappears if I embed it into the post, but jump to 11:20 or so. Or just watch the whole thing because it's fun.

     
  8. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2017
    Messages:
    910
    Likes Received:
    198
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Houston TEXAS
    Map
    Holy crap that rear end was all over the place. Kind of scary! I won't ever ride mine like that with the stock suspension.

    Thanks for posting that, I forgot they had a series like that. In the day I remember the Ninja 600 ruled everything locally here in TX.

    Don't remember seeing too many VF500's out on the track.
     
  9. straycat

    straycat Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2017
    Messages:
    1,443
    Likes Received:
    539
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Canada
    Map
    good 'ol Murray Walker commentating too...love it
     
  10. Colddevil

    Colddevil Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2008
    Messages:
    648
    Likes Received:
    292
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Map
    Well that might be a wrap on the 2021 riding season for the 'ole gal. We got lucky with a really, really nice day here in WI. I think we were covered in snow at this point last year. I was just smiling thinking about how much nicer the bike feels with the YSS shock compared to the slouched well-worn bed boxspring that was previously in there.

    Fall daylight savings reversal is usually my least favorite day of the year because it signifies the beginning of the start of the depression, errr..., winter season. But I've got a smile on now.

    thatsawrap.JPG

    I've been getting mighty mighty jealous of some of these garages and workspaces I see on these forums... so I've be working on getting the garage looking spiffy before putting any big work into the VF. Walls are painted and floors are next. I'm pretty excited about how I think it'll turn out. Definitely a lot brighter and a lot less dust. Once that's done though, I'm going to turn my attention back to the master cylinder and fork emulators.

    Anyway, no real point to this post. Just had a nice outing on the 37 year old machine, and this'll probably be the last photo with any semblance of the color green or life in it for the year.
     
    Mind_Surfer likes this.
  11. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2017
    Messages:
    910
    Likes Received:
    198
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Houston TEXAS
    Map
    NICE! Glad you got one more ride in.

    I also got to ride the VF500 around the block today, in shorts LOL! Good luck with the garage, I am constantly trying to better organize mine to hold more bikes!
     
  12. Colddevil

    Colddevil Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2008
    Messages:
    648
    Likes Received:
    292
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Map
    Absolutely. N+1 is a real problem. I was doing pretty good bike-wise before I came into possession of a really pretty moped through a coworker a month ago.. Ultimately it's not the moped that's going to stay in my possession because a different coworker really wants it and wants to pay me for a moped I have $0 committed to or in. Since he won't just let me drop it off without something in return, I think I'll be in possession of a different really pretty moped soon. I'm putting knobbies on it if it comes to fruition.

    Hah, definitely jealous of your weather roughly 7 months out of the year. I love knowing the famous $400 Interceptor is out and about!
     
    Jim McCulloch likes this.
  13. Colddevil

    Colddevil Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2008
    Messages:
    648
    Likes Received:
    292
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Map
    So I've got a set of Race Tech gold valve emulators, and I'm going to try to setup the front suspension. For the most part I think I know everything I need, but I'm struggling with the spring weight to get.

    There are a few good threads from 7-12 years ago about this--but information is pretty limited. I'm roughly 170lbs without gear. Probably around 190lbs with full gear. Racetech's site says stock is .61mm/kg, and my recommended is 0.76mm/kg. However, almost every recommendation I've seen seems to have people going with closer to .85-.90mm/kg springs. My SV650 has .90 and I think they're one size too high--I mention that because they're similar weight, and I'm hoping to ride them in similar conditions. I was thinking about buying 0.85kg/mm springs.

    I realize asking this question about a nearly 40 year old 500cc bike has a limited audience. But there's probably no better place to ask. I've also emailed Racetech--maybe I ought to just wait for their response. Part of this post is a sanity check as I'm typing. Racetech's website also recommends 15W "OSFO", whatever that means. I was hoping to use Maxima for oil since it's easily available. Not sure how that compares. I've heard arguments about running closer to 10W with the emulators. I also can't find anything about whether I need to drill out any of the dimples on the emulator nor the emulator spring setup on this specific bike.

    I'm also planning to buy (since I might as well just do it all)
    - Fork Oil, both bushings, fork seals (so glad I just replaced these... oh well)
    - I'm ramming this all home with my PVC driver with duct tape on the end to soften the blow

    As far as I can tell, the VF500F forks are roughly the same as the other 37mm Honda forks, and I can disable the TRAC anti-dive nonsense by pulling some of the bits off the damper rod without even touching the bits that are connected to the fork lower: https://racetech.com/page/title/DRod 5-2 Honda TRAC

    TL;DR Questions:
    • Any idea what springs to run w/ RT Emulators for a 170lb non-gear rider?
    • Any idea what fork oil weight to run?
    • Any idea what emulator settings to run? spring weight, pre-load, and opened holes?
    _____

    And then, lastly, I got too jealous of seeing some of the working setups here, so I took on a project that took several months longer than I expected it to. So I've been keeping up with the discussions here, but my bikes have been hidden underneath tarps and being shuffled around while I got the garage and basement floor epoxied.

    The new floor made it so much easier to trace back the coolant leak on the VF500F to one of the engine block drain plugs! I though it was an oil leak at first until I traced it upward and tasted it. :Roll:

    basement.JPG

    basement2.JPG

    Just finishing up the last bit of work for the winter on the V-Strom, then I want to turn my attention to the Interceptor next.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2022
  14. straycat

    straycat Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2017
    Messages:
    1,443
    Likes Received:
    539
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Canada
    Map
    looks awesome Matt, love the epoxy on the floor!, everything looks neat and well organized too.

    great space !
     
  15. sixdog

    sixdog Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2010
    Messages:
    1,353
    Likes Received:
    471
    Trophy Points:
    98
    Location:
    So California
    Map
    OUTSTANDING SHOP!!!! Yours as well Cat !!!!
     
  16. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    5,822
    Likes Received:
    2,352
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Yeah dude, that's killer! Love the "lounge" too. So cool, nice space.
     
  17. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    5,822
    Likes Received:
    2,352
    Trophy Points:
    158
    I'm surprised the RT suggested was that low. I find them to be a little on the high side usually. I think .80 are good for that bike, maybe .085 if you were planning to be pretty aggressive / track day.

    You'll likely be on 15W. It's for rebound damping. I've started with 15 on every bike and I don't think I've changed it. I may have made a 12.5 once. The tuning guide is pretty helpful, you'll proabbly be around 3 to 3.5 (?) turns preload on the Emulator with the medium springs. When I converted two VF1000 I used just one Emulator on the compression fork and maintained the stock rebound function on the other fork. Come to think of it, those are probably the bikes I fiddled with the fork oil weight. I ran the stiffest spring in those because of the unique set-up, and I liked it.
     
  18. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2017
    Messages:
    910
    Likes Received:
    198
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Houston TEXAS
    Map
    WOW! What a great layout you have there. Gives me some ideas.

    How much effort was it to do the floor? I have thought about doing this since I moved to our new place 3 years ago.
     
  19. Colddevil

    Colddevil Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2008
    Messages:
    648
    Likes Received:
    292
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Map
    Thank you. This is what I needed to hear. I'm leaning towards 0.80 even with track day in mind. There's a lot to be done before hand, but my tentative goal is to bring it out to Blackhawk on Labor Day weekend and do one day on it. I just think it'd be an awesome experience. I wouldn't be looking to set any records--not that I'm capable anyway. I need to get the front end and front brake situations sorted first. Plenty of time though. I'll put 15W oil in to start.

    Thanks Stray. I'm still struggling to find tools and whatnot after having everything hidden in boxes all over the house though! Slowly finding where everything got to.

    Whose do you think I got the most motivation from seeing? haha. I love his magical truck that just keeps grabbing new motorcycles for his sick garage.

    I figured it would be a lot, and it turned out to be more than a lot. But I made some decisions that contributed to the amount of time it took. If you're thinking of doing a garage, you could knock it out in a 2-3 days solo. What took me so long was that I did my basement which is a lot more complex than just a rectangle. I also didn't have the option of power washing out the dust, so everything had to be picked up by vacuum and mopping and more vacuuming. I rented a grinder from Home Depot. Realistically, I probably could have gotten away with the cheater way of muriatic acid etching, but that doesn't give as good of a surface for the coating to grab at all. They generally fail in garages due to cars hot tires lifting the coatings up.

    I also knew I wanted to do no flake at all and a bright, light gray. This was specifically because I wanted to find stuff on the floor easier when I dropped it working on bikes, hah. Flakes hide defects and imperfections really well. Instead, I did a ton of crack repair and grinding to try to get as good of a surface as I could prior to coating. All that realistically could have been skipped with a dense broadcasting of flake.

    So it really depends on the look, function, and longevity you're going for. I only ever wanted to do it once, so I tried to do it as robust as I could on the first go.

    It was funny because my mom stopped by with her dog, and the dog wouldn't even come down the stairs to walk on it I assume because she thought it was liquid. Took a lot of coaxing! The shine will start to scuff away as it gets used but whatever. You can tell an amateur laid it down when you see it in person, but it turned out better than I expected to be able to do.

    Okay, last picture.

    basement3.JPG
     
    Jim McCulloch likes this.
  20. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2007
    Messages:
    6,120
    Likes Received:
    853
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Desert Southwest
    It turned out great, man. Don't sell your efforts short. Glad to see it worked out for ya.
     
    Colddevil likes this.
Related Topics

Share This Page