Ed’s 85 VF700F

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by Ribrickulous, Dec 17, 2021.

  1. sixdog

    sixdog Member

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    I did new school … [​IMG]


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  2. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Awesome pic. I try to make it a standard practice to employ the smarter, not harder, approach. Watching people pull their own tonsils out through their nose makes me cringe.
     
  3. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

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    Stop making sense...!
     
  4. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    I’ve got to imagine whatever’s in the radiator is indicative of what’s in the engine.

    Something’s gotta be flushed through, but yes - if all else fails I’ll have to lug them to a radiator shop.


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
  5. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

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    Yes....even I had to bite the bullet and send my 86 VF500F radiator to a professional.

    I could not believe how bad it was when they cut the side tanks off and I could really see the core.

    Even with a boroscope I could not see how bad it was. These bikes need all the cooling help they can get especially in hotter climates.
     
  6. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Take one of carb synch.

    Before:

    [​IMG]

    After:



    I can get it closer, but I want to get the pilots set just right, have the idle where I want it, and then fiddle back and forth between the two.

    I do not have a reliable external tach yet, and I’m a bit confused by the pilot procedure.

    It says to back off each pilot screw until I get a bump less than 50 rpm, but I’m doing so after the base setting of each screw three turns out, and the idle is racing up to 1,500.

    Is it meant to start off on the lean side and work their way out?

    When I pulled them most were 2-1/8 to 2-3/4 out.


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2022
  7. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    you need to get them alot closer than that. remember that the sequence of synch screw adjustments is important and to blip the throttle a couple times after any screw adjustment to allow throttle butterflies to firmly settle into the new position. the carb that's controlled by the idle speed setting screw is the master carb, and the others must be set to match the vacuum on that one.

    an alternative way to adjust mixture screws is to turn each in (one at a time) until the cylinder stops firing, then turn back out 1 or 2 turns.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2022
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  8. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    How tight do you try and get them?

    If I’m reading these right, the rear right is furthest out at -45mmhg from the base carb.

    Spec was 60 iirc


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
  9. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    how close ? within the width of the needle. control idle speed to about 1200 -1400 when adjusting synch screws.
     
  10. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Put about 400 miles on it this weekend to, from, and in rural PA.

    [​IMG]

    Will post up a link to some videos, unfortunately most of the audio is wind noise.

    Some notes:

    - Gauges
    - the speedo is about 5mph optimistic over my GPS/Riding app (Scenic, highly recommend). Wobbly and seems unreliable >75-80 mph indicated - will try cleaning and lubing next time I’m behind the fairing and see if that helps.
    - the tach seems spot on
    - temp gauges seems fine, though there’s no way to really check it against anything - goes up quick in traffic, comes down on the highway
    - I can’t make sense of the fuel gauge. Supposedly a 5.7 gallon tank? - takes 50 miles to come off of full, at 130 miles on the trip gauge it’s touching the reserve bar, and even then it only takes 2.5 gallons. Low priority “problem”

    - Fuel economy
    ~ 40-45mpg when mostly highway miles, pretty happy about it.

    - Fluids
    - no loss of coolant or oil the whole trip. The feeling of not needing to carry a quart oil with me is going to take some getting used to. The 350 has given me trust issues.

    - Handling
    - had the anti-dive set to 1 and it was way too wobbly, put it up to 3 and I don’t feel like I’m going to fly over the bars when I tap the brake anymore. Still feels occasionally like the front end wants to “tuck” in hard corners.

    - Clutch
    - still getting used to it, seems very sensitive on downshift, any more than a smallest blip and it wants to rip forward after letting the clutch out.
    - Noticed a ticking “feel” in the handlebars when coming to a stop occasionally. Putting it in neutral the tick is there, pull the clutch in neutral and the ticking feel goes away.
    - I know someone has been in there in the past (green gasket on the right side cover) not sure what they did or tried to do but seems like something is still lurking there.

    - Engine
    - overall happy, there’s still a ticking sound when it’s cold and starting up, somewhere on the right side. 90% gone by the time it’s warmed up. Different than the feel above.

    Plan is to run it until 19,000 (another 450mi) and then:
    - re-do all the fluids
    - bleed brake, clutch etc
    - get the radiator gunk cleaned out
    - drop the pan to see if there’s anything surprising in there (didn’t do it the first time around)
    - recheck valves
    - set the idle mix
    - try and get the sync to Squirrel’s standards above =)


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
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  11. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Aha. I actually found a video of a cold start, complete with lots of footage of the ground while I try and point the mic.

    Walks from left side around the front, to the right.

    You can hear the tick keep pace with the rpm’s up to about 4,000, then it goes away when the revs fall.

    Could this be related to clutch feel above? Or could this be something with the cam chain?



    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
  12. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    I’ve put about enough miles on the bike now to get a good feel for it, sitting right around 19,000 on the ODO.

    I also did the CLR flush. This is the before:

    [​IMG]

    And this… wait for it… is the after:

    [​IMG]

    It did absolute jack shit.

    It’ll go to a radiator shop to be hot tanked in the next week or so.

    In the mean time, I want to drop the oil pan to make sure nothing is lurking down there, and I’m having a shit time getting the exhaust chamber and mufflers off

    Any trick to pulling the mufflers? Them seem stuck on. Two clamp bolts and one passenger rear peg pulled.

    Likewise, I assume for the rear cylinders you’ve got to basically pull the rear suspension?

    I’ll be de-rusting and putting high heat paint on the chamber while its off. I don’t think it can take much more rust before a hole shows up.


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
  13. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    I've done the VF muffler dance many times. Get your ass on the ground and put your feet against something like the footpeg and center stand. Now start wrestling the mufflers up and down, left and right, around in circles. Harder and farther than you think is reasonable. When you start getting some movement, then start pulling back while you are doing it.
     
  14. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    shoot some lube into the joints and tap with a hammer.
     
  15. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    After you get the mufflers off, then with the front clamps off and the rear down tube clamps loose, start yanking up and down on the the front head pipes. Again, harder and farther than you think is reasonable. When you start to get movement, try applying some downward pressure to get the rears to slide off of the rear down tubes. Not fun.
     
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  16. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

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    I have no magic to get the mufflers off. Lot of swearing.

    I had the same issue with my 86 VF500 radiator. I ended up taking it to a shop and they cut the tanks off each end and rodded it out. It was that BAD....cost me $75.00 and well worth it.
     
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  17. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    I know it’s been awhile - focused on the 350.

    I’m convinced someone epoxied the mufflers on at some point - have a ratchet strap on them and they won’t budge.

    Tried heat, no luck.

    [​IMG]

    If anyone needs me I’ll be working this thing back and forth for the next seven days.


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
  18. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Nevermind. I was being dramatic. They’re off.

    Removed the rear peg bracket - pushed them up down all around harder than I thought I’d need to, and they’re off.


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
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  19. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

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    Yeah, the first time I had to pull them off my VF500F it had to stop and rest a few times. Did like you did and worked them back and forth a million times. Damn they were on there!
     
  20. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Like they’re glued.

    I had to chisel away at the graphite gaskets stuck inside the collector and eventually took a small flap wheel to them verrrrrry carefully.

    Wire brushed the rusty exterior and spray painted it high heat black to hopefully stave off any more rust, although it did seem in surprisingly good shape.


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
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