New member with 1st Gen makeover

Great forum!

My older brother bought a 1987 blue VFR700F new. He is 5 years older than me so I used to steal it and ride it when I was 14 years old. I think I put more miles on it than he did. That was the first sport bike I ever rode.

Then a couple years ago my buddy came across a beat up 86 700 Interceptor for next to nothing. He got it running and put new tires on it, but he has a lot of bikes and it just sat there. Then last summer I talked him into selling it to me. He charged me the initial price plus tires, so for $550 I’m now the proud owner.

plastics were all beat up, but it did run good after a quick carb cleaning. Fuel tank took a ton of work, but we got the rust out and pushed out the giant dent in the back.

We repaired the plastics with a plastic welder, scrap pieces of ABS and JB Weld as body filler.

we just finished painting it this week and are just about ready to put the bodywork back on.

going to seal the gas tank this weekend and I have new float bowl gaskets coming. Working on the fuel pump cut-off bypass today.

Can’t wait to get it on the road. I might even let my brother ride it

 

Welcome! Looking good. How did you press the dent out?

 

Welcome! Looking good, nice rescue.

You're sealing the tank after painting it?

 

Welcome and please continue to post updates! Love to see these old girls rescued!

Same question as Rogue......how did you push that fuel tank dent out? PDR kit?

 

Thank you. We started with a spot weld dent puller, but that was a mistake. It pulled mounds up and ended up with multiple pin holes too. Those were brazed and leaked checked.

what we should have done is go in through the fuel sending unit hole with a wood dowel. Then we heated it with a rose bud and pushed it out. If we started with that there would be no holes and it probably would have got close to straight. Instead there’s more body filler than there should have been.

I’ll admit that sealing the tank after paint is not the best plan. But the way the rest of the bike is coming out I just don’t want to risk a leak.

 

This is what the rear dent started as.

 

Got it. The etching stage to make sure the sealer adheres properly would scare the fuck out of me just having it in the same room as fresh paint.

What sealer?

 

I always use regular vinegar for rust removal and etching. That part was done before painting. I pressure tested it and was not going to seal it, but I changed my mind.

I had it coated with WD40 to keep it from flashing. I just washed it out a few times with dish soap. It is dried now and we are raising the shop temperature to 70 today and I’ll coat it tomorrow.

I really don’t like to use sealer, but with the brazed holes I don’t want to chance it.

I use Cazwell 2 part sealer. It does work really well. I have it in a 1971 BSA Lightning and an XS650 dual sport I built.

 

I don't either, but I'm glad you said Caswell. Sounds like you got the process down and I would be worried about that tank seeping too. Good luck!!

 

ive used caswell on 2 tanks, very good stuff

 

Very cool. That is my favorite color scheme. That is what my bike was originally and we considered taking it back. We do a lot of mechanical work and mods, but painting is not in my skill set. This is the first time I did actual body work and my buddy who did the painting only does it once every 2 or 3 years. We don’t have an actual booth so we thought going with the multi-color might be a bit of a stretch.
I’m very happy with the outcome, but it is certainly not perfect.

 

Multi colors are a commitment and easily highlight less than optimal conditions / prep / experience. You made the right choice.

 

Welcome!

 

Some progress and a bit of a set back.


We got the caswell in without issue. It is good stuff, but can be hard to manipulate and you gotta make sure the fuel pickup screens stay clear.

Started dry fitting the bodywork and lining up the new stainless fasteners. Fortunately by buddy spotted this when we put the gas tank on.





We fooled around looking for why there was no clearance on the left side. I’m glad he spotted it before I dented the freshly painted tank.

Then we found the issue.



The steering stop is cracked and is allowing the bars to turn too far to the left.

Fortunately the guy who spotted it just retired from having a fab shop next door to my buddy’s shop where we work on these. We all work on each other’s bikes and he can weld it up without any issues. We’ll squeeze it back and weld it. If we need more clearance we’ll put a touch of aluminum on the face.

I should have looked for this because I had to repair a dent right where the switch housing meets the tank.

 

Whew!!!

 

I also recommend removing the torx bolts on the handlebars that lock them into a certain range on the triple. You can then position the bars as you want (like getting them away from a newly painted tank after repairing the stop). I typically prefer getting them rotated a touch farther forward for less of a "tiller" position.

I either remove the bolts or grind off the tab on every single bike I own. Have done it for decades and have never had an issue. If your handlebar is coming loose and rotating on you, you're doing something wrong or something is broken/stripped.

 

Got the weld repair done on the left steering stop. Came out good and the clearance is now back and matches the right side.

 

The carburetor bowl o-rings and cylinder head insulators came in too. I had bought cheap insulators a while ago, but when I went to put them on recently the OD was far too big.


That’s what I get for going with cheap parts. I ordered the OEM ones and they were very reasonable. Oh … and the fit too.


Once the carbs were back on I ran the bike off a bottle to make sure the bowl leak was fixed and it still ran good. While I was doing that I added some gas to the gas tank to make sure the fuel sending unit was leak free. That came out good so it’s time to start hanging the body work.









Hopefully I’ll get the rest of the body work mounted today. I still need to make a couple brackets and clips for the lower fairings and get some hardware that didn’t come in the kit I bought.