85 VF500F Worth it or not?

Soo I suddenly became an VFR enthusiast xD for my first motorcycle ever!
I have worked on it a bit and from what I can tell it needs a gas tank, radiator (leaks) and lots of loving. As of right now, I am able to run a gravity feed hooked up to a plastic soda bottle..
I cleaned the carbs out, checked for spark/gap on all plugs and got it started using starter fluid. It will run if i keep it above 3-4k rpm and sometimes able to rev higher and lower without it dieing but usually end up full throttle at 5k rpm and finally bogs out. The engine sounds steady from what i can tell but I am very new to motorcycles.
Got this 85 vf500 for $300.
Any ideas or insight on whether I should keep it or not would be much appreciated. I love the style of the interceptor and would be willing to put a lot of time into it. I am partly mechanically inclined from working on cars but don't have much money to spend before i try to sell it and hope someone else can restore her :frown:

 

Save yourself the hassle and some $$$, just buy mine! LOL!

1985 Honda VF500 Interceptor

 

going by the photo o that bike, its had its day, $150 as a parts bike if it has a title. obviously a LOT wrong with it, and I can assure you, from experience, you're going to spend hundreds, if not thousands updating, and repairing things. assuming the cams arent trashed, in which case, I'd persnally just part it out.

 

as I said, is had its day, been through a BRUTAL life, and been crashed I bet, goin by how she looks, definitely not a bike I'd personaly get into, and having owned several REALLY rough bikes, as well as one or two that were bought in boxes.

from what lessons I've taken away, the exterior indicates a lot about that bike. chances are, the engine is just as bad as the body. definitely a sad reality.

 

I tend to agree with the above.

If you are handy with a wrench it could be a fun project but this said it won't be an inexpensive project.

Start with inspecting the valve train. This will help you with making an informed decision on the next steps.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

Yea what he said! Then use yours for a parts bike or recoup the money and part it out. It should bring the price of MB's bike down several hundred. Good deal......................

 

I'll bet for under $1000 total you can make that a pretty nice bike. They are selling for $1250-1500 right now so I'd say it's a pretty good deal. Good luck!

 

Thanks everyone for your opinions.
So i realized that I was getting insufficient gas flow due to having a soda bottle as tank. I created a hole in the bottle and it started to run way better. Then i noticed fuel flooding out what seemed to be the carb float gaskets or the two fuel pipes that run in between them. Hoping to replaced the float gaskets and try to get it idling. Will check the valve train, cams and chain tensioners in the meanwhile.

 

V4 carbs are not the easiest thing to work on unless you have logged in a decent amount of hours rebuilding them.

If I could recommend, a copy of Mike Nixon's guide to rebuilding V4 carburetors is a must read before tackling a 'plate off' rebuild. Lots of good info in this tech guide.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

That...is a lot work.

 

Stop tempting me! I live just down the road from you in White House, TN. :wink: