86 vf500 upgrades.

A very nice Bike , indeed! keep up the good work, those bikes don't deserve end in the scrapyard!

 

When I saw this post I'm pretty sure you haven't rode a bike with any kind of real power. The 500 is quick but you won't be scaring yourself on it.

 

No haven't got it dynoed it yet I've called and talk with the guy that does it just coming down to time I don't have lots of it.

 

True dat

Slow dont you have a 700? 500's are quick to about 70mph but thats it. WOT on my old one would yield about 120mph if i had a tailwind. I mean it only makes 66hp at the crank and it weighs just under 500lbs wet plus however much the fat ass thats riding it weighs. My vf1000 hits 100+ in second gear which is nearly the top speed of a 500. I do have to say though.. the 500 is much more fun to ride than the 700 or 1000.. but there is no replacement for displacement.

Matt if i recall correctly dont you have a 4 down rear sprocket? When I bought my first 500 it had a 1 up rear sprocket and when i put the stock sprocket on it made an incredible difference. I can imagine that anything with less teeth than stock would be detrimental to your bikes performance. Imagine you took 4 teeth off every gear on a mountian bike.. it would be much harder to pedal. I just dont think the 500 has the power for a smaller rear sprocket. It wont even pull to redline in 6th with the stock gearing

 

I have to completely disagree with both of you....unless there is a real large weight difference between myself and PChoen and Matt (i'm about 150lbs soaking wet w/gear on) then my old VF500 was in really good shape. (or yours are/were in poor shape)

You said 100mph is " nearly the top speed of a 500" ?! Define nearly? I have gone well over 160km/h (100mph) and that was with a completely stock bike.

yea i have a 750 now and it is much faster than my old 500.....but I guess the term "fast" is relative and as far as bikes go, no the 500 isn't fast....but it isn't slow. Not by a long shot.

 

European versions topped 200 km/h which is about 126 mph in stocktrim, there's lot of ways to make it go faster, bigbore etc.. 70hp in stocktrim 90 is possible and with the nimbleness of vf500 it would be a bomb, the sound is fantastic!! worth every penny you put into it!

 

My VFR750 makes plenty power thanks....more than is really needed in a street bike.

....and I only comment on the power of the VF500 because of the post you made:

So your VF500 is "so under-powered" that you find yourself "riding it WIDE OPEN".

Really?!? .....c'mon Matt.

There are only a few reasons for saying something like that:

- There is something wrong with your bike.
- It's weighed down too much
- You over exaggerated a bit when you said it (we're all guilty of that)
or
- You're posing....trying to make it seem like you're too much man for a little 500cc bike.

I'm guessing you're just over-exaggerating.

 

More info please!

What upgrades need to be installed to reach these HP numbers?

 

Yes slow... 100mph is nearly 120mph, which is the top speed of a stock 500. When you say you've gone well over 100mph you really mean you've gone about 120mph, which again, is the top speed of a stock 500.

I said the 500 was "quick" which i believe is an accurate assesment considering my riding experience with different motorcycles. When you put it in the lineup of 4cylinder 500cc and up bikes produced from 1983-present it would be near the end of the line as far as quarter mile times go. I wouldn't say it is slow. A yamaha virago 750 is slow.. lol @ virago's

Anyways, I believe Matt is truly experiencing what he describes as riding WOT all the time and I believe it is because he is choking that motor with a tiny rear sprocket. MATT!! CHANGE YOUR SPROCKET

 

heres how it is, when the bike still had the stock front end on it yes i was more resreved to beat the hell out of it as time has rocked on new front end the bike been jacked up in the rear new rear sets and clip-ons the ergo's of has changed (excuse's excuse's) the bike runs great me in full gear might be tipping the scale's at 195lbs i have hit a top speed (with the 40R gearing) 112mph the bike is quick but blazing fast it just not it i love my lil 500 but it is what it is. that's why i've planed this expensive motor build. as far as the gearing its awesome with inline bike your always up & down through the gears and the same was true for the stock gearing on this bike i dropped 2 teeth in the rear and now i can keep it one gear and crank it up using the rpm band.

 

+1 more info please

 

I'm thinking: Big Bore: close to 600cc , special camshafts , stiffer valve springs, it's already revvin' 11500 so 12500 should be in reach. I was thinking about doing it, ended up making the RV4. VF500 is very good bike, and convert to a racebike would be a lot of fun, using new parts and VFR400 frame. But then it wouldn't be a VF500.

 

The 500 is slow relative to newer bikes. Slow, try one of the 600's of the past decade as a comparison and you will understand immediately.

I had a brand new 500 back in the day, so I know how they ran new. They were quick, but nowhere near today's quick.

btw - my '84 topped out consistently at around 205 km/h when new.

 

Matt, how is your 500 geared? tell us how many teeth the front and rear sprockets have?

 

15F 40R the front is stock and I went down two teeth in the rear.

 

IIRC the stock sprockets on the '86 are 15F/43R (it is 15F/44R on the '84 and '85).

Things change up a bit with a 17" CBR600F2 wheel conversion though. IIRC the recommended spec is 16F/43R for the '86 (16F/44R for the '84 and '85).

 

That equates to 2.67 final gearing. Down from 2.80 if 15x 42 was stock. You won't pull a wet string out of a cats ass with that. Now, if you want it to accelerate you should be adding teeth to the rear sprocket NOT vise versa. Why did you want taller gearing? A small displacement engine like the 500 needs revs to reach peak HP, therefore the faster you build rpm, the more acceleration you'll get. I'd slap a 44 or 45 tooth rear sprocket on that puppy right away. My 750 wouldn't pull redline in 6th with stock gearing either. It felt pretty good everywhere else though. That's was until I went 15 x 45 on it. What a difference!

 

15 x 43 = 2.87 15 x 44= 2.93 16 x 43= 2.69 16x 44= 2.75

 

The rear tire size (diameter) factors into the equation when switching to a 17" rear rim.

 

I couldn't tell much of a differrnce in gearing on my old 500 after the F2 rear wheel swap. I know there is a difference mathmaticly but its not enough that you can really notice.

I tried a 44 and a 43 rear sprocket and found the 43 to be perfect. Doees anyone know why they changed the rear sprocket size for the '86 model?