Attempting to bring back a VFR that was left for dead.

Discussion in '5th Generation 1998-2001' started by dallasca, Jan 1, 2014.

  1. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2007
    Messages:
    15,047
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    48
    LOL!! Smart move.. See if the darn thing runs first... That way the Kawi shop guy won't have to worry about using up too much wallspace for a beater.
     
  2. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2007
    Messages:
    15,047
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Looks kinda like that rising sun flag may have been around when the US was doin it's thing in Japan around 1870. To think that we were or are aggressive staggers the imagination.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_Sun_Flag
     
  3. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

    Country:
    Belgium
    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2009
    Messages:
    4,019
    Likes Received:
    137
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    South FL
    Map
    It would make a good NYC bike, you just gota leave Pharr...Love that rear sprocket! Close-Ups could be like porn, yes, me-life-is-sad...:sad:
     
  4. dallasca

    dallasca New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2013
    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    0
    ^^Or maybe the bike was around Japan at the end of WWII in considering how the fairings and bike look in general!!!
     
  5. dallasca

    dallasca New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2013
    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Oh exciting update.. It was bugging the heck out of me having this sitting in my garage. So this morning I stayed up after work and put a battery in her I had layin around that still holds a charge. Even though it didnt fit (to tall) she now had spark. put in fresh fuel, and changed the oil and filter, choked her and hit the start button and nothing!!! Just kidding she fired right up.... and ran smooth as could be. let her warm up cut off the choke and brought up the rpm's a few times to see if she was gonna hold and she didn't even miss a beat, ran her back down to a idle and turned her off. Only thing I did notice was just a small amount of smoke that was barley noticeable. So I secured the tank and seat the best I could the latch on the seat is bent .. go figure. And did what antone would fired her up and ran it up and down the parking lot next door. she runs very good. Tell you what I love the sound of the gear drive. And with no fairings on her this old beat girl came up a little unexpectedly. Time to order some parts.. Sprockets first.. LET THE RESURECTION BEGIN!!
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2014
  6. Gweglez

    Gweglez New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2013
    Messages:
    197
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Southampton, United Kingdom
    Map
    Nice one mate. Wouldnt have thought his would have a choke since it FI?

    Liking the project though. Eventually I'll be buying bikes, fixing them up then selling on so this is good inspiration
     
  7. Rollin_Again

    Rollin_Again Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    May 15, 2008
    Messages:
    2,317
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    53
    Location:
    Duluth, GA
    Go with steel replacement sprockets over aluminum. SprocketCenter.com is my choice for web ordering.


    Rollin
     
  8. mdouglas71

    mdouglas71 New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2013
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Wow. What a beat up bike... lol. It looks like they did try to use some normal house paint to paint the bike..

    Other than that, I'm looking forward to the resurrection of this bike!!
     
  9. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2007
    Messages:
    13,741
    Likes Received:
    1,557
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Location:
    Chilliwack, BC Canada
    Map
    I just read up on some history of that flag thank you to Badbilly. Basically that is the flag of the Japanese Naval Defense Forces or something like that. If you want to paint graphics that are extremely close to that flag, I say go at it. I think there is only a very small resemblance there. That flag is not different to the Japanese than the Royal Canadian Navy's flag is to Canadians, or the US Navy's flag to Americans and so on. Hell, the British were brutal to the Americans during the War of Independence and visa versa. Should we be commenting if a Brit wanted to paint his bike similar to the Union Jack?
     
  10. Big_Jim59

    Big_Jim59 Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2009
    Messages:
    1,957
    Likes Received:
    72
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Map
    That bike truly has some issues. The sad shape of the cosmetics and the sorry condition of the sprocket lead me to believe it was just ridden into the ground and left to rot after the battery sulfated. Good luck with the build. it should be a good one.

    Do ya just LOVE how it's too much trouble to pull the plastic off. Why not just shoot a little paint bomb all over everything? It's easy and it looks so professional.

    Oh, I have seen a worse sprocket. I stopped to help a guy, stranded by the side of the road. He was cussing his bike and his "bad luck". When I went to look at why the bike kept throwing the chain I noticed that the sprocket had no points or teeth at all only little rounded smooth hills!
     
  11. dallasca

    dallasca New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2013
    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Got a factory service manual ordered today thanks to e-bay. I also ordered the propper front and rear sprockets. Thanks for the site suggestion Rollin_. As for a chain I'll be darn but that old gpz 900 I had keeps lending me a helpping hand I went through a box of old parts looking for faseners and low and behold there was a near new D.I.D 530 gold chain. Saved me some bucks rite there. Have no Idea were it came from but it was a 130 links so I will just remove a few links pick up a new master link and off we go. Oh ya the counter sprocket that was on it was in great shape only it was a 16t no wonder it came up on me so quickly.. So now I have a spare "Show me counter gear"lol
    I'm going to be prepping the fairings so I can start tring to repair them this weekend. I picked up a product called "Quick-Fix" after a friend that does repair work on bikes and boats recomened it. Its a 2 part product that uses powder and a clear gule simalar to crazy glue. At $34 it better work. The left side is pretty hammered 4 or 5 cracks that I can see and a pretty big hole at the top of the leading edge near the inner fairing that covers the instrment panel. Speaking of that the left side of the inner has a 1/2 inch hole drilled into it. I was thinking they had a fan switch there. But were it is located it would put the swith in a location that would be a PITA to reach while riding. Good thing that "Quick-fix can be used to fill in holes as well, all you have to do is use tape on the back side fill slowly, sand and cover it with what ever paint ect you want. Like I said I hope it works. The rite side looks alot better as does the tail. As for the body work and paint I think I'll try sometime temp till I can afford a more perinante type deal. Been thinkin about a satin black Plasti-dip just so I can get her on the road and put some miles on her before I invest $800 plus on a paint job. I'm getting pretty excited about this project I just need to relax calm down and take it slow like I did with my last one. Heck that one I had 5 months before I even was able to ride it. As mentioned before anyone got advice or ideas that could save me money by doing it a certain way the first time rather than redoing something later on are greatly apreciated. As in exhaustv for example, I want to do a Left side hi mount instead of the standard rite side anyone make a header kit for this that anyone knows of or anyone that has done this mod.
     
  12. MPH Racing

    MPH Racing New Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2013
    Messages:
    171
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Calgary Alberta Canada
    Map
    Just go to your local auto parts store that carry Dupli-Color and get their ready to spray kits. you can get a cheap spray gun almost anywhere. You can pick up the Primer, Paint and Clear for under $150. http://www.duplicolor.com/products/psFinishSystem/ they also carry a candy line.
     
  13. dallasca

    dallasca New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2013
    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Thanks for the complement. I missed your post till a few hours ago. I'm reading it now. I was on page 6 before I was interupted.. Work allways seems to come first lol I wish u were closer. I am very intrested in the 929 rear shock swap. I'm a rider that like to tour and hit the back mountain twisties. I was born and raised in Northern Cal. Not the Bay or Bakersfield real nor-cal 80 miles north of Sactown. called Chico. we road hwy-9 out of Santa cruxe to San jose alot. Hwy 36, Hwy 162, and hwy 70 were all in my back yard. But this being North Texas you have to do some riding to get to alot of the good so called mountain rides. So comfort was a big reason for the build. But with that being said I would like to update the rear shock, Was thinking of a few but $800 is kinda out of my price range. a revalved or heck stock 929 shock might just do the trick. I'm concerend with the front suspension. I read somewere that they are still a cartridge type fork just with out being inverted. Todo a fork swap seems out of the question due to the linked brake system which I'd like to keep. So my other option is springs which I have found. What I have not found yet are a pair of "gold valves". I put a set of these valves in my zx12r and wow what a diffrence it made. Or do you guys think it wouldbe a waste to upgrade the suspension on a vfr and just keep it for what it was meant for?. Oh ps I had a hard time staying focused on a certain post by the way.
     
  14. dallasca

    dallasca New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2013
    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Thank you for the link. Ill look into that. I'm doing this on a titght budget as it is and $800 for paint isnt one of those options rite now.
     
  15. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2007
    Messages:
    15,047
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    48

    All that sounds good to me. There are a few areas that could be considered controversial like a KKK flag on an article of clothing or a bike in Compton, CA.
     
  16. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2007
    Messages:
    15,047
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Pretty sure that the QuickFix is a combo of superglue and sodium bicarbonate aka baking soda. Smaller versions at Wallys in the form of fixing chipped or split nails, Popular with finger pickers and harleydoods for nose work.. Superglue and bicarb are both water soluble and as well, impermanent unless sealed in. They fall into the adhesive rather than the cohesive class of plastic repair. IOW much better stuff on the market for a bike fairing..

    $800 is about right for a repaint with minimal repair needed. Don't expect to get a price like that on some of the exotics that run as much as 2K/gallon and are only one part of a finished job.

    One sort of trick that can be utilized to save a few bucks is of course doing all the repair yourself including the majority of the paint prep. For this,pop for a book.. The trick is using lacquer rather than the catalytics for your color and clearcoating with a catalytic. Bottom line on this is that there ain't nothing wrong with an all lacquer paint job in the first place. All paint work on a bike doesn't have look "wet" or "pearl" or "candy". Stockers suck anyway..

    Car painters tend to shy away from doing bike parts. Bad experiences for most because they purt a 2lb fairing piece on a table and hosed it with ten lbs of air pressure and the piece ended up on the deck. Or, they didn't take a close look at the curvature of a tank and missed several places including the bottom.

    Some of the best actual painters and here we are talking painting and not prep are the guys who work at the big box paintworks. Ya might find one who does work on the side who would be willing to shoot out your parts for not too many pesos.
     
  17. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2009
    Messages:
    7,831
    Likes Received:
    90
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    Colorado Front Range
    Map
    It does not have a "choke" and neither did the carbed versions of the VFR.

    It does however have "starter valves" operated by a cable and connected to a lever on the bars that for all intensive purposes operates like a choke. In the 6gen, the same starter valve operation was made automatic by a mechanical aperatus operated by the coolant temperature.
     
  18. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2009
    Messages:
    7,831
    Likes Received:
    90
    Trophy Points:
    78
    Location:
    Colorado Front Range
    Map
    To the OP's question on suspension; upgrading the VFR suspension, front and rear, is about the only thing we universally agree on here at VFRWorld.
     
  19. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2007
    Messages:
    15,047
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Sort of like arty chokes?
     
  20. DfnsMn69

    DfnsMn69 New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2013
    Messages:
    140
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Hillsboro, OR
Related Topics

Share This Page