Baz's latest acquisition: '87 VFR700F - White & non-running and in fair condition, 48K miles

Thank you.

Oddly - it's the ones without the collars that aren't tightening as much as the ones with collars.

This is without installing - just holding the insulator in my hand.

Maybe once it's installed - they will tighten OK when the diameter expands.

Sorry I didn't word it better in my post....

 

OK - good news and bad news.

Got the carbs on. Changed oil and filter and topped up the coolant. Installed new battery. Hooked up a fuel bottle straight into the carbs.

She started right up and I thought sounded pretty good.

About 30 seconds in you'll hear a loud clanging sound. Turned out to be the clutch rod falling out. The clutch slave is out right now being worked on, along with the brakes.

I didn't think anything about it but when I walked around the other side I noticed oil coming out from below the bike!!!

So I shut her off and am now wondering where the oil is coming from.

I wonder if having the clutch rod falling out had anything to do with it.

I can't believe it would be anything serious. I mean - sure I could be wrong but what the heck - overall the bike is in decent condition. How does oil start coming out the bottom?

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

Might be able to answer my own question after a bit of Googling.

There is a seal the clutch push rod goes through as it enters the crankcase where the engine oil exists.

This seal is meant to keep the engine oil from leaking into the clutch slave.

While the push rod was in place - no oil came out. When the push rod fell out - that left a place for the oil to escape. And that's what happened.

Tomorrow I will start the engine again with the slave installed and see what happens.

Hoping that's the end of this oil leak thing so I can get back to the rest of what's needed.

I AM very excited the engine was running! Woohoo!

 

OK - installed the clutch slave cylinder and (whew!) no leaks this time!!!

I'm stoked it's running and on top of that - this was my first RC26 full carb rebuild and all things considered - I think I did pretty good!

The next steps will be to get the brakes and clutch lines bled and working. Then re-assemble all the stuff I removed. Some of the fairings will need some repair work but nothing major.

Stay tuned....

 

Good job!

 

Quick update on the fuel tank situation.....

I decided to move forward with an Acetone soak plus aggregate, as Capt mentioned, to work on getting the old coating removed.

Will keep you posted.....

 

I will attest to that see my thread!

 

What did you use for aggregate. I have used a length of chain (1/4 inch links) make sure it is long enough to keep and end out of the tank to facilitate removal. I spent several hours, and a few shots of Tanqueray fishing a chain out of a BSA tank.

WD

 

Be very careful with chain. I advise against using it in any tank that has internal piping. It can wrap around and tie itself in a knot... ask me how I know. Never again.

 

Hello all.....

I'm going to use 1" drywall screws as an aggregate. Picked them up this morning along with 2 gallons of Acetone. I also got a gallon of Paint Stripper. I'm going to try each one first on a piece of the coating on the bench and see which one works best.

I'm feeling optimistic this will work out in the end!

Happy Friday!

 

Don't forget to count them. Good luck.

 

Hadn't thought of that - good tip - thanks!!!

 

From April 8:

 

Thanks!

The box indicates 289 pieces. This is for a 1 lb. box. I thought I should use the entire box, but maybe only 100 would do the job. In any event, I will do a count of what I put into the tank and what comes out.

 

Will post photos tomorrow but so far pretty promising how the coating is reacting to the Acetone...wow....really destroying it! This is in a test jar. But I did pour a half gallon into the tank just before nightfall and will check in the morning.

Trying to find my endoscope......

 

Moving forward on the tank....found my endoscope and took a few pics this morning. Yucky inside for sure.








As I said earlier, I poured a half gallon of Acetone in last night and then drained it out this morning. After straining that fluid, it looks like it'd doing the trick, so far.



I then poured in almost another gallon of fresh Acetone along with the drywall screws and started swooshing everything around. The plan today is to go out every half hour-hour and swoosh some more while rotating the tank and then leave it sitting in a different position each time in between swooshing.

At the end of the day then maybe drain it and then blast with my power washer inside and see how good it looks after all that.

See next post for another issue I'm working on.....

 

Back to the bike itself, as stated earlier I did get her running and then noticed some coolant coming out of a pinhole on the radiator. So I plan on repairing that today using JB Weld.

So far I've drained the coolant and started cleaning up the hole. The hole became a little larger after I poked on it a bit while cleaning it so now I know what I'm dealing with.

 

You're crazy to devote any time or effort on that. If there is one area that is that eaten thru, there are likely a bunch more that are about to do the same.

If your doing it just to run the bike more, maybe I get it. But I wouldn't trust it anywhere past the end of the driveway.

 

OK thanks and good to know! It's just so I can get everything going on the bike again so if it lasts that long, I'm good..

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Different topic:

Any idea what this is for?



The schematic says "Ind. light check unit". Noting was hooked up to it when I removed the front assembly. Thanks!