Bought a 84 VF1000F.. Mistake?

I just bought this 84 VF1000F the guy swore it turmed over but the tank and carbs was gummed up with varish and wouldnt start he said he was planing on restoring it but now didnt have the time. anyways i get it home and take the tank off and its loaded with rust im mean a lot its crusty in there. we took a good battery off one of the ATV's we got here tryed to see if it would turn over but all it did was dim the light no clicking sound or anything. so next we tire to turn it by pushing and poping the clutch the engine it froze rock solid. we took the air box off and spark plugs and swirted a mixture of seafoam and lucus fuel conditioner in the carbs and into the cylinders. we are goinmg to let it set for a while. is there more we can do? and is it worth it? the bike is supposed to have a little over 18000 miles has been sitting in a garage for the last 5 years. ithe paint and and some cosmetic parts need work or replacing. i paid 900 for a bike that turned over and was going to restore. but now im not sure.
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Wow that sounds like a story from fmylife.com
A rebuild is deffinetely in order. I hope you got something in writing...

 

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I would take the Cam cover off attach a wrench and attempt to turn it slowly by hand to check for freedom of movement. I'm no great mechanic but I'd want to make sure the motor wasn't seized.

 

here's the deal. you paid 900 for a bike that would have needed mechanical work regardless of whether or not it turned over (anything would after sitting for 5 years). it just so happens you have to dig a little deeper then you thought you were going to have to right off the bat. truth be known, when your done you'll have a plethora of knowledge about your specific bike and i'm sure there will be pieces of you left in the bike. all and all, not a bad buy...just needs work is all.

other then what your already doing i'd shove some zero detergent oil in the cylinders and let it sit for a couple of days. one way or another you'll have to clean the rust off the cylinder walls but maybe you wont break the rings while your at it.

 

DO NOT use the starter until you can rotate the engine by hand. The best idea posted was to remove the alternator cover and turn by hand.

Once turned by hand, be sure to change the oil. And again after 200 miles after you get it running.

While you are waiting, go through EVERY connector in the harness and remove, clean and dia-electric grease the connections.

Replace the fusible link with an inline 30 Amp blade fuse. $6 at Wal-Mart

Cut off the 3 yellow wire connector from the Stator to the Regulator and solder the 3 wires back together.

This will help reduce the troubleshooting you will need to do if you get it running.

Good Luck!!

 

All good advise. yep 900 for a project sounds reasonable. you will also need to steam clean and use some sort of rust remover agent in the tank, trick here is do do it so it doesn't ruin the outside, not to mention the carbs will need to be soaked in cleaner for god knows how long, last bike I did the carbs,it sat in the cleaner for a good week. but yes do not try to turn it over via the starter till you can turn it over by hand.

 

They're great bikes if they're running nicely. The main problem with the '84 F is that is was a single year model here in the US and parts are next to impossible to get. I had one for awhile that I put back together but it had an engine issue and would have been very expensive to repair. If the motor is gone you might look at swapping in the '85-'86 1000R engine, there are some threads on that on the other VFR forum.

I salvaged a 1000R tank recently that was horrible, very rusty and gummed up. The POR kit worked well but took a couple applications to strip out the gunk before resealing.

Good luck, I hope it works out. FWIW, if Honda built a modern version of this same bike with FI I'd be the first in line at the dealer to buy it.

 

It looks pretty enough for all the effort it will need. good luck. This forum has alot of food threads and knowlegdable members, I would say keep this site handy in your new adventure.

 

Really? $900 for this project bike.. that seems a little high to me...

Even though it is the legend VF1000F.

 

Wow great responce. well i had a 85 700 back in 89 i loved it. especaily the way it looks and sounds with a good set of after market pipes but and a fun ride even thou after a few hours my forearms got numb. well ok ill give it a shot glad i didnt get soaked too bad and thanks again.

 

yes that is to high but it will be fun to work on. the 1986 vfr700f in this pic i got for 150.00 and it bet it looked wors then yours.so with a lot of work you can make it look great. I just got a 1985 vf1000f with 6000 miles on it for 300.00 and it runs great just looks like hell. good luck to you.