Crack in oil housing...? (first post new member)

Hello, this is my first post in VFRworld. I'm glad to have registered. You all seem to know what you're talking about, know when to say 'I don't know', and all have a good sense of humor.

OK my friend is giving (GIVING!!!) me his old 1986 vf500f. But I'm going to have to work to get it going again. This will be my first bike, and needless to say I'm happy about the trade-off! First things first, I have a very strong relationship with this friend, and I have 100% confidence in him that he isn't just brushing his old rust off on me. He's not only my best friend, he's also my pastor! So he's kind of got a VERY good reason not to be 'dumping' in my garage!!! He's got an interest in getting me more familiar with bikes.

This bike has been sitting in a garage for around 5 years. He told me there is a "crack in the housing that holds the oil". His uncle had used epoxy to fix the crack, but apparently the epoxy came loose and now it leaks. I want to fix this thing correctly; do I need to buy a new part, or what would be involved in repairing? If I need a new part, what part is it, and how much would you imagine that would cost? Dealership/Ebay/Craigslist?

Having been sitting so long, the battery will most likely need to be replaced, so I need some guidance on finding one of those as well... Once again, Dealership/Ebay/Craigslist?

Other than these two things (as far as I know!) it just has a ding in the gas tank, which we should be able to hammer out. Is there anything else I should look for on a bike that's been resting for this amount of time?

I will see the bike either tomorrow night or the day after, so I haven't laid eyes on the whole thing yet, don't know how big the crack is, don't know how big the dent is, don't know if it's dusty or rusty, but you can be sure I'll be posting photos within a week.

Thanks very much for your time, and I'm very glad to have joined!


P.S. Some of my friends pronounce the name of these bikes 'Viffers', some say 'veefers'... which is it?!

 

I don't know anything about that year bike.... but if you want some help, I'd suggest taking a picture of the part(where)it's leaking.

 

Is it leaking from the oil pan? Yes...as mentioned....a pic would be great.

Battery you can get from any automotive/Motorcycle/atv parts place.

Check to make sure the chain is in good shape and the links aren't frozen or seized.

After sitting so long the tank may be rusty...if thats the case you may want to clean the tank so you don't suck a bunch of crap into the carbs.


....and please post pics of the bike in general. :smile:


Welcome!

 

Oil Pan Crack:-
1)Since it is alloy, have it repaired by welding &/or helicoil , make sure its somebody who knows what they are doing. (had this done on one of my bikes, they usually crack around sump plug due to over enthusiastic tightening of sump plug or been walloped on a kerb etc) Mine cost me about £30.00 not sure in Dollars tho.
2)Purchase second hand Ebay etc.
3)Buy a second hand engine, also useful for other parts.
4)If you have the funds buy new, but be prepared for the onslaught on your wallet.

Either option you will have to buy a new sump gasket cost around £18.00 (dollars??)

Good luck & safe riding

 

He'll have to buy a new "Sump Gasket"?

 

A pic would be very helpful on this. If it is the oil pan, which it more than likely is, pull it and take it somewhere to have it welded professionally. It will be a cheap fix. A new pan or a used engine will cost a lot more and probably take a lot of time to track down for something that old. A quality weld will hold just as well. The pan doesn't have stress on it unless someone uses it to jack the bike up with or the bike goes down and something hits there. I've seen JB weld work fine for this for 15+ years but would much rather spend an extra 10-30 bucks to have a weld in place.

 

Thanks for the replies, I will be receiving the bike tomorrow evening or Sunday afternoon. I will most definitely be taking pictures of everything on it. I think the damage happened from someone laying it down, so the oil pan seems like a likely target. I don't know what part it is, he just said what I have in quotes in the original post. I hope it is the oil pan, because another good friend of mine has an arch welding set up in his workshop... Thanks for the input, I'll be back with photos!

 

Welcome to family! The VF500F is a great bike.

An oil pan and/or gasket should be pretty easy to fix. What happened to it? Those things don't just spontaneously break!

Besides the battery, I'd expect some sort of carb work. Unless the PO (you are lucky that you have access to him!) was very careful to completely drain the carbs before it was stored they will have built up a lot of varnish. While not impossible to fix, carbs are a difficult thing to work on.

Stick with it and I'm sure that you'll end up with a bike that you can truly enjoy!

 

ok these pictures suck, I plan on taking some better ones soon. These were taken at night in my garage under one lightbulb... it had just arrived, I didn't think to go get the actual camera!

So the first is a general shot of the oil leak, the second is a closer look. The dull-yellow stuff is the epoxy/bondo stuff. It worked for a while, but started to leak while it was sleeping for 5 years. The rest are glamor shots, just cause why not. I have the side panels, they're just taken off for now. There are several cracks around the fairing panels, I know the other owner who painted it, I should be able fix it up and hunt down some extra touch-up paint of the same color. Like said before, I AM very fortunate to know every previous owner! My pastor, his brother, and his uncle! The crack in the oil housing (is this the oil pan?) occurred when someone wrecked it; you can see the road rash scrapes on the circle part below the "honda" (that's my newbie technical term, circle part!) Thanks for your input!

 

If your lucky enough to have the side engine cover cracked and not the block one should be able to be found..... it looks like who ever layed the thing down ground the cover down so it may not be cracked....I would (if it were my bike) chip all that old epoxy off and get a good look at what you are dealing with. good luck

 

So what you need is not an oil pan but rather a clutch side case cover. Those are often damamged during accidents, which it looks like is what happened to yours. Keep an eye on eBay for that side case cover and you should be in business.

If you want to try and repair it again I say go for it. Just keep in mind that this is a temporary kind of fix and nont something that will hold up forever. As you have found out!

 

thanks for your advice! I think I'll be spending some time (and money) in ebay...

 

I see them all the time on ebay. No problems.

Good luck and nice bike. :thumbsup:

 

You might also try throwing out a WTB (wanted to buy) thread on this forum. This is a targeted audience and often times you will find what you need for cheaper than eBay.