Goodbye 1st Gen...hello 2nd Gen

Well the bike itself needs some work. It's been used very little in the past 25 years. The used Vehicle package said it was first sold in 1988 so I assume it was a showroom bike for 2 of it's years

The bike has obviously been dropped. The front fairing stay is a little bent.
The seat has been rehoplstered....maybe why the rear solo cowl fits funny?

I have already put well over 2,000kms on it. It runs well. It pulls hard. Brakes feel great (better than the 500)
I changed the Fuel Filter and the Spark plugs. Bike runs a bit better.
Suspension feels very firm at times, though I would like a bit more ride height in the rear.
The rear shock has enough life left in it that if I crank up the preload it'll shake my kidney out of my ear.

I was cruising around the other day with my friend who owns my old VF500.
I was envious of his bikes cosmetic perfection. I know I'll get this bike there some day, but it's a slow process.

Things I have done:
-Plugs
-Fuel Filter
-Rear Tire
-HID Headlight
-LED Instrument Bulbs
-Battery
-Clutch Lever

Things I am going to do:
-Front Tire
-Carb Overhaul
-Valve Check/Adjustment
-Fresh Pads
-Braided Lines
-Fork Rebuild w/Progressive springs
-Figure out something for these signals (drooping)
-Figure out something for the rear Fender (Faded/ugly)
-Figure out something for these Mirrors (Cracked)


-Things I am thinking about doing:
-CBR600F Wheel Swap or Powdercoat stock wheels
-Exhaust
-Rear Shock rebuild/mod?
-Switching to Full Synthetic oil (perhaps)

Don't really know what else....I'm just enjoying it for now. Great bike.

 

Congrats on the new addition! From the pics she looks about equal in condition as mine.

I too have a few cracks here and there, some had been previously plastiwelded and one on the left behind the turn signal was covered with a red tape of some sort - not sure what kind of tape they used, but it seems to be holding up and at a distance you can't even tell it's there.

Water temp on mine usually runs 1/3 to just below 1/2 (and takes it's time getting there) and will only go above halfway if I am in stop and go driving or slow heavy traffic during the daytime when it's over 100 degrees, and even then it never gets to the 3/4 mark. The heat coming from the side vents does tend to melt the fat in the calves and thighs, but based on the operating temps I've seen on her, the design seems to work so I'll deal with it. I have run with the lowers off and didn't notice any difference in water temp, but I could def feel more heat from the engine at lower speeds. Maybe there is more of a difference when it's NOT 110 in the shade?

 

An update:

Bike has been running great with a few niggly things here and there.

I took it to the local VF/VFR guru for a Carb Overhaul and Valve Inspection.

Carbs were good with just a bit of Varnish in the bowls. Intake Valves had a tad too much clearance and the Exhaust had a tadd too little clearance. They were adjusted to spec and everything else checked ok.

It has been very hot up here and the old girl didn't seem to appreciate that. As I brought her home she decided to puke coolant out of the Rad cap and leak oil out of the Stator Cover.

She sure ain't perfect but I'm still enjoying the hell outta her. Hopefully I'll get her all fixed up for the weekend.

 

I'm sure yours is much nicer.


Az...I read an old thread of yours a while back that you seemed to have an increase in Noise and Vibration when letting the clutch out in Neutral....was it definitely the carbs being out of synch?

 

rad cap is back ordered and the stator cover that was on it's way "overnight" from the states took to long and I was left without it for the weekend.

I used Hondabond in lieu of the Stator Gasket....while I was down there I noticed on of the carbs leaking gas. Float is most likely stuck open and the guy who rebuilt my carbs is on his way over to come fix it.

While I was waiting I decided to try and clear the sight-glasses on the Clutch and brake Masters. I used some plastic polish and it looks like it's somehow made the glass leak :sad:



I have a question:

Are these the stock header pipes?




I ask because:
a. They look so pretty
b. There's a cut out for it on one of the lower fairings.

 

Well I got my answer about the exhaust. Yes it's stock. Very nice quality for OE.

Just gotta find me some cheap Master Cylinders.

 

FWIW the radiator needs to be unbolted and moved and makes accessing the front spark plugs easier.

 

my piped and jetted 2nd gen 750 consistantly delivers 42-45mpg no matter how i ride it. yours definetly should be delivering the same if not more mpg.

 

Yes. The 2 lower rad bolts....the the rad can swing partially out of the way. :smile:

Maybe something is up with the carbs?

 

If I didn't laugh at it I'd probably cry.

 

Hey Slow, what's the 411 on the cams? I may have missed a previous posting.

How much wear are you seeing?

Your '86 has about 28k miles on the clock right? This should be a spring chicken.

 

I missed something too. Fill us in.

 

Uh yeah, you should have practically zero cam wear unless a PO adjusted the valves wrong or didn't do it at all.

 

Yea, you guys didn't miss anything. Squirrel will probably post something soon regarding Cam wear and valve noise but I thought I'd start with a viral comic with some MS Paint edits to better fit my dilema.

Yes one of the Cams has wear. How bad....I dunnoh. But does it really matter? The Cam is worn (and Squirrel said he saw some scuffing elsewhere) so I'm really starting to look at this bike sitting in my driveway with a bit of cock-eyed distaste.

Bike had less than 25k miles on it when I purchased it....and I sure as hell didn't cause the Cam wear.

Between the Cam wear, the funny shifting issues and all the other stuff I was supposed to do to get the bike sorted....this thing has turned out to be a huge mistake.

Too bad....cause Squirrel and Rustedroot say that the bike feels great.

 

I got spare cams growing on trees if you need one or anything else, transmissions included.

 

Man, button that bitch up and run it! Start running full synthetic (castrol 5w 40) and forget about it. This may help with the tranny as well. It's possible you may have a partially bent shift fork or something but just make sure all your shifts a strong and deliberate. Also check to see if the little punch mark on the shift shaft are lined up with the shifter itself. I made the mistake of trying to shorten the throw by adjusting it with poor results.

 

Very odd that a Second Gen with only 25k on the clock would have this level of cam wear.

Any thoughts as to what to cause would be?

 

I am all in on a poor valve adjustment. Gen 2 cam failure is very rare.