I just bought a 1984 VF500F interceptor with less than 9000 miles on unfortunately it was rattle canned black. I bought the bike from Jacob P. I live 13.5 miles east of Beaverton. It was my choice to ride home in the light drizzle that started an hour before on November 11th when I went out to see it. I killed it once or twice before making it out of the parking lot at his place. I bought gas before getting on Hwy 217, I made it through the tunnel on Hwy 26 heading east with traffic, past all the crazy turns through Portland before finally making it to the Ross island bridge. Then I made it a whole 50 ft past the stop sign in the right lane, did I mention it turned into more of a misting at this point, and it died. I didn't kill it that time it died, on the bridge. As it died I rolled over to the guard rail and tried to restart it again and again until the battery drained. Then I got off sucked in my gut and started pushing the bike keeping as close to the guard rail as possible with the key turned and a blinker on while dusk approached. Off the bridge and with a little residual battery I looked over the obvious choices: fuel still turned to the on position, spark-plug wires still connected, I try to start it again and it wants to run but as soon as it runs maybe three seconds it dies and so does the battery shortly after. Well I'm thinking at the time my place is maybe a mile-ish away. I only know one person with a truck and that he is working so I start pushing thinking I can make it home in no time, I mean it is only mile right. After stopping a lot and pushing it past the train yard overpass on 26th and Holgate I gave up. I pushed it 2.1 miles in a little over and hour, the upcoming hill really made me stop. I called up my friend and he just so happened to be working on a house 15 blocks up the street and he just finished and was about load up his truck and go home. All I can say is I love this bike and do not in anyway regret buying it. I do however regret slightly riding it home. I say say slightly because the faces people make when I tell this story are too good. Jacob told me everything I needed to know when I picked it up and I still thought it would make it home. After I looked over everything the next day, while charging the battery. I removed the fuel pump, checked that fuel would come out of the fuel line when in both on and reserve positions, checked for spark, weak on the front but not anything that should stop it from running. So I tried to start it. It ran twice briefly and from the way it sounded and from checking every other option and a little experience I knew it was the carburetors. In all fifteen vehicles that I have owned since I was twelve, I turn twenty-four on the fourteenth, I decided two things I do not work on transmissions and I do not work on more than one carburetor at a time. I called up a local guy on CL, he came and picked the bike up on the twenty-ninth and after hearing my opinion on the matter he tore down the carbs and found one broken jet bouncing around and a broken pilot screw. He fixed those and with a new set of plug wires it runs great, sort of. It has adjustable needles and it was set on the top notch and it can only be set one notch lower otherwise the plastic retainer will not lock. Right now it does run better. Idling it sounds great and as long as I slowly pull on the throttle and leave idle I can run through the rpms fine, but if I goose it from idle it bogs, but once I track down some stock needles it should run great. What it looked like when I bought it. What it looks like right now. The fairing and tank I picked up the other day.
Welcome, sounds like a fun first day Keep us up to date on whether or not you get things totally sorted out!
