Hello! Old VFR mailing lister here - restoring my RC36 (95)

Hello, fellow VFR heads. Just recently began to undertake a long overdue project of trying to restore my 1995 VFR750, which was totalled in early 2009. During the research I've been doing to gather repair info and parts sources, I found myself being directed to this site a lot by Google, so I made the easy decision to go ahead and join.

I bought my VFR brand new in July of 1995 when I was still living in Indiana. I was 26 at the time, the VFR was my dream bike and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

My VFR was the unfortunate victim of a parking lot accident in front of my apartment in February of 2009. I was living in the Raleigh, NC area and while I was out of town, an older lady in a borrowed pickup truck backed into the right side of the bike. Of course, that sent it right over off of the kickstand and caused it to fall on its left side. Total loss. I knew it would be crazy expensive to repair (even if I could find all of the parts) but I couldn't bring my self to part with it.

So I've moved twice since then, now in Florida, and after finally cleaning out an excess amount of junk in the garage, I've made room to get the VFR out of the corner and some space to begin restoring it. Some smaller pieces like footpegs, a turn signal lens, and clutch lever all need to be replaced. As far as the plastic bodywork goes, it looks like much of it can be patched up and repaired. I have 3 panels that are beyond repair and I've been lucky enough to track down good used replacements. From reading, it sounds like these ABS plastic panels are not difficult at all to fix back up with the right materials and patience. The red pearlescent paint sounds like it may be a pretty tall challenge to do, though - guess I'll worry about that when it's time.

Last note - I used to be pretty active on the old VFR Mailing List for a number of years in the late 90's till maybe 2000, perhaps a year or two later. I've already recognized a couple of names in FAQ's and how-to's posted on VFR World, which is really amazing and neat to see.

Ride safe and have fun, all. Can't wait to get my VFR restored and back on the road again.

 

Welcome! I look forward to reading about your restoration.

Have you been riding other bikes since this incident?

 

Pics please!

 

Knight will have everything you want to know aboot your bike and exactly how to do everything you need to do to restore it to better than brand new. This includes how to ride, what to wear and fixing stuff that doesn't need fixing in the first place and nosing around in your private shit too..

The mailing list was great. My intro to the wonderful world of Honda regulator/rectifiers and some fixes that worked. Bought my 91 in July of 91..

Lots of patience is good for fixing plastics. Lots of tricks. Some adhesives are good or say they are good, some not. Maybe try your hand at plastic welding. Harbor Freight has the rigs as reasonable prices. Back in the olden daze, the rigs were specific and pricy. Not so today.

Worry about the paint when the time comes. You are looking at a total repaint. Same deal pretty much like the plastic fixes, a lot has changed in paintwork.

 

Thanks for the welcome fellas. I haven't bought or ridden anything else since, because life and work sort of got in the way. After moving twice in 6 years and changing jobs, I've finally gotten to the point where I have time to invest in getting this thing back on the road.

I did consider looking for something like a CBR1100XX or a later-gen VFR, but repairing my '95 was always my first option. I'm glad I'm getting around to it.



The right front and left rear took most of the impact. I've been lucky enough to source the replacement panels I need on eBay. I have a feeling I'll end up several fasteners short when re-assembly time comes, but I'll deal with that when it's time. Most of the other panels have some scratches or cracks in them that should be repairable.

Badbilly - funny that you mention the regulator/rectifier thing. I was browsing the 4th gen forum on here and noticed it's still a persistent problem. My OEM r/r burned out when my bike was a few years old - seems to me like I purchased an aftermarket one from Electrex, that was the popular choice amongst owners at the time. Evidently even these are still susceptible to failure, I may look at a couple of modification ideas that I've read on here to help insure it doesn't.

 

The R/R fix on the "lister" was stacking a muffin fan on the R/R and wiring it into the tail light circuit. The OEM units were crap. The cliché solution was the R/R was getting too hot, melting the potting and failing. Honda is never going to own up to any of that. They have had damn near 30 years to do so.. Ain't gonna happen.. The fan fix was by a guy from OZ who was an electrical engineer.

Some missing chunks off your fairing.. Fixable IMO, if you have them.. New aftermarket fastener kits are available. This from the net.. No personal experience on them.

Standard fastener stuff for the most part and lots of aftermarket hardware that is excellent unless you are going for a restoration.

Your bike..Your choices.. Go for it!

 

Whacking a cpu fan on the RR is a cheap and effective way of dropping the operating temp to about half of an uncooled RR.

 

Yeah, I think that's a good idea, I'm gonna plan on doing that. I guess it's just a matter of making sure the CPU fan is 12v compatible? Is a heat sink necessary or have folks successfully attached a fan w/o one?

 

Wow . way to stay with it , those 4th gens are the best of the bread IMO. so stay on task, time is not your enemy here in fact it could be your friend and lots of patience. Yes to Ebay and craigslist if you haven't all ready will be your first resource to finding what you need, if money ain't to tight most of the fasteners are still available at Honda. It just takes time, take a deep breath, you'll get it back before you know it.

 

The voltage should be on the chassis. Thx might have a better handle on using a heat sink.. Short of buying one of the new type R/Rs, even with a fan, heatsink or both on an OEM R/R I'd still have at least one of those 12 peso made in China replacements under the seat.

 

If you use a Pentium 4 fan they are 12v. Must use a proper fixing solution like cable ties.
The new style RR have a big heat sink attached and come with a aluminium plate to get better contact with the frame.



Pentium fan 2 for $10
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot2-4Pin-C...184459?hash=item51d80e91cb:g:V1kAAOSwyjBW63W~

 

Very Cool

 

I just salvaged a couple of good working fans from an old PC I scrapped out today and noticed they're both 12v. Perfect!