Jim's $400.00 1986 VF500F

Going to pick up some of that Trim and Bumper paint, thanks for sharing what you used.

 

Go with several light coats. This stuff runs really easily for some reason.

 

Finally after several fiddly problems I have it (sort of) ready to ride.....



I went around the block a few times and it is still smoking a bit. Hopefully this will clear up. It does not smoke at all until the temperature gauge moves to the normal position. It's almost like it is burning something out of the exhaust system.

Also.....I have heard mention that these 500's run HOT. Mine is no exception. does anyone have a suggestion for a good scale remover for the engine block water jacket? I tried to remove as much as I could with a wire brush but there is still some in there. I think this engine needs all the cooling it can get.


2.8 miles LOL! It does go through the gears OK!

 

Ive used CLR with good results to clean water jackets and radiators. Its available at all hardware stores here in Canada

https://www.amazon.ca/Jelmar-Cl-12-793-gram-828-aspirateur/dp/B00MX65N2Y/ref=sr_1_1?crid=U6X8IWNZM9ZJ&keywords=clr+calcium,+lime+&+rust+remover&qid=1588694094&sprefix=CLR,aps,933&sr=8-1


you may also wish to run "Engine Ice" instead of conventional coolant. I run it in my RC51's which run VERY HOT

 

I think it is burning something out of the exhaust collector.

 

Thanks for the info, I will see if it is available in the states. That CLR does look familiar. Engine ICE is anew one to me. I will take a look.

 

Hope you are right! P.O. must have dumped raw ATF into it for some reason.

 

I use water wetter ..... works pretty good.

 

They do run hot. Designed that way (intentional or not, I do not know). I spent a lot of time and effort researching this and did a fair bit of datalogging too on rides. I used MoCool in my cooling system which is just a water wetter equivalent. These border on being snake oil, but they do allow you run with more water and no glycol so the heat transfer out of the engine is better. However you still have to shed the heat from somewhere and this is where the radiator and fan comes in. Make sure they are in good condition. Also don't forget the water pump is hard connected to the crank speed so you will flow more water at high rpm. Its quite a complex system when you think about it. If you haven't done any long rides then don't be misguided by idling or poodling up and down a street. Until you have done a proper ride you just cannot tell if the coling system is working well or not. If your rad is clean and the water pump moving fluid and your fan is working then you are probably OK.

When I datalogged, the coolant temp would be about 80-90degC when moving at a decent pace after the engine was fully hot. If I then stopped at the lights, the temps would rise very quickly, almost a spike, and the fan would come on. I concluded this was normal.

 

Thank you, this is very good information. As you said I am only running up and down the street and not getting above 30 MPH at the moment. Temps Seem to be OK as long as I am moving. Also as you said the temp does spike as soon as I stop. As soon as I get insurance I will take a longer faster r ide.

 

The previous owner just slapped the wiring harness together under the fairing. I could see the disarray from the cockpit and it was driving me crazy. The Helms manual has some pretty layouts of how the wiring loom should be routed. BUT, it is not as easy as it looks to straighten out. Spent several hours solving the "Rubiks Cube" puzzle and my brain is almost fried. I ended up just removing all the sub-harnesses from the fairing frame and starting over. About 1/2 way there. Will hit it again tomorrow.

 

honda factory service manuals are great at showing proper routing of wires, hoses, cables in clear line drawings, something clymer or haynes don't cover.

 

check on CMSL for diagrams

 

AHHHHHHHHHH Much better.....!

 

Just tonight, I was removing the front subframe and un-doing all the wiring. Nice to see someone else working in the same area! (And your results look good!).

 

NEED HELP...everything seems to be going ok, except when I come to a stop the idle will not go down to "normal" . It is very erratic. I have synchronized the carbs (1" Hg difference between all cylinders) and adjusted the idle screws to about 3 turns out. Sometimes it drops back to about 1300 RPM but most times it stays at about 2500 when I stop. I tightened the crap out of the inlet boots (they are new BTW) so I don't think I have a vacuum leak there. Any ideas?

 

assuming no air leaks (????) maybe a too high fuel level in carbs ? leaky float needle ?

 

Thanks, I will look into that, I did replace the float valves but not the seats. The seats were pretty pricey and I did not know if this bike was going to be a good investment or not at the time. I checked the float height several times but it is not the easiest to get right. May have screwed that up also.

 

^^^ seats are very seldom faulty, after all, brass wearing against rubber doesn't suffer much.

manifold boots may have small cracks you can't see, try spraying stuff to check.

 

Hanging idle is indicative of a lean condition. This can be caused by carb boot leaks, jets and passages that aren't completely clean, air leakage past an adjustment screw, bad o-ring, a bad vacuum hose, vacuum hose routing if de-smogged, pod air filters on CV carbs, even a high flow exhaust can do it.