New to 2nd Gen... Have Questions!

Background: So I just recently purchased an '86 VFR700 with 13K miles on the clock. The last time the bike had been registered was 1995, so it's been sitting around for a while. The previous owner bought it with the intentions of restoring it and not letting it go... well, he got busy with family and other projects and decided to sell it for what he had put into it. He had the bike for about a year, and in that time he had: bought a new tank, found decals, purchased fiberglass tail and side fairings from VFRchuck, did the F2 wheel conversion, new brakes, new chain and rear sprocket, rebuilt Fox rear shock, rebuilt front forks, a little carb work, and got the engine running (a year ago).

Here's what it looked like the day I got it home:



You can see on the bench the color scheme that the bike had been painted: yellow, light blue, pink, and purple. I can't believe that someone would do that to a RWB Interceptor!

So when I found this on Craigslist, I knew this was one of those deals that you just can't pass up. It basically needed a paint job and a little elbow grease on some minor things. The bike is now painted, has decals, is running well, and has the first 100 miles on it in about 16 years.

Here's what it looks like now:





In direct sunlight, it looks pretty good. In flat light, the white looks terrible. I was really happy with the paint before the clear coat went on, then the clear turned everything a light caramel color... I was furious! :yell: Also learned the hard way that single part clear is not the thing to use anywhere remotely near gasoline. So I will be repainting the white before too long and using a two part clear over everything, then she'll be done.

Now to the questions:

1.) I know the 1st and 2nd gen bikes run warm, I accept that. This one is warm, but according to the temp gauge is still not as warm as the VF500, so that is nice. The rear of the gas tank however gets freaking HOT! I mean, I can feel that the tank is approaching uncomfortably warm through my jeans on the inside of my legs... never felt that on the 500. Is there some heat shielding that I am missing on the under side of the tank?

It had no heat shielding when I got it, so I bought a roll of heat shield tape and covered the underside of the tank with that and metal duct tape. I feel like it's not doing jack squat at the moment though. Should I be getting some thicker stuff? Would it help at all to get some fiberglass insulation and wrap the rear headers?

2.) Along the same lines of the tank getting super warm: I noticed that I have gas fumes coming out of the key slot on the tank lid. It's not from around the rubber ring that seals the lid to the tank, that still seals well. But when the tank gets warm or it sits in the sun, I can see and hear fumes hissing out the key slot. Is this normal?

3.) Fuel level sender... how / when does it work? When the gas drops below a certain level, does this cause the light to come on and stay on until you get gas above the sender again? I've been riding it around on a half tank and less and have yet to see the light come on. (It comes on for a second or so when you first turn the key, then goes out... presumably showing that the indicator light works.)

I think that's all the questions that I've got for now, any input would be a great help. Overall, I absolutely love this bike... this thing really rips compared to my 500, huge difference in power in each gear! :biggrin:

 

answer :

I have an 86 700... never noticed the tank getting hot... maybe a thicker layer of insulation will help.

2) you should have a vent tube that vent comes out of the bottom of the tank. (it starts up in the gas cap area).. sounds like its plugged up.

3) the fuel light is the biggest flaw on my bike.. Mine comes on around 170 milesit starts dim then starts really glowing as the tank gets close to empty... you should have the reserve left when the light comes on fully....

nice fix up she is looking good...

 

Yours looks nice. My tank stays cool, it has the factory heat shield, but allso I modded the stock exhaust to flow and sound better and I have a switch for the fan, I never let the gauge get over half. The stock fan sensor doesn't turn the fan on till 3/4 on the gauge, I'm not waiting that long, I tried another sensor, it didn't work right so a $4 switch will do till I find the sensor I prefer. That's a bummer about the clear, I ran into that on a RC Plane so before I odered my paint from TCP Global I called and confirmed no yellowing, their clear worked as good as PPG.

 

1) The VF500 runs much hotter than the 2nd gen. My 2nd gen temp guage would always sit around the lower 1/8th-1/4 area. My tank never got that hot so check for missing heat shield foil under the tank. It's not thin as tape. Bit thicker.

2) As others have mentioned...check the vent tube. It should run down the right side of the bike (when sitting on it) and end up with all the other tubes down there. make sure there is a tube there and that it's clear.

**solving problem 2 may help solve the hot gas tank issue**

3) My fuel light would come on when I was just about to hit reserve. It would slowly light up, taking it's time going from dim to very bright. If you have driven to the point where you have had to switch to reserve and that light has not come on then something may be up.

On another note, good job saving the bike, and getting it back to it's beautiful RWB color. Kudos.

 

oh shit ...hey CaptB... I got to packing in a hurry and I packed those light harnesses away....do you still need them? If you can wait a bit longer that would be cool.

 

As noted above^^^^^ fuel tank has a thick reflective foil and foam heat shield attached to bottom.....or it SHOULD .

Low fuel warning light can be relied upon, but how many miles b4 empty ???? Owner's and service manuals have some numbers, but you won't know exactly unless you pack a bottle of fuel in your backpack and record the distance between first light and dry.

Your VF500 has now been rendered superfluous and obsolete !!

 

Hi, no hurry it's too hot to ride here, I'm just doing some mods, I can still use them if you remember when you have a chance.

 

Sounds like thicker insulation is definitely needed. Maybe the insulation tape will form a nice first layer, but I'll try something thicker, and then maybe more tape on top of it.

I do have a vent tube coming out of the bottom of the tank, and it is connected to a tube that runs down to the right side of the tank. I have not checked to see if either of them are clogged. However, my tank is from an '87 if I am not mistaken (navy blue tank)... are there any differences in the tank designs? There is a a hole in the tank next to the filler lid, and I assumed that emptied through the tank to the drain vent on the bottom. Is it connected to the internals of the tank in anyway to relieve pressure from the inside of the tank itself?

I have yet to see the fuel light kick on, so maybe I'll run it for a while before I put anymore gas in and hope that it works.

Thanks, I'm proud of she's looking so far!

 

There was already a switch and indicator light built in to the front right black plastic piece that covers the wires and such. I believe it at one time was run to a neon lighted license plate holder. I figured instead of the leaving holes in the plastic, those pieces would be put to good use installing a fan switch. I had already done this mod on the 500 a while ago and found how helpful it was, so it was a no-brainer to do it here too.

I don't have a compressor or air gun and the friends that do have them are quite a drive away, so I did everything with aerosol cans. I was told by the paint shop that this particular clear (SEM Promax) was one of the best clears I'd find in an aerosol can. I took the guy's word and now I get to redo it. I did a little searching online and found that SprayMax makes a two part clear in a can... a second internal tank that gets punctured and mixes everything together. Then you have 12 hours to spray everything before it hardens and the can is toast. I've seen good reviews of it for RC planes, helicopters, and motorcycles, so this seems the best way to go.

 

Agreed, I've already noticed the 500 is much warmer than the 700. The 500 is typically between half and 2/3 on the temp gauge. The 700 is anywhere from 1/4 to 2/3, but as soon as it hits 2/3, the fan kicks on and it drops almost immediately back to half (this all being while sitting still). Highway, she stays around 1/4 to 1/3. Sounds like more heat shielding is definitely in order.

Will check the vent tube... maybe some compressed air will clear it out for me.

As for saving it, thank you! The paint scheme is one of the first draws to these bikes, and then once you get one, you realize how awesome they are. I love the 80's look and that there's really not much else out there with this look. It seemed like a deal to me for $1,800 with all the previous work already done. So far I have about $400 in the paint, and will be looking at another $150 before it's done properly, but I think it is definitely worth it. I don't plan on letting go of this bike.

 

Even so, the 500 was my first bike and it served that purpose beautifully well. I learned to ride, learned how to work on bikes (including engine work), and had a blast along the way... I'm an engineer, so it was more fun than work! But, the time has come for the 500 to go... it's been for sale for a while and I just recently had a guy come take a look at it. Hopefully I will be hearing back from him this week with good news.

It's interesting seeing the changes between the 1st and 2nd gen bike having both sitting in the garage and done work on both. The FSM outlines the differences between the two and it seems like they got it right with this round of bikes.

 

PS Thanks to everyone for the help and kind words! I've spent a plethora of time on here searching when things didn't quite go right. It's nice to have other people that appreciate the work that goes into these bikes!

 

I know exactly how you feel as I went through the same. VF500 as my first bike and then a 1986 VFR750 as my 2nd.





The difference between the VF and the VFR is quite amazing. Night and day really. Not even just the motor but the seating position, and the frame and the guages.

The differnece between the Rc24 and the RC36 is also quite amazing.

 

Yeah Slow, how is that heavy pig treating you these days? :wink:

 

LOL...great! No problems and almost 50mpg :wink:

It's so good on gas I won't call it a "pig"...maybe a Rhino...or a Hippo. :tongue:

 

Yeah, it's amazing how different the two are. I was riding the 700 around for a while and hopped on the 500 the other night... felt like I was on a clown bike, that big of a difference! The frame is much nicer looking and the design of the bike makes it much easier to work on the engine with it in the frame. Most all of the stuff I didn't care for with the 500 (like how much of a pain it was to get to the carb adjuster screws or get to the cam chain tensioners) was either fixed or eliminated with the 700.

What are the big differences to the RC36? It's still carbed, isn't it?

 

Yes, the carbed RC36 represents the high-water mark for VFR interceptors for performance, weight, reliability, cost, and ease of maintenance. IMO---LOL !

How does it compare with your '86/'87 700 ?? About the same difference between the VF500 and a VFR: a huge difference in sophistication and all-around performance.

 

Agree'd.

 

Meh, you can keep your extra 50 lbs. and I'll stay lean and mean. :biggrin:

 

you forgot to deduct for style points..sorry but the 86 RWB blows the RC36 out of the water..in other words its boring. IMO