New To Me VF1000R's

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by straycat, Jun 8, 2018.

  1. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Naa, not more $ than God, I just buy & sell well ( plus a bit of luck). I had a classic snowmobile collection that I acquired & restored over time (15 yrs), when I sold all that, it did quite well (along with the good Canadian & US dollar exchange at the time - most of it sold into the US) and allowed me to fund this Bike collecting hobby.
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2018
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  2. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Here's the powder-coated frame ready to go....
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  3. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Which one? Looks good in pics.
     
  4. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Argento Silver ...the more gray one
     
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  5. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    What I thought, but pics can be weird sometimes. It looks good.
     
  6. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Thanks.

    the picture is pretty accurate for colour.

    ill be getting into it again soon, been way too hot here lately to work
     
  7. straycat

    straycat Member

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    what an ordeal to get this out. Weighs ~200lbs. No way in hell that the Japanese installed these engines into a rolling frame. They must have attached an empty frame around the engine, its the only logical explanation. Thats what im going to do for the resto. See if I can maneuver an empty frame around the 200lb lump. Took my son and I along with 2 car jacks to jiggle this thing out and basically had to angled at 30-40 degrees to clear it. We then lifted it on to this ATV/Bike jack.

    Note the over enthusiastic use of black spray paint on the engine and the bike frame etc. Even the handlebar switchgear got painted. The engine will be returned to a more standard finish.

    hoping to get some time on it this week. next up:

    Set Valve Clearances
    Engine Refinish
    Steering Stem/headstock races installed into the frame
    Bearings installed on the Triple clamp
    Set the newly powder-coated Frame around the engine
    Celebrate a milestone


    image2.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2018
  8. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Engine cleaned up ( I stripped off all the black rattle can lacquer that covered every square inch of this engine) and re painted it. Steering bearings into new frame and Triple clamps installed


    P1100357.jpg P1100358.jpg P1100359.jpg
     
  9. GreginDenver

    GreginDenver New Member

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    Looking at these pics I can't help wondering the VF1000 might be the record holder (in the motorcycle world) for the longest single coolant hose ever.

    Honda plumbing is always a bit weird, isn't it?
     
  10. straycat

    straycat Member

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    yes, you may be right. I'd heard that the cooling on these beasts isn't the best and once you Start tearing one down its easy to see why. 2 small rads, one of them obstructed by the headlight bucket. the prior owner of my good vf1000r had nick-named it "the furnace"
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2018
  11. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Frame is ready to go back on the engine.

    The other job this week if I can get to it, is to strip the forks and paint the lower fork tubes, and rebuild them with new seals and fork oil etc.

    After that I have to pick out the best of the spare swing-arms (4 of them) and clean on up an re install it. Im hoping im only a couple of weeks away from a rolling chassis.

    One thing I have to be mindful of - if I install the frame around the engine as my next step, do I risk not being able to install other parts of the bike as a result. ie all the strip down steps on all 3 bikes so far have been engine removal as step 1 (along with what ever it takes to get the engine out, rad etc), but all the other stuff (fenders, electrics, hoses, etc ) all came off at the end. I always do my rebuild in the reverse order to strip down....so its a risk, ill have to look carefully to see if there are any items that I need to install before the engine goes into a bare frame, don't want to be back tracking.
     
  12. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Just make sure you have the 2 rear down pipes installed before rolling chassis status. You can leave them somewhat loose for installation of the collector and still get to the nuts for final tightening with the right extensions and wrenches.

    And if you haven't already, now is the perfect time to check valve clearances.

    All the rest is accessible.
     
  13. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Yep, done and done. Valve clearances are done and the rear header pipes are on ! thanks !
     
  14. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Oh... don't forget the heat shield on the pipes.
     
  15. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Yes, thanks, the set I put on still had the heat shield attached. Appreciate the reminder though its easy to miss the small things that are hard to deal with later if you forget.

    I think ill strip a set of forks today, I bought the colour matched "Fighting Red" paint yesterday and had the Auto Paint shop put it in an Aerosol rattle can for me, got clear coat too.
     
  16. straycat

    straycat Member

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    OK, Question 1 -- forks are apart but in doing so I have f'd up a wee bit and a small bushing fell out of the lower tube and I cant tell which way round on the damper rod it goes, any one know. pic 1 or pic 2 ?

    P1100360.jpg (my guess is pic 1) P1100361.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2018
  17. straycat

    straycat Member

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    OK, second question. the right fork lower slide sleeve has a Allen set screw in it. It was clamping down on the end of the damper rod. Manual says nothing about this set screw (pic 1). The screw was clamping on the chamfered edge of the damper rod, but there is also a machined channel in the end. Question is , was it clamping correctly on the damper rod chamfered end (pic 2) or should it be in the channel (pic 3)

    P1100362.jpg P1100364.jpg P1100365.jpg
     
  18. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Pic 1.

    Please zoom out a little and show an "exploded view" of your components for each leg. Something seems weird.
     
  19. straycat

    straycat Member

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    right leg (pictured above ) has a different damper rod end than the left leg, left leg has a spring/washer assembly on the end. also has a different bushing on the bottom.

    is the one damper rod incorrect ?

    im going to take 2 more sets of forks apart I guess. (I have 3 sets), see what I find.

    I cant get fork set #2 apart yet as the circlips are seized in the lower tubes. I got the cap off and spring out. (much longer and thicker spring with a shorter plastic spacer, the bike they came off was raced)

    third set of forks is still on the black bike.



    P1100366.jpg P1100367.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2018
  20. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    OK. looks like the oil lock piece for the damping rod with the spring and washers is still in the bottom of the slider?

    And that notch in the other fork damper shouldn't be visible when it slid down in the aluminum oil lock piece before installing the bottom bolt. The oil lock piece doesn't have any slots or holes in it, does it?

    And perhaps somebody put too long a drain plug in that fork? To make it seem like it was a set screw.
     
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