No one will work on my bike?

Hey,

I have a low mileage (9900) '84 700 interceptor. The bike sat for 3 years before I picked it up. Although it starts and runs, it is really down on power (feels like about 40 hp). I changed plugs and fuel filter, and I think the carbs could use a good cleaning out and going over. I called the oldest Honda cycleshop in ohio and they won't work on anything over 10 years old. The service guy made it seem like my model was the biggest pain in the ass to service. The second place (an independent shop) said they usually draw the line at 1990, but would work on my bike off season because it is too big of a pain to do a carb cleaning during peak buisness. Do you guys run into the sameBS or did I just get unlucky with the first two places I called?

 

I don't know about other parts of the US, but most shops out here seem to draw the line at about 1985.

Carbs aren't all that tough to do. Get yourself a good manual and plan to spend a weekend rebuilding them. Do a search of this forum; someone just did the carbs on their mid80s VFR.

 

I had the same problem with my 85 VF500F, big macho dealer wouldn't even do a tire change on my bike (even though I had BOUGHT the tires from them....); I ended up having to take my bike to a smaller shop, they did good work.

 

hi, if it can be of any interest to you, the same happens here in Europe. Official Service has a particular attitude when you arrive with a motorcycle older than 10 years (as if you were a guy coming from Mars....). That's the reason why I do the maintenace by myself. As an alternative solution, It is important to find a "small" but good skilled repair shop where they are glad to repair your "good old iron". Usually, they have a lot of old bikes in front of the shop....
Yes, it is hard to have an old bike, but passion is passion...
Lamps to you !
Carmine.

 

Where in Cleveland are you? I know Medina Motorsports will work on it-he works on anything (including a tractor they're apparently restoring right now), does excellent work, but is not cheap.

I second getting a shop manual and having at it yourself, unless you tend to end up with extra parts after oil changes :smile: .

 

That sucks.
Find a small shop.

 

A friend of mine with a 1980 Suzuki bike also found some reluctance, but eventually found a shop, New Milford Cycles in Brookfield CT. He said the main concern of dealers with old bikes seems to be bolts snapping - which can lead to more time and expense than what it's worth.

 

I feel your pain...but from the other end of repair. I'm a 25 year veteran at the same shop. We draw the line at 20 years, but won't turn away a reasonable repair on an older bike. I am familiar with early 80's Honda's and would actually rather work on them than the new ones...in many cases. I know it sucks in general...but there are good reasons a shop would turn down older bikes, especially in peak season.

Rev posts that V4 carbs aren't that hard to do...I don't agree. Not to mention the numerous carb banks butchered by amateurs that I've seen, even new techs out of school I've trained in over the years seem to have a hard time...they gotta come off twice nearly everytime. One guy even broke a carb...and he wasn't too bad a mechanic. From what I've seen, V4 carbs are one of the tougher tasks. If the problem is just a clogged slow jet, maybe no big deal...but there's a lot more that can go wrong. I see a whole assortment of issues on 25 year old carbs that were virtually unheard of when the carbs were 10 years old.

 

I can see why shops don't touch them. I just did a cleaning on my 84 VF1000F and a couple of plastic fuel tubes broke when I took the carb assembly out. It took 3 weeks to get replacements from Honda, luckily they were still available.

Even being careful, old brittle plastic parts can break when working on these old bikes. My advice is to do it yourself or find a friend who is good at working on vehicle. Carbs are EASY to work on as far as bike repairs.

 

I second that.
This year, my bike sat for too long and the carbs had to be cleaned.
I did not have the cohones to do it so I took it to Myers Cycle in Kensington, MD. They rock BTW.
The guys had a hard time with my bike and ended up taking much longer than the estimate. They did not charge me for the extra time, but they did say those V4 carbs were a B***ch to work on.

 

Yeah, once you look at V4 carbs compared to inline-4 carbs (CBRs), you see the difference. Inline carbs are so much easier because they all connect side by side. V4 carbs are all spaced apart so there is funky shaped linkage connecting them all together..

 

i agree for finding a manual and taking to the shop, i did both. not only did i screw around every night for doing it myself but i ended up taking it to the shop in my hometown. hes an old grouch who can fix pert near anything.

taking them out and cleaning isnt a problem but the getting back together right and working somewhat correctly is the pain in the @$$. make sure you get the manual first, before you take em out that is where i made my costly mistake.

 

Someone should design an intake manifold which would put a Holley 4 Barrell carb on a 1st gen.:vtr2:

 

Wonder how that would work?

A while back I read through a "how to" on V4 carbs on Jamie Daugherty's website. It was detailed, and had some nice tips on removal and refitting.

In addition to all the little "funky" things that can go wrong with carbs, It seems to "throw" people that main jetting, springs, and needles are different front to back, particularily on older ones. To make matters worse, the literature isn't always that clear on what goes where. Then of course, some ham handed individual has nearly always had them off sometime in the distant past...who knows what's been done...jets drilled...weird jet kits installed that didn't work right to begin with.

I guess what one person finds easy, another may not. Anyway...I've been tempted to on occasion to go into repair on my own and specialize in older V-4's and Wings. There's just at "ton" of 'em around and people want them fixed...often are willing to pay...but just don't have anywhere to take them.

 

I can help you. I live on the west side. Have all the tools and knowledge of the VF750F bikes and more. Carbs are no problem to rebuild. I've had my bike since 84 and it's a one of a kind paint. Looks factory. I do all my own building and rebuilding for other Honda's for friend. Contact me by e-mail first gpearson66@oh.rr.com and then we'll talk by phone. There's nothing I can't do for the VF750F/CB750F bikes.

george

 

I hate this crap. If it says HONDA on the freaking door, anyone should be able to take any HONDA to get service. Any HONDA dealer that will not work on a HONDA should have their franchise revoked. Too bad that will never happen. Heaven forbid someone in the corporate world actually care about customer service.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

when old man Honda died, everything changed, and not for the better

 

At least you don't live in SoCal. Just as many dirty (if not more) mechanics as there are good ones. $h!t, they all want to work on your bike. Then they come back at you like, "its not worth fixing." Low ball you and two weeks later you see your bike sitting on their lot for 3-4x what you sold it for. Thank goodness its never happened to me. Heard about it way too many times though. Even quit working at shop when I was in high school for similar, shamless, lowdown, dirty, antics.

 

Well, my $.02. I'm re-building my '84 carbs as we write :^). The shop manual is an excellent investment before starting. I am purposely not separating the carbs, just popping the tops, pulling the float bowl covers, and working from there. Doing one carb at a time. The rebuild kits I bought have some basics; float needle/seat, idle mix pilot screw, some o-rings. If you need a slide, I did due to tear in diaphragm, that's a separate cost item.

I'm confident that my bike will run again w/o a visit to the local shop, which is good b/c my local shop also won't work on bikes over 10 yrs old. But I'll go out of my way to avoid taking my baby to a shop ;^).

 

damn, if that's your picture, you're in the wrong buisiness. just kidding, golden rule of carb work, don't ever turn the carbs upside down, maybe too late. there is usually alot of crud in the bottom of the bowls and you don't want to deposit it all inside the body of the carbs. after you remove the float bowls it's ok but you need to get rid of the crud first. I just did my 86 vf500f carbs and it was pretty easy. didn't even ruin one of the boots. I don't know why some people say it's hard, it's pretty basic. just don't ever remove the carbs from the air box hsing as that willl upset all the adjustments and it will be a pain in the ass to re sync them. there are fuel lines/o rings that connect carb to carb, if it's not leaking, don't mess with them.