Restoring an '84 VF500F Interceptor with a little of my own influence

Well, story so far goes as thus:

My girlfriend's dad has found himself in a bit of a predicament financially, and ended up getting out of his house, and migrating to a condo. Somewhat buried in the mess that was the garage (if I had a picture of it, you'd probably shit bricks...) was an '84 VF500F that he had some intention of restoring at some point, but kinda fell by the wayside, as in sat outside for about 9 of the 16 years he's had the bike, with the tank and airbox off of the bike.... needless to say the engine is a mess, and the rest leaves a lot to be desired.

This is my first bike, and although I'm not a complete idiot by any means, I know full well that getting this bike back up and running will be no small task, but as far as starter bikes go, the price was certainly right.

That being said, I have obtained the Clymer manual for the bike, and have it pretty much stripped down to bare frame. I have almost completely disassembled the bike in more or less organized chaos, just to see what I have to do, and don't have to do, and in splitting the crank case I'm glad I did, as it was a disaster area. There was sludge in quantities that might have embarrassed BP. The engine was completely siezed, one of the pistons had completely mushroomed at the base of its cylinder, and the rod was busted, a 1" chunk of which I found in the transmission, which miraculously didn't appear to suffer any damage at all as a result.

The bike came with a ton of spare parts, mostly engine, and it has been laid down more than once, I'm guessing. The rear brake lever was completely missing, as well as some turn signals, etc. The fairings are chewed up to varying degrees, and there were a few minor scratches on the frame, but as far as I can tell, the frame itself was not actually damaged.

On the plus side, the seat is in pretty good condition, with a bit of a scuff on either side on the lower point, but more or less in excellent shape (seat must not have been on the bike whilst outdoors.)

Anywho, will get some pics of the beast up soon, as well as more in-depth as to my work so far.

Mental note to anyone trying to remove the flywheel from an '84 VF500F... The 6-in-1 puller (about $40) that pretty much any Honda dealership will try to sell you will not work.... you need a 20MM 1.5 Pitch rotor/flywheel puller. I spent about 3 weeks and over $60 just trying to find what is essentially an oversized bolt... I wouldn't wish that headache on anyone.

I've also been working on some slight, but I think, effective changes to some of the bodywork on the bike, changing the shape of some of the fairings, cleaning up the weld spatter that came off the factory line, and in general trying to clean things up.

Pics of the project so far to come very soon, and if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to pretty much anything. I know from reading a lot of the build forums here that Jamie Daugherty is the guy to talk to about a lot of what I have in mind, but at the moment, budget is pretty much nonexistent, so I'm working with what I have.

Anywho, thanks for taking the time to read this mess, and I hope to have something of more interest up soon.

Take care, ride safe, and have a blast

 

Things I have accomplished today: cleaned up and sanded down the lower front cowl, and primed it for paint, wetsanded down to 600 grit after sanding out as many scratches as I could without damaging the integrity of the cowl. All in all it looks pretty good. Took the rear fairing (terminology is of some question here) but essentially the backend, and started making some modifications to that. I had a can of bondo, a bunch of screws, a table saw with a blade that is essentially a gigantic disc sander, and what I think is a pretty sweet idea. You'll have to judge that on an individual basis, but all I can say is that I've taken the stock rear and hopefully cleaned it up and somewhat modernized it in a fashion that most will like . Frame has already been sprayed with rust-converting primer after sanding down the nicks that were pretty much all over. This bike at this point isn't even a true rolling chassis, in that the rear suspension has been removed, so you have to pick up the rear end to move it around. If I had more money than brains, life would be grand at this point.

 

I'm also interested in buying a working bike of pretty much any sort... My gf's ex husband has proved his uselessness in more or less legendary fashion, and is now staring down as many as 65 years in prison for his stupidity, so money is more of an issue than ever, and I'm an electrician that has been laid off for 11 of the last 12 months, and things aren't really looking up, so seriously considering going back to school for the 4th time. Anywho, anyone in the MN area with a bike they wanna get rid of that runs well, lemme know

 

This thread scares me. You have one serious project on your hands.

 

It's a hairball, for sure.

 

Congratz on the find and good luck on the project....and welcome to the board and the insane asylum us 1st gen owners tend to be.

If I can offer some advice....take a look at the engine before you start messing with the body work. These bikes tend to have issues with degrading cams, dropping valves and other top end issues. If the bike has a load of engine spare parts than I assume there is something wrong with the motor.

Though it sounds like you've already found a lot wrong with the motor. :frown:

Good luck!

 

If I recall, the rear axle is a 20 x 1.5mm and can be used as a flywheel tool. Guess you didn't look around that hard on the bike itself for a large bolt, eh?

 

Nice write-up, and I commend you on your vision, but......

 

If this is true you just saved me $20. Thanks!

 

I use other "non approved" methods to remove the flywheel, but now that I know about the axle trick, I might have to use that now!

 

I checked the diameter of the axle when I changed tires yesterday - 16mm. Sorry.

 

I did try the rear axle (after seeing that suggestion in another thread, no go, as it is indeed only 16mm) . I'd have been all for that though! Would have saved me a lot of time and gas money.

 

Sure would like to see a photo.

 

Ok, here ya go Only pics I have of it at the moment, but they're all in this album. I haven't begun reassembly of the engine and all that good stuff yet, but will get pics of that when I do

 

Yes, the kickstand in the grass is a shopjob... the 12"x12" square of plywood just wasn't pretty enough to post for a full shot.

 

Wow....nice windscreen.

What's the brand/company?

 

It's made by Maier Manufacturing, it was among the spare parts that came with the bike, still in the bag it came in... I have no idea if they still make them, or what, but I think it looks pretty slick... The stock windscreen was is pretty chewed up, and the Honda logo on it looks like it was painted on by a 5 year-old. ... Much happier with this one

http://www.maier-mfg.com/ <I looked, though I couldn't find the same windscreen

 

Thanks for the photo. Look'n good. Do not worry about people throwing cold water.
Just use your time and keep going. Treat the rust and paint black where needed for corrosion control.

Slow and steady wins the race.

 

Thanks Donald. I figure this will be at least a few years in the works to get it all done.