UK VFR800 Post-collision rebuild

Discussion in '6th Generation 2002-2013' started by wiggy965, Feb 16, 2014.

  1. wiggy965

    wiggy965 New Member

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    Hi Guys, after being a member for so long and not posting anything here is my first post.
    September 2012: after riding around on a dreadful Chinese 50cc bike, I decided to do my full bike test (albeit limited to 33bhp for 2 years after the pass date due to UK law) and treat myself to a shiny new-to-me 2003 VFR800-3 in lovely r157 Italian Red:
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    12,000 miles, full history, it was an absolute minter.

    EJ03 FVM was to be my daily transport to and from my place of work as an apprentice mechanic at my local Vauxhall dealership (Opel or Saturn to you US guys) used rain or shine I enjoyed every minute of it, such a massive jump from a 50cc to something that felt so stable and had effortless power. Strange thing was that VFR cost less to insure than a CBR250R...
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    The Harley belongs to my uncle, Don't worry! He did have a pre VTEC VFR a few years back and was the reason behind my purchase.

    After enjoying the spring of 2013 attending several ride outs and shows with my dad, him on my restored 1975 Honda PC50, I had planned to attend Japfest 2 at Donington Park Race Circuit with my brother in his Suzuki Swift Sport a slight issue arose on the Monday before the event.

    July 1st 2013 8:10am:
    On my way to work that morning I crossed the roundabout just outside where I work and some kind gentleman failed to notice me coming towards him (bright red bike, headlights on) he pulled out of his exit just as I was about to cross in front of him. He stopped on the roundabout, I tried to swerve left but ended up clipping his O/S/R at walking pace, knocking me off. I managed to pull the bike up off the ground (I'm guessing the adrenaline helped as I'm not the strongest guy in the world) I pushed the bike to the side of the road with the help of the car driver behind me. Unfortunately, busy Monday morning and me being I'm shock, I failed to get his name. The guy in the car claimed it was all my fault, I was going to fast blah blah blah but I maintained I did everything correctly (shoulder check, indicate before changing lanes etc) details were exchanged and I had time to sit and contemplate what had just happens to my pride and joy. A passing biker on a Yamaha Diversion stopped to see if I was ok


    Cue 7 months of headache with insurance companies and after going through solicitors to claim back my losses and contesting against his 3 personal injury claims I've finally recieved a cheque in my favour for the repairs totalling £2400. The bike doesn't look that bad but genuine Honda prices and the extra unnecessary spares that i would leave or repair if I was doing it myself hiked the price up. Pretty much

    So today I'm off down to the garage where it's stored to fill it up with petrol, leave it running for a bit and start to get it back into shape to don the leathers and go for a ride this spring.
    The first issue is one the threads inside the engine casing for the clutch slave cylinder bolts is stripped, I noticed this when I removed it to do the chain and sprockets and loctite upon reassembly held it tight, unfortunately the shock of the impact has worked it loose. Anyone on here had any experience of repairing this in a more permanent way?
    Will post some pictures of the bike later on.
    Also, the bike is nearing 16,000 miles, does everyone recommend sticking to the schedule and checking the valve clearances?
    Cheers guys
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2014
  2. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    Well that is one serious first post... so I will start by extending a welcome to the MadHouse:welcome:

    I can see you tried to add some pictures to your post but for some reason the links are not working - so it may be worth having another go - hit reply - then click on the icon two to the right of the envelope and follow prompts - which should work. Perhaps try first with just one photo and check to see if that works in which case repeat for the others.

    Normally in an accident - especially on a roundabout - if you end up hitting the rear of a vehicle - then insurers tend to assume it was your fault - so if they are paying up albeit belatedly then you have done well to win the argument on responsibility. As for the car driver putting in personal injury claims - I fear this is an unsavoury side of the insurance industry - especially if the bike hit the car at walking pace - it rather implies someone was trying it on.

    :focus: So what to do with the bike? First step retrieve the bike to your own property - to stop storage charges eating into the money you have to play with. Second take a long cold look at what you have, ideally with a mechanic or at least someone who knows bikes to prepare "your own" list of what needs fixing - garages tend to factor in labour charges when preparing estimates and often say stuff needs replacing - just because it has a scratch or two - which you may decide is not worth messing with.

    Thirdly price up the parts and decide if the resulting bike is worth fixing - check out how much it is worth using bike prices on biketrader.

    (Remember if its not worth fixing, you may get more for it as parts on ebay than selling it as a whole bike - but you will have the hassle of handling heaps of ebay sales).

    If you decide to repair the bike then you will need to budget for solving the damage to the clutch slave cylinder bolts. Do you know a local garage/workshop able to repair/fit a helicoil?

    As for the vtec valve checks - the search feature on here is pretty good and you will see that has been extensive debated - but is essentially a decision only you can make. Inherently the service intervals will be intended to pick up early enough any need for adjustments on even the most heavily used bikes. So if the bike has been used as a daily track day mule or you really thrash the bike hard all the time then you may be among the few who find the initial check reveals a need for adjustment. If the bike has had a fairly easy going life then perhaps you can skip every other valve check - provided you still do the other recommended service elements - oils filters etc.

    See - Post #11 on this thread for my 2p on the merits of valve checks.

    http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthre...-a-maint-question?highlight=vtec+valve+checks

    Anyway good luck whatever you decide to do and let us know how you get on.




    SkiMad
     
  3. wiggy965

    wiggy965 New Member

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    A few pictures from earlier
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    The reason behind the high repair price was that the assessor was sure the frame was bent causing the cracked paint in the tank, I would have thought the forks would have bent first as they actually hit the car but are dead straight

    Only casualty from sitting so long is the rusted exhaust clamp
     
  4. wiggy965

    wiggy965 New Member

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    Thanks for the welcome! i figured it was time to post something ;)
    The pictures are off my phone, probably the reason behind it
    The bike has been recovered to my lock up, been down to it today and filled it with super unleaded and had it running for about an hour and a half. I'm hoping that that the offer from the insurance is to repair it as I've drilled into their heads that I want to keep it and have no cat c marker on it, they originally did say repair it and then claim it back off them but as I'm an apprentice mechanic and have had to buy a car (no replacement bike offered!) funds haven't really allowed until now.

    Nevertheless, I want to get some miles put on it in the coming months so have made a bit of a start. Ill be going down the route of second hand parts, it's a second hand bike and after pricing bits up on eBay that are apparently in excellent condition, the wallet agrees too. second hand parts come to about £500 so the rest will be spent on treating it to a decent service, fresh rear pads, new gloves, a decent pair of boots, a new helmet and a new set of tyres, riding upright for 6 months through winter probably didnt do them any good...

    To be honest all it really needs is a clutch lever, gear lever, slave cylinder bolt repairing, tank, nose cone and side fairing.

    I just can't wait to get back on it, the experience is completely different to driving a car, owning a Corsa seems to attract tailgaters that just seem to want to harass you.

    In the coming months ill be ordering replacement parts, having the clutch slave cylinder bolt repaired, booking an MoT, and getting it taxed and insured
    Well, that's the plan!
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2014
  5. wiggy965

    wiggy965 New Member

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    Update!
    A fairly big package arrived with my name on it to work, got a little bit excited about opening it but it was already open, hmm. Cheers for stealing my moment of happiness. -.-
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    Still, a shiny new-to-me VFR tank in lovely r157 (even the same tank pad!) as FVM lurked within in all it's bubble-wrapped glory:
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    The paint on the tank fitted to EJ03 had cracked with the impact, possibly due to some previous repair but it retained all the original stickers so I was unsure.
    It also had 2 dents on the right hand side, no idea how they had got there from going down on its left hand side.
    It took a few months for me to realise that the knuckles on my right hand fit perfectly into said dents... Absolutely no memory of my hand hitting the tank but somehow my bony, fleshy fist of ham came together with machine in almost perfect harmony.

    The cracked paint and the two dents meant repair and full respray would be necessary but my lovely second hand tank that matches the old one and is in mint condition cost just 75 quid delivered. That sounds much better!

    Will get it out of its packaging tonight and give it a good cut back, polish, and a good coat of poor boys wax. Maybe even some Diamondbrite if I'm feeling generous
    Pics to follow!
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2014
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