VF500F Frame - Normal or Damaged?

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by mikernet, Sep 30, 2018.

  1. mikernet

    mikernet New Member

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    At first I thought my frame was damaged quite badly because of all the odd asymmetries I noticed upon closer inspection of the bike, but I found a parts bike and it has all the EXACT same asymmetries and quirks so I'm wondering if I happened to get two frames with absolutely identical damage, or if this is just how these frames are made.

    I'm leaning more and more towards the latter as I take more measurements and I can't see how some of this could possibly be attributed to damage but I want to make sure before I spend way too much time and money on this project so I was hoping you guys could help me out here. I have attached a photo of the frame with some annotations to help explain what I'm talking about.

    The "lines" on the right side of the frame, labeled R1 and R2, are not perfectly straight but rather have some mild bends in them (i.e. at points D2 and D4, D4 being where the weld for the the lower rad mount is). The L1 and L2 lines (on the subframe) on the other hand are very straight. Furthermore the right side has indentations at the points labeled D1-D4. At first I thought these dents were stressed damaged points in the frame but the physics of that just doesn't make sense for all the dents and the parts bike has the EXACT same dents and bends.

    Can someone verify if their frame has these as well?

    I measured the angle and alignment of the wheels before I started to pull things apart and all the measurements I could take using string, angle finders, straight edges and some creativity seemed to line up fairly well. The fork tubes are also straight as an arrow.

    Are these frames just odd like this? I have scoured the web for photos of other VF500's for sale and the ones with decent resolution where I can see these areas on the frame seem to have similar features but it's hard to really tell from the pictures.
     

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    Last edited: Sep 30, 2018
  2. jeremyr62

    jeremyr62 New Member

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    Your frame will probably be fine. I have the same indentation at D3 on both of mine.
     
  3. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Normal.
     
  4. mikernet

    mikernet New Member

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    Okay thanks, I feel a bit better now!
     

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