She's Alive! Now The Questions...

[pjrocco]

So after 2.5 months and hours of wrench time I finally got my 84' VF500F running and riding. So now I have a couple questions...

First and most important; when I take a hard turn the handle bars start to wobble and twist pretty bad. At high speeds the front seems to be unstable as well. Finally, I hit a little bump today on the way to work and the front forks bottomed out and made a huge clunk. What causes this?

Second; the bike idles at 1,300 RPM, but while idling it will rev up and down about 300 - 500 RPM. It doesn't happen all the time, but a lot of the time. What gives? Do the carbs need to be synced?

Third; if I down shift to a low gear while moving pretty quickly the bike will die. Not all the time, but it happened twice.

Fourth; the front brakes are horrible. I have to hit the lever pretty hard and almost bottom it out to stop fast. The pads and rotor look pretty good, do I need to look at the caliper? I change brakes on my cars all the time, I'm guessing it's the same basic idea?

Lastly; this baby needs an oil change, but I was told that if it hasn't been does in a while that I should do it. By changing the oil I could actually wreck my clutch.... Is this true, I never heard engine oil wrecking a clutch?

Thanks in advance!

[VT Viffer]

Sounds like the front forks need to be serviced. Probably have REALLY old fork oil in them, and it couldn't hurt to replace those fork seals, too.

The idle issue sounds like a sticky choke slider on one or more of the carburetors.

New pads are cheap, and the first place I would look if you have lousy braking performance.

Hope this helps!

[pjrocco]

Thanks for the info!

The fork seals and oil were replaced about 10 years ago. I don't have any junk on my forks, but I guess that could mean I was out of oil as well.

Does anyone have a schematic for the carbs? I'm not sure where the choke slider is.

[derstuka]

You need a manual sir. Download it here electronically.

Downloadable Parts Catalogs and Service Manuals

Oh, and the only oil that will ruin a wet clutch would be something with friction modifiers in it. Just buy wet-clutch safe/motorcycle specific oil, and all will be well.

[pjrocco]

I've been enjoying the old lady these last couple days, although I'm developing another issue. In low gears; 1,2,3 I'm getting a weird lunge or jerk when I first hit the throttle. It doesn't matter if I barely touch it or give her a little gas. It's a bit scary especially when I'm trying to make a u-turn or any tight turn.

I know I need a new chain. It is 16 years old and it is rusty as all heck, but I don't feel any tight stops. Could a rusty chain cause this, or is this a clutch/trans issue?

[Rev]

You've got carb issues, brother. Time for a rebuild'

You should change the brake and clutch fluid if you can't tell if it's been done before. You may even need to replace the lines since rubber cracks after a few years, and yours are mighty old.

Change the fork oil; that old stuff is crap. It will make a huge difference.

Oil is what lubes the clutch; the only thing that will ruin it is 'high-mileage' auto oil

[pjrocco]

I think the previous owner did something to the gearing of this bike... But then again, it's a V and a 500 which is something I'm not used to.

Is it normal for these bike to sit around 7k or 8k when in 6th gear doing 55MPH? At 75MPG she sits around 10k...