Any known issues with 1986 VF1000R?

[tumminello123]

I am new to this board as of yesterday and this is my first post.

I am purchasing my first motorcycle, so I chose a bike from my childhood that I liked because it was used and cheap. I purchased a 1986 VF1000R from eBay about 2 days ago. Item number: 130237367403 if anyone wants to see it.

Link: eBay


Please no comments if I overpaid. I really don't care because I liked it.

However, I do not know if there are any known issues with this bike. I have not seen any that are common with this particular model on any message boards, but searching this is difficult. I will be driving it from Colorado Springs to Fort Worth Texas on Tuesday, so any quick help would be great.

[KC-10 FE]

I know of 2 issues:

1) I don't have one. I have always liked the VF1000's.

2) It has carbs on it. I am so sick of dealing with carbs that I am selling my 89 Hawk GT because I am sick of dealing with the BS carbs involve.

KC-10 FE out...

[sussi]

I have never owned one but would like to. I think they are might be bit heavy, and powerful for a first bike. But if you handle it like an adult it should be OK. Also remember, these bike´s are old and special and all spare parts are hard to get and very expensive.

[eddievalleytrailer]

I hope it looks as nice in person as it does in the pictures.

[ca110]

beautiful bike! for something that looks that good you didn't overpay. I just bought an 83 750 interceptor and wish it looked half as good as yours. I have heard that the gear drive cam engines have a valve train problem, they wear out the cams. I don't know if thats true or not as I have seen a 1 or 2 posts here claiming high mileage out of them. the one I bought has 14,000 on it and I plan on installing a top end oiling kit on it and inspecting the valve train competely. jammie dougheryt offers one for the interceptors, or he did last time I talked to him. I have an 86 500 that I have done quite a bit of work to and I love it, but it's a good 100lbs lighter than the larger ones and all I do is canyon ridding. have fun, marcus

[GenLightening]

Way back when, I had the chance to either get an F or an R. I went with the F because it weighs about 43lbs less, makes the same HP and is a bit more versatile. On the other hand, it doesn't look as good as the R.

Add an top end oiling kit and that should do it.

[VT Viffer]

Very nice bike. I hope mine looks that good in 10 years.

[JamieDaugherty]

That's one of Tom Westby's bikes (or should I say was). Knowing him that bike is in A1 mechanical condition and should not need any service type work. Of course, there are several common failure issues that you would want to consider looking into.

Say hi to that spare engine I sold him when you get there!

[stewartj239]

I too was watching that bike. It looks to be in great shape. Considering that being the case, I doubt you'll have much trouble with it. I too just bought an '86 1000R earlier this year and I love it. Mine only had 3400 miles on it. As HondaBill said in your other thread, this bike will cook your butt and your legs. For me, I don't mind. I love riding this bike and the attention that it draws. Welcome to the "short" list of owners for this very rare machine.

[Outlawz24]

Werent the Gear Driven Cams brought out to end the top end issues of the VF bikes?

[JamieDaugherty]

Originally Posted by Outlawz24

Werent the Gear Driven Cams brought out to end the top end issues of the VF bikes?

Heavens no. In my experiences the R's the most affected of any model. This is because they had the same issues but more cam lift which caused even more rocker arm contact pressure. Remember, it's the rocker arms and the oiling that are the two problems. If the solution does not address one of those it's not a solution. The bottom line is that every pre-87 Honda V4 is affected, period.

[ca110]

you might want to look at the problem with the new lower emission engine oils that are now on the market. my friend told me that that engine builders are having cam shaft failures due to the removal of tin as an ep lubricant as it plates onto the catalytic converter and reducing its efficiancy. I haven't looked into it yet but he told me the info was all over the internet. this will also affect engines with marginal camshaft life. everyone with one of these old interceptors probably should be using an oil additive such as a moly based additive.

[JamieDaugherty]

Originally Posted by ca110

you might want to look at the problem with the new lower emission engine oils that are now on the market. my friend told me that that engine builders are having cam shaft failures due to the removal of tin as an ep lubricant as it plates onto the catalytic converter and reducing its efficiancy. I haven't looked into it yet but he told me the info was all over the internet. this will also affect engines with marginal camshaft life. everyone with one of these old interceptors probably should be using an oil additive such as a moly based additive.

That's a very good point, one that I haven't really thought about. I've not worried too much about automotive oils because they aren't to be use in motorcycles anyway (and I don't use them). With more and more motorcycles being equipped with catalytic converters I can see how the formula for motorcycle oils will also change, if it hasn't already.

Even so, addressing the problem with an oiling modification will greatly help to eliminate the failure.

[tumminello123]

Well, I got home at 9:00AM this morning. I left REALLY early in the morning because I wanted to get home ASAP.

Everything went fine while driving. No problems at all. The temp stayed only 1/3 the way up the whole way and sometimes even cooler. The crosswind problem was not as bad as have been suggested. I ducked behind the windshield and no problems. Riding sitting up, however, was a completely different story.

There was a bit of bad news, however..... I was really tired so I stayed overnight in this "ghetto" called Amarillo. I was at a Motel 6 and parked the bike outside and I did not lock the wheel when I left it overnight. I found it across the parking lot on it's left side laying on a parking curb. Bad damage to the left top fairing, the end of the clutch lever snapped off, and the piece that holds the mirror (steel L shaped piece) was horribly bent. I was MAJOR pissed. I tried putting it in the room but could not get the 600 lbs to pop over the curb and now I paid the price for leaving it outside. I should have known something was bad when I was woken by horribly loud rap music and arguing in one of the rooms.

Now, I need to find some way to re-bend the steel piece, buy a new top portion of the fairing, , new clutch lever, maybe buy a new mirror, and never make that mistake again.

So, anywhere I can get a mint condition top piece of fiberglass pre-painted?

[JamieDaugherty]

Bummer! I'd have someone's butt for that. You made a police report, right?

[stewartj239]

Originally Posted by JamieDaugherty

The bottom line is that every pre-87 Honda V4 is affected, period.

Jamie, I thought the '86 VFR750F had a clean bill of health. I've never seen that bike on anybody's list of affected V4s with the top-end oiling problem.

[JamieDaugherty]

Originally Posted by stewartj239

Jamie, I thought the '86 VFR750F had a clean bill of health. I've never seen that bike on anybody's list of affected V4s with the top-end oiling problem.

I've heard that some 86 VFR's have experienced problems but I don't know that I've had that confirmed. I suppose that I should have been more clearin my previous statement by saying "all pre-87 VF Hondas." Tecnically speaking the accepted rule is that it wasn't 'fixed' until 1987.

Do you want the waters even more muddy? Some post-87 SuperMagnas also had the same issues.

[ca110]

just to clarify things about the comment I made about the removal of an oil additive that is causing cam and lifter(or rocker) failures. the additive is zddp, a zinc compound that helps or prevents camshaft failures. the epa mandated that it be removed from all engine oils for the reason I mentioned earlier, motorcycle oils, at least right now don't fall under that mandate. I did some research tonight and found that amsoil and mobil 1 are the best motorcycle oils that deal with this issue of metal to metal wear. also a company called eastwood sells a zddp additive you can put into your oil for $10 a pop which is alot cheaper than buying mc oil. also 10 years ago there was a study done which proved that modern auto oils were just as good or better than some mc oils. by the way, until you mentioned it, I was totally oblivious to the existence of motor oils made specifically made for motorcycles and always used gtx 20w 50 in everything I owned. when I worked for a porsche audi dealer, that is all they used and I have allways used it and never had any issues with lubrication failures. but, I never owned an early vf before either.