New To Me VF1000R's

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by straycat, Jun 8, 2018.

  1. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Now the rothmans VF500R is done I needed another project so I Just bought 4 of these bad boys. One is mint, the other 3 will be used to build 1 good one.

    Tonnes of extra parts with the 3 spare bikes, 4 sets of bodywork, 2 solo seats, 3 tanks (2 are iffy), 2 stands, 3 engines (2 in bits , one runs apparently), 4 seats (one still in the honda bag), extra swing arms, one set of stock pipes and a hindle 4 into 1 system.....list goes on.

    Plan is to get the black bike running, Strip the 2 rollers and have the frame of one blasted and powder coated silver, transfer the best parts of all the spare bikes to the freshly power-coated frame.

    The black bike has new tires, new chain, new sprockets too, unfortunately someone got over zealous with the black paint, So I have to undo all that as I move parts off it to the build frame.

    The paint job on the build bike will be the the mostly blue bike with the blue seat (not the rothmans) I think of mine as Blue, white, mostly red. The one I will build will be Red white and mostly Blue.

    P1100044.JPG P1100042.JPG P1100048.JPG P1100047.JPG P1100040.JPG
     
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  2. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Holy mud.

    Do yourself a favor and incorporate some suspension upgrades when you build the second one. The suspension design that works pretty good on the lightweight 500 is pretty much shit on the 600 lbs VF1000R. They can really be made into a decent handling beast.
     
  3. John painter

    John painter New Member

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    Nice! If I had a harem like that I'd be tempted to move out of the bedroom and sleep with them. :D
     
  4. straycat

    straycat Member

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    My wife keeps threatening to bring a sleeping bag to the shop, i spend so much time there. :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2018
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  5. straycat

    straycat Member

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    here's what the project bike will look like Honda VF1000R-1.jpg
     
  6. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Yes!
     
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  7. duccmann

    duccmann Member

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    Have you been collecting all those bikes for your next build?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  8. straycat

    straycat Member

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    i picked up 4 of them this week. i wanted 1 originally, a nice one, and happened upon 3 parts bikes, so naturally, a new build is in order :)
     
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  9. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Tear Down is underway, 1st bike is stripped, all parts are boxed and catalogued. Onto Bike #2 now.

    I will be calling the powder-coat folks this week and ill decide on Powder Coat vs Paint for the frame(s).*** Update, frame #1 is in for powder-coat***

    Im fortunate to have met a really decent fellow when I acquired a couple of these parts bikes and a nice collection of spare parts. The guy gave me a very fair deal on the parts and Im planning to restore one of the bikes I got from him, he had it since he was 16 and used to race it.

    If I can find another engine, I may build 2 bikes, I have enough parts to do 2 bikes if I can source a decent engine.


    P1100052.JPG P1100129.JPG
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2018
  10. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Bike 2 is now disassembled, and will be dropped off at powder-coat when i pick up the frame of Bike 1.

    Bike 3 (black bike) will be on deck next, however I need to epoxy the floor of my workshop before i do that. I need everything out of there to do it.

    Bike 1 or 2 Frame (have to decide once i get them both back) will likely be the recipient of the best parts of bikes 1 ,2 and 3

    rest of the parts will likely be sold off once im finished.

    I will be using 2 or 3 sets of the bodywork though, ill have a spare set for the "good bike" (blue top bike), a set for the euro (red top bike) and i may do a set in Rothmans colours since I have extra bodywork
     
  11. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Very cool. Looking forward to more updates. Good job!!!
     
  12. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Update on tank cleaning. with the 4 bikes came 4 tanks. 2 of the tanks were pretty badly rusted inside, I decided on 2 different treatments to get rid of the rust before i line them with POR15. here is what i did:

    forget Evaporust, forget Metal Rescue, they are light duty at best. Forget electrolysis, its messy, and takes too long.

    I have had 1 tank ( the better of the 2 I need to line, no pin hole leaks no loose rust) soaking in "Metal Rescue " for 1.5 weeks and "evapo rust" for 1.5 weeks -- its better but not what i want before i line it.

    The worst tank had about 1/2 cup full of loose rust sliding a round and obvious pin hole rust throughs it was really bad. I vacuumed it out, put it in a rubber maid tub.

    -filled it with 4 litres of muriadic acid. It was like new inside after 6 minutes of turning the tank.
    -flushed with baking soda and water to neutralize
    -Added Phosphoric acid (Surf Pro Metal Prep artilce# 218003 at RONA) to stop flash rust and etch it
    -Vacuumed it all out
    -splash of alcohol to dry out the rest of the water.

    ill now proceed with the tank cleaning kit and seal (POR15) it sometime this week. There is one bad rust through pin hole that i need to seal from the outside before i do the liner though

    the better of the two tanks will get emptied out and ill get more muriadic acid for that one

    Never took any pics it was hard to get in with the camera
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2018
  13. jeremyr62

    jeremyr62 New Member

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    Yeah using hydrochloric (muriatic) acid works OK, but it's very aggressive and dissolves good steel too as well as the rust.
    It also burns if you get it on your skin. I use it at work and I have de-rusted with it, but the chelating rust removers are just easier and less hassle to use IMO. Evaporust and Metal Rescue (chelating agents) just remove the rust. They take ages (and are much more expensive) in comparison with HCl, but they get there in the end, and disposal is as simple pouring down the drain.

    For info, molasses (black treacle over here) diluted in water is a much cheaper chelating agent and works very well. Takes even longer though.
     
  14. straycat

    straycat Member

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    I hear ya, but I use rubber gloves, 6 minutes and its a done deal. Acid is back in the bottle with a funnel and no problemo.

    With mild rust I can go with the milder approach, but with the big problem stuff, it had to be more aggressive.

    I will do this again when the circumstances call for it.

    Safety first, and be careful on the time you leave it and its all good
     
  15. straycat

    straycat Member

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    The two rusty tanks are all sealed up with Por15. Gives me 3 tanks to go at for the project bike and a spare or two, Pic below of drying the tanks before the sealer goes in. Last picture shows the nicer of the 3 spare tanks.

    Re did my shop floor with 2 part epoxy, it was getting to be a mess. Its nice stuff. Just need to finish the interior walls now, im sick of looking at insulation and vapour barrier. Im ordering the white steel siding for the interior walls this week.

    P1100186.JPG P1100187.JPG


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    Last edited: Jul 8, 2018
  16. straycat

    straycat Member

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    still waiting for Frame#2 to come back from powder coat. I wasn't 100% happy with the colour of Frame #1 (which is why I used it as a test mule for the Powder-coat ahead of the better frame). Seems I hit the busy period at their shop now though, plus they upped the price on me beyond what they quoted so I had that to contend with (possibly also why they are making me wait longer for this one). hopefully have it by end of month. Ill be doing the walls of the shop in steel during my August vacation, so ill wait until thats done to start the main thrust of the build. Too much trouble moving stuff around when its in pieces.
     
  17. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Got 2 frames back from Powder coat, colour not exactly what I envisioned on either of them, but one will have to do. one is too sparkly silver (Silver Sparkle) and one is a bit too gray (its Argento Silver). Ill have to pick one and go with it as ive already sunk $ into them.

    lesson learned, spray paint and clear coat for silver frames from now on (same as i did on my VF500R Rothmans bike)

    will post pics of the 2 frames this weekend
     
  18. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Ironically I had to settle for a powder coat silver on one of my 1000Rs as well. Mine was also a little too grey, but I think I would prefer that over too silver sparkly. Just wasn't right, but just fine when everything is bolted to it, and I wasn't going for a "correct" restoration on it anyway. Only negative comment ever was from my douchey cousin. They royally screwed up the color on my calipers too and were able to get them kinda what I wanted. Plus they had zero concept of where it is critical to mask. Don't think I will ever powder coat again. I know there are good ones out there, including some members on this site.
    [​IMG]
     
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  19. straycat

    straycat Member

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    yes, im leaning towards the more-gray frame, but we'll see. Im still a few weeks away from really starting this work in a meaningful way. Im starting on the shop walls next week while im off on vacation and have a few more projects to get done as well.
     
  20. carlgustav

    carlgustav New Member

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    Interesting comments about powder coat colors not being quite what was expected. Years ago I thought I would turn an old '84 KZ750-H4, that was given to me, into a streetfighter. I took the frame to a local powder coat shop, told them I wanted a satin red. Got it back and the shade just didn't look right. In the sun, it looks (yes, still have it, project never got off the ground) pink! Very disappointing. And I understand that powder coat is a bitch to remove ...

    @straycat, from the looks of your shop/collection, you must have more $$ than God :D.

    ACE
     
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