1986 VFR RestoMod out of parts

Rear inner fender, wire harness and ignition system installed. Radiator and oil cooler cleaned, fins straightened, light coat of paint and installed.


Fuse box relocated. Fits inside upper cowl and under left inner panel (if installed).


Gauges refurbished. CBR900RR choke cable re-located.


Handlebars and right switch / throttle assy are temporary. I'll be deciding between these Magura, CBR600F2 and a set of Telefix clip-ons. It will have a RC51 switch and throttle housing. Rebuilding carbs right now.

 

The 88-89 bikes had very neat hidden fuse boxes. You can get them on ebay with the mounting brackets pretty cheap. They should be plug and play and would be a cleaner look. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Great work so far.

Are you replating the bolts and axles? They tend to get pretty worn over the years.

 

I'll look into that fuse box, thanks. Trying to work with what I have at the moment, and this tucks inside the fairing pretty good and still looks better than the cluster of plugs on the other side. The hole might get a toggle switch for something if it ends up not getting covered by an inner panel (or replaced by your tip).
I have a vast selection of Original Honda bolts, so everything that is suspect looking is getting replaced. The axles pictured are hammered and temporary, I have a nice set to install at final assy.

 

Wow great progress and pics. Well done.

 

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for getting me "sprung" on Sunday, it may be the high-light of my day, after lunch and the drive home from work :sad: eace:

Keep up the good work Captain :thumbsup:

 

Well... I "get" to separate the carbs and replace the fuel tube o-rings. At least I just did this on my 1986 VFR750 this last summer, so the technique is still somewhat fresh to me. And I already have a set of the fuel, air and plenum o-rings.

The good news is that it started instantly, sounded perfect and soon settled into a choke-free idle with zero oil or water leaks! Was able to get everything nice and warm.

 

Just looking over your project, very very nice! Good inspiration, for me! Need all I can get right now.
Funny, I was racing at Seattle International Raceway in that 600 race, when the fellow past away! When the helicopter came in, we knew it wasn't good.
What a small world! Also remember getting huge slides going onto the front straight in the rain. Was very controllable though. But, the cost of a wipe out there were immense! That track and Westwood were my favorites. Where else would you get a red flag for a bear entering the track?

 

Had it outside to run again, took advantage of the better light for a photo op...

 

Gorgeous; much too pretty to go on track, and almost a shame to cover up all that beautiful work with the fairings!

 

Cracked fuel tube... shit. Shouldn't be surprised, somebody had been in the carbs prior trying to remove them for parts very incorrectly. Leaked in exactly the same spot before I changed out the o-rings. Missed it when I had them apart and inspected them the first time because the crack is virtually invisible, only way I found it this time was dragging my finger nail in the area it had to be in.

Anybody out there installed the machined aluminium replacements? I don't want to cannibalize the set of carbs from the bike I'm building next (already had to take a diaphragm spring).

 

Fuel and vent tubes arrived.


Well made, fit perfect, carbs back in bike... Again. V4 Market, all 4 with o rings for $70. Pretty good deal actually.

 

It's good to hear that the quality is top notch. The longer we hang on to these old bikes the more likely we will need to get these metal replacements.

 

Yep, gotta support the guys doing things to keep us going. Luckily we don't have a large enough base to have stuff get copied in china and push the little guys out...

 

I got an instant email confirming my order and it was mailed very promptly in good packaging.
Thumbs up!

 

Some of the last pieces of the puzzle. Spent all day last Friday cleaning, sand blasting, cleaning, masking, painting, clear coating (and drinking beer). After I took this picture I rebuilt all of the master cylinders and calipers.


Brake components and clutch m/c are 1991 VFR. The caliper brackets match the F2 forks mounts and the pads have the bigger swept area (like the stock VFR) vs the F2 calipers and pads.

Hopefully test riding by the end of the week.

 

Controls and brakes installed. Need to re-wire a headlight switch for the left handlebar and tidy up some routing. Still need to bleed the brake and clutch systems, but it is very close to a test ride.

 

So clean, nice work.

 

Thank you very much. I'm getting fairly anxious to run it down the road.

 

Wow your cluster lenses are damn near perfect. Did you just have to clean them up a bit, or did you end up polishing them to perfection? I installed a new one i had for the right hand cluster, but my left side is a bit hazed on the side. Not sure if i should try some super fine sand paper to polish it up a bit or just source a fresh one and not risk wrecking the one i've got.

 

1st mock up of bodywork. New Cobalt Racing tail section. 1993 CBR900RR upper and 95 mids. First shots still have the decals, but it gives a better idea of the shape and fitment.


Here's in the shop after peeling the decals with a heat gun.


I have the original headlights and bracket. May do the lowers at some point, but going to concentrate on finishing it for now.