2 bikes into 1, insanity has started

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by Spriggan, Sep 5, 2017.

  1. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    small update, Canadian motor fell through at the moment. picking up a complete 84 750f with good motor next weekend, will swap the engine over(after a meticulous check) and hopefully RIDE! as I look around the site I see everyone with these older bikes has two! now it makes sense.

    saving the original motor for next winters project:)
     
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  2. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    picked up a 83 vf750f for $450.
    Owner said it had a ticking in the front and stopped riding it, wanted to turn it into a "street fighter" bike, said he loved it until it started ticking.

    My original purchased bike was made in January of 83, this new one is February. One big difference I've noticed is the 1/83 has camshafts with an oil hole in the lobe while the 2/83 does not, odd, also different exhausts.

    "New" bike turns over but doesn't start, pulled the head covers and only saw the slightest pitting on one lobe, slight scoring all around though, AND no slack in chain. I'm going to check the valve clearances and swap over my known good/rebuilt carbs and see if I can get this thing to run, even if it ticks ill be happy to know it runs. From that I will swap the good cylinder heads off the first bike + updated tensioners and then swap the whole motor over to the nicer bike. Not before the DD oil mod and 1000 oil pump/pan:)

    edit: man, every valve was too tight except one in the front that was super loose. Got the old carbs off but am having a hard time getting the new ones on.

    anyone have an tricks to shoehorning the carbs into the little boots?

    edit2: I think I might have vf700 cams in the first bike, can't find any 83 750s that have the oil hole in the cam lobe...
     

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    Last edited: Oct 1, 2017
  3. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    2nd bike runs!

    needed new pulse generators, new oil, plugs, and a valve adjustment:)

    previous owner stated that the bike would only run with the choke on. with the new/rebuilt carbs it is still having the same problem...ill be hooking up the cooling system again and seeing if i can get it up to temp.

    edit: fixed the choke running issue by adjusting the carb floats and playing with the idle screw/choke until it warmed up

    next it to sync the carbs and readjust idle.
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2017
  4. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    alright like I stated the previous owner said it had a tick, here is a small video, how does this thing sound? I have no reference other than more youtube videos
     
  5. jeremyr62

    jeremyr62 New Member

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    You probably have a dished camshaft follower. You will need to remove the cams to find it. Other people have had success with a stethoscope type device to identify which follower it is. A lot of these engines are similarly affected unfortunately.
     
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  6. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    If that's the case, I'm okay with it! I will be putting new heads after the carb sync and Dave Dodge oil kit:)

    current pic of the donor bike:)
     

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  7. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    Been awhile but have made progress

    synced up the carbs and removed the donor motor out
    took off cylinder heads and replaced them with known good ones
    everything is timed correctly and valves have been adjusted to spec
    motor is now in the original low mileage bike
    cleaned up the wire harness a little
    purchased the vf1000r oil pump and pan to swap over soon
    will then modify the supertrapp exhaust to fit new pan
    working on acquiring the front forks and f/r wheel off of 1000r as well
    waiting on DD oil mod kit (end of the month I'm told)
    and going to rejet the carbs as well since the exhaust is aftermarket

    just putting the fuel pump, vac lines, and small bits on while I wait for it to warm up

    hope everyone on the east coast has been warm and with power. looking forward to the end of the week in the 40s!
     

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  8. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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  9. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    thanks captain!

    I'm hoping to swap over the rear brake caliper and needed bits over as well but thank you for the link should I need it.

    cleaned up the garage a little and placed the bike in a better spot to share the space:)

    oil pump and pan next!

    20180113_120432.jpg
     
  10. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    20180513_103743.jpg installed the oil pan and pump off of the vf1000r, no issues, you do need to use the chain and sprocket off the vf750f though.

    I was waiting months for the dave dodge oil kit to come in, of course, I did not want to install the carbs ect beforehand. Finally said fuck it and made my own. Installed the carbs, air filter, and made the first bends of the front exhausts this weekend. The initial setup was too exaggerated as you can see, the "final" works well and leaves room for the radiator to go where the oil cooler would.
    will need to buy one more muffler before the exhaust will be complete.

    now waiting on wheels!
     

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    Last edited: May 22, 2018
  11. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    here is the how i would like the radiator mounted and a shot of how it sits now...need to weld it up and bend the rear into the collector

    edit: filled the lower pipes with beach sand to get the bend, very easy and fun! i'll make the whole front system out of two single pieces eventually
    20180513_110310.jpg
     

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    Last edited: May 22, 2018
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  12. duccmann

    duccmann Member

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    How exciting, thanks for the detailed play by play.
    Have a huge love for the 84, had one new that took me over 200K for my first street bike.



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  13. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    small update recorded, more pics to come hopefully tonight:)

    Added to the stock radiator bracket and soldered the radiator make it work with the OEM coolant tubes.

    20180614_143559.jpg 20180615_210824.jpg
     
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  14. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    lots of progress! currently riding and tinkering with the final odds and ends

    new DMR rear mono shock installed with external reservoir mounted 20180628_192214.jpg 20180629_202526.jpg
    front exhaust done, also added an oil pressure guage where the stock oil line was

    20180706_234912.jpg
    rear exhaust needs a pipe off the collector as the muffler hits the swing arm
    20180705_215335.jpg
    vf1000r front wheel works with the vf750f calipers if you shave a small piece off of each
    20180705_215321.jpg
    also picked up the red white and blue fairings from a guy in Europe. Bike runs well enough, need to adjust air/fuel and sync carbs again.
    Resized_20180729_135753.jpeg

    also have new jt sprockets and new chain, LED brake light/turn signals

    hope you guys like it!

    20180628_192214.jpg 20180629_202526.jpg 20180706_234912.jpg 20180705_215335.jpg 20180705_215321.jpg
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2018
  15. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    having a great time riding this bike!

    but possible issues with gas mileage, tank vent, and the reserve setting on the petcock.

    First the tank vent. I put a 4' piece of fuel line as far back as I could and every ride their is gas leaking from it no matter how much gas is in the tank or how easily I ride. I'm thinking of adding a small tank vent and pointing it straight up at the handle bars.

    The gas gauge hits reserve around 100miles, (normal?) once I switch it over get about 12-20 miles until the bike dies. The bike is not running rich by looking at the plugs and exhaust. The carbs have 135 mains and a mix of pilots, 38 on one up to 42. I'm not driving it hard nor going very fast, 60-75mph. The tank is coated, all lines are clear, the petcock is clean and, "works" the fuel filter is new and the pump works all the time.

    all the miles per tank threads are for newer generations it seems. maybe my expectations are too high being as this is my first bike.

    Thank you guys for any help.
     
  16. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    Update! was looking forward to installing some upgrades, vf1000r cartridge forks, velocity stacks, and all my power coated bits but before that the bike started to overheat on a 3 hour round trip. Had to limp home at 45mph despite it being about 30 degrees out. Replaced the radiator cap since it was old, tested the thermostat which was fine, fans worked, flushed out the cooling system with ease, ran a compression and leak down test. Passed with 180 on all four on a cold engine and less then 20% leakage on all cylinders. Besides the overheating the bike pushed as much coolant as it could into the reservoir and when idling it would just bubble out the radiator. I suspected the front cylinder head, hoped was more like it, took it off and found this...

    Can any say what the exact issue is? I have never had a HG issue post install on any other vehicle I have worked on or owned. Really just looks like an inferior product from, "MotoGaskets."Already received an OEM, will check the head and block for straightness every which way before the install.
     

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  17. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    Thank you to captin80s for the front wheel spacer and Andreas for the stainless steel front brake lines!

    At the start of the summer I was riding the bike around every chance I got, even took it to a dyno where all the problems came together at once. Exhaust leaks, coolant leaks and SUPER rich mixture. The o2 reader bottomed out at 10:1 and it was much worse than that, but it was a starting point.

    The bike has been sitting since the end of april, fixed everything that happened on the dyno, rejetted, then took my sweet time to rebuild the front forks with racetech springs and emulators as well as source odds and ends for the front fork swap. I will be using 06 cbr1000, (I believe) clip ons for the time being. I was able to purchase some HRC parts which I will take a picture of soon:) The last picture is how it is sitting now, I ordered two caliper bolts that are missing and then she's a runner! Also installed the v4 spark boxes to keep down time in August to a minimum.

    It seems I will not be able to install the gauge cluster because the forks interfere with it, luckily one of the hrc parts are the triple clamps so it is only a temporary problem. Is a solution available to installing the stock cluster?
     

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  18. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Looks cool! Glad I could help. Thanks for posting some pics.
     
  19. Spriggan

    Spriggan New Member

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    Only pictures I have of it complete with painted exhaust before the front end work.
     

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  20. deja vu

    deja vu New Member

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    Looks beautiful! I really miss my '85 VF500 and your adventures are inspiring to us all!
     
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