New Rider/First Bike!

Hey all,

Been learning how to ride for a few months now on a '09 KLR650, and happened upon an '86 VF500 on Craigslist a couple days ago - needless to say, she needs a little bit of work (sat for two years, needs carbs done and a battery - hopefully nothing more) but it's a sweet bike.

Second bike of my own, as I built a Yamaha V-Star 650 that I sadly had to sell before I ever got it running, so it'll be the first one I'll have of my own to ride, because there's no way in hell I'm NOT going to ride this thing.

So practicing as much as I can with the KLR in the meantime, MSF Course starts July 17th, have had the permit since March. Really looking forward to the BRC1 and hopefully get in a BRC2 course before the season ends.

Here's a picture of the bike - 26 years new, 17k miles. I'll save my mechanical inquiries (just a couple) for another thread, just wanted to introduce myself here.

(ninja edit: purchased for $720, guy wanted $800 - decent deal?)

Without further adieu;



Looking forward to getting into those carbs and cleaning them good. Can't wait to hear the V4 in person. Drool.

 

Holy CRAP!!!! He shoots, He scores!!!! Very nice.
:vtr2:

 

:welcome:

Nice Bike, You stole the bike, for that price! :thumbsup:

Before you pull the carbs, Make sure you first figure out how to use the advance search engine, & read up on how to properly remove, disassemble, & clean them!

Ride Safe

 

Welcome to the nuts house, well done for first post. Good luck bring the ole girl back to life.

 

Based on the condition and the fact that it is pretty much stock, it is worth double what you paid. I wish I could stumble across deals like that. Good luck with the MSF course and welcome to the forum.

 

Congrats! The 500 Interceptor was the bike I wanted back in the day, missed my opportunity though. Not sure even if I found a great deal like yours, if I have room for a 3rd bike. Single car garage with a car and two bikes leaves little room for anything else. Good choice on the practice ride, dual purpose bikes are easy to handle and not a lot of plastic to repair/replace if you drop it. I had an Honda XL125 as my "learner" bike and being able to also ride in the dirt gave me some good learning experiences, plus it was fun to explore the off highway areas of So. Cal.

Good luck with the MSF course(s) and the rebuild.

Cheers!

 

Nice find, white wheels look great with that paint.

 

Love the quip (hockey player, here). Thanks!

Thanks man. I wasn't sure on the price, being an 86 and all... but my gut said I was doing good for the $, so... and yeah, I've been reading like crazy about the issues with the carbs. Better start reading about the best way to clean them...

That's the plan. Hopefully within the next week or two. *fingers crossed*

Wow, that's nice to hear. I saw a similar one (running, though) going for $2200 nearby. Figured maybe he was asking too much, but somewhere in the middle was more realistic. Just glad I was able to snatch it up. Sometimes it's harder to "Win" on damn Craigslist than it is on Ebay.

MSF course starts July 17th. Just the BRC1 - instuctor said I could do the BRC2 in one day and get licensed since I've been riding for a few months now and the BRC1 might be a little TOO basic in some respects... but it can't hurt to start at the VERY beginning. Probably learn a bunch of stuff. So just sitting tight until then...

Thanks, man. Yeah that KLR is more like riding a mountain bike than anything. Just super-easy, forgiving, mellow. Worked out well the first time I tried to ride it, because of the off-road capabilities. Yeah, drove over someones lawn. Whoooooops......

I'll have to find some with the Red primary - I've seen a bunch of pics with the other schemes and white wheels and they look awesome. Never been a fan of white wheels (get all my vehicles with black powdercoated wheels), but on the bikes, they look great.

btw thank you for your Carb How-To.

Just removed my carbs in just over an hour, without breaking anything, throwing anything, and only a few f-bombs. Was actually MUCH easier than expected, and to my surprise, the previous owner had shop towels (the blue paper towel type) stuff into the carb inlets from the intake manifold. And the hoses under the gas tank were disconnected (petcock, vacuum, etc). So maybe all the time it was sitting, it wasn't sitting with gas. We'll find out tomorrow.

Removal went well, though and only two questions (which I'm going to post in the 1g forum)...

Definitely glad I picked her up. I miss tinkering with stuff like this. Who needs sleep? (Yeah, carb removal in driveway @ 1am... haha)

 

Here's a picture of my 500 with white rims. I think it really changes the look of the bike. Yes, they are harder to keep clean, but once you get a routine down, it goes pretty fast. Besides, if you're too lazy to clean them, they'll just turn black again anyway.

 

OOOOooooOoOOOOOooooooo! I like!

If I were to get them done white, I'd definitely keep up on them. Nothing looks shittier than dirty-ass white wheels, except maybe blacks wheels that aren't kept clean in the winter time.

 

Welcome aboard mate, I'm a relative noob here but they welcomed me with open arms... And hey, I think my dirty-ass white wheels are kinda sexy... :tongue:

 

The cost is very reasonable. Mine only cost $100 for the pair. I would recommend replacing the wheel bearings at the same time as they need to come out anyway. This modification will make your bike stand out more than any other.