Ed’s 85 VF700F

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by Ribrickulous, Dec 17, 2021.

  1. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Starting a thread for my VF. Will mostly be focused initially on doing the “once through” for a new-to-me-and-I’m-atleast-the-third-owner bike.

    To start - obligatory first pics:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I managed to give it it’s inaugural drop shortly after getting it back to my garage after riding it around the neighborhood for a hot second, which is embarrassing, but hey, now it’s blessed. Scratched the clutch lever but doesn’t seem to be much else in the way of damage.

    Spent time some today giving it a slightly more in depth once over than I did with the seller. Some aesthetic issues:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I’ll need to touch up with something eventually, but for now I’m not terribly concerned.

    More of a problem is one of the posts is missing from the left fairing, which is otherwise in great shape (top left)

    [​IMG]

    Has anyone had good luck shaping a stick of ABS and plastic welding it to the back of the fairing?

    Battery had good voltage, air filter will need to be replaced, it’s there but it looks like the one the bike shipped with. Compressed air didn’t help much. Oil, oil filter, etc is on the to-do. Coolant looked a little off but it’s there. Will flush with distilled water, replace with ethylene mix and test the radiator cap.

    The fuel pump is functioning but oddly there was no fuel filter, which I saw in the fiche when I was poking around. Ordered caltric replacements. Inside of the tank didn’t have much rust, I’ll probably leave it be. Rebuilt the petcock with the allballs kit because it would leak on reserve. I may replace this fuel line because the jacketing around it is holding on for dear life:

    [​IMG]


    The front brake works great, the rear not so much because: [​IMG]

    So that’s on the to-do, and I’ll bleed/replace the fluid in the front while I’m at it for good measure, along with the clutch.

    I’ll check the runout on the wheels but everything feels solid. I assume no good reason to replace the bearings unless something feels amiss.

    The reg/Rec is the OEM - are these like the CB’s where they fail constantly and start burning things out?

    [​IMG]

    Traced out a horn issue, it wasn’t working when I bought the bike. Someone chopped the hot wire for some reason, and there’s a bad ground in the front that I need to chase down. Horn itself works fine.

    I need to find a replacement thermoswitch for the fans. Word on the street is the OEM one is overpriced and prone to breaking? Right now there’s a manual override switch installed, unfortunately in the front cowling.

    Only thing I didn’t really trace out is what this hose is for:

    [​IMG]

    Hose itself is cracked and splitting, I’ll need to swap it with something else.

    I did peek inside the carb throats, everything looks clean and the vacuum pistons slide *fairly* smoothly. I’m sure I’ll need to dig into them at some point.

    Actually - big question. The bike starts and idles just fine on choke, but give it any throttle at all and it dies immediately. Warmed up it runs fine. Common for the VFs, or something symptomatic of another problem?

    Anywho, that’s the start. Feel free to follow along, answer some q’s, throw random comments pointers etc in. Looking forward to digging through the bike this winter.


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  2. sixdog

    sixdog Member

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    Very nice …. What kind of mileage are we looking at ?

    That VF will shine up real nice … looks like it’s all there , congrats


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  3. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    A hair over 18,000


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  4. sixdog

    sixdog Member

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    It’s a baby !!!!



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  5. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    That is just a "breather" for the shock boot. And if the shock fails and starts leaking it will drain into the swingarm (that has drain holes on the sides) instead of down in front of your rear tire.
     
  6. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    according to symptoms, carbs probably need attention, and steering head bearings need inspection/regrease, bible says they're due for service @16,000.

    a switch to bypass the unreliable fuel pump relay is always a good idea.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2021
  7. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Great. I’ll find some new hose to patch between A and B


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  8. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Excellent. Will do. Are they loose balls like the CBs, or a raced bearing?

    Any point to replacing them outright instead of regreasing if they’re otherwise in good shape?


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  9. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    they're caged balls, not loose. inspect races too for dents or grooves. mileage doesn't warrant replacement unless damage is found.
     
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  10. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    If I was going in far enough to be able to discern the condition of ball bearings and repack them, it wouldnt be going back together without some roller bearing replacements going in.

    For $30, you will likely have to never give them another thought.

    If they are the original, they are right at the mileage to start to get indents.
     
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  11. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Question about carb kits for these bikes:

    Honda still makes the gasket set for the low low price of $40 per ($160 total)

    Chinese sets go on eBay for $30 total (all four carbs)

    K&L makes them for $20 per ($80 total)

    So my question isn’t is the Honda set worth it, it’s more - how much worse are the K&L kits than the Honda kit, and how much worse are the eBay kits than the Honda kits?

    Note I’m leaving all the original brass in, unless it’s damaged, and I’ll source an OEM product for that. Solely asking about the o rings and gaskets.


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1972 VF700F
     
  12. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    K&L are good, chinese is bad.

    just cleaning them up a little, and inspecting things, you may not really need carb kits.
     
  13. straycat

    straycat Member

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    Great looking Bike.

    WRT making a new fairing mounting post from ABS, I have made many of them using Plastex

    Plastex comes with moulding bar, you shape it around one of the good posts and then once cooled you pull it off and stick it on the broken spot. then use the plastex product to fill the mould. works like a charm.

    you can also buy the new posts online, dont recall who sells them (theyre not cheap)
     
  14. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Squirrelman - great point. Going through the bike so far I’ve been surprised at the condition of all the rubbers so far, in a good way.

    Straycat - thanks, I’ll look into it. I was also thinking of using something like this - thread and JB weld into the post: https://www.mcmaster.com/9512K52/


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
  15. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Ok:

    - Oil changed, valvoline 10w40 dino with enough zplus to bring the zddp to 1,500ppm

    - oil filter changed, PO had a different Honda filter on it, much smaller than the part listed.

    -- oil was clean, a little bit of magnetic dust, barely enough to coat a 1/4” round magnet, and some crumbly black material which I assume was the chain tensioner wearing.

    - horn fixed, there was a bad ground somewhere between the horn and where it joined up with the clutch switch, never found it, just ran a new ground behind the headlight.

    - trying to find replacement fuel lines and came across this: https://www.partsklassik.com/p-2008-hose-cloth-braided-6-mm.aspx right size I think, and kind of looks right aesthetically, unless someone knows where to get the red braided stuff..

    - replaced the fuel filter, old one was scrungyyyy

    - confirmed the fuel pump and relay are working.

    - checked wheel runout, nothing over 1mm (spec is 2) radially or axially, and no play indicating bearing wear.

    - realized the entire license plate light assembly is missing. Getting a replacement for $5 on eBay. Score.

    - replaced the taillight with an LED one, everything will go that way eventually, and now of course the warning light won’t turn off. Any way besides an in-line resistor to fix this?


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
  16. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    Spent time with the hydraulics today. Santa dropped this off:

    [​IMG]

    Great concept - a vacuum pump for the brake abs clutch bleeds, ostensibly forces air bubbles out, but in reality it just sucks a ton of air from around the hose/bleeder valve interface, and those little caps are all too large for the motorcycle bleeder valves.

    Observe:



    So I went back to the old fashioned way. No biggie. The hose/catch can in the kit was actually great, better than a water bottle.

    It needed it. The clutch master:

    [​IMG]

    Front brake master:

    [​IMG]

    And the rear master had a leak which seems like it was caused by a busted clamp where the hose meets the reservoir. I’m keeping an eye on it.

    The old busted clamp thing is becoming a common theme, not the first one I’ve found.

    Overall they all bled out well, but the clutch still seems grabby - much easier to roll it in neutral than with the clutch in, but no problems shifting other than this when downshifting:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    The shifter is getting stuck on the kickstand. Not sure which one is bent - anyone have this issue before?

    I figure it’s probably easier to bend the shifter out a little bit?


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
  17. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    better to remove shift lever and put it in a vice to bend, not on the bike.
     
  18. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    If you source a 84 VF1000F shifter, it has the perfect dog-leg to it. It's a common problem on the VF700/750F. Don't know why they didn't update the shifter, especially in 85 when they changed a bunch of shit. I've swapped over a couple and it's nice.

    PXL_20211230_033230114.jpg
    PXL_20211230_033249291.MP.jpg
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2021
  19. Ribrickulous

    Ribrickulous New Member

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    A) you two are fast

    2) yes, all bending will be done off the bike

    Third) noted about the shifter. Weird they would be so different.

    Lastly) I spotted this rust as I’m heading down into the bike:

    [​IMG]

    I was planning on hitting it with evaporust soak with a rag and covering it with some spray on galvanizing. It seems more severe than the surface rust on the rest of the bike.

    Anything to be concerned about?

    I’ll be able to get better pictures either this weekend or next week when I’m under the valve covers.


    -Ed
    1972 CL350
    1985 VF700F
     
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  20. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Nothing to worry about. They can be nasty around the Battery area. Treat it if you want, it will be fine.

    You can pull the Battery Tray and give it a blast and re-paint. That will help the spread.
     
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