Project VF500F2

^^^ the HF ultrasonic cleaners don't last long, typical low-quality chinese junk, as i discovered shortly after purchase. mine took a shit after about 8th time i used it.

 

I was wondering..I see them at HF and they seemed a little too cheap.

 

I only see one at HF right now, and it can be had for much less on ebay. Here's my spin, I don't know what fails, but I suspect the electronic controls and most seem to be that these days. However, I bought one similar to this, 3 litre I think, and it has real knobs and dials and power switch. Those to me are less likely to fail.... and yes, most are made in China.
This link to a current listing for a 6L one.......
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-6L-Ult...091637?hash=item1cd0148b75:g:fpQAAOSwEflfsdTb

 

That's good to know, thanks. I'll make sure I cycle those bleeders too as you suggest.

I was worrying something might be wrong with my rear carrier or the way I've got it set up as it being non-standard I'm relying on old pictures of the kit installed to work out which spacer goes where etc. Hopefully once the new bolts turn up all will be well. Is it best to try and leave these bolts in place once installed then and do pad changes etc by removing the carrier rather than the calliper itself?

Yeah the brakes have now cost me a small fortune alone between piston kits, master rebuilds and new hoses but they're definitely not a place I'd want to cheap out on!

I picked up my ultrasonic cleaner from the recommendations of this forum, when I was reading lots of the old VF500 threads it seemed to be the thing that kept coming up. Mostly people seem to swear by them for carb rebuilds, but this isn't something I've got much experience with to say either way but I can certainly see why it would work so well.

I've had almost every other part that would fit go through the cleaner and the real benefit to me has been the amount of time saved not stood scrubbing parts clean of grease and road grime and it is very good at that. You lift the parts out and can see the layer of dirt and grease falling away from the part. It also does a great job of cleaning out inside threads and other small places that you'd probably struggle to match it just trying to scrub away with small brushes etc.

As I said, the cleaner wouldn't remove some of the corroded on brake dust and road grime from inside my callipers but I think that was to do with the fluid I use in mine. You can get cleaning fluid that's meant to remove corrosion but I've not tried it yet, I'm a bit concerned what it might be doing to the rest of the part if it's aggressive enough to eat away at the corrosion! But for all of the old congealed brake fluid it cleaned those out really nicely.

I went for a cheap eBay Chinese one and it all seems okay, that being said I have only had it 6 months. The thing I was finding is, in the UK at least, several places seemed to be offering the exact same product just with their name stickered onto it for way more money. Granted it might get you a bit more warranty protection having a company to go back to but I was willing to have the gamble.

 

the ultrasonic cleaners are 'most helpful when:

1. are heated
2. used with a cleaning solution.

Basically you need the cleaning solution to do the work, the ultrasonic bit does the job of getting the cleaner to the right area, the heated bit makes the cleaner work more effectively.

There is a learning curve with these units & at some point everyone gets it.

 

I'd be interested to here your preferred option for cleaning solution, Pete. I know Simple Green comes pretty well recommended on here but it seems on the expensive side in the UK.

 

Definitely.

 

I know I posted my ultrasonic cleaning process a while ago but in essence its a 3 - 4 step that I do for all parts.

1. Dish cleaner (small squirt) with HOT water - this is to remove the oils & grease.
all parts are checked / wiped & placed onto tissue paper
2. Actual cleaning solution & HOT water (simple green is excellent)
all parts are checked / wiped & placed onto tissue paper
3. Repeat 2 if required
3. A rinse cycle of single use only HOT water only - i put the parts into hot water in the cleaner & run for a minute. This is just to ensure all the cleaner is no longer attached to the part.. This water is then changed - invest in a kettle... lol.

Now you might be thinking how do I run 3 cycles at the same time in the same ultrasonic cleaner.. Simply, I use only normal tap water in the cleaner & all parts are placed into GLASS jars with the various solutions in. Glass & water allows transmission of the ultrasonic vibration.

If Im doing a large item then this is done still as a 3 part process but in the above order just not in jars. This process means I do not waste cleaning solution on getting rid of grease or oil. Does that help?

 

Thanks Pete, that's the process I've been following since I got the cleaner as I read your previous posts just after I got it. The parts in glass containers really is great for keeping everything else clean and keeping things organised.

It sounds like Simple Green is the way to go then, I'll swap to that when I run out. I find the solution I currently use really dulls down some metals. It does a great job of cleaning though so perhaps it's just a bit too aggressive.

 

Adjust your solution - you will find some parts tolerate more and some less

 

Also if you follow the above method, even when the cleaner gets dirty it STILL CLEANS... so doesn’t automatically need replacing. That’s another reason a rinse cycle is pretty important.

 

One thing with Simple Green (the standard one) is that it can be corrosive to aluminum in long exposure and/or high enough concentration. I've used Simple Green at 10:1 without ill-effects on aluminum, but knowing this now I don't use the standard anymore in my ultrasonic for carburetors. I'll throw it in for everything else though since I've got a big jug of concentrate and it works well.

They make another Extreme Simple Green Aircraft Precision Cleaner that is less aggressive and safe for aluminum under 13:1. I've found the Extreme left more of a film that needed to be rinsed off than the standard product though. This is what I've used on carburetors.

The one I was really impressed with was leaving a CL350 carburetor in Evapo-Rust for 2 hours and then running it in the ultrasonic with just hot water for 20 minutes. I'd been struggling with that one due to some kind of deposits that almost look like calcium deposits. I'm thinking it may have been the slightly acidic pH of Evapo-Rust, so I might have been able to accomplish the same thing with a vinegar solution and water rinse.

I've been using one of the 15L cheap ones on Amazon for about a year. Can't speak to the longevity of it. I fully expect it to break at some point; however, it's still going strong after probably 20 heat cycles and maybe 20 actual hours of use. I'm going to go find some wood to knock on.

Diving Pete's method sounds a lot more thorough and organized though, so at the very least I think I need to incorporate a straight water rinse at the end instead of running under hot water. Just wanted to chime in with my limited experience to this point.

 

Good to hear all experiences of this stuff! It sounds like I just need a bit more trial and error finding what works for what parts.

I had to travel this week and had spotted this nearby for sale at a price I couldn't resist.



It's in amazing almost unused condition. The originals that came off the bike are completely trashed, one side even has an old food can wrapped round it as someone's repair attempt. This does give me the problem of now needing to try and find an equally good Left Hand exhaust to match... when I collected it the seller did say that's what he'd been waiting for too, but you never know!

 

New calliper bolts arrived and seems to have solved my clearance issue so all 3 callipers now rebuilt and fitted.

I also tried (and failed miserably) replacing my master cylinder sight glasses. One seemed to go in too far and pushed the o ring out into the master cylinder, the other didn't go in quite straight and ended up cracking. I think some of the issue may have come from trying to press them in using the bench vice - it was a bit too fiddly getting them in lined up correctly . As I now already have the glasses out I have no choice but to try again so have ordered another pair, I also picked up a small g clamp to hopefully give me more control pressing the new pair in.

My ABS plastic welding rods arrived so I had a shot at that today. Firstly reattaching a broken tab on the rear fairing. I had ordered a sheet of abs to remake the tab but by chance stumbled across the broken part in a box of bits



I then moved onto trying some cracks in the clock surround





Not the neatest of work but I'm really impressed with how well it works! The repairs seem really strong and it really was easy to do - thanks to all who gave advice on the process! Definitely feeling more confident at the idea of tackling the fairings now.

 

if using a vice use a socket from your tool kit to drive the glass in straight. Just size the socket so it also just fits in the hole.

 

I did try the socket on the first attempt, I think the real issue was just running out of hands to initially hold the master cylinder, glass, socket straight whilst tightening the vice. I'm hoping the smaller G clamp and potentially another set of hands will help things go a bit smoother second time round.

Do you recommend using silicone sealant as well? The video I saw on here recommends it but the sellers fitting instructions suggested fitting it dry. I'm just wary of putting anything near brake fluid that could react.

 

Not keen on that idea but using a smear to help it slide 'may' be sensible.
I'm wary of using anything other than brake fluid near my brakes

 

Yeah that was my thoughts. If you don't need it I think I'll leave it out!

 

You can always use a bit of red rubber grease, that’s fine with brake fluid

Or Brembo assembly fluid


VF1000F2F, in bits

 

Got some good progress in today. My replacement sight glasses arrived so they were the first job on the list. I left them out of the vice this time and things went much smoother. I ended up with a G clamp held in the vice and I found it much better, allowing me to see if it wasn't going in quite straight and just a bit more controlled than the bench vice. With that, here's before



And after



Pretty pleased with how they came out! After that I rebuilt both master cylinders and got them mounted on the bars. I also installed the freshly painted clock surround to get the whole cockpit all together.



I also rebuilt the rear master and put the right hand footrest hanger back together. Once that was back on I installed the new brakes hoses front and rear so the brakes are now ready for bleeding. I am missing the small metal cover for the bleed hole in the front master cylinder so that may make things interesting...

Got a few bits I'm hoping to get done tomorrow, it's good to see more progress again! Here's the bike as it stands after today.