Baz's latest acquisition: '87 VFR700F - White & non-running and in fair condition, 48K miles

Switched 12v. Same exact colors as the rear license plate light. The 87 harness has the wires for a "running light" on the inside of the headlight shell for other markets. My friends 87 has the socket in his headlight, so likely his headlight is from another market.

Great place to hook up any 12v accessory. 86 VFR wire harnesses do not have it, but all of my other VFs do.

 

Interesting! I never would have guessed. Thank you!

 

OK I think at this point, I probably have it as good as it will get using solvents and aggregate.

I'm over the moon that at this point the tank is going to be usable again!

After draining the fluid and getting all the screws out I power washed it from both openings several times with rinsing in between plus full tanks of water and flushing.

BTW, these 1" drywall screws worked fantastic! I didn't have a problem getting them out. Heck you can hear any that are left inside because of the racket they make when shaking the tank...lol.....

I've read where some folks choose to use the Caswell product to re-coat after doing a removal like this, so guess that is an option. I actually have the product on hand - never even used - just in case.

I might hit it with some Evaporust tomorrow and then see what I have.

Also - I've been using (2) empty 15 gallon plant containers to hold the tanks I work on. No issues with scratches, do a good job supporting, and allows draining out the bottom. Mine have nice sturdy lips on them which help with their sturdiness.

 

Good evening all....

Made the decision this morning to hit the tank with a fresh gallon of Evaporust and see what that does. I stayed home all day so was able to re-orient the tank throughout the day so the ER could get to all of the insides.

At the end of the day I looked inside with my Endoscope and it "appears" it is helping further re-condition the insides.

I think for the next couple days I will continue on this path. Then blast everything out and re-assess.

In the meantime I am continuing to work on trying to get the brakes and clutch bled - which isn't working out very well for some reason. Very frustrating - but eventually I will get it done.

I have the windscreen off and will work on cleaning it up at some point this week as well.

Some pics from today:

 

Long day today but made sure I was able to do some work on the tank before coming in for the night.

This is a beautiful tank and worth whatever efforts are needed to save her!

As I mentioned earlier, I've been using some Evaporust to treat the insides as kind of a test to see where it takes me. Gotta say....this Evaporust is freaking amazing! Sorry no pics (yet) but after draining what was in there and peeking inside with naked eye/flashlight - and then endoscope - I'm thinking now we won't need to do anything more/special to have a serviceable fuel tank again.

When I drained what was left of the ER, I used a strainer to see what particles were there. Check it out - hardly anything. This is a great sign! And some of what you see is residual from the acetone treatment left on the strainer, so it's not even that much there.



A week or so ago I had ordered a 5 gal. container of ER, which had remained unopened until tonight. The plan now is to fill the tank to the brim with ER and then after a couple days drain, blast out with water, and then treat to prevent flash rusting. Then I will use it on the bike.

One small caveat. The o-ring under the fuel sender was compromised by the acetone, I think, so some of the first ER treatment had seeped out from the bottom. Having a couple new OEM o-rings luckily on hand, I put one of those on before re-attaching the sender and adding the ER. As a precaution, I only poured in about 1.5 gallons and have the tank is sitting upright in a bin - so if I don't see any leakage in the morning I will pour in the rest of the ER before heading out for work.



Behold.......a freshly opened 5 gallon container of virgin Evaporust......the stuff dreams are made of, gents!

 

Nice work Bro!
Evaporust IS amazing stuff!!
Saved the tank on both the Goldwing and little CBR!!!

 

So far so good. Tank holding so filled her the rest of the way up with ER. Best $100 ever spent to save this gorgeous fuel tank!

The perfect Pearl Crescent White finish was glimmering in the early sunlight! Made my day......

 

Happy Friday everyone!

Well. today was the day to get back on the fuel tank, which I did. Drained all the ER out and it looked really clean so will be able to re-use it. Also, shows me the rust wasn't all that bad inside. I blasted the insides through both openings and drained a couple times then let it fill up and overflow through both openings a couple times. Also got the last 2 screws out! Took a look with Endoscope and am satisfied I've done all I could and believe we'll be fine going forward with it's use now.

Have a hair dryer on it right now and then will lightly coat insides with WD40 to prevent flash rusting.

Then it's back to the other stuff on the bike. Finish bleeding the clutch, cleaning out the coolant system, and reassembling the air box and fuel tank. Then should be ready to go. Still need the get the rear turn signals but that can wait. I have about 5 bikes stacked up right now waiting for stuff and I think it's all doable with having the time to do so.

Will post again later with pics.

Stoked!

 

FWIW, thinking now Marvel Mystery Oil might be a better alternative to WD40 to coat the inside of a freshly cleaned tank to prevent flash rusting.

Especially if the tank will be used sooner than later.

The reason in MMO is actually used as a supplement to fuel, so really no concern having some left in the tank before fueling up with gasoline.

I forgot to mention I also have to re-attach the headlight assembly tomorrow - and before that give the windscreen some deep conditioning.

Looking forward to tomorrow's tasks and getting this baby going again!

PS - I also plan on doing a carb R&R on the Blue Bike I got in December tomorrow - so a lot of cool stuff on the plate!

 

Got a lot done today. Got the windscreen cleaned up using the "Novus" products and really happy with the results. Front upper fairing re-installed with winkers and mirrors. Finished with the tank including taking the petcock off and blowing out the tubes until I was satisfied they were operational. Then got the tank re-installed and ran the bike a bit. Seems to be running OK but I need to put more fuel in it and run it some more - hopefully tomorrow.

I also did some work on the Blue bike but will report those updates on it's thread.

Check out the windscreen cleaning......

Before


After


Th Novus products I used

 

was that all by hand, or did you buff it?

 

By hand. Didn't take long at all, either. Tip: when the compound starts to dry on ya - stop. Then rinse it all off with water (I use my hose).

I only did one application of each solution per side and poof!

 

Today I diagnosed and replaced a bad fuel pump. Bike is now running off it's own tank!

Decided to replace that JB Weld repaired radiator since I had a decent spare, so doing that now.

 

Replacement radiator is now on. So far...no leaks!

Getting that rad. cap on and off is a bit tricky!

Will work on the Blue bike again tomorrow and on this one maybe the turn signal wires in back that were spliced to high heaven. I still have some work to do on the plastics too but wanted to get her up and running first. Going good now!

 

Tank seems tight - wonder why it was the tank coated.
Also wondering if a clean tank can be nickel or zink coated for corrosion protection.
Nice windshield - I should try that trick on mine. It is clear as skimmed milk.

 

Pics of the replacement radiator.....







Bike starts right up and runs great......getting closer......

 

On Sunday, I was able to re-attach the rear brake after a rebuild of the master and slave. I also swapped the aftermarket reservoir to an OEM version with the orange cap.

Yesterday I also finished the Blue bike and was able to ride it over to my storage unit.

Was going to try the same with this one but elected to bring it over on the trailer instead and do my test run at the complex. Everything went fine except the clutch line is still not 100% bled so the clutch wasn't 100%. But it worked good enough for me to put it in gear and do a lap. Bike rode great so I will go back over and finish bleeding the clutch line and then take her for more of an extended test ride - just inside the complex for now.

I don't have the tail fairing on her so not going to take it out on the road illegally.

Getting both of these bikes running again makes me happy beyond words. Next up will be work on the fairings. And I have work to do on other bikes recently acquired!

Here she is on Sunday after finishing with the rear brake......

 

Noice!!

 

Thanks, Rogue! Will look better once I get the plastics back on her. I'm always slow on doing that because I want to make sure I'm done with all the mechanical stuff so I don't have to keep taking them off and putting them back on.

I also noticed the tang is missing on the left swing arm for a chain guard so will have to fashion up one of those for her. It's always something on these vintage classics!

 

This was a great thread to read Bazza. It made me miss the '86 that I bought in 2021 and then sold a year later. I had similar drama with a tank that had had some clear coating applied that started to flake off, and Evaporust was my friend as well.

I ended up running the bike for 5000km with no drama afterwards. I was originally going to ride the bike home (about 800km, with a 3-hour ferry ride) but the Covid lockdown got in the way so I had it shippd instead. In hindsight I was glad to ship it as the seller had failed to disclose the chronic fork seal leaks that had rendered the front brakes more cosmetic than useful, the clogged jets that made it run poorly or the badly worn tyres...I replaced the 86 with another 98 after my wife made an astute observation that if I was going to keep and enjoy an older bike, I would be happier with one in better cosmetic condition. After my ministrations, the 86 was a great runner and even handled well, probably had more midrange than my 98, but was mechanically noisier. Enjoy yours!