Not the Real '89 VFR -a mild custom

My project bike, or one of them - an Australian original supplied VFR 750F that I have been playing about with for too long. Seems there are more jobs than you can poke a stick at when you retire and the Vfr is no exception.
Started about 5 or was that 6 years ago, having just finished restoring a Kawasaki H1, and knowing it would not be the right bike (for me anyway) to use as a Club "regular rider" so asked my son to keep an eye out for a suitable Japanese bike. A short while later he found a Jap import '86 VFR 750 in pearl white - very tidy, low Kms but with a seized motor due to water ingress. I pulled the engine down but found serious pitting in two cylinders.
What to do? long story short, he found another - an'89 model with bad damage to the fairings but a "runner" if one can call great clouds of smoke by such description.
Undetered (or just plain silly) I bought it, put a flushing additive in the oil and 10 minuted later cleared her lungs.
Subsequently I did give her a much-needed set of valve guide seals as they were hard and cracked so hope now not to need more attention in that department.
Fools need help, so I went to YouTube to learn how to plastic weld. Instead, I found some very helpfull information about chemical solvent repairs using MEK -look it up - it works and does a great job with a little practice. The net result is all fairing panels fully repiraired now, all paint was removed inside and out, and they are in 2 pack primer awaiting the color.
My choice from the outset was the USA release Red, White and Blue color scheme as used on the Interceptor.
Originally to go on the '86 bike - but now transposed onto the '89, which has proved just a tad more complicated, but we can do anything - right?
The larger air vents on the side pane encroach on the decal space and since I saw the option to add a large Honda decal into this area to great effect, I now need to resize. The Interceptor name was not released by Honda into Australia and add some other mods I have done to the appearance; I have chosen to replace the name with another. I came up with the name "Clubman", since my intention is to use the machine for Club rides, and it provides a little calming influence for those who want to nit-pick the detail and originality of the color scheme and design.
I shall endevour to attach a computer-generated picture of my machine since it is as yet, unpainted and has no decals applied. Note the tail box with the lower section painted blue to line up with the seat which I shortened (and removed the foot pegs) The "lid" on the tail box is hinged at the front and opens by the old release mechanism for the seat, which makes it lockable. A spring setup pops the back of the lid when the key is turned. The box I made from fibreglass and it fits neatly over the upper part of the original tail section and taillight assembly.
The front indicator lenses are those used on the Japanese domestic release machines, looks much cleaner and have a secondary lamp filiment for park lights. Just took me lots of time to carefully cut and file the holes since the lenses are fitted from behind the fairing.
There are other, lesser mods, and like all such bikes, there will probably be more as time goes by

 

Looking forward to seeing updates. I like the concept.

 

A couple of shots of the fibreglass tail box. In primer, has been sanded and needs a second coat inside to tidy up.
The hole in the front (lower down on the side) connects with a mounting point on the original seat frame via a short extention, and is held by a stepped screw so as to give a large wear surface in the fibreglass. A second mounting point can be seen by the smaller holes on the inside floor of the box. These points are replicated for both sides. The large "see through" hole will be recognised by Vfr owners as the existing mounting points for the factory tail piece, which remains in place. I have chsen not to bother covering these holes since nothing can fit past bigger than and ant's dick anyway. In the event that I ride into a river, it will provide a drain point to let the water out and keep my lunch dry. On the matter of water tightness around the lid, I have made provision for a rubber seal aross the front (note the step down the side in the front seal area.) The sides themselves are protected by the overlap in the lid, while across the back any water can drain freely into the latch area and out down the sides. I have a son who was critical of my idea to build my own box but even he has backed off now, ageeing that it should keep the contents dry. The original seat latch was used, with only the need to make a longer cable and add a couple of springs to pop the lid when the key is turned. Thus, clean lines with no hinges, handles or locking mechanism showing.

 

Very cool. So is the passenger portion of the seat shortened and/or narrowed to gain access to the rear sub-frame mounts? How is the seat secured?

Sorry, maybe it's obvious, but I'm at the end of my work day and my brain and eyes are tired.

 

My bad, I should have explained, yes - seat shortened to just behind the hooks on the seat frame. At this point there are two by 8mm tapped threads in the bike sub-frame directly below what remains of the plastic seat base. I simply drilled holes on the seat base to match these bolt holes, trimmed out the back of the seat to make space to secure the bolts into the frame and applied two 8mm bolts. The re-upholstered seat cover was custom made to suit. (Interesting - these two bolt holes were never used, but they suited my job perfectly?

 

Sorry, not real good at this - here is the photo just taken - says a thousand words

 

Cool!!!

 

You can also see in the photo howI attached those stepped screws in the front left / right side of the tail box to the back of the seat frame
The screws I used were a standard fitment on some model Honda, just can't remember which one?
I machined up a solid brass block and drilled /tappped it to suit, getting a good solid connection that is locked in place

 

Update - newsflash!
Yeh well, I finally got all the paint finished and the decals on, including several coats of clear over the top.
I would like to show a few photos, staring with "as purchased" and some of the detailed work along the way.
It will not be a tell all, that could be rather boring, but at least you will get the idea of my process, bringing an un-loved old VFR back to life
Photo one is the bike in "as purchased condition, the fairings had been removed, deemed too bad and may scare off any prospective buyer". Was there something nice underneath?
Photo two "Nearly finished" was a pre- assembly I did to apply the decals prior to clear coating the whole job.
I shall post 2-3 photos at a time over the next several days so as not to exceed the pixel limits

 

Very cool. Looks good, nice job.

I think your front rotors are backwards, swapped left / right

 

Good spotting Capt! Changed them around before someone else tells me I got it wrong, then looking at the rear disc - same issue except that the disc is counter bored for the bolt heads, and therefore not reversable - and the slots are also back to front?
Now I'm not saying I did the front to match the rear, just put it down to an old fart got it wrong, but did the manufacturer get the rear disc wrong at time of manufacture? Who knows?

 

As with all "relics", the exhaust system was a mess, front pipes were beaten back into shape, these plus the collector box ceranic coated, all I then had to do was make from scratch the muffler outers and pipe to collector box. I did these in stainless and assembled on a "jig" for conformity. There was a need to make a cutout on the inside (back) of the mufflers as can be seen in one of the photos. Inside of mufflers is standard Honda.

 

Sorry, missed the photo with the cutouts for rear axle clearance - try this

 

Nice. Lots of thoughtful details. Really like it. Look forward to seeing more pics. That last pic of the cutouts must be earlier, as I see you eliminated the passenger pegs. Are these pockets what was left after machining? I like the painted insets.

 

Yes - with no pillion passenger seat, the foot pegs seemed superfilous so I just cut them of (with a hacksaw) and then reiforced behind with s SS plate fixed on with high strength epoxy. This left a void visible from the front - what to do with that? My solution was to buy coloured UV stable casting epoxy in the appropriate red, white and blue. polished the now purpose- built mounting brackets, job done!

 

and the name of that product is what ?

 

Sorry, brand unknown, I just purchased it on-line from a Craft supplies shop here in Australia.
I was very specific in requiring UV stable epoxy with the appropriate colour pigments to suit (many are not UV stable)
Was told "so long as the bike does not live in the sun, this product will be good for many years"
I gave away my leftovers to my granddaughter but believe the only identification was the shop name on the packaging
Hope that helps?

 

These VFR 750F engines are indestructable - right? Well, thats what people were telling me when I bought the bike
Whatever, when first aquired she had been parked up a good many years, perhaps 15, and as stated at the start of this thread I found she was a smoker
Flushed the oil with some chemical that required me to run the engine for a prescribed time, no longer smoking, then dumped the oil and filter
I subsequently decided on a whim to change the valve guide seals, and am glad I did, some had cracks showing, and all were hard with age
Further, I replaced all the external oil seals and recently have run the engine up to "fan on" with not a whisper of smoke or fumes at any stage
The carbs were stripped right down, "O' rings replaced, settings checked and re-fitted to the engine on new insulators
A coat of heat resitant engine enamel for appearances and that was ready to go back in the frame - maybe?
I have not ridden her yet, but running on the centre stand, all the gears work, no horrible noises, and the clutch seems ok
There is some minor drag from the clutch but feel it is just from the long parked up experience. (all the plates were seperated when I checked)
Beyond that, I am working on the philosophy that "if it aint broke, don't fix it!"