86 Vf500 restoration

Hi there all, new to the forum and I just recently picked up a 1986 Vf500 last weekend for about $600. Currently have the bike taken apart trying to get it running right again. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction in finding parts that will fit the bike and help answer some questions I may have along the way. Right now I tested the ignition coils to see how well they work and see that they're giving off a weak spark and was wondering if anyone could help me find a new ignition coils for the bike.

 

Have you heard this bike run or know it's history pretty well?

If you are going to be keeping and working on this bike, the first thing you need to do is verify the cams (if you do not already know their condition). You need to pull the Valve Covers and inspect the cams and followers for abnormal wear. If you can't accomplish this or learn how, this is not the project for you.

Not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic. These bikes can be high reward, but require high effort.

If the top end is not decent, the bike (engine) is not worth fixing.

Also, those Honda coils are very resilient. It is very rarely the coil that is the issue. Corrosion in switches and electrical connections can be.

 

How man y miles on her ?

compression test is a must do b4 beginning work !

 

She's got 20k miles on her, I'm pretty mechanically inclined I have taken apart a couple bikes before but never messed with a v4 before so was looking for some pointers, she ran before we took her apart but was running pretty lean so we decided to try to sync the carbs and check a bunch of stuff. We're gonna do a compression test this week to see how it is. What's the psi I should be looking for on this engine? The coils were pretty corroded too but decided to see if we could just buy some new ones and not worry about it. We're also replacing the plugs and wires just do a whole basic time up on it.

 

Sounds like you have a good base knowledge to continue. Start reading now on how to do a proper V4 carb clean, prob a good portion of your problems.
Please, read, read, read on this subject before proceeding and not just start tearing shit apart on the carbs. They have some very particular needs.

And I don't care if somebody said they've been cleaned or they looked good. About 1% of V4 owners can do proper carb services.

And good luck!!

 

anything above about 130 psi (cold) is good. less than 90=junk. ideally, should be about 180 hot.


most parts you'd want are 99% unavailable, and you need care not to damage anything you're wrenching on.

 

Thanks for all the tips, I got the clymers manual for the bike so that will be a huge help with everything. We're waiting on the book before we really start putting stuff back on the bike and really working on it.

 

For anyone still watching this post, I managed to find brand new coils and made new wires and bought new spark plugs. The engine has good compression on all cylinders. The carbs have been taken out and look over and got new manifold boots for them. We're now starting to paint all the plastic bits on the bike because they really needed a coat of paint.

 

I just got my $350 91 VFR750 running. My advice(which I didn't do myself) is to forget the paint until the mechanical issues have been completely resolved. You could easily be putting lipstick on a pig. It certainly doesn't hurt to paint while waiting for parts but it shouldn't IMO be a first priority. Your(my) new paint job can easily be messed-up as you take it apart again and again to resolve mechanical issues. FWIW.

Good luck,

Jack

 

Forgot to bring this up but got it fully working all good. What solved the weak spark was needing a new ignitor module. Its got some pretty decent power, actually kinda scared me for a second haha. So making it look pretty is all that needs to be done.