'86 vfr with issues: carbs, R/R, possibly more

Hello all,

Found this awesome little corner of the internet and thought i would come and relate all my woe's to the pros out there.

A few years ago i bought a 1986 VFR700 from a guy who wanted it gone. It had some issues because it sat for 10 years in a garage. I took it to a shop and they got it going. However, such is not the game anymore.

First off, i know right now i have carb issues. One of the high-speed jets is clogged due to either debris or bad fuel (it sat for 5 months in east idaho in a storage shed since i graduated in december and it took a while before i could retrieve it and bring it home to washington). When the RPM's hit about 4.5k you can hear and feel one of the cylinders bogging down.

Second problem, I had some electrical issues. Neutral light on the panel kept flickering, as well as a few other things. Originally i replaced the OEM rectifier because it went bad a month after i bought it and got it running. However, it looks like i am up that road again. See the pics that i will attach below.

So, like any intelligent person I have a manual for the bike. I like to "dabble" in mech work. I did my own cars brakes and other things (the worst being the heater core on the 93 escort....*shudder*) but when it comes to working on the engine itself i am a complete noob. Anywho, i followed the manual (Clymer m458-2) with regard to removing the carb assembly so that i can try to clear the jets and remove anybad stuff i happen to see. HOWEVER.... there are a whole lot of tubes still attached that the manual doesn't reference in the disasembly process (i figured out for myself that they are the california evap/emissions crud) as well as the fact that I simply cannot budge the assembly. I got my rubber mallet and tried to gently dislodge the assembly but no dice.

Soooo.... would someone please tell me what i missed for the carb removal? How the heck do i get them off the engine (preferably without damaging them)??


And second for the electrical problem.... I thought it was just a short-circuit. After giving up on the carb assembly i started checking all my electrical connections. You will notice in the pictures that the rectifier/stator connections are completely crisped. I suppose that the problem could be worse.

I obviously will buy a new rectifier (aftermarket and probably end up from the same company) but with the connections completely fried like that i am at a bit of a loss. Should i order a new aftermarket stator or take mine out and send it out to be fixed?

Any advice you folks have would be wonderful.

Thanks

Kevin

Ps. This was, until now, my daily driver. I don't have a car cause it completely bit the dust when the timing belt broke. i got rid of it (it was a ford anyways) and i am trying to save for a new car but in the meantime this is my transportation. i want to get it fixed as soon as possible. please help!

 

Good catch on finding the burnt wires--Your rectifier unit may be okay, you will need to test it to determine. It just depends on whether there was any punch-thru on the diodes. You might be able to peel back that burnt foreskin on the wires and salvage it.

You will want to check the resistance of the stator windings and if there is continuity to the chassis, and replace if needed.

The root cause of that mess is the crimped-on spade terminal lugs in the stator connector. The sliding terminals are an evil invention that vibrate and open over time and become loose-- and the AC voltage from the stator will arc and spark across the tiny gaps and erode the metal, which makes the gap larger and aggravates the situation. The arcing causes heating in the high resistance junction and eventually melts the wires and plastic connector as you have found. You can prevent this from happening again by removing the lugs from the connector and soldering the wires, then wrap them with electical tape or use shrink wrap to insulate the joints. It will no longer be a 'plug and play (and burn)' connection, but it will never do that again, so you don't need the quick disconnect feature anyway.

You should try to get a copy of the factory service manual, search this site for pdf version. It will tell you how to test the RR, etc.

You have to loosen the clamps below the carbs that hold them to the intake tubes. Maybe heat them with a hair dryer to soften up a bit, then pry them up and off. Take a look at this:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/22449-cleaning-carbs.html

 

good to know about the rectifier. so basically test it to make sure it is still good and then strip back the wires on the stator and r/r and make them permanent. that should make life easier. (i hope). I am concerned about the fact that it gets hot in that area. always has. And that is why i will never wear shorts because i prefer to keep my white chicken legs (at least the left leg) raw instead of seared. I admit that the heat came in handy on cold days but i guess i will have to try to jury rig some cooling fan like so many others have done. i read somewhere once, not long after buying it, that the stator could be modified to not produce the extreme juice levels. Should i look into that or leave it as is?

As for the carb clamps, i did loosen them all. i simply couldn't get the assembly to come up and off. i was thinking prybar but.....again i really didn't want to damage them.

thanks for the link to the carb tutorial. now that i know where to put a screwdriver to pry i hope i can get them off.

 

Removing carbs, it helps to get the rears moving first. Don't try lifting the whole unit evenly. Heat helps. Don't detach the airbox bottom from the set.

Pry points shown in photo.

 

thanks for the advice folks. after that last pointer i managed to pop the carbs off. got everything cleaned out (and boy were they dirty). Took me two tries by my lonesome to re-attach the carb assembly. did the soldering thing on the R/R and stator connection and so far after re-assembly the bike runs great! better than in the last two years.

However i still have a pressing problem. There is an electrical drain on the battery when the bike is fully off. i have disconnected the battery (neg terminal) and removed all of the fuses from the fuse-box near the ignition. but upon measuring across the neg terminal and ground there is still (!) a draw on the battery. the voltage reads the same across the battery poles and between the neg and ground. (i am willing to bet there are a few inline fuses i should yank as well but i don't know where they all are.)anyone got any advice on that score? honestly i have no idea where the short could possibly be (or how it can be bypassing the fuse-box). some extra info on the electrical problem: my headlight intermittently ceases to function on low beam and the neutral light flickers. when the low beam pops out the neutral light pops off. i am thinking, even though i am probably wrong, that the short may be in the passive-on lighting circuit. Anyone familiar enough with the wiring harness to give me a guess as to where to check or maybe a different method?

thanks again for the previous advice on the carbs! it wasn't nearly as hard to dismantle them as i thought engine purrs like a kitten now. Though it does tend to want to stall when hitting a stop light and cutting the throttle but hasn't as yet.


PS. one of the carb boots is cracked. i am willing to bet that the oem boots prolly cost a fortune. anyone know where i can get my hands on an aftermarket set or should i just fork the money over for an oem set from honda? will be ordering in the next few days and while i am not looking forward to dismantling the bike again it will be a necessary evil...

 

OEM boots are cheap and readily available. Looking for the electrickal leak ?? Unplug the r/r.