87 VFR 700F2AC – My 50th Birthday Present to Myself

About 2 years ago, I regrettably sold my first VFR. It was a beautiful all white ’86 VFRF2 that I invested a lot of time and effort into. Long story short, I’ve regretted it ever since. Fast forward to today, I’m about a month away from turning the big 5-0, and I can only think of one thing I want for my birthday.... another VFR. So, off to Craigslist I went. I found an ’87 VFR 700F2AC that has been sitting in storage for 7 years. It's a California emissions bike which I'm not real happy with, but oh well. The bike had no title, no keys, had 2 flat tires, and obviously did not run. However, the bike is mostly complete including all those hard to find parts. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. All the plastic body bits are intact and appear to be original (not reproductions). I had to rescue this bike, right?? Anyhow, I got the bike for “a song”.

I've intentionally held off putting money into the bike until I legally owned it. I've spent some time getting all the documents from the DMV, vehicle theft recovery inspection, bond, etc. Then I had to play the waiting game from the state office to process the title. Eventually I received a bonded title for the bike in my name. This feels like a "win", and now it's time to show the bike some love.

I’ve now had some time to dig deeper into the bike, and I really enjoy working on it. It is mostly intact, but there are a few missing bolts here and there. I freaking love these things. Since both tires were old, dry rotted, and flat, I took the opportunity to upgrade the wheels to 17” front and back (Euro VFR in back and CBR 600F front) and going back with Conti-Motion tires (120/70/17 front & 150/70/17 rear). I really like this look better than stock 18" & 16". While I had everything off, I sprung for genuine Honda bearings & seals. The brakes looked fresh, so I did not replace them. By the way, the bike rolls much better now without the 2 flats.

My New-To-Me '87 VFR 700F2AC


New shoes for the old gal...


I pulled the ignition out & took it to Al Lamb Honda here in Dallas. I left it with them over the weekend, and they were able to cut me 3 new keys to fit the ignition switch. They had to really work with the switch to loosen it up. Finally I have keys to the bike. Thankfully the gas tank lock and seat lock are original to the bike, and my keys work on them too. Nice to have another "win" on this bike.

Today, I pulled the oil plug and filter for a quick change. My stomach sank when I saw a small (tiny) stream of milky white in the oil catch pan. In all fairness, it is a very tiny amount of milkiness, but it’s scaring the shit out of me that there might be a blown head gasket or something similar. I immediately took the radiator cap off to inspect the coolant, and it looks perfectly green. I guess my next steps will be to pull the plugs and run a camera into each cylinder for inspection.

Awwww, phuck!!!!


Now I get to figure out where this moisture is coming from. Also, I went ahead and ordered orings, carb float needles, seats, micro filters, and the other misc parts for old carbs that need some cleaning & attention. More to follow soon...

 

Nice machine! So the engine hasn't run yet?

You and I BOTH need to work on our front turn signals!

 

Congrats! Very cool. Nice choice on wheels/ tires for a cool, bolt on, era-correct mod. Now I see why you've been in my 86 thread so much lately.

Moisture can come from the air and from combustion. Don't fret and don't start ripping things apart (except for the carbs) until you change the oil and run it up to operating temperature ON A RIDE for 30 - 40 minutes or more. Then re-check the oil. I'll bet it will be golden still.

CAL bike is not a big deal. I can walk you thru removing and deleting everything. It's super easy. The carbs are the same size, just some extra vent spigots and extra vacuum to deal with.

Stoked for you! Something about 'em, huh?

OH!!!... Happy Birthday OLD MAN.

 

That amount of moisture in the oil could simply be from seasonal condensation over 7 years; depends what the temp variation was from winter to summer where the bike was stored. Condensation from humid air in the crankcase releasing moisture in cold air winters mean we change the oil on our bikes every spring in Canada (unless we have temp controlled storage, of course...). Now that you've changed the oil, I would continue to change all fluids , clean out tank and carbs and run it for a bit to see what shakes out.

 

Hell of a find. Congrats. I'm not far off down in Austin and have a few random spares here and there if you want anything, hit me up.

Always hated how the fairings have indentation for the euro/jdm markers, but we got the big ugly stalk things

 

Thank you. Yes, I learned a lot from you on your previous posts, and I applied that to my previous '86 too. Those 17" wheels really do something for the bike. I also want to thank you for posting the o-ring info for the fuel t-lines & float bowls. You've given us all a lot of valuable tips and information to keep these bikes on the road. And I'll definitely appreciate the help with deleting the emissions parts.

 

Agreed. However, the turn signals will be one of my last things to work on. I can just now roll the bike around in my shop to work on it. Now I've gotta get this engine running.

 

Yes, I'm hoping that it's just condensation related. The storage building the bike sat in was not climate controlled, so I can only imagine. I'm planning on flushing the rad & checking the lines, seals, etc. After I get the engine running, I'll ride it for 30 minutes and recheck the oil. Fingers crossed it's a non-issue.

 

I appreciate the offer, and I may reach out later on. Thank you!

 

I hear ya. These bikes are not easy to roll around with low or no air in the tires!

My white one shown above didn't have a title either. I have the paperwork in hand and will go to the local tag office this week.

It also came with different keys for the ignition and tank. No key for the seat release. I got the code from the assembly and ordered a key from an eBay seller so now I have 3 freaking keys!

My yellow bike, OTOH, came with and still has only 1 key for all three locks, like yours. Much better!

Please keep us posted on the work you do to her......I know I speak for many here it would be of great interest!

 

Nice ride. I have seen much worse on the oil side as well. Once you dig in and start carb work I would replace all the coolant seals and tubes. That also is a good time to pull radiator and flush all the ick thoroughly.
This area included. It is a solid piece of mind when I ride. Cal smog is not so terrible either. I started with a bit of a poo bike and finished with a real clean VFR750 that is wonderful to ride. Just takes patience and a little coin.

 

What size tires did you choose for the 17" conversions?

 

I put 120/70/17 up front & 150/70/17 on the rear. When ordering them, I was unsure about the tire size, but I'm happy with them.

 

Congrats on the new bike

 

Those are too big for the rims you installed. You have for sure negatively affected the designed profile of the tires by pinching them on way too narrow rims.

You now have less contact patch than the correctly sized narrower (bias ply) tires. If you wanted radials, you should have gone the F2 rims path. Modern radials are simply not designed for 2.5 and 3.5 inch rims.

110/80-17 and 140/80-17 is as wide/low profile as you can go and be in any tire manufacturers recommended rim width for 2.5 & 3.5 rims. Even for bias, as soon as you drop to 70 series you are out of range in those widths. Those might sound pretty close to the sizes you bought, but it's all about how the RADIAL tire was designed to work and fit on modern, wider rims.

It's your bike, so as long as you're happy with them. Don't mean to be a downer, but I do mean to keep others from thinking it's a good idea. It's not.

 

Many of these older bikes tempted folks to go with wider tires. It happened/happens a lot on the CB-1 also.

 

And the Hawk GT with it's 2.5 x 17" front wheel.

Just put tires on my CB-1. Can't even (shouldn't) put a 120 radial on it's 3.0 x 17" front rim.

 

While the diameter on the tire sidewall is correct, the width and height are rarely accurate. Going to the manufacturer sites can provide some guidance, but even that won't tell the buyer the shape of the tire. Just about no one needs the grip afforded by "regular" tires these days. Mounting wider ones usually squishes the tire making the contact patch smaller. One of my favorite pics from "the old days."



That 50 series tires, which they put on a TON of bikes...really sucked.

Not sure if places publish this info anymore, but many used to.





A little fun from CB-1 tire shopping back in the day:



CB-1, track bikes, and others!

 

Yeah, I wondered bout that too. However, the 89 CBR 600F front wheel I ordered (used) off eBay came with a 120/70/17 dry rotted tire already mounted, so I made the mistake of assuming it was the correct size for that rim. I just replaced what was already on that rim with the same size. I should not have made that assumption.

As for the back tire, this was the only tire size I could order (only size available back in December) that was close to the size I wanted. When I ordered these tires I more focused on getting something/anything on the bike to move it around the shop easier. Regardless, after I get the bike running and re-painted, then I'll probably circle back and put properly sized tires on the bike. I appreciate y'all bringing that to my attention.

 

This is some really good information! Thank you, and I appreciate it. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, after I get the bike running and re-painted, then I'll probably circle back and put properly sized tires on the bike.