Another VF1000R getting a new lease on life.

Hey guys, I got this bike in July after I saw it at work. I work for a 10 acre motorcycle sale and salvage operation in Minnesota called Sport Wheels. This bike had been sitting there since 2004 and had 22,xxx miles on it. Since I got it, I:
-Verified that the engine turns over
-inspeced the cams to see if they had scoring due to oil issues
-repaired melted wiring
-cleaned contacts in handlebar switches
-purchaed a CDI box, air box, heatshield for between the carbs and radiator from Ebay
-cleaned carbs and replaced diaphram slides, springs, and top caps with parts from a VFR750 (the slides were the same, but I needed to use my original needles.
-tried starting the bike, but to no avail. The bike would fire out the intake.
-Somebody had indexed the starter clutch wrong, and the pulse generators were sending signal at the wrong time.
-Rebuilt front and rear master cylinders. The rear needs the mounting holes to be filled and re-threaded.
-repaired the fiberglass fairings and did all the bodywork to make it look good again
-Stripped the tank and started pulling the dents That brings you up to date. I just spent the last 2 hours writing a detailed write-up with pictures of everything in order, but when I submitted it, the site didn't load and I lost everything I had worked on, so this one is a little more to the point. Here's the pictures.





This is the bike as I got it. I got the fairings, rear section, and seat, but they are just not pictured here.











The master cylinder rebuild kits.



Rear rebuild kit, with the original parts I pulled out.



Everytime I need to see the inside of this engine, it amazes me how clean it is inside.





Carbs with the original diaphrams in and original top caps.



Carbs with the VFR750 diaphrams, springs, and top caps.





Fairings as I got them.













Fiberglass repair. I used a fiberglass material called Kittyhair to repair the cracks. Inside first, then on the outside. The yellow, is the tape to help keep the shape while I repaired the inside first.







Once the fairings were structurally sound, I started the bodywork.















First of many rounds of primer.









Final prime, just about ready for paint.





Aircraft Stripper doing it's job on the nasty black paint.





After one application, you could see the original paint. It looks like when they repainted it, they sanded through the decals that were the honda "wing" and the white stripe, leaving the red and blue still there.



All paint removed.



Started pulling the dents in the tank.









That's where I am now. I am currently a full time student majoring in Automotive Engineering Technology, and participating in Formula SAE for my Senior Design project, so I only get 1 night a week to work on the bike, so this build will be fairly slow, but I'll keep it updated as best as I can. Until next time, enjoy this round.

 

I apologize for the horrible formatting. I've never posted pictures in a thread. I've searched, but how do you insert line breaks so it's not all jumbled together? I'll fix it as soon as I figure it out.

 

JDM amazing job so far, I like the pictures. nice work on the tank!

 

You are a glutton for punishment but it will be worth it in the end, nice work so far.

 

nice work! love to see those old beauties resurrected.

 

Great work! Nice to see a kR being restored. Please keep us posted on the progress.

 

Yeah, Sport Wheels is a pretty special place. It's the last of a dying breed in terms of used motorcycle stuff. We do have a decent amount of VF parts too. I have a VF500F that I'm restoring as well, and I've found more than 10 VF500Fs in the yard. We have 1 VF1000F, and tons of VF700Fs. We even have quite a few of the first gen VFR700 laying around.

Anybody know how I can add the line breaks in my first post so it is not formatted so bad? I figure there just must be some piece of code like <linebreak> or something, but I have been unable to find anything on the web about how to do it.

 

Are you going back to stock colors and decals and what are your ultimate plans with the bike? Are you keeping it for yourself or planning on selling it down the line? Excellent work so far!!

Rollin

 

Yeah, the plan is to go back to the stock color scheme. As I also have a 1986 VF500F that needs paint as well, I will paint both bikes at the same time. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find correct decals for the VF1000R. I have found a few for the 85 scheme, but none for the 86 unless it is for the Rothmans theme, which I don't want. Any suggestions?

 

Try here:

http://www.reproductiondecals.com/default_frameset.html

Send an e-mail with your request. They have an extensive library of Honda decals and do excellent work.

Hope this help!

On a side note, you mentioned having ten or so VF500Fs in the yard. Any good '86 engines out there? Thx!

 

Nice use of your calculus text book. Did that integral education payoff in being able to do this project?

 

Nice use of your calculus text book. Did that integral education payoff in being able to do this project?

This is the bike of my childhood, the bike to have back in the 80's. Awesome job.

 

Looks like fun. Keep us posted.

 

Very nice work. It's awesome to see these bikes brought back from the dead. I can't wait to hear that you've got it running. It's probably been many, many years.

 

Nice to see that you are still at it! Keep us posted on your progress.

 

Fortunately, I haven't had to use any Calculus on any of my bike builds, but who knows, maybe someday.

We have mostly 84-85 in the yard, and it would be a good wager that they got to the yard because of an engine failure, and because they have been sitting outside for so long, I don't know that I would trust any of them. We do have 2 brand new 1984 engines in crates though. We had 3 and I took one for my 86 VF500.

 

Looks good so far...

 

Keep it coming, this is my entertainment for the next year while I'm away from home. I'm looking forward to the day when I can begin a restoration like this.

 

Well, I got some good time to work on the bike this weekend. I was able to get the gas tank into final primer. It was pretty difficult to figure out what this tank was supposed to do because both sides were damaged. I think I got it figured out, but I'm still a little puzzled by the dents on the bottom corners of each side. They are both the same on each side, and they follow the pinch weld, so I figure they are supposed to be there. Here is the tank from when I started, to where it is now.



















































The tank now is hopefully in it's final prime. Once I block it out again, it should be ready for sealer and paint. From here, the only things I have left to get ready for paint are the tail, and fork legs. I should be able to get some of that done next weekend.