Jim's $400.00 1986 VF500F

If you're gonna source levers, get the adjustable ones in my pictures. Still era correct and very nice.

 

Sh!t for $8.95 I may as well buy new! Thanks for the heads up.

 

Yeah, I like those. Looks like the same as I had on my 2000 VFR800FI.

 

I know, I know, you said so ! ....but I want to keep the OEM look as much as possible.

I still need to do more bleeding, there is still some air in there somewhere. But it is way better now. And safe.

Kind of scary that those 35 YO brakes lines were that bad. Need to do the rear now.

 

Took 'er out for a ride today, finally got warm enough. Dodging Houston traffic is always a thrill.

Front brakes still need bleeding.....these 1st gens are such a PITA regarding this. Better get another jug of brake fluid LOL.

 

If I'm dealing with a troublesome system, I bleed off into a clean container (like the brake fluid container I just burned thru) and reuse. You know the fluid is clean at this point.

 

Going to try this today....got the stainless lines on and it is better but still not right. Got nothing else to do today so why not beat my brains out on this?

 

So I removed the caliper and pushed the pistons in all the way. I did a standard "grab a handful" and this nasty fluid came out.

This is AFTER pumping through at least of pint of new fluid through the brake system. How is it possible for bad fluid to still be in there?

Are the piston seals that bad they they are coming apart and turning the fluid brown? Brakes are still mushy after doing the right caliper also.

 

Did you remove the pistons and clean everything up? Or just replace the lines.

If you didn't disassemble everything, I think you got some apple butter lurking in those calipers.

 

I just replaced the lines. Probably better take the calipers apart.

I have been working on this bike for so long I am starting to forget what I have done to it!

 

I just grabbed a handful of nothing but sponge brake lever on the CBX750 just now. Its got to be restored anyway, so it looks like ill be going back through the dreaded 80's Honda brake bleed process again too Jim.

Like Captain said, ill pull the pistons, I bought a set of piston pullers a while back and they work great. Every time now I pull the callipers and find the maple sugar in there, so its a good step to take.

I had no end of trouble on my 85 500 Interceptor and my VF1000R.

 

I ended up putting it back together after pushing the pistons in and out a few times and flushing fluid through.

Works 100% better now! I think it may be as good as it will get. I think I am at the "if it's not broke don;t fix it" stage.

 

if its working, id do the same Jim.

 

OK, next project....ENGINE VALVE TRAIN NOISE

I read several very old threads regarding the small VF engine and it seems engine noise is a feature. Most say is sounds like a sewing machine.

I can live with the mechanical noise mostly but there is an annoying tick that does not quite go away even when hot.

I have adjusted the valves 2-3 times using two feeler gauges but the noise is still there.

One thing I did notice was several of the valve tappet screws had flat spots in them on the tips. I used the best ones I could find from the spare engine but some are still not completely rounded on the ends. Could this be causing a noise issue? I was thinking of ordering a new set of the screws but did not want to waste my time if this is just normal noise for this engine.

 

Could be dished rocker pad.

Hopefully not

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

Yeah me too, I checked that pretty close when I built the engine and they all looked ok.

But that was 350 miles ago

 

replace the flattened adjusting screws, jim, as the distorted bottoms won't hold the adjustments long.

 

Took for ever but I finally found the exact right HONDA decal for the tail piece

It's the little things in life that make it worth it....

 

After even more searching found the closest front HONDA decal I could find. It is about 1/4" longer than the original.

I bought a pair of HONDA wings off Ebay and they ended up being pretty close. I just cut off the "HONDA" part and used it. Looks ok, but did not quite get it centered. Glad I don't have to look at it all time, my OCD would kill me.



Honda wing decal...off EbAy

 

looking good Jim !