New (to me) 91 in need of serious help

Yes I agree with that. There was no loose material in the float bowls just the stain/varnish.
Did you know that the early
Honda s did not have screws to hold on the float bowls? The just
had a simple spring clip and I never saw one fail. You could remove the float bowl very easily.

 

Okay then - I'm never one for wanting to make things harder than they have to be. Three points: 1.) The cam boxes were never left open to air, 2.) I have the Clymer's and the OEM service manuals (and I refer to them often), and 3.) the electrical stuff is sorted out now. That said, after receiving the carbs from Jethro yesterday I can say with some degree of certainty that something is mechanically wrong with the original set. The difference is night and day! I'm working on wrestling the disagreeable buggers in there right now, actually. Does anyone have a favorite way to do this that's more detailed than TC's: "Install the front carbs and tilt rear boots off engine to help mate with bad angle on carbs and attempt to show it some lovin.It may take more than one attempt and maybe a beer or ten. Does get easier after you do it a few times."

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

It does not get easier BUT....

Here is what I did to make it very easy,
I put the carbs in the front boots first. But I changed the rear boots to SILICONE boots made
for TURBO systems that are very soft and pliable and it is VERY, VERY easy now.
You can get those on Ebay. Just get one boot and you can cut it into two boots.

ALSO- get rid of those STUPID stock clamps on the VF1000f and R and get stainless radiator clamps from West Marine boat store. They are thin and have rolled edges and rolled grooves (made in Germany) about a buck a piece.

 

Fail...it turns out the carb set is 95% awesome. For that, I say thank you. The remaining 5% is somewhat critical, I think. Pictures to come, but in the meantime: one of the plastic T-tubes that runs between the individual carb bodies and the hose that connects that T-tube to the other is missing. I can pull those parts from my current set, but I'm pretty much certain I'm going to have to take the plate off and totally disassemble the set to do this. How much trouble have I just signed up for?

 

Very often the "T" tube is broken because the set of carbs was taken apart in the WRONG ORDER. Very common mistake by beginners.
See your shop manual. The larger diameter tubes on the bottom are fuel . The smaller diameter tubes on top are the float bowl vent tubes.

 

I never advise the removal of the manifold as most do it on a whim with no understanding of the problems to follow. You appear to more than aware and capable of the task at hand.It is a bit of a mess when they are split but if you are careful to note how it was before disassembled you will be fine .

 

Recommend taking lots of pictures during dis-assembly so you can see how things are when you go to put them back together. Good luck.

 

The carbs are / were in pretty nice shape when I got them what must be about six years ago but I never ran them so it would probably be a good idea to check a few things prior to installation. I would recommend at the minimum that you pull all the float bowls and blast the jets with some carb cleaner and compressed air. This should remove the visible varnish but may not get to some that is situated in the passages. Pull the tops off to check the diaphragms, slides and needles to ensure all is well up there and everything is properly assembled. If anything is out of sorts, use parts from your original carbs to complete the set. Like everyone has said above, you don't want to get good at installation and removal, it is a pain in the ass so take as much time as you need to be happy and confident that they are ready. It really isn't rocket science but you can get into trouble if you aren't clean and organized.

Have fun and get that beast back on the road!!

 

Yeah I know...I'm not tryin' to be an ass...I'm just tryin' to help with an honest evaluation. Besides, what I suggested IS the simple stuff.

Now that reality is kicking rogers in the ass here's some more advice...Instead of tearing those carbs completely into smithereen size pieces, try unbolting only the bottem plate and the panhead screws that hold the carbs to the manifold, then carefully pry the carbs off the knock pins in the manifold and remove it. You'll probably be able to gain enough clearance to wiggle the T's out and in. You'll have to separate the front and rears far enough to disengage the throttle plate linkages...so look how they go together and watch the springs between or they'll go flying. Careful not to bend any other linkages but leave them intact unless you have no choice. Never done it on that exact type bank...but I commonly do it on older V4 carbs and see no reason it shouldn't work here.

For installation...make sure both clamps on the intake manifold boots are completely loose. Use some silicone spray on the lips as lube. Get the front started and use a dull old screwdriver as a 'shoehorn' to get the lip of the rear maniifold boot around the front of the carb. Once you get 'em started, a good firm push on the front and rear usually is adequate to get everything together.

 

Rise again, thread long dead! After being intimidated by the (anticipated) scope of the work to be performed, I basically have been sitting on my hands for two months. Ceaseless badgering by my buddies finally embarrassed me to the point that I finally decided that enough was enough and tore back into the project today. Two words: "greatly exaggerated" - the difficulty, that is. Granted, this is all said before the completed Frankencarb has had its jolt of electricity, so I may yet encounter a snag or two but as of this point I'm highly optimistic that the remaining work on the carbs can be completed tomorrow afternoon and I'll have a functional bike by week's end (knock on wood or whatever else would be appropriate here).

Pictures of the procedure can be seen in the flickr set for this project, located here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogersj3/sets/72157624316060473/

On a separate yet related note, is anyone interested in purchasing a non-functional (but quite probably restore-able) set of carbs for a 3rd gen?

 

I had exactly the same experience with both my VFR750 and a CBR1000F, MUCH easier than you are led to believe by others. Just human nature to try and bolster ones achievement by making it sound harder than it really is I suppose.
The ease of fixing these things actually caused me to take on a VFR800 project, completely broken down (engine still in one piece) with water damage from hurricane. It took a while, but she's up and running great. Just took on a Hayabusa, it too is running great.

...and I'm a computer tech, nothing mechanical in my past except RC cars and Lego!

 

Great success! The carb unit is assembled and complete. I've ordered 4 new carb boots (or whatever the proper name for the standoff things may be) from bikebandit and once those arrive I should be in business! I am very excited!! With any luck, this bike will be rideable before the weekend is over.

:vtr2:​

 

Since you seem to be able to predict the future, I have a horse in the 5th at Bay Meadows that maybe you can give me a line on.

 

Looks like someone just cranked on the starter till they smelled smoke.

 

That is a common failure. Due to overcharging issues and the dreaded regulator / rectifier. Goto wiremybike.com for a fix.

Same thing happened to my 93, i added the vfrness, and a new r/r and it seems better than new.

Also, my starter seems just fine.

 

Far Out Close Ups DONALD!!! Would rather see some other close ups of maybe Gwen Steffani's private parts or something. I had the same thing with my 91 and ended up replacing the stator and using some new ends on the harness that terminated into the plug. No Fuse No Muss. Bike is a charging demon and still has the original R/R with 74,000 and counting. I gota ride my chit though, its been two weeks, I feel I am neglecting my duty.

 

I've already done the VFRness and replaced the RR and stator.

Today I reinstalled the carbs on the bike. Add a little Vaseline and it was way easy (following the instructions over a Jamie's place). Unfortunately, I'm still not up and running and so I'd like some suggestions. The bike will not start. I'm charging the battery right now just to be certain that wasn't the issue, but even trying to jump it she didn't want to go; the engine would get about one revolution and that was it. Ideas?

 

It gets one revolution on the starter then everything goes dead or the engine actually fires for one on revolution ?
If the former, then how do you get it to make the next revolution?
Are you jummped to a running car's battery ?

 

The car battery that you are jumping from or motorcycle battery does not need to be on a running vehicle. You should just touch it momentarily to see if the starter spins.

If the engine only turns once,that is another problem.

NEXT STEP

I would remove all 4 spark plugs and see if the engine spins.