Project VF500F2

I've had a VF500F2 sat in the garage for a few years now, waiting for a good time to start the project and have now finally got round to it.

When I first got the bike I managed to get it started and it ran briefly but would not idle. I decided to drop the engine and carbs out, firstly to make working on them slightly less awkward but also to allow me to clean the frame up properly.



My plans for the engine so far are to check the timing and valve clearances. Is there anything else on these engines that is worth doing before it goes back into the frame?

One area of concern so far is that one of the intakes seems to have taken in water at some point and caused quite a bit of corrosion



This has also effected the respective carb



Is there any know issues that could of caused this or anything in particular I should check having seen this?

I have also seen quite a few different gasket kits on eBay and figure I may as well buy the whole set in case I need to go further into the engine at any point. Has anyone got any recommends of good kits or ones to avoid?

 

Is that just surface corrosion in the port from a moist environment? Is there corrosion on the valve stem that might cause the stems to stick... if not... Valves are sealing if they will not allow a thin liquid to pass, i.e., you can give the engine a couple of rotations and stop with those intakes closed, then syringe in some gasoline..... if the gasoline doesn't go down or takes a very long time to go down, the valves are sealing... note also there is some leakage allowable. I can't give you a number.... just basically seeing if you can avoid a teardown. All it might need is a little cleanup what you can get at and run the darn thing. IF you want to try that, let's hear what you find/how long it takes for the gasoline to go down...

 

Inspect cams and followers. If passes then

Adjust valves. Then

Compression and leak down test. If passes then

Do happy dance. If not then

Shut off lights and look for engine.

 

Just to add in something simple, replace the o-rings on the coolant piping. Clean the pipes and ports real good and lube up the new o-rings. And replacing the rubber washers on the valve cover bolts if needed.

 

Man I have seen this before. I am on my second engine for my VF500F trying to find a good one. They are out there but no telling what you are going to get when you buy them.

Here is the gasket set I bought. No as good a quality as Honda OEM (which you can't get anyway unless it is NOS)

The head gaskets are not that good, but beggers can't be choosers. These guys also have standard ring sets.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/143490743952?ViewItem=&vxp=mtr&item=143490743952

 

water in the intake port most likely got into that cylinder, and you'll be lucky if it didn't rust the piston rings and cylinder wall. if the carbs' throttle plates are stuck, it can be very difficult to free them up without damage.

chances for success on this project are less than favorable, so if you really want to ride, find and buy a running bike.

 

Where's the challenge in that?

 

I'm hoping it is just surface corrosion. There does seem to be a little bit on the valve stems but they are still moving freely when I turn the engine by hand. Putting fuel down to test for leakage is a good idea...however I'm currently working on the engine in a bedroom so I'm trying to avoid completely stinking the place out with petrol fumes - nice idea though!

I'm currently following Captain 80s suggestion and have got the cams out for inspection. One of the bearing surfaces on the head itself has a bit of scoring





The pictures do make it look worse/deeper than it is, however it's still not filling me with hope for this engine.

Thanks for the link Jim, sadly they don't ship to the UK which is a shame because that one looks a fair bit cheaper than what's on offer on UK eBay and would be nice to have one that someone has tried for the quality!

I agree currently this engine isn't looking fantastic. Fortunately I do already have a good spare engine and good set of carbs from a whole set of other spares that I bought with another VF500 my Dad has just bought. So I have those to fall back on if this one doesn't work out. The plan with this Engine is just to see if I can get it to run, purely as a hobby and something to do on the evenings. I'm not going to throw loads of money into it so if it doesn't work out it wont owe me anything.

 

I'm looking at the adjustment on that one valve spring...it seems to be suspiciously different from the rest in the picture (merely an observation). It appears that the surface on the rocker arm pad is worn through, as well. It is impossible to tell the condition of the engine from just a couple pictures, but the ones I've seen, aren't exactly confidence inspiring. A nice challenge, if you are looking for such a thing.

 

More cause for concern today unfortunately. I took the camshafts down to the Engineers at work to borrow a micrometer to measure them. I got the following results for lobe heights:

InF 34.95/34,95mm
ExF 34.97/34.98mm
InR 34.91/34.91mm
ExR 34.94/34.94mm

According to the Clymers manual I have the wear limit for the intake is 35.18mm and the exhaust 35.08mm...

My only hope here is that the UK bikes had different Cams to the US Spec VFs. I had a search and found a thread discussing this but it was too old a thread so all the links to pictures of various specs were broken. Does anyone if they are different and if so what the UK specs are for the '85 Engine?

 

pix of the head are ok but more cam bearing wear normally happens on the upper surfaces.

 

The surfaces on the Cam Shaft holders all look okay - thanks for the heads up though.

I've been doing some more digging into the Cam Specs for the bike. Looking at the Honda Service Manual (I think this one is US Spec, think I need to try and get hold of the UK version from eBay or similar) my Cam measurements seem much closer to the '86 spec



My Engine is Serial No. PC12E - 2112046 so would seem to be a mid '85 from the below



I found this thread where someone asks the question about whether the UK bike had a US Spec "86" Engine a year early but there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer. Does anyone know whether this is the case and/or what the UK '85 Cam Specs are?

 

Looks like a line bored head, which as far as I know, is 86 only on the 500 motors.

 

Managed to get home this weekend and strip the frame down a bit further ready to get it re-sprayed.



You can tell a lot of the bolts haven't moved since 1985. We came across a few issues, the main one being the Swing arm pinch bolt rounded straight away (after it had finally been dug out of years of caked on oil and road grime). The plan is now to try and drill it out this week.

I also had issues removing the rear brake lever splines from the FootRest Carrier. Are these just press fit and need persuading out or is there more to it?

The rear shock on the bike is a Hagon unit



Like everything else on the bike its pretty tired and from initially sitting on the bike it seems seized solid. These shocks seem to have a decent reputation amongst the VF500 groups though so I have sent an e-mail to Hagon to see if they could refurb it. If not I'm going to have to look at replacing it.

The other problem was at the front end taking the wheel off and more signs that this bike hasn't had the easiest of lives. Undoing one of the axle clamps and it crumbled apart as it came off.



If I'd have started this project when I initially bought the bike a few years ago I think I'd have given up again pretty quick - too much needs doing (and spending) to too many parts of it. I didn't pay much for it and I now know why! What's going to keep this bike alive now is the large amounts of spares we bought with my Dad's bike. It seems a shame to have a lot of nice spare parts boxed up under the work bench when with a bit of time and effort we can pick out the best bits of what we've got and create a second reasonably nice bike without spending too much extra.

The plan will now be to get the original engine back together and compression tested. If all is okay we'll plan to put it back in the bike. If not the spare engine will get used. We have spare 30mm and 32mm carbs plus the originals. I'm currently thinking the 32mm will get used as they are in by far the best condition and won't need much if anything doing.

I'm costing up getting the frame/swing arm and some of the more visible parts powder coated. Whilst it's all apart it seems a good opportunity to have things done properly. If it comes back stupidly expensive I'll see what results I can get with rattle cans first.

Once that's all done we'll start putting it back together. The bikes likely to end up on the 17 Inch wheels we've got. Mainly because they have decent tyres on them already whereas the original wheel's tyres don't even hold air.

 

I sold your Dad the bike and the spares. The 30mm carbs are knackered and only fit for spares. Tell your Dad not to be mean, and just use the spare engine I sold him!

 

I figured you'd probably be on here, and did wonder if you'd ever see this thread and see what was happening to it all! I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on planning to use the 32mm carbs? That Engine is definitely the more likely plan at the moment. I'd just like to see if I can get this one to run first for the fun(?) of it.

Speaking of the fun of it...I set out to get the engine back together this evening but didn't make it very far. I couldn't get the cam chain tensioners to give me enough slack. I was using the straightened end of a bungee cord through the locking hole but I think it was bending too much. Anyone got any good tips for things to hold it open that are easy to get back out once it's all in?

I also spoke to Hagon today, they reckon the shock I pulled off the bike is ~16 years old and they can't refurb it anymore. Looking at replacement options a new Hagon or YSS seem the wallet friendly options. Are they any particular pros/cons to either of them or better options to consider?

 

The 32mm carbs were brand new when I bought them. I put them in your Dad's bike expecting a monumental power increase. Needless to say this didn't transpire. However. the carbs on VF bikes are notorious for giving trouble so if you can prise the 32mm ones away from him, at least you know that is one thing you don't have to worry about. The tensioners should go in without too much trouble. Can't remember what I used to hold them open.

 

Not had much progress recently and now under lock down at home with most of the bike parts I was working on stuck at work frustratingly. I've been digging through the parts I have here looking for small jobs to get on with and have dug out all the black plastic parts. Most are worn out and faded with age. There's various "quick fix" products I've found online but I'm hoping to find a more permanent solution if anyone has any recommends? Or is it best just to paint?



The fuse cover has had a protector on it at some point so there's a clear stain now it has been removed. I've cleaned all the adhesive off it and tried some T-Cut to no avail. Is there anything that will bring back an even finish or will this need painting?

 

I have tried many products to bring back plastic finishes. Nothing ever looks good for long. I suggest paint it and be done with it.

 

After a bit of a gap in things I finally got all the parts back home from work and things are back underway. I contacted a few powder coaters to get a price for everything I wanted done, but having never had anything powder coated before I wasn't sure what price to expect and in the end needed to cull about half of the parts to get the cost down to what I could afford. In the end I just had the frame, stands and triple trees powdercoated, and the rest I will paint myself as I go on with the rebuild. The powdercoaters had a bit of a back log of work but I got it all back this week.



I've opted to use the low mileage 1986 engine (estimated 4000 miles) that we bought from Jeremy with my Dad's bike. Having seen the trouble people on here have had fighting to revive old engines the original looked like it was going to be a bit of a time and money pit. Once this bike is all back together I will look at rebuilding the other engine, hopefully that might end in us having a good spare engine... I was amazed at how easy fitting the frame to the engine was instead of fighting the engine into the frame, but I guess they were designed to be done that way from the factory anyway.



Sadly that's as far as we could get this weekend due to a few parts still being on back order. The main one I need to continue is the swing arm dust seals, so I now have a pile of parts waiting to go on as soon as the seals arrive.