VF500F - Custom Sprocket Cover

I recently completed a modified sprocket cover for my '84 VF500F. The modified cover is part of a continuing series of projects (some large & some small) for this bike.

The goal for this project was to re-work a stock cover to allow access to the front sprocket. For those of you who own a 500, having to remove the hydraulic clutch and then wrestle off the cover is a bit of a bummer when you want to inspect or do a quick change out on the front sprocket.

To simplify things I decided to cut away the material the conceals the front sprocket while still keeping to the general lines and intent of the original design.

As a first step, I wanted get an idea of the look of the cover with the material removed. To help with this I marked out the 'discard' area using blue painter's tape:



Once I had the right profile dialed in I packaged up the cover and sent it to my friend Rick Denoon (DSP) for a bit of machining work. Rick custom built his own CNC milling machine and makes light work out of these types of modifications:



After machining, the cover was media blasted and painted gloss black:



Being a fan of socket cap screws I decided to replace the OEM fasteners and ordered replacements, in stainless steel, from Bolt Depot. I also purchased a set of NOS gaskets, two are required, from David Silver Spares:



As many already know, when using stainless steel fasteners in aluminum casings, a very important step in the installation process is to use a high quality copper based anti-seize. The copper in the anti-seize compound helps to prevent a galvanic reaction between the two dissimilar metals:



With anti-seize liberally applied onto the threads of the fasteners the cover was secured in place. The install of the hydraulic clutch is next on the list:



With the socket cap screws torqued down and the clutch installed all that is left is a few test pulls on the clutch lever, and everything is looking good.

Here are a few photos of the completed install:



Side view:



Plenty of room to access the front sprocket:



I hope this helps other owners who have not been a fan of the effort it takes to access the front sprocket on the VF500F.

Keep on wrenching!

 

Looks very race. Nice to have a machinist friend! At first I thought the sprocket might not come off but later photos clearly show how much was removed. I like allen screws as well. Thanks for the write up.

 

Wow IC!!! Good going.

One of the things I liked about my 2nd Gen over my old VF500 was the sprocket covers ability to allow me to inspect the front sprocket and easily lube it.

Good work. You should sell a kit.

 

Ah, the "Nicky Mod"! Nicky Hayden had that done on most of his race bikes while in the AMA. The RC51 guys do that mod a lot, as well as the CBR guys.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

I originally got the idea for this mod looking at vintage 400/4 racing photos, from back in the day. I think the team at Honda had this in mind when they designed the sprocket cover for the CB400F. There is an inner wall that allows you to remove the material around the sprocket while still having a seal around the rest of the engine casing.

Here is a photo of the sprocket cover mod on my 400/4 project bike:



In part, I decided to modify the VF500F cover as I wanted the benefit of having a visual site line to the front sprocket when using a laser chain alignment tool ( http://vfrworld.com/forums/1st-2nd-generation-1983-1989/33803-profi-laser-c-t-vf500f-wheel-conversion-double-check.html ) and also the ease of access is a plus for a future 520 chain conversion that I have on the clipboard.

 

Sweet looking bike. Very classy!

 

It looks great and very professional. I was thinking the same thing as slowbird that if you could crank these out, you could make some money. Of course being 25+ years since these bikes were being bought in large quantities, sales might be a little slow ...........

 

Thanks stewartj. The CNC code is dialed in so these would be easy enough to machine on an as needed basis. I am sure Rick would be happy to fabricate them at reasonable price with the owner supplying a stock cover as a core.

One of the parameters for the design was to allow for the reuse of the stock fasteners. This simplifies things a bit and also keeps the cost down for those not interested in upgrading to the stainless socket cap screws.