Very Tempted

[Moxey]

A VF500 Interceptor just cropped up for sale in my local area for sub £400, very tempted to buy as a birthday gift for the old man who keeps saying he wants to get a bike again.

From what I remember the only problem mentioned is the exhausts rusted on it (I know from a mates VF400 its can be a bitch to repair if its the collector box), comes with a spare engine and some other bits n' bobs from what I remember glancing at the ad.

The lad who owns it is local to me and seen him riding it for last 2 years, bit rough but seems like it goes forever, main things I can see as problematic is spares due to the nature of an import VF and possibly weight but it seems ridiculously cheap to pass up on.
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Current: 02 FZS 1000 & 91 Royal Enfield Bullet 350 Some Bike Pics...
'I was too busy paying attention to pay attention'

[Bezzer]

If your old man is good on the spanners and wants a bit of a project to do up then it would be a nice present
As it's been in regular use hopefully the owner has kept on top of it, can suffer from crank, cam trouble etc if it hasn't been serviced regularly over it's 25 or so years life..
Can be complicated/fiddly to work on but that's half the challenge David Silver does stuff for it and as there's a few V4 500 models theres the possibility of mixing and matching stuff you may need.
If he's not so interested in maintenance and wants a bike just to ride then forget it.
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I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[Kickstart]

Hi

From memory the engines suffered crank problems sometimes. The one I almost bought ate its crank about 2 months later.

They were officially imported, but not sure what differences there were between UK and non UK models(if badged interceptor I guess it is a US model).

They had a reputation for good handling when they were new(ish).

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Shaft]

From what I've seen recently, anything that's even half way to being a going concern is worth at least 500 quid, so for under 400, I'd buy it just to sell on for a profit.
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Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035

[Moxey]

Well he is more than competent with spanners just his back injury limits him nowadays, but not sure how complex V4s can be (my mate with the VF 400 had hell with just doing the carbs he dared not even touch the rattly cam chain before selling it) and hearing about the crank issues I'm a little put off but as mentioned its going for £325 with a spare engine so definitely a

Found a pic of it from a while back, was in car park taking a photo for a mate who had just got a new bike at the time and saw it parked up.

https://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc425/8Moxey8/VF500F.jpg

Looking at it now doesn't look too bad barring the rusty radiator, may have to pop through and get a good look at it in person still, for the info guys.
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Current: 02 FZS 1000 & 91 Royal Enfield Bullet 350 Some Bike Pics...
'I was too busy paying attention to pay attention'

[Kickstart]

Hi

At that price I would be tempted.

Looking at that it has a half fairing and cast wheels. UK ones had a full fairing and comstar wheels.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Shaft]

It's got a comstar on the front.

Got to be worth that, if only as a breaker.
____________________
Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035

[Dan79]

I had one of these as my first bike 8 years ago and for its faults, if I had £400 floating around to spend on a bike, I'd be tempted to bag it if it is road legal.

Problems I had with mine mainly related to the exhausts as another poster mentioned; corroded to the point where entire system needed replacing which lead to me giving it to a friend who subsequently scrapped it - a sore shame. Also I am lead to understand that the windscreen is prone to cracking - mine was cracked on acquisition. The complex rear spring linkage caused problems too in terms of premature wear.

All of the above considered, it is an easy bike to ride even for someone my height (below average) and in my opinion a very good looking bike. And as the one you're looking at lacks the fairings over the front cylinders that mine had it should make access easier.
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Previous bikes - 1984 Honda VF500 (FII) Interceptor and 1990 Yamaha RXS100
Current bikes - 1984 Honda VF500 (V30) Magna

[Kickstart]