VFR750 - Rolling Resto

Zen Dog · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Karma :

So, a minor update.

Rear Brake - Refitted the rear lever and MC, and working. Actual bite from the brake is still rubbish, but the caliper is a horrorshow, so that's to be expected. Function of the new MC and lever setup is much better, which is what I wanted for now. Bleeding was a pain though, I had to take the caliper off and suspend it to get all the bubbles at the bleed nipple.

New Exhaust - Fitted. It's blowing a little at the join with the rest of the system, because although the pipe sections meet each other closely, their outer profile doesn't match that of the interior of the clamp (which is designed for the thicker flanges of the original mild steel system I think). I've always just folded up a load of tinfoil into an inch wide strip, wrapped it around the join and put the clamp around the whole thing. It works quite well for a few years, but eventually goes flaky and falls to pieces as you move the exhaust around. I reused an old bit of tinfoil, but it's clearly too far gone and I need to make a new one basically. Is there something better than tinfoil I could be using though?

Firestorm Front End - Finally got out for a test ride after getting the top fairing repaired and back on. Only did about 10 miles or so. New front brakes are good, nothing exceptional but already good enough that I'm not really thinking about them too much. But I do need to move the lines at the master cylinder banjo because they're fouling the clocks at full lock. The forks operate fine, but they definitely need some setup. The bike feels like it's sitting slightly high at the front, a slight feeling of skipping over small bumps, and not great feel in the corners. Spoke to the suspension guy, and he's suggested reducing the preload as a first step, which makes sense. Unfortunately, the preload was already out by 6 notches, so I've gone another notch out to 7 (2 turns), but if that isn't enough I'm not sure how much adjustment is left. Haven't had a chance to test it yet, but I might need different springs again, we'll see.

Oil Cooler Pipes - I wasn't going to touch these on the basis of "If it ain't broke", but then I started looking at the corrosion on them and thinking about how fun it will be having hot oil spray onto my front wheel. Thinking about it now, I should probably have been more cautious, but the guy on the VFR facebook group gets mentioned so much I just contacted him and sent him the money. So far I have received a thumbs up from him. I hope the pipes will follow.

I'm leaving the lower fairings off till I've done the oil pipes and the bike is out of the shakedown phase, but in the meantime this is where I'm at.

https://i.imgur.com/lBUoYPN.mp4

https://imgur.com/a/3d59W1x
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Current - '94 VFR750FR (Dead), '00 VFR800FI, 2011 CBF125 Previous - '10 Street Triple R, '92 MZ ETZ301, '05 TTR250, NSR125R, KMX125, "Honda" Win (chinese copy of an old Honda design with a C90 engine)
My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011

stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

The rear brake is a bit meh even when in perfect working order with new seals all round and brembo pads. Adequate for the job though.

Plumbers silicone does a great job of sealing exhaust joints.

The FB guy does a cracking job of oil pipes.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8Af1RLV5vfB2izVCsSjkrO2_209IB40RelIvmSx5ZoW023uVVxy2hBYWg0gG8j_njn8ja0RDjrUKeikhB8p4QT7UqqAKNwmL2ePxwsgVJOtPlQ0MrdokEDeeg4tvF8S14f0rLDHEHD7y_GvYqVc8naG=w1547-h870-no
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

Zen Dog · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Karma :

stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

Zen Dog · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Karma :

I'll keep the fenagling equipment handy, and the jimmying and bodging facilities on standby. It's mainly just hammers and zip ties.
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Current - '94 VFR750FR (Dead), '00 VFR800FI, 2011 CBF125 Previous - '10 Street Triple R, '92 MZ ETZ301, '05 TTR250, NSR125R, KMX125, "Honda" Win (chinese copy of an old Honda design with a C90 engine)
My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011

myvision · Scooby Slapper Joined: 26 May 2016 Karma :

Zen Dog · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Karma :

Zen Dog · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Karma :

AN EPILOGUE

It has been.... some time. Life got in the way as usual. I did quietly get on with things on the bike in the background. Oil cooler and exhaust were both sorted. I rode the bike for a couple of months.

But then I really needed to bite the bullet and get to the bottom of the terrible MPG. The bike was doing about 100 miles to a tank (originally it was more like 170). I knew it would take me a while, working around other things in my life, but I decided to commit to it, and started ordering bits and pieces for a carb rebuild. I stripped them off the bike but I was really surprised by just how good their condition was (from the outside at least).

So I decided to do something I should have done at the start of this process, and ordered a decent (OTC) leakdown tester. Using it was a night and day process compared to the crappy one I tried using back on page one of this thread. Three of the cylinders were showing ~5% leakage, which is genuinely impressive given the 95k mileage on the bike. But the last one was a very different story. 40% leakage as first tested, and I could feel the air coming past the valves even fully closed. I was hopeful maybe it was just the valves, but a teaspoon of oil down the spark plug hole, turning it over a couple of times, and the new reading was around 25% leakage. So both the valves and the rings/bore are buggered I think.

So that's it really. She's dead in the water. I decided early on, and I know myself well enough, that if it was an engine out rebore job, I wasn't going to be up to it. I'm only able to get really into doing work on the bikes every other weekend or so, and I'd just lose track of everything, and if I took it apart it would just never end up going back together. I'm gutted, but that's life. So now I'm not sure what to do with it. I could strip it and sell the bits, at least help to keep everyone elses VFR750s running. Or just sell it to a breakers and they can do the same thing. Or I could keep it as a donor bike, and see if I can find the nice red VFR750 I always wanted. I'm not sure what I'll do. I bought a CBF125 off a mate for a bit of fun, and I ride it more than my perfectly working VFR800, so maybe my biking needs have just changed.

But a sad end to the first, and the best, big bike I've ever owned. Here's to you, L580NMY.
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Current - '94 VFR750FR (Dead), '00 VFR800FI, 2011 CBF125 Previous - '10 Street Triple R, '92 MZ ETZ301, '05 TTR250, NSR125R, KMX125, "Honda" Win (chinese copy of an old Honda design with a C90 engine)
My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011

Robby · Dirty Old Man Joined: 16 May 2002 Karma :

Borescopes are cheap. You should be able to see enough using one to find out if it's a trashed bored, bent vale, carbon buildup on the valve.

Even if you still get rid of it, at least you'll know what the problem was, and it won't nag at you until the end of time.