VFR 750F - Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

[lilredmachine]

So, a mate of mine states that he has an old VFR 750F in storage down at the local zoo (stored in the monkey enclosure perhaps?) and that he wants to get it back on the road. When asked what nick the bike is in he says (in a thick welsh accent) 'Oh, no bad, needs a bit o' bodywork doin and the front brake needs work'. 'Ok, ok, drop it off and I'll have a look at it' I reply.

This is what turns up. Note this is after about 2 hours cleaning. The bike looked like it'd been dredged up from the ocean floor, covered in builders sand for some reason, brakes seized on, every panel smashed, clocks broke, rust everywhere, corroded alloy, paint flaking, bodges galore, missing fixtures and fittings... The pictures do it far, far too much justice.

https://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2349/35016101512528633084851.jpg

https://img341.imageshack.us/img341/3131/15434510151252864138485.jpg

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https://img856.imageshack.us/img856/542/54272210151252865333485.jpg

I kind of looked at him in disbelief and he said 'Righto, I'm off, got work to be done, let me know how it goes boyo', hopped in his van and poooooof... disappeared. Leaving me with a heap. Bike has been dropped on both sides, the brake lever has been snapped off at the M/C and the M/C is missing the rear clamp. I guess that's why the brake needed attention then...

So main issues are:

Electrical condition = unknown. Loom seems to be in good condition with mostly original connectors, few splices and bit of home bodgery but nout I haven't seen before on a 20+ yr old bike. Battery is presently shot and has no fluid in it, so a new one needs to be sourced before much can be done.


Motor condition = unknown. Apparently running up till a 'short' while ago but I would take that with a pinch of salt. Upon removing the tank, the little bit of fuel that spilled out was the same colour as Red Bull, which is never a good sign. Whipping the airbox off reveals an air filter in good condition and a cleanish set of carb venturi, which is pleasing. Guess the game plan is new battery, new fuel plus carb flush, check presence of oil, see if it cranks and sparks and try to get it to fire. One good thing about this bike is it has a full set of Motad stainless pipes on it, so there's one less thing to faff with.


Chassis condition = Surprisingly good. Mr Honda's legendary finish has held out against father time's boot of damp neglect. A soft going over with fine wet and dry on a daub of Autosol seems to be enough to restore the majority of parts. Only problem I have come across so far is seized bolts. But I always win. Rear shock has seen better days but is functional, front forks are a maybe. Brakes need serious attention, the bike is nearly unmoveable so I pulled the front calipers and M/C off. Bike rolls a bit better now. Chain and sprocket is dogmeat. Subframe needs attention.

Bodywork condition = DOOMED!

https://img560.imageshack.us/img560/1593/30973101512528644084851.jpg

https://img442.imageshack.us/img442/5305/23116410151252867898485.jpg

Hmm...

https://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4161/40253510151252866398485.jpg

BettAr.


https://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9334/53111610151252868323485.jpg

Not bad...

https://img846.imageshack.us/img846/4298/42297710151252864878485.jpg

Oopsie.

https://img802.imageshack.us/img802/4426/52614110151252868118485.jpg

https://img534.imageshack.us/img534/4236/23000410151252866813485.jpg

It WILL come back!

Aim is to get it fired and running. Find out what it needs. Bodywork will be difficult to source so will most likely end up getting fightered depending on what Mr. Welsh wants to do with it. I might even buy it from him, I'm a sucker for V4s.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[nightshaddow]

make sure you check the swing arm iirc they are notorious for rot....

good luck
i will be following with interest
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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 100 MPH THATS IMPOSSIBLE Its chinese OFFICER."
Current rides CB 125 TDE(the next project) NS125RK ( now on the road ) CB125TDC (soon to be project 17) melody ( the nephews )

[TomGT]

Top tip for carb cleaning:

With the engine running, pour carb cleaner into the air intake, watch in disbelief as crap leaves out the exhaust
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1992 ZXR 400

[pepperami]

Ye Gods! you have your work cut out for you there.
Good luck with that.
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[lilredmachine]

Cheers guys. I started to strip the calipers down a bit, freed the remains of the brake lever from the master cylinder and started cleaning up the brake fittings.

How, what, why does the lever look like this? How do you so comprehensively destroy something.

https://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9152/60231810151253713138485.jpg
____________________
Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[Efes123]

Nice project . Most of it looks like it's just cleaning, but there's a fair bit of it

Looking forward to seeing it finished.
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Honda Goldwing GL 1000 Current love
Honda VT500 ED - SOLD
Projects Suzuki GS125 Done, then stolen - Kawasaki GPX750R SOLD - Honda VF750S SOLD

[UnspeedySam]

Got a friend with one of these. Could make good streetfighter but I'd be looking for panels I reckon.
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Riding: BMW R1150RT `02 bought mildly crashed
Fixing: Also the BMW as I get less broken bits
Gone: ZZR600 '00, TRX850 '97, RXS100 '93, JS125-6B '07, BMW R1100RS '93, Kawasaki ZX-6R-J2 '01, Honda Bros NT400 NC25 '88

[Noxious89123]

1988 RC24, right?

David silvers can't source bodywork, but there's a place on eBay that looks to be breaking one.
Left and right side of the tail unit for £25 each, £50 for the nose cone.
Seller is "rpmspares".
Heres a right side fairing panel for £30

Subframe here for £18, although it may be just as bad as the one that's on there.
Really good looking subframe here from the states, but the price is a bit

Really tidy front fairing stay here for just £37.

I've got far too much free time to be digging around for bike bits.
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'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[lilredmachine]

Cheers for the heads up on the parts Noxious. Will need to see what welshy wants doing with it before I start spending too much on it.

Bit of an update, sourced a new lever and battery, fitted an M/C clamp bracket off my old Street Triple, got brakes cleaned, refitted and bled and was rewarded with a really good lever which was nice. They feel much better than the ones on the Divvy. Bike rolls a bit better but the rear is seized too, as well as the chain links being fused so she's not exactly easy to push.

Put a battery in and hooked her up, put the keys in and got... nothing. Went hunting in the loom and found the ignition connector had shorted, burnt and then father time had filled it entirely full of corrosion and shit. I cut both ends off and rewired the ignition and was rewarded with the motor cranking on the button!

Unfortunately no spark. I'm not an automotive electrician so it will be difficult to sort it for me, checked coils for corrosion and they look ok, cut kickstand switch and wired it together to eliminate that, took switchgear apart and cleaned it to make sure killswitch weren't malfunctioning... Nout. I think I need to get a multimeter!

Anyway, pics...

M/C, Calipers and mudguard refitted to bike, looks ok with the wheel cleaned up a bit.

https://img96.imageshack.us/img96/542/16212101512726612934857.jpg

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Nice firm lever.

https://img543.imageshack.us/img543/4379/53032510151272661653485.jpg
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.