VFR 400 project, good idea?

[Ice Burger]

I've spotted what looks to be a pretty good deal on a VFR, it's a non-runner but probably needs only a few things to get it sorted. The owner has been pretty lazy and not bothered to fix it, but apparently it's had
"new coils, new plugs, new cdi, valve clearance carbs have been cleaned but need balancing." If this is all true then this gets rid of some expensive possibilities to why it's not running.

I enquired to ask why it doesn't run, this is what I was told. "I think it's a fuel issue, bought it running with a fault had the carbs cleaned and now it won't start"

The bike is priced at £1400, so even if I spent £1000 for repairs I wouldn't be bad off.

Is buying this a good idea and does anyone have a good idea to what it will take to get it running???

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2588325661262918/?ref=messenger_banner

[-]

It looks a bargain. My only worry is that he's spent the last year and lots of expense trying to get it running, replaced most of the bits and has given up.

Either he's a muppet or has put the carbs back together wrong, or it has a serious fault. A bit of a gamble, but worth it if it pays off.
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TZR250 2MA road, TZR250 1KT road, TZR250 2MA race, TDR250, YZF-750R Boost colours.
Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 Sport R, VW Transporter T5 GP LWB Shuttle 140ps DSG.

[stinkwheel]

ALL VFR400s are now either fucked, raced or both.

Which is a real shame.
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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.

[redeem ouzzer]

Mmmm. Doesn’t run, guy doesn’t know why.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[Old Git Racing]

If its a simple fix great, VFR engines are complicated though, its a gamble, do you feel lucky punk

OGR
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2022 Tiger Sport 660 2019 Street Twin 2003 K3 gixxer 1000 1998 Srad 600 track hack

[UnknownStuntm...]

Depends on your perspective.

If you're David Silver, yeah it's a great idea and everyone needs a couple of nc30 carcasses in their man cave.

If you can say yes to any of these:
.sane of thought
.have hands bigger than a lollypop
.short attention span
.have a wife / girlfriend / mother / child
.'plan to do it in the back garden as my garage is full'

You should let the 'project' fester in someone else's shed.

[doggone]

Someone has bought it anyway.
I'd be surprised if it only needs carbs sorting out, pretty as it is.

[Ice Burger]

[Shaft]

[UnknownStuntm...]

[P.]

[Ice Burger]

[Rob Fzs]

about £400 too dear

they're hard work to sell, people all act like they want one and then when it comes to getting the notes out, no one will pay much more than 1500 for an mot'd runner
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30> Yamaha RD350 YPVS F2 > Kawasaki ZZR 600 D1 > Yamaha TZR 250 2MA >Suzuki TL1000R > Yamaha TDR250 > Honda 929 blade > Suzuki SV1000 > Honda H100
Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

[redeem ouzzer]

Another issue is that engine work is as expensive as any other 4 cylinder bike, perhaps more so. I've just paid nearly £1300 on spares alone for my GSXR1100 - stripped it to sort head gasket and noisy 3rd gear, but while your in there any paying the same labour rate my as well check everything else. Then you end up changing all the shells, four sets of rings, camchain and slippers etc etc.

On my 400 it's not such an issue as spares are cheap, so I can break an engine for just a few bits and bin the rest, not the case on NC30 bits which command a premium just because of the bike's reputation.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[ThatDippyTwat]

They're also a pain to work on. Small, tight, fiddly. Lovely bikes, but ideally something you want to buy running and sorted, and pay someone else to do any work on. That's coming from someone who flat refuses to pay anyone else to do work on almost anything to do with bikes. Even if I could fit on one (I'm 6'3", they're tiny), I would swerve one for this reason.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[Phoenix]

I sold my NC30 project before I left about 4 years ago for a grand, that was with 2 engines, albeit one with cracked front sprocket mounts and a crap ton of spares, tanks, controls, fairings inc Tyga stuff for an extra 400 quid, so 1400 all in, it did run but not well, it was a carburettor issue, the bike I built it around was a non runner originally and the usual fault finding ensued, the problem ended up being bad earthing on the coils. I had to rebuild the carbs too which are an absolute pain on those and putting them on and off drives you mad, the old hard carb rubbers can make it impossible.

If it was a simple fix i'd say it was still overpriced but not outrageous but it could've been anything, if it's a fuel issue, dumping some fuel into the intakes will get it running for a couple of seconds to tell you that it's a fuel issue, if nothing then it's something else and when you can't diagnose it briefly before buying it then at that price it's a hell of a gamble.