andrea
World Chat Champion
Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Karma :  
|
|
Whosthedaddy
Super Spammer
Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Karma : 
|
 Posted: 16:26 - 05 Aug 2006  Post subject: |
 |
|
I found this review:
| Quote: | Most people have not heard of the VF500. The bike was over-shadowed by its bigger brother's cam problem even though it never affected the 500/400. But by the time people realised this and what a good bike the VF500 is, Honda had stopped production after 3 years with only a few of the wee beasties sold in the UK. This led to another problem. They're rarer than rocking horse plop. It took me 6 months to even look at one and that's the one I bought.
I have always loved the sound and feel of V4s, even though the VF500/400 has a different crank layout (same as RC30) and therefore give a different noise to VFR's.
£1350 and a punch-up secured the bike. A 1987 in the correct red, white and blue colours with 22k on the clock. I decided to ride it back on the coldest night of January 1997... marvellous. The gear lever didn't return, the back end felt awful, the chain was hanging off and the engine blew little puffs of blue smoke.
Some reference material was needed for spark plug valve clearance etc. A quick phone call to Honda UK 020 87471400 and ask for m/cyle technical help. They have always been v helpful.
Complete chassis strip down. New pads, chain and sprocket kit and engine service items where ordered from MPS. A free rear Metz was sourced from an ex-colleague. The steering bearings where perfect, only requiring some grease, same as suspension linkages. Brake calliper slide pins need to be cleaned and greased regularly, especially the rear, molyslip seems to do the trick best. The pads were changed for Brembo green lines and the brakes feel as lousy as ever. When I can afford it I'll buy some aeroquip hoses.
Front forks fill with 20w oil and lower by between 5-10mm in the yokes. This drastically improves the feel of the front end. To get the damping adjustment and TRAC to work you need to strip and clean the l/h fork slider and replace the little rubber valves.
Rear shock's damping oil had long since lost its properties. Remove shock, invert, remove schraeder valve, drain out oil then refill with 8fld oz of 30w oil. It's not perfect but its makes a 10-year-old shock work, though it still fades on hot days and bumpy roads. Good to do all this when stripping the suspension and needs to be repeated each year.
Change the brake fluid once a year and the clutch fluid too, if not the clutch slave cylinder seals will perish. The clutches are a bit strong and take a bit of getting used to, it works more like an on/off switch so for smooth gear changes keep your chain tension adjusted regularly and minimum slack on the throttle cable. Over filling the engine oil by 3 mm on the dipstick noticeably improves the smoothness of the gear change lever, obviously part of the mechanism is not coated in oil when the engine is
running. Most manufacturers advise against over filling crankcases as it can blow out the oil seals but I have had no leaks or problems in the 14k I've done on her.
The gear lever was sorted by re-lubricating the linkage and I made up some little metal washers to take out the sloppiness on the pivot. The side-stand had been bent out catching the lever, so this was removed and beaten back into shape.
The engine breather system has long pipes that need to be drained. 2 drain points one on the l/h side of the front cyls near rad filler cap the other under r/h of swing arm. If you want to do a proper job, remove the breather pipes and box, flush through with hot water and dry. This will keep the air box oil free. This cured the blue smoke problem and the bike now only produces it at initial cold start-up.
Before the carbs could be balanced the pilot screws had to be adjusted and the front r/h carb is the hardest to get to which is a shame 'cause its screw was seized solid. A new screw was purchased and with the help of a dremmell, a drill and a number of attachments to put a Swede to shame the old screw came out and new went in.
Carb balancing is another barrel of laughs ... of which there is hard and more-hard. You start by balancing the two front carbs with a very hard to see and get to screw nestled between the two front carbs. The screws are in a triangular pattern with the screw for front carbs on it own. All this has to be done from the left side of the vehicle. Then you do the rear set with a slightly easier to get to screw. Next balance the two banks to each other with the screw next to the last one you adjusted. When done the carbs stay in balance for ages. Especially the fronts thank God!
The bike came with Motad N-eta silencers who claim the system produces the same or more power. I removed the air intake tube and airbox baffle, which increased intake noise and gave a noticeable power increase.
It failed its first MOT on the rear disc being too thin. £250 from Honda or £90 from MPS and it was drilled where as the original is solid. I wonder how many of those discs Honda sell each year?
To live with, they are great commuters squeezing through places that most 250s and customs men wouldn't dare. It will cruise at an indicated 120mph and top 135mph, until you hit a hill. On the the motorway the fairing keeps water off legs but not chest!!? Returns 50mpg whether you cane it or dawdle around town, range 125 miles before reserve (12 extra miles). In 1987 its acceleration would have been totally acceptable, now it's left standing by the latest 600s but is a match for the 400s and scares early 600s. Top speed of 135 is highly respectable.
The 16-inch front wheel gives ultra fast steering, too fast for some, but I love it, you can think direction changes and you're there. Modern lightweight bikes with 17-inch front wheels feel slow by comparison. Skinny tyres mean you don't lean so far over. Pity that, but you can get them to squeal if you load 'em up gently. With a 190kg weight they're not light but the weight is kept low down which helps when flicking it through series of bends. Additional feel-good things about the bike are: no other bugge'rs got one, still worth what I paid for it and v reliable.
|
They look like a nice little runner 
____________________
Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy |
|
andrea
World Chat Champion
Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Karma :
|
Posted: 16:33 - 05 Aug 2006  Post subject: |
|
|
Thats great thanks, really helpful  |
|
ram_doom
World Chat Champion
Joined: 25 Mar 2006
Karma : 
|
| Posted: 20:35 - 05 Aug 2006 Post subject: |
|
|
|
|
Kickstart
The Oracle
Joined: 04 Feb 2002
Karma : 
|
| Posted: 20:49 - 05 Aug 2006 Post subject: |
|
|
Hi
When new they had a reputation for very good handling. Pig to service. Anti dive design was not universally slated so an improvement on most.
Down side is that they did have a problem blowing the cranks and a few cam problems (nowhere near as bad as the VF750, that was lucky to reach 10k before the engine died). However at that kind of mileage it is probably pretty safe.
I almost bought one many years ago but decided not to. Good job as it blew the crank about a month later.
All the best
Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing |
|
Cillit-BANG
World Chat Champion
Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Karma : 
|
|
Help & FAQs
Search BCF
Members
Groups
Events Calendar
the hydraulic clutch is actually quite nice 
rating
rating