I wonder how much better synthetic oil makes a difference. Then what they had back in the day. I’m guessing if it hasn’t blown yet and with the maintenance you do and how much you keep up on it it’s probably going to be ok for the duration of your ownership. That said little up grades that the factory seemed fit to do is almost a no brainer especially since the bike will be yours forever.
I'd imagine the stuff we have now is way better than back 30 years ago. I've been running the Rotella T4 dino oil, but maybe it's worth looking into changing to the T6 synthetic? Not sure. I figure if I'm changing it every season it's getting changes every 2,000mi or less. This bike gets a bit of a bad rap due to being lumped in with the problems of the early 750s. There are a fair amount of cases of floated valves in racing applications though. And Honda didn't redo the oiling from 84/5 to 86 for no reason. But I'm thinking for standard street use and modern oils this engine will hit 100K. Something else will fail first.
Another interesting bit they've upgraded was the timing chain tensioners. Not necessarily that they're a bad design but these motors are going on 40 years old and the tensioners are just spring loaded - they get weak. I've spent a few years on the v4musclebike forums and 75% of the issues posted there were valve clearances and chain tensioners.
@@christopher7026 I'll be honest, I can't even figure out how the cam chain tensioners work on this thing. I'm just used to the basic plunger type I've messed with on Suzukis. Just look at this diagram, it's hilarious. www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1984/vf500f-a-500-interceptor/cam-chain-tensioner Unfortunately, that parts motor I have is missing almost all of those pieces, so I can't mess around and get an understanding of how it works. I'll poke around once I get the valve covers off. I don't suspect any issues on my own bike, but I was wondering if the other bike I'd worked on had a weak CCT since it had a little more rattle at idle. I should spend some more time poking around on v4musclebike sometime.
Mike, I was given a 1984 complete vf500f bike. Only catch is it hasn't been started since 1992. Always kept in air conditioned/heated garage. Thank you for your videos. Not sure what to expect as I try to wake it up, but have some real reservations. Any advice would be appreciated.
One piece of advice is to not give yourself any deadlines to have something completed. With it not having run in so long, I'd recommend removing the carburetors and giving them a clean; however, you may just be lucky and they're fine if it was stored without fuel in the carburetor bowls. If you do remove the carburetor and get in there, I'd probably recommend opening up the valve covers and checking the condition of the camshaft lobes and the clearances on the valves. You may just get lucky though and all it needs is some fuel and a fresh battery. Fuel, air, compression, and spark--those are the four components you'll need to get the engine running. That being said, the rubber on the bike is about 38 years old at this point, so a lot of it is going to be due for replacement if you want to end up keeping and riding the bike--both for safety and performance. Good luck waking it up!
Hey Matt, I was wondering if you could take a video of the connectors and wires in the front of the interceptor behind the front cowl near the front headlight that connects the front turn signals and stuff? Before I put my 500 away I attempted to re wire something there and now i'm kinda lost and could use the help. I got no crank and no lights. I'm hoping it's not an ignition switch. Thanks. Thanks for your videos.
I'm actually trying to reassemble still, but it's likely I'll get to this task during the weekend. If I get it figured out, I'll shoot some pics and video for you. Sorry I don't have it on hand now--realizing I should have done a better job of documenting as I took it all apart.
@@matttriestodothings i had the friggen plug on top of the solenoid plugged in backwards! Its all wired up correctly and I just got it running and it runs amazing with the cleaned carbs. Any trouble bleeding the clutch? Bleeding the clutch isn't complete yet. Lol.
@@TravisDoesGames glad you found the issue! I was going to shoot a vid showing you my wiring routing but I know for a fact I have it wrong, lol. It all works and it'll all fit under the fairing, but it's not right. ... I should probably bleed my clutch today. It's been a while.
Oiling isn't the primary issue, but I've been told it's a contributor. The one thing I'm most worried about at this point is valve float near redline. The solution is to just not get near redline, but I'm worried about getting up there accidently if I take it to a track and over-rev on engine braking into a turn.
Matt! Thank God for these videos you've put up. There is shockingly little to no information on how to work on these old vf bikes. Would you happen to know why my tank is full of rubber? I'm currently trying to get a 1985 vf700f back in working order. Tank is rotted out pretty bad so I took it off drained it and removed the cap the petcock and the fuel level. Once the tank was empty I shook it and there's a ton of rotted rubber in there?
Raymond, my best guess would be that somebody tried to seal the tank using an aftermarket product. I've never done it myself, and I've only ever de-rusted tanks using either vinegar or evapo-rust (my preference). However, if there are pinholes in there, sometimes people will coat it using a variety of products. I think POR-15 has a popular one as well as maybe something like Kream(?). The one I know you absolutely want to avoid at all costs is RedKote. The absolute horror show I watched unfold over months on "Jim's $400 VF500F" on the VFRWorld forums was insane. Required taking apart pretty much the entire top end of the bike when that failed. I haven't heard about a rubber substance being used to coat it though... Is the rubber all loose and in bits floating around and not adhered to the walls?
Matt I believe it was adheared to the walls of the tank because I didn't see or hear it moving around until the tank was almost empty and I started to shake the tank. Pretty tricky to get all the gas out of a tank that shape. It's all about a 1/4" in thickness and it's a really crappy black rubber substance.
@@AKIRA39011 "Tricky"? It's friggen impossible, lol. By pulling the petcock off you can get most, but "all" I haven't found a good way besides getting as much out as possible and then waiting for the rest to evaporate. That sounds like a LOT of rubber. wtf. I think the first thing to do is figure out what it is. Look up Caswell Epoxy Gas Tank Sealer--could that be it?
At this point I believe it is old gas mixed with moisture and rust that has broken down into a rubber like substance. If the tank was lined it must've been the worst line job ever done. My plan is to shake as much out of the tank then submerge the whole tank in a large tote box and let the acids eat the paint and the rust.
When I was searching for linkage bearings that were not available from the parts shops, the only place I was able to find them online that I didn't need a distributor account was Motion Industries. They seemed to have everything. Are you able to read the markings on the bearings to know which ones they are? For example, I was able to read the "7E HMK 1525" which brought me to NTN caged needle bearing that I could find. As far as recommending a specific supplier, I don't have too much experience with em. If there's a local shop maybe ask them or ask a moto shop if they know of one?
I wonder how much better synthetic oil makes a difference. Then what they had back in the day. I’m guessing if it hasn’t blown yet and with the maintenance you do and how much you keep up on it it’s probably going to be ok for the duration of your ownership. That said little up grades that the factory seemed fit to do is almost a no brainer especially since the bike will be yours forever.
I'd imagine the stuff we have now is way better than back 30 years ago. I've been running the Rotella T4 dino oil, but maybe it's worth looking into changing to the T6 synthetic? Not sure. I figure if I'm changing it every season it's getting changes every 2,000mi or less.
This bike gets a bit of a bad rap due to being lumped in with the problems of the early 750s. There are a fair amount of cases of floated valves in racing applications though. And Honda didn't redo the oiling from 84/5 to 86 for no reason.
But I'm thinking for standard street use and modern oils this engine will hit 100K. Something else will fail first.
Another interesting bit they've upgraded was the timing chain tensioners. Not necessarily that they're a bad design but these motors are going on 40 years old and the tensioners are just spring loaded - they get weak. I've spent a few years on the v4musclebike forums and 75% of the issues posted there were valve clearances and chain tensioners.
@@christopher7026 I'll be honest, I can't even figure out how the cam chain tensioners work on this thing. I'm just used to the basic plunger type I've messed with on Suzukis. Just look at this diagram, it's hilarious. www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1984/vf500f-a-500-interceptor/cam-chain-tensioner
Unfortunately, that parts motor I have is missing almost all of those pieces, so I can't mess around and get an understanding of how it works. I'll poke around once I get the valve covers off. I don't suspect any issues on my own bike, but I was wondering if the other bike I'd worked on had a weak CCT since it had a little more rattle at idle.
I should spend some more time poking around on v4musclebike sometime.
Mike, I was given a 1984 complete vf500f bike. Only catch is it hasn't been started since 1992. Always kept in air conditioned/heated garage. Thank you for your videos. Not sure what to expect as I try to wake it up, but have some real reservations. Any advice would be appreciated.
One piece of advice is to not give yourself any deadlines to have something completed. With it not having run in so long, I'd recommend removing the carburetors and giving them a clean; however, you may just be lucky and they're fine if it was stored without fuel in the carburetor bowls. If you do remove the carburetor and get in there, I'd probably recommend opening up the valve covers and checking the condition of the camshaft lobes and the clearances on the valves.
You may just get lucky though and all it needs is some fuel and a fresh battery. Fuel, air, compression, and spark--those are the four components you'll need to get the engine running. That being said, the rubber on the bike is about 38 years old at this point, so a lot of it is going to be due for replacement if you want to end up keeping and riding the bike--both for safety and performance.
Good luck waking it up!
@@matttriestodothings not giving yourself deadlines to stress over is great advice haha. Next year.
Is it possible that the '86 sprocket has a different number of teeth?
I wonder if that might be it. I'll try to come back and update this description/comment when I get the '84 opened up.
Hey Matt, I was wondering if you could take a video of the connectors and wires in the front of the interceptor behind the front cowl near the front headlight that connects the front turn signals and stuff? Before I put my 500 away I attempted to re wire something there and now i'm kinda lost and could use the help. I got no crank and no lights. I'm hoping it's not an ignition switch. Thanks. Thanks for your videos.
I'm actually trying to reassemble still, but it's likely I'll get to this task during the weekend. If I get it figured out, I'll shoot some pics and video for you. Sorry I don't have it on hand now--realizing I should have done a better job of documenting as I took it all apart.
@@matttriestodothings 👍🏍️🧑🔧
@@matttriestodothings i had the friggen plug on top of the solenoid plugged in backwards! Its all wired up correctly and I just got it running and it runs amazing with the cleaned carbs. Any trouble bleeding the clutch? Bleeding the clutch isn't complete yet. Lol.
@@TravisDoesGames glad you found the issue! I was going to shoot a vid showing you my wiring routing but I know for a fact I have it wrong, lol. It all works and it'll all fit under the fairing, but it's not right.
... I should probably bleed my clutch today. It's been a while.
The oiling isn't the real problem. The issue with honda 80s v4 is that the chrome on the hardened followers fail.
Oiling isn't the primary issue, but I've been told it's a contributor. The one thing I'm most worried about at this point is valve float near redline. The solution is to just not get near redline, but I'm worried about getting up there accidently if I take it to a track and over-rev on engine braking into a turn.
Matt! Thank God for these videos you've put up. There is shockingly little to no information on how to work on these old vf bikes. Would you happen to know why my tank is full of rubber? I'm currently trying to get a 1985 vf700f back in working order. Tank is rotted out pretty bad so I took it off drained it and removed the cap the petcock and the fuel level. Once the tank was empty I shook it and there's a ton of rotted rubber in there?
Raymond, my best guess would be that somebody tried to seal the tank using an aftermarket product. I've never done it myself, and I've only ever de-rusted tanks using either vinegar or evapo-rust (my preference). However, if there are pinholes in there, sometimes people will coat it using a variety of products. I think POR-15 has a popular one as well as maybe something like Kream(?). The one I know you absolutely want to avoid at all costs is RedKote. The absolute horror show I watched unfold over months on "Jim's $400 VF500F" on the VFRWorld forums was insane. Required taking apart pretty much the entire top end of the bike when that failed.
I haven't heard about a rubber substance being used to coat it though... Is the rubber all loose and in bits floating around and not adhered to the walls?
Matt I believe it was adheared to the walls of the tank because I didn't see or hear it moving around until the tank was almost empty and I started to shake the tank. Pretty tricky to get all the gas out of a tank that shape. It's all about a 1/4" in thickness and it's a really crappy black rubber substance.
@@AKIRA39011 "Tricky"? It's friggen impossible, lol. By pulling the petcock off you can get most, but "all" I haven't found a good way besides getting as much out as possible and then waiting for the rest to evaporate.
That sounds like a LOT of rubber. wtf. I think the first thing to do is figure out what it is. Look up Caswell Epoxy Gas Tank Sealer--could that be it?
At this point I believe it is old gas mixed with moisture and rust that has broken down into a rubber like substance. If the tank was lined it must've been the worst line job ever done. My plan is to shake as much out of the tank then submerge the whole tank in a large tote box and let the acids eat the paint and the rust.
@@AKIRA39011 maybe you could just pour acetone in the tank?
Matt you might be able to help me... do you have any suggestions for where I can order connecting rod and crank shaft bearings?
Totally unrelated to this video I know 😅
When I was searching for linkage bearings that were not available from the parts shops, the only place I was able to find them online that I didn't need a distributor account was Motion Industries. They seemed to have everything.
Are you able to read the markings on the bearings to know which ones they are? For example, I was able to read the "7E HMK 1525" which brought me to NTN caged needle bearing that I could find.
As far as recommending a specific supplier, I don't have too much experience with em. If there's a local shop maybe ask them or ask a moto shop if they know of one?