Thinking about an older VFR...

Thanks for all of the insight, Chammyman

Got home tonight 1100 miles later round trip and I'm thinking I may have a boat anchor for a motor on my hands. Been parked for years, etc, etc. When we pulled it out of the shed, the spark plugs were out!!!!!

I asked why and he tells me "I had them out to check them and never put them back."

I loaded up the bike, came back home 532 miles, and began to tinker a bit. Got the carbs soaking in the magic pine sol mixture at the moment as they were very slow and sticky moving.

Meanwhile, I tossed it in gear and attemped to turn the rear when and couldn't! Pulled the stator cover, put a breakover on the bolt and couldn't turn it that way either! (Mind you, no spark plugs)

I pulled valve covers to check for cam galling and there's rust on a few places on the cams and holders.

Grabbed a 17mm wrench, pulled the drain plug, and got half a quart of water before I got oil. I'm guessing this thing is rusted seized. If that ends up being the case, I guess I'm going to part it out. Forks, swingarm, wheels, dash, carbs, hand controls, brakes, airbox, etc. Just gain back what I spent and call it a lost cause. We'll see.

Just as an attempt I hosed down the cams and holders liberally with Marvel Mystery oil and then filled the cylinders with it. Even if it does break free, I have a fear if I get the carbs cleaned up, stuff a battery and fresh gas in it, its going to be a ticking time bomb.

Let me add one piece of input to the scenario... I paid $250 for a 17,000 mile complete bike with a title. I figure I can recoup that in parting it out if I have to. Not going to recoup the trip, but the girlfriend and I had a good time and that was worth the drive and hotel. I'm not going to fret about that part.

Thoughts, input, cajoling, insults?

Engines are cheap and easy to replace (so long as the rest of the bike is in presentable shape).

If you can get the thing spinning you might be surprised how much longer it runs, and for $250 it's worth a shot, no? Sorry to hear it is such bad shape.

That's kind of my plan right now. I'll finish cleaning up the carbs, put them back on it, and in the mean time see if I can get it to free up and start turning. If so, I'll come up with a battery somewhere to use temporarily before I invest in one, put some fresh gas in it, and see what it does. If it DOES start and run and doesn't make horrible noises then I guess I decide then what to do with it.

If it doesn't want to free up or makes horrible top end noises then I guess its time to start parting it out. I suppose I could attempt to hunt down another motor but then I risk the same roulette I played with this one.

I forgot to get pics of the rectifier set up. sorry will do when the snow stops!

Anyway, seized engine, most likely it will run again, how well without opening it up is another matter.

I have freed off a few locked solid engines and some have gone on to do mega miles afterwards.

Horrible noises, one that a friend bought made terrible noises then it would stop eventually, I told him it was most likely the chain and guides but hes not bothered to repair it and it still motors on.

The one my sister uses I knocked together in the back garden out of a few engines. Works fine took no time at all either. The engine that was in that bike came to me with the carbs off and no plugs and the bores and inlet ports full of water. I have yet to actually look into it.

Heres some pics of the other engine I fixed to put in my sisters bike, no compression on the rear cylinders, turned out to be dirty valve seats, a quick lapping sorted.











I have more pictures, in fact I am a mod on another non bike site but have done reports over on it of my bike shenanigans. if anyone is interested in seeing them I can provide links to them.

also heres a quick pic of the typical state of rectifier/regulator connector plugs as I mentioned in a previous post

I, at least, would like to see it if you have a chance to send it over to me. Worth checking out. I just re-doused everything with a combination of PB Blaster and Marvel a few minutes ago. We'll see what it does.

I'm not being overly hopeful, but maybe its worth the time and money...

I sent you a private message

The secret with stuck engines is patience... or a big oven and a chest freezer.

The engine is not that hard to pull getting it back in is awkward, the easiest way I found to do it was to put the bike on its side. Of course if you strip it to a bare frame its easy just position the frame easily.

With the engine out the heads are off in ten minutes and contrary to what you read elsewhere the timing etc is easy enough to set up.

Fun thread.. hope you get it freed up!
I bought a matching pair (serial numbers are 12 apart) of 83 VF750Fs a month or so ago. Both are in excellent shape, but neither run but apparently did 3 years ago. Both have very very low miles. Tanks and carbs are varnished up but have no other known issues. I'll be tackling them soon!

What products do you like for cleaning up the crabs? I've been using Yamaha Carb Dip, but I'm open to suggestions!

Quoted for posterity! oser

LOLOL!

That's what I get for the fast typing.

Well I was planning on cleaning the crabs with a big ol' pinesol bath as suggested here. A carb dip, gumout and compressed air is all I've ever used before.


I have a friend who's had good luck removing all rubber and plastic bits and boiling the bodies in distilled water too. I guess that would be my last resort though!

I'll have to look up the pinesol solution.

Thanks for the input!

Pinesol is good for REALLY nasty carbs, but you still need to clean them the manual way after that. HD, Yamaha and Suzuki all teach cleaning with strands of copper wires with the occasional spritz of carb cleaner to help soften the deposits and compressed air to blow the crumbs free.

Here's a set of carbs I recently soaked in pinesol, before and after:






Bike runs great now.

Isn't this pic taken near Highlands North Carolina?

Yup, was Bridal Veil Falls (of which there are a billion in the States) on 28... I think? It's been a decade.

I'd heard that they moved the blockades so you can now ride/drive up under the falls there now.

...and have decided to do a total "restoration" of the VF700. I considered parting it out, but I've wanted one of these bikes since I was a kid and I just can't bring myself to do it.

So, she's going under the knife and coming out a whole new girl. Down to a bare frame for sandblasting and powdercoating, overhaul of the motor, new paint, etc, etc.

I know, I'll never get my money back out of it, but this gives me a reason to keep it and never get rid of it. Just make it the start to the obsession and collection I've always wanted.

Cool! Thanks for bringing an old bike back to life.