1985 VF500 Interceptor

scott s

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Not so much a restoration, but more of a rejuvination. :)

I've known about this bike for several years. My superintendent at work used to ride it in. He's owned it for about 31 years. Technically, he's the third owner, but owner #2 only had it for a couple of weeks and basically flipped it.
It's all original except for the grips, the full Kerker exhaust and (as I just found out yesterday) a K&N air filter.

He parked it in his basement about three years ago. Luckily, he stored it correctly by draining the gas tank and carbs.
There seem to be two camps on these "Baby 'Cepters"; those that love them and say "Grab it! Get it now! Awesome bikes", and those that say "Run! Run away fast! It's a fragile hand grenade just waiting to explode!.
I did a LOT of reading and decided "what the hell", so I made him an offer and brought it home.

Pics he sent me of it in storage.





 
And here she is the day I picked her up. First time she's seen sunlight in 1,000+ days!




Strapped down in Creepy Van for the ride home.

 
It needs all the general "sitting bike" stuff. The clutch lever was limp and the rear brake was dragging. Only one front caliper seems to be working.
I'll do fork oil, engine oil and filter, new spark plugs and, most importantly, a valve adjustment. I bought a factory manual and have some parts on the way. I bought new manifold boots, but I think I'm going to try firing it up without pulling the carbs, since they were drained. Maybe I'll get lucky and the pilot jets and all the tiny circuits won't be plugged.

This thing is way more complicated than anything I've worked on before.

No wonder the clutch was limp....



I've cleaned both front master cylinders and they're pumping fluid as they should. Caliper piston seals should be here any day now.
 
I REALLY want to pull the exhaust so I can paint it or have it coated, but this seems to be one of those "in over your head before you know it" kind of jobs.
The front pipes are easy. To get the rear down pipes off, the swing arm needs to come off. I might try removing the collector where it meets the down pipes, if they haven't become one over the years.
As a last resort, I'll just sand this thing down in place and paint it the best I can with spray bombs or a sponge brush.

 
And that's where she stands right now. Bodywork is surprisingly easy to remove. The tank is spotless inside. I plan on checking the petcock bowl and filter and replacing the fuel filter.
The paint and body work is nice and ought to really shine up well.

Oh, and I have some Pirelli Sport Demon's on the way, too!

 
It's just an old '86 G10. The windows roar, heat and A/C are more of a suggestion, shitty gas mileage and the radio starts warbling after a while.
I put in some leather captains chairs from the second row of some mini van in the junk yard, so now I have arm rests and cup holders. I tinted the rear windows with limo tint for privacy.
It's dead nuts reliable and I use it often to drag around derelict bikes and projects.

 
Lol. Your van is awesome. It sounds exactly like mine but nicer. Mine is a red 94' with a funky injector on a 305. I love love Chevy vans.
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Nice bike! Working on a vf1000f right now. Don't pull the carbs if you don't have to lol they are amazingly difficult to pull and put back in place ha
 
HURCO550 said:
Nice bike! Working on a vf1000f right now. Don't pull the carbs if you don't have to lol they are amazingly difficult to pull and put back in place ha

Yes, I had sorta planned on biting the bullet and doing it. Even bought new OEM manifold rubbers. I thought they had to come off for the valve adjustment.
Then I got my factory manual and saw that I could do the valves without pulling them. Since the P.O. drained the tank and carbs when he stored it, I'm going to TRY firing it up without pulling them. Keep your fingers crossed that the slow speed circuits are clear!
 
scott s said:
Yes, I had sorta planned on biting the bullet and doing it. Even bought new OEM manifold rubbers. I thought they had to come off for the valve adjustment.
Then I got my factory manual and saw that I could do the valves without pulling them. Since the P.O. drained the tank and carbs when he stored it, I'm going to TRY firing it up without pulling them. Keep your fingers crossed that the slow speed circuits are clear!
Well it's definitely not impossible if you have to, just a pain. If/when you do, DO NOT pull them from the aluminum air box bank plate. Keep them assembled as much as possible and pull the bowls for cleaning. Ask me how I know lol
 
Luckily, within walking distance from my house is a guy that does carbs for a living. He used to own a few V65 Magna's, so he's VERY familiar with the V4 carbs. If I have to go that route...
 
scott s said:
Luckily, within walking distance from my house is a guy that does carbs for a living. He used to own a few V65 Magna's, so he's VERY familiar with the V4 carbs. If I have to go that route...
Even better!!!
 
Got the fork oil changed and pulled the wheels so I can clean them up and mount the new Pirelli Sport Demon's. I'm STILL waiting on piston seals for the calipers. Why in the world does it take two weeks to send 10 ounces of rubber seals from Florida to South Carolina?!




I pulled the collars, or sliding sleeves, on the calipers, too. That's probably part of the reason they weren't retracting properly, don't ya think?

 
"Pull the carbs", they said. "They'll be dirty and plugged even though they were drained", I was warned.

The manual shows about four steps to remove them. Then why did it take me and the GF an hour and a half and moving a bunch of hoses and stuff out of the way to get them out?! And...yeah...you guessed it: They're clean as a whistle from everything I can see. On the inside, at least. All throttles, slides, diaphragms, etc. I pulled one bowl and it looked pretty damn good.




I am NOT looking forward to installing these things. I can see getting the barrels from the cables back into the carbs, but how do you get to the 10mm nuts to set cable freeplay/tension when the carbs are installed? I'm dreading that job.
Also, one thing that was really in the way was the fuel inlet. Is it pressed in or threaded in? Could I have removed it to clear the frame rail/clutch line and make the job easier?

 
scott s said:
"Pull the carbs", they said. "They'll be dirty and plugged even though they were drained", I was warned.

The manual shows about four steps to remove them. Then why did it take me and the GF an hour and a half and moving a bunch of hoses and stuff out of the way to get them out?! And...yeah...you guessed it: They're clean as a whistle from everything I can see. On the inside, at least. All throttles, slides, diaphragms, etc. I pulled one bowl and it looked pretty damn good.




I am NOT looking forward to installing these things. I can see getting the barrels from the cables back into the carbs, but how do you get to the 10mm nuts to set cable freeplay/tension when the carbs are installed? I'm dreading that job.
Also, one thing that was really in the way was the fuel inlet. Is it pressed in or threaded in? Could I have removed it to clear the frame rail/clutch line and make the job easier?

Lol I can't see anyone in here saying to pull the carbs haha your in for a real treat putting them back in. On mine I used all manner of ratchet straps, 2x4's, leverage and all my 250lbs of body weight. Have fun, you'll enjoy it ;)
 
Can you put in a clutch master cylinder rebuild kit with the m/c still on the bars?
Mine is cleaned, flushed, bled and working, but seems to be leaking a little.
The Allen head bolts are stuck tight and starting to round out. It looks like I can install a rebuild kit in place. Possible?
 
scott s said:
Can you put in a clutch master cylinder rebuild kit with the m/c still on the bars?
Mine is cleaned, flushed, bled and working, but seems to be leaking a little.
The Allen head bolts are stuck tight and starting to round out. It looks like I can install a rebuild kit in place. Possible?

I would say possible, but would likely be a pain to get the retainer clip out.
 
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