VX800 fixer-upper

Hi guys, first post and all that,

I've been lurking this forum for a little while, getting some inspiration and looking at people's restorations and rebuilds to give me an idea of how to fix certain things and what type of modifications I like. I'm hoping to use this thread as a way of getting some pointers from people who are a lot more experienced than myself who might be able to warn me about newbie mistakes I might make.

I recently bought a 1991 Suzuki VX800 off of eBay for what I think is a steal when it comes to buying bikes in Australia. I've already been riding a '92 Honda CB250 for the past 2 years, which has been great as I have learned a lot from riding it (especially about braking when taking a tight corner at speed):




I knew there was some problems with it when I bought it, but was pleasantly surprised when I picked it up to find it actually belonged to a motorcycle mechanic with his own business. He'd already replaced all the oil and filters and done some other small bits and bobs.

Mechanically it's great, better than my daily ride even. I hooked up the battery from my 250 and it fired up first go and sounds good. No knocking or rubbing noises. Tonight I took it for a quick ride around the block and it seems good.

The bad points I've found so far:

A couple of small holes in the fuel tank (knew about these when I bought it)
No battery (again, knew about this and I've got a new one in the post)

Speedo and tacho do not work
Headlight bulb is shot
A few of the left hand controls are a bit suspect
Gear shift lever is loose


All in all not too much to worry about. My plan is to tackle each thing one at a time, starting with the things I can do easily and find the parts I need at shops. Tomorrow I'll buy a new bulb for the headlight and find out if it's just that or if there is a problem with the wiring somewhere. Tonight I took apart the instrument cluster to try and diagnose the problems there, but can't work out how to seperate the fronts of the tacho and speedo without damaging them, so that's something I'm going to have to research.

So far I've stripped the tank back to bare metal and patched the holes, so plenty left to do.

Here are pictures from when I got it home:















The CB250 is my ride to work, it's been nicknamed by people at work (maybe sarcastically) as the Beast, which I think is a pretty good name for a 250cc that does 400km a week with a 6'4", 120kg man on it. It's been a WIP since I got it, as I chop and change things to suit me better, or replace things as they break.




Anyway, thanks for looking

Looks good! I rode a VX800 for about 6 years. Dead-on reliable, with more power than the Intruder. Handling is decent, though a bit slow to throw it back and forth in the mountains. Check your rear tank mounts. Leaks in the area around those rear mounts are usually caused by the rubber isolators hardening or being left off or put together wrong. Basically, the rear of the tank can't take the stresses of being solid mounted to the frame. Mine would hit 129 mph when you wound it up. First thing to scrape is the exhaust, right at the cone/canister junction. Enjoy it, the VX800 is a great all-around ride--- commuter, tourer, you name it. I love standards. Oh yeah, the carb linkage is a little wonky, but fairly easy to figure out--- weird to balance.

Welcome!

Spent a few hours sorting through this bird's nest to try and find the source of the problem with my headlight. Low beam wasn't working but the high beam was.



Couldn't find the problem in the end, so I've had to resort to putting a jumper between another supply. The only downside is that the low beam stays on when the high beam is on, but I was getting pretty frustrated by that stage. It might be something to visit in the future.

I also put a new set of handlebars on that I'd originally planned to put on the 250. I painted, cleared and cured the bar ends and the clutch lever as a test. I'm happy with how they came out, seem to be very hard wearing.





And I got myself a huge blister on my thumb taking the brake fluid reservoir lid from dull metal with silver spray paint over the top to shiny.



And I have a few bits from the handlebars to take into work tomorrow to bead blast, as well as the left hand controls to solder a connection that was loose but broke off whilst I was working on it. I also need to steal a few stainless steel bolts to replace rusty ones.



So that's where I am so far.

I got the instrument cluster put back together. The tacho and all the lights work now, just waiting on the speedo cable, and I need to get hold of a huge allen key to take the front wheel off.

Also completely cleaned the tank, primed and started filling in marks. Contemplating sealing the inside with Red Kote, anyone have experience with it and if it's worth the $65?



Chris

If it hasn't run in a while, you might want to take a peek at the fuel pump while you're into it. It's a manifold vacuum operated job mounted behind and under the battery box. I've heard of the diaphragm breaking on 'em, though it's not as common as problems with the original petcock.

Was the tank leaking? The photo looks like it was welded or brazed. I'd pressure test it, and if it's good, just clean it and keep it full. I've always had great results with tank sealers, but there are some horror stories about all of them. (If you can follow the prep directions, it's not a big deal, though when you screw up, it's a major PITA.)

The bike is running nicely so I think the fuel pump is in good working order. The petcock has definitely been replaced by the PO and looks pretty much brand new so hopefully that'll keep going for a long time.

The tank was brazed pretty excessively so I grinded most of that back and used steel putty to seal. It's since been filled to the brim with water, emptied, cleaned out with Metho to displace the water, had a couple of litres of petrol put in and run through and emptied again. Pretty paranoid about fuel dripping out and hitting an exhaust pipe whilst I'm riding down the road so I'm being very thorough with it. Is there any other way you can suggest of pressure testing it? Or is it a compressed air kind of thing you're recommending?

Red Kote seems like the only decent tank sealer I can source in Australia, so I think if I do discover any leaks popping up from areas I've repaired I'll give that a go.

Thanks

Usually a radiator shop can do the pressure test for a few bucks. Basically, they seal it up, put it in a tank and pressurize it, then look for bubbles. A lot of people recommend Red Kote. I think they are all about the same--- like I said, prep is the key.

Red Kote is bad news. Caswell is great stuff, and available in AU: http://www.caswellplating.com.au/store/store.php/products/epoxy-fuel-tank-sealer

Ah sweet. I'll look into a radiator place and Caswell.

Brought the gear shifter assembly into work today because it was really loose and wobbling all over the place so I took it apart and it's pretty worn. I removed the rod that the lever sits on and drilled it out and the machinist at work is making me up a 1/2" replacement with a circlip slot, and will reem the hole in the lever arm to 1/2" aswell and I'll get the welders to TIG it back together.

Should tighten everything up and give me smoother gear changes. I'll take photos of it tomorrow when I get it back to show what I mean.

Difficult to see what going on but it's probably better than new. Fits like a glove with a 0.005" gap between the lever and the back plate.

I've just spoken to my little sister's friend who is a panelbeater and spray painter and he's going to be painting the tank for me and possibly the fairings if he has enough gloss black paint spare. Doing it super cheap which is a nice little bonus.

I'm also looking at buying replacement vinyl for the seat so I can rip off the stained vinyl and get it looking brand new.

Speedo is giving me some grief. If I disconnect it from the wheel and spin the mechanism that attaches to the wheel then the speedo needle jumps. If I disconnect it from the speedo and spin the wheel I can see the cable end spinning. Put it all together and it doesn't work. I've tried spinning the wheel in both directions but get nothing.

Any ideas?

There should be a tab on the wheel or the speedo gear that matches a notch in the other piece. sometimes the tab gets sheared off or a spacer gets put in wrong and keeps the wheel from turning the gear. I don't think there is a spacer on the speedo side. (I'm just guessing here--- it's been a while since I worked on a VX.)

You might be interested in this: (It's not really an Intruder; apparently Sachs made a frame similar to the VX800 for the Intruder engine.)

http://www.caferacer.net/forum/general/22580-suzuki-intruder.html

Cool build look forward to seeing what you come up with. Good solid motor.
Only real difference between the VX and Intruder motor is the VX has been
changed to a cable pull clutch instead of hydraulic. Ill be watching.

Thanks for the interest guys. Turns out the speedo was working, I just couldn't turn the wheel fast enough by hand. Took it up the road a little bit and it seems to be okay. Seems to jump in at about 10kmph though.
That's a sweet bike Gnigma. I'll be keeping this one pretty much stock until I can get it registered and roadworthy-ed, then I'll think about doing more work to it.

Haven't done much, still waiting to get parts back from being painted but I have repainted the front wheel. My 250 had disgusting white wheels which I repainted black so I'm keeping with that tradition.



The throttle is weird on this bike too. I'll probably end up cutting it down so it's the same width the whole length.

Got the tank back today so got it all back together and will take photos in the light.

Put some fuel in the tank and took it for a ride around some twisty hills near me. Popped a different license plate on it for the ride and on my way back rode past a police car that was parked on the side of the road. Needless to say I was shitting myself until I got home, convinced there was going to be flashing lights behind me any second.

Despite that, I LOVE the way the bike rides. I was grinning the second I opened the throttle up. And for a heavy bike it corners so nicely. Plus the engine sounds amazing compared to my 250. Hoping to get it registered and roadworthied before the rego runs out on my other bike so I won't be without a bike for long.

Thought you guys might be able to help with this one. I can't move the choke lever at all, it's rock solid. All I did was remove it to change the handlebars and then put it back on. Is there anyway of testing it to ensure it's not on all the time?
Either way I'll have a play tonight and see if I can improve it at all.

Check that the choke lever thingie is in the slot correctly. You might have tightened the assembly with the "stop" inside the track, or sometimes the bead on the cable can turn crossways in the little hole on the choke lever.