VF500F - An Idiot's Analysis

My buddy installed a kitchen sink for me and in return I told him I'd go through his non-running VF500F and see if I could get it running. These are the lengths I choose to go to to not have to do housework. I've been pretty occupied with going through my SV650 but figured I was close enough to finishing what I wanted to do that I could strain my pea-size brain with another concurrent project, so we loaded it up a wee bit before getting dumped on with another 8" of snow and brought it over.
He bought the bike non-running, which isn't the greatest idea. I haven't checked valve clearances yet but the biggest thing I wanted to check was whether or not the cams looked pitted or destroyed. And whether or not it looks like we should put any time or money into it. The bike is pretty filthy; however, I'm encouraged by what I saw after pulling the valve covers off tonight. We'll see.

[@thetitanist]

I have an 84 vf500f, bought it new when I was younger, still have it today, runs nice, looks nice…30k miles love it

[@matttriestodothings]

That's fantastic, Paul. It's still probably my favorite bike to ride now. Mine's currently undergoing a pretty significant overhaul both aesthetics and function. Got the forks disassembled for emulator installation right now.

[@tuntatis]

Fixing bikes and talking about bikes while drinking beers with a friend... Could it be better? Lol

[@matttriestodothings]

Neither of us had left our houses much in the last, oh..., 10 months? Think we needed it even if it does come off a little irresponsible. I'm forgetting what it's like to interact with human beings not through a camera lens.

[@tuntatis]

@@matttriestodothings That's good! Sometimes it's better to go a bit risky in order to avoid becoming mentally fucked up. Hehehe Over here my work doesn't allow me to isolate as much as I want, but I still hasn't catched this virus I guess. I just don't know how. 😅

[@enzofrenna3028]

im a owner of a vf 500 f - 1987. this bike is absolutley a joy to ride

[@matttriestodothings]

They're fantastic when they work correctly, hah.

[@UnCivilEngineerIRL]

Looking forward to seeing this back together and running !

[@matttriestodothings]

Hopefully we'll get to hear it run again. I think it should. When exactly that happens--that's a great question, hah.

[@UnCivilEngineerIRL]

@@matttriestodothings Mmmmm, that's the thing about a project bike... 5 minute jobs turn into 2 year jobs awfully fast 😂

[@matttriestodothings]

@@UnCivilEngineerIRL Oh yea. I'll be squeezing passed this one for a while now.

[@joes2514]

Bought a 1985 Interceptor 500 when I was attending college in Daytona Beach. The bike was like an extension of your body. All you had to do was think, and the bike responded. Amazing handling. Closest thing to flying I'd ever experienced.

[@matttriestodothings]

Just finished up clear coating most of the fairings a few minutes ago. Can't wait to have mine roadready again. There's nothing else quite like it. Hopefully I'll be able to get it to a track this year. The bias ply tires should make things interesting 😂

[@joes2514]

@@matttriestodothings The thing I appreciated the most about the VF was that it didn't try to stand upright while cornering like every other bike from that era. When you lean it over it doesn't fight you, it just stays where you put it. Gyroscopic procession is what causes bikes to turn when leaned. Honda nailed the variables on the VR especially the front tire/wheel.

[@andyodon2]

Can't wait for you guys to get stuck into this. Your a real pro man.

[@matttriestodothings]

A pro would have looked at the VIN sticker that said "1984" instead of trying to guess what year the bike was while a beer spilled all over the floor, hah. I'll get into it this weekend. I'm so tempted to start pulling things off now, but I really want to get the valve clearances checked and see if I can get it running first before everything starts coming off the bike. I also want to put together a full list of the items that I would recommend we go through and replace to determine if my buddy thinks it's worth it. There's so many little things that can nickle and dime you--especially on these VF500F's that don't have a ton of parts laying around anymore. I think we're going to be a Go though.

[@andyodon2]

Well, you know what they say about bikes and beer ...... it should be a real education. 👍

[@watchgollum]

Had my 86 VF500F2E since 97. Changed the oil in it every 1500 miles - clean as a whistle inside. You have the early version whereas mine has the line bored cams, 30mm carbs and smaller headers. I stuck the bigger earlier headers on - much revvier now. Just love the sound of these bikes.

[@matttriestodothings]

The sound is the best part for sure. It's kinda crazy how the '86 got all of these design changes for a single year, and then the 500 was just ended. I understand sort of why it happened with the release of the Hurricane and competing sales from the same manufacturer, but they would have had to have known that was coming. I know the VF500F was not a profitable bike for Honda to sell--it's a lot of technology in an "entry level" motorcycle. I love me.

[@watchgollum]

I was working for Honda back in 1988 as a young mechanic on their press fleet and rode a ton of early Hurricanes/ CBR600 as we got them in the uk. Fastbrevvy bikes. On my first day I said how great handling the 600 was I had just ridden. He looked at me and said the best handing bike here is the VF500 period. 2 weeks later we got our first RC30.

[@matttriestodothings]

@@watchgollum Oh man, I've never even seen an RC30 in person. They look soooooooo cool! That sounds like it must have been a unique and interesting experience working as a mechanic during that era!

[@watchgollum]

@@matttriestodothings Yeah. Best job for an early 20 year old bike nut. Working for a manufacturer, take home any bike I wanted and free fuel.

[@mmotorcycles9497]

Real nice candidate for a tidy up and some Mechanicals. Looks nice enough not to need a restoration.

[@matttriestodothings]

I think it might be. Cameras always do these bikes more justice than you can see with the naked eye though. Hopefully I'm able to get it running, put together of "to-do's", and my buddy can make a decision on whether or not it's worth restoring it.

[@christopher7026]

Very nice! From what I’ve read on the internet, the 500’s really didn’t suffer from the bad cams like the bigger sizes did. I don’t know if it’s because they just didn’t sell as many of them or what. That always worried the crap outta me with my vf500c.

[@matttriestodothings]

Yep--the VF500F's didn't have the chocolate cams that the bigger brothers were famous for. However, they often do have valvetrain issues that commonly are the cause for these engines to die. I really probably should get in deeper and actually look at the valves themselves. If I find that the valve clearances are all super tight, I may need to. If not, maybe it's actually fine.

[@joes2514]

@@matttriestodothings When I bought my VR new in 85 the dealer strongly suggested to me to follow the break-in guide and have the valves adjusted relatively early. Not many people did it because it wasn't exactly a cheap service. I did it and the bike ran like a clock until I sold it.

[@williamfoster4268]

Now I don't feel so bad for buying my Bandit hearing what you paid for that Honda!

[@ajk5585]

Hey Matt, I'm looking at getting a vf500f myself, it's supposedly in good shape but do you have any recommendations for what to look out for that is specific to this bike? Also I'm struggling to find an answer online - maybe you can tell me, does the gauge cluster have any backlighting for the rpm/speedo dials? it doesn't look like it does from what few videos I can find on this bike.

[@matttriestodothings]

Hey Fedor. I'd say the answer to that question depends on quite a few variables. I'm sort of a pessimist on someone buying one of these as their only bike or if it's a bike they just want to ride. it also depends quite a bit on whether or not you're going to want to get your hands dirty and do some maintenance and have the space and time to do it. If you just want to ride, buy something low displacement and newer with fuel injection. Consider the VF500F as a secondary bike. Alright, downsides out of the way... I fucking love these things. But they have some mechanical downsides. The big one being that the valves have a tendency to tighten--which can bust a valve and break an engine, and also float a valve in which the valve doesn't return quick enough due to the weak springs and... break an engine. That being said, there's lots and lots of them that are still kicking along well over 40,000 miles. With a 35-37 year old bike, there's just a lot of rubber that starts to wear and go. Usually not a huge deal, but parts are becoming more rare. The clutch slave will likely need to be rebuilt. $15, but should be done. Breaks should have new seals put in and cleaned up. If the carburetor has never been rebuilt, the o-rings inside of the fuel tubes are probably getting close to letting go. This requires full disassembly and rebuild. Now, if it's been maintained well it may be totally good to go and ride just fine, but you just never know. I'd be looking to find out more about the maintenance and the owner of the bike. Find out when the valves were last adjusted and ask what the clearances were set to and at what mileage it was done it. If there isn't a clear answer, I just don't know if I'd trust not opening it up to do check them immediately. All that being said, I got mine in 2007 or something and rode it for 10,000 nearly troublefree miles (engine-wise, at least) before I did any engine maintenance. I had a water pump let go and snapped a throttle cable. The 500cc V4 is just a sweet engine though in a neat package. It's a cool bike and a sweet little piece of history. Gives me a huge smile every time I ride it. So when you're looking at the bike, you're probably going to want to be interviewing the person selling the bike about how they treated it just as much as you're going to be looking over the bike for obvious mechanical issues. Good luck with whichever way you go on it.

[@ajk5585]

@@matttriestodothings Thank you for the reply Matt, I'll make sure I grill the owner even harder than I normally do on my maintainance interrogation haha! I think I've got a pretty good idea on the valvetrain sensitivity of this bike which should be fine with my meticulous efforts on preventative maintainance as I'm no stranger to difficult old bikes. If I end up picking the bike up, I guess I'll have a fun time trying to wrestle the carbs out and into the heads

[@matttriestodothings]

@@ajk5585 You'll be fine getting the carburetors in and out. They're a bit tricky; however, if you use a hair dryer to heat them up, it makes them much easier. Light pressure moving around on the thing. To re-seat them (i'd buy new ones.. I'm going to. they're like $36 total for '84-85, like $100 for '86), heat them with a hair dryer, add a layer of red rubber grease to the inner lips--especially the rears, and use two small flat screwdrivers to help get the carb outlet into the intake boot. Learned this trick on vfrworld and it made a world of difference.

[@mikeyjay1970]

My first bike was exactly like that one, I had it for almost 10 years but sold it rent. Dumbest thing I ever did.

[@matttriestodothings]

They're really neat machines. A sweet little engine handsome attire. They have their issues, but most bikes do.

[@dark_demi_god6382]

I really enjoy your interceptor videos im currently restoring one i found

[@matttriestodothings]

Thanks man. They are definitely sweet bikes. A lot of people do some seriously cool restorations on them--wish there was more video content (from other people) that I could ingest. Hopefully your restoration isn't giving you too many headaches! I'm sure it'll give you at least a few just to keep you honest though, hah. What year bike do you have?

[@dark_demi_god6382]

You are the chosen one but im definitely going to ask for some advise in the near future as soon as both heads come off

[@AICD1999]

Wheels are stock

[@matttriestodothings]

Ah, alright thanks. I thought they were all black but that must just be the 1986 version.