Chris H
master of boobies
Perusing Gumtree I spied an advert for a Honda VF750F. £350.
The VF750F is a water-cooled V4 engine, with only 86bhp it has 5 less than my air cooled straight 4 CBX 750FE and more girly imo. Its called the interceptor in America so that gives it coolness. It shares the same style comstar wheels as the cbx but in gold rather than black. And blah blah blah
I clicked it, the bike in the pictures looked great, it said no tax or mot requires some work.
The pictures made it look immaculate though.
So go have a look at it, indeed very, very tidy, with only 26k miles as well.
Issues as found
Missing belly pan
needs front mudguard painted
missing seat lock (not really a big issue)
rear brake caliper seized
fork seals
no horn
no mirrors
a few small fairing issues.
The main issue is non working clutch. It's hydraulic and leaking fluid at the slave. Its the same as the CBX's and a I have a spare if needs be.
Anyway go in hard and hes not for it but eventually settle on £280, got 70 quid off it, not bad.
As the picture shows its in really great nick, yes the previous owner has painted the screen! Makes my CBX look like it fell out a scrap lorry with the fairings.
I think my bike looks better, the VF is also physically a smaller bike
1984 A plates
26001.9 miles
Me on it, I prefer the bigger CBX really, fuel cap in hand, its missing the 2 screws for the hinge.
I had a more detailed look when I got it back. The rear caliper, the lower slider has seized solid, should be an easy fix, 1 of the pads has been damaged. The previous owner had pulled the caliper off and put it on the swingarm so the bike could be moved.
The clutch is the biggest issue, the rear slider free'd off and if I get the clutch operating I can make sure theres no nasty gearbox issues with it.
Hopefully if the rain actually stops I will do some work on it in the morning.
[BREAK=work starts]
17th July 2010
Well I thought I would start with the seized rear caliper slider. It was seized, seized good and proper. So I had to devise a way to extract it.
Now belting with a hammer would result in a broken caliper and tears before bedtime, a less violent but effective method was required.
A puller of sorts was the order of the day, a 13mm bolt and nut and a socket.
Slowly moving, I peeled back the gaiters and sprayed some plus gas ion there and scraped out what I could of the corrosion with a pick.
Slowly coming out, this was then scraped clean of corrosion, note caliper pistons were cleaned up as well
Finally out
for the bin
I had a good condition slider form one of my spare calipers I got for the CBX so I fitted that.
I have an issue however, the pistons will not retract. if I push one in the other moves out easily and vice versa so the pistons are not seized but both pistons will not retract back at the same time, it locks up solid and the brake pedal also goes solid. Thing is the bleed nipple on the caliper will just break off so its a bit of a predicament. I think the master cylinder has some gunk in it which is blocking the return to the reservoir. If the bleed nipple would open I could just push the pistons back close the nipple and top up.
Instead of dwelling on the rear brake issue I moved on to the clutch. The handle felt ok but not the same as the CBX plus the fact it stalled if you engaged a gear. Along with the trace of leakage means it needed sealed back up and bled.
First job try the bleed nipple, it actually freed off. Result! You can sort of make out the leakage.
Now the leak to me looks like its coming from the banjo bolt washers. I tried to see if it needed nipping up but no, I will get some new copper washers for it.
But to be sure I removed the slave to see if it was leaking inside, it wasn't thankfully
This looked like it may be tricky, the screws are in a bad way
So get a screwdriver bit and hammer it in, this both seats it fully and gives the threads a shock. It worked
I then saw I was out of brake fluid!
So this will be continued tomorrow if the weather is ok.
[BREAK=First Ride]
18th July 2010
Well went out this morning as someone never turned up on time for another job.
Rear caliper, I decided to try the bleed nipple again, worst case scenario a broken nipple, best case it frees off and is fine.
Well luckily it cracked off.
I could then press the pistons back in by allowing fluid out of the bleed nipple. I used a vice on my knee and 2 deep 1/2 drive sockets for this
Then pads, the clean one is the good one that came off of this bike, the other is a spare pad I had.
I saw this on the pads, maybe a cheaper alternative to the EBC gear, wonder what car uses them
Back together
I then went and got some brake fluid and bled the brake out, works perfectly releasing etc as intended.
I then focused on the clutch, my friend Kevin assisted for this job, eventually all the air was purged and we were rewarded with a good feeling lever.
Put it in gear pulled the clutch and it rolled forward, then started it and it worked, gears could be selected and it drove.
Sadly no more pictures but I zipped it out and about, pulls to the red line cleanly if not very swiftly, I done 2 mile son it.
At first when riding it smoked a lot but this was the brake fluid burning off the exhaust.
The front brakes are rubbish, they were really hot showing they worked but they struggled to slow down with me on the bike.
Thew gearchange is rubbish, the main reason is the side stand is touching the gearlever! So I need to sort that out.
The rear brake, I can't use it, the pedal is angled to high for some reason, the CBX's is just perfect and it uses the same lever etc.
So a few issues to sort but a massive leap forward here.
All that remains is a horn and fork seals really.
Also the engine once revved above 4 or so krpm starts to chatter then the chatter remains at idle, this model is known for cam wear etc but the engine oil is clean. So will have to investigate further.
[BREAK=and its away]
23rd July 2010
Well my mate Kevin is having it. So I still have access and will still work on it but its not mine anymore. I got something else today.
I sorted out the side stand.
The side-stand just like my CBX was loose and combined with the spring made it stick out to far and foul on the gear lever.
You can see the shiny spot on the spring where its been rubbing
This is the side stand off, you can see its splayed slightly, also the bolt when fully tight doesn't actually pull the ends back together
So bang it closed to a tightish fit with a hammer then put a washer on the bolt so it will pull the stand tight to the frame. And sorted, the levers position needs adjusted as its a bit low which I will do.
Anyway all that remains for the MOT is the horn and fork seals if you want to be picky.
Not sure when that will occur as Kevin is the sort that talks a good game and things just sit for ages, like his 750 GPX...
[BREAK=finishing touches]
24th July 2010
pulled a horn off another bike and also a complete exhaust system.
So all good, also fitted another screen a vast improvement. The old screen will be used as a colour match for the belly pan and front mudguard.
Rides good though.
[BREAK=MOT'd]
1st September 2010
This morning I took this to be MOT'd for Kevin.
It failed.
headlight bulb and indicator issues.
The headlight bulb did work but didn't when I got there.
The indicators had 2 issues. With the engine off the indicator was fine on the nearside, when it was started it would sometimes work sometimes not.
The offside flashed too quickly.
I got the bike home, changed the headlight bulb and then pulled the seat off, I fiddled with the wiring and the indicator wire was iffy. The bullet connector was loose, squeezed it and it was sorted.
I then set to the fast flash on one side. I pulled the bulb covers off and checked the bulbs, swapped them over to see if the speed changed it didn't.
Dug about in the spares box and a Renault flasher relay was found and fitted and it was sorted.
Back down for the re-test. I sat on the bike whilst the headlight was adjusted and it was sorted. MOT passed, just waiting still for the insurance ticket to come through, There has been the policy e-mailed but it won't get accepted as it looks like a temp typed it in their morning break!
Hopefully it will come tomorrow and it can be taxed then Kevin can go out for a ride with me.
I got a picture before I took it back up to his, for some reason the picture makes it look like a toy bike.
I can categorically say its not even close to my bikes pace.
[BREAK=new owner, new tyres, back to life]
5th May 2011
Well a lots changed since the last update.
Kevin took it out on its first ride (back last September) and he came off it twice. No other reason than he is a retard.
The second time I pondered on whether I should even go back for him, as tbh I think his extinction wouldn't harm the world. He's lucky to have a friend like me.
I did go back the bike was in a state, he got a lift with some guy then I went home got my car back to pick him up then off to retrieve the bike.
I had to take another gear selector, pegs and tools. Removed the broken fairings, got it ridable and rode it home.
It was damaged then sat for months. Kevin decided the issue was the bike was to big, so he swapped Darren the 750 for the VFR400.
Darren had the issue of no license, this mainly due to repeated cancellations, his first test was back in December eventually he sat the test on April! 6 times or something it was postponed.
Anyway the bike had to be fixed so Darren could use it.
So new indicators, mirrors, fairing damage repaired etc etc, only real issue was the radiator. it was heavily damaged.
Anyway got it so it would ride fine.
After a week or so of tooling about the radiator clearly is screwed and leaked when the bike sat at idle and Darren was concerned about riding on the tyres on the thing.
So it was time to sort that stuff out. The tyres were bought with my recommendation on size and brand. Then had them delivered to me.
So here we go, fairing and upper radiator off supported on axle stands
You can see the staining from the leaking radiator on the engine etc
Then to remove the front wheel both calipers need to come off and also on the nearside the speedo cable
This is the front tyre, dry rotted, this is them pumped up btw!
So front tyre replaced no pics of it, then onto the rear.
This picture is after I fitted the new tyre, nice, soft, shiny
The drive train had issues like snatching etc, a worn chains and sprockets are the issue. So I would help that issue and also the decision was made to see what effect a smaller front sprocket would have. the bike doesn't pick up and requires 2 down changes most of the time. A smaller front sprocket would mean the revs are higher in ever gear for the same speed so will help acceleration.
The bike with no rear wheel
rear sprocket, hooked on one side, so flip it to get a bit more out of it
Scrape the crud off it
Clean the carrier
Then refit rear wheel as that end is done.
Now the front sprocket
Remove clutch slave cylinder and sprocket cover, this was then revealed, a rather serious build up of crud, grease, oil and whatever else
The build up was cleaned off, then the sprocket removed then the rest of the crud was removed.
Then the replacement front sprocket, since my old CBX sprocket was the same type but a tooth done it was used. 16 tooth cbx on the left 17 tooth vf on the right.
it was put back together, lubed, adjusted then a road test.
A massive difference.
The bike is quicker as not only is the rear tyre a slightly lower profile (70 not 80) but the smaller 16 tooth sprocket means it pulls a lot harder.
The tyres also made the bike handle a lot better.
To celebrate Darren and I went a run, Glasgow - Inverary - Tyndrum - Stirling - Glasgow. A good 150 ish miles. Was a great run as the roads were quiet.
Oh nearly forgot about the radiator. As repairs were not working I went digging and found a spare radiator that was undamaged. So it was put on and also fixed a loose connection for the radiator fans. So thats all good as well.
There is a hole in the rev range though, it pulls hard to around 4krpm then it slogs then as the revs get to about 7.5krpm it will pull again. It feels like its going lean, will try shimming the needles to richen the midrange and see how that goes.
The VF750F is a water-cooled V4 engine, with only 86bhp it has 5 less than my air cooled straight 4 CBX 750FE and more girly imo. Its called the interceptor in America so that gives it coolness. It shares the same style comstar wheels as the cbx but in gold rather than black. And blah blah blah
I clicked it, the bike in the pictures looked great, it said no tax or mot requires some work.
The pictures made it look immaculate though.
So go have a look at it, indeed very, very tidy, with only 26k miles as well.
Issues as found
Missing belly pan
needs front mudguard painted
missing seat lock (not really a big issue)
rear brake caliper seized
fork seals
no horn
no mirrors
a few small fairing issues.
The main issue is non working clutch. It's hydraulic and leaking fluid at the slave. Its the same as the CBX's and a I have a spare if needs be.
Anyway go in hard and hes not for it but eventually settle on £280, got 70 quid off it, not bad.
As the picture shows its in really great nick, yes the previous owner has painted the screen! Makes my CBX look like it fell out a scrap lorry with the fairings.
I think my bike looks better, the VF is also physically a smaller bike
1984 A plates
26001.9 miles
Me on it, I prefer the bigger CBX really, fuel cap in hand, its missing the 2 screws for the hinge.
I had a more detailed look when I got it back. The rear caliper, the lower slider has seized solid, should be an easy fix, 1 of the pads has been damaged. The previous owner had pulled the caliper off and put it on the swingarm so the bike could be moved.
The clutch is the biggest issue, the rear slider free'd off and if I get the clutch operating I can make sure theres no nasty gearbox issues with it.
Hopefully if the rain actually stops I will do some work on it in the morning.
[BREAK=work starts]
17th July 2010
Well I thought I would start with the seized rear caliper slider. It was seized, seized good and proper. So I had to devise a way to extract it.
Now belting with a hammer would result in a broken caliper and tears before bedtime, a less violent but effective method was required.
A puller of sorts was the order of the day, a 13mm bolt and nut and a socket.
Slowly moving, I peeled back the gaiters and sprayed some plus gas ion there and scraped out what I could of the corrosion with a pick.
Slowly coming out, this was then scraped clean of corrosion, note caliper pistons were cleaned up as well
Finally out
for the bin
I had a good condition slider form one of my spare calipers I got for the CBX so I fitted that.
I have an issue however, the pistons will not retract. if I push one in the other moves out easily and vice versa so the pistons are not seized but both pistons will not retract back at the same time, it locks up solid and the brake pedal also goes solid. Thing is the bleed nipple on the caliper will just break off so its a bit of a predicament. I think the master cylinder has some gunk in it which is blocking the return to the reservoir. If the bleed nipple would open I could just push the pistons back close the nipple and top up.
Instead of dwelling on the rear brake issue I moved on to the clutch. The handle felt ok but not the same as the CBX plus the fact it stalled if you engaged a gear. Along with the trace of leakage means it needed sealed back up and bled.
First job try the bleed nipple, it actually freed off. Result! You can sort of make out the leakage.
Now the leak to me looks like its coming from the banjo bolt washers. I tried to see if it needed nipping up but no, I will get some new copper washers for it.
But to be sure I removed the slave to see if it was leaking inside, it wasn't thankfully
This looked like it may be tricky, the screws are in a bad way
So get a screwdriver bit and hammer it in, this both seats it fully and gives the threads a shock. It worked
I then saw I was out of brake fluid!
So this will be continued tomorrow if the weather is ok.
[BREAK=First Ride]
18th July 2010
Well went out this morning as someone never turned up on time for another job.
Rear caliper, I decided to try the bleed nipple again, worst case scenario a broken nipple, best case it frees off and is fine.
Well luckily it cracked off.
I could then press the pistons back in by allowing fluid out of the bleed nipple. I used a vice on my knee and 2 deep 1/2 drive sockets for this
Then pads, the clean one is the good one that came off of this bike, the other is a spare pad I had.
I saw this on the pads, maybe a cheaper alternative to the EBC gear, wonder what car uses them
Back together
I then went and got some brake fluid and bled the brake out, works perfectly releasing etc as intended.
I then focused on the clutch, my friend Kevin assisted for this job, eventually all the air was purged and we were rewarded with a good feeling lever.
Put it in gear pulled the clutch and it rolled forward, then started it and it worked, gears could be selected and it drove.
Sadly no more pictures but I zipped it out and about, pulls to the red line cleanly if not very swiftly, I done 2 mile son it.
At first when riding it smoked a lot but this was the brake fluid burning off the exhaust.
The front brakes are rubbish, they were really hot showing they worked but they struggled to slow down with me on the bike.
Thew gearchange is rubbish, the main reason is the side stand is touching the gearlever! So I need to sort that out.
The rear brake, I can't use it, the pedal is angled to high for some reason, the CBX's is just perfect and it uses the same lever etc.
So a few issues to sort but a massive leap forward here.
All that remains is a horn and fork seals really.
Also the engine once revved above 4 or so krpm starts to chatter then the chatter remains at idle, this model is known for cam wear etc but the engine oil is clean. So will have to investigate further.
[BREAK=and its away]
23rd July 2010
Well my mate Kevin is having it. So I still have access and will still work on it but its not mine anymore. I got something else today.
I sorted out the side stand.
The side-stand just like my CBX was loose and combined with the spring made it stick out to far and foul on the gear lever.
You can see the shiny spot on the spring where its been rubbing
This is the side stand off, you can see its splayed slightly, also the bolt when fully tight doesn't actually pull the ends back together
So bang it closed to a tightish fit with a hammer then put a washer on the bolt so it will pull the stand tight to the frame. And sorted, the levers position needs adjusted as its a bit low which I will do.
Anyway all that remains for the MOT is the horn and fork seals if you want to be picky.
Not sure when that will occur as Kevin is the sort that talks a good game and things just sit for ages, like his 750 GPX...
[BREAK=finishing touches]
24th July 2010
pulled a horn off another bike and also a complete exhaust system.
So all good, also fitted another screen a vast improvement. The old screen will be used as a colour match for the belly pan and front mudguard.
Rides good though.
[BREAK=MOT'd]
1st September 2010
This morning I took this to be MOT'd for Kevin.
It failed.
headlight bulb and indicator issues.
The headlight bulb did work but didn't when I got there.
The indicators had 2 issues. With the engine off the indicator was fine on the nearside, when it was started it would sometimes work sometimes not.
The offside flashed too quickly.
I got the bike home, changed the headlight bulb and then pulled the seat off, I fiddled with the wiring and the indicator wire was iffy. The bullet connector was loose, squeezed it and it was sorted.
I then set to the fast flash on one side. I pulled the bulb covers off and checked the bulbs, swapped them over to see if the speed changed it didn't.
Dug about in the spares box and a Renault flasher relay was found and fitted and it was sorted.
Back down for the re-test. I sat on the bike whilst the headlight was adjusted and it was sorted. MOT passed, just waiting still for the insurance ticket to come through, There has been the policy e-mailed but it won't get accepted as it looks like a temp typed it in their morning break!
Hopefully it will come tomorrow and it can be taxed then Kevin can go out for a ride with me.
I got a picture before I took it back up to his, for some reason the picture makes it look like a toy bike.
I can categorically say its not even close to my bikes pace.
[BREAK=new owner, new tyres, back to life]
5th May 2011
Well a lots changed since the last update.
Kevin took it out on its first ride (back last September) and he came off it twice. No other reason than he is a retard.
The second time I pondered on whether I should even go back for him, as tbh I think his extinction wouldn't harm the world. He's lucky to have a friend like me.
I did go back the bike was in a state, he got a lift with some guy then I went home got my car back to pick him up then off to retrieve the bike.
I had to take another gear selector, pegs and tools. Removed the broken fairings, got it ridable and rode it home.
It was damaged then sat for months. Kevin decided the issue was the bike was to big, so he swapped Darren the 750 for the VFR400.
Darren had the issue of no license, this mainly due to repeated cancellations, his first test was back in December eventually he sat the test on April! 6 times or something it was postponed.
Anyway the bike had to be fixed so Darren could use it.
So new indicators, mirrors, fairing damage repaired etc etc, only real issue was the radiator. it was heavily damaged.
Anyway got it so it would ride fine.
After a week or so of tooling about the radiator clearly is screwed and leaked when the bike sat at idle and Darren was concerned about riding on the tyres on the thing.
So it was time to sort that stuff out. The tyres were bought with my recommendation on size and brand. Then had them delivered to me.
So here we go, fairing and upper radiator off supported on axle stands
You can see the staining from the leaking radiator on the engine etc
Then to remove the front wheel both calipers need to come off and also on the nearside the speedo cable
This is the front tyre, dry rotted, this is them pumped up btw!
So front tyre replaced no pics of it, then onto the rear.
This picture is after I fitted the new tyre, nice, soft, shiny
The drive train had issues like snatching etc, a worn chains and sprockets are the issue. So I would help that issue and also the decision was made to see what effect a smaller front sprocket would have. the bike doesn't pick up and requires 2 down changes most of the time. A smaller front sprocket would mean the revs are higher in ever gear for the same speed so will help acceleration.
The bike with no rear wheel
rear sprocket, hooked on one side, so flip it to get a bit more out of it
Scrape the crud off it
Clean the carrier
Then refit rear wheel as that end is done.
Now the front sprocket
Remove clutch slave cylinder and sprocket cover, this was then revealed, a rather serious build up of crud, grease, oil and whatever else
The build up was cleaned off, then the sprocket removed then the rest of the crud was removed.
Then the replacement front sprocket, since my old CBX sprocket was the same type but a tooth done it was used. 16 tooth cbx on the left 17 tooth vf on the right.
it was put back together, lubed, adjusted then a road test.
A massive difference.
The bike is quicker as not only is the rear tyre a slightly lower profile (70 not 80) but the smaller 16 tooth sprocket means it pulls a lot harder.
The tyres also made the bike handle a lot better.
To celebrate Darren and I went a run, Glasgow - Inverary - Tyndrum - Stirling - Glasgow. A good 150 ish miles. Was a great run as the roads were quiet.
Oh nearly forgot about the radiator. As repairs were not working I went digging and found a spare radiator that was undamaged. So it was put on and also fixed a loose connection for the radiator fans. So thats all good as well.
There is a hole in the rev range though, it pulls hard to around 4krpm then it slogs then as the revs get to about 7.5krpm it will pull again. It feels like its going lean, will try shimming the needles to richen the midrange and see how that goes.
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