New boy

Owners Lounge
1

Hi,
I’m a new boy to the forum. I have just bought a 1985 VF1000FE. It’s in reasonable condition for the age and mileage (37,500). But it’s been standing for a while, so needs the carbs cleaning, etc. Can anyone suggest a good service place where I’d find someone with good relevant Honda V4 experience? I’m down in Bristol so hopefully there might be someone near’ish to me (?) but if not I’d happily put it in the back of a van and take to the right guy to get the right attention. I like someone who knows what they are looking at to get it running and check it over (little worried about any potential cam wear issues that I hear they are susceptible too).
Any help advice would be much appreciated.

2

[:)]for my own piece of mind the first thing I planned to fit and have was a top end oilier kit.
Got it from Crooky but dont know if he has any left.but he is the man to ask.

As to servicing you are asking the right people on this forum.

Lloyd[:D]

3

Hi Freddie, I,m in Wootton Basset so not far from you. A guy who is old school and made his name importing the VFR 400s when they were coming in like sea water from Japan. Its Elliots M/c of Cricklade 01793 751752. My brother took his 650 Katana there to be overhauled and they seemed to speak his language so I,m sure theyll know about the VF`s as well if not better.

Your choice

Martin

4

…thanks very much Martin for the suggestion of Elliots in Cricklade, I’ll certainly be giving them to call to see if they can help me.

And thanks Lloyd for the suggestion of the oil cooler, I had been reading that they were a good idea to fit. Who is Crooky? Is he on this forum or do you know an email address?

5

not a cooler but a vital mod to keep those cams happy with loads of oil under pressure[:)]
also sounds quieter[8D]

I am sure crooky will rear his head soon

6

…ah yes, thanks. Just assumed it was a cooler but like the sound of something that’s sending oil up to the top of the motor. Does anyone fit coolers to their bikes too (or is it not necessary)? I read that the F2 had them on as standard an wondered if it was a good idea??

7

hi freddie, the top end oiling kit is a good addition, but i dont think its absolutly “do or die” necessary if you change your oil and filter regulary, after all your bike has survived 27 years without one, i do agree with windy though, its does make the top end a little quieter, so there must be something in it.
maybe if honda had fitted a similar version from new there would be a few more of these bike around.

pete

8

Thanks Pete, that’s good to know, yes I guess the reputation of the cams on the 750’s in particular didn’t help their popularity at the time. But I’m just a V4 fan, and having had two vfr800’s over the last 14 years or so, getting a vf1000 made sense to me as my first classic bike, flaws and all. Of course anything I can do that can help it’s longevity seems a sensible thing to do, so think I will do the oil kit mod for peace of mind.

Any other advice or suggestions relating to reliability will be most welcome. Thanks.

9

[:)]I look at it this way
For a small investment in money My bike will not suffer cam wear.
As a point to note the cams only get oil at pressure when its revving past about 3k and on tick over in traffic it gets no pressure so none.
With the Dave dodge oilier kit fitted the cams get clean filtered oil at pressure even at tick over.

It was simple to fit and I dont worry about future engine rebuilds.[8D]

First, the engines affected. Any first and second generation V4 is affected. First generation means Sabres and Magnas. Second generation means first (VF) Interceptors. Third generation means gear-driven cams (VFR). Specifically, then (according to Motorcyclist, July 88):

all Sabres, including 700, 750, and 1100
'82 to '88 700 and 750 Magnas
'83 to '86 1100 Magnas
'83 to '85 700 and 750 Interceptors
'84 to '86 VF1000R and VF1000F Interceptors (Note the VF1000R does have gear driven cams)
10

Agreed, seems a no brainer to fit the oil kit if the mod is relatively simple and inexpensive to do.

And thanks for the info/history on which of the V4’s that are susceptible to cam wear.

Before I get the oil kit mod done the first job is to get the carbs properly cleaned, as the bike hasn’t been run for over a year. If I get them cleaned ultrasonically/vapour blsted is there any advice any of you guys have on whether the jets should be replaced at the same time? Or will the cleaning sort any potential issues with them?

11

Dont mix the carbs up as they are front and back pairs and the jets are different as well.
Crooky reverse engineered Dave dodges kit which is fitted to mine.
My kit was £150.00 but I dont think he has any left.
Fitted it in under 2 hours.

lloyd[:D]

12

Has anyone put fully synth 5:30 oil in these babies as I’ve got some and not had anything to date that might benefit from it. I`m reluctant because of the thinness of it at running temp but some first hand experience of trying it would be useful ?

Ta
Martin

13

old tech bikes they are,Mr Honda spent Millions on development and I trust him to know best in this dept

Use the factory spec oil SF or greater standard oil is best.

Lloyd[8D]

14

Thanks for advice re the carbs Lloyd, appreciated. And I certainly will be using the oil advised too.

It’s not running yet, as the carbs still have to be cleaned first, so I have no idea how it will sound/feel. As it’s been stood for a while I will certainly have it serviced, but it may need more. Has anyone had a rebuild done on one recently where they would be happy to recommend the workshop they used for one of these bikes? Hopefully it won’t come to that but just thinking ahead.