hi guys, where would find a new thermostat for a vf1000f2? Its an 82 degree one. thanks Paneuro
A trip to your local motor factors would be worthwhile,these are a ridiculous price from Honda.Plenty of car parts cross over
ok I’ll try that, i have tried it in boiling water on the stat and it does open but I’m not sure if its opening as it should. I was all set to change the oil and filter this morning and left it idling to warm the oil before i drained it an without warning it chucked a fair bit of water out the overflow pipe. I think possibly the stat did not open and this is why this happened but I’m not sure. Also the temperature gauge was not as showing a high reading and the fans had not came on but the bike was definitely hotso I might replace the temp sensor unit for the fans. thanks Paneuro
A similar thing happened with my own boldor after it had been parked up for a couple of years following an accident.The thermostat seemed to have been stuck but after topping up the coolant I had no more problems.
The sender for the temperature gauge is on the thermostat housing and the fan switch is on the bottom of the lower radiator,it’s worth bridging the contacts just to check the fans are in working order.
If I’m running the bike up to temperature I hold it around 3k rpm to keep the coolant moving at a reasonable rate
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Hi, I did bridge the fan wires and they are working but the temp gauge did not seem to have moved much not had the fans came on. It has to be one or other off them and the manual shows how to test them so I might have a go at that first. Cheers Paneuro.
Hi bif, can you elaborate on exactly what thermostat is the one to get? these guys in the local shops are not keen on launching a major search for a 7/8 quid thermostat, it upsets there day. Mostly they give you the brush off by asking for what car is it for. thanks Paneuro
I should have made a note of it,my memory is not what it was,but suzuki swift is ringing a bell
Thanks for that info, I will keep that in mind.
I have tested the stat and it is working as it should, I also tested the fan sensor and the temperature sensor and those are working as they should so I am putting it back together to give it another go with fresh coolant. I will keep you posted on the results. The only thing I did not do was drain the rear cylinders! There is a drain bolt on the pump but I was not aware of it until after I had put the fresh coolant in, I will probably drain the system before long if all goes well as the original looks really grotty. Cheers Paneuro.
I had similar issues with my FF. After following Bif’s advice and bleeding the system, no more problems.
I was amazed at the amount of air the thing had been hiding.
Hi Chris, I have trie draining the system and refilling it but it is still doing the same thing once it’s warm. I have also tried removing the two front cylinder drain bolts but have only managed to get a few drips off coolant to come out of them. I’ve tried refilling the system with the the drain bolts out and still only drips of coolant? I noticed a plug on the side of the thermostat housing but I have been unable to undo it so far, don’t want to butcher it! Anyway so far no success. I have a workshop manual but it does not give any tips on bleeding the system. Thanks Paneuro.
Its a long shot but, I had a similar thing on my boldor after rebuilding it from a wreck, at some point in its life someone had either disassembled the fans and put the wrong fan blade on the wrong motor or the fans were from a different vf model, the upshot was the fans were spinning the wrong way pushing hot air from the engine through the radiator rather than pulling cool air in from the front… in normal riding everything was good, but once warm on tick over it would boil over… when I realised what was going on I just flicked the terminals out of the fan connectors and switched the round, the fans then turned the correct way, it’s never over heated since.
May be worth just bridging the fan switch and make sure the are spinning the right way.
P.s the fans are handed, one spins clockwise and one anti clockwise.
Hi Pete, I have owned this bike for 33 years and I am the second owner, the bike had only 7000 miles on it when I got it and I have put a further 12000 on it. The only problem I have had with it was a fork seal. It’s been sitting in my garage unused for the last 14 years. I just decided I would get it out and use it but It looks like I’m going to do some things to it before I can get out on it. Going to try and get it pressure tested as I’m beginning to suspect a head gasket. Thanks Paneuro.
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Interesting concept, but it sounds strange to me, it will be interesting to here other people views, I have heard of one re that had one fan pulling air in and one pushing air out through the rad…
All I know in my instance is spinning the fans to pull air in cured my over heating problems…
P.s, I just imagine a stampede of people going into the garage checking there fans, I would if I had another vf running at this time 
The fans should pull air through the rad and back over the engine,if they are pushing they would be fighting the natural air flow created by the bike moving forward.
Before pulling an engine with less than 20k on it,it may be worth removing the thermostat altogether.
with the bike on the sidestand fill the cooling system through the thermostat housing until it’s full,refit the top and top the system up through the filler.
Run at a fast idle until the fans kick in.
If it holds water the thermostat is a problem,if not I would be pulling the radiators off and having them cleaned out(ultrasonic bath).
A blockage in a radiator is more likely after a long lay up than a head gasket
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I had multiple Blockages once.
I bought a motor that had been sitting a long time (got badly rusted inside, but didn’t know it).
Rust Flakes built up in the Cylinder Wall Water Jacket and blocked the Cylinder Drain holes (jam a nail in there to bust up the Rust Flakes).
Many Rust Flakes made their way past the Thermostat and plug’d the Input Side of the Upper Radiator.
Remove upper Rad and Back-Flush.
I ran Muriatic Acid thru the motor, it work’d but damaged the Head Gasket and I ended up doing a Top End Refresh anyway.
I find the Rad System is Adequate (though overly complicated), but the Fluid Flow thru the Heads/Cylinder is insufficient, heats up too easily.
I would also replace the silly long overflow hose with one of smaller diameter (less air would get trap’d in the hose).
I also put a small section of clear tube right at the Rad Cap Overflow spout (can see if there is air in there).
If you use a Rad DeGunker, do MANY flushes to clean out (run motor with garden hose in Rad Filler).
Though you should do one run Hot to really clean out.
Always use quality 5-year/250,000km fluid (and don’t let it go past 5 years).
Old fluid breaks down and picks up Metal Ions over time and becomes Conductive, will rot out from the inside.
Good Luck