I'm new here, and I'm looking for some advice on restoring a 1985 Honda VF 700F. I found a couple of parts bikes for a good price, I'll likely be getting them this weekend and I'm planning to make one running bike and keep the other for parts. I have a friend with more mechanical experience than me who will be helping me, but I'm still relatively new to this. I have a friend who is brokering the deal, and I haven't actually laid eyes on the bikes themselves yet.
While the plan is to restore the bike, I know the first step is getting it running and making sure the cam shaft isn't eating the lifter. The restoration will likely not come this year, even if I can have a running bike by the end of the season.
I've done the valve adjustments on my 2022 RE Classic 350, but I've never really been IN an engine before. I'm wondering if this is a project that I'm over my head for.
I've attached photos of the bikes below. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Yam
P.S. I have photos of the VIN plates, but I'm not sure if it's bad form to post those? I can include them if someone can glean any sort of information from them.
Typically, restoring 1st Gen Interceptors come from a love affair. 1st bike. Bike in college. Bike that got you into motorcycles. Rode it to get spectacularly, repeatedly laid.
They are a challenge, even with a parts bike, but that certainly helps. Not for the faint of heart and typically not worth it. You are likely in over your head.
Typically, restoring 1st Gen Interceptors come from a love affair. 1st bike. Bike in college. Bike that got you into motorcycles. Rode it to get spectacularly, repeatedly laid.
They are a challenge, even with a parts bike, but that certainly helps. Not for the faint of heart and typically not worth it. You are likely in over your head.
They are probably my least favorite VFR / Interceptor, and I own them all from 1983 to 1997.
By the way, the red/white/blue upper cowl in the pic is for a VF500F.
This is kind of what I expected to hear... but I don't think it changes my mind! That's probably a bad thing... I LOVE the look of these bikes, and I will probably go ahead anyway, but now I can't say I wasn't warned.
I've never restored a bike, and I'm only a half decent DIY mechanic sometimes, so eternal props to the people who buy and restore old motorcycles. If you have the time, money, and patience for this project you can probably do it. But I doubt anything will be easy with it.
Good luck and please post your progress as you go. Hopefully at the end you'll have something special for all to see!
I've never restored a bike, and I'm only a half decent DIY mechanic sometimes, so eternal props to the people who buy and restore old motorcycles. If you have the time, money, and patience for this project you can probably do it. But I doubt anything will be easy with it.
Good luck and please post your progress as you go. Hopefully at the end you'll have something special for all to see!
I appreciate the kind words! Like I said, I don't expect to restore it this year, maybe not even next year, but I am dead set on getting at least a running bike by the end of summer. I will start a new post when we actually start taking stuff apart and putting stuff together! I'm hopeful the community will help me figure out anything I'm not smart enough (or rather just not experienced enough) to know/do.
Make sure you check it over for chocolate cams before even starting. Not worth effort if engine's dead.
That's the first thing I plan on doing! I know the first gens have a nasty habit of inclusions in the camshaft casting wearing and destroying itself and the rocker arms.
Lets hope that at least ONE of the engines has good cams.
Lots of theories came up over years to explain cam issues. Bottom line was cam-housing wasn't line-bored with caps machines separately. This caused alignment issues and bearing-clearances that were way too large. Case-hardening cams would help, more of solving symptoms than fixing cause, unlike like KTM's really soft cams.
Due to production variations, you may have ended up with one having good alignment and tight clearances. Plastiguage all cam bearing journals to know for sure. There's also external oil-feed kits you can install for improves lubrication.
Only VFs getting properly line-bored cam-housings was '86 VF500F and VF1000R.
End of thread · 10 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 24 Aug 2025