So after 22+ long years, The bike runs awesome and moves under it's own power! The last time this bike ran and moved under it's own power was back in 1991. The first owner slid it off the road and hit a tree. He stored it in my cousins basement till 1997 then the basement flooded. The entire bike was underwater other than the handle bars. It sat untouched for the next 8 years when I baught it in 2005 to rebuild it.
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After finding water still in the engine, I ended up just buying a replacement engine off ebay in 2006 which came out of a 1991 and had low miles. After sitting in my garage for the past 8 years the parts all went together and she fired up after a couple cranks. It was a happy day to finally hear this run and actually get to ride it. Now I just need to get the fairings fixed and put on.
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Edited April 7, 2014 by HispanicSlammer moved photo to feature
I actually did ride it the other day up and down my dead end street. I'm going to practice since this was the first time I've ever rode a bike this size. I had a 93 cbr 600 but only rode that a couple times. This bike seems alot heavier than the 600.
My viffer actually has the original fuel pump, RR, electrical harrness etc. and it runs great. I'm shocked how this bike runs and sounds. It was meant to be brought back from the dead.
I have all the body fairings for the bike, even the seat cowl with matching pad. Some of the fairings need work, but I've been collecting good ones for years. They are really hard to find but if you are patient you can find all the fairings.
Here are all the fairings that I've collected or had from the bike when it was first running. Most of them I got off eBay. I think only 3-4 of them were salvaged from the initial crash. I have lots of little tabs to fix but for the most part they are all in tack. The box has original misc. fairings and a complete middle V fairing which I'm not going to use. I bought it without and it looked like it got hot at one point and it's a little warpped. It's still usable though.
Happy story indeed. "Hit a tree" -Is it still straight? If the main fuse(30amp) and starter solenoid
assembly were under water, I would replace them ( I found a company selling brand new for $11.00 free shipping-
obviously Chinese ,but I think they all are. Also, check ( or solder permanently) the three yellow wires and connectors coming from the alternator to the RR.
All the electrical is original. I was worried about the fuses and starter solenoid but they seemed to be fine. The bike runs great and the charging system is working fine. I turn the key and hit the start button once and she fires right up. I should call it the Phoenix because she definity has risen from the dead.
Yes I added new tires, wheel bearings, fuel filter, plugs and a K&N air filter. The original tires were rock hard and I wouldn't have even tried to ride it with them. They looked ok with no dry rot, just hard. I need to get a complete fairing fastener kit. I've seen these kits on eBay, but I'm just wondering which kit to get. I've seen A1, A3, S kits, not sure which one to get. Anyone have any ideas or know where I can get a proper kit? I should have it all dressed up by next spring. I'm gonna work on fixing the needed fairings through out the winter. I'll be posting updates as I get the fairings fixed.
I can't help on the overall fairing fastener kit, but do have 1 insight... If you are thinking of going to the dzus style (1/4 turn) fasteners, you can not use the ones with the D-ring on them. Many of the fastener locations are recessed in a little pocket and the D-ring is too wide to fit. I bought them (unknowingly) and had to pull all the D rings off. No biggie, but unnecessary effort.
I bought a set of those fairing bolt kits last year, and they worked well enough. They are smaller than the OEM ones and are not shouldered. You have to use the plastic washers with them which is no big deal. However, this year I bought a buffing wheel from Harbor Freight and I got carried away with it. I dug out my old fairing bolts and polished the hell out of them. The came out great! So I ended up putting them back on the bike.
Long story short, if you still have the OEM bolts, grab a $30 buffing wheel instead of buying $50 worth of bolts.
Well it's winter, let the fairing fixing begin. I'm using this stuff called Plastex. Has anyone ever heard of it? I've had it for years, but there is no shelf life to it so I practiced on a scrap piece first. This stuff worked great! I glued a piece that had a large crack and a hole. After drying, this part was super sturdy and didn't flex. After a successful trial, I dove in on my parts. The upper fairing was the biggest challenge so far because I had to cut off the bad part on the good fairing, then cut off the good part on the bad fairing and mate them together. The headlight has three broken mounting tabs so this won't be fun. My biggest problem is the middle V fairing. This has completely missing mounting tabs so I have to make a new part with the Plastex. The tail sections are each missing one tab so that shouldn't be too hard to fix. I've got to do final sanding, priming and then painting, but the parts are coming out great. Here are some pictures of the progress. I'll post more pictures as I fix them. Come spring, the bike will be all dressed.
All the electrical is original. I was worried about the fuses and starter solenoid but they seemed to be fine. The bike runs great and the charging system is working fine. I turn the key and hit the start button once and she fires right up. I should call it the Phoenix because she definity has risen from the dead.
Lol. Why call it Phoenix, why not Jesus. I have heard that Phoenix rise from ashes. The guy who rose from the dead was called Jesus:D
All fairings are fixed and a full fairing bolt kit has been ordered. I can't wait till it comes in so I can start fitting the body back on to see how it looks all put together.
Maybe name it "The Phoenix" . . . ? Glad she didn't go to waste. Nice story.
Or (given the flood history) Noah? Not exactly risen from the ashes...
illegal
snowman11
All the electrical is original. I was worried about the fuses and starter solenoid but they seemed to be fine. The bike runs great and the charging system is working fine. I turn the key and hit the start button once and she fires right up. I should call it the Phoenix because she definity has risen from the dead.
Lol. Why call it Phoenix, why not Jesus. I have heard that Phoenix rise from ashes. The guy who rose from the dead was called Jesus:D
You beat me to it...names also in consideration Shem, Ham...
I finally got the whole upper assembly put together. I had enought actual bolts to assemble it, but I taped it by the wind screen. I think it's turning out great. I'm itching to get this put together!
Here are the pictures. All the fairings that had any kind of broken parts are now fixed. Most of the fixing were the tabs so I can get it put together. I can't wait to see it all on the bike.
any know where I can pick up some replacement Dzus bolts for the middling fairings? I need 7 total (2 spares just in case) but I'm not going to spend $11.15 a piece at the dealership for just one of these. I did get the complete bolt kit off eBay but I don't want to drill out the existing rivets on these fairings and possibly break a tab off. I'd rather just get the actual Dzus bolts required.
just got my package from kurveygirl. I ordered a complete set of 6 dzus bolts and clips and the bolts fit perfect. Now I just need the weather to warm up and clean out the garage to start work on the bike.
Perfect day to get out and work on the bike. I think it's coming out nice. I can't believe it hasn't looked like this in over 22 years! This is a trial fit of the fairings. They are really dirty, esp. the middle ones. I have to say the complete bolt kit is ok at best. It's definitely not a straight forward kit because there are different connections between the years 90-97. You have to use some extra washers in some areas to get the bolt to hold onto something.
I fired the bike up for the first time in 5 months. It took a little bit of cranking but it finally turned over and it runs! I hooked up all the electrical connections that I could see and the only light that works is the brake light. Its really bright. I think it's fully on like when you press on the brake. I don't have any headlight or turn signals. I need to check the fuses first then get the volt meter out to see if there is any power to the lights. If that's ok, it might be the bulbs, they are 24 years old. Slowly but surely it's coming together.
This bike is just meant to be back on the road. I went out to check the wiring, fuses look good just a little dirty. Checked all the wiring and found a couple connections not connected. I connected them and I have lights, turn signals, horn, high and low beam!!!! I just have to figure out why the brake light is on but I don't think that will be too big a deal. The important thing is that all the lights are good. On a down note, I cracked one of my headlight mounting tabs when sliding off the upper fairings. Back to the plastic welding.
Bravo, be proud. Anyone can walk into a dealer and ride away. Only us fools, um, guys, get the satisfaction of bringing a bike back from the dead and actually riding them. :wacko:
The original carbs were so seized up and I would have to completely rebuild them and that would have cost too much. The one motor that I baught off eBay had carbs that looked in good shape so I just had the local shop rebuild them. The pictures below show two of the original carbs. I ended up salvaging what I could off these to have as extra parts and I junked the rest.
Found the electrical problem. It was with the foot brake switch. I unhooked the electrical connection, took off the lower spring and it all seemed ok. I reconnected it after adding some electric grease and noticed the brake light was not on! I manually pulled on the piston where the spring would go and the light came on as it should. Tried the front brake and that worked too! Looks like the foot brake was just too tight. I'm good to go now! I'll post pictures of it completed when the sun comes out and a proper cleaning and wax.
that looks like mines twin. 1990 with 6400 miles hadn't been ridden since 1997. I will have it back together by the end of the week. I can hardly wait. Yours looks awesome.
Looks great! I did a similar resurrection of mine, after storing it for 15 years, but the difference is mine hadn't been in water, so a simple rebuild of the carbs and fuel system later - she was back to life. Recently I lent the bike to a friend (a girl :unsure: ) and she dropped it! Anyways, no problem - only cosmetic and she was great about making sure she put me right. Now got most of the parts new, but getting the other side new too (I hope to.... Partzilla keeps delaying!).
Today is the day. I finally got the bike on the road. My first ride was down to the shop for the inspection. All the guys loved the way it came out. Road it back to the house and there was a big smile on my face. After putting the kids to bed, I got a picture of myself going on a longer ride. When I got home, I have 29 miles total on it. I've got a real big smile on my face now! I can't wait to ride it again. It felt great being on it. I'm surprised how much get up and go there is in the higher gears. I experienced a little bit of everything on this ride, dry,wet and dirt roads, day and dusk riding and tons of bugs! Good thing for a face shield.
I finally went through my first tank of gas and i went 102 miles, the last 6 miles the fuel light was on. I calculated just over 31 mpg, does that sound right? Granted this gas was from last year with the sta-bil still in it. I filled up with 89 and put just over 3.2 gallons in, so I will see if i get any better mileage with this second tank. What does everyone else get in their third gen?
I haven't done too much high speed running since I'm just getting used to the bike. I have taken it up to highway speeds a couple times but only for a few miles at a time. When putting it all together I did start it and let it idle for a while so that might have killed some of the gas mileage.
I just ran through my first "full tank" and refilled with 3.5 gallons at 127 miles. That's 36.3 mpg.
Not as good as I was expecting, and I get a "fuel-y" smell sometimes. Maybe I'm running way-rich. Dunno yet.
snowman11
I finally went through my first tank of gas and i went 102 miles, the last 6 miles the fuel light was on. I calculated just over 31 mpg, does that sound right? Granted this gas was from last year with the sta-bil still in it. I filled up with 89 and put just over 3.2 gallons in, so I will see if i get any better mileage with this second tank. What does everyone else get in their third gen?
I've only taken it out once since filling it back up. I went for a 24 miles trip on Father's Day. Since then I've been out of the country on work so I won't be able to ride it for another three weeks. I might be running rich as well but I'll keep track of how many miles I can go and report back.
Anyone know where you can get a higher wind screen like the ones I see for the 94-98 models? I know zero gravity makes one for all the gen models but not the thrid gen.
So for my second full tank I got just over 130 miles before the light came on. On the third tank I added 1.5 oz of Marvel mystery oil in and now I'm at 160 miles and the fuel light isn't on yet! Looks like the more I run it the better the gas mileage. I did 130 miles the other day and it was a blast. I'm really enjoying riding this bike.
Anyone know where you can get a higher wind screen like the ones I see for the 94-98 models? I know zero gravity makes one for all the gen models but not the thrid gen.
I have a skidmarx double bubble. Can't recall from which vendor I purchased it from but it was someone in the UK.
I like that wind screen. I might have to check that out. As for any updates, I've got about 700 miles on the bike so far and getting over 48 mpg. I hope to hit the 50 mpg the more I run it. I got caught in a down pour the last time I was out on it. It was the first time riding in the rain.
It's a sad day because I finally had to put the bike away for the winter. I took it out one last time this past week when the temps hit the mid 60's. Came home, added some sta-bil to the tank, removed the battery, put the bike on the stand and covered her up till Spring. I put 1695 miles on it since Father's Day, pretty good for the first year really riding it. I was going to change the oil in it before I put it up for the winter but it looked like I just changed it when I checked. Do you think I should change the oil in it or just wait till Spring? This is the first year the motor really ran in over 8 years.
Until a couple weeks ago I hadn't been on VFRD for awhile, so this is probably the first time I've seen this thread. Just wanted to say congrats on finishing a fantastic job resurrecting that VFR! The average observer would never know the bike's unfortunate history, and I'm glad you took the time, effort, and expense to rebuild it. It looks like new, and is probably a good visual reminder to many people why they fell in love with the VFR in the first place.
As for the oil question, I have sometimes replaced oil and filter when I winterize, and other times I've waited until spring to do it at the same time I clean and recharge my K&N air filter. I prefer to do it while winterizing, but it kind of depends on how cold it is in the garage. :wink: With low miles on your current oil change you could just replace the oil and not the filter, which would save some time and money.
Overall, if the oil still looks fresh I'm sure it would be fine sitting for a few months. On the other hand, with all the amazing work you've put in this bike, what's an hour and a few bucks?
After my last ride, I added the stabilizer to the tank then took the bike back out to fill up the tank. After my 5-7 minute ride to the gas station I parked the bike. I don't have a heater in my garage so I'll probably just do the oil in the spring. I should look into getting some kind of heater.
As a Christmas present for VFRD members, could we please get more photos of the finished product? There aren't many nearly new 1990's around these days . . . !
The bike is put away for the winter. Come spring I'll get more pictures of it. I actually don't have many from this past summer. I'll try and post a couple more of the finished bike.
I'm itching for the warmer to come so I can get out and ride. I just ordered my MRA touring windscreen and 2002 EMGO mirrors. I can't wait till they come.
End of thread · 75 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 10 Jul 2017