Few yesrs ago friend of mine gave me half a dozen of boxes and said this is a 1983 VF750F that had burned fuel relay and probably some problems with the harness. He took the bike apart, but then came marrige, mortgage, kids, etc and there's no time to complete the project... I could not refuse.
I had it sitting it my garage for few years as well and now the time has come. I've started the process of putting this bike together.
I've seen few of this projects on this forum and I hope to find some great wisdom and knowledge that I can tap in to help me to pull this project to the end.
I've rebuild 4 crashed Hondas before, but nothing that old, plus last time this bike has seen the road was 2003.
I'll place some pictures and I'll update this thread as I go along.
So far this is what I've accomplished:
- Lightly sended the frame and uplied rust converter to the rusty spots.
- Primed the frame swing arm, kick stand, center stand, and few other small pieces related to the rear swing arm
- Painted the frame using silver brake caliper Plasti-Cote paint
- Painted the center stand and to littke arms using Black Gloss Epoxy Plasti-Cote paint
I basically just did the same project on the same bike. I have some work to do to make it better, but I've made some good progress and I enjoy the hell out of it. Let's see some pics!
Today's progress. Started frame assembly, installed new bearings into the swingarm and attached it to the frame.
Next, i want to take apart the rear shock and change all fluids. Id like to replace the seals, if i can find them.[image: post-35534-14610499879922.jpg]
I looked closer at the rear shock today, pulled the boot off. No signs of oil leak.
As per manual, it says to remove the seal in order to replace the fluid. I don't have the special tools (yet) to remove/install retaining ring. Also after pressing the seal out (down) manual says to keep the shock in this position for 10 min to let the fluid drain and then flip it to prevent draining the rest of fluid.
Is there a way to drain/replace all fluid without taking the seal out?
Meanwhile ill start making the tool.
Also took apart rear brake caliper. Brake fluid turned into paste, looks like grease...The brake housing is in rough shape, looks like someone used a hammer on it.
[image: 9a7019d87c0433f9ede9057ddcfa8ae8.jpg]
To push the pistons out i used a grease gun, removed the tip and removed the banjo fitting bolt on the caliper. Lucky me....the thread on the grease gun is same as the caliper bolt. Few squirts of the grease gun and the pistons are out. Tomorrow will run all parts thru parts washer.[image: f5c5541cce2fa47bebb9fb7942975171.jpg]
4. Finally received bearings and seals kits from Amazon, these are 5 kits available from All Balls Racing. Replaced bearings and seals in front and rear wheels and steering neck.
ForbesNice, your motor looks almost new...keep pictures coming.
I'm assembling parts at the moment, I'll start posting when I get to actual rebuild work.
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Yes, the engine doesn't look bad. Theres some corrosion on exposed aluminum and minor paint damage on the clutch cover. Ill have to address these issues.
My guess is need to buy top end gasket set and clean clutch cylinder.
I did my 83 last summer, paint & powder coat, replaced just about all the rubber parts & seals (Ozone & age makes them brittle), OEM part are all available on Partzilla. Any aluminum parts that are really bad should be sent to Nils Menton at Restocycle.com to be cleaned up by Vapor Blasting NOT sand or glass beading. Results are truly amazing, wish I knew about him before I did mine. Your brakes would look great. I was lucky, mine sat with DOT 5 fluid in the clutch & brakes, and it looked as good as new. Mine spares with Dot 4 were all gummed up.
If your shock doesn't work out I have two low mileage original shocks. Mine has a FOX rear shock.
I did my 83 last summer, paint & powder coat, replaced just about all the rubber parts & seals (Ozone & age makes them brittle), OEM part are all available on Partzilla. Any aluminum parts that are really bad should be sent to Nils Menton at Restocycle.com to be cleaned up by Vapor Blasting NOT sand or glass beading. Results are truly amazing, wish I knew about him before I did mine. Your brakes would look great. I was lucky, mine sat with DOT 5 fluid in the clutch & brakes, and it looked as good as new. Mine spares with Dot 4 were all gummed up.
If your shock doesn't work out I have two low mileage original shocks. Mine has a FOX rear shock.
All my brakes a gummed up and corroded, the PO took the bike apart and it sat since 2003 in boxes. Thanks for the offer, I just received the seal for the shock, so I'm gonna reassemble it and see if it works OK. Im trying to keep all original.
Found a vapour blasting company locally. Thanks for the tip.
2 weeks has passed since last post, no progress on this project. Been busy rebuilding my pull behind motorcycle trailer that I've built 2 years ago, on the way back from Sturgis in 2014 got hit by a piece of the brake drum laying in the middle of the road, trailer axle got bent badly. Had to stop for the night to find a shop to fix the axle. The repair held OK to get home, but wheels are not running true. I got a new axle on sale and bigger wheels, went from 4.80/4-8 to 5.3- 12, made a swivel hitch adapter - I did feel the hitch binding on sharp turns. Also moved the axle 6" forward and extended the drawbar , all in in effort to reduce tongue weight.
Finally received a big order of seals from US vendor and picked up a bag of metric o-rings from local vendor (fraction of the cost if bought from Honda dealer even on-line). Also received some rebuild kits for brake and clutch cylinders. Back to work ....
I might start videotaping the workfor the Youtube, have a channel there, I was looking for details on the rear brake master cylinder and could not find anything decent. I'll place the links when done.
Finally got around to assemble the rear shock Showa MB2-003. Filled it up with Lucas Syntetic forck oil weight 10. Put a new seal in. Nothing spectacular pretty straight forward. The shock worked fine so i didn't have to do a complete rebuild with extreme disassembly.
Today had a very productive day, managed to install new rear tire, that took a while. Got the tire on, but just could not get the bead to sit properly. Took the wheel to Harley dealership, they spent 1/2 hr with no result. Had to call my Russian friend for advice, the secret - dish soap and lots of it. Got the tire on myself in about 10 min.
Put the rear wheel in and assembled rear brake caliper using pieces of 2 calipers that I had. Changed seals and all o-rings in the front forks and replaced the fluid, and started front end assembly. Things are moving on, it starts to look like a bike.
Bike looks like new. I always fancied one of these, but the chocolate cams put me off.
Re the tyre fit, DON'T use dish soap, use CAR WASH, reason for this is dish soap is salt based which is the main cleaning agent, car wash is salt free, but just as slippery ! The soap remains when the dish soap dries & will continue to suck moisture under the tyre seal on the bead & corrode the bead sealing flat surface !
Keep up the good work, we need more V4's on the road :)
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