It's been two and a half years since I bought this bike and put it on the back burner. I had three other projects in the queue to finish first, so I mostly left it alone. While I was finishing up my second '83 CB1123 Rest-mod, I started pulling parts off this one to prep for powder coating and rebuilding. So far the entire brake system is done, along with the rearsets. Brake rotors were surface ground and then I PC'd the centers. Carbs went off to Mike Nixon for rebuilding and are now waiting to be installed. I still have to adjust the valves and PC the valve, clutch, and alternator covers, along with the wheels and fork legs. I'm in no rush to get this one done, but I expect to be finished a year from now. In the meantime, a good friend in Texas who runs a Chevrolet body shop insisted that I ship all the bodywork down to him for repainting last year. In exchange, I did PC work for him and provided parts for his 900F and 1100F projects.
My bodywork looked decent front feet, but there were some scrapes, cracks, and broken tabs. He started out by fixing all the cracks and made new tabs to replace the broken ones. He has the same bike, so he used it for checking decal alignment after painting. All that's left is the decal for the rear cowl and clearcoating, then he's giving me the bike and shipping it up to me with the new bodywork installed. This is actually safer than boxing everything up and shipping. When I finish my bike, I'll sell the spare to recoup the shipping cost. (It was a runner.)
I may not have any updates for a while, but thought I'd share a picture of his beautiful paint work. I just wish he was local so he could help me paint an old car I'm restoring.
That looks great! Good to know the body work can be saved, it reminds me I need to get mine out for a ride.
Damaged ABS fairings can easily and quickly repaired the acetone ... I’ve just repaired the cracked/bits missing panels on my RC24 .... next up is spray them
I've put reinforcement strips of ABS across the cracks that are obvious weak points, like the front belly pan mounts
My completed bodywork arrived late last week, installed on a spare bike that my painter friend had no use for. It has virtually all the little bits that my bike is missing, so I'll end up with a nice, original VFR when I'm done.
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Next up, I'll powder coat the wheels, engine covers, sub-frame, fork bits, and rebuild the forks. Most of the remaining parts are already done and in boxes in my shop. Carbs are overhauled and bench sync'd. Goal for completion is spring of 2021 - it will be here before you know it.
I was disappointed to find out that center stands were an option for the VFR750 and to make it worse, they're hard to find. Somehow I got lucky and found one on eBay in Japan that was NOS and less than $60 shipped. I paid for it in August and it finally arrived earlier this week, almost 3 months later. I already have the correct NOS spring and the rest of the hardware, and test fitment shows it to be the correct one. The 30 year old paint on this is nothing special, so I'll blast and PC it gloss black. Glad I found it, since it will make chain adjustment a little easier.
Tom, you never cease to amaze! Beautiful machines with so much attention to detail. I decided this winter to take advantage of winter shop rates and take my 900F in for engine work. Will be doing valve seals and once they "clean up the top end" we'll see how the rest of it looks.
I've made lots of progress on this bike over the past couple of months and I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now. The bulk of my PC work is done, carbs are rebuilt, valves are adjusted, front end is rebuilt, steering stem bearings replaced, and lots of cleaning has been done. Below are some pics of the various parts I've PC'd. Note the textured finish I used on the clutch and alternator covers - it was recommended by a forum member here. Prismatic gold dust texture (PTB-4551) is a fairly close match to the original finish, as seen in the pic with clutch vs. breather covers. Perhaps a little more metallic, but I really like it. The valve covers will get this treatment next week. I have the wheels almost ready to go and I also plan to shoot high temp satin black on the painted areas of the stock exhaust.
Reassembly will begin within a few weeks, so I'll post more pictures as I begin that process.
More progress. I PC'd the wheels this morning, then pressed in the bearings, then mounted and balanced the tires. I have been using Dynabeads on all of the tires I've mounted over the past 6 months and I'm very happy with the results. No more ugly weights to look at and perfectly balanced wheels.
The valve covers are done and back on the bike, and the entire cooling system is for the most part refinished and restored. Except for some small odds and ends that I'll PC in the next few weeks, I'm now able to begin final assembly. My goal to have the bike ready to ride in August looks achievable!
The last of the big parts is done. I originally wasn't going to remove the sub-frame and powder coat it, but it was pretty shabby looking. So off it came and after cleaning and blasting, it got a basecoat of zinc primer and a finish coat of 80% gloss black. Most of it will be out of sight, but I'm glad I did it.
A little more cleaning and this can start going back together.