Decided to focus on one of my project VF500s, instead of working on both of them together.
At first planned to work primarily on the first bike I bought as I had already done some stuff like change fluids, etc. Was about to take good starter solenoid from bike #2 and put it on bike #1 - which had a bad solenoid - when I realized that bike #2, being in better cosmetic shape, might also be in better mechanical shape.
So switched plans and decided to work on #2 primarily, leaving the good solenoid there. The ignition key turned on some lights on the instrument panel but nothing else seemed to work. Checked the fuses, realized the ends and the fuse holders were oxidized and that continuity was intermittent at best. Tried to lightly clean them and then one of the arms on the fuse holders broke. Just when I started looking forward to having to order parts on Amazon and learning how to solder, I realized - I now have a parts bike to steal from!
Took the fuse panel from the other bike, cleaned its holders, put in the right size fuses (both bikes had many fuses much larger than specified by their respective circuits) and lo and behold - the starter motor turns when I press the button.
Next challenge is going to be the carbs. The PO had taken the carbs out. I went to look inside and one of the float bowl screws broke in half. Tried to drill it out with an extractor - haven't had success yet. Of the remaining 3 carbs, i could only open one of the float bowls. The other 2 seem to be stuck shut hard.
Interestingly, I found a video online where the poster had also struggled with the same problem - he thought his bowls had been glued or otherwise adhered shut. Not sure if this is a thing for this bike, for all old bikes, or just coincidence.
I had read all sorts of horror stories about working on carbs on these bikes. We'll see. Besides small engines, I've only worked on one set of carbs - from a CBR600F1.
At first planned to work primarily on the first bike I bought as I had already done some stuff like change fluids, etc. Was about to take good starter solenoid from bike #2 and put it on bike #1 - which had a bad solenoid - when I realized that bike #2, being in better cosmetic shape, might also be in better mechanical shape.
So switched plans and decided to work on #2 primarily, leaving the good solenoid there. The ignition key turned on some lights on the instrument panel but nothing else seemed to work. Checked the fuses, realized the ends and the fuse holders were oxidized and that continuity was intermittent at best. Tried to lightly clean them and then one of the arms on the fuse holders broke. Just when I started looking forward to having to order parts on Amazon and learning how to solder, I realized - I now have a parts bike to steal from!
Took the fuse panel from the other bike, cleaned its holders, put in the right size fuses (both bikes had many fuses much larger than specified by their respective circuits) and lo and behold - the starter motor turns when I press the button.
Next challenge is going to be the carbs. The PO had taken the carbs out. I went to look inside and one of the float bowl screws broke in half. Tried to drill it out with an extractor - haven't had success yet. Of the remaining 3 carbs, i could only open one of the float bowls. The other 2 seem to be stuck shut hard.
Interestingly, I found a video online where the poster had also struggled with the same problem - he thought his bowls had been glued or otherwise adhered shut. Not sure if this is a thing for this bike, for all old bikes, or just coincidence.
I had read all sorts of horror stories about working on carbs on these bikes. We'll see. Besides small engines, I've only worked on one set of carbs - from a CBR600F1.
