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RVF400 Rebuild

100392 Views 283 Replies 57 Participants Last post by  Lane, 
L
5
So,

Picked up this RVF today.



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Yes, that is a VFR rear end, it's definitely a bitsa!

It has been sitting for quite a while, it wouldn't start so i drained the old fuel and cleaned fouled plugs and it fired up straight away! Motor has excellent compression, underneath all the neglect it seems like a pretty solid bike.

Bike is destined for a pretty comprehensive rebuild from the ground up.

Due to my new job i only really get one day every fortnight to work on it so progress will be slow but steady.

However now that i work for a bike shop, parts and accessories will be cheap.

After much deliberation i'm fairly sure it will be done in the Rothmans scheme although i'm still not 100% sure it could be a Repsol. I know they've been done to death but i just love them!

I'm also tossing up between which fairings to choose originally i was going to stick with the OEM design, but now i'm throwing the idea up of a Tyga RCV212 front minus the rear cause the RVF Tyga rear doesn't do it for me. There is an alternative rear that looks a bit like the '09 CBR1000's which i'm researching a bit more, so i'll keep you posted.

As far as mods go, i'll be fitting an Aprilia RS250 rear shock due to their adjustable rebound, compression, damping and adjustable ride height, with an 850 -900 pound spring to suit the RVF's shock lever.

Probably looking at doing the SP1 discs and calipers with master cylinder, also the rear needs a new disc and pads.

Going to upgrade the exhaust with a full system while i'm at it as well, probably go with a Tyga system at this stage as well as some better rearsets.

Anyway, stripped the buggery out of her today for a few hours and this is how she stands as of now.



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So far bike needs a new left hand switch block due to a bit of road rash, also the top radiator has seen better days so will be replaced.

It has aftermarket triple clamps which i'm not really sold on cause they have no provision for the ignition barrel which was bolted to one side.

Anyone know what the deal is with bulkier "race" triples? They have "Trick Racing" etched into them, they look like they'd be heavier than factory so i don't understand the advantage?

Also needs the choke handle as the factory one was missing and was operated by what looked like a lawnmower choke handle mounted down near the idle adjuster.

Thats all i can really think of now but there will be plenty of updates.

Feel free to help with scheme ideas and examples cause i'm losing sleep over it!!!
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A
Any idea on the price lane???
I already said I would be keen to buy!!!
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J
Absolutely beautiful! Such an amazing job great work
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E
So this is a massive thread dig but I now own this bike and just happened to stumble upon this thread, its now just gloss black rather than the repsol scheme.
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L
et! said:
So this is a massive thread dig but I now own this bike and just happened to stumble upon this thread, its now just gloss black rather than the repsol scheme.
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Gloss black! Bugger, that was a pristine paint job!!! Dude I sold it to must have dropped it.

How is it running?
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L
Can someone please advise how to restore the photos from Imageshack? I've logged back in after years of not being active but they haven't restored.
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E
Definitely doesn't look dropped, no repairs to the fairings or anything but it currently isn't running, haven't had a good chance to look at it but its choofing a lot of oil smoke and is making a wicked noise from somewhere in the top end, so imma have a guess it will be a ring problem.
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S
that's heartbreaking
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E
Its nothing that can't be sorted, I'll just put a good condition wrecker motor in, my race bike has a motor in it that was sitting around for several years in the weather and its now done 1000s of laps with nothing but regular oil changes and its still going strong. They are usually bulletproof.
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S
Yeah but after the work that went into the motor by Lane :O
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E
It has 6800km since the build if the dash is anything to go by.
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L
It had new rings and was honed so should be ok there, it did have 0.5mm skimmed off the heads and was shimmed up, do not throw the engine away!

In regards to the noise in the top end I would check the valve clearances first, after the head work, valve seat work and shimming they do settle quite a bit, I stressed this to the guy when I sold it but he was a bit of a noob so it may have been misunderstood.

The heads were ported also, strip it down and check it out, if something has gone wrong a new bottom end bolted up and clearances adjusted it should run well.
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L
I really hope a valve hasn't hit a piston, with the tightened clearance from skimming and a dropped valve it may be likely.
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E
I'll probs do a bit of investigating this weekend, I'll let you know what the verdict is
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S
ill take the motor if you want to get rid of it :)
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E
All the valve stem seals are leaking like sieves, an the exhaust ports look like a coal mine, but other than that the clearances aren't over tight. Heads will be coming off this arvo and ill report back.
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E
Rod bearing on cyl #4 is gone to the point the piston has been lightly hitting the exhaust valves, my guess is the last bloke never checked the oil and it must have been consuming some. It has run dry at some point which would explain all of the above issues, also the bores aren't scored but I can barely see any hone marks which isn't great. Ah well I'm going to put another motor in it to get it back on the road.

Lane - am I correct thinking that it has RVF cams?
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L
Bugger, it had new seals throughout which I sourced from Rick Oliver who is an NC30/35 guru, they weren't Honda so perhaps they were a dud batch? Disappointing.

I believe the rest of your diagnosis is correct, started burning oil, ran low and bearing failed as a result.

Yes it had RVF cams, it actually a VFR engine.
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E
I have also had problems with non-genuine valve stem seals in my nc30 motor, never again.
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W
fuck, that's a shame. Especially since pretty much everyone uses Rick Oliver for RVF/VFR parts.
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E
It's not the end of the world, they are still in my race bike, it let's off a little puff of smoke every time I back off which puts fear into the rider behind me, worked pretty well so far.
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