Project 42, a 1986 VFR750, is ready to have the freshly rebuilt/repainted forks reinstalled on the detailed frame, along with a fresh set of All Balls steering head bearings and repainted upper fork brace (triple tree).

The suspension will remain stock on this project so the forks were assembled with OEM springs and slightly heavier 10w fork oil along with aftermarket fork seals.

Before remounting the forks I installed the refurbished exhaust pipes with fresh gaskets. I then fitted a spare tire/wheel so the bike can be rolled back onto the lift for further work.

Next on the list is the cooling system install.

The exhaust pipes on Project 42, a 1986 VFR750, were showing their age (right). The pipes are some spec of stainless steel (presumably) but time and miles have discolored them to this point, which won't do.

Checking out YouTube on the subject will show several videos on the use of a UK product called Harpic, a caustic toilet bowl cleaner. The edited videos make it look effortless, so I grabbed our Walmart bowl cleaner along with some Lime-A-Way and Rustoleum gel rust remover. I also gathered four grades of scuff pads and set to work at a home-brewed comparison.

As it turns out, Harpic is 10% hydrochloric acid and mine uses sodium hypochlorite which is likely lacking the same etching power. In any event, as I progressed through the various products, I was slowly getting results but doing a lot of scrubbing. So I decided to try some light grade sandpaper — 1200-grit wet/dry. Things went much quicker but I eventually realized that sandpaper and water alone achieved the same results just as quickly as any of my products. In particular, the rust remover didn't seem to do a thing, which tells me that the discoloration isn't a rust issue.
(click on an image to enlarge)

(Below) Once the corrosion is dealt with I want to bring out the shine by buffing with a metal polish, in this case Autosol, an excellent general purpose polish. I begin with a once-over by hand (look at that black residue!) then a final machine buff.

This is a labor-intensive process. but the results are pretty amazing. I should note that my intent here is not to have show quality exhaust pipes on my street VFR, but rather to achieve a factory fresh start for this refurbished bike. The pipes will slowly take on a satisfying bronze patina with use, which I think is very attractive. A simple hand polishing every few years will likely keep these pipes looking great.

I came across this eBay auction this morning and thought it looks a little too perfect for a 28-year old owners manual. Turns out that it is, in fact, a new reprint from a company called Helm who supplies aftermarket auto and moto manuals. This company is news to me.

Our Florida seller has this new manual after selling his VFR and is offering it at auction with an opening bid of $7.50 or $15 buy-it-now plus shipping of $3.92. That's a pretty good deal considering Helm charges $58 with shipping & handling. They also offer some service and parts manuals.

You can find Helm here:
https://www.helminc.com/helm/homepage.asp?Style=helm

I featured this very nice 2007 VFR800 back in July. I noted at the time that the seller was asking "top dollar for a top-level example." Well, winter is here and the realities of the used bike market have come to bear.

The price for this beauty has been reduced from $6750 to $5700 (or offer), a much more reasonable ask.

I also noted that this bike shows an impressive 4334 miles and includes some nice extras. Here's my original post:
http://v4dreams.com/shop-blog/nice-6th-gen-for-sale-in-chicago

I came across these Honda branded tools on VFRworld.com. Offered by forum member Sohnos, he's asking $50 plus shipping from California.

I'm willing to bet that not too many of us have these in the tool box, so here's your chance. These are the tools specified in the Honda Factory Service Manual for 1986-89 valve adjustments and the 90° sync-ing screwdriver, which I think should accommodate any carbureted VF/VFR.

Contact Sohnos directly via the forum link.

SOLD: $28,600 +commission

This first-year example of the RC30 just sold from the Adam Lindemann collection through a Gooding & Company auction.

The selling price was surprisingly low compared to similar sales over the past few years. I don't have any insight as to why, as the bike shows only 6500 kilometers and seems to be an original Japanese import in beautiful condition. There's not many details online beyond this from Mr. Lindemann:
“The great Japanese superbike that proved that their motorcycles were as good and actually better than those from Europe. This early-production model was imported from Japan and has the Japanese stickers and details of the first production versions.”

In any event our buyer seems to have scored a great deal. His is an impressive collection, some of which are shown below, along with a fun little video of this VFR on the road.

What's that? You thought that your RC30 collection was complete? Wrong.

​Here's a Japanese-language sales brochure including a vinyl record of various sound bites, back before the phrase "sound bite" was a thing.

The eBay-UK seller lists the item as "genuine" and in "good used condition." The listing price is $441 USD plus $58 shipping to the U.S.

​It's only money...right?

Recently, I was disassembling a set of 2d-gen carburetors for rebuild and found this assembly mistake. We can see that a section of the diaphragm's outer rim was not in contact with its groove (red line). This, of course, will result in a vacuum leak, resulting in that slide not working correctly.

When assembling the slide/diaphragm it's necessary to lay the rim of the diaphragm fully into the carb's groove — don't forget to locate the lower tab (yellow arrow) — then hold the slide in that position with a finger while installing the spring and cover with the other hand. Without allowing the slide to move, hold the cover in place with a thumb while installing the cover screws. If everything's correct, the slide will then move up and down with a slight vacuum "drag."

One of the many little assembly details that make it all work.

Yesterday I was in disassembly mode with a client's carburetors and found the scene shown below inside #1's float bowl, and only #1 — the other carbs were dry and relatively clean. When I see that black goo coating the jets I know I'm in for a cleaning challenge. In this case it was the pilot and "choke" circuits. The arrow is pointing to the choke jet, which is fixed in place, adding another layer of difficulty when cleaning.

(Below) When the pilot screw was removed I found this sticky mess on the tip (left photo). This tells me that the passages serving the pilot circuit are full of this stuff and surely clogged. Fortunately, this goo hasn't been here long and cleaned up with aerosol brake cleaner and a scrub pad (right photo). After the better part of an hour in the ultrasonic cleaner the passages eventually cleared with tiny wire probes into the jet and several blasts of 100psi compressed air followed by repeated flushings with brake cleaner. In severe cases clearing internal passages of this varnished gasoline can be very difficult, and therefore time consuming. In this case, everything eventually cleared and I'm able to move forward with assembly.