Early V4 Hondas, ever wonder what the real reason was ?

[wickedstuff]

Hi guys, yeah these early big 4s had there share of cam/rocker problems! basicly the 84 had the heads and block drilled separatly and so when they were bolted together the galleries didnt line up as good as they should! the 85 and onwards were line bored all in one! as they knew they stuffed up and fixed the machining problem from 85 onwards. Now the good fix is a "top oiler kit" which you can make or buy on ebay in USA it takes filtered full pressure oil from the oil filter area up to the cams, it also has a one way valve so the oil doesnt drain back to the sump once the engine is turn off. the good fix is to use a good "bike" oil not a car oil. and use a "metal protector" not a oil additive. for example.
www.bi-tron.biz

[zadok]

From '86 on the VFR's went from chain driven cams to gear driven cams, I believe. As far as I know they were then great bikes. I knew someone that had one and it could fly and handle well.

[wickedstuff]

All Vf1000R are gear driven cams, all other vf1000's are chain, the 84 VF1000R had cam problems! coz of what i said in my previous note. the 85- and on were better but not perfect! same Honda took so long to correct its mistakes, but the VF1000R pathed the way for the very reliable VFR series.

[Deano]

I had a VF1000R... nice bike but weighed a ton..

A mate had one of those - it lunched the crank bearings with about 6000k on the clock.

[Bonez]

From '86 on the VFR's went from chain driven cams to gear driven cams, I believe. As far as I know they were then great bikes. I knew someone that had one and it could fly and handle well.

Personnally I wouldn't touch a VFR earier than '88.

[gav]

The '86 VFR750's are magic motors, still got the 16" front wheel though, but a 1990 CBR600 17" front wheel slots straight in , uses the same speedo drive, axle, spacers etc.
Dangerous had an early VFR too, did about a million kms or something.....

[badlieutenant]

Personnally I wouldn't touch a VFR earier than '88.

well they are all good.
While it would be nice to have a modern bike I still like mine. Doesnt look that great but goes well.
I dont think I hold to many people up (sorry if I have)
there are a fair number of people in the U.S that have got 300,000 miles (yes miles) out of thier 86 vfr's and the things that fail (apart from reg/rec, but then a 2000 vfr wil do that) is the death of almost all rubber and bearings.
and dont forget that in 86 there were only 2 bikes to have, the legendary vfr and gsxr. These bikes were a big step forwards in bike design.
Back on topic, there is also a fix for the earlier vf's after the oil feed has been sorted and it's a slightly larger oil feed to the cams. I think Ive still got the data sheet showing you how to do it.If anyone actually wants it PM me.

[badlieutenant]

Hi guys, yeah these early big 4s had there share of cam/rocker problems! basicly the 84 had the heads and block drilled separatly and so when they were bolted together the galleries didnt line up as good as they should! the 85 and onwards were line bored all in one! as they knew they stuffed up and fixed the machining problem from 85 onwards.

yer thats how I understand it as well.
the other thing was when clearances were adjusted. They came up with a "special tool" that prevented the cams from lifting slightly as they were measured.
ahh honda special tools. bastards.

[vifferman]

... for over 6 years, from 1994 to 2000, and had no major problems. The motor was very good, and the only issues I had were rust pinholes in the right-hand side of the tank, at the back, where any moisture couldn't really escape. Also the left-hand muffler rusted out, which turned out to be a blessing, because I had M/C Exhaust Specialists in Chch make me up a pair of nice s/steel megaphones. With the custom foam airfilter I had made in Hamilton, the bike had a real nice note when wound up.
Only other issue was the brake disks - the right one was worn, due to lack of maintenance (caliper pins needed cleaning); put a pair of drilled ones from an NS250 on and it was all good.
I don't regret buying it, and had a lot of fun on it. Rode it from Hamilton to Chch just after I bought it, used it for commuting nearly every day in Chch for just over two years (including in the snow twice), and rode it back north. A few trips between Tauranga and Hawera, then commuting in D'Auckland for about a year. Brilliant. Loved the air-assisted preload, the antidive, and had no problesm with the 16" front wheel apart from one very quick headshake at 160 over bumps near Picton on the way down south, that stopped before I realised what it was.