The Honda Owners Club

Couldn't see a 'newbies say hi' section so I thought this was the next best place to do just that!

I'm Steve, 25 from north devon. soon to be riding a VFR 750 FL.
I have owned the bike since november with intention of tidying up over the winter and riding when my licence got destricted. Like many a project the bike didn't get touched until may.

This is the bike as I bought it.

Back tyre on the limit, needs side panel, fork seals, battery and number plate for mot



With brand new panel


Plans are to ride it and enjoy the summer then actually tidy it up over the coming winter.

And a random shot of my dads trophy for no reason what so ever!
on an L plate with 15k on the clock. dad is the second owner from new

Hi, Smurphious,
Welcome!
Looks like you've got a lot of work to do to "tidy" it up! As you may guess, I have a red one of these, the only colour! (Also an FL, H-reg too).
For your info, if you were to "restore to original" (not that you said you were going to) you will need a grey seat, return the wheels to brilliant white, sort the fairing panels (expensive), replace that "shorty" rear non-mudguard (some people never learn...) and the naughty numberplate! That's for starters, and probably not worth the cost of doing it all. Get the brakes sorted (new lines/pads/seals) as these need to be tip-top as they are not as good as newer models. That will probably be money well spent, but still not cheap. Give the engine a good service, oil and filter, air filter, balance carbs. Check valve clearances (not easy, or it's expensive)
These bikes were expensive to buy in the first place and are complex to look after if you want to do it by the book. Engine maintenance is quite complex (but far easier than the dreaded V-TEC!) Keep us updated on progress, won't you?

Cheers,
Red.

As owner of the FJ version and the FV I do nearly all my own work on them and say the valves are easy to check but not so easy to change shims as some bikes I have worked on. Srvice work is done in aday if you have decent work space the right tools and good reading of the Haynes or Clymer manual. Parts are readily available at a price if you want new ones from David Silvers. At breakers they are like Rocking Horse pooh!

Brakes will need cleaning and service hoses only need replacing if damaged. My 89 FJ is still on the original ones and they are sound after 96,000 miles. The seals are relatively cheap even genuine ones from Honda.

Oil and filter dead easy recomend semi synthetic oil unless someone has fed it full sythetic previously. New plugs essential and I also recommend the K&N air filter. Dearer initially but cleanable and lasts forever in real terms. No rejetting etc.

Carb balance is a must.

Check catalogues for wheel colour as my FV has black wheels as standard the White ones were popular on the early VFR's But I believe they were phased out.

Great bikes enjoy it when you can use it.

Dibble wrote:Check catalogues for wheel colour as my FV has black wheels as standard the White ones were popular on the early VFR's But I believe they were phased out.

ALL the FL and FM models had white wheels. I think the FN and FP had silver wheels on some, red on the red 'un. These bikes were essentially the same in chassis and body. (I think in the USA they call these models "Third generation".) I have brochures for both models............somewhere. I'll have to dig it out.
We can see the white paint on yours showing through where the black has chipped off!

FR to FV models were completely different from these in both chassis, wheel style and body. There were engine changes too, but not as significant as the rest of the bike.

Yours is certainly an FL, as the forks have plain caps (no adjustment screws on FL/FM, FN/FP had them), and the panel with "VFR" on it is in the style used only on the FL (the FM was a different style). Yours would have had a grey seat when new, not black.

Thanks for your replies some usefull information there!

I hadn't spotted the shorty rear mudguard at all! the number plate is going to be changed for the MOT anyway. as regards colour I quite like it in black with the wheels black also. I have been informed by David silver spares that they never built the FL in black but I don't have anything else to back that up. I have seen a stunning example of the FL in red near me and it looked good The side panel with the VFR decal on it is actually honda granite blue metallic colour code PB184MU/Type 3. The rest of the bike was home sprayed (runs and all) the shade of black you see in the pics by the previous owner from its original red. The wheels I am having refurbed black.

My list to get her back on the road are
full service (kit £55+vat from david silver spares is this a reasonable price?)
fork seals,
number plate,
back tyre (current will pass an MOT but I don't like riding with 'poor' tyres. Any suggestions for a replacement?)
new ignition barrel (current one has to be turned on then back a fraction to get ignition circuit live!)

Intentions for the near future are
all panels resprayed black,
wheels (if not already done) refurbed,
engine casings tidied and black,
full VFR decal set,
swinging arm and frame spars polished

I'm quite fortunate that the bike was bought through a friend of my dads who serviced the brakes inc new pads/seals before it was sold. She is currently in bits at the moment pending the full service, front plugs look like fun to get at! can;t wait for the good weather to get out on her. Although I'm convinced it is going to rain as soon as i'm ready!

smurphious wrote:I have been informed by David silver spares that they never built the FL in black but I don't have anything else to back that up.

Yes, on checking, it was "Granite Blue" but it always looked like Black to me!

I think the servicing kit saves a few quid. Suggest you get prices of all the parts you require from a Honda dealer, and get an HOC discount (you are a paid-up member, are you?)

Many brands of tyre are available for this bike. Depends on what you want to do, but Bridgestone BT 020's (discontinued now I think but may still be available) or BT 021's are popular.

The original mudguard is quite long at the back, and you may not like the look of it. Unfortunately, it's all part of the plastic that you see underneath, so it's a complete job, and if you can get one it won't be cheap. You may just prefer to put up with it as it is. It will get muckier if you ride it in the wet, but you could get a hugger instead, which may be a better option.

You will certainly need a new ignition switch, as it will probably cut out on you when you really don't want it to.....

The swinging arm will take quite a lot of work (expensive) to polish it, as it is a sand-cast finish.

Front plugs.......swing radiator forwards, tie it to forks, prepare to skin knuckles! You should have the plug spanner in the toolkit.

By the way, the FL had a grey seat, the FM a black seat (at least, according to the brochure I've now found.) Do you know the frame number? It may be an FM after all.............

Red V Four wrote:I think the servicing kit saves a few quid. Suggest you get prices of all the parts you require from a Honda dealer, and get an HOC discount (you are a paid-up member, are you?)

The original mudguard is quite long at the back, and you may not like the look of it. Unfortunately, it's all part of the plastic that you see underneath, so it's a complete job, and if you can get one it won't be cheap. You may just prefer to put up with it as it is. It will get muckier if you ride it in the wet, but you could get a hugger instead, which may be a better option.

The swinging arm will take quite a lot of work (expensive) to polish it, as it is a sand-cast finish.

Front plugs.......swing radiator forwards, tie it to forks, prepare to skin knuckles! You should have the plug spanner in the toolkit.

By the way, the FL had a grey seat, the FM a black seat (at least, according to the brochure I've now found.) Do you know the frame number? It may be an FM after all.............

Not as of yet, but if there is a discount scheme i'm on my way there now

I'll have a look about see if i can find a pic to give me an idea of what it should look like then we'll see. although I have no intentions of wet riding you never know when you might get caught out!

as for the swinging arm i'll rephrase polish as clean and degrease in that case

the toolkit i got with the bike consists of the wheel brace. and thats useless!

I'll look out the frame number tonight and see what can find out. previous owner has friends in the trade so he could easily of picked up a seat from an FM i guess.

Thanks again for your input

There's no discount scheme as such. Check out on the main HOC website for discounts etc. Once you're a card-holding member, many Honda dealers give up to 10% off genuine (new!) parts. Check the price with David Silver Spares first, but he's not always cheapest, despite what people think. Depends what it is. He doesn't do a discount for HOC members, as he's usually pretty cheap for most things. You just have to check out prices first.

Yes, a clean and degrease of the swinging arm would make more sense than a polish, as I guess you now see that it would be a lot of hard work, even for a professional. And they will charge accordingly......

The toolkit. The wheel brace is ok with a long bit of pipe, but you wouldn't get a wheel out at the roadside with it on it's own. But no-one really does that nowadays (RAC etc). You should have various spanners to allow you to take the front wheel out too.
It must contain a c-spanner and short tommy-bar to allow you to adjust the chain. Impossible to do properly without it.
(Warning, if when you have the chain adjustment tool, if you cannot adjust the chain you may find that the eccentric rear hub in the swinging arm has seized. They have a tendency to seize in the arm. If so, it's not an easy job to sort it.)
The plug spanner is a sort I've never seen before, as it is long, so that is required too. There is also a u-shaped piece of rod, to allow you to prop the tank up while you disconnect the fuel tap remote from the tap itself under the tank, before you can get to the rear plugs.
Post your frame number on here if you like. The Haynes manual lists the frame and engine numbers for all the UK and US models.

Shop around for your discounts with HOC membership. Many stores do discounts and for instancs Hein Gericke do discount for purchases over £25 at our local store. HG do plugs, filters, oils and pretty much everything else you will need for service. So cheaper than Silvers and although not genuine Honda parts they are good parts tried and tested they will probably be cheaper than the Honda shop.

Bridgstones do still do their excellant 020 tyres I have just fitted new rear one this week. They also do an 021 which is cross between 010 and 020 for length or life and grip. 010 grips 020 lasts.