Possibly free to a good home....

[SoulKiss]

Honda VF750F Interceptor, the first of the Honda V4's

83, Jap import.

Physically in ok shape, engine an unknown quantity - but the VF's had problems with soft cam lobes and top-end oiling.

This is the bike that kind of got me into biking, it was abandoned in the car park where I live 3 years ago and I had an option to "take it for disposal" when the landlord decides to ditch it.

Not really for me tho - I dont have the ability/knowledge/time to to a complete engine strip down to see what the damage is.

So no guarantees on whether it can be made to run again, or even if you can get it, but I cant see the landlord passing up on the chance to get rid of it for free instead of paying a couple of hundred to get it dumped.

Anyone interested in this bike, let me know - all you will need is the ability to turn up with a van to take it away......

I hate to see a bike that might be re-buildable going to waste.

David

[Baph]

You have a PM.

[21QUEST]

David, give me till the end of the day(if possible) and I'll let you know.

Ben

Edit: Darn you Baph. :P :lol:

[SoulKiss]

Well Baph has 1st refusal as it stands.

Rather than just PM him (in case it falls through) heres a bit more info.

All brake disks are good (rear is rusty but only slightly lipped), and the can is in good shape.

I know this because I paid a mechanic to look it over, but when he quoted me £200 to rip the engine apart to clean carb-bowls and replace the ignition (thought the labour time would be high due to a good chance of having to drill out some of the bolts) JUST to see if it would turn over I balked and gave up my dreams of running/owning it.

Basically a sound bike, with a questionable engine (which to be honest is how it would have been from the factory :P )

[Baph]

Pipped at the post with 1 minute. :)

A mate of mine has a few bikes that are in a similar state at the moment, and has just landed a job at a H*nda dealership. He'll be helping me rebuild my CG125, so we might work on this as well.

His job means cheap dealership spares, and all the advice on tap that we could ever need really :)

Sorry though Ben :) If he decides he hasn't got the time to take on another project at the moment, I'll let you know mate.

[SoulKiss]

His job means cheap dealership spares, and all the advice on tap that we could ever need really :)

Erm there are no spares for a '83 interceptor...... at least not from Honda direct (most dealerships assume you mean a VFR and then tell you that there is no such bike as a 83 VFR)

I DO however have the URL for a good Interceptor group on Yahoo that are mainly States based, but DO have some people on there who can re-condition parts (harden the swiss-cheese cam lobes for example) or who make the essential top-end oil mod.

Complete (but non-running) VF750's DO come up on ebay reasonably regularly for about £100 - so donor bikes might not be THAT hard to find.

Just a warning to anyone interested, this is not going to be an easy fixer-upper - but it is a piece of history - I believe it was with the Interceptor that Honda introduced the world to fast, good Japanese bikes, and opened the door for Suzuki etc....

Personally I have resigned myself to the fact that the closest I am likely to get to riding one of these is an early VFR (for which the VF was almost a proto-type)

David

[lukemillar]

Can I have 2nd refusal? or 3rd if Ben has 2nd?

Thanks
Luke

[SoulKiss]

Current queue....

Baph,

21Quest,

Lukemillar

[K]

His job means cheap dealership spares, and all the advice on tap that we could ever need really :)

Erm there are no spares for a '83 interceptor...... at least not from Honda direct (most dealerships assume you mean a VFR and then tell you that there is no such bike as a 83 VFR)


Then you've been going to dealerships that can't be bothered with a bit of paperwork then!

Seriously, OK so the bike is an import so won't be on the UK EPC (Electronic Parts Catalogue), however, if they have access to Honda's WebEPC it may well be on there.
(Not all dealerships have access to this though and prefer to run with Honda's regular CD updates.)

If it's not showing on the WebEPC then all they need to do is contact Honda UK by Fax (the form is in HondaCom which they will have).
You will need to provide the bike's VIN and Engine number, year of manufacture and country of origin if known. Colour and/or colour code too if you've got it for cosmetic body parts.

That will get you parts numbers and descriptions as HondaUK will contact Honda Japan if they don't have them themselves.

All the dealer needs to then do is order the parts by the relevant number - or suitable alternative if it has been discontinued - which is likely to be your biggest problem.

So there ya go - there is a light at the end of the tunnel regarding parts for this, and if you get a main Honda dealer who give's you problems, then you now know what to tell them they should be doing and not to be afraid of a little paperwork. :twisted:

[SoulKiss]

His job means cheap dealership spares, and all the advice on tap that we could ever need really :)

Erm there are no spares for a '83 interceptor...... at least not from Honda direct (most dealerships assume you mean a VFR and then tell you that there is no such bike as a 83 VFR)


Then you've been going to dealerships that can't be bothered with a bit of paperwork then!

Seriously, OK so the bike is an import so won't be on the UK EPC (Electronic Parts Catalogue), however, if they have access to Honda's WebEPC it may well be on there.
(Not all dealerships have access to this though and prefer to run with Honda's regular CD updates.)

If it's not showing on the WebEPC then all they need to do is contact Honda UK by Fax (the form is in HondaCom which they will have).
You will need to provide the bike's VIN and Engine number, year of manufacture and country of origin if known. Colour and/or colour code too if you've got it for cosmetic body parts.

That will get you parts numbers and descriptions as HondaUK will contact Honda Japan if they don't have them themselves.

All the dealer needs to then do is order the parts by the relevant number - or suitable alternative if it has been discontinued - which is likely to be your biggest problem.

So there ya go - there is a light at the end of the tunnel regarding parts for this, and if you get a main Honda dealer who give's you problems, then you now know what to tell them they should be doing and not to be afraid of a little paperwork. :twisted:

The bike WAS available in this country - this particular one was imported.

The issue is that the parts are discontinued

But all good info that may help Baph - with a friend at a dealers he may be able to get further than a member of the public.

David

[K]

OK, the fog is clearing a bit more from my 'work' brain - it's been a while since I've used it :roll: )...

... regardless of whether the bike was available in the UK or not, as an '83 model it won't show up on the regular EPC discs - they only go back to '85 (or maybe only to '86 now, it's been almost a year since I last used one!).

This means that you'd have to follow the same proceedure for an import bike anyway - only HondaUK have the older details rather than the dealerships.

As for discontinued parts, they should in many cases be able to cross-reference to any suitable alternative part numbers.
Plus in some cases though a part will show as discontinued for production, it can still be ordered as there are some limited stocks still remaining at HondaJapan.

Also cross-referenceing superceeded part numbers with, for example, early VFR's may also show up some available alternatives.


End of the day it comes down to time & investigative work - so you'll often be fobbed off by a dealer who can't be bothered or thinks it's too much for a single customer and a £20 part.
That's bad form as far as I'm concerned, but then I have both an old fashioned view of customer service and also liked a good 'detective story'. :?

[SoulKiss]

Hey Baph - I think K just offered to find you all the parts you will need for rebuilding :P

David :twisted:

[K]

Hey Baph - I think K just offered to find you all the parts you will need for rebuilding :P

David :twisted:

Hey, if I was at work I would. But I'm not, so best I can do is let you know if you're being fobbed off or not. :wink:

[Razor]

I'm sorry but you couldn't pay me to take one of you. Well you could but I'd scrap it straight away. That was the bike that almost ruined HONDA's reputation. A bike with so many top end failures that when they launched the VFR750 they sold them at a loss to make back their good name.
No wonder HONDA dealers say such a bike doesn't exist :lol:

Seriously tho, here's the wikipedia page with some piccys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_VF_and_VFR