VF750 Oil delivery problems?

Hi,
I bumped into a friend today who told me he was looking to buy an 83
VF750.
The only info I could remember on this bike was that they had a
problem delivering oil to the top end.

The bike seems reasonably neat, cheap and comes with a spare motor.
What I was wondering is if the oil problem is fixed is it good from
then on or is it a recurring problem?

The odo says 39,000 but that could easily be 139,000 and I don't think
it has the original engine.

Cheers,
Duncan.

 

aren't these the one with the camchain problem?

Daron

 

surface hardening failed on cams from memory...dunno if oil related...think
not

 

Or are you thinking of the cam lobe problem. Early VF500s and 750s
(and even 1000s from memory) had terrible cam lobe probs. The
hardening didn't last beyond 5000kms on some bikes and Honda spent a
lot of money replacing cams for several years, both here and in NZ.
Probably happened in lots of markets but for some reason we don't hear
too much about that.

Kind regards
Dave Milligan

 

That's the VFR, and even then only the last model of the 750 and the first
of the 800.

 

From what I've heard, if they haven't died of it yet they're not
going to. Not that I actually know for sure or anything.

-----sharks

 

I think all the VFR750s had gear driven cam. Mate of mine bought one of the
blue ones brand new... 1988? could hear the bastard whirring down the street
from miles away.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R
'02 CBR1100XX

 

I was about to say that too but then I thought it was the gear-driven cams
that separated the VFR and that VFR-R (RC30)....
I'm confusssed!
Clem

 

Has to be close to the mark. The Vf1000R had gear driven cams before the VFR
range was made. There was a link on the this oil starvation issue on the
Honda website a few years back; maybe still there. There is a risk with any
bike esp without a warranty.
It just becomes a matter of allowing for it in the sums.
Rockit

 

The first VFR that had gear driven cams was the VFR1000 in about '83 or '84.
It replaced the CB1100R bikes when the production race limit was lowered to
1000cc.
All of the other VFRs of that era had chain driven cams from what I can
remember

Mick
GS1000S

 

Some had cam surface problems but if it's still a goer then that's likely
been addressed.

Is it an S or an F? The S and some of the early F as well as having the
hardfacing issue on the cams had some problems with the design of the chain
tensioner leading to premature camchain slop. A modification was available
to the tensioners and this combined with new camshafts seemed to cure the
problem. Both problems surfaced (no pun intended) fairly early in the piece
(close to 20,000) so if your milages are genuine then it looks like you
could have a goer. Despite such problems both models were fantastic all
round bikes but because of the problems, which have been exaggerated over
the years, she'll have **** all resale value.
--
Deevo
Former VF750S owner
(Retired due to altercation with Corolla)
Geraldton
WA, The Nanny State (® Corks)
http://members.westnet.com.au/mckenzie

 

No such thing as VFR1000 (yet), but yes, the VF1000R had gear-driven cams.
Clem

 

Trust you to pick that up Clem

Mick
GS1000S

 

On 21/11/03 5:28 PM, in article

Actually, that was one of the fixes, to convert to gear driven.

Hammo

 

Actually it was the VF1000R. The VFRs didn't come along till later and the
first ones were 750s.

All of the VFRs were gear driven, the VFs of the time with the exception of
the 1000R were all chain.
--
Deevo

Geraldton
WA, The Nanny State (® Corks)
http://members.westnet.com.au/mckenzie

 

Yea, what he said.
--
Deevo

Geraldton
WA, The Nanny State (® Corks)
http://members.westnet.com.au/mckenzie

 

VF engine was chain-driven (like the new VFR, but I digress!) then the VFR
came along and was Gear driven- the only exception was the VF1000R- it had
gear cams.

The VF engines shared problems with early VT250, VT500 and VF500 etc.
Hardening on the camshafts failed catastrophically and can take the
valvetrain with it. if the cams were replaced with new ones then the engines
are sweet things- I think Ivan Tigh still has stock? The chains failed
because of the shit camchain adjuster Honda must have bought bulk- They
still used them in the early CBR1000F/ CBR600F.

If both these faults are corrected, then the bikes are fantastic.

Chris
(is the spare engine the rooted one or is it a good spare, that you will
learn about installing??)

 

Assuming it's an F model (not an S):

Great bike to ride considering the era (16" front wheels fourex sample).

Maintenance is a bitch - the v4 configuration makes getting to the
valves a bugger.

There are a few mods you can do to make the top end oil delivery a bit
more voluminous (do a google search on vf750f and you'll find a fair bit
of info - the VFR resource pages cover some relevant stuff)

Cam chain tensioners were a bit of a dodgy design, but there are mods
for this also.

She's getting on a bit, so you'll probably find some dramas getting 2nd
hand bits.

What's the story with the 2nd motor - did the original turn into a
grenade and was swapped? Is the second motor the afore-mentioned
grenade?

The VF was a bit a Honda experiment - quad overhead cams and v-four was
quite a bit more complex than the CB's inline DOHC. I guess it must
have represented a bit of a learning curve for the bike mechanics of the
day.

As far as the odo goes, I'd be surprised if a VF750 had 139 000 KMs
accumulated, but that's just from my experience with lack of engine
reliability.


Mick
(ex- VF750F owner - accumulated a grand total of about 20 000 KMs
between engine rebuild and grenade time)

 

http://users.metro2000.net/~cdc/magna/tech section and issues/oil mo
dification/the%20oil%20mod.htm

The original problem with the poor surface hardening was reputedly
compounded by insufficient oiling. My 500 has 62000 on the top end (bottom
end recently rebuilt), and upon examination one cam is beginning to wear.
I'll probably replace it at the next valve adjustment (a dog of a job, btw),
depending on how much more it's worn. Other than the problems mentioned,
they're a great engine.

 

<snip>

Nothing wrong with the mighty Sabre.
--
Deevo

Geraldton
WA, The Nanny State (® Corks)
http://members.westnet.com.au/mckenzie