My RVF Journey......

[Zippy]

.....so far.

I bought my RVF in April '09 on a mad trip of nostalgia for the bike I wanted when I was younger. I had an RGV250M instead but I was always lusting after Honda's pretty little trick V4's..

Anyway this popped up on ebay, in a mad moment I bought it and then realised perhaps I'd bought a bit of a lemon. I rode it a bit in the spring of '09 but only covered about 300 miles on it in total before it got parked up.

This was it in '09 just after I picked it up.



Well I then decided to sell it after the good lady in doors thought having 2 motorbikes was a bit indulgent. So I popped it up for sale on here so I could let her see I was trying to sell it (yeah right) and as I thought she went quiet.

Well it happens to be my 40th this year so I thought I'd have a bit of a holiday down to Italy for the Motogp and what better wat to go but by bike or more importantly my little RVF. Problem is my bike isn't in the best of conditions so I thought I'd better give it a little TLC so that 1) it would get to Italy and 2) it would look and sound great.

First and most noticable issue with the bike was the exhaust end can wasn't standard. It was a titanium fireblade can and as such sounded far to load and drew far to much attention. So first job was to get a standard end can. Secondly the bodywork was from China which although it looked good from about 5+ feet away it actually fowled the front tyre under hard breaking and was a bit tatty. Then there was the general maintanence to be done, engine to be serviced and brakes to strip and rebuild.

With all this in mind I moved the bike to my workshop (I own a bicycle shop) where all my tools are and stripped off the bodywork to see what else was in store for me underneath.















I guess this is where the questions will start as I've only really got a Haynes manual and you guys for advice, not that I'd need anything else of course. lol

I'm hoping to have this finished by the end of spring so that I have some play time in the summer.

[Cru Jones]

I just got my RVF, so in the same boat as you and will enjoy this thread. A couple of things...manuals can be found below. Although, not the "official" RVF400 manual (those are only in Japanese and go for well over $100 on Yahoo! Auctions JP) there is the official VFR400 manual as well as some HRC setup manuals. Also, I would be interested in your fairings. You know what they go for on eBay new, if you're interested in selling send me some pics and a price (shipped) to NYC.


Manuals:
http://www.akhara.com/nc30/index.html

[Quo Vadas]

So long as you have yourself a Haynes manual and you post any probs on this site, you should be right as rain to get things all fixed up.

Cru Jones - if you are after anything in particular, I have some parts for an RVF for sale. Just let me know what you are after


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[Zippy]

Cru, I was going to keep the fairing for a bit just in case I do a trackday on it. The plan is to buy the Tyga painted bodyset and use that as my normal bodywork kit. Has anyone used one of these, I have no doubts to how good they are but it'd be nice to hear from those of you that use them.

One question I did want to ask is how easy is it to get hold of all the little things like bolts and hangers and so forth. I wanted to try and change as many bolts as I could because most have discoloured or gone rusty. Is there a cheaper alternative than original Honda parts as I imagine I could blowa fair few £ in the local dealer if I go that route.

I'm going to imagine that the bike has never been serviced and now needs a full service as it's covered 53K. Are there any particular areas I should check on. I was going to change Filters, plugs, strip down carbs and rebuild, check timing and also do the valve clearances.

I was going to fit a Tyge exhaust, probably still am, as the original has some gravel rash and I thought the pipes under the engine were rusted away. However on closer inspection it was just some brackets that had rusted and the pipes seem to be quite healthy. I have an original end can to replace the fireblade can on there at the moment so i'm thinking I could save a wodge of dosh and use it elsewhere in the build.

What I do need though for definete is the rubber that sits at the back of the tank where it bolts to the frame as mine fell apart when I took it off last night.

[Zippy]

Stripping off the rads and the pipes tonight.

This is the end of the back section of the pipe that goes under the engine and connects to the downpipes from the front. Are these saveable or are they buggered?

[Trinirides]

Hi mate looks like a few of us are heading abroad in the summer, im also doing a trip somewhere on the 400 when the weather turns..

Well for any small bits that you need the only place to look is http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/ get a RVF parts fiche with all the part numbers enter it in the DSilver website and you will get the item description, price and normally a short waiting time of a week or so.. This is a parts fiche for a NC30 :: http://www.akhara.com/nc30/nc30parts/

Dont think that just cos a part is corroded you need to replace it you can go down the road of refurbishment and this could save you a small fortune, see this thread about a chap restoring a NC30 and what he does regarding old fastners and hangers (link) http://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=190526 well worth a read if your new to restoration..

http://www.hyperbolt.com/ is also good for stainless and Titanium bolts and such but please no anodised anything!!

To be honest the bike doesnt look that bad just give it it's winter service inc probably the suspension and you will have a cracking little bike.. Use OEM seals for the forks etc and you should be good to go..

[Trinirides]

Gavin on here is the Tyga performance uk Distributor Jap 4 Performance probably worth a call if you are looking into a Tyga kit..

Is that the back end of a Dominator in the first pic of the RVF to the left hand side????

[big stink]

Exhaust can be fixed!
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=14362&hilit=89+nc3 ... &start=110

[Zippy]

Exhaust can be fixed!
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=14362&hilit=89+nc3 ... &start=110

That looks like a stunning transformation. I'll strip the complete exhaust off and send you some pics. It would be nice to keep it standard, save some money as well for all the other things that need doing.

I've seen the thread by Timon on his resto job on his NC and it's stunning what he's done there. I'd like to be in a position to blast the parts I have but I don't have access to a blaster. I'd actually like to blast all the parts myself but I'm not sure that's going to be possible. I would like to take off the subframe and blast that though.

I'm going to have the radiators referb'd as rusty water/coolant came out when I drained them.

What are your thoughts on Pro Bolt kits? Good or avoid. I would prefer to use SS where possible. No annodised products will be used in the resto of this bike.

[Zippy]

The Dommie is my other pride and joy.