picking u pthe new to me bike wednesday!

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

Z6CRX

übber ɐɾuıu etarip
picking up the new to me bike wednesday!

Yah! I found a bike dirt cheap and couldn't pass it up.

a 1985 VF500F Honda Interceptor for $300, picking it up Wednesday unless its complete junk. But the bike supposedly runs great everything is straight, only missing a panel, burnt out turn signal, and needs the gas tank resealed. No good pics to post up yet, but will do once i get it. :D
 
85 VF500F's were junk in '85.


Just a warning.
thanks, I'll keep that in mind, but for $300, adapting a newer I-4,or something else in wouldn't be that hard considering the amount of room in the V-4 frame. I will only do this if the engine/tranny gives and the cost to repair is ridiculous.

Then again i could be walking into the worst $300 I ever spent.
 
I'm not being a dick. I'm letting you know as a trained and qualified motorcycle mechanic, it is in my professional and knowledgeable opinion that you aren't going to be able to repair that thing for anything reasonable, nor are you going to easily swap something in there for less than the price of buying something newer. When I was working at the bike shop, literally 90% of the pre-'00 bikes that came in were bikes that people had bought from someone for an 'awesome deal' and it only needed 'a little bit of work', and they just wanted to get it 'freshened up'. Those bikes also usually ended up needing thousands of dollars in repairs to make them SAFE to ride, much less run/ride anything near decent.

The 2 things that let me know without a doubt that it's junk are:

1. it's $300
2. it's an 85 Honda

Honda bikes aren't like Honda cars. Honda bikes are pretty much crap. Shit, even the newer ones are junk.

Honestly dude, you're going to end up dumping a LOT more money in that bike than you're anticipating. Use the money elsewhere.


How do the tires look? How are the brakes, front and rear? What kind of condition are the chain and sprockets in? How long has it sat up? Why does the tank need to be resealed? Does it have any engine oil leaks? When was the last time the oil and/or coolant was changed? What kinda condition is the battery in? Are all the cables for the choke, throttle, and clutch in good condition? Are all the fuel and vaccum lines new, or at least recently changed?

I would almost bet money that EVERYTHING I just listed is NOT in proper working order. All of that is stuff that needs to be in VERY GOOD condition in order for the bike to be safe to ride. Bikes aren't like cars, if you leak a little oil from the bike, where's it gonna go? All over the rear brakes and the rear tire. Ever ride a bike that the throttle sticks wide open because the cables are old and coming apart? They said the bike is in good running condition, but the tank needs to be resealed...why on earth would they drive a bike around with a leaky gas tank? What all has the gas leaked on and ruined? Keep in mind if it has been sitting for more than a few weeks, the carbs are probably starting to get gummed up and will more than likely need a good cleaning. For that matter, what kinda condition are the diaphragms in the carbs in? I've never seen a 25 year old diaphragm be in good condition.

And guess how much all the stuff above is going to cost you? An arm and a fucking leg, or what you could have spent on getting a decent bike in the first place.


There's no such thing as 'just spending $300 on an old bike'.



But like I said, I'm just giving you my professional opinion based on what I know and what I've seen.
 
Last edited:
thank you for that reminder. I'm at least going to take a look at it, I really would like to get something to ride, but I wont ride it if I do not feel it is safe.

Guy said he's been riding it and has not had any problems other than the ones he had listed to me. For something like this I really wouldn't take someones word. Which is why I'm going to look it over carefully before I decide, and from the put in the back of a pickup instead of riding it. I have a place to store it, and some spare time to work on it. I have ridden a bike with a sticky throttle, its scary as crap. I may hate carburetors but I will work on them.

Mostly I need something to keep me occupied.
 
I'd pick it up for $300. Then I'd rip out the motor and make one hell of a go-cart out of it! Woo hoo!
 
This is one of my dream bikes to own. I'm so jealous.

It's GOING to need work. Timing chain at least.

"(knock knock) (Who's there?) (Timing chain slap!)"
 
I'd pick it up for $300. Then I'd rip out the motor and make one hell of a go-cart out of it! Woo hoo!
at least I now have something good to do with it if I do an E-bike. :D. I may end up hacking away the transmission for that close ratios six, even though electric motors make great torque,acceleration is nice.

but that's only under a few circumstances that I'm unlikely to run into.
 
Last edited:
3nb3m43p2ZZZZZZZZZ93191aa98962dec1a9d.jpg
3mb3o13ldZZZZZZZZZ931f93f39647e9e13dd.jpg


basically the tank is rusting out(from the inside), and the triangle shaped fairing/cover piece is the only part missing on the bike on the left side.
 
fuck that. i would rather spend $1500 on a decent bike than $300 +parts+labor+headaches.
 
there isnt a single thing about that bike i would trust
 
That thing has the stock 1985 tire on the front end................ dude....... no. End of discussion.
 
That thing has the stock 1985 tire on the front end................ dude....... no. End of discussion.

holy crap.. that definitely does raise some red flags lol. its got like 20,000 miles on it. Good eye.

Damn, I can't get past that. I still would at least like to take a look at it. Heavily going to have to consider getting it now. :-/



Cheapest car "I" bought was a 95 metro for $200. Only thing wrong was the muffler fell off. Got up underneath replaced the exhaust, roughly $450 into the car and some bitch rear ended me a month later. Car was totaled and I got 1400 in insurance. i took the cheapo radio out and wired up for a garage stereo/cd player with some random bracket I modified with lots of hammer swings..
 
I still would at least like to take a look at it.


why???

that bike is an absolute nightmare
if you go there, you are going to end up talking yourself into buying it...
"hell, its ONLY $300... it needs a bunch of work, but i can use it as a learning process... with a little time and effort it could be something... blah blah blah"

you will buy it... sink a metric asswad of money into it... more problems will come up from every turn, eventually you will have so much into it that you cant sell it or throw it the fuck away, and it will sit there untouched for 4 years collecting dust and rotting away until you finally get fed up with looking at its decaying carcass and throw it the hell out... you will have wasted at minimum $3000, and 4 years on it... for nothing

save up more money and get a bike that can be ridden
if you want a money pit project bike, buy an old triumph, or indian, or even a pre 70 harley davidson... or take an old ass honda CB and make a cafe racer out of it... sink money into one of those and you might actually see something out of it... the bike will at least be worth something... that bike isnt worth the $300 you are going to pay for it in mint condition


WALK AWAY
 
yeah dude, that thing is worth about $8 , at a metal recycling scrap yard.
 
Well, even though against most of everyone elses opinion I still picked the bike up ^_^.

Bash or not, I'm not really going to be throwing tons of money at it. Especially since i currently don't have a whole lot for it lol. Engine runs great, sounds perfect(probably isn't though), rides fine, a number of the hoses look relatively new. Even looking at the worst possible scenario with this I still have someone else "willing" to pick it up off me for what I got it. Even though I kinda doubt it.

I have plans for this regardless which way it goes.
 
Back
Top