Tinkicker

Plug laid next to plug hole is my theory. As an apprentice I took my mentors eyebrows off doing just that. Ford crossflow in an escort van. I asked him to see if there was a spark. He leaned in very close to see the plug just as I spun the motor over. Apparently cylinder one took his right eyebrow and cylinder two took his left one. Good job he wore glasses or I'd have had his eyelashes too.

Dunno how many times it has to be said to register. Walk away.

Check the key on the flywheel has not sheared...

Finally did it. Put the 175 up for sale.

Shakedown ride #2. Same route and same conditions as previously. Only difference was I absolutely caned it through the gears down a quiet,1.5 mile long straight with no turnoffs close to the village, one ear listening for backfiring if the new pump could not keep up with max engine demand. Of course MLud, I never exceeded the posted 60 mph limit. Whistle innocently.... Then parked up in exactly the same place as before, engine idling as before and took a pic. Two differences in this pic. 1. She is wearing her seat cowl this time out. 2. No puddles of fuel under the bike which is quite a novel experience so far this year. The seat cowl is not the best Honda design ever. It is held in place by two screws and if you need to get under the seat, the two screws have to be undone, then the seat unlocked and removed.. The toolkit lives under the seat... A great catch 22. You need the tookit to remove the seat, but you cannot get to it... I carry a large plate washer in my jacket pocket to undo the seat screws. Of course, since honda in their wisdom did not fit carb float bowl overflows, if they do overflow due to a bad fuel needle valve, the fuel drops straight down the carb mouths and fills the cylinders and sump with raw fuel when the bike is stood a long time. To prevent this possible occurence, you have to switch the fuel off at the fuel tap if the bike is not going to be used all week. The fuel valve is right underneath the tank and the only way to access it without removing the bodywork is via removing the seat and using a very long screwdriver on the tap lever screw. Again a pain if the seat cowl is fitted, although it is only a two minute job. Another silly honda oversight. If only they fitted a vacuum operated fuel tap... Seat cowl fitted and no puddle of fuel. Both novel ideas this ride out. As for the rest of ride. Absolutely superb. I can well understand why I knew I made a big mistake when trading my original one in for a Blackbird. Perfect. Not many people realise that Honda lost £100 for every VFR750 sold. They could not charge the punter enough to cover the manufacturing costs and still maintain enough sales to make the project viable. The entire VFR project was a face saving exercise after the VF series camshaft and camchain debacle in the 80s.

Bidding ended. Bike unsold with zero bids, reserve not reached with the initial price of £999. Knew he was being a little ambitious. Bet he was ready to take the offer of £999 at the end. An awful lot of reliable commuter bike for a grand....

Nothng wrong with the points. It was a split daphragm and huge fuel leak.

Engine vibration is often a symptom of loose mounting bolts.

Thing is that the counterfeiters also have access to the internet....

Must admit I am slowly moving towards putting the 175 up for sale and freeing up some space and cash. Fancying restoring a 250/350LC next, but finding one that has not already been "fully ebay restored" ie, a deathtrap might prove difficult. Properly done restos are far out of my reach cash wise.

One here. 31000 miles and looks to have been looked after. Does not appear to have been dropped... Bulletproof motor and no complex abs system and modulator to fail. Also, brakes are a breeze to bleed when changing hoses / fluid. Spanish built models come with Brembo brakes! I bet he is becoming more receptive to offers. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256882266543?itmmeta=01JRJ78ER4R2F517XRSEKY0JW0&hash=item3bcf6051af:g:jCAAAeSwoZBn5vSB&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAAwFkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1fc5UDCFVHmQ35o15Kx63wkwRcd7akres1pvIz0mI11nfocye4N4ltmNuqmN47aeeQybl9QfSxWoI%2BCj8TT2iYLo5Z%2BzXSae7vMV4zQbJEsPcDObqrp36419%2B4Y3RXlsYS05u3LXZEU%2BI%2BvUi5ENQ%2BVyTfHHf4FEJxZCmoBpuIVX9bvm9cevfFDuS2md2shr6HNvMgScMZ%2Bv%2BKrgE%2Fu%2B%2F1dB575wbWcTBzwWCAqOb2R2A%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5zsocfEZQ

New pump arrived. Spent 5 mins swapping it over and testing. It pumps when it should and stops when it should. It is also gratifyingly leak free. Tools required to change: 1x 5mm allen key and a screwdriver. Both required to loosen the bodywork. The pump itself can be changed by hands only, depending on how strong your fingers are at undoing the pipe clips. Otherwise a pair of pliers also required. Also a new addition to the bike.. The bike has its original toolkit and owners manual under the seat and I found an important omission at the side of the road last weekend - the 5mm allen key required to remove the bodywork. The original must have been removed to use to assemble ikea furniture or some such in the 28 years since the bike left the showroom and never put back. So I was unable to loosen the bodywork at the side of the road. A n unexpected turn of events which has now been rectified. With tyres, carb leak repair and new fuel pump, I hope I have made sufficient sacrifices to the VFR gods to appease them for the rest of the season. Failed pump about to go in the bin. At three years old, it cannot have pumped much more than 20 gallons. El cheapo chinese tat, the cheapest I could find at the time, I think it was around £12. The new one may be identical, but at a premium price, or it may be better quality, who knows. At least they give it a five year warranty through ebay.

When the missus and I went touring, we used to use book binding film to temporarily protect the vfr paintwork from throwover rubbing. Cheap to buy and easy to remove with boiling water.

Just found an old pic of one of my bikes. Sold it to take up boating instead. Obviously taken for the ebay ad.

Good and bad, but mostly good thanks to this forum. Today was the shakedown ride for the VFR. Again, my usual 30 mile route. Stopped a few times to sniff suspiciously for leaking fuel as it was the first time the new carb o rings were being used in anger. Nothing, no smell of leaking fuel. Great. Bike was a delight to ride. The new Michelins. Well was surprised to find they appeared to slow down the steering quite a bit. When tipping into corners, it was a bit like falling off a cliff with the previous bridgestones. Of course new tyres so I was not pushing them, not that I ever push them these days. Very low speed work with feet up seemed far more sure footed and confidence inspiring too. I think I made the correct choice.. 25 miles in and I stop at the petrol station and fill her to the brim with Esso 99 supreme, once again checking for drips under the bike. Nothing. I ride the remaining five miles towards home. Just before reaching the outskirts of the village, I thought that I should take a quick pic to document the ride for this forum and pulled over, ran over the road while leaving the bike idling. Waited for some cyclists to pass and took my pic. Returned to the bike and saw fuel literally running down the rear footrest hanger onto the floor. What the hell. Only thing above that footrest hanger is the fuel pump. I surmised I must have tugged on and disturbed one of the delivery hoses when I took the carbs off and it had just started to leak at the fuel pump hose barb. Damn. At least it is literally only a 60 second ride home. Arrived home, pulled the seat and loosened the seat cowl to get a view of the pump. The connections were dry, so where is the leak? Pulled the pump out and voila! Fuel was leaking out of the drain hole on the points cover. Only one thing would cause that, the diaphragm must have split. The damn thing is only 3 years old.. At least it failed or was discovered to have failed less than a half mile from home, not 70 miles away in Scarborough. Failed pump. Could have been far worse so I am not too perturbed. Edit: Ordered one with a 5 year warranty for £25 all in. Will fit it next weekend. I remember when you were forced to buy OEM from Honda. We had 3x Deauville instructor bikes and their pumps also seemed to split diaphragms around the 3 year mark / 20,000 miles. I also remember they were £220 in the early 2000s. Eek. Appears to be the same pump as the deauville.