Honda VRX400 1995 "barn find" restoration

Honda VRX400 1995 "barn find" restoration

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evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Friday 14th November 2014
quotequote all
Wheel out, forks out (will need rechroming) ... looking a bit bare now !
Wondering how easy those forks are going to come apart ...








evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
quotequote all
Not much progress as I've been riding round Matlock all day (in the wet mostly)

Have just finished off the calliper though ... new seals, pistons back in, new rubber outer seals, new pads in ... reassemble. Job jobbed.


evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
quotequote all
So ... that's what, about 1% of the bike completely restored now.

This shouldn't take long.

fk ...

evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Sunday 16th November 2014
quotequote all
Spend so far :

Total £555.16
Honda VRX400 Roadster £200.00
Delivery £20.00
Exhaust (rear silencer) £157.02
Japanese workshop manual £28.49
Caliper paint £7.49
Button bolts + nuts for exh £6.54
Front brake pads £22.03
Fork seals, calliper seals, fork oil, exh gaskets £105.60
Spark plug spanner £7.99

evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
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Mostly this week I have been ... cleaning up and painting parts I've previously taken off.



However, I've come to a conclusion today ... I'm doing this arse about face. I'm taking things off, reconditioning them, then putting them into storage. This is a daft way of doing it, as I'm risking parts getting damaged during storage or kicking around (already happened) ... I need to put reconditioned items straight back on the bike. So a change of tictacs, I'm now taking things off in as big a lump as I can and putting them into storage for now. The exception to this is where I need to get things reconditioned externally, e.g. I'm starting to create a pile of items to go to the chromer.

Work continues on the front end (I want to send the stanchions off soon). Fork seals off, it's a bit gooey inside, but I've seen worse.



Get yer bits ooot for the lads ...



What's coming out of the forks purports to be oil, but it's very creamy.



Continued stripping the top of the forks, headlight coming apart for rechroming.



The mound of rechroming bits mounts.



Bare-r and bare-r



Um. Not looking forward to tackling this. Think I need some labels ...




crofty1984

15,830 posts

203 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
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I love this thread Evil Len!
I want to be doing something similar once I've bought this house. But maybe a little more customy-er.
Keep it up!

evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
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Cheers crofty ! I was starting to wonder if I was talking to myself on this thread ;-)

I'm actually quite enjoying this ... it helps that I'm not on any kind of timescale, it'll be done when it's done (I have other bikes to ride). Need to start sorting some boxes and storage in the loft above the garage today though, as I'm starting to get cluttered with bits everywhere.

MotorsportTom

3,318 posts

160 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
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It's great to look ay this thread from time to time to see the progress I definitely think plenty of people are watching and just not posting.

Please keep up the updates, really want to see it get finished as I reckon it'll be a cracker once it is.


evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
Today I'm mainly tidying up after myself ... got a load of boxes, labelled each one up ("for rechroming", "engine bits", "bodywork" etc) and cleared a load of space in the loft above the garage so I can start categorising and wrapping everything I take off. Ordered some tags with string from ebay.

Emailed off to another Honda spares place ... am having trouble sourcing : instrument pods (chromed plastic), air filter cover (ditto), rear wheel (may just get it rebuilt with a new rim and spokes), badges and stickers.

evo8

468 posts

214 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
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Keep it up, I love this stuff, as others have said, a lot of us follow your thread but do not post. I wish I had the time/money/space to do the same.beer

evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
I was worried about the bottom screw (that holds the lower damper mech in place) as I've read they can be a bit of a git to get free, but these cracked off fairly easily (with the sliders in a vice, a long allen key, and the shaft off my trolley jack as a very long lever tube on the allen key)

The parts washer took some abuse, getting all the mayonnaise off all the parts, but they've come up nicely. Very little or no wear, just one small rust spot on an inner tube, which emmery'd off easily.



For no particular reason, I took the pillion footpegs off and split them down ... the castings will go for polishing, the footpegs for rechroming (so into the rechroming box they go)



p.s. just had a quote for rechroming the stanchions ... 8-10 week turn around ! This is the same as the chromers (*). Wow, they must be busy.

p.p.s. (*) I mean ... the rechromers of all the other stuff ... the forks have to go to a specialist "hard" chromer

Edited by evil len on Sunday 23 November 19:16

Private Pile

754 posts

194 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
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Keep posting Len, always enjoy reading your thread.

evo8

468 posts

214 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
evil len said:
I was worried about the bottom screw (that holds the lower damper mech in place) as I've read they can be a bit of a git to get free, but these cracked off fairly easily (with the sliders in a vice, a long allen key, and the shaft off my trolley jack as a very long lever tube on the allen key)

The parts washer took some abuse, getting all the mayonnaise off all the parts, but they've come up nicely. Very little or no wear, just one small rust spot on an inner tube, which emmery'd off easily.


p.s. just had a quote for rechroming the stanchions ... 8-10 week turn around ! This is the same as the chromers (*). Wow, they must be busy.

p.p.s. (*) I mean ... the rechromers of all the other stuff ... the forks have to go to a specialist "hard" chromer

Edited by evil len on Sunday 23 November 19:16
If you do not mind me asking, can you let me know how roughly the re-chroming costs please. Cheers

evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
Sure, for the forks ... £165 for the pair of stanchions, and £75 to polish both sliders.

Not sure on all the "normal" chrome though. I know each downpipe will be circa £80-100 ... I'll let you know the final cost of that, once I've taken all the chrome in.

Megaflow

9,345 posts

224 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
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evil len said:
Um. Not looking forward to tackling this. Think I need some labels ...

Good work. I wouldn't get to concerned about the wiring, if it is anything like the Honda's I have worked on, all the multiway connectors are different, so it will only go together one way, then just single wires are all colour coded, and normally these are only the indicators.

bgunn

1,416 posts

130 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
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Megaflow said:
Good work. I wouldn't get to concerned about the wiring, if it is anything like the Honda's I have worked on, all the multiway connectors are different, so it will only go together one way, then just single wires are all colour coded, and normally these are only the indicators.
Your workshop manual should also show cable and pipe routing too - the VFR750 factory one I use does. I know it's in Japanese, but the diagrams should show still smile

evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
There are ways round it smile


evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
The stanchions and sliders went off to www.pittedforks.co.uk yesterday, to :
- hard rechrome the stanchions and regrind to size
- polish the alloy sliders
- press in new bushes
Unfortunately they are quoting 10-12 weeks, as they are so busy !

I'm finding the task of tracking down parts actually quite fun, made harder than usual ... not only is it an older bike which Honda have stopped doing parts for, but it's an import bike, it was never sold here. Some basic parts are available in the UK ... more parts can be found in Holland ... but I think I've found a place in Japan who can send me a lot of parts. Even there though, some parts are not available new, but there's lots second hand. Last night I Paypaled 57,860 yen (sounds a lot, but that's £312 smile) over to them ... lets see what arrives !

Private Pile

754 posts

194 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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That headlamp wiring looks very similar to my CX500 Len. Its very tight, but just fits in when re assembling.
Good read, and looking forward to more pics. It's always nice receiving new parts through the post.

evil len

Original Poster:

4,398 posts

268 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
quotequote all
The strip down continues. So many little assemblies need taking off the bike.

The remainder of the front forks came apart a doddle.



Bearings and races appear to be in good condition.



The lower tree is chrome, which needs re-doing. Trouble is, the shaft is connected to it ... which has been welded on subsequent to the chroming. So not sure yet how to get round that, will consult with the chromer.



Started stripping the rear end, off comes more chrome, the indicators, and the mudguard. The front mudguard is plastic, the rear is metal and surprisingly heavy. Sheared the first two bolts on the bike so far, trying to remove the number plate bracket (the nuts were on the inside of the mudguard and in the firing line from the rear wheel for 19 years).





Also drained the coolant, and popped off the expansion reservoir. This is a shot of the underside of the bike ... mucky under there !







Currently puzzling out how to remove the rear brake master cylinder ... unless I'm missing something (I must be) the rear swing arm has to come off ?!?



Taking the footpegs apart, so I can get bits of them rechromed.



Early Christmas present from the Mrs, bought at Motorcycle Live ... saves the knees, especially as one is still dodgy after stuffing a motorcross bike in June.