Trying to sort the carbs out...

Over the last few workshop sessions we have mainly worked on the carbs. And by "we" I mean Martin. The carburettors are no longer water-logged thankfully and have fully dried out but there are still some issues with the bank of four. The main issue in this regard is that some of the diaphragms look in poor condition. When the carbs were initially taken apart they did not look too bad but these rubber parts have since deteriorated. No one is exactly sure of why but we all reckon the water has had something to do with this. The use of compressed air to clean and dry the carbs, as was necessary, may have torn a slight hole in one of them as well and this will require replacing. Wemoto and David Silver Spares have these parts (we think) so it should not be a big, nor an expensive, issue to sort. For now the bank of carbs remains on the "clean bench" in the workshop.

Another issue we have been working through has been the electrical system. This may well be the thing that worries us the most as the relays may have fried themselves upon hitting the water, although we may be lucky here as without the engine on no current would have been flowing through them. We think. Either way the starter relay looks in poor condition but this is a common VFR symptom, with or without river water! My own VFR's starter relay was in poor condition not long ago with some of it melted and lots of corrosion on some connectors which in turn caused high resistance in the circuit and certainly helped blow a regulator/rectifier...or two. Starter relays are not too expensive so this should be an easy fix, we hope. This will begin the proper work on the electrical system as a whole.

Last night we connected a battery to the VFR and tried to crank over the engine as a test but there was nothing happening so next on our list is an investigation of the starter motor. The starter motor is located at the front of the V-4 behind the downpipes in that area and would certainly have been water-logged due to its low location. This may be at fault for the lack of cranking and so out attention will turn to that soon.

Unfortunately I did not shoot any photos of this last night but did take a picture of Nick's VFR next to mine in there the night before as I replaced my rear brake master cylinder. Two RC36s together!

Water, water everywhere. I checked on the VFR yesterday and it is drying out nicely. I used a heatgun on the heads and cylinders to try and dry them out a bit more. I removed the exhaust silencer to allow the packaging to drain and get access to the downpipes. Just over 1 litre of was sucked out of the collector. The biggest job was the carbs, all the slides and diaphragms were removed and cleaned, the belmouths and airbox  plate likewise. the whole lot was blown out with compressed air and then given a once over with carb cleaner and blown out again. They are now dry as a bone and reassemble ready for refitting.

Wet dirty slide and diaphragm

This was replicated in each carb.

Before and after

Shiny

Big improvement

I don't think this is normal

Exhaust juice

Day One - Taking the water out...

Today the VFR was brought to the UCC Motorcycle Club workshop where the fuel tank and fairings were taken from the bike in order to allow access to the carbs and the engine in general. The essence of the work was just to get a feel for the amount of water that had lodged itself into the bike. An oil change in Lee Motorcycles had found 2 litres of water come out from various areas of the bike. Using an air compressor we were able to drive out more water. The carbs were water logged of course and were taken off for a clean and drying. This allowed access to the inlets and more water was found by blowing compressed air through here. Electrics were all fairly water logged too but after a few hours of work two dehumidifers were located close to the bike and are now running constantly in an effort to help dry it in full and ready it for the remedial work. Updates will follow as work progresses. Pictures are below.

What is this all about?

In late August Nick and his partner were touring in Ireland after riding from Greece on their VFR 750. Unfortunately the bike was stolen from their hostel in Cork city and later found in the River Lee nearby. This was the third-generation VFR 750 and was equipped with a Wilbers shock, VTR brake calipers, and a Givi monorack for back box and panniers. Thankfully it is not believed that the bike had been running when it was dumped in the river by those who stole it so, all going well, it is hoped to return it to the road. Nick and his partner have since flown back to Greece but with much assistance from members of Biker.ie their journey home was made much easier and the VFR was put into safe hands. We in the University College Cork Motorcycle Club have pitched in to help as well by taking the VFR to our workshop where we are endeavouring to refurbish it as best as we can to make sure that Nick can have his pride-and-joy returned to him. This blog will track the progress of the project.