1997 Honda VF750C Magna V4

[HalfCentury]

I bought this for my 5'2" girlfriend to ride. I rode it a few times and had it set up at a local shop. It was leaking gas from the carb bowls. The shop installed new carb bowl gaskets and did various fluid changes etc.

Fast forward one year. I took the bike to be inspected and it ran horrible on the trip. Discovered that the throttle cable was sticking. Lots of effort and I discovered that the carbs were sticking and not the throttle cables.

Working on these carbs is a nightmare. I am spoiled by vintage Yammies.

The throttle linkages are UNDER the carbs and not accessible in any way. Removing the carbs is a nightmare.

A few sprays of Kroil and the linkages are springing back perfectly.

Next problem was a plug/connector pair that I missed connecting when I buttoned everything back up. Now the plugs are fouled.

To remove the spark plugs requires an exorcism! What a royal pain to just get the spark plugs out.

Did I mention that the bike does the fish-swimmy thing corners? I not only hate riding it but hate working on it.

Changing the choke cable requires removing the gas tank, air box, plenum and air flow stacks. The attachment point of the choke cable is under all of that stuff.

Its hours to perform enough disassembly to start to do simple stuff that requires no disassembly on the vintage Yammies.

Needless to say, no additional Honda V4 bikes are in my future.

The funny part is that the girlfriend loves this bike. Go figure.

Oh, and its much too loud for me. Makes my ears ring.

[motoman]

I bought this for my 5'2" girlfriend to ride. I rode it a few times and had it set up at a local shop. It was leaking gas from the carb bowls. The shop installed new carb bowl gaskets and did various fluid changes etc.

Fast forward one year. I took the bike to be inspected and it ran horrible on the trip. Discovered that the throttle cable was sticking. Lots of effort and I discovered that the carbs were sticking and not the throttle cables.

Working on these carbs is a nightmare. I am spoiled by vintage Yammies.

The throttle linkages are UNDER the carbs and not accessible in any way. Removing the carbs is a nightmare.

A few sprays of Kroil and the linkages are springing back perfectly.

Next problem was a plug/connector pair that I missed connecting when I buttoned everything back up. Now the plugs are fouled.

To remove the spark plugs requires an exorcism! What a royal pain to just get the spark plugs out.

Did I mention that the bike does the fish-swimmy thing corners? I not only hate riding it but hate working on it.

Changing the choke cable requires removing the gas tank, air box, plenum and air flow stacks. The attachment point of the choke cable is under all of that stuff.

Its hours to perform enough disassembly to start to do simple stuff that requires no disassembly on the vintage Yammies.

Needless to say, no additional Honda V4 bikes are in my future.

The funny part is that the girlfriend loves this bike. Go figure.

Oh, and its much too loud for me. Makes my ears ring.

Yea, but valve adjustment is way easier......no shims to change........just a rocker with a screw and loc-nut.......automotive style.

[HalfCentury]

On the road again

The Magna is back to running condition.

The spark plugs were fouled due to my oversight of connecting an electrical plug that was inadvertently unplugged when taking the carbs off.

The Magna is a PITA to work on. No love for this bike.

[XJOK2PLAY]

I hear ya about the Honda V4's.

I used to own one, and also had 2 friends that had Interceptors... one had the 750, the other had the 1000.

Great bikes... until you had to work on the motor. Especially the back part of the engine!

Still, cool bikes. Always remember good times on them.
Bob