Motorcycle Repair: VF1000F, valve stem seals, intermittent problem

Question
My 1985 has been burning oil over the last couple of years, it has 70,000kms.  It seems to be getting worse.  When I get to the higher revs is when it starts to be visible.  It drinks about a litre about every 2 tanks.  I have the engine out and am interested in looking into the problem.  I hope to save some money buy doing some of the work.  Also I have had an intermittent problem with gas delivery.  It would seem to stop at the same spot every day(about 20kms).  Let it cool down for a while then it would start again.  One guy thought it was the pump, so we bypassed it.  Then it seemed to have problems around 200kms, so I would try the reserve, sometimes it would keep going sometimes not.  I thought the tank would take me to 250 or 300kms.  I drained the tank and it seemed to flow fine.  I guess I'm wondering how to check the pump and the stop cock?

Answer
Norman, sounds like your motor is well overdue for at least some fresh rings, valve stem seals, gaskets and seals to freshen it up again.

Better have a LOT of space to lay the motor parts out on, as there are a lot of bits and pieces that comprise these V4 motors. Hope the cams are still good, as this was an issue from the beginning. Certainly replace the camchains, tensioners and any other worn parts inside. Could get $$$ as there weren't a lot of these bikes made originally.

Now that the carbs are all off the bike, you can check for bowl contamination, as well as do some testing on the pump for flow. Just put 12v on the pump leads, when you have some fluids to use for testing. Other fuel feed problems that aren't related to fuel pump, relay, filter and lines could be the fuel tank venting system and any emission control items. After 20 years, a new fuel pump would seem to be a reasonable investment, if you are going to continue to ride your machine into the future.

From the online parts fiche illustrations (http://www.powersportspro.com/Partsfish/Login.asp)it appears that the petcock drains the fuel tank w/o any kind of internal screen or filter, leaving it all to the external filter, I guess. Use some low pressure compressed air to blow through the petcock passages. Sometimes the passages can clog up with dirt/rust or the sealing washer can swell and cause problems inside, depending on design. heck all fuel lines and connectors for blockages.

Check for vacuum leaks to all components, especially those with diaphragms.

Here is an informative website for you:
http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~rblander/moto.html

Bill Silver