anoyone familiar with V30 Magnas?

hey folks... got a lead yesterday on a pair of Honda 500's... One with the motor out (included), the other - complete. $500 for both, with titles... Sounds like a good deal, but I've never owned a V4 bike, so I don't know whether they're good/bad/ugly/indifferent etc....

Has anyone owned a beast like that?

 

The Only thing I've ever heard was that they are a pain in the ass to work on. Things are in tight spots, and you need to remove alot of parts to get at stuff. This is what I've been told, never experienced it for myself.

 

Oh, you mean like pulling the carbs on a Maxim-X? :x

I've seen sites around the net detailing (and providing a homebrew fix for) the Honda V4's issues with insufficient oil supply to the camshafts. I'm not sure if the Magna engines have this problem; I remember that some or most of these sites dealt with the Interceptor engines.

 

I owned a V65 Sabre.
The best bike I ever had, would grab another in a heart beat.
The Sabre and Magna motors were the same, the Interceptor was a 1000 cc, not 1100.
I did not know they made a V30, when the tarrif went in I know they made a V40.
As to the oil problems I know all the 1100's have it but as was said there is a fix.
For wrenching I can't tell you, mine was an '84 that I bought in '85.
I totaled it in '91.
I never did anything more then have it serviced every spring.
Always ran like a raped ape, never a problem.
The vavles are a different kind then on the XJ's.
Not shim and bucket.
These would need adjusting every year sometimes more, but I had friends for that. :wink:
It really isn't a problem if you adjust them yourself and don't have to pay.
Hope I helped.

 

Well, they're in the garage... Carbs are already apart on the surgery table, and the parts donor bike is just about apart too. Currently I'm swapping the front triple trees... All the rear end parts already good to go except for the chain (gotta pick up a new one)... the wiring was a mess -- there were several twisted-together splices, taped with paper masking tape 8O ...so that all got soldered up and sealed up with a generous helping of shrink tubing (with a hair dryer, you'll love it ;-) )

The V30 motors apparently never had the oil starvation problem. I think only the bigger V45's and above had that issue... The valve lash is adjusted via a set screw and lock nut type system.. Just like Honda lawn mowers

All in all it will be interesting to get one of these bikes running.

 

I had two VFR's and had 60,000 km on them. The valves were never out of spec and I was lazy so I had a dealer do it. The oil starvation was on very early motors, the first two years or so, and iirc, they were 750+ sizes (?). The motors have great torque and a very nice sound.

Once the V4 bug bites, it is really hard to get excited about inline 4's. Except the new R1 firing order of course. Yummy!

v30 review

Oil Mods

wiki scroll down for v30

parts fiche

 

To the best of my knowledge it was only the first year (83) v65 motors that had the oil starvation problems. The fix kits are still available, but most of the bikes that didn't get the kit have been rebuilt by now. From 84 on the problem was fixed from the factory.

The v30 motors are a different beast entirely. Same design, but they share virtually no components. The 500's are great performing little motors, but are notorious for having a variety of top end problems. If you keep a close eye on the classifieds you'll see Interceptor 500's (v30) pop up frequently with toasted engines. The Magna v30's tend to have been cared for a little better and aren't quite as high strung, but really the 500's had a tough run and didn't last in the long haul.

 

Interesting stuff. See... I learned something today.

 

well, with any luck I'll avoid the top-end problems... If not, I have almost a whole spare motor to tinker with

 

Put on a turbo and run race fuel. Might as well go out in a blaze of glory!