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Diet For Bike


jimpanzer07

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1 hour ago, XRM said:

Lithium battery is an easy one!

 

Tyres are the best speed mod!

 

Thanks for reviving this old thread XRM, I hadn't seen it.  How much weight savings does the lithium battery offer?  I noticed the new for '17 Fireblade uses one and Honda says it helped them cut some weight but they don't say how much - I'm guessing a pound?   I shaved just over 7 pounds when I replaced the stock exhaust with the Delkevic mini carbon and I like Fuelex's idea above of just not filling the tank all the way.  I can get away with that because most of my riding is just cruising around the suburbs on weekends and taking it to work about once a week on super nice days (which I'm gonna do today, can't wait!).  So it's pretty easy really to shave about 10 pounds between the 3 (exhaust, battery, fuel) and I'm happy with that.

 

That said, it seems many people are obsessed with weight and call the VFR fat without taking into account that this is really a sports-tourer, not a supersport, and having a bit of extra heft actually helps when you're cruising down the highway getting buffeted by the wind.  The VFR has a couple extra inches of wheelbase compared to the average supersport which comes with a weight penalty of course but gives us a bit more room to get comfortable.  And having the bigger/heavier fuel tank and the weight of the extra fuel itself comes in handy for touring by virtue of the longer range it affords.  Supersports typically don't come with a center stand either, that's got to be another 5 pounds at least right there.  But damn it sure is convenient to have one!

 

I've had quite a few folks approach me in parking lots, etc., to compliment my bike and ask me questions about it and not one of them has ever mentioned weight or said she looked fat.  To the contrary, they all say she looks beautiful!  In fact, I've had a couple guys ask me if my bike was a Ducati or a Daytona, both of which are significantly lighter weight machines.  So for a big girl I'd say she hides her weight pretty well LOL.

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The only weight saving I'm interested in is the unsprung weight, to which end I'm working my way through all the fasteners swapping them for titanium from Pro-bolt, the disc fixing bolts are about 1/2 the weight of the mild steel ones fitted, both sides and all the brake bolts soon add up

 

If you're seriously going to fit a lithium battery just to save weight, then make sure you empty your bladder frequently, carry only a credit card and leave your phone behind 

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Pardon my fifth gen intrusion into an eighth gen thread but perhaps the info will transfer. My latest fifth gen came with a Power Commander II and a Staintune exhaust can (can't remember the weight loss but it was more than a few pounds).

 

I needed neither and sold both to lower my net investment in this at-the-time 10,800 mi. machine.

Without those two items I did notice a loss of power and response and a huge reduction of noise. But my gas mileage rose by more than 10%. I now get between high forties and 60 mpg depending mostly on load (hard bags and top box).

 

I agree with all the above arguments. Why buy a VFR if you want a pure sport bike. The VFR has been a Bike Of The Year in the past. The common review stated it was a master of nothing and great at everything.

Visor Down: Fine engineering, top class build quality, and brilliant balance - which makes it the one of the very best all-rounders ever - are just some of its numerous virtues.

 

I can ride it 500 mi/day, and at the end of that trip I can take it on a track and keep up with most.

 

I tell peeps along the way "It allows you to ride Great Distances and still have Fun When You Get There." 

 

I have to ask what more could the average rider ask for.

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10 hours ago, Thumbs said:

If you're seriously going to fit a lithium battery just to save weight, then make sure you empty your bladder frequently, carry only a credit card and leave your phone behind 

 

And if you can hold the 5lb weight delta between a lead-acid and Li battery in your bladder, you probably need to get yourself checked out. :wink:

 

In all seriousness, I've had a Shorai for years, and it's a great upgrade. Unprung weight reduction is awesome, but there's still a 500+lb bike on top of that. IMHO a 5lb reduction overall is worth a bit more than taking a leak and opting for the smaller iPhone model, but to each their own. 

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16 hours ago, carlitos92 said:

And if you can hold the 5lb weight delta between a lead-acid and Li battery in your bladder, you probably need to get yourself checked out. :wink:

 

I'll have the measure that one day.  I often feel like Austin Powers in the pee scene from the original movie.  ("stage 5")

 

The Shorai batteries and their ilk seem to be an acquired taste.  Folks in cold climates are often uncomfortable with their behavior.

 

I recall the weight shaving mania I had back when I was a fairly fit, semi-competitive bicyclist.  Spent a fortune buying light stuff, spent lots of time with punch and a dremel in my hand drilling holes in everything I could possibly drill.  Very proud of having a bike that weighed under 19 lbs.  In the end it didn't make that much difference and the super-light components were often more trouble than they were worth due to fragility, excess flex, etc.

 

I'd do things differently today.

 

But everyone needs a hobby.

 

To each their own.

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Be sure to empty your 

On 4/18/2017 at 1:40 PM, Thumbs said:

The only weight saving I'm interested in is the unsprung weight, to which end I'm working my way through all the fasteners swapping them for titanium from Pro-bolt, the disc fixing bolts are about 1/2 the weight of the mild steel ones fitted, both sides and all the brake bolts soon add up

 

If you're seriously going to fit a lithium battery just to save weight, then make sure you empty your bladder frequently, carry only a credit card and leave your phone behind 

 

And for maximum weight savings and performance, don't forget to go number two :tongue:

 

 

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Hi GatorGreg,

 

No probs mate

 

Check out the revzilla video https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/antigravity-ytx12-12-cell-360ca-lithium-ion-battery#overview_tab

 

Lithium is the lightest metal, opposite end of the periodic table to lead!  This manufacturer claims up to a 70% saving.  The battery is located reasonably high in the bike, so the weight loss should be noticeable.  It a sensible improvement rather than a hack.  If your current battery is a few years old, give the Ol girl a birthday present and enjoy the ride this summer, "assuming you live in the northern hemisphere"

 

I would ignore and be entertained by the many dick heads passing unhelpful comments.  Most  if not all of theses guys can't truly handle these new full on sports bikes anywhere near 6/10ths, nor are these bikes that great on the road for any enduring amount of time, they do look great and for a few (see the sales stats) that's all they want. Weekend super heros....

 

The VFR is a wonderful real world sports-touring machine, an obvious Honda favourite, and absolutely loved by those who travel far to explore new awesome twisty roads.  Yes it's not the lightest bike but she's still a great handling bike and everyone loves that V4 power.  Have you seen the UK motorcycle magazine called MCN?  I'm not from the UK but buy the mag on my iPad, if you can have a look at last weeks 12 April publication where the VFR800 was compared to the new super sport Ducati and the Kwaka SX1000.  Touring capabilities were not explored, but the VFR was praised "it's not slow and handles so well, it's always there"

 

Surprisingly there aren't more similar bikes designed to fit factory integrated panniers/saddlebags for those road adventure holidays.  The new Ducati super sport was a real disappointment for me  (I love V twins - I had VTR1000, SuperHawk in the US) as Ducati fitted a very small fuel tank and didn't design in the ability to fit factory panniers, that's a sizeable market segment missed, pity.....

 

If Honda is listening, next year can we please have cruise control...and whilst throwing coins into the wishing well it wouldn't hurt to breakout of your skins and produce an "S" model too with some Fireblade SP goodies such as electronic suspension and rider aids, an instrument panel with Garmin GPS maps inbuilt or at least a Bluetooth link to our phone maps another 20hp and 10kg weight savings would really top off the awesome list...

 

While on the wishing rant, wouldn't it be nice to have dealers provide fitting support, to set your bike up for you, seat height, bar reach, suspension tuning loaded and unloaded....  many bicycle shops are now providing this service....

 

In in the meantime I'm really enjoying my 2014 Interceptor, and I'm chewing at the bit to further explore Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington states this summer

 

Ride on....

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On 4/20/2017 at 10:28 PM, XRM said:

While on the wishing rant, wouldn't it be nice to have dealers provide fitting support, to set your bike up for you, seat height, bar reach, suspension tuning loaded and unloaded....  many bicycle shops are now providing this service....

 

Ride on....

:idea3:

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On 4/20/2017 at 8:28 PM, XRM said:

Lithium is the lightest metal, opposite end of the periodic table to lead!

 

Having a ;little problem fact checking this. :tongue:

 

 

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