Mountainrider Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I just inherited a 2002 VFR that my dear friend Pete McCrary had. He passed away before finishing the bike. Just am not sure what route I am going to take with it. He had bought two sets of RC51 forks and all kinds of new parts. 800 dollars worth of new parts and most of them I have no clue as to what he had planned. He sent one set off and them rebuilt by Ohlins .The forks ,wheel ,brakes are here and he was using a SV650 brake connector that is already mounted to the forks. He was in the process of unlinking the brakes. I do not have a clue as to what I am going to need to finish the brakes. He also has a header without the cat. and he still has the stock one also. It has been in storage since 2010. Pete was a member here and I have found some of his info. At this point I am thinking about staying stock on the front end. My wife had a VFR800 when we were dating and it handled good enough for me. I ride to much to make this project a full time job. Plus it would interfere with my trout fishing so I am going as simple as I can. Deb is all excited about us having another VFR. She loved the one she had. She now has a Bandit 1250. Anyways that's where I am at. No matter what happens I will have one set of RC51 forks for sale but most likely will end up selling it all. Are the headers worth doing away with the Cat. on these bikes ? If you want to share opinions that would be great. I will be keeping the bike for the rest of my life and I would think Deb would keep it also. It will be a great way to keep Pete in our lives. If you had never met him you missed out. Just an awesome person with a big heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted December 18, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 18, 2016 I remember seeing Pete post on here. Sorry to hear that he's passed away. It's great that you can carry on his legacy. She looks in really great shape - everything extremely clean. I'm not sure how I'd proceed with the brakes. With the linked set up at least partially or completely removed, unless all the bits are present it would likely be expensive and complex to put back to stock. Maybe proceeding how he had planned would be the simplest route. Just curious - just above the left rad is a canister of some sort attached to the frame with a clear tube attached and 2 wires out the bottom. I'm scratching my head over what its purpose might be . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer gmtech94 Posted December 18, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 18, 2016 I bet that is the compressor for the air horns mounted there . I would put it back to stock if all the parts are there ,nice of you to get it back together and ride it in memory of a friend . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainrider Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 When it stops raining I will try and figure out what the canister does. I am sure that I am going back stock with the front end. The brakes I am not sure what to do. He does a new master for the front so I am assuming he was going to put a different type to help the brakes. I have read on here that an F4 master cylinder for the rear works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyA Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 11 hours ago, Mountainrider said: When it stops raining I will try and figure out what the canister does. I am sure that I am going back stock with the front end. The brakes I am not sure what to do. He does a new master for the front so I am assuming he was going to put a different type to help the brakes. I have read on here that an F4 master cylinder for the rear works great. The F4 master for the rear will work. A RC51 master will too. but doesn't have enough adjustment to position the brake pedal. You have to link all 3 brake pistons together on the rear caliper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted December 19, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 19, 2016 I'm very sorry for your loss. I remember Pete from on here. It looks like he really appreciated his VFR. Anyway, it's definitely a Stebel air compressor, you can see the black horns (mounted?) roughly in the OEM location. Looks like he had the RC51 SP2 front wheel and VFR rear wheel powder coated in gold. Sweet. Gathering the parts is a big part of the fork upgrade process, so I don't think it would be that hard to proceed with the conversion. The RC51 fork conversion is a well-trodden path, with several having already been done. I understand your reluctance to get in over your head, but as others have said, there will be all the help you need right here on VFRD. The first step would be to confirm you can/cannot go back. Did he remove any of the hard brake lines? Presumably this was not an ABS bike? Ciao, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainrider Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 The rain is supposed to quit for a few days and now I can look it over real good. It is not an ABS bike as far as I know right now. The wheels are not powder coated I painted them for him before I retired. They are base coat clear coat. I know he posted that he had them powder coated but he ended up not being happy with the out come and we stripped the wheels back down and started over. He has pretty much stripped the brake system from the bike. I am pretty sure that I am going to leave the suspension stock. I think he had the stock forks redone with new springs. I would sell everything that he had for 800 dollars and that would be a bargain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epyon007 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Ohh that SP2 wheel would be nice with the 5 spoke rear that is for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainrider Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 I have had a change of heart and I am going to install the RC51 front forks on the bike. Pete wanted it done and I am going to do it. I have found most everything I need that he did not have. Most of it will be here this week. The rear brake will be a bigger challenge then the forks will. I ordered an F4I master cylinder. I hope this all works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted December 20, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 20, 2016 Good on ya! If you get stuck and ask, I'm sure that "those in the know" will respond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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