JZH

6th gen is a little beyond my time, but what is it you want to know? For individual parts you can check the bike-parts.fr website, which has microfiche for both versions. In the old days, French-spec bikes were limited to 100PS or something like that, but I had thought that emissions specs (e.g., catalytic converters) had been standardised since around 2000 for all European models. There are also sometimes minor lighting differences between markets. Sorry I can't be of more help; someone with more direct experience of 6th gens in Europe should know more of the details. Ciao, JZH

I've got a simple "Sealey" manual tyre changer in the UK (probably the same as many others coming out of the same factory in China!) and it works absolutely okay. However, I bought a separate, nylon enhanced tyre bar off eBay which works better than the original all-metal one the Sealey came with. What made the unit work best for me was to bolt it to the driveway, using stainless steel button head bolts (slathered in anti-seize) threaded into Rawlbolts sunk into the drive. When I'm done I unbolt it and put the bolts back into the holes. So far, so good! Ciao, JZH

Also not from waaayyyy back, but still pretty far back. I was both exhausted and satisfied after completing a SaddleSore 1000 ride just outside Boulogne, France, in around 1998. I think the photo was originally a 35mm slide (which I was still using--and explains why I have several boxes full of slides and few digital photos from the early days!) The FL was my original 1990, bought new in California. Retired it after 60,000 mi or so, but it could have gone on and on (if I had replaced the cam shaft I broke whilst improperly tightening the cap bolts...). Ciao, JZH

Hi JZH, Thank you for your donation of 50.00 USD. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation. Thanks VFRDiscussion

It could have been an effort on the part of Honda to split the load passing through the terminals? That would have been a lot cheaper than upgrading to a half-decent OEM reg/rec, so you can see why they might have tried it... Ciao, JZH

Welcome Afeef! Glad you got it running again. Did you know that you have an RC49, the police version of the RC46? The bikes look very similar, but I'm sure there are many hidden differences, too. Just keep that in mind when you're using the VFR800Fi RC46 repair manual! Ciao, JZH

The large fasteners are also available in titanium... Ciao, JZH

Obligatory Dutch biking pic from yesterday's ride: So, "two or three weeks" turned into a few more, and then when I finally got back to London I was too busy to touch the (motor)bike. Typical! From the previous post in this thread, it appears that I will need to press the steering stem back into the triple clamp and sort out the steering stops. Drilling the clamp would be easier without the stem in place, but I can't locate the holes correctly without it. But, I do have my own press, so in the stem will go, and commence the measuring I will. If I can't drill the holes with the stem in place, out again it will come! (An hour, tops?) Beyond getting the forks in place, it occurs to me that I might need to order or make brake lines. Grrr. (I hate making brake lines. Stainless steel hates me!) I'll see what I've got in boxes that might work--I'm sure I've got something that will work, if only temporarily. Alternatively, I may have some bulk, clear-coated -3 line, but the question is always re the stainless steel hose ends, which I generally only buy with specific projects in mind. I'd really like to avoid having to measure and then wait for the hoses/hose ends to be delivered, but we'll see... Ciao, JZH

There were a lot of "grey imports" into the UK in the mid-late 1990s, and at the time, most European models only illuminated one of the headlights. So, unless you check your frame number, you may never know for sure if yours was grey imported into the UK where it was sold as "new". Or, you might just have a blown bulb! But if yours was a grey import, the grey importer would probably have fitted a UK-spec headlamp unit (to get the dip right), but may not have bothered to change the wiring to allow both bulbs to be used. Bikes which were factory-designed to have only one lamp illuminated on dip/low beam often lacked a lo-beam relay, as V4 Rosso mentioned. So if you do convert to use both bulbs, you should add a lo-beam relay. Otherwise, you WILL ruin your headlight switch, eventually. Honda 400cc grey imports had similar wiring issues, not from having only 1x 55w/60 H4, but from having 2x 35w/60 H4s. People used to throw in regular H4s, not realising that these bikes only had relays on the hi-beam side. Many fried headlight switches ensued... Ciao, JZH

(A little pedantry to lighten the mood: flipping the eccentric on a 5th gen would drop the ride height considerably; unlike the 3rd-4th gens, the 5th gen's OEM orientation is already with the axle in the bottom of the arc.) (Not that I am suggesting this as a solution to a too-high ride height! Something appears to be wrong, and changing the ride height in this way could just make the other things worse.) Ciao, JZH

I found them on Amazon and AliExpress. They're called Mirror Block-off Plates, and they're not really designed to be used with mirrors, but that's a good adaptation! Regardless of whether they're used with mirrors or without, it doesn't look like the LEDs are really pointed in the right direction for signaling, but it still might work okay. Which other Hondas have the same mirror mounts as VFRs? The ones you used appear to have a 40mm bolt-spacing, and they are listed by "SMT MOTO" as being suitable for: 1999-2000 CBR 600 F4 2001-2006 CBR 600 F4i 2003-2011 CBR 600 RR / CBR600RR 2000-2001 CBR 900 RR 929 / CBR900RR 2002-2003 CBR 900 RR 954 / CBR900RR 2004-2007 CBR 1000RR / CBR1000RR / Fireblade (But I would never trust a listing--always measure things yourself!) Ciao, JZH

I've ground off link rivets before, but I've found it's a lot easier (and quicker!) to use a cut-off wheel or even a hacksaw on any two side plates. You're not going to re-use the chain, so there's no need to be so "polite" by carefully grinding off the rivets! Ciao, JZH

It's odd that the rubber part would be the same, yet Honda changed the PCN shown on the edge from MBG to MCW. Did you measure them? My eye says the MCW is slightly narrower. Normally, if there is no change, Honda would continue to use the old PCN. Ciao, JZH

Speaking of ranting, I recently moved to the Netherlands and I am amazed how aggressive some of the drivers are here. I don't remember them being so bad when I've visited over the last 30 years. (And I'm comparing them with UK drivers, who aren't exactly timid.) Maybe it's an influence from the unusual number of American cars and trucks you see on the road here... Where were we? Dashcams, right. I have a Blackvue front/rear set-up in my van (which I sometimes swap to our car), but that obviously can't be transferred to a bike. My bike requirements include being able to transfer the set-up to different bikes, like my homemade "tank brick" does for power distribution and bike info. So something like the Viofo might be just the thing. I'd need to be able to buy additional camera units to build into each bike, which is pricey, but not as pricey as duplicating the entire installation over and over again. The issue, as usual, would be finding suitable waterproof connectors, but I'm used to solving that one... Ciao, JZH

Back in the '90s, some people were absolutely convinced their colourful race-rep VFR400s were some kind of factory option. I always used to post the Honda Parts Catalogues showing all the factory paint schemes ever offered, but some people still "believed"... You sometimes also hear about limited edition "white" RC30s. There is some truth to that in that Honda did offer white bodywork on its race bikes (I should say HRC did--the RC30 was manufactured by HRC, not Honda), and for a limited time replacement white fairing panels for those race bikes were available, also through HRC. The red/silver "Anni" version of the VFR shown above was a ROW option in 1999. It was sold everywhere but North America (at least everywhere in Europe). You can see its picture in the Honda Parts Catalogue, it has its own model ID and you can (or could for a while) order parts for it from any European Honda dealer. There were also some distributor-made limited edition VFRs, like the red ones mentioned above which Honda UK had commissioned to celebrate Honda Britain's 50th anniversary. No doubt other Honda distributors did the same thing. Again with RC30s, there had long been rumours and claims relating to "Rothmans" RC30s. Near as I could tell, there may have been a handful of these commissioned and sold (or given away in a competition, I don't recall) by Honda's French distributor. But will all these non-factory specials, you could never just order parts for them. Honda certainly didn't stock extra tanks or fairings, so in my book, that's not a factory bike. Ciao, JZH