Misspent Youth

Most aftermarket bar ends for 7/8" bars are simply rubber plug insert/tighten arrangement. Sometimes a screw, sometimes an allenhead, to tighten.

Re: Bar Ends - the OEM bar ends are unique to the Honda setup and won't fit a regular bar. I went with cheap universal ends that work fine.

I got a longer throttle cable from the Helibars folks. Only needed a 1/2" or so, iirc. In any event, Helibars sells/sold a longer cable that did the job.

The wind isn't bad at all, just more noticeable than the stock position. 50 miles won't be a factor, as there's still way more wind protection than you'd get on a naked, or smaller-faired bike. I should mention the rubber blocks I glued to the stops do slightly limit the lock-to-lock distance, which could impact turning radius, but I've not noticed any issues. Maybe if I participated in Japanese gymkhana antics . . . . I chose the bikemasters for cost, because they're black, and I don't really care about the handlebar so long as it's shaped to my liking. That said, assuming no fairing clearance issues (the bikemasters don't hit the fairing), you can use any handlebar, which is nice. The only time I get a knee down is if I'm having an accident, so for riding comfort I've also added BLS's footpeg brackets. My VFR is seriously comfortable with this set up, though peg-scrapers might touch down. While I'm on a VFR roll, I cured the sensitive throttle and made the VFR really dreamy with a G2 Throttle Tamer (the one for 6th gen VFR works fine), and syncing the TBs flat (all the same) using a Twinmax at 1200 rpm. Very smooth, now.

I've done it on my '98 and you should be able to find a post or two from me w/pics responding to previous seekers. You'll need a longer throttle cable to use the bikemaster superbike bar that I used. I believe I bought my cable from the helibars folks who sell them separately for use with their bars. Another inch should do it. Motion pro also builds custom-length cables. The conversion gives you more comfort because you are more upright, and you get to rotate the rightside controls forward/downward to reduce the angle on the front brake lever. The upright position does put you up more in the wind with the stock w/s, but I don't do much long high-speed riding. If you do, consider the larger Givi or another touring-type shield. Otherwise, it might get old to sit upright on longer trips. If you do a lot of longer speedier trips, consider the helibars, instead, as they'll give you quick-change options of up/down, front/back bar placement. The handlebar relieved the weight/angle-induced problem with my right arm starting to buzz (fall asleep), and more leverage is nice at lower speeds. I'd do it again, given my needs. Easy enough to put back to stock. The bars will hit the tank at full lock, so I adhezed rubber blocks onto the steering stops and they've not moved. If I had more energy, time, and talent, I'd drill the stops and thread the holes for use with bolt stops (bolts held in place w/nuts). I also had to do some shifting of the clutch/brake/fast-idle controls and their banjo bolt angles to make it all work easily and look good. Just trial and error to work it out. Tried to stick with the stock throttle cable, but it would pull open slightly when making righthand turns off of intersections from a stop (too exciting).

The vtr fan works only on the side-mounted radiators on later VFRs. Stock set up pulls air in from the left side (only), which is insufficient, while the vtr fan REVERSES the air flow through the left-side radiator, PUSHING it out the left side after drawing it through the rest of the fairing/engine area. If your bike's radiator is in FRONT rather than on the SIDE, then using the vtr fan will cause your bike to overheat.

What's a good way to make this check? Technically you would want to test a run of wire end-to-end, but that isn't possible with the stator wires because you cant easily get to the ends. But what you can do is test the stator per the service manual. So you'll have to somehow get one of your multimeter leads underneath the insulation of each connector or splice on the side that is nearest to the Rectifier/Regulator, and then connect the other lead to ground. The manual says the resistance of each yellow wire to ground should be between 0.1 - 1.0 ohm (which indicates a good stator), so if you have more than 1 ohm then you probably have an issue with your repair/modification. Perfecto - thanks. I suppose I could penetrate the insulation (beyond the connection) with a pin and use the pin as the upstream test point.

What's a good way to make this check?

Thanks to you and Tightwad for the info/tips. My head's swimming with so many apparent choices among the available methods of connection and protection of the connection. My goal is to relocate the r/r to the underside of the fender eliminator, so that's a complication for the stator, and battery connections/wiring.

I'll bet the big iron's the key. I've melted a bunch of plastic on connectors! Thx

Thanks for the clarifications. Re: the soldering, how do you solder after the crimp with that plastic cover in the way on the lug? Do you do away with that? Move it off and then try to slide it back over the now crimped/soldered connection?

I was all set to do the "eliminate the connector" drill and direct-connect the stator wires to the r/r wires, but now see that apparently a "standard" connection won't work for long. You used "10G spade lugs" and I found this site/pic that shows those: http://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2%20books/links/sections/206%20Spade%20Lug%20Terminals.html 1. How did you use spade lug connectors to make the connection? It looks like these go under a bolt head, or something like that, not attached to one another. Did you have one of these lugs on each side? 2. You used 10G lugs - what is the gauge of the stator and r/r wires? It looks smaller than 10 gauge to me, so wouldn't the lug not fit very well? Or am I misunderstanding? I just want to do this job right, the first time. Thanks for any help.

Were those crimped, only? Or crimped and soldered? What kind of crimp tool? I understand there are good ones and less good ones. Interesting outcome.

Sounds like a great deal and a great experience making it right. In addition to the mods you're considering, I'd suggest adding a PCIII and having it dyno-tuned. Really livens up the mid-range and smooths the entire power curve. Probably $500-600 retail, all-in, but it's worth it.

I've been waiting for the Chinese guys to install replaceable brass bushings in the pivot holes. Interestingly, the pics appear to show one of the levers with a bushing, but the other with none. The ebay site doesn't suggest a bushing is there (just says hole is precision whatever), so I'll wait. Aluminum wears pretty quickly and I don't want a sloppy lever that's pretty.