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Major (or not?) Service and Clean of a Gen 7


Yokel

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OK, now, follow the book to check the valves, and obviously, assembly is reverse of disassembly.  

 

Do yourself a favor and vacuum out the absolute nasty detritus that has deposited itself in the valley of the engine.

 

Refer OFTEN back to your photos and the book.

 

Be sure to clean valve cover gaskets, head mating surface, and valve cover mating surface of any remaining RTV sealant around the camshaft cutouts, and ensure to put a blob of it back on the corners of the cutouts prior to reassembly.

 

This isn't rocket surgery, and if you documented well, you'll be fine.

A cautionary tale however, is this little tube on the LEFT LOWER side of the AIRBOX BASE.

 

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It's really short.  It's also SUPER EASY to miss.  It made the bike  very hard to start, and throw a MIL signal when running.  Also made it smoke black sooty crap and run hot. AND I had to tear it apart again.  Aggrivating, but thankfully simple (THANK YOU HISPANIC SLAMMER for the hint on that, you ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL MAN.)

 

Evidence of that here:

 

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OK, so throttle bodies go back on.  Reconnect and reinstall throttle cables, tighten throttle body boots again with your 4ft long phillips screwdriver, install fuel rails (remember to get the rubber back in the fitting!).

 

Then lower airbox goes on.  This is when all your wiring gets reattached.

 

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Pop in the computer, and finish up the airbox. and thermal insulation.

 

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Make sure to leave yourself or the next owner a love note.

 

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Then toss on the tank and fire it up.  From there, install body plastics which you should be pretty good at if you do any work on the bike at all.

 

Anyway, a little intimidating maybe, and definitely learned a few lessons.  Hopefully my experience can help YOU get this much needed service done cheaper than the shop will charge you, and you know it's done right.

 

 

 

 

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Side note:  Some valves were a bit snug.  I need to buy a micrometer before I can order appropriate shims, but I'm comfortable running these settings the remainder of the season.  I'll do all this again and adjust everything to nominal in Jan or Feb.

 

Also, next week I spend a day at Traxxion Dynamics having my Penske rebuilt and the forks reworked.  I'll try and make some mental notes and get some pictures.

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When I did mine, I removed the valve covers before reading the manual, and never took off the throttle bodies, or fuel rails. It would be good to clean down in there though....

 

 

Cams.jpg

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Spending the day at Traxxion Dynamics today getting the whole enchilada from these guys.  

 

Working with Jacob.

 

I've opted to go with a rebuild of the Penske 8983 2-way shock and a set of AK20s.  I'm learning a LOT while here, as suspension has always been a bit of black magic.  

 

I'll put together a photo group later, as I'm trying to stay out from underfoot.  I did take mercy on the guys and removed the fairings for them.  

 

Getting new fork bushings, internals being replaced, new seals, tubes being polished and inspected for true, and likely new springs. 

 

 

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On 6/30/2022 at 12:04 AM, RC1237V said:

When I did mine, I removed the valve covers before reading the manual, and never took off the throttle bodies, or fuel rails. It would be good to clean down in there though....

 

 

Cams.jpg

 

 

It was shockingly filthy.  Baked detritus. Hahaha

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Well, time for the suspension update.

Back in 2015 I was sick of the factory fork spring rate.  I decided to put in some 1.2Kg/mm springs.  However, not knowing what I was doing with suspension at the time, I took off the forks and took them to the dealer to install the springs.


When I put them back on the bike after installation, it *was* better, but not a lot.  I chalked it up to valving and just rode it all over Colorado.

 

Fast forward a couple years and I sold the bike.

When I bought it back in February and started riding it in March, it seemed to be worse than I remembered.  No low-speed damping at all (terrible stiction), and high-speed would bottom the spring.  The front was wanting to step out pretty often as well.  Not good.  Come to find out, the dealership I had put the springs in did not reconnect the damping adjusters as they should have been and didn't put any spacers in for the springs.  So, I was at about 50% travel for sag, and had virtually worthless damping.  Bad, like I said.  But, you don't know what you don't know, and I didn't know squat about suspension or have the respect for it that I should have...

So, between that and the leaking fork seal, I went to Traxxion Dynamics after talking to a few friends who had their stuff installed and visiting with Dan there at the shop via phone and e-mail.  Dan was patient and gave me a LOT of options as well as some information to educate myself with.


He suggested just re-valving the stock units in lieu of an AK20 kit as it's a bit spendy.  Sound advice most likely, but since I'm probably going to be buried with this bike in one form or another, I figured to hell with it.  I had them install the AK20 set on Wednesday.

 

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Now, I know the suspension wasn't ideal.  I had a BMW and a Ducati that both handled on rails the last two years, so I knew the VFR needed work, but Holy Hell, I did not expect it to be THIS good.

What I had done:

Front forks dismantled, drained, cleaned, new bushings, tubes inspected, new seals, springs inspected, new spacers, and a AK20 cartridge kit.  Compression on left tube, Rebound on right.  They ran them on the suspension dyno to verify everything.  Oh yes, new oil as well.

Shock also dismantled, went from a 1400# spring to a 1300# on my Penske 8983 2-way remote shock.  They did some new seals and inspected everything, as well as a solid mount for the reservoir that tucks it away instead of being hoseclamped to the passenger peg superstructure.  This also went through valving changes and a shock dyno to verify changes.  They also popped in new needle bearings I brought along in the suspension linkage out back.

 

$2400-ish from the budget, all-in.  Mind, I already had the Penske, and the rebuild and re-spring on that was about $500, and they charged me $400-ish for labor additional since I brought the bike in assembled instead of shipping parts.

 

I was hoping to have gotten more photos, but I was "working" and had several meetings that burned about 4 hrs of the day... they were pretty much done with everything when I got back to the shop.  They did all this in 6 hours.

Then they set sag for me, and gave me a good first look at damping settings.

 

Work didn't allow me to do a proper run-in on the new bits until my day off today, and I rode about 200+ miles today on a wide array of roads in a wide array of conditions.  Highway, two-lanes, twisties, wet, dry, moist, fast, slow, gravel, potholes, tar snakes... you name it and I looked for them.

 

Look.  I'm simply stunned.  This is how these damn things should have come from the factory.  It is simply phenominal.  Planted, butter smooth, surefooted, and doesn't actually hurt me anymore from stiction.  The rear isn't a pogo stick anymore, it just simply hooks up a squirts through the turns.  I dialed out a bit of compression and rebound up front to reduce a tiny bit of harshness and it is abolutely sublime.  Changing line in mid-corner is simply a thought now when it used to be an ordeal trying to manage traction.  Over 200 miles, I've only used about 4 inches of the fork stroke, so I might take out a little pre-load.  Hell, I might just leave it alone as the additional ride height is great!  The bike is not as nervous as it used to be, which I haven't made my mind up about... I might raise the rear ride height a smidge to reduce trail some.  The handling is simply telepathic.

 

Cheers to the team at Traxxion Dynamics.  Well done, lads.  I'm impressed.  Great attention to detail, took time to answer all my questions, and to my mind, they NAILED IT.  Exactly what I was looking for.

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I suspect that a big reason nothing comes out of the factory great is that there is so much variation needed for rider, location, conditions, that they'd never get it right...so they go cheap. 

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30 minutes ago, bmart said:

I suspect that a big reason nothing comes out of the factory great is that there is so much variation needed for rider, location, conditions, that they'd never get it right...so they go cheap. 

 

You are very likely correct.  Probably also why the high end guys are running adaptive electronics these days too.  

 

It's nice that the VFR can finally hold its own head up now though!

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We should get in a few miles together!

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40 minutes ago, bmart said:

We should get in a few miles together!

 

Heck yeah!  That secret squirrel road...  

I've still got on my to-do list this year a "lapping day" for newbies somewhere... Need to get that figured out now that the bike is sorted.

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If you're really in Charlotte, I get out nearly every weekend, locally, to a track, or to the mountains. Planning to get out today, if the rain ever stops...likely on the two-fitty. 

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9 minutes ago, bmart said:

If you're really in Charlotte, I get out nearly every weekend, locally, to a track, or to the mountains. Planning to get out today, if the rain ever stops...likely on the two-fitty. 

 

PM Sent

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Bike update - Tire wobble driving me nuts.  I'm getting these Conti's off.  Just ordered a set of RoadSport 2's from RockyMountainATV for about $210.  I'm a little leery of the rear melting, but for that price, it's worth a shot.

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Yep. Traxxion Dynamics are a great shop. Martin, there, has been doing all my stuff ~17yrs. Although, Max did the last service on my SV. 
 

I’ve had AK-20’s in two bikes and their Axxion valves in the other two. Three of them got 8983 shocks and one got an 8900. The cartridges are definitely more fluid, but, their valves are very good. Likewise, the 8983 offers more control than the the 8900, but, on the street, the 8900 is plenty for most riders. Having followed you on crap suspension, I’d probably let you go, now. Haha!

 

Most shops don’t check fork tubes. Traxxion checks and polishes every single one. With my Daytona 675, I ran off track and found an eroded dip out in the adjacent field. My speed and that dip combined to bend both fork tubes. Martin found that on the lathe, then, proceeded to straighten them. That seemingly minor stuff sure makes a difference, with the end product. 

 

Dan has always been a great guy to work with. He never tries to upsell, either. My 5th Gen has an unconventional rear setup and he spent a lot of time looking at Penske options. In the end, Eric, at Penske, happily put some components together to give me the shock length I was looking for. Most shops would simply look at the Penske application guide and just tell me what’s listed is what’s available. The frontend is just Axxion valves and their springs, which is all I felt I needed for the street. I can’t thank Dan and Eric enough for their efforts. 
 

If we run across each other again, I’d like to swap bikes. I really want to try a 1200, especially one on good suspension. 
 

Edit: I see the tire shake is still an issue. 

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1 minute ago, ducnut said:

Yep. Traxxion Dynamics are a great shop. Martin, there, has been doing all my stuff ~17yrs. Although, Max did the last service on my SV. 
 

I’ve had AK-20’s in two bikes and their Axxion valves in the other two. Three of them got 8983 shocks and one got an 8900. The cartridges are definitely more fluid, but, their valves are very good. Likewise, the 8983 offers more control than the the 8900, but, on the street, the 8900 is plenty for most riders. Having followed you on crap suspension, I’d probably let you go, now. Haha!

 

Most shops don’t check fork tubes. Traxxion checks and polishes every single one. With my Daytona 675, I ran off track and found an eroded dip out in the adjacent field. My speed and that dip combined to bend both fork tubes. Martin found that on the lathe, then, proceeded to straighten them. That seemingly minor stuff sure makes a difference, with the end product. 

 

Dan has always been a great guy to work with. He never tries to upsell, either. My 5th Gen has an unconventional rear setup and he spent a lot of time looking at Penske options. In the end, Eric, at Penske, happily put some components together to give me the shock length I was looking for. Most shops would simply look at the Penske application guide and just tell me what’s listed is what’s available. The frontend is just Axxion valves and their springs, which is all I felt I needed for the street. I can’t thank Dan and Eric enough for their efforts. 
 

If we run across each other again, I’d like to swap bikes. I really want to try a 1200, especially one on good suspension. 
 

Did you get the frontend shake taken care of?

 

Ha!  Come on up!  You going to make the Fall Ride?

The front end shake is NOT handled, and Jacob at Traxxion noted it immediately when he test rode the bike prior to service.  Martin did the forks and shock, and I agree, that guy knows the business.  Dan and Max were off work when I was there, but I'm going to have to give them a nice note.

I've determined the shimmy up front is in fact the stupid tires.  It's a shame, I like the feel and pricepoint of the Conti Sport Attack, but I can't take hands off bars at speeds over 35mph... Off they come.

As I noted above, just ordered Roadsport 2's... think this bike might have a bit more mass and power than those are made for, but we will see how they do.  There's some guys on K1300's that seem to like them, and that's pretty much a doppelganger for the 1200 VFR.

You're welcome to take the 1200 for a spin anytime!

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The Conti’s might not have enough carcass stiffness for the weight of that bike? Or, their belt layup may not be compatible with that chassis?
 

If the K13 guys are doing well on the Dunlops, you should be OK, as well. Although, they’re on that funky frontend, which is probably immune to stability issues. 

 

I believe you installed OEM head bearings? I would’ve used the All Balls tapered bearing kit. They’re known to help cure shimmy, because the taper design adds preload to the bearing, without becoming notchy like a ball bearing will. I put them in every bike I own and they’re like butter. Traxxion uses tapered head bearings, as well. 

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3 hours ago, ducnut said:

The Conti’s might not have enough carcass stiffness for the weight of that bike? Or, their belt layup may not be compatible with that chassis?
 

If the K13 guys are doing well on the Dunlops, you should be OK, as well. Although, they’re on that funky frontend, which is probably immune to stability issues. 

 

I believe you installed OEM head bearings? I would’ve used the All Balls tapered bearing kit. They’re known to help cure shimmy, because the taper design adds preload to the bearing, without becoming notchy like a ball bearing will. I put them in every bike I own and they’re like butter. Traxxion uses tapered head bearings, as well. 

 

I picked up a set of All Balls OE replacements as well as honda OEM wheel bearings. Adding those to the winter projects parts pile.  😀 

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That’s exciting happenings for your suspension! I want to work on mine some but not sure I could afford the full setup like yours. Hopefully some revalving can get mine at least halfway there.

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1 hour ago, afwjam said:

That’s exciting happenings for your suspension! I want to work on mine some but not sure I could afford the full setup like yours. Hopefully some revalving can get mine at least halfway there.

 

You can get the "Axxion Valve" upgrade and a self install kit at a remarkably reduced rate.  I would advise to get the omni springs as well.

 

I think that would be about $450, and would make a great difference up front. 

 

The rear shock can be revalved and resprung by several vendors stateside... DMR does these often. There are some threads around if you search for Jamie Daugherty. 

 

On a budget, you could do the whole thing to be pretty competent for under a grand I imagine. 

 

Good luck!

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I think that Thermosman is ~$300 on the shock + a spring if you needed on. I wouldn't. 

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Well, rainy day today in North Carolina, so I cleaned the garage, made some lasagna, and installed a Kaoko throttle stabilizer that I had picked up a few weeks back.

 

It involved removing the throttle side controls to be able to pull the bar weight.  That was a serious pain as the weight had pretty much glommed itself in the tube with crud. 

 

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The fit is pretty good, and it seems to work as God intended.  However, I'm interested to see if it interferes a bit with the throttle action.  I'm concerned about where my hands rest compared to the grip angle and whether the heel of my palm works the kaoko inadvertently. 

 

I will also be doing some Oxford Grips in the near future as my 8th gen and my BMWs had grip heaters and now they are now a must for me... hopefully this will not interfere. 

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Admittedly, I'm not one for farkles or most mods I see, but help me understand these. 

 

Anything that interferes with the operation seems like a safety hazard to me. I cannot imagine an instance where I want the throttle on when my hand isn't holding it there. It is one of the primary things we tech at track days to ensure that if you're not holding it, it springs back to idle. A friend had a throttlemeister (or something) on his VFR years ago. I hated that thing!

 

I also have a friend who looooves heated grips. The inside of my hand never gets cold, but the wind wicks heat off of the outside. Would a bark buster or similar provide a better result? He made me use his and I made him turn them off. lol

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