Captain 80s Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 I had been looking locally for a very nice 94 - 97 VFR for a couple years with no luck. There were some examples, but none were as nice as I wanted or cheap enough to change my mind to a project. This is the day my 95 rolled out of the transport van from across the country. 11K miles. Two seats, this modified one and a stock one that was still to arrive in a box, along with another seat cowl and the original mirrors. Damn near perfect. Well, it arrived last Summer and I had some great rides on it in between painting my house. The Staintune sounds just lovely and the bike runs perfect. I did a couple small things, one of which buying another set of passenger pegs and doing a delete. If the muffler didn't have that lower mount I wouldn't have bothered on the right side. But I didn't want an empty bracket hanging there and I sure as shit was not gonna start cutting and grinding on the Staintune. Took HOURS to get it right. I had to fill and shape the voids after removing that much bracket. I could have always went with a welded up or custom alloy bracket, but I wanted to at least try and mod the Honda piece for a somewhat stock-ish look. It actually looks way better in person, that is as small as I could make it and have something left to work with. Left side was "easy". Still had a pretty good amount of time shaping and blending. Wanted to retain seat latch and handle. Then this Summer I was balls deep again finishing painting my house. I had taken the bodywork off in prep for going thru a few things and life got in the way. So when I (finally!!) finished the house this Summer, wrapped up the outdoor projects and winterized all the other bikes, she rolled back on the lift. 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted November 29, 2022 Member Contributer Share Posted November 29, 2022 Beautiful bike. What more does she need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 It keeps getting smaller! Plans are: Steel braided front brake lines Race Tech springs Tapered steering bearings (future proofing while I'm here) Pulling carbs and documenting (not sure if somebody's been in there) Replacing all coolant orings Remove PAIR (creating block-off plates with the original fitting ends) Repainting headers YSS shock (decided to do it while I had the whole rear apart) Replacing Comp Werkes fender eliminator with a re-worked stock unit I think that's it. Getting even smaller... Here's the shock Glad I went thru the cooling system. I was pretty surprised the two on the heads were this bad. They were almost goo... 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hingley Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 You were not bull shitting when you said it is dam near perfect. What a nice piece The 94-97 was always one of those bikes in my bucket list. In the 90's we had Honda make the NR750 and I figured a 94-97 was as close as I was ever getting the holy grail I am surprised at such a perfect bike having the o rings in the cooling system that bad, I was thinking of leaving mine in the 1999 alone due to what is involved but I may have to rethink that. It will be interesting to hear your feed back on how it handles once you get the suspension completed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 15 minutes ago, Hingley said: You were not bull shitting when you said it is dam near perfect. What a nice piece The 94-97 was always one of those bikes in my bucket list. In the 90's we had Honda make the NR750 and I figured a 94-97 was as close as I was ever getting the holy grail I am surprised at such a perfect bike having the o rings in the cooling system that bad, I was thinking of leaving mine in the 1999 alone due to what is involved but I may have to rethink that. It will be interesting to hear your feed back on how it handles once you get the suspension completed The looks are polarizing for VFRs, but I've always liked these years. The 94 VFR lost over 20 pounds from the previous generation, WITH the addition of a factory delivered center stand. You can see it in almost component when comparing to the 1992 in my shop (next on the lift likely). If I don't know for sure it has been done recently (properly), all of my (new to me) bikes get the cooling system completely gone thru. Did it to my 1998 ST1100 last year too when I had the carbs out and removed pair. When I am going thru all of my V4 carbs for the fuel tube o-rings now too, the coolant system gets gone thru. Almost every bike has had at least a couple o-rings at imminent failure. I am very anxious to ride it too with some suspension improvements. Gonna add a little ride height to the rear. Standard cartridges for now, I need keep this round of mods under control somewhat. A few parts I got for free when I flipped a 1990 VFR last Fall, like the fork springs, brake lines and paid for the shock with other parts I sold off of it. For the next set of tires, I have a 8 spoke rear (off the 90) and an extra front wheel that will get a nice Honda Metallic Black paint job and the perfect originals can go into boxes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted November 30, 2022 Member Contributer Share Posted November 30, 2022 I had wondered what happened to your museum piece 4th gen you got last year, beautiful bike....... ......I miss mine..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Wald Posted November 30, 2022 Member Contributer Share Posted November 30, 2022 A sweet, sweet bike! I love my '97! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer St. Stephen Posted December 1, 2022 Member Contributer Share Posted December 1, 2022 Very nice right away, look isn't polarizing to me anyway. Please keep updating with pics. Captain 90's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 Cooling system components all cleaned up and re-finished. Ready for the new o-rings that just showed up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hingley Posted December 6, 2022 Share Posted December 6, 2022 Very nice looking finish, is it from glassbeading or cleaning and painting? If it is from cleaning and painting you must spend a lot of time masking off the seals etc, or you just replace them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 1 minute ago, Hingley said: Very nice looking finish, is it from glassbeading or cleaning and painting? Cleaning and painting. Duplicolor Wheel Coating, Metallic Silver. Sprays out nice and is very durable. Been using it for years on applications like this (and wheels) with zero issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted December 7, 2022 Author Share Posted December 7, 2022 Center stand, side stand and bracket, bar ends and lower triple clamp (and some associated brackets) all done in Honda Nighthawk Black Metallic with 3 coats of clear. The Metallic isn't as pronounced as a factory applied finish unfortunately, but it looks great. I did a spray out test on a small piece of plastic and it is VERY close to Granite Blue Metallic, which is good cuz I have a couple lower cowl pieces on the 92 VFR that will need some love. Since the passenger peg delete brackets were painted after modding, I decided to spray the front brackets but masked off the heel guards. 3 coats of clear too. Pedals got some love too. I radiused the back edge of the knurled post too for a more finished look. Same on the back end of the shifter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted December 7, 2022 Author Share Posted December 7, 2022 On 12/6/2022 at 8:27 AM, Hingley said: Very nice looking finish, is it from glassbeading or cleaning and painting? If it is from cleaning and painting you must spend a lot of time masking off the seals etc, or you just replace them Masking. A lot of times if I am rebuilding something I will do all the prep work, install the new bearings and seals and clean and mask for paint. That way I'm not handling and banging around fresh paint and it gets all the time it needs to cure. I almost always do forks like that, and wheels. I keep old dust seals as masking "plugs" and barely install them for the perfect masking line. After paint, pop them out and press in the fresh seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hingley Posted December 7, 2022 Share Posted December 7, 2022 I keep old dust seals as masking "plugs" and barely install them for the perfect masking line. After paint, pop them out and press in the fresh seals. Now this sounds like someone who has spent years learning little tricks to save time and do a great job Keep posting your progress and tips, it is great for some one about to jump on the restore wagon after a long absentee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted December 8, 2022 Author Share Posted December 8, 2022 PAIR delete block off plates. Made from the original hard line fittings and some old hex bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrelman Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 On 12/7/2022 at 10:28 AM, Captain 80s said: ok ......i got to work with grinder and files, sandpaper and polish to make that cheap-lookin stamped metal part look like a cast alloy part from italy. just a matter of rounding the edges and blending. (can't find my pix) takes hours but looks alot better than stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted December 9, 2022 Author Share Posted December 9, 2022 15 hours ago, squirrelman said: ok ......i got to work with grinder and files, sandpaper and polish to make that cheap-lookin stamped metal part look like a cast alloy part from italy. just a matter of rounding the edges and blending. (can't find my pix) takes hours but looks alot better than stock. I get it. The front edges got a little love too. But it's a fucking brake pedal on 95 VFR. Jesus Christ. I spend plenty of time on shit (hours actually) blending and shaping, like the passenger peg deletes.. You know... the ones that are more than 10 inches off the ground. I got a bunch more to do, and a shit load of other bikes to work on. I really don't think this is gonna be a distraction to the rest of the bike. I've seen the pic of that pedal. It's one of 7 pictures you seem to have, I'm surprised you couldn't find it. It looked great. The time I spent on the pedals was partly cosmetic and partly in case of a tip over. Go look at your 97 and notice the sharp crescent shaped indentations in the frame right behind the pedals. It was probably the reason you had the pedal off in the first place to straighten it and file out the rash. Thanks for your kind words, as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 Cleaned, polished and waxed the front wheel while it was off Front end (mostly) back together RT .09 Springs Fork oil level set with new fluid New tapered steering bearings installed with painted lower triple clamp (factory paint can be light on them and it showed signs of a little exposure) Cooling system back together with all new o-rings Re-finished the exhaust 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 New shock installed. Refinished stands and controls installed. Subframe re-populated. Staintune polished up. I bought another inner / rear fender to trim down a little smaller than stock and use a plain license bracket. It was perfect and even had the correct year stickers. I just couldn't bring myself to cut on it. So I cleaned up previous trim work that was done for the Comp Werkes fender eliminator and will run this for a while still. I don't mind it, but wanted to switch over while I had it all apart. I'll look for yet another fender to mod. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabio222 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 This is unreal, well done. Might be a good opportunity to upgrade your reg/rec and ensure the charging system is in good order while you're doing this work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 16 minutes ago, fabio222 said: This is unreal, well done. Might be a good opportunity to upgrade your reg/rec and ensure the charging system is in good order while you're doing this work. Thank you! That is in the plan, but it will have to be a little later after the $ting of this round wears off a little. I didn't spend a lot of money, but the shock and fork springs weren't free. As well as the jets and all the o-rings. This reg/rect unit will be donated to my 1992 VFR project to get thru the initial build stages, as that unit is looking a little melty. This 95 is almost done. Finishing up installing a USB port, relocating the horn so the individual stainless brake lines can route where I want them, installing a parallel Fuel Cut Relay switch and a fan override switch. Pictures soon. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer scottbott Posted January 27 Member Contributer Share Posted January 27 looks great, but is is already the best looking bike anyway, imho, not biased in any way !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabio222 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 How did you manage to make everything look so clean? I'm talking engine, waterpump casing etc? Mine has over 90,000 miles on it at this point in time so it'll probably never be quite as clean as yours but I could try 🙂 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 80s Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 3 minutes ago, fabio222 said: How did you manage to make everything look so clean? I'm talking engine, waterpump casing etc? Mine has over 90,000 miles on it at this point in time so it'll probably never be quite as clean as yours but I could try 🙂 . Well, it did start out pretty damn nice, but it did have some road grime. Elbow grease pretty much. And a tooth brush. Wheel cleaner made for painted / clear coated wheels makes an excellent engine and chassis cleaner too. Spray down with cold water, liberally apply wheel cleaner all over and let it sit for a few minutes. Then start scrubbing. Rinse and repeat as needed. My current favorite is made by Turtle Wax 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabio222 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Gonna be tough to do that while it's in my shed but once I have it back together I can certainly do so! Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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