A Few Modifications And Ideas.

[Guest harry]

I have made a few improvements to my VFR since buying it as a mint '97 F-V about 18 months ago. The more interesting of which are....

1. I have added an heatsink clamped between the (original) RR and the frame to improve improve its cooling. Added a pair of 1" flexible plastic ducts from the right hand front fairing back to the RR to provide improved air flow going to it. Added both temperature and voltage monitor of the RR above the clocks, so I can keep an eye on it and how effective my cooling mod is working.

2. I added an electronic chain lubricator, a DIY pic based unit by the name of the McCoi. This has seemed to work well, in as much as my chain has needed absolutly no attention in 18 months riding at all.

3. Added a Quest satnav via a DIY mount.

4. I am at the moment in the process of building a DIY single post bike lift, to make working on the bike a little easier on my back. This is nearing completion and is intended to lift the bike by around 30", to give all round access almost completely free of obstructions. Being of short stature, I didn't fancy trying to ride it up onto a table lift, not to mention the storage needed for one - so built one which would slide under it and lift it from the floor and when not in use would slide under a bench out of the way. The pictures just lack the means of keeping the bike upright whilst lifted up in the air. I have since added a bracket which locates under the (folded) centre stand. This provides for the option of lifting it with no weight on the rear wheel to permit its removal, or just to hold the bike vertical lifted by both wheels.

I have put some pictures of some of the things I have done in the gallery section at

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...i&img=22769

If anyone wants more details, get in touch.

[Guest awlittle]

I'd be interested in your DIY oil lube setup. Nice pics, nice bike, nice contributions. :thumbsup:

[The Phantom]

I like that bike lift! You made it yourself? Nice work.

I saw a commercial one at the Sydney Motorcycle Show which lifted the bike from the front.

And recall seeing something that lifts the bike from the footpeg area? which would make working on fr/rear suspension a piece of cake.

Your other mods are all very sharp too - taking care of the VFRs achilles heel. No point spending on suspension etc. if the electricals are going to strand you.

[Guest harry]

The chain oiler system is a German design, very much based on what its users want it to do. They provide the feedback to the designer and he incorporates the best ideas as he develops it. I was looking for something a little better than ones which would just dribble oil on the chain at a constant rate whenever the engine was running and happened across it. It counts the pulses from the speedo impulse and pumps a precise amount of oil onto the chain based upon that, doubling the dose if it rains. I have had to neither top up the oil tank, nor adjust the chain in the 10K miles I have had it fitted and there has been no greasy marks on the wheel itself.

So generally I've been quite impressed with it, apart from the method it uses to deliver the oil onto the chain. For this it uses a couple of hypodermic syringe needles, one for each side of the chain - which I could never get to stay where they were put. I eventually found that a commercial design of chain lube twin nozzle worked much better. It is basically a kit of electronic components, a PCB, a plastic case, an oil tank, a tiny pump and the pipework needed etc. for you to build yourself. You don't absolutely need to buy the kit from him, all the details are on the site if you feel up to sourcing the parts and doing your own pic programming. It cost me about the cost of a new chain set and has just about saved its initial cost already.

You fill the tank with a 50/50 mix of engine oil and chainsaw oil. I mounted the 100ml tank plus pump just to the rear of the RR, the electronics strapped to the frame on the left - all hidden under the rear fairing, with the under seat area completely clear. The expensive part is the pump, it is a very reliable commercial part, much better and more precise than relying on gravity feed and the opening of a valve.

In the electronics there is a button to allow you to prime the system - pump continuously until the oil appears at the nozzles and a means to preset how much oil is delivered in use. Once set to your preference you never need to adjust it again.

The two crudely mounted red LED's in the photo of my RR volt/temperature monitor, are diagnostics LED's to keep an eye on the chain oiler. The left one comes on when it senses wet, the right one gives a flash everytime the pump operates.

The website URL is http://www.mccoi.de/ which is in German, so you may need an online translator.

[Guest harry]

I like that bike lift! You made it yourself? Nice work.

It is made from welded up stainless steel - mostly 2"x 2" (50mm) box section, with smaller sizes for the extremes. The parts which slide under the wheels are adjustable and can be pulled completely out of their sockets to make it more compact for storage. All the steel was scrap, so I designed it based upon what steel I could get hold of. It lifts via a 3/4" (20mm) threaded rod with a thrust bearing at the top to make it a little easier to operate. It is still very much in the process of being built, but I've had the bike 18" up off the ground with it so far, without too much difficulty.

Edited May 5, 2007 by harry

[V4 Rosso]

1. Added a pair of 1" flexible plastic ducts from the right hand front fairing back to the RR to provide improved air flow going to it.

4. I am at the moment in the process of building a DIY single post bike lift, to make working on the bike a little easier on my back. This is nearing completion and is

Got some pics of those air ducts? I thought about going that route but had doubts whether or not it would be effective.

I like the bike lift, it's similar to the Easy Rizer.

[Guest harry]

I didn't take any photos of the 'airduct', there just wasn't that much to be seen. It was just basically two lengths, put in side by side from the air intake port on the right front, below the headlight of the '97 F-V. It runs under the tank a little way to duck in around the frame, then they exit to finish just forward of RR's new heatsink. They were made from 20mm flexible plastic corrugated electrical conduit, which is about 1" ID. This is very light and flexible, made entirely from plastic. Two side by side will just squeeze up to make a tight fit in the air intake.

My RR was running at 70 to 75 C before the modifications, which is far to hot for electronics. The added heatsink brought it down 60 to 65, then the ducting brought it down to 55 to 60 C. I agree there will not be a great airflow, but what flow there is is at ambient temperature rather than the even hotter air from around the engine and exhaust. It doesn't need much airflow to make a big difference to the cooling and this method uses no moving parts to fail.

I wasn't satisfied with the suggestions to fix a heatsink and fan over the top of the soft rubbery side of the RR's case, as they RR is designed to loose its internal heat via its metal base.

I made the heatsink from two of those early Pentium heatsinks, for the type of CPU which plugged into the motherboard vertically. The alloy base is quite thin on the these and the fins cover the entire face. I just laid them side by side, cut the fins out to permit the RR to drop in, then milled the face flat where the fins had been to allow the RR to fit snugly. The heatsink then fitted between RR and the frame, in its standard mounting position - with heatsink compound used on both sides of the heatsink. It just fits under the side fairing panel if the fins are bent in top and bottom of the heatsink.

To measure the RR's internal temperature with some reasonable accuracy, I fixed the probe on the rubberised face and added some insulation over the top.

My bike lift is basd upon the Easyrizer style, but perhaps due to my lifts frame, I couldn't seem to be able to get the bolting down of the side stand to work to keep the bike vertical. It was a very tricky balancing operation to slide the lift under it from the left of the bike, with no side stand to hold it up, then lowering the stand with the lifts frame in the way. So I decided lift it from the right - adding a short beam to the lift to pass underneath the bike just to the rear of the centre stands pivot. On this I fixed two short adjustable height V's made from angle steel which locate onto the two tubes of the centre stand in it raised position. This keeps the bike upright as it is lifted and also it could be used to lift the bike as an alternative to lifting it via the rear wheel, should I want to remove that.

Edited May 5, 2007 by harry

[V4 Rosso]

It doesn't need much airflow to make a big difference to the cooling and this method uses no moving parts to fail.

I wasn't satisfied with the suggestions to fix a heatsink and fan over the top of the soft rubbery side of the RR's case, as they RR is designed to loose its internal heat via its metal base.

...

I fixed two short adjustable height V's made from angle steel which locate onto the two tubes of the centre stand in it raised position. This keeps the bike upright as it is lifted and also it could be used to lift the bike as an alternative to lifting it via the rear wheel, should I want to remove that.

I had a cpu fan on the (upgraded, finned) RR but it didn't last long, so I agree that it is better to not have moving parts for the cooling.

This post shows how I relocated the R/R to the rear putting it on top of a large heatsink.

That you can remove the rear wheel is a big plus over the easy rizer :thumbsup:

Looks like a nice and compact setup.

[Guest Dr.Jack]

That's pretty awesome dude.