Disable the VTEC Solenoid Valve

[Guest xracr]

Does anyone have any experience energizing the VTEC solenoid valve so that the engine is in full time 4 valve mode ?

[Ryanme17]

I wish I could have double the VTEC hit; I think it's fun. And sometimes, funny.

A VTEC hit is fun, but it is downright dangerous in a turn. So I think you wouldn't really want double the hit. This is the same reason turbos don't exist on bikes anymore. The sudden turbo power surge can at the least make you run wide and at worse make you highside. And I have highsided before - you don't want that.

Derek

Riding around a problem and altering what you would do (on any other bike) in a turn seems odd to me. Especially when I see no measurable advantages in VTEC. I enter turns above 7000RPM now if I have any intentions of doing so aggressively. You can argue that its the right thing to do anyway on any bike (especially on a track). But not everyone rides like that, and if you are mid turn and decide to wick up the throttle a bit, you may end up high sided.

As for the turbo car, you are altering how you drive to manage the turbo, but at least there is a huge advantage to that turbo. VTEC kicks in and seems to add little, other than a jolt to rear grip.

I hate to move off topic, but if you're riding around a corner on a public road at above 90% of your riding ablity, then maybe VTEC isn't the concern.

A VFR is not a pure sport bike, and should not be treated as one. Safe riding means riding at a PACE where one can react to unforeseen challenges, VTEC transition being the least of them.

[Guest]

I hate to move off topic, but if you're riding around a corner on a public road at above 90% of your riding ablity, then maybe VTEC isn't the concern.

A VFR is not a pure sport bike, and should not be treated as one. Safe riding means riding at a PACE where one can react to unforeseen challenges, VTEC transition being the least of them.

How have you made the leap that I am riding at above 90% of my ability? You don't know anything about me.

EDIT: Perhaps you have misinterpreted this statement: " I enter turns above 7000RPM now if I have any intentions of doing so aggressively. You can argue that its the right thing to do anyway on any bike (especially on a track). But not everyone rides like that, and if you are mid turn and decide to wick up the throttle a bit, you may end up high sided."

By 'not everyone rides like that', I mean the normal average motorcyclist. They certainly can enter a turn under 6800 RPM, and then decide to 'go for it'. At that point, the VTEC kick in may cause an issue. I am merely saying that the 'kick' (while leaned over) is a little dangerous for that 5% of the time, and could cause an accident unexpectedly.

I agree that if you KNOW about it, and are aware of the VTEC kick in, you can avoid it. But typically, the average motorcyclist, especially coming off of any other bike, may not be aware.

I have been on the racetrack on Sportbikes and on Supermotos since the 90s. The last thing I would want is VTEC. But agreed - this is NOT a SPORTBIKE. Again, VTEC seems like an odd feature that causes more trouble than good.

Derek

[Ryanme17]

How have you made the leap that I am riding at above 90% of my ability? You don't know anything about me.

EDIT: Perhaps you have misinterpreted this statement: " I enter turns above 7000RPM now if I have any intentions of doing so aggressively. You can argue that its the right thing to do anyway on any bike (especially on a track). But not everyone rides like that, and if you are mid turn and decide to wick up the throttle a bit, you may end up high sided."

By 'not everyone rides like that', I mean the normal average motorcyclist. They certainly can enter a turn under 6800 RPM, and then decide to 'go for it'. At that point, the VTEC kick in may cause an issue. I am merely saying that the 'kick' (while leaned over) is a little dangerous for that 5% of the time, and could cause an accident unexpectedly.

I agree that if you KNOW about it, and are aware of the VTEC kick in, you can avoid it. But typically, the average motorcyclist, especially coming off of any other bike, may not be aware.

I have been on the racetrack on Sportbikes and on Supermotos since the 90s. The last thing I would want is VTEC. But agreed - this is NOT a SPORTBIKE. Again, VTEC seems like an odd feature that causes more trouble than good.

Derek

My apologies. Re-reading my post I see that it came off as personally judgmental and presumptive. I did not mean that at all.

And yes, I ASSumed that if something as small as a VTEC kick can cause the tires to kick out and run wide in a turn one might be running too fast, but I meant this as a general reminder to all of us and not a personal indictment.

My intent was to err on the side of caution, and I did not mean to single you out or pretend to know your riding style. This was not meant as a personal criticism.

I just know that I always have the temptation to ride over my head on the street and often throw that reminder out there.

[Guest]

Seems like we get one of these threads every few months.

April's Disable VTEC Thread

Sorry for late reply, thanks for that link. I figured this was something old.

But from that thread, there are two unfortunate things:

1) Because the second graph was after pipes and fuel management, you cannot tell if the low RPM torque will suffer significantly if all 4 valves are activated.

2) The engine was mechanically altered in a way that most of cannot do. So we don't know if the low oil pressure would be a problem engaging the VTEC pins.

But bravo for that guy doing it! You can see the nice flat curve with no VTEC drop/bump, which is what anyone would want (in my opinion). So it would still be interesting to get the charts without the additional mods, to see if the negative side effects are their under ~6800 RPM.

Derek

[Guest]

My apologies. Re-reading my post I see that it came off as personally judgmental and presumptive. I did not mean that at all.

And yes, I ASSumed that if something as small as a VTEC kick can cause the tires to kick out and run wide in a turn one might be running too fast, but I meant this as a general reminder to all of us and not a personal indictment.

My intent was to err on the side of caution, and I did not mean to single you out or pretend to know your riding style. This was not meant as a personal criticism.

I just know that I always have the temptation to ride over my head on the street and often throw that reminder out there.

My apologies as well - my first reply was WTF! Then I edited the post to try and understand where you got that impression. I don't need to make any enemies, I've only been here 3 days!

[HispanicSlammer]

Merged the two topics, same exact topic on the same day?

[dogman]

Slightly OT, but the same engine is in the crossrunner, and apparantly it is much imoroved in terms of vtec transition and fuelling.

There was a test done here recently and the impressions were that its hard to believe it is the same engine

QUOTE

"The long heralded VFR800 engine is an absolute gem. In Crossrunner guise a heavier flywheel adds a little more lilt and character to what was already one of the most charismatic powerplants ever to grace a Honda chassis.

Instead of it being a watered down version of the existing donk, as we so often see with naked bikes and pretend off-roaders, Honda has raised this latest incarnation to new levels of hedonism and banished the few gripes that we had with previous versions. The VTEC transition is smoother than ever before and in every way this latest iteration of the RC46 coded donk is the best yet.

Along with some changes to the intake tracts, the single side-exit muffler, adds a slightly more baritone timbre to the V4s voice, particularly at low rpm. That low-end bass then transcends through a soulful cadenza before the final movement explodes into a stirring crescendo as the LCD tachometer pushes towards the 12,000rpm limiter. An aftermarket muffler would add even more soul to the opera, putting stretchmarks round to your earlobes from the grins that cracking the throttle would induce.

Mated to an absolutely superb six-speed gearbox, the drivetrain is pure class. As far as thrills and riding pleasure goes, the V4 mill far surpasses the enjoyment level that its somewhat modest 100hp claim leads you to expect. There has rarely been a larger case of, ‘it is not how big it is, but how you use it’, than right here.

It is truly amazing what improvements can be made to an existing engine with just some subtle plumbing tweaks and the benefits of the latest improvements to engine management. Riding the Crossrunner back to back with the VFR800 would have you thinking the VFR had a clogged air-filter or desperately in need of a tune"

heres the link to the full article.

http://www.mcnews.com.au/Testing/Honda/2012_VFR800X_Crossrunner/Crossrunner_Review.htm

Creative journalism aside, this proves that even Honda acknowledges our gripes with the vtec system

[spud786]

Depending on the miles your bike has on it might be a factor as well. I bought my '05 with around 2,200 on the clock and it now has nearly 40K. At around the 10k mile mark the transition got much smoother. Your bike being an '07 should transition from normal operation to VTEC at 6,400 rpm, where is the '02-05 bikes make the move at 6,800. IIRC you are coming off a sportbike, and the VFR is NOT a sportbike, especially when it comes to power-to-weight ratios. So my suggestions are: get used to it and enjoy it for the bike it is, buy a PC and do your own R&D, or sell the bike and buy something that is perfect straight out of the box (good luck with that one).

The VFR IS a sport bike, thats nuts to say its not, What it isnt is a present day Race Replica bike. Theres alot more Sport bikes on the road, than Race Replica bikes.

NOw I have heard some say, they only consider RR bikes real sport bikes, these types usually have under 10 year mc exposure

[zRoYz]

One of the best parts about owning a vtec is reading all the threads about surging & kicking vtec transition & that if you don't like vtec buy a bloody 5th gen.

If you own a vtec that has the standard headers with CAT find someone who has either modified the standard headers to remove the CAT or has 5th gen 98 headers or Motad headers, so in a nut shell ride a vtec that doesn't have a CAT. What you will not notice will amaze you like going to see a magic act.

[SEBSPEED]

I have no issues with VTEC.

As a matter of fact, I transitioned into VTEC just about the same time this pic was taken - and I survived unscathed to tell the tale...

Railin 421 in Shady Valley Hey look, sparkles!

[NorthernVFRDave]

Creative journalism aside, this proves that even Honda acknowledges our gripes with the vtec system

There maybe no change at all to the V-Tec with the CrossRunner. The better characteristic are most likely from a gear ratio change in the transmission, to meet the bike's adventurer roll. As I'm sure the lower gears have had their ratios changed from what the 6th gen bike has, for those who may want to head off the pavement. This change alone would for sure change the feeling of the V-Tec kick.