Member Contributer mello dude Posted January 11, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted January 11, 2012 Doink! Dave Dodge found my cams! Oh, and he states that with just the stage one grind, minimum 8HP gain. Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WackenSS Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 So now we are back on track? Did you get any pics of the welded heads? Also i wonder about the spesifics of the came work... weight reduction? Balanced weight? Anything done to the gears? Did you get the weight shaven of the flywheel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer sa1713 Posted January 13, 2012 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 13, 2012 Yes, back on track for completion. When all of the components are gathered by the EBD, he'll measure and record all the specifications. Flywheel is still on the table for modifying. He does not want to take too much off.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted March 22, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted March 22, 2012 OK so what's happened to this project ? I'm in the middle of installing my own cams, awaiting shims at the mo, hope to have the bike back on the road next week & then dyno tuned for the new cams (assuming they work OK) with my PC3. Once I have a finished product to show, I'll release the cam info for others to follow if they so desire. Mine took 3 weeks to get, first order, new profile etc, any other orders would take a week ! Hey Larry, thanks for the pics of the RC45 airbox/bellmouths. Interesting that the 5th Gen has the SAME 40mm bellmouth entry to 36mm throttle bodies. I just hand lapped mine to match the throttle bodies as the ID at the base of the bellmouths was only 35mm & another set I have were only 38mm at the entry & 34mm at the base ! For RAMAIR inlet, you can see what I did last year here, it seems to make a difference at speed as the bike was still accerlerating hard at 140mph, which is as fast as i've taken it so far. http://vfrworld.com/forums/5th-generation-1998-2001/33383-vfr800-5th-gen-10-year-update-project.html Phase 2+3, will be written up in a couple of weeks time, to cover the upgrades/changes made during the past winter Chris W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted March 22, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted March 22, 2012 (edited) Oh forgot one thing, your EBD may be wrong about the oil cooler ! If as he asserts the oil flow is not great then an upside down cooler would crud up with contaminated oil, as the cooler is a sperate circuit to the pressure feed system & pumps oil straight from the sump to the cooler. By being this way up there is no dead space for old oil crud to collect. I think you will find there is easily enough flow to use all the galleries in the cooler. If you look at my second ramair solution, this increases flow to the cooler & I will add a baffle underneath between the cooler & the cylinder head cover when I put it back together, this will further increase airflow through the cooler due to the baffle causing higher air pressure in front of the cooler & lower air pressure behind it at the same time ! Edited March 22, 2012 by Mohawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cburgess594 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Please take it farther.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarossaBill Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Just a silly question, but if you go to what is effectively a ram air system as opposed to the still air box, how do you expect the motor to behave through the rev range in 1st gear with no real air compression, 3rd gear some air compression, and 6th gear with Max air compression. Careful where you go with your mods. When my PC was installed, all we did was open up the low speed flap in the air box, change to a hi flow filter, and nothing more. The Dyno showed that it went from a standard 103 hp 76 N-M bike, to 109 hp 79 N-M bike. While this does not sound like a lot, it's where it made the power that counts. It used to hit 100hp at 10,000 rpm and drop below at 11,250 rpm, now it hits 100hp at 9000 rpm and doesnt drop below untill 12000 rpm. The Torque, which hardly touched 75 N-M at 9000 rpm, now hits 75 at 7000 rpm and stays above 75 untill 10000 rpm. All this leads to a bike which feels so much better through the range where I ride it the most. It just feels a lot more beefed up.... Love that VRF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WackenSS Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 BUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer sa1713 Posted October 6, 2012 Author Member Contributer Share Posted October 6, 2012 Racing season is about to finish so I would expect that the EBD will complete this soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer sa1713 Posted November 28, 2012 Author Member Contributer Share Posted November 28, 2012 Well, I don't have good news to report. I've found that Dave Dodge may have fallen down on not only my cam work but many other customers' work. He not only has my cams but also a sizeable deposit. Nothing compared to other customer's experiences. I'm copying a post from another V4 forum which chronicles a complete engine rebuild. I'm in the process of attempting to recover my parts and $$$.... It seems as though DD was not truthful or forthright in his recent dealings. Here is the post and sorry if this is put in the wrong place. The pics did not come through but I have the complete post if folks need to confirm. My last posting here at this site was on my thread "Re: Anybody that has an engine at Dave Dodge's... Please look!" it was #61 where I stated "I will wait until after the weekend of the 18th of March before making contact with them as that is the most recent date of completion given to me by DD last Friday. He has a week." That was Sunday March 11, 2012. The following Friday I received a call from Dave Dodge stating that he had indeed finished my engine and it was ready to be picked up that weekend. I couldn't do that as I have been working weekends for months now. I scheduled the weekend of April 1 off and asked Dave if that would work for him. He responded that that would work and he looked forward to it. The following is true there is no slander and deceit on my behalf... I sent Dave a confirmation email this past Wendsday, March 28 at 4:43am, it follows: Hi Dave, Just touching base wanting to confirm our upcoming Saturday pick up? We will be getting into Bullhead Friday evening. What time would you like to meet Saturday? Anytime works for me. If need be we can do it Sunday as well... Please feel free to give me a call or email. Either way, I need to make this happen this weekend as my work schedule is still more than crazy and this is the only time I was able to schedule off... Thanks! Steve salvo66us@yahoo.com This is the response that I received from Dave that same day at 5:51am, it follows: Steve, We are good for Saturday, about 10ish? Looking forward to it :) Dave Dodge - DRP -----Original Message----- From: steve lawrence Sent: Mar 28, 2012 4:43 AM To: Dave Dodge , Dave Dodge Cc: salvo66us@yahoo.com Subject: Engine pick up... Hi Dave, Just touching base wanting to confirm our upcoming Saturday pick up? We will be getting into Bullhead Friday evening. What time would you like to meet Saturday? Anytime works for me. If need be we can do it Sunday as well... Please feel free to give me a call or email. Either way, I need to make this happen this weekend as my work schedule is still more than crazy and this is the only time I was able to schedule off... Thanks! Steve salvo66us@yahoo.com Ok, I received a call from Dave Friday morning March 30, everything is a go for Saturdays pick up except that he has to get some orders out and instead of meeting at 10am he wants to do it about 1pm so he can get the orders out to the Post Office... I agreed and we head up to Bullhead from Phoenix, Az. I received a call from Dave Saturday morning, March 31 at 12:16pm stating that he is behind a little bit and still needs to get these orders to the Post office and meet with his accountant and won't be able to meet until about 5pm. I reluctantly agreed. At 4:42pm I received the call from Dave that he had found that he just wasn't happy with how the #2 cylinder bearing was feeling and that he had taken the case back apart and wanted me to see it in person as it would be better to explain the situation to me. I told him that we would be over in just a few minutes to pick up the engine and go from there. As a witness to what we were going to see and retrieve I had a retired Sheriffs officer tag along, kind of a tool to keep heads level for the moment... I wasn't there to cause problems or curse anybody out... I just wanted my due... My COMPLETED engine that I had waited for for over 2 years. Upon hearing the excuses as to why he couldn't meet me at the original time scheduled I knew that there was more to the story... The following pictures were taken as soon as I unloaded the boxes from the vehicle this afternoon once we got back home in Phoenix... This is just an intial set of photos. It will take me days to lay everything out and retake pics that may be needed for whatever legal action comes next. I honestly don't know what to expect at this moment... I would like to bring to light 2 postings from Dave Dodge in my previous thread, # 71, it reads as follows: Re: Anybody that has an engine at Dave Dodge's... Please look! « Reply #71 on: March 12, 2012, 09:38:34 PM » Quote I just read all of your posts with interest. I only want to say that in no way has anyone been screwed or ripped off, nor will they be. Assuming the worst tends to be the way of the board. I'll admit that engine building since the move has not been easy and taking far too much time. I dont want to comprimise the level of quality either. If anything can go wrong... it has. I do apologize to Aaron and Steve, and even John. Thank you for your patience and I assure you that getting these projects delivered is more important to me than is realized. Regards Dave Dodge - DRP And also, #79 from Dave as well, it follows: Re: Anybody that has an engine at Dave Dodge's... Please look! « Reply #79 on: March 13, 2012, 09:58:51 AM » Quote I completely understand all the concerns. It's been busy enough to keep me chasing my tail, but the level of sales is not fully supporting expenses or even cost of parts. I've made numerous changes to correct this. Most engine deposits started off at 50% and became progressive as I purchased the parts and outside labor to complete them. It became obvious that buying discontinued parts at premium+ prices was costing me more than I had them sold for. Labor from the machine shops is costing me $75.00 hr, yet I was only charging $50.00 hr., plus big shipping costs. Added to that, all my suppliers had subtantial and frequent price increases due to their higher costs. Products from Japan (Honda) are seeing 5% increases every time I order due to dollar to yen conversion. The slow economy and higher energy prices contribute to this as well. I refused to increase the prices on those firm quoted jobs, but in the future engine jobs will be termed as 'restorations' and billed time and materials. Needless to say, engine building volume will be reduced, but if there's no profit in doing them, maybe that's best. The whole engine building side of the business has been causing me big concern... mostly due to the length of time to complete. I have never been known as the speediest engine builder, but I dont have comebacks either... it's gotta be right, and that's how I think my reputation developed. When talking directly to my customers, I do my best to explain the circumstances and reasons for the delays... With all that said... I am (and have been) in this for the long haul, and the bumps in the road are a huge learning curve, even at age 56 with 30 years experience working on V4's. Looking forward to a better tomorrow, Dave Dodge - DRP The pics... This is the COMPLETED engine: A pic of one of the pistons showing what looks like used rings on it, next to it is a ring from the bundle of "old" rings found laying in the boxes... A pic of a scratch in what looks like the #1 piston crank journal bearing... The box the bundle of rings were in... Here is a pic of my $560.00 HardWelded Rocker Arms... And another... My cylinder heads... They were supposed to have Stage 2 Porting, Smoothing the intake runners and a Competition Valve Job, The tune of $400.00... Doesn't look like any smoothing or valve job was ever done... Boxes of head and valve parts... I must add that Dave was witnessed as grabbing "Valves" out of a plastic bag that he picked up from underneath a bench and added these valves to my parts. You can notice that there are valves that have been ground and valves that have not... The ground valves were from the plastic bag... I don't know if they belong to someone else's "valve job" and he just grabbed them to add to the mix or ??? My carbs were to have been cleaned and rebuilt to Stage 2, at $325.00 labor and parts kit... Dave was witnessed as removing parts from a set of carbs other than mine and adding these to my parts. There again I don't know if these pieces belonged to someone else's carb set or ??? I did realize that in the hulabaloo that he still has my airbox and rubber venturis.... Fat F'n chance of getting that stuff now! The trans was to have been "undercut" at $375.00... it looks like it was glass beaded at best... I don't know what to look for in an under cutting job but I can't see any fresh machining marks, maybe one of you can help me to spot it... My cases were to have been powder coated... None of this has happened. It wasn't on the work order but he was paid $150.00-200.00 for that service. Supposedly he has a new work order that he is going to email me... He did however "paint" the oil pan and shift cover, and maybe the engine case... I didn't even get the one hole that I asked to have "helicoiled" taken care of... The date on this gasket set should have been from way before 9/16/2011... Should have been back in 2010 when I was originally supposed to be picking up my engine in December 2010. The gasket set and an, I think, oil pump... Just a couple of random pics... I am speechless........... I do not even now where to start......... My restoration project is done. I have paid this man $4500.00 overall and this is what the culmination of more than 2yrs waiting and more than numerous emails and phone calls have gotten me. All the way up 'til the very end has been nothing but an excuse and as far as I am concerned, lies! I don't know what is going to happen but I will be getting in touch with the Arizona Attorney Generals office and see what is next. I am posting this because I HOPE that I can at least save someone the future hassles and trouble in which they may find by doing business with this man. I have certainly learned a very costly lesson here. I have somewhere around $7-8000.00 wrapped up in what was to be a "Better than New" restoration of my dream bike. This has all been crushed now. I can't speak here how I really feel and what I would really like to do.... I am sickened! Dave, I am certainly glad that you have clearly stated that " I only want to say that in no way has anyone been screwed or ripped off, nor will they be." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted January 8, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 8, 2013 Sorry to hear that your ebg has let you down that badly. I'm an ex mechanic & I hate giving anything to anyone to do stuff for me but sometimes it's the only option & sometimes my worst fears are realised as in your experience. I can imagine how you feel, I'd be gutted beyond belief. I hope you find a solution soon. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer dr.toto Posted January 9, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 9, 2013 Sad story. This happens all to often in the performance industry. Cycles, cars, dragsters, you name it. It shows that lots of people have trusting souls. That is better than being an all out cynic. The difficult part is knowing when to cut your losses and retrieve your stuff. In the hotrod world a few years ago, United Speedometer came to light in a negative way. People lost their obsolete speedos with no way of retrieving them. I'd hate to be the guy doing a restoration and having the only one of something and having a business rob me of my property. My sympathies to all who lost out with this guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer deltaboxii Posted January 9, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 9, 2013 i went through a similar experience with my Thruxton. It took me almost a year and the local sheriff to stop by the engine tuner's house 3 times and threaten to lock him up if he didn't ship me my cylinder head back. Just a simple port and polish! The guy had duped many others besides me. Somehow I got lucky and the local sheriff took my complaint seriously-(stolen property, I had receipts to prove that they were sent to him). I have come to realize that for every good, ethical engine tuner out there, there are about 5 bad ones. The same goes for painters. From now on if I can't stop by and talk to the guy face to face myself, I won't be shipping my parts out to them. Fortunately I have not had that experience with suspension tuning. I have shipped shocks/ forks to specialits like Thermosman and at Ohlins and never even remotely had an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer sa1713 Posted January 9, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 9, 2013 Sorry to hear that your ebg has let you down that badly. My original EBD is perfect, the hang up is with Dave Dodge. He has my cams, which in the big scheme of things is easily replaceable and that is in process. I have complete faith in Craig and his operations but I do agree with putting a hand on the trades and keeping an eye on them as well. I hope to have good news shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Personally I would deal with WebCam or someone like that who is well established in the industry. http://www.webcamshafts.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer sa1713 Posted February 2, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted February 2, 2013 I've got a rather good update: After reading the posting about DD and the customer's experience, I did not hold much hope of getting my cams back or my deposit. I made repeated attempts to contact DD with no success. So, I found a complete set of 4 cams from a 98 and had them shipped to my EBD in anticipation of a DD failure. While the cams were in shipment, I was able to get Dodge on the phone. He gave me an excuse that he had not been notified by his grinder that the job was complete. I, being suspect of his response, gave him some more rope. He told me that the grinder needed to build a fixture to hold the cams since he did not want the gear removed during processing. Dodge told me that taking the gear off causes a whole bunch of headaches during reassembly, many times unsurmountable. He did admit that he has had the cams much too long for no progress and was apologetic. Yeah, I've heard that somewhere before... In my attempt to elicit additional information that I could possibly use (against him) in the future, I asked where he sent his cams to be ground. I did not expect him to answer, as his pause was long. He did answer, and it was:   Personally I would deal with WebCam or someone like that who is well established in the industry. Dodge told me he expected Webcams to give him an update within a week or so. I thanked him for his time and told him I'd call in a week. I immediately called Webcams and spoke with customer service. They had no idea of a cam job for a VFR800 but said they would call me back. About 10 minutes after hanging up I received a call from Dodge who told me that the cams would be finished in 1 week. I believe Webcams called Dodge and told him that I called. I never received a call back from Webcams. Dodge told me he would get the cams from Webcams and then ship them to my EBD. I asked him to drop ship them directly to Craid at HRT. He agreed but would have to work out the numbers between Webcams etc... A week later and no word from Dodge. Finally after 5 days of calls and messages he answered saying he spoke with Craig and they settled on cost. I called Webcams to confirm and they said they are ready to ship and I asked for the cam card to be included. I expect to have the cams ready for install within two weeks but I'm still holding my breath. When Craig receives my cams he will be documenting the work, and determining if they will do what he specified. If/when this project gets finished, at least we have a direct source to have 5th/6th gen cams ground. I will publish the cam card once I get it. v/r Fingers Crossed..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Good luck to you sir!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer CornerCarver Posted February 2, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 2, 2013 That is good news...it was looking bad for the home team for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted February 3, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 3, 2013 We are all waiting for the fat lady singing the blues on this one..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 We are all waiting for the fat lady singing the blues on this one..... Nah. Something more upbeat. How about When the Saints go Marching in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFR Capt.Bob Posted March 1, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 1, 2013 March is in. Don't know about the saints. How's the project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer CornerCarver Posted March 1, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 1, 2013 Nice one...took me a minute, great time for a page change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer sa1713 Posted March 1, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 1, 2013 Well, DD was not completely forthcoming with his actions. In January I spoke to him and he told me the cams were at Webcams for grinding. He was waiting for them to build a fixture to hold the cams without the need to remove the gear. He assured me that Webcams finally was able to accomplish this and the process was well underway. I requested that DD drop ship the cams directly from Webcams to HRT, thus I'd hope to keep my money and the cams from being in his possession at the same time. He agreed and set it up with Webcams and HRT. Well, he did get the remaining amount to complete the job and we waited for Webcams to finish. He again assured me Webcams had my cams. It turns out that DD never sent the cams to Webcams. On February 6, they received them from DD. I hope to have news within a week or so about the work done by Webcams. Please be wary of DD and his operation. Next time, I'll cut him out of the deal and go directly to a grinder. At least I'll have the cam card..... I hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 wow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted March 3, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 3, 2013 Will be interesting to see how this turns out. I picked up a used motor this weekend to swap in to my bike and am starting to think about rebuilding the original 85K motor. It would be a long term project but not as long as DD would take. I'll have to see about swapping 49 state cams in to a CA motor with ECU swap and addition of a PC. Jim, are you doing anything with the pistons, rebore or new rings? I'd guess being such a low mileage motor it's still fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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