3Rd Gen Vs 4Th

[The Phantom]

I see the 3rd gen weighed in at 15lbs heavier than a 4th...not terrible by any means and a bit of trimming can fix that...

If that 3rd Gen has a full header system (as the pic seems to indicate) it is already line-ball with a 4th Gen on weight. The collector header system on the 3rd Gen is the most significant part of the weight difference.

Grab it! You won't regret it.

[Dutchy]

...It's more likely that the heavier rear wheel and tire on the 3rd gen can slow down the bikes turning a little bit,

Funny thing is, dutchy weighed the two wheels he had, both with PR2 tires, and the 8 spoke with the 180 tire was a touch lighter.

a 1993 8 spoker freshly powdercoated with a 180 PR2 weighs 11.7 kilo

a 1997 OEM wheel with a 170 PR2 weighs 11.9 kilo

[mcrwt644]

^^wow, never would have thought!!

[CandyRedRC46]

and a 5th/6th gen to please?! lol

[mcrwt644]

A few updates...I pick up the bike on Sunday

Should I immediately go to the vfrness on this bike, are they as bad with R/R's as the 4th gen?

D and D tech support wrote me back and said they never made any left hand exhaust for that bike...that is until I sent a pic to them...then they said they never made a header for it....so not sure where that leaves that portion of it.

[Beck]

Yes, 3rd gens are known to eat RRs as much as 4th and early 5th gen VFRs.....

Change it and lessen the chances of getting stranded....but still not a 100% guarantee, as other stuff upstream and downsteam the RR is kinda marginal......

Unfortunately, Honda seemed to have wanted to emulate British electrics for the past with their VFR charging systems. The Japanese must have their own "Prince of Darkness".....

[mcrwt644]

It's been too long, what do I need to do and with what r/r to replace this one?

I found a smokin hot deal on a set of new dunlop q2s, that I get today....

[YoshiHNS]

How much do you want to do? There's a whole list of stuff you 'could' do. You could change the oil and tires and go, or rebuild everything front to back. Matter of time and money.

Minimum I would do is oil and filter, bleed brake and clutch. You're getting new tires, so check the chain and sprockets too.

I wouldn't lose sleep over the R/r. Mine died out slowly when I was out in Colorado for Summer Summit. After it cooled off and I bumb started it, it was fine the rest of the day. There was an active thread a bit ago about new aftermarket R/r replacements I'll try and dig up. Some have replaced with R1 and GSXR R/rs with a bit of wiring. The VFRness isn't a requirement, but if you have a bit of extra cash it's a good investment.

[mcrwt644]

the bike will get a full going over, I use to work in a race shop in San Diego and all bikes I get go to the 'dr'. Oil, filter, chain clean and lube, anti freeze drain and fill, gas treatment after fresh gas, complete and utter detail, charging system check, change brake and clutch fluid and bleed, probably new ebc hh pads up front....that'll get me started :)

I haven't done a rewire on a r/r before...I know I have a ninja 650 r/r out in the garage that I know is good...I had one r/r go out on me once out of 3 fourth gens and 1 fifth gen, so I am not too terribly worried there, not yet anyway.

I got the tires and they are brand spankin new and I got them for a song...can't buy the rear for what I got the set for.

I'll post pictures as I get them of the bike and her progress. Sunday can't get here soon enough

[YoshiHNS]

I just went out, bought the proper gage and color wires needed, added connectors, and made a little taped up bundle of wires to go between harness and R/r.

[gll429]

if your worried about being stuck on the road. by a spare R/R and keep it on the bike.

[mk2davis]

The best $20 I spent on my bike was for an onboard voltmeter. Talk about piece of mind. Run through a relay, I know exactly what the state of my recharging system is, and I can identify issues before I get stranded.

The second best investment was for the VFRness. I ride at a solid 14.5V all day. A load off my mind.

[The Phantom]

Congratulations on the aquisition. D&D never made a full system, odds are you have either a TBR or Hindle full system with a D&D canister on it.

[mcrwt644]

would someone do me the dubious honor of sending me directions on how to wire up an r1 r/r ?

mk2, what relay did you run the voltmeter off of? can you send photos to me or post them up? Thanks all

[CandyRedRC46]

http://roadstercycle.com/

3 yellow wires from the stator to the rr, soldered directly. two rr output wires from the rr to the battery (fused in between). ignore all the honda wiring and connections along the way. they are garbage. voltage gauge its basically a necessity and a vfrness is almost too.

[mk2davis]

would someone do me the dubious honor of sending me directions on how to wire up an r1 r/r ?

mk2, what relay did you run the voltmeter off of? can you send photos to me or post them up? Thanks all

I'm running 3 powerports under my seat through a regular 30amp automotive relay from Pepboys. Relay turns on with a switched power source. My voltmeter taps off from the powerport wiring. I have compared the onboard voltmeter and a DMM directly on the battery, and the read within .1V of each other.

I could draw something up, but pics will be difficult to see. Enough electric tape hides all!

[mcrwt644]

well, I picked the bike up yesterday just outside of Baltimore. Man, I've got to get canyon dancer tie downs...this old fashion way of doing it is for the birds.

I saw a few things immediately not visible in the pics. She had gone down, left side, but not bad, not with these plastics anyway...there is a slight scrape on the swing arm on the left side where maybe the mid pipe hit it. The mid pipe is dented and will not come off the header. The calipers need to be rebuilt, they are STUCK...so, the owner had one hanging, ugh, and one bolted, only the one that was bolted was RUBBING on the rim, pulling paint off as it went. The front tire is toast, I knew that...rear is shot, but I have q2s waiting. It needs a kick stand spring, who knows why that is missing. The exhaust can hanger is missing.

Otherwise, she's complete. yes, a few dings and scratches, a chipped fairing here and or there, but overall not too terrible.

So, I stripped her down yesterday....much further than I had planned on for the first day. She's dirty...hasn't been apart in a LONG time. Whomever told me that there were differences between the 3rd and 4th gens wasn't kidding. extra screws and silly things here and there. I thought the 4th gens had too much holding them together....

Yes, I believe for my online folks, I should've taken pics, but there are hardly any bikes I've owned that after getting them home (unless they run already) I don't take pics of. I usually wait until after they at least crank for that to happen. I'm superstitious about it??

I found a few other things too...I might need fork seals, can't tell just yet....front brakes at a minimum...maybe rear, and a rear rotor. A few small wiring things I see that just need tracking down, like only half a ground wire? The other half mysteriously disappears into the loom? Looks like the r/r may have gotten hot (figure that). Stator appears ok. I need a battery. I pulled the plugs...they reeked of gas...oil fouled.

I dropped the oil....it was almost olive green and just stunk of gas...I'm almost certain the carbs leaked gas into the case. I let the oil drain for about an hour...new filter in, new oil coming.

Carbs fought me big time, but I eventually won out, and they slipped off. They have been soaking now for over 7 hours.

Front wheel was on backwards....I very well may need a front axle as well. The left side is actually mushroomed from being hit back through...ugh. That took a min to get straight as well.

I'm racking my head right now for what else I found....other than the nasty stale gas smell I despise that now dominates my garage. She is getting her second bath here in just a bit. I'll post pics here when I hit a good restarting point.

[Dutchy]

So how many $100 bills did the previous owner GIVE you to take her off his hands????

[mcrwt644]

apparently, NOT enough. I've seen worse, it's just that I feel I was misled...no, the guy didn't know what he was doing, and yes, I have seen worse, but UGH, the further I dug, the worse it seemingly got. One good thing, no wire hacking involved. And I did probably overdue it yesterday...I didn't get to bed until one thirty am.

[mcrwt644]

ok, so got the plugs back in, carbs cleaned, oil in, anti freeze in...she won't run...fuel pump is funky I think...wires have been cut. She'll run for a min on starter fluid, but when I check to see if there is gas in the bowls, there isn't...disconnect between the tank and carbs somewhere. I haven't had good luck with fuel pumps before...anyone have any suggestions, I'm all ears

I heard the fuel pump come on once for about 15 seconds, and nothing since...

[Dutchy]

Newton is your friend here, try gravity feeding....

[YoshiHNS]

You can easily test if the fuel pump is working. Just disconnect the fuel out line and turn the pump on. Not sure if you have to short the switch or if it starts up when you turn the key. It should give very clear instructions in the manual. Just make sure you have something to catch the fuel.

If fuel pumps, then check the filter. If filter is fine, then something might be blocking flow to the carbs.

[mcrwt644]

I got her running! I'm not really surprised, but happy. LOTS of time on her today, like 9 hours or so. The fuel pump I believe was working the whole time. I think that the PO had the in and out hoses swapped. Wires were cut. I re soldered them, put the cover back on, hooked her up, and she cranked and a few seconds later was running.

Exhaust leak on no 2, but I can't go any tighter on the bolts. I'm going to have to get an exhaust gasket. Calipers are absolutely stuck. I'll soak them for a day or so and see if I can't get the pistons will cooperate.

Tach wasn't working...Ants IN the cluster...LOTS of ants. they were not happy when I dissected the cluster and hundreds came out. A shot of wd and the tach works just fine.

The temp gauge works in REVERSE?? Something is amiss there and I have an 'open/orphaned' plug coming from the loom near the cluster that I can't find a mate for.

She still needs a laundry list of things. I have to stay within my budget though and right now that isn't much. I must get the mid pipe off, it's driving me nuts and that friggin PAIR system is in the way of everything. I have to get block off plates.

One other thing I found I haven't ever seen in 25 years of riding...the front sprocket is CRACKED in five places...so, all new sprockets and chain on the list too. I'll just do a typical 530 replacement.

I can probably start to clean up parts and put fairings back on in a few days. I'd show pics, but really, it looks like any other naked third gen

[YoshiHNS]

Sounds like a basket full of fun, but it runs.

[JZH]

Three pins? That "orphan" connector is probably for the optional digital clock (optional on US-spec bikes), so don't worry about it. Temp sensor wired backwards? Sounds like the bike has had a hard life, but you're getting it sorted.

Ciao,