Jetpilot5 Posted May 29, 2003 Share Posted May 29, 2003 DSC00525.JPG VFR 800 Shift Kit Install Factory Pro Transmission Detent Arm Kit For a 99 Honda VFR 800 This is the kit as you get it from Factory Pro. It doesn't look like much for $89.95 but it makes quite a difference. The O-ring is a Honda part and not included with the kit. It fits on the back of the water pump as you'll see later. Once you have the left side fairing removed, you can get to the area you'll need to work on. DSC00526.JPG The first part you need to remove is the shift lever. Notice the punch mark on the end of the shift shaft that shows when the lever is properly positioned. DSC00527.JPG By removing the right four bolts, you can get the sprocket cover, speedometer pickup and clutch slave cylinder off as one unit. Keep track of the where the bolts go, they are different lengths. DSC00528.JPG I wired the entire assembly out of my way. Now is a good time to clean this area also. You don't want any dirt getting into the shift mechanism as you disassemble it. DSC00529.JPG Now you can remove the drive chain guide plate. This picture shows the plate and the bolts that have been removed so far. Be careful not to lose the dowel pins that position the guide plate. DSC00530.JPG Loosen the bolt holding the front sprocket, then loosen the chain so you can drop it off the sprocket and remove the sprocket from the shaft. DSC00531.JPG Here's what you'll have after the sprocket is out of the way. Again, clean as you go. DSC00532.JPG Remove the water pump by removing the upper right and lower left bolts. The directions from Factory Pro tell you to drain the coolant but there is no need to do that. Leave the hoses hooked to the pump and remove the entire unit as an assembly. If you haven't drained the oil, have a drip pan under the bike. You will loose some oil when you pull the water pump. I also removed the bolt holding the kickstand switch so I could move the wire out of my way. DSC00533.JPG Remove the bolt and stopper plate located below the countershaft. DSC00534.JPG Remove the six bolts holding the gearshift linkage cover and remove the cover. Mine was stuck pretty well and required some work to free up. Resist the urge to reach behind the cover and pry. Again, oil is draining from behind the loose cover. If I had to do this again, I would drain the oil before I begin. I lost 42 ounces of oil total. Be sure to top the bike back up before starting the engine. DSC00535.jpg Here you can see the cover off the bike. Be careful not to lose the dowel pins that align the cover. Also, the gearshift spindle has a washer on the front and back side. The front washer came with the cover when I removed it. Don't lose it. DSC00536.jpg Here is the bike with the gearshift linkage cover removed. DSC00537.jpg Pull straight out on the gearshift spindle to remove it. Be careful not to lose the washer on the back side. Now you'll be able to see where the new detent arm and spring fit. DSC00538.jpg Remove the bolt holding the detent arm, the arm, the spring and the washer. Here is what the old and new parts look like side by side. DSC00540.jpg Here you can see the new detent arm installed. It's a bit of a pain to get everything lined up and get the bolt started because you are fighting the spring tension while installing it. Be careful to get everything properly lined up and make sure the bolt is started straight. You do not want it cross threaded. Don't forget to install the washer in the same position you found it during disassembly. DSC00541.jpg You can assemble in the reverse order. Be sure to clean the old gasket off the cover and install the new one that came with the kit. Be sure all the dowel pins that help position the cover are in place also. DSC00542.jpg Install a new O-ring on the back of the water pump before sliding it back into position. DSC00543.jpg Put the stopper plate and bolt back on. DSC00544.jpg Install the dowel pins, drive chain guide plate, sprocket and chain. Be sure to check your chain adjustment and tighten the bolt at the back of the swingarm. DSC00546.jpg Install the sprocket cover. Be sure the speedometer pickup fits over the front sprocket bolt. DSC00547.jpg Install the shift lever and the fairing, and you're finished. DSC00548.jpg The entire project took me the better part of a day. The bike shifts much better now, especially in the upper gears. It's not a flashy upgrade, but I think it's worth the money. WARNING - THIS GUIDE IS MEANT FOR REFERENCE USE ONLY. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU HAVE THE FACTORY HONDA SERVICE MANUAL BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS INSTALLATION. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN IT AS WELL AS FACTORY PRO'S INSTRUCTION SHEET. IF YOU SCREW SOMETHING UP, IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM. Thanks.[/color] 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted January 6, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted January 6, 2009 I noticed that the photos in the original message were all missing, so I searched for them in the Internet Archive and uploaded them to a gallery, here: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...&album=4372 HTH. Ciao, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 JZH, thanks for digging up those pics. You were even considerate enough to post them in order, with the original image tags intact. That enabled me to easily splice them into JetPilot5's original post for easier reading. Thanks again, here's virtual pint for you! :wheel: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SeattleChef Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Just put mine in. Works great. Thanks for the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onedowneaster Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Just put mine in. Works great. Thanks for the tip. Well, guess thats,that. If we do a group buy you can count me in on being in for a fifth gen kit. Thanks to all who gave their feedback and put in that little demo installation. I thought it was very well done! eddie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pjm204 Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Thanks for the writeup. I put the evo star and detent arm in my 6th gen today. Its like a new bike to me. I hated the way it shifted and now its great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trace Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 When Jetpilot did his write-up about 1000 years ago, there was no star wheel in the shift kit package--just the roller bearing-ized detent arm and stronger spring (which did help the shifting). I did the "whole package" installation in 2004, and I took this pic of all the parts. As you can see, the star wheel is considerably "new and improved". OEM parts are on the left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer kaldek Posted June 17, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted June 17, 2010 Hi folks, I'm about to fit the complete transmission Detent Star Kit to my '02 VFR and the Factory Pro instructions say to test the installation. They say "keep the clutch transmission shaft from turning and slowly turn the rear wheel. Shift through the gears to verify correct installation". What the hell is a "clutch transmission shaft"? Do they mean the output shaft? Why would I keep that from turning if I'm going through the gears? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trace Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 I just read my Factory Pro instructions (from 2004) and the Honda manual, and I think the mention of the "keeping the clutch transmission shaft from turning" is misleading and confusing (obviously!). Yes, I think the "shaft" is the output shaft, but the point of all this is that they want you to test the shifting action while providing some bit of rotation to the transmission guts by gently turning the rear wheel. In my 18 line instructions, they also don't mention that you have to temporarily reinstall the sprocket and chain so that turning the rear wheel will actually do something! As you know, it's sometimes very difficult or impossible to shift the tranny unless the engine is running or the wheel is turning. In either case it means the tranny guts are rotating a little bit, which allows the gear dogs, forks and the shifter drum to "move" as they're supposed to. Factory Pro DOESN'T want to you be testing the operation of the new shifter parts by forcing the shift lever and the detent star to move these internal tranny parts. Something might bend in the process! So...once you've installed the new parts, do a gentle test of the shifting action by turning the wheel. It won't turn much with the tranny going thru the gears. FYI, you'll need a proper allen driver to remove and reinstall (23 N/m torque) the detent star's allen bolt. An old-fashioned L-shaped allen key probably won't work because that bolt is somewhat recessed in the detent star and the short side of a key won't reach. And threadlocker is required on that bolt, but first you need to make sure the bolt hole is clean and dry. I used lots of cotton swabs dipped in lacquer thinner to do so. Anyway, don't worry about that "clutch shaft" stuff. Just test the installation like you would normally do before you button-up the job with the new gastket, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer kaldek Posted June 20, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted June 20, 2010 Job done. See my install guide (on a very dirty bike!) here for double reference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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