LLifesaver Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I wanted to say hello to the VFRD members, and introduce myself. I just joined this forum again today. I was a member several years back (from 2003 to 2007), but have not been around for quite some time. I have a 2002 VTEC VFR that I purchased new back in early 2002. This was my first motorcycle. I ordered my VFR while I was still in the military, and picked it up once I was discharged. I parked my car soon after recieving my VFR, and only rode the bike everywhere I needed to go from 2002 thru 2007. Since 2007 however, I have only ridden the VFR a handful of times. I have probably put maybe 200 total miles on my bike since that time. I have seriously neglected my VFR over the last several years. Throughout the majority of its life, my bike has always been kept outside. Everything is looking rather weathered at this point! The red color has taken on a nice pink/white hue, rust has shown up in several places, all of the mechanisms & switches are sticky (took alot of coaxing to simply get the key to turn in the gas cap in order to get that to open up), etc... I apologize in advance for treating such an awesome bike in this way, and I am working on making things right. Fast forward to today... This is what I have done so far: 1. Installed new battery. 2. Changed oil & filter. 3. Cleaned & oiled air filter. 4. Flushed & replaced coolant. Had to repair a leak on the left side of bike too. 5. Installed new chain & sprockets. 6. Cleaned & lubed all linkages, mechanisms, and switches. 7. Cleaned all electrical connections & took a multimeter to the system. Everything looks good! Battery: off load = 12.67 low load = 12.22 high load = 10.56 R/R: at idle = 14.28 at 5000rpm's = 14.22 Stator: (3 yellow wires) = 0.1 Ohms all combinations, infinite to earth. At the moment, thats about how things have progressed since last week. I will also be changing out the clutch & brake fluids, replacing the fork fluid, re-covering the seat, new grips, and applying fresh new paint. Also, sand out the rust, and apply paint to the frame areas & such... I have all of the panels & fairings off right now, and have begun the process of painting. I have to finish up some sanding on the rest of the plastics, but I have gotten done with the left side cowl. It has been painted a nice gloss black. It's a rattle can paint job, but so far it is turning out really well! Maybe some day down the line, I will end up purchasing the RWB scheme to put on my bike. For now, I just want to try my hand at a solid black look by painting the original pieces. Thats it for now. I plan on taking some pictures of the before & after while I finish up my little restoration. I will start a seperate thread to show it off. Bike is running great by the way too! My previous user name was Lifesaver (one L ... I couldn't figure out how to log in with my old account/username, as its been soo long. So, I made a new account as LLifesaver with two L's). I made a how-to thread in the mechanical section of this forum back then, on how to perform a VTEC valve adjustment. I just checked & its still there. Some of the pictures have gone missing, but it was nice to see it still up on this site. Thanks & Hello again everybody!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Duc2V4 Posted March 10, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 10, 2015 First off, thank you for your service! Secondly, Welcome Back! I know sometimes life gets in the way of things like riding and sometimes we lose interest in stuff, unfortunate that this time it was your VFR, but kudos for getting her back in shape. Pictures of course would be welcomed, even if they are of a rolling chassis, we're simple like that! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted March 10, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 10, 2015 WELCOME and glad your back .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marriedman Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Glad to have you back! Post up some pictures of the poor gal. That will give you some incentive to make her purty again. Plus you will be able to see how much of a change your efforts have wrought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MaxSwell Posted March 10, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 10, 2015 Welcome back and glad to hear another viffer will be back in business. Just in time for Tmac??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLifesaver Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Snapped a couple of pictures. Just trying to figure out how to put them in a message? A couple of different angles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Oh yeah, she needs a little help. Good luck, keep posting pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marriedman Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Oh yeah, you have your work cut out for you. Keep on working though, it will be worth it in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted March 11, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 11, 2015 almost FUBAR...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLifesaver Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 As bad as things look.. There is one MAJOR (I think), positive thing to mention about how I had my bike stored. Over the past seven to eight years, I always made sure to start my VFR up every once in a while. The most I probably let it go between being started up, & run down the road a couple of miles was maybe three to four months. I also changed the oil every year or so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rush2112 Posted March 11, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 11, 2015 Welcome back and keep on giving your bike TLC... it'll come back to you and pay you back 10x over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MaxSwell Posted March 11, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 11, 2015 Have you considered going over your fairings with Original Bike Spirits Spray Cleaner and Polish? That stuff is amazing IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLifesaver Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Have you considered going over your fairings with Original Bike Spirits Spray Cleaner and Polish? That stuff is amazing IMHO. I was thinking about giving some of that stuff a try? Fix things right up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLifesaver Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 I am really excited to move forward with this project! I have been working out of town over the past five days, but will be returning Home tomorrow. All of the plastics are completely prepped & ready for paint. I plan on geting all of the body painted up before tomorrow ends. Some cleaning of the rest of the bike too.. I think I will just replace the seat with the sargeant? Maybe corbin? Sargeant is still considere the better option in most peoples eyes, right? I also think new levers are in my bikes future? Any good options to reccomend? Last I recall, the pazzo levers were considered to be very good quality. Are there any other options reasonably priced that are just about as good as those levers. Also, going to remove the chain guard & fit up a hugger. Although, I am still undecided about the carbon look hugger-vs- black one? Has anyone seen the carbon look hugger in person? Planning to take some pictures & start my official restoration thread for this project tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer adeyren Posted March 16, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 16, 2015 Chinese levers are fine. Bought a set last year, no problems and well made. If they last two years and fall apart, so what. Only £16 my side of the water. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NTB-Gray-brake-clutch-levers-for-Honda-VFR800-1998-2001-/361008724914?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item540dcbfbb2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLifesaver Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 Those look good, and I'm sure they would work well. Thanks. I'll have a look around online tomorrow to see whats available. I know the pazzo's were/are pretty expensive if I remember correctly? I imagine there may be more than one company that makes a hugger for this bike? If so, does anyone have a recommendation as to which brand is the better option? I also apologize about questions I have, and will have... I promise that I will use the search function & google, but I also just want to interact here, and get opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 You could buy a Sargent, I LOVE mine, or you could send them your stock seat and have them refoam and recover it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted March 17, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 17, 2015 Merged an aluminium chain guard with a CF hugger (which I had buggered up) bought the "VFR" guard 2nd hand so no idea where it really came from.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted March 17, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted March 17, 2015 She will live again! Welcome back and good luck with the rest of the rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLifesaver Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Hey Dutchy, I remember when you did that! I like the carbon look for a hugger. I also think that it will look even greater when on a black bike!! Going to have a look at some pictures of the black -vs- carbon hugger and how they look on the bike. Just hoping to find them? Would be cool if I could find a picture of a black bike with one of those huggers on it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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