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1 hour ago, JZH said:

The Air Guide is actually a more common part than you might expect.  Not only will RedSlut's part fit your bike, but you already have one!  Bizarrely, Honda used the same VFR part on the CBR1000FP...

 

How do you people know this stuff? You guys are like mystics. Motorcycle mystics. Motorcycle mystics with clairvoyance. I don't mind sayin I'm getting a little spooked here. 😁

 

I'm not sure it would be all that convenient to transfer the CBRs air guide to the VFR every time I slogged back and forth across the ocean. But it's good to know I could! 🙂 I'll try to get a second one...

 

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Seat Cowl

 

Sorry everybody. I took a perfectly usable bright red seat cowl and turned it Krylon black. It didn’t take long and it didn’t even hurt much once I finished sanding. I am aware that there is somebody out there who could’ve used it just the way it was. Unfortunately, today that person wasn’t me. 

 

Here it is, or rather here it was...

 

IMG_2409.jpg.4c1723511871c06eea590ae6b0990543.jpg

 

 

And here it is again after maybe 2 minutes of wet sanding with 500 grit paper and a wipe with alcohol.

 

IMG_2410.jpg.62af51bb56125ba48c53386e70bf0f5f.jpg

 

 

It took more diligence to get that red covered up with krylon. It just didn't want to surrender. The rest of the bike, being blackish to begin with, covered up faster.

 

IMG_2418.JPG.a7606c9d061113fcaa7de7b5fafe78ce.JPG

 

 

Having done that, I now have the final piece of the first respray done. Just about three 12 ounce cans of paint. There is still polishing to do…one of these days. But knowing myself as I do, that day may be a ways off. The cowling will be my experimental piece for that next step.

 

And now that I have a matching dark grey seat cowl, I will almost never use it. Am I the only one who finds these things annoying? I keep hitting my butt on the bump pad. I mean, sure, it looks cool I guess, but is it making me a better rider? Is it supposed to train me to move my weight more smoothly? Am I having more fun? I don’t think so. Mostly it just bugs me. Plus it’s so fragile, I keep wondering when I’ll snap the tabs. We'll see.
 

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Progress Report

 

I took a couple pictures of the bike. It’s not anywhere near finished, but it’s better than it was...

 

IMG_0712a.thumb.jpg.0810d2ce42ce5826bb8917f4192d7892.jpg

Before...

 

IMG_4063a.thumb.jpg.4f750d52a1359c63a2dd33801b1c2693.jpg

...After

 

 

I'm giving myself a 6 out of 10 so far, on the Lorne scale. (where Lorne gets a 10) You cannot easily see flaws in the photograph, but they're there alright. Look closer. (I can point them out if any of you are all that interested) And what do I do next?

 

Well, I tried polishing and waxing the seat cowl. It didn't make much difference in the appearance. The next step will probably be to either try compounding or 0000 steel wool...and then polishing again. Let's see if that brings out the gloss. Not that I mind so much the metallic matte finish, but the job is just not finished finished. Besides that, I haven't tested the paint for resilience. Will it dissolve when exposed to a drop of gasoline? How about rain? I don't plan to put any decals on it yet. I don't even think they'd stick very well. I have a set of aftermarket decals already, the traditional blocky VFR style from the 90s. In silver/grey. I got them anticipating a black bike. Real black. I have to keep reminding myself that, yes, this is real black paint. 😒

 

But since it's just not black to anybody who isn't completely color blind, I'll probably send away for another set of non-traditional decals. I haven't decided on a color for those. I was leaning to neon to brighten things up, although well, black, yes again, real black, now comes to mind. No foolin. The paint scheme is similar to this understated Ducati, and it doesn't look so bad... Ooooo, I can get Ducati decals! That'll fool 'em. 😁

 

 

1556838565_ducwithblackdecal.thumb.jpg.7b638cd505ce75c84082986eb522838a.jpg

 

 

Here is another current picture. Of the VFR, not the Ducati. Yeesh. It's never gonna be done, is it? There will always be at least one more task to do on this bike... 

 

 

IMG_2358big.thumb.jpg.450ad4d1fe1c7a9c7ba93d691238d110.jpg

 

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2 hours ago, Gebruiker said:


😒oooo, I can get Ducati decals! That'll fool 'em. 

 

 

 

 

asterix44.jpg.08b39dbd9a0f4e3150e0bdfa3749f15e.jpg

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On 9/4/2019 at 12:50 PM, Dutchy said:

 

 

 

 

asterix44.jpg.08b39dbd9a0f4e3150e0bdfa3749f15e.jpg

 

Am I to interpret this as a minor disapproval of Ducati decals? 😛  I don’t suppose BMW decals would be better...  I’ll take it under advisement. 😉 

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On 9/5/2019 at 1:55 AM, Dutchy said:

BMW?

 

Okay, fine...VFR it is. I might consider other possibilities, but not until after I get your air guide. 😉 

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On 9/8/2019 at 10:21 AM, JZH said:

It's looking pretty good!

 

Well, it's better anyway. Nothing has fallen off or cracked this past week after several rides, but I'm sortof expecting stress cracks to appear where I've used zip ties and made fairing repairs. I'm keeping a close eye on things. I'll relax a bit as I get more miles on the repairs and once I scrounge the missing dzus bolts to replace my zip ties. No progress on polishing even the seat cowling. Expert friend tells me that I'll have to use his electric polisher to get a gloss but others have commented it all looks fine in the current matte-like metallic finish. That's about all the encouragement I need to do nothing extra 😉

 

For the moment, I'm just enjoying the ride. 😁

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Air Guide

 

I'm back. It's been a few months...

 

I was advised I was missing something called an Air Guide (see post 29 August, above) for under the headlight valence. Happily, one was up for grabs! In Holland! I picked it up and brought it back to the States. Security didn't even question me at the airport... I guess it doesn't look very dangerous.

 

IMG_3270.thumb.jpg.a8b47d86ca24d90a2bf30c1a4b44e0e8.jpg

 

I labeled it properly, as you can see, and I'll patch it so that it will be a proud new part of the bike. However it being Christmas time here, and cold in the garage, I don't anticipate installing it just yet. Thankyouverymuch Leon. Your cosmic energy will continue to travel around New England now.

 

Leon also gave me a second bit...unlabeled in the picture. Mmmmmm. It looks like another air guide but I'm not exactly sure how or where to to install that one. There's no part number on it. I'll think about it. It might fit inside the instrument panel.

 

Tool kit

 

I also finally found a tool kit cheap. Yay. The bag is in rough shape. The screwdriver handle is missing. The hex key is not original. Otherwise it's just fine. All I really really wanted was the chain adjusting tool. I've hardly ever used these kits except for the specialty tools. But they're always good to have along of course. Now that I have it, I'm hopeful I'll never need it at the side of the road. Knock on wood. 🙂

 

IMG_2289.jpg.1fb63cd7201ca7f643dc378685ee0285.jpg

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On 12/5/2019 at 9:50 AM, Dutchy said:

Numba 8

 

Ohhhhhhhh. There it is. Um, I might find a use for it, but this isn't quite the same design on the earlier bikes....

 

 

MjAyMjMyNQ-232ef457.png

 

 

 

Disconcertingly, my bike does have a gap under the shield there, above the meters. Just one more thing. An apparent misalignment from before my time...Or maybe I'm missing number 27. It doesn't seem to pose any problems, but that's the way it is. Number 8 might fill the gap... When I'm in there installing the air guide, I'll take another look.

 

 

IMG_2329a.png.9578584967e994fbd184f3f3a41d70b6.png

(Gap here... There doesn't seem to be a way to adjust that, so I'm thinking the support bracket might be squeezing the glare shield in a bit.)

 

In any event, I sure won't throw anything away. I can bring the bit back to you, or hang on to it for that time when somebody in here needs just that piece.  🙂

 

 

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If no fit, another 4th Gen owner Stateside may have a use for it.

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On 12/6/2019 at 10:16 AM, Dutchy said:

If no fit, another 4th Gen owner Stateside may have a use for it.

 

Check. I won't actually put it on the Classifieds page, this not being a high demand item. But I'll keep my eyes open for that desperate and hopeful gen4 owner in search of just this piece. 🙂

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Voltage update

 

It was warmish today here in Connecticut. Almost 50F (9C) so I looked at the bike. It hasn't been in use for over three months while I've been away, and I hadn't done anything special to prepare it for winter storage. Just filled the gas tank, added some stabilizer and plugged in the charger. Did it start? Of course it started. It's a Honda. But it did take a little more cranking than usual, and it didn't sound as smooth as I recall. Maybe my imagination.
 
I also checked the voltages while it ran. Here's one for you: they're improved. All by themselves. 13.76 at idle. 13.86 at 2000rpm and 14.7 at 5000. That's up from the 12.7-13.6 I was getting last summer. (See entries this thread, 5 February and 15 July this year)  Ya gotta love Honda. They'll even heal themselves if you just leave them alone 🙂 
 
I didn't go for a spin. Roads are messy with snow melt and ice too.
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Fake RAM Mount Update

 

I'd been playing with a fake RAM mount since last summer. (re: 23 July, 6 August). My homemade Erlenmeyer flask stopper stem mount wasn't great. Now I've found another odd bit that fits perfectly and so should do the job right. It's a leftover leg adjustment from a kitchen cabinet. One of these things:

 

 IMG_3367.JPG.6a100879e43eccd5f31736538f6c4d63.JPG

 

Since I stumbled onto this one in a junk drawer, I don't know exactly who sold it. I'm guessing Ikea. Of course, they come with your cabinets. But I'm thinking they must be generally available. Either that or I have a wonky cabinet somewhere...

 

It attaches to the ball mount with just a bolt.

 

IMG_3391.jpg.39312687c11f969946310ed5c08bcddc.jpg

 

 

 

And this is it on the bike with my voltage meter. It's high enough to be out of the way of the key. Low enough not to block the gauges. I think I can also spin it 180 degrees so it sits just above the tank. I forgot to check that clearance.

 

IMG_3375.jpg.39756ecddde033e1b00b4029d80232d9.jpg

 

 

IMG_3377.jpg

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Switch Pods

 

In another dangerous and weak moment I got something else from Ebay. A switch set. Less than $10, shipping included. From China. This is what they sent:

 

IMG_3423a.jpg.dec9bf3161f4edefdc41bf56aadc5c82.jpg

 

 

Back in the day, Honda apparently decided that the American VFR would have its own switch set. Maybe because the engineers decided Americans were too dumb to know how to turn on their own lights. So all our bikes run with lights on all the time. There’s no off switch. I never had a problem with that. I am not offended that I have no freedom of choice here. As a rider in Connecticut, I remain free not to wear my helmet if somebody from Honda still wants to call me dumb. 😛 

 

https://www.iihs.org/topics/motorcycles#helmet-laws

 

Anyway, those light switches are different in the USA than those for everybody else on the planet. In its wisdom, Honda also decided not to give us a passing switch. That’s the little spring trigger on the left switch pod that flashes the highbeams. This is a feature I like. I have it on the CBR and I’ve been missing it some on this bike. So it’s been in the back of my mind to snag a junk switch if I stumbled onto one in Holland. Up until now, I hadn’t. And then the Chinese put these on Ebay. Jeez Louise, $10 for both switch pods, left and right? How can you go wrong? Uh huh...

 

The set is of reasonable quality. Like in the picture. Definitely not OEM quality, but they feel solid enough. Switching itself feels um, robust? The wiring seems perfectly adequate. I have no plan to swap over both pods. I only wanted the flash-to-pass switch, so the starter/lights/kill switch pod will not be changed.

 

Since they are generic switch pods, I have to check the wiring. For once, I found the Haynes service manual better than my official Honda manual. Haynes gives both wiring diagrams, US and ROW, and in color. Lotsa wires.

 

IMG_3574.jpg.c19f3ea235102ceb92a7b603867b9886.jpg

 

 

IMG_3575.jpg.6267f2acdf1eadb76845ba07ff7c2423.jpg

 

For the new switch set, I also have 9 wires in a 9 pin spade connector. I think it’s 2.8 mm. I checked http://cycleterminal.com/ for comparison. I haven’t yet checked on the bike, so I don’t know what size plug-in I need. Is it 9 pin, 2.8mm? Boy, that’d be handy! If not, then I’ll have to find the proper connector someplace and plug the new generic wires into that. No way I’ll cannibalize my current OEM switch set, even if I didn’t have a plan to use it again. Neither service manual tells me what the connector specs are. 

 

Besides the 9 wires in the spade connector, my new switch pod came with an extra external yellow wire with a bullet terminal and twin black weatherproof double bullet connectors for…something.

 

IMG_3577.png.0a78b480615c328c8610951a487da072.png

 

 

 That gives me 12 wires total. Haynes shows 9 wires needed for ROW. I don’t see why the clutch switch would run through the pod. What would be the point? But I’ll check on that too. That’d bring me up to 11 wires. Ya know, all I want is the damn passing trigger. This is getting complicated. 

 

For the US spec wiring, Haynes shows 13 wires all together. So…more wires than ROW for fewer switches. Um, I only got 12 wires from China. Dang. Still with me?

 

I tried tracing out all the wires from the new Ebay switch. So far, I come up with this...

 

For the lights, it’s five wires: dark blue, white, black, yellow/white and yellow (bullet). The flash circuit is black and yellow/white.

And then there are all the others. Five wires for the turn signals and horn and maybe clutch switch: Orange, green, light blue, green/red and gray. 

Plus the two black weatherproof wires.

 

(As a random question: Why would the external bullet yellow wire be in there? No clue.)

 

As you can see above, according to Haynes, the US bike wires should be colored:
 
Highbeam: Dark blue, blue/white and white. (3 wires)
Horn: Green, green/white (2 wires)
Turn signal: Gray, light blue, orange, brown/white, light blue/white, orange/white. (6 wires)
And clutch: Black and black. (2 wires…maybe those external wires)

 

Bear in mind the Honda color code is probably not in any way associated with the Chinese one. Why make things easy?

 

Now wait. I’m not finished. If I go to the Haynes ROW wiring diagram, then I get this:

 

Highbeam: Blue/white, blue, white (3 wires)
Flash switch: Blue, white/green (2 wires)
Horn: Green, white/green (2 wires)
Turn signal: Gray, light blue, orange (3 wires)
Clutch: Green/orange, green/white* (2 wires)

(* not to be confused with the white/green wire of the flasher and horn)

 

If you’re counting, that adds up to 12 wires, but I said the ROW bike only has 9 or possibly 11. That’s because the blue and white/green wires seem to be sistered internally. 

 

That’s where I am so far. Of course, I haven’t actually done anything constructive. 

 

As I’ve yet to learn from any of my other experiences in here, or in life, things tend to turn out more complicated than I anticipate. I chalk this up to my eternal optimism. 🙂 But for now I will also continue to casually look for a junk $5 OEM ROW switch pod…with pass trigger.

 

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Phew that's a lot to swallow!

 

The Yellow Bullet wire (male) most likely plugs into the other Yellow wire on the other switch set (Female). This may well be the Headlight relay feed power which kills the headlights when you push the start button, so check if this wire goes to the HL position of the Dimmer Switch.

 

The Pass Switch is simply just a momentary make and applies 12v to the HI line, wouldn't be too hard to wire this in if you don't currently have that function.

 

I would be sitting down with an Ohm meter and the correct wiring diagram for your bike, then buzz out where each wire goes and record it on paper then tabulate that with the corresponding wire on your bike.

 

The two Black insulated spade connectors are your Clutch Switch leads, simply do an ohm meter check to find which coloured wires they are at the main connector.

 

Hope this helps! :blink:

Amazingly cheap deal on the switch sets. Good Luck.

Cheers. 

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On 1/10/2020 at 1:16 AM, Grum said:

The Yellow Bullet wire (male) most likely plugs into the other Yellow wire on the other switch set (Female). This may well be the Headlight relay feed power which kills the headlights when you push the start button, so check if this wire goes to the HL position of the Dimmer Switch.

 

The Pass Switch is simply just a momentary make and applies 12v to the HI line, wouldn't be too hard to wire this in if you don't currently have that function.

 

I would be sitting down with an Ohm meter and the correct wiring diagram for your bike, then buzz out where each wire goes and record it on paper then tabulate that with the corresponding wire on your bike.

 

The two Black insulated spade connectors are your Clutch Switch leads, simply do an ohm meter check to find which coloured wires they are at the main connector.

 

 

Grum,

 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I’d been thinking the two clutch wires were only outputs…not something that passed the signal from the clutch through the switch pod wires and on down the line. Your explanation makes perfect sense.

 

And the yellow bullet does have a mate on the other Ebay switch pod. There will have to be something on the OEM pod too if it is the headlamp interrupt during starting. That makes sense too. Yup. Thanks. 

 

As you suggest, I’ll have to slug through the whole thing with my ohm meter. I’d made a couple passes already but I’m not finding obvious connections. No worries. It would be nice if the Ebay switch pods came with schematics…

 

I’d also vaguely hoped I could just scavange the upper section of that one EBay pod for mating with the lower OEM pod. The generic upper half has the light switch and the pass switch. Remember the pass switch is all I wanted in the first place. And I’d also thought the pass switch could be completely internal at the pod. I can't think of a reason for that circuit to travel out of the pod if it only jumps the highbeam. Easy. But it looks to me like it might get wired separately in the entire circuit. I’ll puzzle over it a while. 🙂

 

IMG_3582.png.8b8493c5e638e4ab33cfc8ca9b32eb70.png

 

 IMG_3581.JPG.png.a5da0a5d79316f6a24292b8b45edfbf5.png

(If I could cut the top half of the pod free, I might be able to wire just that part to the bottom half of the OEM pod I have on the bike. I wonder if that would be the easiest thing to do.)


Meanwhile, the switch deal is gone from Ebay, but there may be others popping up. I’m relatively sure they’d fit pretty much every VFR model and year.

 

1155229803_Screenshot(59).thumb.png.16a8bdd3142bafd14df366bfa1f83d26.png

 

 

On more important matters, we here in the States are well aware of the catastrophic fires in your part of the world these days. There’s not a whole lot we can do right now except to send you positive vibes. But that much at least we’re doing. Keep your head down. 
 

 

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22 minutes ago, Gebruiker said:

 

Grum,

 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I’d been thinking the two clutch wires were only outputs…not something that passed the signal from the clutch through the switch pod wires and on down the line. Your explanation makes perfect sense.

 

And the yellow bullet does have a mate on the other Ebay switch pod. There will have to be something on the OEM pod too if it is the headlamp interrupt during starting. That makes sense too. Yup. Thanks. 

 

As you suggest, I’ll have to slug through the whole thing with my ohm meter. I’d made a couple passes already but I’m not finding obvious connections. No worries. It would be nice if the Ebay switch pods came with schematics…

 

I’d also vaguely hoped I could just scavange the upper section of that one EBay pod for mating with the lower OEM pod. The generic upper half has the light switch and the pass switch. Remember the pass switch is all I wanted in the first place. And I’d also thought the pass switch could be completely internal at the pod. I can't think of a reason for that circuit to travel out of the pod if it only jumps the highbeam. Easy. But it looks to me like it might get wired separately in the entire circuit. I’ll puzzle over it a while. 🙂

 

IMG_3582.png.8b8493c5e638e4ab33cfc8ca9b32eb70.png

 

 IMG_3581.JPG.png.a5da0a5d79316f6a24292b8b45edfbf5.png

 


Meanwhile, the switch deal is still on Ebay. Here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/223789555759  I’ll make an entry in the bargain finder section in case somebody else might like a set. I’m relatively sure they’d fit pretty much every VFR model and year.

 

1155229803_Screenshot(59).thumb.png.16a8bdd3142bafd14df366bfa1f83d26.png

 

 

On more important matters, we here in the States are well aware of the catastrophic fires in your part of the world these days. There’s not a whole lot we can do right now except to send you positive vibes. But that much at least we’re doing. Keep your head down. 
 

 

Thanks for your concern, yes some lovely towns I enjoyed riding to have been devastated. My area is safe but these fires are so huge and widespread. It's nice to know we also have the help of our friends from America and Canada fire fighters, and the amount of international aid is heartwarming.

Cheers.

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Switch Pod Update

 

Aw hell. I can't use the generic pod after all. I dug out the VFR from the back of the garage to have a look at the pod connector. But then I noticed the choke is integral to the Honda OEM pod. Bleah. Wish I'd realized that before springing the ten bucks. On the other hand, I also noticed that Honda made a pop out pass switch tab for us where the pass switch should go... 

 

IMG_3608.jpg.8301b65ee16d82e2b5d00f7d1b3992d3.jpg

 

So all is not necessarily lost.  It still might be possible to surgically remove the pass switch from my generic pod and transfer just that trigger to the oem pod. I know. Not very likely. But it might be worth a look inside. 

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On 1/12/2020 at 7:23 AM, Dutchy said:

"I tinker, therefor I am" :goofy:

-René Descartes

 

Descartes? Descartes? I don’t recall seeing that user name in here. Does he even ride a VFR?  😉 

 

 

Mirror Extenders

 

Not to be discouraged Leon, I’ve already moved on to another task. I’d been wanting mirror extenders. That’s easy. I have a proper set on the CBR. These:

 

IMG_2900.jpg.16f469ad8223ce8b5acec7612a179216.jpg

 

 

They're plastic. The kind of bits that would be suitable for 3D printing. They make them in aluminum too. Back in the day, here on VFRd, Anik and Lobster made some acrylic extenders. Anik put LEDs in his.

 

https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/forums/topic/65080-acrylic-mirror-extenders-with-leds/&tab=comments#comment-763734

 

https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/gallery/album/3565-mirror-extenders/

 

The cheapest I’ve seen any for sale is about $30. You’d think Honda would’ve cottoned on to the market for these things. Maybe even made their mirror stalks an inch longer? Anyway, after reading Lobster and Anik, and having recently most likely thrown away $10 on my switch pod set, I was inspired to make my own extenders.

 

I didn’t have any acrylic laying around, but I found a scrap of meranti wood. That might work. I already have a saw and a sander and a drill, and a pencil… so I traced a template...

 

IMG_3565.jpg.d3b653f5ded75cb2fee144b8b6ab743d.jpg

 

The meranti was about 0.75 in. wide. I glued two bits together for 1.5 inch (3.8cm) extensions.

 

IMG_3583.jpg.cd3314169b58d2536cfe9d13af7762ce.jpg

(Rough cut and glued)

 

IMG_3604.JPG.3da048b7d49c77d9043b46fdd9922127.JPG

(I bolted them together just for the sanding process, so they'd come out about the same size and shape)

 

A lick of black paint. This is them drying in my dedicated paint booth…

 

IMG_3609.jpg.bc17d4f52761d1d5783fd4060313e460.jpg

 

A better finish might be plastidip…of which I have none sitting around…or maybe a section of bicycle inner tube, stretched around the edges?

 

My extenders, being wood, may not have an indefinite life span. I don’t much ride in the rain or snow if I can help it, or even leave the bike for long stretches parked in the sun, so they should weather okay for a while, assuming they do the job in the first place. I can’t think of any reason they shouldn’t work. Splinter hazard? Termites?

 

I'll have to pick up some long bolts at the hardware store. Stay tuned.

 

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Mirror extenders, part 2

 

Well, they work I guess. But they don’t blend in all that well. I’m thinking the proper extenders may be slightly concave on the sides for better fit. The windscreen mount itself is not molded flat. I’ll think some more.

 

IMG_3625.JPG.883ea76f0d2bc1b397c31052a171aaf4.JPG

 

 

 

Hugger

 

I’ve been thinking an inner mudguard might be a good idea for the back wheel too, to keep the swing arm and shock a little cleaner from road grime.

 

There are enough different raw materials I might use to make one up. A piece of rubber car mat or stair tread would probably do. But maybe also flexible plastic material of a certain grade…a bit of old trash bin or storage box. The four-year-old next door keeps leaving her sled out in the yard and I’ve got my eye on that too. I could cut a hugger shaped chunk out of it when nobody’s lookin. That’d teach the little monster to leave her stuff layin around. 😛 I’d do it too, but the sled is pink. A pink hugger? Stupid kid.

 

 

 

1990703561_pinksled.jpg.e6b8c6dc077c4f24a2818dce86df3253.jpg

 

 

A better idea might be an old section of motocross fender. The right sample could have the proper profile shape to begin with and even the right diameter curve. It would be tough and flexible too.

 

I’ve looked at the back wheel of my bike. There is no obvious way to bolt any sort of mudguard in there. If I were just to use a rubber flap, then I could drill a couple screws into the forward part of the inner fender and let it hang down. That would be functional but not very elegant. I’m not coming up with anything else just yet. The single sided swing arm isn’t a great design for random attachment points.

 

Most production designs appear to incorporate the chain guard in a hugger, probably necessary for mounting purposes. That seems a good idea and they look terrific. Reviews are usually less than terrific. Lots of folks have issues with their aftermarket huggers. Not just VFR folks. They don’t fit easily; reinforcement brackets are required; the material is too thin. I’ve found just one current source for ready made gen3 hugger. Nicecycle. I think they’re Powerbronze huggers.

 

https://www.nicecycle.com/Honda-Rear-Tire-Hugger-p/pb606.htm

 

I can’t even find a decent photograph of any hugger on a gen3 vfr. You can just barely spot one here on this white bike. I don’t have the source link:

 

IMG_3546.jpg.e21c1e5deb621b27d81aa6f7c06fc196.jpg

(Ed. These bikes belonged to VIFFER93 circa May 2013)

 

Puig has a few non-VFR huggers on Amazon for just $25...

 

 

1650474498_puig4409Jvstrom.jpg.705ca28f9b3c24a7c4cd0a8fbed80011.jpg

 

 

puig1436c.jpg.9f062f89e254f5e9295bedaaf5474bbb.jpg

 

That seems a fair price for a gob of plastic designed for a bike I don’t own. I couldn’t predict if one of these would be in any way adaptable. In spite of my less-than-stellar track record for these kinds of money saving projects, I’m tempted to get one to play with. 

 

Another possibility would be to pick up a junk gen3 chain guard and then try to attach some kind of inner fender through some reinforcement and mods. Given the likelihood of making a mess, I wouldn’t want to start hacking away at my stock chain guard. I'll keep it all in the back of my head.

 

What was it again, the thing Descartes says? 🙂 

 

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I used to have a black plastic hugger made by Pyramid Plastics on my '93 FP, but I don't know what happened to it.

It's tricky to mount a hugger on a SSSA, but it is certainly possible.  I've got a Harris one on my RC46 in California and a Durbahn one on my RC36 in London.  The latter is actually an RC30 hugger, because it's mounted on an RC30 swing arm.  The mounting holes would probably be different on an RC36 swing arm (and it was very expensive!)

 

20161124_202833x.thumb.jpg.c82f9f7c95040d667d52b3605dec2e71.jpg

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

 

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