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Man, you guys are kind. Offers of forks and decals. I shoulda signed up for VFRd months ago. 🙂

 

I'd be happy as a clam to get this bike looking half as good as the ones pictured. White wheels and updated decals work great. For the time being anyway, my goals are way more modest.

 

On 9/13/2018 at 6:00 PM, Lorne said:

Honda made a different graphic for each body colour, also the pattern changed during 1990-1993 model run. These oe decals have 5 colours, black, gold, red, white, blue, and clear. Not too easy to duplicate I think. The backing paper has notches and holes to help line it up correctly on the side panel, and it says Scotchcal 3M Film. The p/n are: Left:   64480-MT4-300ZC Right: 64440-MT4-300ZC

 

Now I'm completely confused. What color decals went with which bikes? So far as I know, only three overall color schemes were available. Red (90,91), white (93) and black-ish (92). I don't think my original decals are really white white, more like grayish dots. (see my tank picture above). Anyway, that gray dot color was the one I was trying to match with my aftermarket decal kit. I'll have to see once it's on the bike. 

 

And I don't understand how the oem backing paper had alignment notches(?) So far as I know about decaling, which is not much, you make a very small score in the body work for an alignment mark, apply lots of soapy water, then sortof schmooze the decal in place, with a squeegie and a towel. Then let it dry.
 

On 9/13/2018 at 6:00 PM, Lorne said:

Fwiw, the Honda decals on the tank are clear-coated and so much more durable, but impossible to remove.

 

If I'm not gonna get the tank decal off without completely refurbishing the tank, then that's the end of that story. I could try the larger HONDA decals that I got with the decal kit on top of the originals. They're the same size. Would it be possible to place one decal on top another? Mmmmmm naah. Sounds dodgy. Just wondering. Probably wouldn't stick.

 

Sorry, I'm asking lots of questions. I'm not trying to be a pain. Any further explanations are welcome. 🙂 

 

 

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On 9/13/2018 at 7:22 PM, JZH said:

 

I was joking about repainting the bike... :wink:

 

The silicone grease doesn't conduct electricity.  The idea is that its application inhibits the corrosion of the contacts, which are thus able to maintain the clean mechanical connection they were designed to have.  I have some Ox-Gard in the garage, but I haven't really used it in anger at this point.

 

I powder coated my FL's fork tubes black before I shipped that bike to Europe (the first time!), I still have them and they're still black.  You're welcome to them, but I can't guarantee they don't have any nicks or chips, as I really haven't looked at them in years.  I'm headed to California for my postponed summer holiday at the end of next month...

 

Don't make jokes. I'm very gullible. 😉

 

...besides, I'd go with red paint if that was the easiest way out. I'm pretty sure it is not. A local Connecticut friend who has general painting experience (cars and boats, not bikes), tells me black paint is always tough to get right. So he recommends I try a different color. Red is different. I have that silver/gray in my head, mentioned in an earlier post because I thought it would be an easier conversion from black. I know, it's boring, but maybe the police won't much notice me that way.

 

If you're off to your supply shop John, I have a whole list of bits I'd like. Hell, I'd probably be living at your garage if I was within 1000 miles of it. However, I'll try to salvage my fork sliders for now. I don't think they are that bad. I mean, I don't think they're terminal. Thanks for the generous offer. Um, but please don't throw your forks out yet...just in case.

 

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12 hours ago, LID said:

Now you've got me wondering about this. Do you know of a source for the color match schemes? What color decals went with which bikes? So far as I know, the paint colors were only three. Red, white and near black, depending on year. But maybe that's only American market bikes. Also, I'm thinking you must be calling your oem decal color white...but I don't think it's really white white, mine is grayish white.

 

Compare the VFR decals in these three pics. The first is from a UK-model black 1990 VFR750. Note how the decals differ: black for black VFRs is red for red VFRs and white for white VFRs. So these decals would look all wrong if not applied to the matching coloured body.

 

1992_VFR750_black.thumb.jpg.207abd4c08ddc4d3798d5875a480c023.jpg

 

1991_VFR750_red.thumb.jpg.443b4844212320c5a5eaf836eae5bc0c.jpg

 

1993_VFR750_white.thumb.jpg.78a93430dfc8b8a42dc9926258a3b67c.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Oh, sorry Lorne, of course. The one picture of your decal explains it all. I'd been thinking of all the decals as monochromatic, like the aftermarket ones I picked up. I'm an idiot. Your decal also shows the notches for alignment around the bolt holes. I could print out a template right from that photograph to use to align the decals I have.

 

I'll certainly keep in mind you have an extra set available, thanks. I'm thinking I'll try my unofficial ones first. They were easy to come by, so if I mess it up I can easily replace them, and I'm really just not sure my bike is ever going to be restored to the point where it merits original decals. But anyway, that part of my project isn't going to happen until next winter I think. While the weather is good, I'm having fun on an ugly bike.

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Moving along, I got the Ox-gard. You see. I do pay attention.

 

IMG_3077.jpg.5c047a8bc53bf2340efaab4e55451171.jpg

 

It turns out it's not exactly the same stuff as dielectric grease, so yet one more point of confusion. Great. I'd been using an old tube of the stuff on the left. Isn't bulb grease just another name for dielectric grease? It says so on the label. Is ox-gard? Not so sure. That label says it's good for aluminum. Most of my connections are copper. But as of now, I'll use them interchangeably.

 

 

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And for something completely different, I took this off Amazon. It made me laugh. I spotted it when searching for my aftermarket mirrors. I don't have the link. Not really on point other than a set of mirrors I did not buy at Amazon. And sortof motorcycle related. Keep in mind the guy was ordering a set of mirrors for his VFR...

 

 IMG_3041.thumb.PNG.9519739f3c5705d2d3307ccd735a30ab.PNG

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if you research further youll find that most opinions have the dielectric as an insulator while oxgard is a conductor, to add confusion consider this.. which is more christian, catholic or protestant? i choose to believe oxgard is the least wrong choice.....

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Airwalk wrote:

if you research further youll find that most opinions have the dielectric as an insulator while oxgard is a conductor, to add confusion consider this.. which is more christian, catholic or protestant? i choose to believe oxgard is the least wrong choice.....

 

Really? That's what you got for me now? Religion? After I just spent 3 bucks at your church? Maybe I'll go ahead and mix the s/g with the ox-gard and they'll cancel each other out. 🙂

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14 hours ago, airwalk said:

if you research further youll find that most opinions have the dielectric as an insulator while oxgard is a conductor, to add confusion consider this.. which is more christian, catholic or protestant? i choose to believe oxgard is the least wrong choice.....

 

+1 for Oxgard - I've been using it for a long time now on all my connectors, copper, aluminum or otherwise.  It's worked great.  Regardless of the type of metal is says it's for, it is a conductive paste while silicone is an insulator.  Both have their uses on connectors - I generally use silicone on the plastic body of connectors exposed to the elements to seal out moisture or on spark plug boots - on the Viffer everything has gotten a treatment with Oxgard and has kept things happy for the past 30,000 miles. 

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Yoshimura

 

OK, I'm going to skip along from the whole potentially burgeoning s/g ox-gard can of worms. For now, I'll just compromise and follow Cogswell's reasonable policy. That's sure to make nobody happy, except maybe Cogswell. Everybody else can take some comfort from knowing I now have both products on the workbench.

 

IMG_3091.JPG.911d935b7c02fe92b54a7c01afed8de3.JPG

 

So, I also have this aftermarket exhaust, as neglected cosmetically as everything else. In accordance with my basic approach to keeping things simple, I'm not planning on making any changes to it. If the bike had come with the stock exhaust then that would have been fine too. I did notice the thing is a little loud. Unlike lots of riders, I prefer a quiet ride. So I did some digging to find that, sure enough, these suckers should be repacked from time to time. I checked at the Yoshimura website to discover right off the bat that they offer lifetime support for their products. Hey, that's my kind of support! So I emailed them to find out how quickly they could send me a brand new exhaust from California for free. Yeah, well, Thomas Lee from Yoshimura responded politely with the bad news that this particular product predated any free replacement policy. Rats. He did however suggest I could buy a repack kit for about $50. Uh huh, you know, the bike isn't all that loud...

 

Since then I've also discovered that you can use ceramic blanket as packing. This is a generic fix, probably not endorsed by any manufacturer. It sure looks like the right stuff to me. You can get it at places selling pottery supplies. Anything that is approved for "nuclear insulation applications"  (http://www.ceramaterials.com/ceramicfiberblanket.html) is probably good enough for my muffler. Of course, you have to choose from a variety of blankets and how much can you need? A few scraps? And if I jammed some under the seat, I wonder if it'd work to keep my leg from burning...

 

Just one more thing to consider.

 

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Jack stands

 

Since Lorne has been good enough to make a few helpful suggestions, I glanced at a couple of his general contributions and found a few pictures from his version of the bike I'm aiming at. One of those pictures has the bike on a bottle jack. Here's his picture from his gallery:

 

LBB4462ed

 

This is good. I've been playing with ways of getting the bike off the ground with a floor jack. But I'd also been dubious of supporting much weight on the exhaust system. It couldn't have been actually designed to support all that weight. And unfortunately, I don't have a center stand to supplement a jack in the first place. I'd thought to shove a 1" pipe through either the rear axle or the transverse hole just behind the gas tank, then somehow lift the thing on jack stands. Maybe run a sling up to a rafter and suspend the bike from above? Anybody ever try that?

 

Of course I can use a lift table, ABBA or pit lift. They're just not in the cards. 

 

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Certainly, when the bike is on the main stand or a swing arm pivot stand (like an ABBA), only a small percentage of the weight is on the downpipes.  This is why it works (I do it all the time) and doesn't result in crushed downpipes...

 

If you use jackstands, more of the weight would be on the downpipes, but I think it would still be okay.  (Besides, it's not my downpipes potentially getting flattened!)

 

Your Yosh looks rebuildable, but in my experience with another brand, end cans can be stubborn to get apart.  I once bought a Two Brothers repack kit, and all it was was some fiberglass matting and a handful of pop rivets--nothing you cannot find in your local DIY store for much less than $50.

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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12 hours ago, LID said:

One of the pictures has the bike on a bottle jack. 

 

Yeah, I still feel sheepish for propping the VFR that way - not very secure. Otoh, without forks & wheel the jack isn't supporting very much weight. 

 

Also, I forgot to say that while the 3G all used the same passenger grab bars some were bare aluminum and some, like those in the ad for the white '93, were painted black.

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On 9/16/2018 at 8:04 PM, JZH said:

Certainly, when the bike is on the main stand or a swing arm pivot stand (like an ABBA), only a small percentage of the weight is on the downpipes.  This is why it works (I do it all the time) and doesn't result in crushed downpipes...

 

If you use jackstands, more of the weight would be on the downpipes, but I think it would still be okay.  (Besides, it's not my downpipes potentially getting flattened!)

 

On 9/17/2018 at 4:32 AM, Lorne said:

Yeah, I still feel sheepish for propping the VFR that way - not very secure. Otoh, without forks & wheel the jack isn't supporting very much weight. 

 

I don't have a center stand either, or I'd be doing exactly what you both suggest. For security I might also run a webbing strap from the bike's frame up to a cross beam to stabilize the load some. Without the center stand, I'm stuck using a beam to pretty much support the entire weight of the bike. In the past, I might have assumed that was not a problem. After all, the beam holds up the roof of the garage, doesn't it? Well, I'm not so sure. 

 

Here's the garage. Not exactly a dedicated shop space...

 

IMG_3134.JPG.e080e4498c497389106d674ce0240898.JPG

 

That cross beam is only sistered to the walls with some nails. It isn't really supporting anything but the garage door. Just the same I don't think a conversation with the homeowners insurance guy would go well if the everything came crashing down. And let's not even think what could happen to the VFR.

 

I'll figure something out.

 

 

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On 9/16/2018 at 2:04 PM, JZH said:

Your Yosh looks rebuildable, but in my experience with another brand, end cans can be stubborn to get apart.  I once bought a Two Brothers repack kit, and all it was was some fiberglass matting and a handful of pop rivets--nothing you cannot find in your local DIY store for much less than $50.

 

The ceramic blanket stuff costs as little as $9 for 2 ft square. That would be more than enough, don't you think? I've watched a few youtubes on repacking. Yeah, not pretty. But getting the thing apart doesn't seem to be the hard part John. Getting the thing back together with all that new fluffy packing, now that looks hard. I wouldn't have to deal with rivets at least. Mine is screwed together. I'll load Decibel X on my phone one of these days to measure the noise. Then I'll have a number to help me decide how loud is too loud.

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On 9/17/2018 at 4:32 AM, Lorne said:

Also, I forgot to say that while the 3G all used the same passenger grab bars some were bare aluminum and some, like those in the ad for the white '93, were painted black.

I'll be stripping that black rubbery paint off one of these days. I prefer the look you had on the polished aluminum bars.

 

This guy has a clean French version of our bikes, circa 2015. I like the high line exhaust. There's nuthin to watch on the video except the bike at idle for 3 minutes, but if you skip to 50 seconds in, you can see he has some clear blinker lenses too. Nice. I only included this as another beautiful example of what could be achieved.

 

 

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Replacement Levers
 
There are lots of little tasks that need doing. The levers needed changing so that happened today. I thought it would take me under an hour but in the end it took almost two hours in total. Yeah, you already know I'm not much of a mechanic.
 
Remember the old levers were pretty badly scarred, so I'd found some replacements online. Nothing special, but at least not scarred. The finish of the new ones wasn't great so I polished them a bit with steel wool then metal polish. I'm not sure that made any improvement. As you can see, there's not a boatload of difference between old and new, I mean new and old...
IMG_3138.jpg.fc2bd3e95f2d61cc35cb6891c8a6db62.jpg
 
Note the scarring on the ball end of the old clutch lever on the right. Presumably left over from road contact somewhere in the distant past...the brake lever was the same. Equal opportunity sliding. Ouch.
 
I did manage to clean out a bunch of black grease, especially from the clutch. Moly grease? It looked messy so I replaced it with Vaseline and lithium grease. If you guys think that was a bad idea, let me know and I'll dig into them again. I also have my d/g and ox-gard! 🙂
 
The levers were packaged together but only the brake lever was complete. It required only mounting. The clutch (above) needed the adjustable bits already on the motorcycle. I'm guessing it's because these were generic levers and different bikes have different clutch assembly designs. Anyway, I had to clean those old bits up and swap them over. It wasn't a big problem.
 
Old brake...
IMG_3140.jpg.b330ce3b8f89882e6f8d1e2ab749b925.jpg
 
New brake...
IMG_3142.jpg.883e93f8747f8ea8617986429dec02ab.jpg.b68dd3da955fe28c18fbd477f45ace24.jpg
 
New clutch...
IMG_3143.jpg.cbdb551ad03e5b00d679743d7d9a5a88.jpg.f626898b879367fcc671fa1420990187.jpg
 
So, do they look better? Not much. I guess in a very minor way. However, I happily subscribe to the organic school of motorcycle maintenance. It is my belief that any attention and improvement to a complex machine will benefit the entire machine. There's religion for you Airwalk. 🙂 I'm sure the bike will now run smoother, stronger and happier than before.
 
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Headlights
 
I picked up this headlight at a charity shop. I'd wanted a brighter headlight than I have now and am hoping this is noticeably better:
 
IMG_3144.thumb.jpg.26facd9a82f6467946b9ac3263f77c0f.jpg
 
I picked up this one too for a few euros, at a discount shop. This, after I was explicitly told not to buy it:
 
IMG_3145.thumb.jpg.76c26b30e69b9bc9451415e42477279d.jpg
 
Grundig used to make electronics of decent quality, but they sold out a while back. So the products bearing that brand name may be pretty bad these days. I might plug it in anyway. It may not last long but presumably it won't actually cause damage.
 
As you can surmise, I don't always follow reasonable advice. 😛
 
I haven't installed either lamp. It's supposed to be a five minute job. I don't know what's in the bike now. I'm guessing the usual 45w Honda lamp. The new ones are both 60/55w. I don't think the additional load will have any effect on the electrics of the bike, dodgy as they might be. I expect I'll have to snap off a couple tabs to make either of the new lamps fit.
 
It's not clear to me how the lights operate on the bike. Each of these new lights has two separate filaments. Regular and high beam. That means both can operate all the time, like in a car. But is that how the VFR is wired? Or is one lamp for regular conditions and the second just for brights? Or both for brights? Anybody know?
 
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8 hours ago, LID said:

you can see he has some clear blinker lenses

 

In NorthAm, 3rd gen VFRs had their rear signals on stalks mounted to the mudguard. Uk and Euro models had them integrated either side of the brake light, with amber lenses. I swapped to amber lenses on my '92. Don't know if they are still available, and they also required a different socket than the standard.

 

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1 hour ago, LID said:
It's not clear to me how the lights operate on the bike. Each of these new lights has two separate filaments. Regular and high beam, presumably. That means both can operate all the time, like in a car. But is that how the VFR is wired? Or is one lamp for regular conditions and the second just for brights? Or both for brights? Anybody know?

 

If you "rock" the high beam switch, you can get both beams on at the same time (so, they are normally separate), but that's probably more than the wiring is expecting (135w per bulb in case of a normal H4, 90w for an OEM Honda H4)...

 

Ciao,

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On 9/18/2018 at 5:15 PM, Lorne said:

In NorthAm, 3rd gen VFRs had their rear signals on stalks mounted to the mudguard. Uk and Euro models had them integrated either side of the brake light, with amber lenses. I swapped to amber lenses on my '92. Don't know if they are still available, and they also required a different socket than the standard.

 

The amber lenses come up for sale used, online.  So far as I know, it's the same part for later 3rd generation models, but I'm not positive. Like you, I prefer those to red, which is what I have now. And I guess pretty much everybody back in the day thought it was a good idea to remove the original blinkers and chop the rear fender. Mine seems to have been done with a hacksaw. One more thing on the list to tidy up. 

 

But those clear lenses seem to make the whole bike look up to date. And they are available new...for a price. Front blinkers too. And tail light. I'll keep an eye on that possibility.

 

 

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On 9/18/2018 at 5:59 PM, JZH said:

If you "rock" the high beam switch, you can get both beams on at the same time (so, they are normally separate), but that's probably more than the wiring is expecting (135w per bulb in case of a normal H4, 90w for an OEM Honda H4)...

 

135 watts sounds like a lot more watts (50% more?) for a system that is not very tolerant in the first place. I think I would avoid that. But my high beam seems good enough now anyway. It's the normal low beam that's weak. If one of the bulbs was a dedicated low beam, and the other a dedicated high beam, then I'd just swap out the low beam for the slightly higher wattage bulb. (ie, 55w instead of 45?) As you can tell, I'm still not sure what's goin on in there. One of these days I'll try a few experiments in the garage.

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4 hours ago, LID said:

The amber lenses come up for sale used, online.  So far as I know, it's the same part for later 3rd generation models, but I'm not positive. Like you, I prefer those to red, which is what I have now. And I guess pretty much everybody back in the day thought it was a good idea to remove the original blinkers and chop the rear fender. Mine seems to have been done with a hacksaw. One more thing on the list to tidy up. 

 

But those clear lenses seem to make the whole bike look up to date. And they are available new...for a price. Front blinkers too. And tail light. I'll keep an eye on that. https://www.ebay.com/i/352416222500?chn=ps

 

The rear turn signal lenses were the same for all RC36 everywhere except the USA (maybe Canada?), so all amber rear lenses fit  both 3rd gen and 4th gen.  Front lenses were not the same, but all were amber anyway.  If you want clear rear turn signal lenses, you kind of have to get the clear tail light as well or it will look a bit strange...

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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On 9/19/2018 at 6:52 PM, JZH said:

If you want clear rear turn signal lenses, you kind of have to get the clear tail light as well or it will look a bit strange...

 

...They'll look a bit strange if they're the most expensive part of the bike too. Those, and that red cowling 😛 . I do want clear turn signal lenses. I want a lot of things. They'll have to wait a while. I'm not sure I agree with you that clear signal lenses look odd with a red tail light. The french bike, link above, has that combination.

 

Meanwhile, I've been looking at different rattle can options to try for all the plastics. Lots of options. Lots and lots. A basic choice has popped up between lacquers and enamels. It doesn't look like they can be mixed. I think the lacquers might be newer tech for rattle cans. I'm not sure they are true old fashioned lacquers.

 

IMG_3147.jpg.ab55388e367bc9e27d3889454244f76b.jpg

 

Everybody promises wonderful results. No surprise there. If lacquer is harder and shinier then what could be the downside? This part of my little project is probably going to be an experiment in patience more than anything. OEM paints are not an option, not even the color-rite stuff. That's okay. As I said, lots of options. Dupli-color seems to specialize in automotive applications, but the other brands appear just as good. I'll be documenting as I go.

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, LID said:

 

...They'll look a bit strange if they're the most expensive part of the bike too. Those, and the red cowling 😛 . I do want clear turn signal lenses. I want a lot of things. They'll have to wait a while. I'm not sure I agree with you that clear signal lenses look odd with a red tail light. The french bike, link above, has that combination.

 

Okay, I take it back.  Looks okay on the black bike.

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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