Jump to content

New 5th/6th/8th gen performance header now in production in USA


sfdownhill

Recommended Posts

  • Member Contributer

LAST CHANCE FOR HEADERS

 

Just putting out the final announcement that the latest production run of headers has started. It consists of both types of headers: 5/6 gen for side radiators, and 8 gen for front radiator.

 

If anyone has been thinking about a set of these pipes, sitting on the fence, waiting for a sign, etc, then this might be the time to order a set. The fabricator's minimum order is 15 units, and this last order took us almost a year to gather, so we don't know when we'll be able to assemble the necessary 15 orders again. Could be quite a while.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alright guys, I've been on the fence about this for 6+ months now, but I'm just going to do it.  In February I bought a crashed 5th Gen from a salvage auction to rebuild and make as "sporty" as is reasonable for a VFR.  If the performance gains are as noticeable as others have said, then I think this will up the "sport" factor quite a bit.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
On 12/12/2020 at 10:17 AM, comradeQuestion said:

Alright guys, I've been on the fence about this for 6+ months now, but I'm just going to do it.  In February I bought a crashed 5th Gen from a salvage auction to rebuild and make as "sporty" as is reasonable for a VFR.  If the performance gains are as noticeable as others have said, then I think this will up the "sport" factor quite a bit.  

 

Cheers - got your PM and responded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

That VTEC transition looks pretty ruff.

However out on the road today it was reasonably fluid and also the butt dyno says that the mid-range/torque is actually better without the rapidbike 🤷‍♂️ 

20201219_121620.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/4/2020 at 11:47 AM, sfdownhill said:

 


There is a definite theme to everyone’s curiosity, and the timing couldn’t be better.

 

We have been negotiating with Wade the fabricator, attempting to buy our way past or navigate around his 15 unit minimum order. Last week we finally got a commitment from him to build 12 headers for 5/6 gen VFRs and 3 headers for 8 gen VFRs. These are a couple more units than we have deposits for, but the iron was finally hot, so we had to strike. As fast as we could get down to the post office, we used Priority Express to send him deposits for all 15 headers, so:

 

WE ARE NOW IN BUILD PHASE! WOOHOO!


It will be 6 weeks to get the finished headers in our hands, and about a week after that to get them all to the passivators and picked back up. Then we’ll be shipping all those shiny new pipes out to all you extraordinarily patient folks who placed deposits.
 

One person dropped out a few days ago, so there will be an extra set of 5/6 gen headers available.

Yes!!!! Thank you for making this happen!!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
9 hours ago, boOZZIE said:

the butt dyno says that the mid-range/torque is actually better without the rapidbike 🤷‍♂️

 

Good deal. People are often critical of the butt dyno, but that's the dyno we have easiest access to; it's the one we use all the time!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
20 hours ago, Gotama said:

I got these same numbers with just a gutted stock can and stock headers . PC3 tuned on the dyno 

As stated i have no RB anymore or PC for that matter, and is not tuned, so there is definitely more to be gained.

However, it's not all about that top hp number, as other graphs have shown its more about that midrange, where road users spend the majority of fun time in. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
3 hours ago, boOZZIE said:

As stated i have no RB anymore or PC for that matter, and is not tuned, so there is definitely more to be gained.

However, it's not all about that top hp number, as other graphs have shown its more about that midrange, where road users spend the majority of fun time in. 

 

What happened to the RB - it just died?  They seem very well made - but that doesn't mean much - it's what's inside that counts.  If it did, sorry to hear that - they're not cheap.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
15 minutes ago, Cogswell said:

 

What happened to the RB - it just died?  They seem very well made - but that doesn't mean much - it's what's inside that counts.  If it did, sorry to hear that - they're not cheap.

 

 

Yep, somehow it got corrupted  (vibrations,heat. IDK) and was pouring fuel in and flooding engine. It was 6 years old.

 

Anways she seems to be running fine without 

🍻

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
On 12/12/2020 at 7:54 AM, sfdownhill said:

LAST CHANCE FOR HEADERS

 

Just putting out the final announcement that the latest production run of headers has started. It consists of both types of headers: 5/6 gen for side radiators, and 8 gen for front radiator.

 

If anyone has been thinking about a set of these pipes, sitting on the fence, waiting for a sign, etc, then this might be the time to order a set. The fabricator's minimum order is 15 units, and this last order took us almost a year to gather, so we don't know when we'll be able to assemble the necessary 15 orders again. Could be quite a while.

If this fit a Crossrunner 2018 I will like to order a set if it is not to late.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
On 12/25/2020 at 10:07 PM, Madsen said:

If this fit a Crossrunner 2018 I will like to order a set if it is not to late.

 

Hi Madsen. That's an interesting concept...we haven't tried fitting these headers onto a VFR800X Crossrunner, mostly because we don't have Crossrunners here in the USA [To the best of my knowledge].

 

Does your 2018 Crossrunner have front or side radiators? The headers in this thread come in two versions:

 

[1] a side radiator model that fits the 1998-2001 5th gen and 2002-2009 [2002-2013 in other countries] 6th gen

 

[2] a front radiator model that fits the 2014-2015 [and other years in other countries] VFR800F 8th gen

 

If you have a front radiator, you might check the OEM part numbers of your header assembly and then check the OEM part numbers of the headers for a 2014-2015 VFR800F. If the two part numbers are the same, the headers in this thread will probably fit.

 

Let us know - cheers!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
On 12/31/2020 at 11:53 AM, Gotama said:

Are we building yet ?

 


Yep, Wade is building. I spoke with him yesterday to ask him to notify us when he is getting close to completing our order so we can contact everyone who has placed orders for headers.
 

As an aside here, I also let him know how many 5 gen vs how many 6 gen orders we have. To us VFR owners, the only difference between 5 and 6 gen headers is that 6 gens have a 5/8” shorter collector exit pipe, but, to the builder, there is more to it than simply chopping off 5/8” from the finished assembly. Because the mandrel bending machine clamps so hard on the tubing to bend it accurately, the tubes suffer slight deformation at their ends. So Wade uses a hydraulic machine to expand the ends of tubes to the correct diameter. What this means for the collector exit tube is that he needs to cut off the 6 gen’s 5/8” prior to expanding the tube in order to provide a long enough expanded section to provide the proper length of clamping area for the midpipe to be fastened. I like that our fabricator builds our headers with this amount of foresight and experience.

 

Back to the topic at hand - Wade has all the tubing back from the mandrel bender and is ready to start welding, but his supplier of tubing merges is backordered - one of the ways he keeps our cost so far below other fabricators we contacted is by using pre-manufactured tubing merges made from the same quality 304 stainless steel as the tubing used for the headers. The supplier told Wade he will have the merges for our headers by January 18.


I and Duc2V4 both apologize for the delay - it certainly has taken much, much longer than expected to get to this point.

 

We will stay in contact with Wade and, as we get them, will post more updates here.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/1/2021 at 6:29 PM, sfdownhill said:


Yep, Wade is building. I spoke with him yesterday to ask him to notify us when he is getting close to completing our order so we can contact everyone who has placed orders for headers.
 

As an aside here, I also let him know how many 5 gen vs how many 6 gen orders we have. To us VFR owners, the only difference between 5 and 6 gen headers is that 6 gens have a 5/8” shorter collector exit pipe, but, to the builder, there is more to it than simply chopping off 5/8” from the finished assembly. Because the mandrel bending machine clamps so hard on the tubing to bend it accurately, the tubes suffer slight deformation at their ends. So Wade uses a hydraulic machine to expand the ends of tubes to the correct diameter. What this means for the collector exit tube is that he needs to cut off the 6 gen’s 5/8” prior to expanding the tube in order to provide a long enough expanded section to provide the proper length of clamping area for the midpipe to be fastened. I like that our fabricator builds our headers with this amount of foresight and experience.

 

Back to the topic at hand - Wade has all the tubing back from the mandrel bender and is ready to start welding, but his supplier of tubing merges is backordered - one of the ways he keeps our cost so far below other fabricators we contacted is by using pre-manufactured tubing merges made from the same quality 304 stainless steel as the tubing used for the headers. The supplier told Wade he will have the merges for our headers by January 18.


I and Duc2V4 both apologize for the delay - it certainly has taken much, much longer than expected to get to this point.

 

We will stay in contact with Wade and, as we get them, will post more updates here.

Awesome I’ll get the fmf cans mailed down this week for the mid pipe fabrication on my 6th gen 

can’t wait till the final product is here and installed 🙂  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
25 minutes ago, Gotama said:

Awesome I’ll get the fmf cans mailed down


FMF canisters?!?! I thought we agreed on Graves Motorsports mufflers!!

(Just kidding)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
11 hours ago, Gotama said:

I was looking at a set of graves 

but the FMF just spoke to me lol


I love those cans. Memories of a heyday. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Woohoo! Haven't been on here at all in the past few months, problems with gimpy hip so riding much was literally a big pain in the butt, and riding season ended around the same time. Someone at work was looking at a nice used 6th Gen and got me thinking about these again and I see it's all come good. Happy thoughts to pass the winter! Thanks to those who pulled us over the goal line.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
22 hours ago, ducnut said:


I love those cans. Memories of a heyday. 

 

Which heyday?  During my schooldays I knew FMF as a prolific manufacturer of BMX frames!

 

(Why do I get the feeling we've already had this conversation?  LOL.)

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
18 hours ago, JZH said:

During my schooldays I knew FMF as a prolific manufacturer of BMX frames!


I remember FMF BMX frames too! Barely able to see over the counter, gazing longingly at the one hanging in the local bicycle shop...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
On 1/4/2021 at 5:15 PM, JZH said:

 

Which heyday?  During my schooldays I knew FMF as a prolific manufacturer of BMX frames!

 

(Why do I get the feeling we've already had this conversation?  LOL.)

 

Ciao,

 

JZH


I don’t remember the BMX frames, but, do remember when FMF started getting into streetbikes and seeing their stuff on the grid at AMA rounds. 
 

I was a CW Racing fan and had a ZX Long. Loved their handlebars, too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.