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1998 to 2000 conversion


bmart

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I'm not sure why reading a ruler is so difficult, but I can't seem to find someone who can do it accurately consistently. My gal helped last night while the bike was warm. She paid close attention. It is absolutely much better than it was prior. No way to adjust fork damping easily, but the rear shock needs some damping tweaking. Currently rebound set to 1.5 turns out from full in...but I think that the non adjustable compression is the real bugger. 

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  • 3 months later...
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A VFR, a CB-1, and a Suzuki ride into a bar, and the bartender says, "what is this, a joke?" Anyway...

 

I finally got out on UGLYRED, the 1998 VFR you all talked me into keeping, for the first ride since months ago. It functioned fine, but there were peculiarities in the dash display, but not other systems. The clock would periodically reset itself, as would the two trip meters. I've never seen that before on...anything.

 

Voltage remained correct at ~14.7V, like always. It was 12.5V when I rolled it out, which was a little odd, as I charge it every two weeks. The Motobatt battery is just under 3.5 years old and they seem to go 6-8 years without issue.  I checked the battery terminals;  the fuses and other connectors are up next (tonight/tomorrow). Then I remembered a post, which I couldn't find despite my best searching, about corroded connections in the board that makes up the dash. Does this sound related? Any other good ideas? Grounding connections? I did not need another bike task on the winter list! Red. I hate red!

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Found many fuses looked like these. Cleaned them and the fuse holder. Also the DIODE ASSY., THREE WAY (SUMITOMO)
31730-MAS-601, which looked like a fuse to me. 

 

20221126_184155.thumb.jpg.d7d08d1eaa1773ce0808bf2aa43c1ee3.jpg

 

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3 hours ago, bmart said:

A VFR, a CB-1, and a Suzuki ride into a bar, and the bartender says, "what is this, a joke?" Anyway...

 

I finally got out on UGLYRED, the 1998 VFR you all talked me into keeping, for the first ride since months ago. It functioned fine, but there were peculiarities in the dash display, but not other systems. The clock would periodically reset itself, as would the two trip meters. I've never seen that before on...anything.

 

Voltage remained correct at ~14.7V, like always. It was 12.5V when I rolled it out, which was a little odd, as I charge it every two weeks. The Motobatt battery is just under 3.5 years old and they seem to go 6-8 years without issue.  I checked the battery terminals;  the fuses and other connectors are up next (tonight/tomorrow). Then I remembered a post, which I couldn't find despite my best searching, about corroded connections in the board that makes up the dash. Does this sound related? Any other good ideas? Grounding connections? I did not need another bike task on the winter list! Red. I hate red!

Hi Bmart.

If it was my bike, I'd go through those fuses and replace every one of them, they are most likely original and show signs of corrosion or oxidization on the legs. Give the contacts a wash with something like Metho on a firm small brush, then fit the new fuses with a small amount of Ox-Gard on the legs of each fuse. Given the not so good look of your Sub Fuses, have a good look at the state of your two Main 30amp Fuses.

Do the same for the three legged Clutch diode, cleaning its contacts, and lightly shine up the Diode Legs with very fine emery paper or similar, and also a coating of Ox-Gard on its legs before re-inserting.

 

As for your instrument LCD. Most definelty the two main connectors making pressure contact to the PCB are a cause for the LCD to go blank(not the only cause!), as they can develop high resistance contacts. Again a good clean of both PCB copper contacts and the connector contacts then a light coating of Ox-Gard will help greatly. Do this then reassess the LCD situation.

Good Luck.

 

dash.jpg

conn.jpg

OX-100B_PKG_01.jpg

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I had my last VFR start to reset the clock when I started it hot. It just needed a new battery. For less than $100 it is a cheap thing to swap out if you've not already done so.

 

Cleaning the fuses and diodes is a sound strategy too. Thanks to Grum's help, I figured out that my occasional hot-start problem on my ST1300 was a dirty diode connection. Who'd a thunk that?

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If I might add, do not neglect the ground side of things.... the spider connector taped into the wire harness, left side, and the grounding screw on the right side frame.

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From a dash connector standpoint, is there anything other than those two connectors (blue and grey)? I have it apart now and am about to clean and reassemble, unless there's more disassembly! Thanks all! (I thought there were some other smaller connectors in there.)

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1 hour ago, bmart said:

From a dash connector standpoint, is there anything other than those two connectors (blue and grey)? I have it apart now and am about to clean and reassemble, unless there's more disassembly! Thanks all! (I thought there were some other smaller connectors in there.)

Hi bmart.

If you're confident enough to remove the back off the instrument panel. A good inspection of all copper tracks and Phillips screws for tightness would be worth it. There are numerous examples of corrosion and open circuit tracks effecting lighting and the LCD ops. They can easily be repaired by simply bridging the open break or corroded tracks with solder, tinned copper wire and solder, or a solder and wire link.

Attached picture is one example of a LCD with problems and a simple repair, note the corroded track circled in red.

Good luck.

Cheers.:fing02:

IMG_1069(1).JPG

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Thank you! It is reassembled. Nothing looked like corrosion, but there were some grimy spots which I cleaned. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I can hear the members laughing already. 

 

A few days after reassembly of...everything, I turned the key on for something and discovered that 1/2 of the bulbs weren't lit. So, I ordered some 6000k T10 bulbs and installed tonight. Just like my CB-1, I discovered that some of the bulbs are smaller. Are they flat T5 bases? They're all working, so together it went. While the screen looks brighter than the bulbs in the 2000, the rest looks pretty much the same to me. 

 

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20230111_160441.thumb.jpg.c50b7ce83211fce027dbf1e7448c37ae.jpg

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On 6/26/2022 at 11:38 PM, bmart said:

Unwilling to spend the dosh on Helibars, which are a mediocre solution anyway, I ordered a set of extenders from Russia's friend Belarus. I can't believe that they actually made it, and that there were no made up fees. 

 

Tidy packaging. Quality parts, although deburring could have been better. Reused stock O-rings and the safety clips aren't needed (there's no space for them, but they could have machined it in...)

 

Easy adjustment with 10mm socket/wrench, so better than stock in that regard. I set them up with the same intended sag as the stockers. I need to check that before riding. 

 

It would not be difficult to raise them a tad more, if the cables/hoses would allow, with washers/shims keeping the alignment pins engaged (less than fully). 

 

Comfort shouldn't be worse! $106 delivered. Helibars are now a completely stupid $359 delivered. Surely worth a go!

 

A few shots of the difference on the bench and installed:

 

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Hi.

Where in Russia / Belarus you've ordered these?

I live in Finland an have many friends from these countries.

Regards,

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Search this forum for Belarus. I've already hunted this down and posted it somewhere for someone else here!

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I've owned a bunch of 3rd Gen Subaru Legacy sedan/wagon models and have enjoyed noticing the differences through these "identical" years. Silly things like the aimable dash vent and much smoother air/fuel map on my 2000 that disappeared in later years. Sadly, everything that changed got cheaper/worse over the five year cycle!

 

While replacing the dash bulbs on the 1998 and 2000 VFRs within a few days, I noticed that the plastic clips on the 1998 are of the "T" style; easy to remove and to break, and that the 2000 were the Phillips head; harder to remove and to break. Curious...

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So after converting the dash to LED, my 2000 "dash" turn signals are intermittant. The left one sometimes works. The right one rarely works. I have it all apart again. Cleaned dirty fuses like I did on the 1998, but no difference. Checked the switch. Cleaned the relay connector. No difference. Swapped bulbs to a few other kinds. No difference. It did not do this before the bulb swap. I can get them to work sometimes if I wiggle things (relay, connector, bulb sockets, my left ear...), but not the same things, so I think that is coincidental. Leaning toward just having an old relay. Thoughts? 

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Fun with VFRs...

 

So, the yellow 2000 dash blinkers seem to be affected by some resistance. I don't have a good reason for the delay in lighting. When I tried the original ones, they were delayed also, so nothing to do with the actual LEDs. It is buttoned up and is "adequate."

 

Today when I got in from a ride, I left the key on to let the fan run (219F). 10 minutes later, the fan was still running when the dash showed 158F when I turned off the key. This seems odd, no? I could have sworn that it would go on at 218F and off again at 210F. 

 

The UGLERED '98 is getting some corroded connectors replaced when I get a little time. Looking forward to the test to see if the dash still gets wonky with resetting the trip meters. 

 

Good ideas are welcome!

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On 5/13/2022 at 3:52 PM, JZH said:

Of course, having read about the A&A issues, now I'm worried the Rotrex will blow up if I run it again!

I haven't heard about A&A issues. Can you point me to where I can read about them?

I think it's best you don't risk blowing it up. You should just take it off and sell it to me...at a discount, of course. :tongue:

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Shock question for you smart folks. 

 

I've been riding the '98 with the Thermosman special forks internals and Penske rear back to back with the '00 with Gold valves and stock shock adjusted as best as can be and lengthened ~5mm with shims. Truly, there's no comparison. Thermosman is a magician and I wish I never did the gold valves on the other. What is done is done. The money is gone. I'm guessing that it'll feel better once the rear is sorted. 

 

I couldn't find any info on a Hyperpro or Bitubo shock on a 5th gen. Has anyone used one? I'm not interested in teh YSS and other partly adjustable shocks. I want fully adjustable (rebound and compression). 

 

bitubo 938....euros? Unsure!

https://www.bitubo.com/Bitubo/catalog/ENG/articolo/9-prodotti-finiti/hhywvcxvqg-mono-reg-precarico-mollaestensione2-compression.html

 

Hyperpro has a lot of shocks on their site, but only this fully adjustable one for the VFR. 699 Euros?

https://www.webshop-hyperpro.com/en/motorbike/honda/vfr-800-fi/vfr-800-fi/1998-2001/suspension/rear-suspension/rear-shock/HO08-1AB

 

My first preference would be a Penske, but new is out of out touch financially and haven't been able to find a used one at a reasonable price in years. Similar for Ohlins. Once I have to send it to be resprung and revlaved for me...I'm up to nearly new prices, nearly $2k. 

 

If anyone has used a Hyperpro or Butubo shock (not just spring), I'd love to hear about your comparison to others. Thank you!

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I use a Nitron Race 4 way adjustable (hi/low speed compression, rebound & preload) with remote reservoir on mine & its brilliant. 10 years 30K miles & still works great. 

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My suspension guy is the distributor for Bitubo in Austria and he rates them.

While he was doing my forks another customer came who races in an amateur series here which also uses tracks in neighbouring countries. My guy messed up his calender and he booked us both in on the same day. He has a Ducati Panigale V2 and was having a Bitubo rear shock fitted and his forks reworked with K-Tech cartridges. He seemed happy and the fella can ride.

 

YMMV

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  • 1 month later...
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Bitubo is in my hands. It looks nice. Started the swap tonight and have questions. I do not recall my 1998 being this difficult. 

 

Removed top shock nut, lower link, and "triangle" but this shock won't get by the collector. Took off the wheel and can to make more room to raise/lower swingarm. Still, it will not clear to get out. Am I missing something? Surely this has been completed by others in less than a month... I thought that it would be together by now! 😭

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