Leaderboard

Hi folks, I was gone from this forum for a long time, and was recently invited back by a fellow member. Since I now have a VFR again, it seemed a good time to pop back in. Im retired, and spend my time now doing a bit of farming and riding /restoring/collecting bikes Currently 15 bikes in the fleet, one of them an 85 VF1000R. I have my own youtube channel. "True-Moto-Resto" where I document all my motorcycle resto's and various goings-on. Thanks for having me back, here are a few pics of my collection... the difference between a hoarder and a collector is the illusion of organization

As we've had a spell of dry weather and I've finished the oil/filter, air filter and coolant change, old Silver deserved a good wash. I'll leave her out for a couple of hours then polish then she's off for her annual government health check (MoT test). I promise to ride her more than I managed over the last 2 years.

I caved and got the Delkevic muffler to make it a full system. The stock muffler wouldn’t tighten all the down, the color was off. Powder coating the Delkevic to match the wheels would be cool but not now. A couple times I thought I shoulda bought a better condition bike for more money then I remember that I would do the same thing. This one came with 6th gen bags with the racks partially set up to fit. There was no rear hardware so I add a plate to the rear fender. Then there is the rack blocking key access to the seat release. Taken care of. Now that I have the rear of the bike done I strapped it down. While the forks are out of town I still want to sort out wiring grips and gps and make sure cables clear steering lock to lock with mock fork legs. Getting closer.

UPDATE: it's almost done! 🤘 I'm happy, but not 100% satisfied, but let's proceed step by step. I replaced the flywheel; the lightened one is about 750gr lighter. Here's the comparison new vs old Once installed the flywheel, I took the occasion to replace OEM bolts with... guess what? 😅 Then, it was time to face the most usual and infamous issue for big Hondas... 😓 Luckily, stator coils were perfectly fine (resistance and conductivity parameters were within spec), but wiring was fried. I replaced the OEM R/R with a Shindengen SH847. Just the size is enough to explain that they are playing in different ranks I put the RR in the right place, and rebuilt the wiring brand new... Since I were playing with cables, I decided to install a voltmeter aboard, so I could read the charging tension with ease. I put a small switch in the place of the rear brake reservoir, then I covered it with a carbon sheet. As you can see by the rev needle, the engine was off. I finish the work on the engine with carbs sync Now the engine is done, electrical is done, suspensions as brake as well... it's time to finalize the work with the fairings. Here the problems come. I bought a fairing kit from a chinese producer. Obviously, I was not expecting perfection, I was prepared for some issue but... I wasn't prepared for this AGONY 😁 Nothing, literally NOTHING fitted properly; I had to adjust any single fitting but ok... it's part of the game with chinese fairings The problem was the tank cover. This manufacturer make complete sets providing also a tank cover; in this way you avoid to pay for tank repaint. Brilliant idea. Here's my kit: Nice, uh? The problem is that Firestorm/Superhawk come with 2 different tank sizes: 16l for the first version and 19l for the second version. They made a template for small tank only, and mine is the biggest one. So... simply, tank cover didn't fit properly. I'll find a definitive solution, somehow and sometime, but now I'm going to use the bike this way. Anyway... it's not that bad if you see it from pretty far and don't check for details 😅 Hope to make a test soon 🙂

Scrolling VFRD tonight: RC30 Tribute '98 Electrical Problem - Help! Slipping Clutch 5th Gen rears brakes Tyga Performance conversion kit for 4th gen Interchangeable Parts With Other Bikes Prepping new to me 1998 Colour (Color) ideas 5th gen injectors upgrade? VFRD...hmmm...VF Resurrection Discussion? I guess it is inevitable given the average age of the VF/VFR's. But hey, here's a rare--these days--riding photo:

Looking for something else I found this post of mine in the ancient history file (thank you Miguel). It's twisting around in my brain, and I will update soon... July 2017: Last week I bought a time machine at Costco, so this morning I set the dial to five years in the past so I could talk to my 2012 self: Me: Hey, good news. You’re going to own two bikes. And at the same time! 2012 Me: Wow, that’s great! I guess that means I’m going to be divorced, huh? Me: No, but the bathroom will be significally better looking. 2012 Me: Whew! So, what kinda bikes? Me: Well, they’re both v-twins. 2012 Me: Damn, that sucks. I guess now you’re going to tell me that I’ll trailer them to Sturgis wearing my licensed orange and black lifestyle outfit. Excuse me, I have to go jump off a bridge. Me: No, no wait! It’s not that bad. But you will finally jump onto the ADV bandwagon. A Multistrada. 2012 Me: But why? The last year I didn’t own a VFR was 1985! Me: Well, Honda will detune the 1200 to make an ADV. And they will bring back the 800 as a really sweet-looking 8th gen. But over the next few years Honda falls way, way behind the Europeans in electronic rider aids. After almost 50,000 great miles your decision will be to invest a lot of time and money to upgrade the 7th gen, or trade it. And the new KTM SD GT will just be too damn ugly. 2012 Me: OK, I guess I get it. At least I don’t become one of those geeks that wears an Aerostitch suit all the time. Me: No comment. 2012 Me: What else happens in the future? A Honda V4 superbike? Me: Nope. But be careful what you wish for, that’s divorce court for sure. 2012 Me: And I guess Buell goes under again? Me: Of course. 2012 Me: Any more advice from the future? Me: Well, if you park the VFR in Calistoga in 2015 try to keep the bike upright, OK? Just minor plastic damage but a tipover will really make you feel like an idiot. And paying up front for a Fusar might not be the best decision. Any advice for me from 2012? 2012 Me: Umm…no offense intended but you might want to hit the treadmill a little more often. Me: Hey, you’re me, deal with it. Anything else? 2012 Me: Well, you’ve never owned a 5th gen…

Hi I am trying to catch up with all of the posted modifications on my 1998 VFR. I am upgrading the front suspension and also the rear wheel conversion to a Ducati 848 rear wheel. This lead me to look at what front wheel options I could use. I wanted to get something better than OEM so I have been looking for a forged front wheel. This was a problem due to to the age of the bike and the expense of forged wheels from the late 1990's and early 2000. In the end I decided to engage a manufacturer to make a wheel for me. You would think the cost would be extreme but it worked out a lot cheaper than a similar wheel for a modern Honda. Weight 4.22 Kg The front wheel has an offset which made the measurement challaging. I have fitted the disks and mounted the wheel and the alignment is correct. Rear Ducati 848 wheel. So the spoke pattern of the front and rear wheels are a good match and the color difference is very slight. New tires are on the way. I am relived and very happy with the quality of the front wheel.

So after 3 months of solid rain and dreary misery, the UK’s weather finally opened up a few days ago. Neighbour sent me this invite from Modern Classics where “Rocket” Ron Haslam and his son “Pocket Rocket” Leon Haslam would be meeting people at Modern Classics in Pinxton, Nottingham. My Donkey VFR still had fuel in the tank from last November and hasn’t seen a wet rag for nearly a year, but it was too good an opportunity to miss so I headed out, hoping to bump into Rob and Leon. Donkey parked outside Moden Classics. Good diner here, by the way. Weather still wasn’t ideal so there were few people there and I got to meet these two heroes! Rocket Ron Haslam Pocket Rocket Leon Haslam That’s me in the beard, spectacles, blue eyes and yellow teeth… We had a great conversation about the Haslam race school that closed recently (real shame) and how Ron would take people for one-lap pillion rides around Donnington until they vomited 🤣🤣🤣! For those who don’t know, in 1986 Ron famously rode a completely stock VFR750 in the Transatlantic Trophy against some of the most talented riders ever to grace motorcycle racing (Merkel, Schwantz, Parish, McElnea, Huewen, Marshall, Burnett, a young Kenny Irons, and Iddon). Ron’s VFR was a demonstrator hurriedly borrowed from Granby Motors, and the only modification was removing the sidestand. It still had all the lights, indicators, mirrors, pillion pegs etc. Despite everyone else running fully-kitted out race bikes, Ron managed to come in 3rd that weekend. The Americans Merkel and Schwantz did a clean 1-2 that year. To be fair, Ron was assisted by the rain which alleviated some of the power difference between his stock VFR750 and the race machines, which would pull away cleanly in the straights. But his brakes and handling were certainly up to par. I’d like to think his talent/skill was the great leveller - he truly is a remarkable rider. You can read more about that year’s Transatlantic Trophy here: https://www.classicracer.com/haslam-stocker-vfr/ Needless to say, VFR sales were really strong after that! Ron famously rode VFRs at his race school (several generations), often instructing and taking punters on his famous pillion laps on one. I forgot to ask if he ever delinked the brakes and am kicking myself for the oversight… After meeting my VFR heroes, I thought it fitting to pass by Granby Motors where that famous VFR750 was borrowed. The motorcycle dealer unfortunately closed down a couple years ago and is now an air supply business (compressors and such). But to me, that’s holy ground and I thought I’d stop by to pay homage. Donkey parked outside what used to be Granby Motors, where her famous grandad once came from. Please forgive the poor photos - darkness and poor weather didn’t help. If anyone knows whether Ron delinked his 5th Gen or 6th Gen VFRs, please chime in!

a quick chat with the almighty @Mohawk helped me get squared away with the electric pump wired it up got tires painted the wheels (with more plastidip, like the fairings this is just temporary and will get redone properly once i get an actual garage) plumbed brakes (cbr600 rear master) and then all of a sudden...that was kinda it.

It fired up last night.

Wanted one of these for a long time, and it was finally time to pull the trigger: Lifts the work girl just fine. Got a couple ideas for some minor mods, but diggin' it so far. Play girl is on it ATM for some cleaning, and new heat shield. So much easier being able to get in nice & close:

Well, turns out that whatever I have done with the Gold Valves simply does not work. They are not generating any meaningful compression damping when riding, and as a result the fork dives at an alarming rate when I tap the brakes hard, which causes the tyre to skip and engage the ABS. Not dangerous, but far from ideal. So I pulled the forks apart (again) and have refitted the stock compression valves. I had a decent 300km ride on Saturday and the fork is itself behaving better on bumps and especially on the brakes. I then took my 5th gen out for a ride around the neighbourhood (it is not technically road-registered but that is only a problem if I get caught...) and the difference in suspension feel is stark; to be fair, the 5th gen has a full Racetech set up front and a Nitron R3 shock, but it reminded me how much better the 1200 could be if I can get it right. I have contacted Jamie Daugherty as he has previously offered to sell me valve parts for the 1200, and I think I need some expert input at this point. I'm still waiting on the Veridian cruise control to arrive, it has left Canada and I don't think it was going via the Strait of Hormuz so should be with me soon (I hope). Once that is in hand I will strip the bike and fit the CC and the PAIR blanks. I stalled out on the lower pegs, no issues fitting the parts and the drop looks useful, but the brake pedal is already set to the lowest height possible with the stock pegs and unless I pull the locknut out of the adjuster, won't go much lower. I will consider my options on that one.

The shock came back from Traxxion. Nice getting that all hooked up with the swingarm and the gas tank mounted. Easy things to do after a long day. When taking the bike apart, wheels off in particular, it ended up with the center stand committed in the down position blocking access to the linkage bolt. Off came the spring and its bracket. It took a couple tries to get it back on but it happened.

Later January well into February was a complete wash, but otherwise my mileage op-tempo remains high. Few hundred on the VFR and 5K down on the Valkyrie in 2026. Already been down to Deal's Gap (that was 1K+ round trip) and went to check out AHRMA do their thing. View from Foothills Pkwy and AHRMA paddock

The screen should be intact and just press onto the blue part. Under that is a one-way check valve, you can see the ball, there's a spring under that, just plastic pieces that clip together. The whole piece will lift out of the SMC body. There is a very tiny hole in the blue body that needs to be cleaned.

Started to refinish my new to me 8 spoke. Bought here courtesy of member SamW. Gave it a degrease, couple of good scrubs, scraped and sanded, then an alcohol bath. Dried for a few days then light sand again on bare metal, alcohol and then metal primer. Will let this cure for 3-4 days then sand and apply 2 top coats. These need a week each to cure properly. This process takes a while to get right, but I drank the White Rims Kool-aid a long time ago. 😁 .

Happy Days! The little box of goodies has arrived from Veridian so it is time to install the cruise control. This looks to be reasonably straightforward to do, I currently have the bike fully stripped as I fitted some PAIR blanking plates last weekend, so I just need to locate the controller onto the bars, connect to a brake light wire (beside the airbox), and plug into the service connector near the battery. The only finnicky bit is accessing the connector that lives within the throttle body, but as I already have the airbox off, hopefully not too hard to do. The Veridian instructions look pretty decent although I think their brake light wire might be mis-identified, but I have the wiring diagram and can figure out the a green/yellow is what I need to be finding. Wish me luck!

Thanks JZH, yes it was a risk to do this on line, but I checked out the car wheels and motorcycle wheels and the company years in business. Other review form a customer in Italy all helped me to choose Forging Kingdom. Also the engineering team working with me to produce the CAD drawing. Alibaba do not pay the supplier till you have approved the product, didn't want to rely on this but seemed to suggest they value the reputation of the factories on the platform. I just wanted to share my experience and if any forum members want a forged front wheel, I would recommend Forging Kingdom. Cheers FF.

Hi all, I choose a company in China who specialize in Car and Motorcycle wheels, they were extremely helpful with converting my hand drawn drawings to CAD. I was then able to make small adjustments to get very close to the OEM front wheel. It is superior to the original Honda wheel as it is forged so lighter and stronger. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-FORGING-KINGDOM-Motorcycle-Aluminum-Alloy_1601636293155.html? My best friend is a machinist fitter turner, he helped with the measurements and was really impressed with the quality of the wheel. Cost for this one off US$660 plus shipping. Front forks, I and changing to the Firestorm conversion, so used the standard Gen 5 forks for test fitment with original brake disks fitted. I wanted something that would match my rear wheel mod and be lighter than the OEM Honda wheel. Forging Kingdom are really easy to deal with. They offer an anodized finish, but I went with a silver paint finish that is excellent. If you check them out, they make a lot of SUV wheels and also Harley wheels. I suspect a lot of the resellers around the world, are just rebranding their products for newer motorcycles. Just wanted to share my experience, as I am slowly working through all the different modifications I can do to improve my 1998 5th Gen. Cheers Paul.

100K isn't high mileage. 😅 These bikes can do north of 200K without much fuss.

More parts arrived and more adjustments going on. It kind of bugged me that the left front peg mount didn’t go on as neatly as the right. So I took it off and had a close look. At some point the bracket was tightened while not lined up with the stud, twisted the whole bracket. Creative untwisting ensued. Another take a deep breath couple hours was cleaning up overspray powder coating. I guess saying protect all machined surfaces was not clear enough. At least the price was very good. I got all the brake lines hooked up. Pushed the brake pedal and it hit the exhaust pipe. Fussed with the pipe to no avail then stood back looked more carefully and notice the right peg and bracket are pushed in and down. The right bracket was mounted fine on the alignment stud but the that peg got pushed in when the bike was red. The Delkevic exhaust was just 2mm over from where the stock pipe was not hitting it. Disassemble, brake pedal off, 15” adjustable wrench on brake pivot, 24” pipe wrench on the adjustable, then bend into place. Next the gas tank won’t set all the way down. I play with this for quite a while. Then I notice the overflow line is somewhat crushed. I very carefully look at the pictures in the shop manual and notice that when a previous changed to the silver fuel tank the clip that holds the line in place was at the wrong bolt. Moved it over and the tank set all the way down. You know, without using the bolts to drive it home. The 847 r/r arrived today. Hooked it up, started the bike, the 6th gen new oem stator and eBay rotor works. But the bike is idling at 2000 rpm. The smaller hose that angles up off of the 6th gen thermostat housing pushed the fuel return line lightly against the idle control plate. It could not return against the idle stop screw. Fortunately I was able to pull the fuel return line down out of the way with zip ties. It’s good for now though at some point I will put in a new maybe 1” longer line that will loop more naturally out of the way. What next? The chain guard tire hugger assembly. I had to elongate a mounting hole that was not lined right. I changed some mounting points to use shoulder bolts and rubber washers to positively secure the bolts without undue pressure on the fiberglass. Overall this is a really nice piece that I picked up on eBay. They produce on order. Took about five weeks. No problem. Tanklock bag came. Really nice system. Starter valves set today. Good to hear the engine running. The chain and sprockets looked good until I found one frozen link with the roller flopping around. Ok the new chain and sprockets look up to par with the powder coated swingarm. Tail fairing lined up. I’ll hook everything there up tomorrow. This is taking more than I thought it would but I am getting an equal amount of satisfaction. I cleaned up the freshly coated fork lowers, sent the forks out to Traxxion. Maybe four weeks until they come back.

Sorry guys, I meant to get back to this a few days ago. I ended up going with a Rick's rectifier. Wired it in and I'm getting a steady 14.5 volts at 5000 rpm. Looks like this on is solved. Thanks for the help everyone.

It sounds awesome, really deep with a slight rasp. I thought the phone mic didn't pick the sound up properly but it was the phone speaker that didn't reproduce the sound properly; on the laptop, it sounds much better. 20260330_102125.mp4

I wonder if they would notice if a scruffy red 5th Gen with a Maine plate was suddenly occupying the RC30's place?

took on a small project while i wait on parts: am i glad i did? yes. do i recommend it? not unless you're comfortable with very delicate and time-consuming operations. anyway, this was all spurred on by the screen suddenly refusing to power on so i figured as long as i was pulling the dash out i might as well repair the LCD; culprit turned out to be a broken trace. more substantial updates soon, hopefully.

And speaking of the Dragon.... any Honda V4 fans looking for unique accommodations in that area this summer. FYI, there is a hotel with a RC30 and RC45 next to each other in the lobby. In your room could be a Ducati, RSV4, Fireblade etc.. You get to keep the room key card (which is the bike of your room) and walk with a shirt for your room. isn't 100% done, they still have some rooms to build out. https://www.hotels.com/ho3900370944/motorcycle-inn/ https://www.motorcycleinn.com/

Mount them on a wall for display and get a regular set to ride with? 😕 Wheels aren't going to remain immaculate forever. Pebbles, dirt, a wayward nail, misc road debris all going to leave a mark here or there. I had a bike only a week from purchase over winter pick up a long nail, and it breached the sidewall. Rim took a few nicks to the edge from the pointy end sticking out. I was pissed, but what you gonna do? I changed the tire and have put on another 5K miles.

Wow...how did those fit inside that little box?

I would be too. It is the reason I do all of my own tire installs. Well, and also money. I'm not gonna pay somebody way too much, to fuck my rims up. That seems silly. There is no way in hell I would leave my wheels with a shop that says we can't guarantee it. I know they can't guarantee it and that shit happens sometimes, but I want to hear confidence, not a see a meek shoulder shrug. "Our guy is really good. Actually both our guys are. There are a lot of really nice bikes that come thru here and I don't recall ever having a problem." is what I want to hear. I might be too paranoid, but what happens IF the rim is damaged? Please see the cashier to pay your bill. Sorry 'bout that. I would drive to the other mechanic EVERY DAMN TIME.

And its March 15th, and you ride a motorcycle, and its Sunday, and you just need to get a ride in. This is you. 24 hours before these photos I shoveled 6" of wet snow from my driveway. Yes they plowed and it did melt........somewhat. But, it started snowing here late Oct. and there is a ton of sand, salt, gravel and frost heaved tarmac on our roads. I appreciate their determination. I question their decision making abilities. Mine also, as I might have joined them had I known.ad I known.

@Terry @FromMaine So I think I found the issue..... the original owner had T-Rex side sliders, which I wanted off, so I had to pull out / re-install the engine mounting bolts in order to un-install the sliders (which I did many months ago). When I did this, I must have not inserted the flange collar correctly - and it was sitting below the mounting bolt, touching the chain. See the attached position I found it in, along with the flange collar showing how much the chain chewed through. The flange collar was sitting above the chain, so it makes sense as to why it was only making noise on deceleration. The piece is #3 in the diagram below.

So Thursday I got a note the camshafts I ordered had arrived but sadly the place where to pick them up had closed early for some reason, so did pick up on Friday on lunch break, they look good as are correct So was time to mount the good lift fingers And out whit the bad 3 To me it looks more they have suffered from dirt falling as valve cover has been taken off than suffer from loss of lubrication. Anyway in goes the good second hand camshaft Then valves adjusted and engine turned over to secure before turning engine by starter motor to see oil comes to camshafts. I did actually take the camshaft holders as the H shaped oil tube from the 88-89 head to be sure no blocking in there. They are parts that are interchangeable aside the lift fingers. So valve cover on, did change the fuel line as old had crack's in the ends to be on safe side, and as I did put in a universal fuel line I did put some zip ties to secure it's not rubbing against carburators, I did also take the long protection plastic of old fuel line and got the new into it. So now just to get fuel and test start and hope the carbs does not flood..... 🤞

I finished the cruise control installation and took a brief test ride. It would have been better to hit a motorway but the weather was threatening so I rode a few 60 and 80km/hr sections near home. The CC seems to work just fine; it is not as precise as my car (which seldom moves by more than +/-2km/hr) but perfectly OK to manage speed on long boring sections. The instructions say that the CC will disengage if you tap the brakes (check) and also if the throttle is opened more than 5% beyond the CC (also check). The latter gives a slightly unsettling throttle wobbliness as the CC and your hand argue for control before the CC hands off. The set, accelerate and decelerate functions worked intuitively. The CC may have a slight effect on the throttle at idle speeds; if I blip the throttle when warming up, the rpm drops below the happy idle before rising back, which was not apparent before, and also if I just let the clutch out gently in first, the rpm doesn't quite match up and ease the bike along like it used to.

Hi all, Found this interesting YouTube video on Freddie Spencer's early superbike CB900F and VFR750R. Pt1 Pt2 He also reveals what bike he has in his garage. Enjoy FF

Assembled the custom fuse box and tried it on the bike. Some minor things that I like to improve, but overall it tested well. The Rapid Bike My Tuning O2 sensor is powering up after 2 minutes after the rest has been turned on (which is switched by rear tail light).

I just collected my VTec from the shop, after they fitted the forks with new bushings and seals. One of the downsides not having a garage, basement, or even a shed is the lack of a decent workspace. At least it has a carport to keep most of the weather off. Next task is to clean and relive the throttle side switchgear as the starter button is slow to release. And then I think I ought to replace every vacuum line I can find. I found a very crispy one last year when I replaced the cam chain tensioners.

Hijacking this old thread...because I liked the title. I've been looking at my 5th gen water pump, which looks to be in great condition. I've replaced the cover o-ring, the shaft-side o-ring and put adhesive-lined heatshrink over the output spigot (the latter because I have silicone hoses, and that one nipple is slightly smaller than the hose ID). The o-rings are both still available from Honda, but I decided to see if I could replace them with Viton(R) FKM-type o-rings anyway. The dimensions of the smaller o-ring are helpfully provided in the Honda Parts Catalogue, and that size corresponds to a standard BS-dimensioned o-ring size (32.95 X 2.62), "BS 125". Interestingly, Honda did not use metric-sized o-rings... The dimensions of the cover o-ring are not provided in the parts fiche, and in fairness, the OEM part (pn. 19226-ML7-000) isn't exactly circular, but the oddball shape doesn't seem to prevent a standard o-ring from being used. I guessed at the size, 79 X 1.78, reasoning that Honda would have also used a BS-sized standard o-ring, but I'm not sure, now that I've fitted it. The length is almost spot-on, but it seems a little narrow in cross-section. There's still some "squish" when the bolts are tightened, but not as much as I had expected. The old OEM o-ring was so flattened it was (and still is) almost rectangular, but maybe the OEM part starts out in that shape? I will see if it seals, but if it leaks I may try again with a 2mm o-ring. I've used other suppliers in the past, but these o-rings were supplied by Aire Bearings in the UK, mainly because I didn't need to order 100 pieces, and shipping was cheap! Speaking of cheap, I ordered new titanium M6 bolts because they were actually cheaper than stainless steel in those sizes. Go figure... Ciao, JZH

Ciao Alessandro, benvenuto! Now, let's switch in english for the audience 😊 VFR for commuting? IN ROME?!??! 😲 mmmh... I don't know... doesn't sound like a good idea, honestly. VFR really suffer the overheating of the crowdy traffic. that's my 2 cents, dude. In case you want to have a talk, pls PM me so we can even discuss in italian CIAO

Finally it's up on the table I will also pickup the spacers to fit a CBR F2 rear wheel today, they are ready, through they will be needed for the Red one... Edit: spacers are home, and got 2 sets! So basically could have F2 rear wheel in both bike's....

Agreed. But that clutch looks like shit and has been slipping and getting hot. And I can count on 0 hands the nember of times I ran into a failing clutch hydraulic system on a VFR that kept the clutch pack separated and caused slipping. Not saying its impossible, but that explanation sometimes comes up and is never the actual problem. Assembled wrong, sure. But going from a working system to not allowing the clutch pack to compress? Not so much. But again, not impossible, it is just usually loss of lever pressure and bleed. Not the opposite. You can simply reassemble the clutch and see if the final pressure plate is allowed to fully seat. These situations are so hard because there has to be a certain level of assumptions to get past "you did it wrong". Plus he rode the bike without issues, for a while it seems, and then parked it. To then have a clutch slip when taken out of storage. Maybe the clutch took a shitte-loade of abuse during the previous issues (which it appears to have) and was on the verge of saying, enough is enough. In any case, if I saw a clutch that looked like that, it would be getting replaced. Might not be THE issue, but it is AN issue.

The photo is of the Elf Honda 500 GP bike; they had all sorts of experimental chassis developed by ex F1 engineer Andre de Cortanze, starting with the 1000cc IL4 endurance bikes and finishing with the V3 and V4 NS and NSR 500 engines. But this is definitely where the Elf single-sides swingarm originates which is why some VFR's have the ELF sticker there. The photo below is from the Honda museum at Motegi, Japan.

Since we're talkin' 'lectrics, I thought I would share my recent Maxi-blade fuse holder find with you all. I'm using a Littelfuse 80A MAXI fuse holder: I bought a couple of these years ago, probably off eBay or who knows where, but when I went to buy some more I was surprised by how expensive they are now. At least, from Littelfuse... Turns out, they are not made by Littelfuse at all, but by another company called iMAXX. I should say at this point that, having watched way too many Youtube videos I will no longer use "non-name brand" fuses in any critical application. That means Littelfuse, Buss or MTA, only. So I'm also partial towards name-brand fuse accessories (which generally just seem better made anyway), but sometimes the brand is just a name! This appears to be the case with this "Littelfuse" MAXI fuse holder. Another reason I was looking into this was because there are two sizes (wire seals/terminals) of this water-resistant fuse holder, and I needed the larger one (the one in the picture above is the smaller one), or at least the larger terminals and wire seals which fit into it. These are available from the big electronics suppliers, but expensively and generally in large order quantities. Somehow I stumbled upon an electronics supplier in Germany (Reichelt Elektronik), where I could order small quantities of each of the components of this fuse holder at a fraction of the Littelfuse price (as sold by Mouser, Digikey, Farnell, etc.). IMAXX S184862X Car fuse holder, seal for CCS931FL, gray €0.77 IMAXX CCS931FL Car fuse holder, contact 6.0-10.0mm² for H9301 €2.59 IMAXX H9301 Car fuse holder, housing for maxiOTO €2.34 IMAXX H9305 Car fuse holder, cap for H9301, transparent €1.63 I can buy the components to make four iMAXX fuse holders for the same price as Digi-Key sells a single Littelfuse one. (I've compared them and they are indeed identical, not Chinese knock-offs--iMAXX probably is Chinese, but they appear to be the original manufacturer.) So, that's what I'm using! YMMV. Ciao, JZH

My kinda road...

Forget the hotel towels or robe, I know what I'm sneaking out in my suitcase!

This summer I plan on exploring a little closer to home. It's been 4 years since my last road trip, and revisiting southern BC and western Alberta is long overdue. Anyone who doesn't love a yellow VFR ain't wired up right 😉

Ooh, that view looks familiar so I jumped into Google Earth for a little spelunking. Yep, ridden past Goat Rock a number of times but never took the side road to that viewpoint. Back in '99 I was southbound to Monterey and stopped at a viewpoint above Russian Gulch - not much up the road from Goat Rock. Was hit by a bout of vertigo as I stepped off my VFR but managed to grab my water bottle for a drink. Spent about 15 mins sat on a log admiring the scene, waiting (hoping) to recover my equilibrium. This fantastic view is the reason I stopped.

Is it a rideable motorcycle? Or a museum piece? Your call.

At 17°C/63°F and cloud-free skies yesterday it seemed churlish not take the now prepared Crosstourer (VFR1200X) out so with Mrs Skids on the back we took the back roads up to Hunstanton for fish and chips and an ice cream. Surprised to see so many bikes out on a weekday.

And she's rolling! I got her back together enough for a test ride a few days ago. Bleeding the brakes is a bloody pain with the linked system but I got there...however that rear caliper is shot. I was hoping to get away with it for a few days to see how it was running, but it's just knackered. Constantly binding so the bike feels like it's missing about 40 horsepower! Anyway, I got to put fuel in it and take it a mile down the road just to see and the engine seems to be running well and the flat spot is gone so there is improvement...but it's hard to tell with the brake dragging so much if the engine is properly sorted. I've ordered a "new" caliper on ebay - it was much cheaper than a rebuild kit and looks in great condition...it now means i have a full set of calipers for the bike so I can rebuild and paint them in the coming months once the bike proves itself a bit. It is still idling too high. Nowhere near as bad but it's idling at around 3k when warmed up. I'm hoping it just needs the starter valves adjusted...I don't have the doohicky to do that myself so my jobs are: Tidy up the airbox, properly refit clips and wiring Clean fairings and refit "New" caliper on when it arrives next week and bleed brakes...again Change clutch fluid Brake light switch on the front brake isn't working Check if the fan comes on then I'll give it to the local mecahnic here and get him to sort starter valves and see if he can figure out the high idle.