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This was Castle Combe (UK) in March. First session delayed while they cleared the snow from the track! No leathers that day, winter gear and heated grips all day!

I will be keeping my eyes peeled, especially on the margins. No out-riding my vision or my brakes. I want no further Animal Control Life Time Achievemt Awards. (I still proudly display the award in my living room.) In addition I've recruited a badger to pee on my tires just as I leave, since Timmy is So Far Away

I got a message that Maxwell had stalled his reputation, could not give them or recieve likes at all. I spent and hour playing around with setting to no avail. Then I realized that the whole member group that contributed donations could not get likes or give them. So I deleted the group and started a new one, some reason there was a secondary setting that put all of the donators in the same settings as a webcrawler bot? So I thought starting over would clean all that up.....then I forgot to give permissions to do anything...so just fixed that too. In any case all is ok now...the forum is working. Installed the latest version last week, fixed tap a talk, just installed the latest version of the skin too, so there are some new changes..which I am not sure of all of them. Should be up to snuff now. HS

3. Will road cars perform better with high octane fuel? The simple answer is: yes, if they are designed to. If a car recommends regular (or low) octane fuel, it is highly unlikely (read: it won’t help) that there will be any performance gain from using a higher octane fuel. (from www.carthrottle.com/post/engineering-explained-high-vs-low-octane-petrol/) When I first owned my '01, because it was fuel injected, I assumed it had an ignition advance, so I bought 91 octane. When I learned the was no ignition advance, I went to 87 octane and there was absolutely no difference in engine performance. For the next 1750,000 miles I can only imagine how much money I would have wasted. The difference in price between the two is frequently significant. Hope this helps.

I fell in love with the 3rd-gen VFR in the summer of '91. I was working a summer job assembling lawnmowers and power equipment at a small shop in town that was also a Suzuki and Honda dealer. That's when I first saw the RC36 in the flesh. Maybe it was the little fairing on the sidestand, I don't know, but I lusted after that bike. I think we sold two that summer. Maybe it was just the one. I'm not sure. It was a rare sight and watching the red machine being uncrated drew the attention of everyone in the shop. At the time I was riding my first bike, an '84 Honda XL185S. I was a senior in high school, so the VFR was way beyond my means, but I could dream. Flash forward to the summer of 2010. My wife made the mistake of leaving me alone for a weekend. I happened across the ad for a 19-year old Interceptor in that beautiful red, and after 19 years of depreciation, the price of entry was finally within my means. I bought it, despite some signs that it had had some rough treatment during its first two decades. When the previous owner handed me the key, for the first time I saw the tell-tale key chain fob -- this beauty was sold from the dealership where I worked. This was the same machine that had sparked my passion for VFRs in the beginning. I was reunited with a long lost love. My wife was none too pleased. But it must have been obvious what the bike meant to me, so she graciously went along with the deal. I rode that machine, this machine, happily for the rest of the summer. Toward the end of September it started running rough. One cylinder misfiring. It ran well on throttle, but more and more it was clear that only three cylinders were firing at idle. With the best of intentions, I drained the gas from tank and carbs and parked the bike for the winter months. Life intervened. The bike has been sitting untouched for eight years. Each year I've thought about making repairs, but it has taken until now to have the time, space, and determination to get this thing running again. So, I expect this story will unfold slowly, maybe taking me the whole summer to achieve, but I am determined to hear that V4 sound in my garage this year. Wish me luck, or courage, or both. It's going to be a steep learning curve. I'll post my progress as often as I can. I'll start with a post outlining what I know so far and what I think needs to be done. The basics: I did a compression test in the fall of 2010 when it was still "running". It had good and even compression on cyl 1, 2, 4 but zero -- ZERO -- compression on cylinder 3 (front right). I don't know why there was no reading at all, but it can't be good news. I tried to make a compression reading today to confirm those readings I remember from way back then, but after sitting for eight years, the cylinders must be very dry. I read only 30psi in each cylinder and again a zero reading in cylinder 3. I'm a little spooked as to why it's not even tickling the needle on the compression gauge. I had time last winter to go through the carburetors on my workbench. They are in good, clean condition so I don't think there's a fuel problem. I checked spark visually on all four plugs and I see nice blue sparks so we've got air, fuel, and spark. That means (and I'm open to all advice) that I have a compression problem -- probably rings, but possibly something wrong with a valve. Any thoughts? The only way to get at the rings is to remove the engine and split the crankcase, right? So that's what I'm planning to do. Along the way I'll have the heads off and I'll have a look at the valves, but I expect I'm going to have to go all the way and split the engine. So question #1: Has anyone removed the engine? Any advice for me? I don't have the special peg wrench that's needed to remove the engine mount lock nuts. I'm planning on attacking a 22mm socket with a grinder, to make a tool of some kind. How have others done this in the past?

Found it in Japan. I worked there many years ago on a contract. Had a colleague find it and arrange it for me. These things aren't cheap, but seems like a great find.

At the famous "Alice's Restaurant", fortunately a frequent location for us as it is surrounded by some wonderful roads. Putting her through the paces.

The old station Tintern, next to the Wye

I haven't had a day off since April 8. Doesn't look like that is changing, but I am going to try to swing by on Saturday night. My VFR is still in Maryland (says it's not from there), so I will be showing up on alternate hardware. Burns said I could snuggle between himself and his wife. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Spend money saved in the difference in price from the 87 to 91 and get non ethanol fuel if possible. Running Non ethanol fuel provided the only advantage that I have ever seen in performance and fuel mileage on the VFRs, from my '00 to my '07.

Did you pack your deer goggles? 😉

If you can't set the clock you can always pack your things and move to another timezone.

It's a very common issue with most bike speedometers. 8-10% is the norm. However the odometer is spot on, even if the speedometer is off. So if you change your speedometer reading by regearing, your odometer will then be off. When I went to the 45-tooth rear sprocket I installed a bicycle computer that I set to the correct speed reading. And a GPS will work too.

Wasn't it because they "required" someone to actually ship them the TBR headers, so they could mock up the system? That and also needing someone to loan them a 5th-Gen for the purposes of mocking up, and...the list goes on. Now, if you were to ship them your bike, which fortuitously happens to both be a 5th Gen, AND have the requisite headers installed, we might be able to gain some traction on the project. No, don't thank me... 😉

Another vote for EBC HH pads; I have them in all my bikes. I also have aftermarket adjustable levers on all my bikes, the cheap ones from China, and they work great. Just make sure you order for the correct model of VFR (you don't want levers for a 98-01 VFR, but 02-13 should all be the same). In place of the factory tool for adjusting the chain tension, a big flat blade screw driver can be used to gently tap the eccentric adjuster around. Don't lose the steel loop/washer that holds the brake line in place at the pinch bolt, because without that the bolt can bottom out in the arm without putting the proper compression on the eccentric.

Re, throttle play: I always have a bit of play in my throttle, not really measurable but I do want to feel something move a touch before the throttle actually opens. Just feels better for me and it negates any worry about tight spots when you turn the bars from lock to lock. Keeps unexpected throttle input to a minimum. The best brake pads, IMO of course, are the HH pads. They actually will give you some noticeable braking at the rear wheel. I prefer synthetic oil because I feel it gives better protection for a longer time/more miles. No real proof, but it gives me the warm fuzzies. 🙂 I have the adjustable shorty levers and love them. I've never heard of any issues with them causing any kind of wheel lock. Don't really see how that could happen without some owner input error. Nutrition is baby back ribs, and biscuits and gravy. Exercise is road and mountain bike cycling, and rowing on my Concept2 rowing machine.

I don't know how many, and what kind of bikes you've had before, but putting a bike on the centerstand easily is all in the technique. You don't lift it onto the centerstand, that is the worst thing to try and do. Left hand on the left handlebar with bars straight ahead, right hand on the rear frame where it's comfortable, right foot on the centerstand, bring down the centerstand until both centerstand feet are touching the ground, while stabilizing the bike press the centerstand down with your right foot like you're trying to push it into the floor. You'll naturally use your upper body to give you leverage and the bike will come right up. Easy, peasy. The newer bike owners can give you advice on the pair valve and such. Too little chain slack is worse than too much. I check mine by see how close I can get it to the swingarm when the bike is on the centerstand. I want it close but not touching. Actually the PO is partially correct about the chain not needing lube: the O-ring chains are internally greased and you're really not going to get anything past the O-rings to lube parts. OTOH lubing the chain will make it operate smoother, run quieter and cooler, and help your sprockets last longer. What you use is up to you. I use the Hawke-Oiler and 75-140 gear lube. I usually get around 25,000 miles out of a chain. Higher viscosity oil will make your bike run hotter. I know because of some actual checking I did back in the 80's. Do your bike a favor and don't go any heavier than 15W40. Synthetic is good, that's what I run.

Nice story. I hope you get her going soon. Dreams are what we make them. By the time you are done you will know the bike inside and out. These bikes are getting rare and harder to find these days. Nice to see someone rescue a classic motorcycle. Too many go to parts. Work hard and you will be rewarded.

Thankyou all. Yes this is what some may have heard of as the Parkes938. I have raced it for the previous 3 years in the isle of man. I managed to qualify 16th in the superbike race in the wet one year but dry results have failed to perform (it's still wild to ride). It makes 152hp now but the chassis is a work in progress (it's my own linkage, steering and suspension design on the front) and the rate of acceleration is still far behind that of the top guys. I have followed Michael Dunlop and co (very briefly); the rate of acceleration of their superbikes leaves me wondering if I had hit the kill switch! The engine has had to go through extensive modification to take the power (there is more available with different ports) I did all the machining myself but it has taken much trial and error. Fundamentally the thermal efficiency of the vfr are the limiting factor. A revised casting with alternative thicknesses and coolant passages is really needed but maybe a bit over the top. The aerodynamics were an interesting learning curve. Particularly the centre of pressure, beware of that beasty! 180mph was completely uncontrollable in a straight line with my first set of fairings. Cooling was another challenge, 6 water pump designs and serious ducting to the 3 radiators later I have it under control; only just! I'll have to work on that website as there's lots of interesting things that I'm sure would interest a lot of people. Everyone who has seen me race it has been very interested to see whats underneath too.

Great story. I don't recall reading anywhere that you have removed any valve covers to check valve clearances or at least do a visual inspection, but you are talking about removing the engine. How many miles are on the bike? Those engines are probably the most bullet proof of the V4s in my opinion. And if it came down to it, I would also just put another motor in. Then have a nice engine project to work on while you're riding your VFR. Good luck! It will be a journey either way.

If I may submit - you might want to send them out to someplace like RC Engineering for a professional cleaning. Injectors can fail but are pretty reliable - they may just be gummed up and not closing properly. It costs $25 ea to have them bench cleaned and flow balanced - you could have all 4 done for the cost of a single new injector. It's a bit of a gamble - but I think a good bet that they can be cleaned and returned to service.

This is going to be a very long story, but it took me a year. You'll get through it much quicker! I think I'm finally at the end of a year long search for the answer to my intermittent 5th Gen issue of it randomly cutting out while riding. I'll start at the beginning and try to remember everything and the order in which it occurred. First off, 2017 was very tough on my personally and financially much of it spent working 7 days a week for 3/4 of what I was earning previously, and some early parts of the year I was making zero to less than half. Anyway, what that means in the context of the VFR was little to no recreational riding or time or money to diagnose and repair the issue. So I was riding home from work one afternoon. I was on the highway in the left lane, about to pass slower traffic ahead. As I signaled and accelerated, then changed lanes, I hit a moderately severe bump as the pavement transitioned to a bridge. The engine immediately cut off, in gear on the throttle. Dash looked normal, Fi and oil lights on as if key on and stop switch in off position. I pulled in the clutch and tried the starter multiple times as I coasted along to no avail, along with letting the clutch out in gear to let the wheel turn it over. I think I eventually coasted down an off ramp and stopped. I cycled the key and then tried it and that worked. When I got home I, of course, went straight to Stator - R/R - Battery tests. Many years ago I converted to the R1 FH012 Reg/Rec with output routed to the battery + through a 30a fuse and the ground directly to the frame. Later I installed a Custom Rewind rewound stator. I had several years of trouble free charging, so following a severe crash in 2014 and rebuild over the following many months, I never bothered refitting my voltmeter. I had to replace virtually everything in the nose and side fairings and didn't want to cut my new to me, freshly custom painted fairing. Luckily I found a nekkid bike enthusiast with nearly everything from the front of the bike for sale, and I grabbed it up! Headlight was smashed, the gauges looked a little broken but when I got them out of the fairing stay they were flexible due to all the breaks and cracks. I swapped out the LCD to keep my original miles (I'm at 103k now!). The fairing stay was toast and actually snapped one of the mounting tabs off the frame neck! Had to pull the frame off and have it welded back on. Everything plastic forward of the seat was replaced except the little "ears" on the inside of the cockpit. Luckily my SP1 forks and carbon fiber fender were spared! So anyway, I tested everything I could think of and found no faults. I raised the tank and with it running I pulled the fuel pump power. It died pretty fast, which seemed like what I experienced while riding, so I was thinking maybe the original '99 pump was giving up. I think my bike was built in late '98, and it had nearly 102k miles at the time. I actually have a spare pump, not the assembly, so I was thinking to swap it out. But since it's not the complete assembly it was going to be a lot of effort for a hunch. So I ignored it for a few more months. Eventually I decided to try it again, and it did exactly the same thing in the same spot! Duh, of course it did. I coasted a bit trying the same things, but then remembered cycling the key seemed to work before, and it did again. This time without stopping. Still not sure, I continued to ignore. One day I left work and needed to get gas on the way. Started fine at work, but at the gas station it barely turned over. The engine was warm enough to catch though, and I got it home. Back to charging system testing, and I found a dead battery (obvious). Stator tested fine, but the R/R failed on the testing procedure outlined on RoadsterCycle.com. I got with him to order a brand new FH020 and had the battery load tested, it failed. It was a Yuasa for the ST1300, because that was a thing a few years ago that people were doing. Same physical dimensions, but higher CCA. Always on a Tender, maybe 3 years old. With the new R/R, and a battery from my one time project bike, I rode it once again to work. Got there fine, but leaving for home it once again barely started. At home I tested everything again and still found faults on the new R/R. Jack at Roadster said he tests them before sending, but I could return it so he could test it and see what happens. He tested it to be working properly, so I started looking at the wiring. I found the output + wire didn't have continuity, and then found the 30a fuse had blown when the FH012 R/R died. I guess my cheap old mini multi-meter wasn't up to the task of properly diagnosing the R/R. Works fine for continuity and voltage, though. I replaced the fuse and was still getting funky continuity reading through it because when it surged it melted the fuse holder a bit and one of the blades on the fuse was beside the female terminal instead of inside it. I sent another email to Jack and had him include one of his 30a auto reset breakers to replace the fuse holder. New R/R and 30a breaker installed, it charges at 14+ at idle! Yes, back in business! Still not riding much though, cause now it's Fall and still no spare time or money. I did get a new replacement Everstart from Wally World in the ST1300 CCA rating when I sold the other bike. I can't recall exactly when, but I did ride it a few times to work without issue, but those were all not on the same road I was loosing it before. Then I was back on that stretch of highway, but going in the opposite direction and it died, but I was able to cycle the key and get it started pretty quick. Then I ignored it for a few more more months. Not long ago I decided to go ahead with COP conversion and remove the big ugly coils in favor of some Gixxer stick coils, coil on plug, COP. They were donated, and with some research I discovered I could get the CBR coil harness for like $7. Cheap modding, I'm in! After getting them installed I took it for a test ride to get gas. I had previously siphoned my tank because it had been sitting for several months and my car was low. So why let a full bike tank go bad from sitting, plus it's still in the back of my mind that I have to pull the fuel pump. I head out with the gauge blinking at me, knowing I still have plenty, but also having lots of doubt as to exactly how much gas is in there. As I am nearly turning left into the station, I hit a bump and it dies! Of course it does, but did it slosh gas away from the pump enough to kill it, or is it the old issue? Restarts and I fill up and get home. The next day I decide to take it out for a longer test and it dies on my within the first 15 minutes. I cycle the key and start it and continue to ride for a few more hours without issue. At this point, I'm down to one job but looking to get my old one back. So it's plenty of free time but not much money. I saw post on VFRD that got me looking at my main 30a fuse, and not liking what I see. This is the OE fuse holder on the front of the battery box. It's very brown and crusty looking, but not melted. The fuse blades are pretty dark from what I assume is the arcing of a slightly loose connection. I could clean it up and tighten the female connections, or even replace the entire thing with a better more sealed fuse holder, but I decide to get another of the 30a breakers from Roadster. They have nut and bolt connections with ring terminals on the wiring. Much more sturdy connection! Now that's in, and the tail is off, so I decide to really get cracking on this whole thing. I looked up the wiring and found the 2 relays that could have an affect on the fuel pump. I got them loose from their holders and started smacking them around to see if they responded to excessive bumping. Well, I found that if you hit them hard enough they do indeed break connection, but only for long enough to kill the engine. They would reset themselves and the fuel pump would prime, and I could start the engine without needing to cycle the key. Still not it. After the big crash I had the replacement front "de-dumboed" and wired in Gixxer signal mirrors. Looks great, works great, but makes taking the front fairing off a major PITA! My only other thought at this point, other than fuel pump, is the bank angle sensor (BAS). It's the tip over cut off, and I couldn't remember exactly if it needed the key cycled in order to clear it. I did trigger it once while riding, but barely avoided a crash, but I forgot how I got it restarted. But now I have no other choice. I have to eliminate it as a possibility. I finally get to it and unbolt it. If I shake it, it makes a loud rattle. I also noticed a tiny bit of fluid on my fingers after handling it. Is it fluid damped? I don't know! I texted SebSpeed, cause I know he's working on a 5th Gen project to ask if he's got access to the BAS and if he thinks it's fluid filled. He didn't have the VFR BAS handy, but another one from a CBR (I think) was in the shop, and he said he never considered it, but it did indeed seem to be fluid filled. I'm looking at mine, and it's clearly got a little bit of exterior damage, but I never would have considered that it was sealed and now that seal was broken. I plug it in and give it a moderate shake while running, and sure enough it immediately dies and won't start. Here's the thing; the starter turns. It's the only shut off mechanism that still allows the starter to turn but not the bike to fire. Cycle the key and it fires right up! I texted Seb back to see if he knows which wires to jump to make it run. I remembered from the wire diagram that the orange wire on the bike side of the connector has something to do with the 2 relays in the tail. He wasn't sure so I tried a couple things and got it to work with orange jumped to green (ground). I could have tried test riding it with the jumper wire in, but it's too much work to get to. I found a BAS from an ST1100 with the same connector on eBay for $6.50 shipped, and jumped on it. It looked the same in pics, and when it arrived it matched exactly the plug and mounting bolts. I plugged it in and it works! Smacked it round and shook it vertically, and it stays running. I can hear a distinct difference in them, my old one sounded like a bolt inside a plastic box when I shook it, and the other one sounds like it's fluid damped to prevent it moving excessively and shutting the bike down. So that's it! Who would have thought that the BAS could have been slightly damaged enough to work fine for a couple years then start slowly driving me mad?!?! I guess it didn't all spill out, but instead slowly evaporated over time. I rode it a bit yesterday and hit as many sharp bumps as I could stand with no issues. Fixed! Of course I found while the fairings were off that the water pump is dripping from the weep hole. Only one thing that means, water pump is on it's way out. Second one on this bike. I forget the mileage on the first one, 30-ish thousand miles? (edit- Actually more like 50k) I was doing track days and swapping out distilled water and cheap parts store coolant. I figure that I should spring for some fancy silicone hoses while I'm at it. I was looking at another 5th Gen taken apart and the seals for the coolant connections to the cylinders in the V on that bike were perished. So, I'll plan on a full cooling system overhaul in the near future now that I'm earning a proper paycheck again. Probably change the spark plugs too, since I don't know how old mine are and I've got the new COPs. (It never ends!) Apologies for the extreme wordiness of my post, but I wanted to illustrate the difficulties of diagnosing an issue while another crops up in the middle of it.

Got the Panigale 959 look!