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This is a short instructional post on how to install the Factory Pro EVO Shift Star Kit, including the shifter arm and spring and also the shifter Star. The star makes the biggest difference to the shifting experience. :) For any missing pictures from this guide, see the other install guide (only for the shifter arm, not the star) and note that their bike is a lot cleaner than mine!! The kit comes with four pieces: Shifter star Shifter arm Shifter Spring Replacement gasket The kit is designed to provide more positive shifting, reduced dropping from 2nd back to neutral (i.e. missed shifts) and a general more snicky-snicky feel to the gear change. And so without further ado, let's get into it. First up, remove your fairings and drain your oil. No pics for that! After that's done, you need to remove the water pump. You are ONLY removing the two 8mm bolts to do this - don't remove the 10mm bolts because they bolt the pump together! Don't touch these! DO remove these! The water pump simply pulls out away from the bike. You don't need to drain the coolant or anything funky. Just remove it and push it to one side a bit, because all it is attached to now is flexible water hoses. They can take the slight bend no dramas. The ONLY reason we're removing the water pump is to get to a couple more 8mm bolts that hold the shifter mechanism cover in place. Geez!! Once the water pump is off, remove the clutch slave cylinder assembly. After removing the three 8mm bolts, it's a good idea to wrap a zip-tie around the cylinder so you don't accidentally hit the clutch lever and pop the cylinder out! You may want to also use some string or another zip-tie to lift the clutch cylinder out of the way, because it tends to dangle in front of where you will be working. Now we remove the speedo sensor. Two short 8mm bolts, nice and easy. Let the sensor just dangle from its cable. The sprocket cover is next - but I was too stupid to take a picture of that. It's only a few more 8mm bolts though. Once off, you want to put the bike into 1st gear and loosen the sprocket bolt with a 14mm socket. Once that's done, loosen the pinch bolt on the rear axle - you know, the one you use to adjust the chain. Slacken the chain as much as you can, and then remove the front sprocket. Once that's all done, you need to remove the shifter cover plate. It's a lot of bolts! We can now see the shifter mechanism. At this point you need to just gently tug on this until it pops free. Don't lose the two (outer and inner) washers on the shifter though! Note these two washers and don't lose 'em! We now need to remove the bolt that holds on the shifter arm (10mm) and then the 6mm hex bolt which holds the star in place. This bolt is loctited in place so you will feel it "crack" when you loosen it off. Don't worry, the gear drum will only turn a little to the left and then stop securely while you are loosening this bolt NOTE THE CURRENT POSITION OF THE STAR AND DON'T FORGET IT. THE NEW STAR GOES BACK THE SAME WAY. This picture shows FIRST gear, just so you know! Don't lose the washer from the back of the shifter arm - we need to use it on the new one. Here are our new and old shifter stars. Quite a different profile, aren't they! Note that the Factory Pro star only fits one way, using the locating pin which is in the engine already, so it's impossible to get it wrong. Last, we need to install the shifter star and shifter arm. You can do this in either order, but it's probably easier to install the arm first, and then use something strong to push it up and out of the way against spring pressure so you can get the star in place. When installing the star bolt, clean the threads and loctite them first, then torque to spec (24Nm). Make sure the shifter arm is resting on the star in the same position as the original was. It's time now to install the shifter mechanism back into place and temporarily put the gear lever back on. MAKE SURE THE GEAR LEVER FACES rearward, otherwise you will think you have just created a race pattern gearbox and spend twenty minutes wondering how that is even possible... Don't ask how I know this! Temporarily put the front sprocket back on, and tighten up the chain enough to spin the rear wheel and turn the gearbox over. Test going through all the gears - one down, five up. Do it a couple of times until you're confident that neutral is in the right place and the gears are engaging properly. When that's done, install everything in the reverse of disassembly, PUT SOME OIL IN THE ENGINE, and go for a ride! If your water pump doesn't want to fit back easily, it's because the engine has turned over a bit since you remove the pump. You'll need to shine a torch into the hole to see which way the pump driver output shaft is aligned, and then manually turn the water pump's drive shaft to the same alignment. You also may or may not need to replace the shifter cover gasket - certainly mine was in good condition so I just left the original in place.

DSC00525.JPG VFR 800 Shift Kit Install Factory Pro Transmission Detent Arm Kit For a 99 Honda VFR 800 This is the kit as you get it from Factory Pro. It doesn't look like much for $89.95 but it makes quite a difference. The O-ring is a Honda part and not included with the kit. It fits on the back of the water pump as you'll see later. Once you have the left side fairing removed, you can get to the area you'll need to work on. DSC00526.JPG The first part you need to remove is the shift lever. Notice the punch mark on the end of the shift shaft that shows when the lever is properly positioned. DSC00527.JPG By removing the right four bolts, you can get the sprocket cover, speedometer pickup and clutch slave cylinder off as one unit. Keep track of the where the bolts go, they are different lengths. DSC00528.JPG I wired the entire assembly out of my way. Now is a good time to clean this area also. You don't want any dirt getting into the shift mechanism as you disassemble it. DSC00529.JPG Now you can remove the drive chain guide plate. This picture shows the plate and the bolts that have been removed so far. Be careful not to lose the dowel pins that position the guide plate. DSC00530.JPG Loosen the bolt holding the front sprocket, then loosen the chain so you can drop it off the sprocket and remove the sprocket from the shaft. DSC00531.JPG Here's what you'll have after the sprocket is out of the way. Again, clean as you go. DSC00532.JPG Remove the water pump by removing the upper right and lower left bolts. The directions from Factory Pro tell you to drain the coolant but there is no need to do that. Leave the hoses hooked to the pump and remove the entire unit as an assembly. If you haven't drained the oil, have a drip pan under the bike. You will loose some oil when you pull the water pump. I also removed the bolt holding the kickstand switch so I could move the wire out of my way. DSC00533.JPG Remove the bolt and stopper plate located below the countershaft. DSC00534.JPG Remove the six bolts holding the gearshift linkage cover and remove the cover. Mine was stuck pretty well and required some work to free up. Resist the urge to reach behind the cover and pry. Again, oil is draining from behind the loose cover. If I had to do this again, I would drain the oil before I begin. I lost 42 ounces of oil total. Be sure to top the bike back up before starting the engine. DSC00535.jpg Here you can see the cover off the bike. Be careful not to lose the dowel pins that align the cover. Also, the gearshift spindle has a washer on the front and back side. The front washer came with the cover when I removed it. Don't lose it. DSC00536.jpg Here is the bike with the gearshift linkage cover removed. DSC00537.jpg Pull straight out on the gearshift spindle to remove it. Be careful not to lose the washer on the back side. Now you'll be able to see where the new detent arm and spring fit. DSC00538.jpg Remove the bolt holding the detent arm, the arm, the spring and the washer. Here is what the old and new parts look like side by side. DSC00540.jpg Here you can see the new detent arm installed. It's a bit of a pain to get everything lined up and get the bolt started because you are fighting the spring tension while installing it. Be careful to get everything properly lined up and make sure the bolt is started straight. You do not want it cross threaded. Don't forget to install the washer in the same position you found it during disassembly. DSC00541.jpg You can assemble in the reverse order. Be sure to clean the old gasket off the cover and install the new one that came with the kit. Be sure all the dowel pins that help position the cover are in place also. DSC00542.jpg Install a new O-ring on the back of the water pump before sliding it back into position. DSC00543.jpg Put the stopper plate and bolt back on. DSC00544.jpg Install the dowel pins, drive chain guide plate, sprocket and chain. Be sure to check your chain adjustment and tighten the bolt at the back of the swingarm. DSC00546.jpg Install the sprocket cover. Be sure the speedometer pickup fits over the front sprocket bolt. DSC00547.jpg Install the shift lever and the fairing, and you're finished. DSC00548.jpg The entire project took me the better part of a day. The bike shifts much better now, especially in the upper gears. It's not a flashy upgrade, but I think it's worth the money. WARNING - THIS GUIDE IS MEANT FOR REFERENCE USE ONLY. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU HAVE THE FACTORY HONDA SERVICE MANUAL BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS INSTALLATION. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN IT AS WELL AS FACTORY PRO'S INSTRUCTION SHEET. IF YOU SCREW SOMETHING UP, IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM. Thanks.[/color]

I noticed that the photos in the original message were all missing, so I searched for them in the Internet Archive and uploaded them to a gallery, here: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...&album=4372 HTH. Ciao,