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So I took a long hiatus from riding. Probably a familar story, I used to ride all the time but got married had kids decided I shouldn't be hooliganing around on my bike and sold it. So fast forward 15 years... I've always really liked 5th gen VFR's and always wanted one. Welp 18 months ago (roughly) I finally was like f'k it i'm getting a bike and I put search alerts up for a 5th gen vfr and bid my time. Finally I saw a deal pop up that I pounced on. A 1998, with 13k miles on it, the previous owner had an incident where it fell over in gravel 😐 so the fairing on the one side is scratched up. But I thought to myself at that mileage, for 2K hell I haven't ridden in 15 years maybe it's not so bad if there's scratches (barely noticeable from 10 feet away). So with cash in hand I came home with my VFR. At first I was unexpectedly a nervous rider, that only lasted a couple weeks as I got my riding instincts back. It probably took took a good 6 months before I was really second nature and was riding with my bike, instead of "on" my bike. But now, 5K miles later I ride whenever I can. Whether it's a simple hey we need some small item that will fit in my tail bag (I have a tank bag that I put over the pillion, which works really well) Or I just want to ride for the heck of it as long it's above freezing I'm good. Just other day I was riding though and I was really starting to push her through her paces. The bike is definitely still more capable then I but I feel very competent once more. But I just came away with what an awesome all around bike this truly is. It's one thing to know that you are getting a great bike, but another to experience and feel it in your bones. Anyhoo just wanted to chime that in... (Pic from day i brought her home)

So, after 15 years of not riding, I have finally got myself back on two wheels. My wife surprised me in February with a white 2014 VFR for Valentine's day. I love it but I do still miss "Simone", my 2002 VFR that I sold back in 2007. I have since named the new bike, "Marilyn". Here are pictures of Marilyn and Simone. Why did I say, "New member...but not new member", well I was a member of VFRD back when I owned Simone. I recognize some of the names that were around when I was last a member and it is good to see that they are still here.

Ah thanks for the warm welcome! Pictures as requested. The bike is a late 2007, just ticked over 20k miles in the week I've had it. Service history was fairly meticulous until 2018 when it went to the guy I bought it off, who didn't service it, but only did about 800 miles in 4 years. I've changed the oil and air filter, and plan to do the coolant, but will be dodging the brake fluid change for sure haha! Mostly standard but has Staintune cans, Motad stainless downpipes, which sound absolutely awesome. Also a nice custom seat, and Oxford heated grips. My first heated grips woohoo. I was very unhappy with the low speed throttle response, but have done the PAIR mod and that's made an enormous difference. Also got o2 eliminators on older so will see what effect they have. Not planning on buying a piggyback ECU at this stage. Next step is to fit a new tank pad and line it up properly, the one it has now is wonky as you can see in the pictures

TWO WEEKS! I'm so ready for this.

A pic from the other day. I have since installed the upper cowl with lights and am just waiting to get in the paint booth to finish the right side panel, then it will be done.

Not that they could! Probably strip the plastic nuts.

The unfortunate reality these days . . . if at all possible, I recommend DIY to everyone. There's more knowledge here than at most dealer shops.

Hotel reservation booked. See y'all on the 19th. Bill Mersch, aka Mister Bill

Started out in Toronto and headed 60kms north to Belfountain. Great ride. Great Weather. Great VFR engine and sound. All is perfect in the world. Enjoy the pics. Ride safe!

Alright, you bastages....you talked me into it.

Im not on the forum regularly anymore, and when i do get on i usually have a PM asking about this build and or how to find the post. It has been archived, can find if googled. Im asked if i still have and ride. Yes regularly 67,000 miles running as strong as ever, and added a Dymag CBR600F4I front wheel and EBC rotors recently. Laid it down last fall (cold tires sat behind slow moving cars way to long and then to aggressive on very next turn, which my pride was hurt most of all when those two cars passed me as i was trying to pick her up, LOL. So has all new right side just needs fairing touched up. I am glad everything is aftermarket on the bike because a lot "new" OEM parts are not available any more. 399lb VFR848, was not the best choice for topic name, but i think in down to 396 dry. Google link attached

You to take the BMW oath when you go to the dealership “ Open your wallet and say …Help yourself”

I’m bringing my No-Mar setup, just in case someone has tire issues. Plus, 3 bikes. 😬

I won't let a dealer tighten a license plate bolt.......

Here's an even faster colour... Ciao, JZH

My last 5G was a red 99, and I really wanted to find another just like it. However, at the time I was shopping, there were no decent red ones, only this one in yellow. I wasn't sure that I wanted a yellow VFR, but I am now absolutely smitten and think it might be the best colour ever. Actually called Pearl Shine Yellow, it has a very fine pearl mixed into the yellow, and looks awesome in the sunshine. On the downside, it sure does show up any bugs that are magnetically attracted...

Kernville Inn, you say? I spent a night there back in 2004, and rode Sherman Pass over to Hwy 395. I don't imagine that it'll be on your agenda given that you are cage-bound. Kinda looks like Mars, doncha think?

Don't use tap, thread-chaser better for cleaning existing threads. Most of load is carried on skin of bolt. Equation for torsional rigidity is 4th-power. So tiny increase in diameter increases strength tremendously. Going from 8mm bolt most commonly used on calipers to 10mm increases rigidity by 244%. To solve for loss of rigidity when hollowing out bolt, take torsional rigidity of bolt same size as hole and subtract from larger value of solid bolt. You'll see it actually loses very little being hollow. That's also why axles are hollow. And tubing used in trellis and bicycle frames are hollow. In fact, Ducatis are made from same Columbus chromoly tubing used to make racing bicycle frames. BTW, calculate tension on bolt from torque used, it's nowhere even close to yield-strength of material. In fact, it's well below fatigue-limit, meaning it can undergo infinite tightening/loosening cycles (SN) to spec torque without failure. Photo above of stretched Triumph bolt was obviously from over-tightening. Also came from land of warm beer because Lucas Electronics also makes refrigerators...

Lawyers?

Hey everyone! Long time no talk! I've been busy chipping away on this bike whenever I got time. I decided I'm gonna attack this project in two parts: #1 is replace essential parts and determine if the bike will run, and if all that works out, #2 is start doing more related maintenance items. So that's what I did. The big things I got done were having the injectors rebuilt, checking the valve clearance, cleaning the tank, and slowly replacing parts of the bike (when said parts showed up). The cylinder 2 valves were a little bit tight, but I decided to throw it back together anyway because I was not sure if replacing valve shims was the best thing to do...I didn't know if the rest of the motor was mechanically sound. So after checking valve clearance, I received my freshly rebuilt injectors and put together the whole throttle body/airbox assembly. I got new injector orings, replaced most of the vacuum hoses with silicone ones, gave everything a good clean, and started reassembling. Getting all those vacuum lines sorted to the right places was a bit of a challenge, but it wasn't that bad. After getting the whole airbox and TB assy put back together, I moved to the tank. This tank was NASTY! Probably the worst I've ever seen. Someone at some point put in some of that Kreem fuel tank sealant, so that was everywhere, but peeling off of the walls of the tank. I stuck my hand into the opening where the fuel pickup goes and peeled off as much as I could. I couldn't get my arm too far into the tank though, so the front end of the tank still had plenty of Kreem shit in it. My solution was to go to Home Depot and get some paint stripper. This stuff dissolved the Kreem like a dream! This was a pretty messy and smelly process, but I got it done. After that, I picked up some vinegar to start to chip away at all the rust in the tank. I threw a bunch of screws in there, poured in the vinegar, and let it sit for a couple days at different angles to get different parts of the tank submerged. After about a week of this I moved to the agitation step: shook the tank-vinegar-screws mixture to death. I was actually super surprised how well the rust came out! The whole top side of the tank is pretty perfect now. That said, It was difficult to get the bottom side of the tank submerged without having the fuel level sensor or fuel pump assy installed; the vinegar just wanted to pour out. I didn't get that part of the tank as rust free as I wanted to, so I am probably going to come back to this portion of the build. I was worried I would mess up the fuel pump and level sensor if I submerged the poor things in vinegar for a few days. Let me know if you guys think it would be fine, maybe Ill pull the pump and filter out and reinstall the sending unit (part that bolts to the tank). Also during all this tank main't I replaced the fuel pump and filter. With the tank good to go, an oil change done, new (correct) spark plugs installed, the air box ready, I was ready to finally find out if this motor will run. I put it all together, I added some fuel to the tank, and cranked it. The ol girl did not want to start at first, even after priming the fuel pump many times, all I would get is a few pops out of the exhaust. I waited 10 mins, cranked it again holding the throttle at about 30%, and it lit off for a second and got up to about 2500rpm for a split second before shutting off. I had hope! Tried to crank it again and no luck. At this point, I was starting to think I had a big vacuum leak somewhere, because the bike was clearly getting fuel, air, and spark, but it sounded like it was not getting enough fuel. I turned my battery charger back on and went inside to eat dinner, thinking I'll let the starter have a break and maybe those injectors still have some air in them. I ate a taco, came back out, cranked it, it popped a few times but still nothing. I gave it a minute, put the throttle at 20-30%, and hit the start button. It started!! I held it at around 2k rpm then let off and it idled low for a second and then died. I started it again, kept giving it small revs, and the longer it ran the better it was doing! It was pretty smoky at first and a bunch of water came out of the exhaust when it lit off, which had me worried it had a blown head gasket, but I figured I'd let it run and sure enough the smoke cleared up, and it was running like a champ! The coolant came up to temp and stayed there! I even pulled the clutch and put it in gear and ran it through the gears just because, and trans was doing well too! I was suprised how hard the bike was to start, but oh well at least its good now. So. That was long winded, but the bike runs! All that was last night, this morning I went to start the bike just to see, and it started right up no problem. We're in business! Moving forward: I guess it's time to order the rest of the parts and do things right. I need to order a seat, gas cap, flush the brakes and fluid, and 25 other small things before this project will be done and ridable. Also the plastics that I have for the bike are pretty grungy, those might be on the chopping block for replacement as well. I also need to finish descaling the tank and replace some valve shims. This project is under way!

Took the VFR for a shakedown run on the weekend. New Road 5s to break in and pearl white wheels to show off. God damn its like having a new bike. It looks so good in person its amazing. All systems check. Glad to back on 2 wheels. Ride safe everyone!! Drivers are not used to seeing bikes on the road as of yet.

Not sure I understand this thread. Are you saying that there are certain times of year when you just park the bikes in the garage for months and don't ride? Doesn't make sense.

Its one of the things I want to do once I retire. Just to keep my hands busy. Oil Cooler+line kit, FPR kit. +/- Injectors etc. Unfortunately I'm in the UK so, shipping would be a killer, for US guys, which is mostly where the market would be. But we really could do with a VFR store listing all the custom options we can get & who from.

Sand the brushes a little. I know this sounds weird, but get yourself an old school red rubber eraser for the armature. Anybody that raced slot cars knows what I'm talking about. Look into solder seal wire connectors and a good heat gun if you're solder skills are lacking. You can source the plug kits off ebay.

I went so far as to buy some Pazzo levers and have them laser engraved...

Sounds like a pretty sensible life goal to me. I see you left out the 2nd gen, I recently bought and lightly restored one of these but fell out of love with it quite quickly as while very pretty, it just felt kind of old. I started riding in the era of tube frames, crossply tyres and single piston callipers, things did get much better with the advent of alloy frames, decent forks, 17" wheels, and the 3rd gen onwards would fulfill my criteria for "modern (ish)". Oddly enough I've never ridden either the 3rd or 4th gen, but have owned a VF750F, multiple VFR700/750 RC24s, two 5th gens, and I have ridden the 6th and 8th. I still think a gently upgraded 5th gen is the sweet spot.

Post 2-hour session with Deloitte to clear my head ride 🙂

Yall said May 1-9, right...

Good day, fellow riders. I went on another group ride for 125 miles. There were four of us. Stopped off at Hagg lake (south west of Forest Grove, Oregon). The road around the lake was the ideal smoothness for all roads. I would go back there just to ride on that loop around the lake. Anyway. The group leader took a photo of us individually in front of the lake. When I got home, I swapped out the OEM wind screen for my new D200S from Givi. I am waiting for a pair of Forma Jasper riding boots to be delivered now, too. Wednesday, Portland, Oregon is supposed to be 71 and cloudy, but no rain. May ride my bike to work.

Be careful about replacing steel directly with Ti in high-load structural applications. While yield and ultimate-strength of grade-9 3al/2.5v Ti is similar to 4130 chromoly steel, Ti has only 1/2 the rigidity (young's modulus). Meaning while both can take similar loads before breaking, the Ti will flex more under same loads. Ti's modulus is only 1/2 of steel regardless of alloy composition of either. So for same loads, Ti will bend twice as much! For something like radial caliper mounting where rigidity is important, I'd stay away from Ti. Applications using Ti would be specifically designed with material's properties in mind. In this case, if Honda was to use Ti bolts, they would probably use 12mm Ti bolts to account for its higher bending amounts.

Fresh oil and valve clearance check for a 1000km/3day trip to Luxemburg in 1.5 week time. So a wee shakedown run was due... Irridium is so 80's, not 50's.... But it is a perfect sun screen

Good one. Actually she was angry at me for waking her up. If I could find a helmet to fit her she could come riding with me. But there is an on-going discussion between us over just who's chair that is. I am sorry for the thread highjack.

I have never replaced calliper bolts either. My logic is they are steel bolts @ low torque where the alloy that it threads into is the limiting factor.

I count four!

Welcome to the asylum vikingGoalie from the Land Of Interesting Weather. You obviously have great taste in mc's. Best generation in the fastest color. I hope all your riding is safe.

Strange coincidence... I just pulled my "new old stock" carbon fiber one out of my toolbox to install it. Rivcyko (Travis Paul) is on facebook and last I heard, he had just a couple left. The molds are long gone.

Sooooo....waht is it? Gotta photo? 🙂

"Can't ship to Norway at the moment because we are busy violating another country".... Yeah, why would you buy from a Russion shop to begin with eh?

And to get back to the hotel unscathed each day! 😉 I haven't attended the spring ride for several years. But if I remember correctly, just talking with various folks the night before will give you an idea who's going where, what roads they want to hit, about how many miles they're planning to ride (or number of hours out that day), and - most importantly - what kind of pace they're planning to run. The groups tend to form around those parameters. I think most groups back then were 4-6 people, maybe a few more with the more leisurely pace group. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Like I said, it's been a while since I did this ride.

The settings are not going to translate from one bike to the next. Sag must be set to the bike and rider, not to someone else's results. Look up David Moss videos on YouTube. He's the expert. You'll learn a ton.

Not to get too off-topic, but, this was my little buddy, when I lived in Illinois. IMG_1716.MOV

Hey ducnut - thanks for the pic of your airbox, looks great. Turns out that placing the entire K&N on top the airbox as in this photo doesn’t leave room to lower the tank. This is why Mohawk partly recessed the K&N. Over this past weekend, we ran another airbox lid with a smaller aperture DNA filter that fit under the tank. To get the bigmouth large aperture K&N into operation, we will mod the K&N lid to lower the filter so the tank can close. Back to the thread topic - HUGE thanks to everyone who answered and contributed here. Couldn’t have done it without you. The new wiring harness and VFRness combo succeeded in solving the electrical problem: Scarlet (her name) is harmonized and working great. There was a brief hiccup at 10k rpm in 4th gear for the first couple sessions, but the My Tuning Bike autotune smoothed it out. So fun to be back on my favorite VFR! Side note: Yamaha Champ school was on site w a demo fleet, so was able to take a 2022 R1 out for a session. Even on the most restrictive power delivery and most invasive TC/ABS settings, the R1 was far and away the finest motorcycle I’ve yet ridden (And I’ve owned a good albeit old bike or two: RC45, Duc 888, etc). The R1’s OEM Nissin brakes were phenomenal. QS/autoblipper were seamless. The R1 wasn’t as quickly responsive to steering input as my RSV4 and felt larger, but was still an amazing blast to ride. (Hey vfrcapn - yup, that’s the bodywork and frame sliders you sold me - good stuff)

Hi Dangeruss - no worries about the derail, but I don’t have a lot of info for you at this time. Because of relocating to Las Vegas for a new job, this is the first time I just took a bike and a pile of parts to a mechanic and asked them to do the work. Thus I’m not certain how James went about getting the hose through the swingarm. I do know that he went with a hose that has detachable fittings so he wouldn’t have to make the holes any larger than necessary. I’ll check the routing of the rear brake hose tomorrow when I’m finally reunited with the 5 gen - haven’t ridden it in more than 3 years and am missing it badly! If it helps your project, I have a bracket that a member here CNC’d to mount a 32mm or 34mm Brembo to the OEM rear brake caliper hanger. I didn’t need it because we installed a complete Duc eccentric, rotor, and brake hanger assembly. Couldn’t find photos I know I have of the part, but will get those photos for you if you’re interested. Here’s one more teaser - this is how James put the K&N filter into the top of the airbox to make room for the double velocity stacks: Learned last night that James had installed a CA ECU on my 5 gen (I had given him 3 ECUs to test against the electrical problem) because the places the original harness had melted wires made him suspicious of the 49 state ECU I had supplied with the 5 gen. So the dyno was skewed toward the dumbed down CA ECU and Rapid Bike autotune was working against the ECU limitations as well. So HUGE SHOUT OUT to Duc2V4 for breaking into his work prep last night and pulling his 49 state ECU out for me to borrow and run at the track this weekend. Last night Duc2V4 was fully immersed in prepping for his out of town work project today, but still made time to help out a friend - amazing dude.

I can only dream😍 If you go to the auction site there are some very high quality photos of this bike. Only a couple of days left guys and girls. Did you get the ten you ordered from those long lost RC30’s found in that warehouse Grum? 😂 If not here’s another chance mate.

Download the Galfer instructions for the kit... they mention and supply two "olive" conic inversers (their term), which are brass ferrules to insert into two fittings where an OEM line joins theirs...... these will crush slightly as you snug up the fittings, thus taking up any difference between the two flares and seal properly... I am wondering if you are missing these. I have no pics of the item, nor it appears does Galfer. They would have been in your kit. Recommend you download the instructions from Galfer for the D195-11 kit. One "olive" and fitting goes on the end of line "D" and the other on the end of line "F". In both locations you are mating to an existing steel line. I do not see the block fitting in your photo, so perhaps you are doing it differently or not using the 11 line kit. Tighten as you might, it may not seal? https://galferusa.com/technical/instructions/honda-instructions