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Bringing this thread back because............I finally finished my conversion - Ducati, 848 rear hub, OZ 5.5" wheel, conversion kit from Extreme Creations in Oz, aftermarket cushdrive and sprocket kit, some Ti hardware as well. About 100mi so far, no issues

2nd set of front wheel spacers installed, made a little smarter this time. Was able to install the right dust seal and wheel is now perfectly centered. Blue fender looks way better out in natural light. Not a perfect match, but it is damn close and looks good. Also made a new plate mount and rear turn signal brackets, tucked up nicely.

Turning a beautiful golden hue.

After a 15 year hiatus I picked up a 2002 VFR last Friday May 22nd. She had 18k and wasn't pristine but the price was right. She had fresh Pirelli Angel ST's and just had her oil change. A bunch of records from the previous 3 owners and OEM saddle bags. I knew she had been down and had been repaired but looked to be all cosmetic. Went for test ride and I immediately wanted to take her home. Made and offer and after a little back and forth settled on number that we were both comfortable with. Rode her home and started thinking about all the general maintenance items I wanted to do. Fast forward to the Sunday before Memorial Day....even though I just bought the 02, I was still watching Craigslist. Saw an ad for a 01. Less miles and some extras thrown in. Emailed the guy and got a reply the next morning on Memorial Day. Setup a time to meet in the afternoon and later that afternoon brought home my 2nd bike in 4 days. LOL! The 01 was a garage queen and hardly even ridden. Never been down and looks to be very well maintained. The guy was the 2nd owner and had the bike for the past 13 years. Aside from the double bubble wind screen she seems to be all stock. Came with a pair of Gaerne boots (fits!), Aerostich Road Crafter( fits...score!), light rain suit, 2 bike covers, rear seat cowl, tank bag, 4 beat up helmets (he said from the original owner),and the original wind screen. For now I plan on keeping both and going through both of them to get them up to date on all services. I will give the 01 fresh Pirelli Diablos, change all fluids, fresh pads and possibly rebuild the calipers, steel braided lines, and setup the suspension for my weight and then go from there. The 02 needs right front brake caliper as it has tiny leak and I need to replace the oil cooler lines as the metal parts are corroded. Will change all the fluids as well. I'll probably add steel braided lines on this bike as well and then setup the suspension. Hope to glean more info here as I slowly get both these beauties up to snuff. When I first started riding I could not afford the VFR, so I settled for the YZF600R (I hear it was called the poor man's VFR....hahaha). I loved that bike. Now I have 2 of the bikes I originally wanted way back then. I'm also on VFRW under the same name. BTW, is anyone else bummed that there is no MotoAmerica, WSBK, and MotoGP?!

Yesterday I fitted the quadlock stem mount and today a double bubble screen, hopefully get it out for a spin tomorrow to check both upgrades out

I just replaced the tyres on my ST1300; visibly I thought they didn't look bad, but I cannot believe how much easier the bike steers with the new tyres fitted, took me a fw km to trust that the bike was not just falling over on it's side, which was another way of saying I was unconciously holding it down in turns on the old tyres.

A bald front tyre is going to give heavy steering

Floated Bud around the garage with my new Abba Sky Lift. Worth every penny...

You want Pirelli Angel GT2 A-spec tires, for that bike. The A-spec are a heavier duty carcass and compound designed for heavier sport-touring bikes, like the VFR12. This tire will much better support the weight during cornering and provide much better wear characteristics than the common tires most have suggested/will suggest. You want to replace them together. Just mounting a new set of these tires, properly inflated, will transform your bike.

For grins posting one of many head spinning twisty maps. Better have your head in the game.

Tim, thanks for the Ohio riding report, great stuff. Jeez, I havent been out that way in way too long, my mileage is way down, seems like I do more wrenching vs riding. SE Ohio is indeed motorcycle playground, all that area from 555 to Marieta, I used to love hauling ass on 26S to Marieta. Gotta get back in the groove.

Compare the tires' profile to new ones. If the crown is worn down, it will make it less willing to lean. Sounds like time for new ones if they're down to the wear bars. I would see how it responds with new tires before drawing any conclusions.

With the exhaust... It's a simple way to slightly enrich the mixture across the board. Basically, it fools your bike into thinking the air is colder (and therefore denser) than it is. It's a quick and dirty compromise. Dyno tunes are all well and good, but unless you have an unlimited budget or own the dyno, you're going to pay them to try and spit out maximum power at wide open throttle, which isn't necessarily ideal for other conditions. Also a quick and dirty compromise. Meanwhile, your stock map is neither quick nor dirty, but it's definitely a compromise with emissions laws written by people with little understanding of actual combustion, leaving your engine running on the lean side. Pick yer poison... I prefer to stay away from overly lean conditions and I don't have the time or budget to pay for my theoretical ideal tune... The Booster Plug is cheap and reasonably effective.

The road grit gets into the swing arm through the big openings on either side of the shock, and eventually stops the eccentric from rotating (which makes it difficult to adjust the chain). Ciao, JZH

Same here. 10 years and 120,000km later and I still say it. I turned down my wife's suggestion earlier this week that I should look at a new bike b/c maybe prices will be better. Never gave it a second thought.

I did the Front Fork oil replacement on my 2014, went well though a little bit of mucking around getting the damping rod adjuster right on the first one, learnt the lesson for the 2nd one. I have also been busy with servicing and detailing my Wifes new ride a 2009 Triumph Bonneville SE.

Cars........ What can I say....

I know there are a lot of "OEM only" types here, but I've had excellent luck with Napa filters. Never had any leaks and I've never had any issues with removal. I use this technique that I've developed: I grab the filter with my hand and I turn it counter clockwise. Admittedly, I'm a bit of a moose. Interestingly, I'm still stymied by the occasional pickle jar...

A great day to be out, and yes, whitey and me became good friends. Bike handles great. I did hve a 1998 version, but this 2K version is different.. Not on the chassis, but engine wise, everything is much smoother.. At low rpms throughout the middle towards redline, there are no hickups or flat spots.. I guess the updated version nailed it for me.. She's welcome to stay..

End result..

Nearly there.

That bad looking came from whitey.. The good looking engine came with the donor.. Don't get me wrong.. My 1000R mill looked worse, and in fact was seized after two years neglecting/non running.. But it came out nice after a full resto.. Full engine resto means another 200 hrs.. The donor saved me a lot of time..

Just curious if any VFR riders out there currently use Joe Rocket riding jackets, especially the textile/mesh types from recent years. I just ordered the "Joe Rocket Honda VFR Jacket". The only thing on the jacket that indicates "VFR" is a small tag on the front left chest area. I think it looks really sharp and has some highly reflective qualities that I was looking for as visibility is immensely important in today's motoring world (then again, it may not be that important if people are constantly looking at their phones instead of what's out in front of them.) Not many reviews yet on Revzilla, but of the 7, all were very good. Mine will arrive in a couple of days, but if anyone has anything good or not-so-good to report or look out for, let me know. I bought mine from a local motorsports dealer near where I work.

I put a bid on a pair of calipers on ebay, not really expecting to get them, but I did. So I guess I'm using used calipers. I hope I don't have to put a bunch of money in them. Which reminds me of why I resisted doing this swap for so long. Damn, it's expensive! I rode a VFR with Brembos years ago and it was awesome, so I'm keeping that in mind. Here's a parts list, including shipping: RC36-2 wheel: $175 on VFRD classifieds, perfect condition, unfortunately RC36-2 wheels are black Powdercoat wheel: $175 estimated, being done now (getting the original rear done too, another $175 est, but not counting that here) Braking rotors: $318 on ebay, new Rotor screws: gotta look this up, $30? at David Silver Calipers: $175 on ebay, used Caliper mounts: $110 on Webike Things I still need: Front wheel bearings & seals Tire mounting Caliper mounting hardware Master cylinder edit: Pads too Things I hope I don't need: caliper rebuild parts longer brake hoses So I'm already $1000 into it, need another $300-$350, and hope I don't need $250 more on top of that. That's why I throw away receipts and don't think about these things. Also I need to remember that whatever new or late-model bike I "could have bought" for what I've spent on this one, I don't want anyway. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks for the pic birddseedd. You've obviously have great taste in mc's. But I'd be remiss if I didn't comment on the safty of trailer pulling with a sport touring motorcycle. The owners guide specifically warns against it. I see a time-sucking project ahead of you. Enjoy!

Your map captures much of the good stuff.... I hear they are paving half of 555 this year. Our FJR group has an annual spring ramble, but it wasn't held this year... I always go, then go later to an ST event usually in Hocking Hills area in June.... ain't happening this year for me.... Spend a few days there, you'll love it, and yes watch for those go up a little hill that drops off on the other side and makes a sharp turn with no warning sign.... helps to be a local or have ridden that a few times. That said, I could easily spend a week in NC, N. GA, TN, SC area and leave a lot for the next time.

Howdy from Down Under. So a little while ago I bought a VFR750.. in 1992. It was a 88 model and a lovely bike and great sound, but as a youngster with too much money, 6months later I bought a 93 Fireblade. A few years passed and a bunch of bikes later, I bought a new 98 model VFR. I sold a VTR1000 for the VFR and it was pretty much the same power and I could easily mono it without the clutch like the VTR and with the remus pipe it sounded fantastic. That love affair lasted a year or so and then on it went. Some bikes and years later I bought a 04 VFR Vtec in 2014 but there was no longer love there as without the gear drive I felt an aural loss and the VTEC was not pretty. A friend bought it, who ironically had a 95 VFR750 and now enjoys the occasional blast on the VFR800. With the exception of the VFR in 98, since 96 I have only owned twins. Guzzi - which I have 3 currently, ducati, harley, VTR's, TRX850's, buell, but there was always a good chance that another VFR would come along and today it now sits in the garage. Since I had the Blade in 93, none of my bikes have stayed standard, some a lot less than others ! The Blade got an RC30 swingarm and marvic wheel upgrade in 94, my first guzzi in 96 became what was to become my first cafe racer out of many, and my next guzzi V11 got a lot of changes as well. Possibly the most modified was my TRX850 that I did in 2016. Virtually unrecognizable with R1 forks, triumph speed triple swingarm, hyperpro shock, ducati ducktail and seat, custom pipes, R6 radiator, handmade headlight and triples clamps. Anyways.. the VFR800 is a 99 model with about 85,000km on it, and sounds terrific, but doesnt look so great. But as you can tell I like to tinker and make stuff and thats why I bought it. Over the next year or so, I will be making my style of a modern version of the Cafe Racer concept. I haven't seen too many VFR's that are my style so to speak, so hopefully it will turn out nice. Basic concept is a naked with USD front end, vfr800f rear wheel setup (in the post as I write), brembo rear caliper - strangely enough I made a caliper plate for a VFR800 swingarm that I mounted to a VTR1000 (thats another story..), TLR or similar radiator, some nice rearsets, single speedo tacho classic acewell gauge, suitable ducktail/rear end and a nice set of pipes. Below are the TRX, ST2 duke and Guzzi V11 so you can see where the VFR will go to over time. I'm really looking forward to sitting on this and hearing the engine whir like the precision instrument it is.. come along for the ride too. and the caliper bracket I did for the VTR The builds are on my flickr pages if you're interested https://www.flickr.com/photos/knumbnutz/albums No doubt I'll be asking a million questions, so bare with me. Cheers Neil

Yeah I looked at using one of those but since none of the wires going to the button switches carry current, i used small wire which wasnt really a hassle. Moreover, it was me being a tight ass not to bother buying the little m button thing. Im using another M Unit on this VFR build too, theyre great and saves on electronic relays for the indicators and headlight relays and also fuses them all. I really can't understand why manufacturers don't do something similar instead of fuse blocks and relays...

The F4 has compression damper adjusters at the bottom on the sliders, so if you use the VFR cartridge you will need a means to seal that extra hole. I fitted Honda cartridges to a Kawasaki lower, that had a much large bottom bolt. I turned the Kawa bolt down & cut a new thread to suit the Honda cartridge. You might be able to do the same, or use a sleeve to centre the VFR bolt in the CBR hole !

For 2nd issue check if leaver heights are OK for You. They should be adjusted form your height

Congratulations Dutchy! She's looking quite fabulous for an elderly lady. Good work.

Waiting for the inspection Pass!!!!! The Italian registratiom is changed for a Dutch one. Had to do the (import)tax registration as well, even though it will be zero.. rules are rules eh? Next week they'll send me the card and number; I can then have a steel plate stamped.

The known best R/R upgrades are the Shindengen FH020AA or SH847 if installed properly to current art, it eliminates any need for the Vfrness. RM stator R/R? IMHO pass on that one. Keep an eye on it.

I've subscribed to Rider magazine for years. I even got their leather jacket when they offered a life time subscription.

They seem to have pretty bad reviews when I look them up. Sounds like a lot of customers never receive their order.

That shot was taken on the Dragon a couple of years ago and no, it hasn't been lowered. Just fully loaded and cornering hard. The back end skipped out on me during that run. It's got progressive springs and roll bars and they can spin without much notice once they loose grip with that set-up. It was a chilly day so the tires would have less than optimal grip as well.

Oh m8. Never tighten a new filter with these. Great for removal only. Weapon Of Mass Destruction!

For a long time now I have been custodian of my great uncles collection of photos and medals from the war. He was a fighter pilot in 3 Squadron RAAF and learned to fly in England on the spitfire, before going to North Africa to fight against Rommel. His main aircraft was the Kittyhawk though but on the 20th Oct 1942 he was killed in action. As a kid though, I loved watching Baa Baa Black Sheep and seeing that blue Corsair fight the japs. .... now we're riding jap bikes !

Actually your stator looks reasonably good! (See picture of a bad one attached, they can even be far worse) The coils and varnish don't look too overheated or badly burnt on yours. "Did static voltage test on stator and was very low (10-12v). Seems like the test failed." ! Did you measure this Voltage at the 3 yellow wire connector unplugged from the R/R? With the engine running and measuring between any pair of the 3 yellow wires you should read greater than 50v AC. (From memory). Did you have your meter set to AC Voltage? Stators usually fail by shorting to frame. You need to measure the Yellow stator wires for resistance to frame. You should NOT read low ohms to ground. Any low reading will mean your stator has shorted. You should read a virtual short when measuring between the Yellow wires (coil resistance). Wire to wire. So the important thing is - How does is measure Ohmically for shorts to ground and coil continuity? Tie a strong cord to the plug then wrap plenty of tape around the plug to take away the sharp edges of the plug tapering it back to the leads making it easier to get through the valley. The 3 wire connector to the R/R is a weak link, make sure the connectors are not burnt. Often best to remove the connector and solder and sleeve the wires directly to the R/R wires. Measuring your charging Voltage at the battery with engine running you should see anything from 13.5 to 14.5 and NO greater than 15.5v DC.

Which is your right. I'm of the carefully considered opinion that I'm human and make mistakes, so wearing Hi-Viz, LED lights, loud exhaust and riding with the understanding that a significant number of others on the road wont see or care if they do see me, means that I'm covering every base. My #1 consideration is getting home safely from riding my bike. I've never understood why so many bikers think riding is a fashion statement and they have to look good (badass, cool, sexy - whatever). If you think that merely riding with an opinion is as safe as all the other measures you could take AS WELL, then you are deluding yourself. Ask yourself why you would NOT do more to ensure your own safety? JMO

That is absolutely horrendous. What a labor of love to clean that up.

I think you need a bigger security chain🤔

Starting to put items back on how they should be,.

Display is working again..

You mean like this one?

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/uploads/1126494639/gallery_4707_678_845000.jpg[/img] I recently replaced my chain [EK 530ZVX, in CHROME!] and front sprocket [AFAM 17T], along with installing a FactoryPro shift kit. I chose to use EK's Screw-Link instead of buying a cheesy chain tool or trusting a bike shop to do it, etc etc as has been discussed here many, many times. But my problem was that there was very little information out there on exactly how to install it and if it was reliable. In fact, all of the vendors who sell it had little or no idea how it was installed, and some even had it totally wrong!! I Googled the crap out of it, but only our own BatBike Chris had used it, as far as I could tell. He said good things about it, so I decided to give it the full engineer's test and evaluation program. Finally, I got my hands on a many-times-faxed copy of EK's broken-English directions, and away I went. Let's talk about the testing first, then go back to the install procedure. After I installed according to directions and my best judgement, I rode the bike hard for a few days, making some extended 3-digit speed runs. Then, [since I had bought two link kits for testing purposes] I tried my darnest to pry the sideplate off. trying to pry.JPG That didn't work, so I ground the ends of the rivets down, at varying levels of destruction, and pried some more. No luck. Finally, I ground nearly all the way through, and centerpunched the pins out, no problem. So, we now know they're removable, if you work at it. We also know they won't pop off in a hard sweeper!! ground down pins.JPG ground down more.JPG I won't go into the chain install, but suffice to say that when you get it on, with the tension adjuster all the way forward and "loose", the unmade chain ends want to be at about 2 o'clock on your rear sprocket, like this. new link going in.JPG I used the x-rings that came with my new chain, and the lube pack. The Screw-Link didn't come with lube (or instructions). So, once you have the link in place with lube, o/x-rings and the sideplate is pushed on, you run the little black nuts onto the pins finger tight only. IMPORTANT: 1) the nuts have a slight chamfer at the threads on one end only that goes against the sideplate. If you muff this, you'll wring off the pin prematurely. 2) run the nuts in finger tight only. There's a reason for this that I'll get to next. nuts finger fight.JPG Once you're finger tight, you take a 5/16 or 8 mm wrench [iMPORTANT: little short wrench, please, NOT a 3/8" ratchet that's a foot long!!] and alternatively turn each nut 60 degress, or one hex flat. This is very important to do gradually and correctly, so that the sideplate is evenly pressed onto the pins. Remember, one hex flat at a time, alternating! Eventually, the nuts will stop turning with the same basic amount of effort you've been using all along and won't want to turn any more, assuming you're using a little short combination wrench like I begged you to, above. There is no torque spec for this. You simply turn a hex at a time until you evenly press the sideplate onto the pins and the nuts "stop". Now your remove the nuts and throw them away! Have a look with a magnifying glass at where the pin and sideplate meet, and see how it all looks. You should see a very small sliver of the pin where it meets the sideplate, indicating the plate is fully on the pin with an interference fit. If you feel like you should press the plate further on one end of the link or the other, you can replace the nut(s) with the chamfer facing the link, and give it a tiny little bit of rotation, but be careful and don't get greedy, because I have more to tell, below. You really don't want to wring the pin off. It won't be fatal, as it will break at the groove nearest the sideplate. But you won't be able to do the additional little "peace of mind" step I describe below. I mike'd the chain and the completed link. Chain was .898 and the Screw-Link was .876 This was the case for both times I installed the link, so we can assume the link is slightly less wide than the chain. If you use the same chain as I did, you should see these same numbers, of course. Another interesting thing--as I was cranking the nuts down, I frequently removed them to see how the process was going. Once I loosened the nuts with the wrench, the nuts easily went off and back on with fingers only. However, once the nuts quit turning and the pressing action was complete, I noticed that the nuts would no longer come off by fingers once loosened by the wrench. I assume that at this point the pin threads had stretched a bizillionth, making the wrench sorta required for nut removal, unless you have real strong fingers. So now if you're satisfied with the job, you simply snap the long ends of the pins off. It's real easy, using a basic plier. nuts done, snapping pin.JPG all done, sweged proper.JPG So now, you're done. But as promised, I have some more good news. As it turns out, these black nuts aren't metric (!!), they're a good, ol' 10-32 thread. And if you notice, there's a few threads left after you snap the pins off!! So, I know what you're thinking---put the black nuts back on for safety. Wrong. They're way too long and hit inside the front sprocket cover. But, as you can see below, you simply use a quality 5/16 10-32 nut. Stainless would be cool! Do this: using lacquer thinnner or brake kleen, very thoroughly clean your hardware store nuts and the few remaing pin threads. Apply a dab of Loctite to each nut and thread onto the remaining pin stub. IMPORTANT: I torqued these nuts to a mere 30 inch-pounds, and I could feel the few meager threads beginning to yield. So, DON"T crank these nuts down, it's NOT necessary. [Remember the grinding I had to do to get the first link off? It's a tight interference fit!] Allow the Loctite to do its job to hold the nuts in place, giving you total peace of mind. These little nuts are the exact same length depth as the remaining pin stud, so you can be sure it will clear all the stuff up forward in the front sprocket area, but I stronly suggest you run it through by hand like I did before I fired it up for a test ride. Note: My addition of these "safety nuts" is not part of EK's directions. They provide little o-rings that go on the groove for the same purpose. I'll take the Loctited nuts, thanks. Another concern: If you have the stock sprocket, these nuts might touch the rubber damper. But since you're changing the chain, you'll be replacing the sprocket(s), so get an aftermarket and don't concern yourself with the false belief that the stocker is "smoother" or "quieter". It's not true, trust me on this one. You won't hear anything over your slip-on and your helmet, anyway. And nothing is "smooooother" than a new chain. 10-32 nuts installed.JPG nut comparison.JPG You'll need to tension your new chain, of course. I have no advice there...I'll leave that can of worms alone, along with the type of oil I use and color of bike is best. As for chain tensioning in general, I have some advice. First, make sure your pinch bolt is properly torqued [70 ft-lbs], and put matching punch marks on the bolt and on the swingarm. You can see my little punch marks at that corner on the arm. Then, all you have to do after any future adjustment [like an unscheduled roadside adjustment!] is crank the bolt back to the punch mark to properly tighten it. Second, I don't use the spanner tool.....it's too....clumsy.....for small adjustments. Instead, I leave the pinch bolt a little snug and use a long, beefy screwdirver and a light hammer, and gently tap on an adusting notch one way or the other until I'm happy with my perfect tension measurement. :goofy: Now, will the Screw-Link work with other quality chains, such as DIDs? I don't know. But, I did mike the pins on the Screw-Link, and they're .2125 inch in diameter [that's to ten-thousanths' folks]. So, if the master link on other chains has this dimension, I would assume it would work. However, I suggest you ask the vendors if they have better info. The link width is another key dimension, and that is probably a spec that's easy to find. I'm totally confident that this mysterious Screw-Link is on there to stay. The x-rings are visible but compressed, and the link is exactly as flexible as the rest of the chain. It feels no different when worked. I will use it again when I help a pal with a new chain on his imported bad-ass FireBlade. This is a good product. It's been around for 12 years, but nobody trusts it, and thus won't use it. Instead, they take a chance with a dicey chain tool that has little control over pin staking depth and the resulting o-ring compression, or they take the clip-on risk, or they have to go to a dealer or shop and hope they get it right. And as we know, they often don't. Of course, if you have a quality tool and you're experienced in master link staking, you'd have no issues with it. But if you do a chain every 15-20K miles, well, your results may vary. The Screw-Link gives proper, accurate results, every time.