Q-Dawg

Dawg, If you help me install mine. I will help you when your 6gen one is ready. No problem. If I can successfully complete install of the incomplete used Whipple set-up on my old truck, I will consider myself qualified. The Torocharger will be a welcome change.

Congrats on your milestone, Dan! I've been following this with great interest since the very beginning: you announced your S/C intentions just as I was kicking around the idea of installing a turbo system onto my bike. After watching your progress, researching on my own, and learning along with the others here on VFRD, I am convinced that you have created the perfect force-fed system for our bikes, with all the benefits of a turbo (efficiency), but with easier packaging and oiling system. I've expressed my interest before in a 6th gen kit, and I am still a future buyer of such a kit, after it becomes available. I agree, the 6th gen kit is probably going to end up selling more in the end, but there are a LOT of 5th gen bikes around yet! I've already gotten the nod OK from the "boss", and that's most of the battle, isn't it? Can't wait to see the 6th gen! :dry:

OK, remember when I said all was well on this recall issue? I lied, apparently. I had done a short ride when I posted the above, but Friday after a longer ride (over 1 hour on the highway) I had some problems. Stopped the bike and heard a funny noise. Thought it might be fuel vapors coming from tank cap, so I opened the gas tank to see. Nope. Lifted off the seat and hear a loud whistling whining sound. Touch the battery and holy cow was is hot! Used my gloved to lift it out. Steam / acid vapors were blowing from a vent on battery case, making the noise. Left it on concrete to cool down. An hour later it was still pretty hot to touch. Phoned the Edmonton dealership where the work was done (I had specifically told them about relocating my voltage regulator sensing wire; I had a suspicion this was the problem.) They told me to phone Honda Canada. I did and Honda rep said no the problem was between me and dealership. So I open the fairing to see and sure as hell, they left the wire disconnected, hence the fried battery. Repaired the wire and hooked up again and bike made it back on 3 hour trip back to Olds, but I am unsure how much to trust this battery now. I had asked dealership general manager what they intend to do about the screw up. He basically makes it out to be MY fault as I had modified the wiring. I explained about VFRD and the fact that several of us were unwilling to wait for the recall to happen (if it ever did happen) because we did not want to have our bikes burn to the ground. I explained that my fixes (THanks VFRD experts!) were probably better than Honda's and that there was nothing I did wrong to the bike; they were still obligated to fix it as I had an affected VIN # and that the only reason I took it to them in first place was in case I ever wanted to sell the bike later. Anyhow, he stuck to his guns that honda service guys had to do the fix by the book and that hooking up the one wire was beyond their scope. I said I TOLD YOU GUYS that the wire was moved and that it might need to be moved back so it would not be overlooked. Not their scope he says; if I wanted it done, I shoulda paid for it out of my own pocket. No problem i said, but you should have told me; when I dropped it off I said if there was any problems due to my modifications to give me a call so we could work it out. The only call I got was to tell me the work was on track and recall was being done as Honda intended. I said who pays for my battery if it is toast? He said best he could do was to give me one at his cost. I said thanks, better than nothing I suppose. To add insult to injury, the buggers re-connected my heated grips. I did not ask them to, the wire was near the battery for when I used it again, but a wire had been damaged due to chafing and I had not re-wired the grips yet so it was tucked out of the way and not hooked up so as to not risk a short. But they could not hook up the wire I asked; it was outside their scope..... Go figure. What do you guys think of that?? Sadly, the two dealerships nearest to me are even more incompetent than the one mentioned in the story above, so I don't know if I will return again or if I should search for yet another Honda dealer to deal with. I suppose it coulda been worse. Bike seems to run OK considering, but my faith in this battery is pretty weak, and I think I will replace it prior to any long trips next season. What would you do?

Good news, they gave me no further grief on this subject of doing the recall. I was prepared to unleash fury of biblical proportions if I encountered any more resistance, but thankfully someone there saw the voice of reason and they fixed my bike with no further fuss. Just need to get back to the city to pick it up. All is well. Thanks for the responses, guys. You pretty much echoed what my thoughts on the subject were.

OK; need some advice here. Booked my VFR for the harness recall and dropped it off at the dealer. I had researched earlier and knew they kept harnesses in stock and had done several recall already. Ran into a potential roadblock here: the service guy tells me that the dealership may not do the work on my bike after I explain my interim "fixes" that were done prior to the wiring recall. Says they have to return the old harness to Honda and that they don't want to be left holding the bag if mother Honda decides not to pay for recall work on the "molested" harness. How can they even do this? To me, a safety recall is just that. An involuntary recall of products to remedy a potentially unsafe condition. My VIN# is affected, so how can they choose not to do the work? I may be getting ahead of myself here; he did say that the tech would look at it (my bike's appointment is tomorrow) and make a decision if I am to be covered or not based on how molested the harness is. I tired to explain what was done to the harness and that it should have no bearing on the outcome one way or another. I am anxiously awaiting tomorrow and hope they see the voice of reason and do the work. But if not, I thought I would ask you guys what you thought and see what advice you have to offer. Not sure how Canadian law varies from USA on this sort of stuff (I'm north of the border), but I thought they had to prove harm from modifications in order to nix warranty? And this isn't even warranty it is a RECALL!

Seb, nice job on the front fender! :thumbsup: I have always looked at my front fender with a certain amount of disdain and wondered what it would look like slimmer. <_< I now have the answer: KILLER! I guess its just a personal preference as far as the asthetics go, but when you posted the first cut picture, I couldn't help but think that the front cut looked perfect and that the back has too much material removed. I think when I try this mod, I shall leave more material on the back and try to carry the front cut line towards the back so it looks more continuous, because it is more pleasing to my eyes that way. Anyhow, Travis if you decided to make a fender product, I might be interested, depending on its shape, material, etc. (How non-committed does THAT sound? Secretly in my head, I'm trying to justify a sweet looking C/F front fender.) Of course, the SIMPLEST way to get a nicer front fender is to do a Frankenviffer conversion! :salesman: I just don't know if it is worth the money spent when I'm no peg-scraping corner carver. Kinda seems over kill for me as I'm generally a pretty relaxed pace when I ride. Besides, I'm trying to save up for a 6th gen Toro-charger when it becomes available........

:thumbsup: Nice color choice! I've been wanting to see a bike this color ever since I was trying to figure out paint color choices on my bike. Since I chose "option B" I have wondered....... Anyhow, thanks for the write-up! I have some new parts that need paint matching, as well as another full set of plastics and a tank for a 6th gen VFR that I want to paint up someday. I've dabbled in many smaller jobs, but never took the leap to using any pro-grade equipment of supplies. As soon as I have some time, I want to follow your excellent write-up and give it a shot. It fills in so many of the little questions I have had about how or why to do things a certain way. I've read lots of bodywork how-to's and yours is by far the most detailed in the important little bits on how to get proper technique, without getting bogged down in paint chemistry or paint product systems. After all, isn't that what your friendly autobody supply shop is for? Thanks for the great how-to!

Just who are these Thrun guys anyhow? :rolleyes:

And me, too! (I e-mailed Thurn as well) Thanks for trying to make this happen! Perhaps there will be an upside to my horrible procrastination on the task of installing my GSXR mirrors. If I wait long enough, hopefully I won't have to get a base fabricated as I was planning for! :thumbsup:

That's cool that things worked out. I can sorta relate as my wife's pretty similar with her views on riding, I think. But she surprised me and doesn't mind a trip now and again. She had another bit of fear about us riding together after having our son, but that seems to have passed as well. SHe doesn't want to ride a lot with me, nor ride her own bike. I'm OK with that as it is just nice to share something i love in life with the one I love in life. Hoping to drag her along to the Western Canadian VFR meet for 2008 in Nelson. She seems somewhat excited by the idea of a social trip that is less about corner carving long distances and more about people and having fun. (for those of us that want to stop and smell the roses...)

I would have to agree that these are EXCELLENT kits. I had the opportunity to check out Mr Veefer800Canuck's ride and follow it for many miles, and the cruise is rock solid. I would say it holds the speed steady better than any cars I've driven. I found it hard to keep my speed constant behind him. Every time I sped up or slowed down even the tiniest bit, I was gaining or falling behind. Only issue I would have is its price. I had to have a real cruise, so I've bought an Audiovox CCS-100 which I have STILL not gotten around to installing yet. It isn't as good, but it is quite a bit cheaper and probably not much more difficult to install than the MC Cruise universal, from what I can tell...... I hope to add a tech article when I finally get some free time to work on mine. My time lately has been sucked up working on my cage project (I'm not just a bike nut; I love anything with an engine in it.) Cruise install shall commence in the fall when it becomes a little chilly for riding but there is no ice on the ground yet.

Wow! What a great ride report, HS. Truly some magnificent photos taken of some of natures finest scenery. I've been wanting to head south of the border on my bike for the last two years, and this just makes me want to go even more. Alas, it is not going to happen for at least one more year as my wife is in school for one more year and my life right now is a bloody juggling act, to say the least! Your ride reports and plentiful pictures will definately help me decide where to go when the time is right. I was down the highway 101 a couple times with my parents on vacation when I was younger and remember it being one of my favorite drives ever. The redwoods are spectacular, aren't they? On second thought, I think I may have to do two trips; one to Laguna Seca someday, and the other to see the Grand Canyon and the beauty that surrounds it. Man, that's a lot of miles you put on in such a short time... do you feel like you need a vacation after your vacation??

Some of the guys in other threads were using a 10A fuse on this wire. I installed with a fuse on mine, but I think I may remove it to ensure it always reads accurately and terminal corrosion is not a concern. What should I do? Is it necessary for the fuse?

The belt length is just right to match the factory? Can it work on a 6th gen with some work? More importantly, if yours turns out to be a raging success, will you consider making kits for VFR conversions as well? Looks pretty amazing. You got the skills, man!

Thanks for the wiring diagram. My bike is running pretty well with all the mods, but I discovered my left turn signal is blinking fast. Hope it is just a burnt bulb. Didn't have time to check today when I got back from my ride: there was a storm rolling in and I wanted to get the bike and cages into the garage in case it hailed. No room to get at the bike now until it passes.

Hey KKKen, Cool fix for the blue connector. Just curious if you also ended up doing anything with the yellow 'master' ground block (mentioned in your BLUE CONNECTOR thread) as well..... I just finished upgrading my electrical wiring today, but haven't done any voltage testing yet to see what things are running like. BIke was not having any problems and no heat indications on the 30A fuse. My connectors all looked remarkably good, with only a slight bit of oxidation on the odd terminal. I inpected, scruffed these fresh and put dielectric grease in everything. On my connections and splices, I used buttonhook or but joints that were soldered, painted with brush on electrical tape (I love this stuff!), then heat shrinked and / or electrical taped. Will post my findings and some pictures in another thread when I have time..... Just thought I would inquire about the yellow ground block, since I have done nothing with mine yet. I'm waiting until I install my auxillary fuse block (I wanted to wait on this and do some testing with just the regular harness upgrades first), then I will rip apart the nose end of the bike to do some other mods (rewire heated grips and install Stebel.) P.S. Did your Stebel come with much for instructions? Not sure how to wire my relay yet.

Working on my electrical system mods at the moment and read again through ALL of the pertinent electrical threads. Still have a couple of questions. On, my '02, I've upgraded the battery + wiring with 8 ga wiring, eliminating the stock 30A fuse holder and connector. I'm planning on adding the 10A fused direct-to-battery R/R monitor wire mod, and also increasing the capacity of the charge wires from the R/R. My question is this: Is there anything wrong with running the two extra charge (red) wires from the R/R connector to the point where my new 8 ga wire (30A fuse holder) mates to the smaller red/white wire? I see this as taking the guesswork out of having 2 additional fuse holders (what fuse rating to use), as well as still being a significant upgrade over stock. I am also wiring in an accesory fuse block for running ALL of my extras from, so that stock wiring only has to do minimal extra load. Thoughts or suggestions before I go and cut the next round of upgrades?

Darth Bling, did you run the wiring through the tiny hole right BESIDE the hollow rivet? If so, how does one prevent damage to the wiring when you fold the mirrors? I can't see much there; my mirrors are still in one piece until I figure this all out......

Oh, regarding the relocation of the foglights, Xerox what are you running? I have Piaa 1100x's which I'm going to mould into the factory signal light holes. I plan to separate the lenses from the signals and try using the plastic base with tabs to mount the light brackets to.

You guys beat me to the punch! I've been sitting on my set of Gixxer mirrors for many weeks now, trying to solve the install issues. As mentioned before, the Thurn adapter would make this mod easy as it changes the mount to a top attachment point much like the Gixxer. Could have an adapter machined up; I think that is the easy part. What I haven't been able to figure out is what to do about the hollow rivet mount that the stock Gixxer mirror uses. Darth Bling, your post was vague about how you solved this issue. Can you please post a close-up picture or two, or a more clear explanation? It sounds like you just replaced the rivet with a standard bolt, but where the heck does the wiring run now? I thought of making a tiny hole in the cap and running wire an inch or two to the adapter, but that seems too "monster garage", considering.

Oh yeah, I hit mine all the time with my winter gloves. I hit the horn everytime I cancel the turn signals. I don't worry about it. Sure I get some "what the hell" looks but I don't care. I hit mine all the time, too. I have the same concern, but I think I would rather be embarrassed a few times than have a horn button which is not so easy to operate. I thought about keeping the stock horn and having a switch for the Stebel so that when I'm doing city driving I can avoid accidental triggering. My main need for the Stebel will be at freeway speeds, i think. I dunno. Anyone else have any ideas on this? As soon as I upgrade my electrical harness, I plan on installing my Stebel. no more working on the bike until I get my hardwood project finished. So I guess I should get back to nailing boards and quit wasting time on here!

So true. Dropped mine once (shoelace got caught up on centerstand and I lost my balance and tipped her over.) Quickly jerked it upright again like it only weighed 1/2 its actual weight. And I'm not terribly strong. Adrenaline is funny stuff.......

What kind of price do they go for?