Parker

I see Roy's (zRoyZ) chimed in, so here's where the first USD coversion he did on his VTEC ended up when he sold the bike:

Here's the spec sheet for the original VFR1 http://www.vfrdiscus...pic/38679-vfr1/

Pretty much the whole thing went in as is, though there was some fiddling with moving oil cooler, shaving the inner fairing, moving cables, pipes etc

Is it worth it? Let's face it any improvement on the stock suspension and brakes has to be worth every cent - both are critical in keeping you out of trouble and as anyone with any sense will tell you, the only two things the last and best 750s need are decent brakes and suspension. The F4i swap - adjustable suspension, much better brakes - is one of the easier and cheaper options, uses Honda parts (so no faffing about with different axle specs, disc spacing, wheels, wheel bearing sizes) and will make a helluva difference.

Is it worth spending so much on a USD set up on a bike this old? In my view the question answers itself - the people who do this sort of thing aren't about to sell their bike so resale figures are irrelevant. In the end it comes down to turning a great bike into a fantastic one. As I said to Roy when I first rode mine with the R1 front, it feels like I've suddenly got 2-3 seconds extra per corner - the $$$ spent automatically justifies itself. The brakes are brilliant, but the irony is that cos the handling is so good I use them less than I did on the OEM set up. It steers much quicker yet is utterly stable (no hands-off headshakes at any speed) and it doesn't chew front tyres anywhere near as much. It will keep up with any modern sports bike in the twisties - or would if I wasn't such a pi$$-poor rider.

And it looks mint

Picture Parker Please! :fing02:

A few HERE, and a couple more HERE, including a shot from a beach somewhere in Tasmania of three bikes (a 750, a 99 800 and an 02 VTEC) all featuring Roy's handiwork...

In my research I found these bore sizes:

R1 = 14mm

954 = 17mm

929 = 19mm

SP1 = 19mm

SP2 = 17.5mm

Wondering what folks have used? If I use R1 calipers, I'd like to keep proper brake feel.

IIRC the R1 MC/perch doesn't have a brake switch, so I'd have to figure that out.

Thanks in advance-

Hi Raoul

Like Muz says, I am the proud and totally chuffed owner of the R1 set-up Roy built for his VTEC. It's been on the bike jsut over a year now, and I've done several big tours with the OzVFR crew, including a 12-day marathon in Tasmania (Godzone for Oz motorcyclists). I ranted and raved about it on my first ride home with it, and the more I ride it the better it gets (see also the pics in that thread).

Specifics - the m/cylinder is off an RC51 (SP1). I've still got the OEM clutch m/cyl on so it looks a bit odd, but so what. AFAIK the Convertibars are the 50mm and are a way way better thing than HeliBars as they're adjustable every which way. One tricky bit was getting the wheel and brake rotor spacing right as the CBR954 lower/ SP1 upper triple clamps are different to the spacing you get with the stock R1 triple clamps.

Any more questions feel free to ask away, but maybe PM me and I'll reply quicker.

Best of luck.

Gazman, that is dead brilliant, easily the best naked 3rd gen VFR750 I've seen. :fing02: :fing02:

Roy

Very very very nice job, as usual. Colour scheme is errr, individual :unsure: :P but looking forward to seeing it in the metal.

:unsure:

Parker,

Glad you took the step to bring back some suspension into your realtionship!

Me too :P

Pictures (springs a purple right?) are in order!

Actually the spring is blue :beer:

http://tinyurl.com/2f4r52

http://tinyurl.com/25oqzc

Gents (especially jstanwood and dutchy) - thanks for the info you've put in on this thread :thumbsup: . After saving all my pennies I recently junked the OEM shock (rebuilt and regassed, which lasted all of 9000km till it started flopping about again) and got a Willbers (actually a TechnoFlex, which is a Willbers made under licence in the Netherlands) fitted. It's the model without the remote preload which was all the budget allowed for at the time, with the can mounted on the left rear footpeg hanger. Having looked at the work that's gone on above, I might see if I can mount it elsewhere.

I'd been told that if I fitted a decent rear shock it would make the front work a lot harder - given I had a set of 0.9 racetech front springs sitting in the shed, I got the team who fitted the rear to also fit the harder springs and fiddle with the damping/valving at the front to suit, so now at least the front doesn't bottle out when it's asked to do some work.

The chap who tweaked the rear shock settings and worked his magic on the front was James at Zenodamper, with much able assistance from someone quite well known on this site

It has since been, errr, extensively test-ridden :P Over four days and almost 3000km with the OzVFR mob, with loads of tight, bumpy 35/45km/h twisties, lots of 55/65 bends and miles of open 85/95km/h sweepers, the bike didn't put a wheel wrong. Where before it would have wallowed or juddered or just felt unsure and vague, this time it just felt utterly composed, no matter what I threw at it. The ride is certainly a lot stiffer than before, but a bit of tweaking will get me to a decent compromise. It might still be a little slow-steering in the really tight stuff, but the trade-off is absolute confidence in faster bends and in the sweepers. It might be just my imagination, but it felt like my corner entry speed was a good 10% up and I could get on the gas much earlier in a bend without worrying that the bike was going to go off somewhere I didn't want it to.

For now, I'm happy with the set-up I've got, it's made me much more aware of what a stonking road bike a VFR is, even a 12 year-old bike like mine. That's not to say I don't look at all the USD fork conversions around and dream, mind :idea3: