rickdick80

Hi all! I've read through this thread a couple times and would like to do this mod over winter. I have a '99 VFR that is all stock as far as this mod is concerned. I do have a couple questions though:

929 questions

The 929 shock reservoir is nice and far from the exhaust, but does it require trimming the battery box? It sounds like yes; can anyone confirm, or perhaps tell me how much the battery box needs to be trimmed? I don't really feel like trimming my battery box.

Are the compression/rebound adjustment screws accessible when everything's installed?

954 questions

The 954 shock reservoir sits very close to the exhaust (less than an inch) but this might not be a real problem.

The 954 spring is stiffer than the VFR/929 spring, yes?

Does the 954 shock require any bike modification other than the upper mount?

Are the compression/rebound adjustment screws accessible when installed?

2 a set of ducts that will keep the heat from the headers and the engine block from 'pre-heating' the cooling air that get flows through the rads.

Probably the best (but not the cheapest or easiest) way to keep header heat out of the engine compartment is to have the headers ceramic coated. I know JetHot coats the inside and outside of the tubes, so you get a double wall of insulation.

Alternatively, you could use asbestos header wrap tape to insulate the headers and keep the heat out of the engine compartment, but I wouldn't recommend it. Several people have told me of their header wrap experiences that ended badly. Basically, the pipes get eaten from the inside out since the heat can get into the pipe but can't escape to the outside, which drives up the temperature of the pipe wall. Ceramic coating prevents this by having an insulating layer on the inside of the pipe.

Of course, either method requires pulling the headers off your bike, which would make it a winter project for me.

I'm having similar issues to what Chris was having, except my charging voltage is 12.3V. I'm replacing the reg/rec since the troubleshooting diagrams point to that. However, my stator looks JUST LIKE all the brown ones on this forum: dark brown 2/3 of the way around the circumference. And yet it checks out fine...

So my question--is there anything to be gained by checking current through each of the stator wires? I've checked voltage, and I get around 20VAC at idle, 60VAC at 5k RPM, both on a cold engine and with the coolant up to 170ºF. It seems that measuring current would only give you as much information as checking the voltage, but I wanted to throw this idea out there. Can any electrical engineers chime in?

<snip>

So thats about where I am. Comments, critiques appreciated.

Travis Gintz

1986 eVFR

Cool project, and ambitious :thumbsup: Not my cup of tea, but it should make for an interesting ride. Since the tank was rusty inside, did you gut the bottom piece for some packaging space? Seems like using just the top stamping would give you some room for...stuff. And shave a bit of weight.

Can you program your PDA to pipe V4 exhaust and cam gear sounds to a set of headphones? :unsure:

Oh, one last thing: Would a VTR-250 be a good place to start? Seems like that would be a lighter bike to start with, and the rear wheel would be set up for a smaller (ie, more efficient) chain drive. What are you doing for final drive, btw? Stock-type sprocket? Toothed belt? Toothed belt would be the cat's azz.

Good luck! And I can't wait to see youtube videos of this thing!

My experience, if you not only want to be warm but stay warm, stay away from cotton. Layer with synthetics and if ya add heated gear, ride'n below freezing is no problem...Other than traction. :goofy:

:beer: on that!!! I don't have much experience riding in cold weather, but my camping experience tells me that a single layer of cotton will make you freeze your tail off!

Layer with synthetics, silk, or wool, and you will be much better off.