EX-XX

Fair enough. The rims were done in gold, because i have a long-term ambition to change the colour of the bike to black (exceedingly rare to see a black 5th gen here in Oz). I just the idea of a "black over gold" theme. Have even had some VFR decals made up to suit, being effectively a gold outline(and thus will show the black underneath). I suspect that by the time I do all that (and the refurb stuff), the bike will end up as a primped and pampered garage queen on club rego, wheeled out for the occasional show and shine...😆 The Mrs doesn't know it yet, but I'll likely be buying another bike for general all-round riding duties by then...most likely a CB1300, if I can get hold of one.

Interesting write up. I've been procrastinating about doing a similar refurb on mine for a couple of years now. Should have done it when we were back in our house in QLD, as we have a nice big shed to do that kind of thing there. Our place here in WA only has a "carport", which doesn't really lend itself to pulling things apart etc. Worse, we're planning to travel long term shortly, so the refurb may be a few years off yet (which means the bike - and the parts for the refurb, which I already have - will be in storage for a while). What struck me about your bike is how much it's been modified similarly to mine. Attached are a couple of pics of mine, one taken shortly after I bought it in 2017 (from the original owner), and another more recent one, showing a few updates (mostly powder-coated rims). Interesting that you've put the preload adjuster for the Ohlins on the other side... I'll remember/refer to this thread when I eventually get 'round to doing mine in however long that is.

I'm looking to grab a "spare" rear caliper, to strip/rebuild and paint while off the bike (leaving the existing one there). Can't seem to find many reasonably priced 5th gen ones local to me, but can find some 6th gen ones. I'm assuming the 6th gen rear caliper would be a direct bolt on to the 5th gen? (Brakes are de-linked, so that side of it is not an issue).

Decals "can" be custom made (as a last resort).

Just wanted to touch on one comment you made above: What I am keen to try is the LCD "reversal" mod. Is there a howto around for that?

Damn straight...I'd have been tempted, despite prohibitive all-up costs.

Mine is at ~136,000kms or so. so around 85,000 miles...

That's one hell of a comprehensive reply. Thanks! I really appreciate the throttle body comments and pics. I've been thinking about COPS (despite the fact that I have two full sets of spare OEM coils). Pair valve block off was done long before I bought the bike. I will have to have another look at the T/Stat, as I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that they would include the replacement O-ring in the pack. Your post is a great example of why I (much) prefer forums like this to Facebook...The information is easily accessible (for me and others following), and won't "disappear into the ether" as posts on Facebook tend to. Thanks again, for both replies thus far. Very much appreciated! Edit: I had a quick look through the bits I ordered, and it looks as though I did order the o-rings required, per the attached exploded view: I have three o-ring "packs" in my kit... 1 x Thermostat housing o-ring, part number 91311-KE8-000 2 x 91304-GC8-003 2 x 01331-PC9-003 Image courtesy of https://www.bike-parts-honda.com/honda-motorcycle/800-MOTO/VFR/1999/VFR800FIX/Engine/THERMOSTAT-WATER-PIPE/13MBGW41/E__1500/1/10446

Soon, I'll be moving my 5th Gen from the garage to the shed, and after that will begin the "20-year" refurb work, as done by a few others on here in recent times. For the train spotters, yes, it is technically a year late, but still. I'd have started the work last year, but we moved into our (new to us) house in August, and I've since been doing - or having done - various things around the place to get it to a standard we're happy with. Not there yet, but have plenty of time, or so it would seem. One of the things I was doing was attempting to insulate and line the shed, as well as stopping up holes etc. to try and limit the entry of vermin. As with all these things, one thing leads to another, and before you know it, you're getting coax run/aerials installed, installing WiFi repeaters and making the thing into a "man cave". It's easy to lose sight of the fact that the shed is a place to do projects in, NOT to be the project itself! 🙄 Anyway, I digress... In preparation for our move here, I began preemptively buying bits and pieces I thought I'd use in the refurb work, as well as other things which are handy to have (you know, like a spare engine, a set of VFRD Group Buy headers etc...just the basics 😀) For the actual refurb, I've purchased the following, from a range of sources: 1) AS3 Silicone coolant hoses to suit '98-'99 VFR (these, of course, predate the availability of the extra hoses for the Y2K/'01 models...not an issue, as mine is an FIX) 2) New hose clamps (from AS3) to suit the hoses. 3) New plugs (CR9EHIX-9) 4) New thermostat (from I forget where - Partzilla most likely) 5) O-rings for the hoses in the V 6) Injectors - from the spare engine - were pulled and sent off for testing/cleaning etc. 7) Group buy headers. I'm aware that once I start disassembling the bike, I'll start finding other stuff I may as well do, "while I'm there". So the question is, what other stuff should I be thinking about getting in advance. One thing I'd like to do is replace all the throttle body hoses. I just need to know what i/d and o/d "mix" of hose I need, and will order some in bulk in advance. A couple of notes: The forks have been rebuilt quite recently, although I will likely need the dust seals at the bottom. I imagine these are the same as any 43mm inverted Showa fork??? (Forks are SP2 with Ohlins rebound valving). The rear shock (Ohlins) was also rebuilt not that long back. The bike has not been ridden much in the last couple of years, but has been garaged throughout. The front wheel bearings are new. I haven't touched the rear bearings (either swingarm pivot or hub). Brake pads are near-new (rear) and about 75% (front). What other things do people reckon I'll need, or should do while the bike is apart? Frankly, the idea of pulling it down (and more accurately putting it back together), isn't something I'm necessarily looking forward to. So I only want to do it once, if possible.

Geez...look at you go. I received mine last September, and still haven't even opened the box! To be fair, though, we'd just moved into our new home, and aside from general unpacking, I've been making my shed "project ready", before i start working on the VFR...won't be long now!

No worries. Just got a bit of a surprise when I received an email from MyUS about a second headers. I had something of a "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" moment when reading it... *Internal dialogue" "Hey, I might get a second set of the you beaut VFRD Headers...Excellent!" "But they actually belong to someone else, who's paid good money for them, so you need to the right thing and let them know...Bogus!" 😆 All turned out in the end, though, so all is good.

If there is a member here by the name of Beau Sampson, can her please send me a PM? It seems that your headers have mistakenly sent to my MyUS account, and they are querying it (as the ultimate destination address isn't recognised). Naturally, I'm happy to receive a second set, but thought I'd "do the right thing" by letting you know where they are. Let me know if you no longer require them... 😉

You do have to wonder why they say this ("planned obsolescence, perhaps?) I have a PC2 on my bike, and will be installing the Group buy headers later this year (along with the "20 year refurb" stuff - thermostat, hoses etc.) I've already spoken to a local dealer here about having the PC2 tuned. He's at least willing to give it a try. I know for a fact that I can run up the old PC software on a Win10 tablet, and connect to the PC2 via USB-serial cable. It will monitor the PC2, displaying revs etc. in real time and so on. And all the other crap is accessible from the interface (ignition/fuel maps etc.) Worst case, he straps it to a dyno with exhaust gas analyser, and uses the tablet to make "some" changes to the ignition/fuel mapping...Or is that not the case? I always suspect that Dynojet dealers/tuners have been "warned off" providing support for the old PC2s, and wonder why that is...

If I chuck the spare engine in, that may well be something I do with the original one, over some time...

It's a good question. Primarily, as it's a shitload easier to do refurb work with the engine out of the bike. Pick a stack of things to "refurb", purchase them (already started that process). Chuck the engine to be refurbed on a bench, and go to town (so to speak). Meanwhile, the original - working - engine is sitting in the intact bike, able to be ridden around, until the time comes to strip the old one out and replace. That at least was/is the theory.

Lance, given the deadline for deposits on the first run is the 18th, can you please keep an eye out for the cheque I sent you. I also sent through tracking details via PM. Once the cheque is received, we'll need to discuss shipment options, as we are moving out of our place at the end of March, so if shipping is a 6-week proposition, I may have to provide an alternate address for shipment. On the passivation side of things, I might have to wear the PayPal ripoff (on exchange rate) to have that done.

As a bare engine, he simply put a compression tester into each spark plug hole and turned the engine over on the starter. He did "have a look" in the cylinders, and noted they looked fine. He also noted some carbon build up (around valve seats and what not) which could be preventing effective sealing on the compression stroke...which goes to your point about things "being stuck and not sealing". It's one of those things... Do I take a punt on putting all the refurb "kit" on the "new" engine, or do I just replace all of the relevant bits and pieces on the existing engine with ~136,000kms on it (~85,000 miles). On the other hand...I have had some thoughts about doing a "HighSideNZ-style" 825cc rebuild...

As some will know, I bought a spare engine, ostensibly from a 2000-model bike, with the idea of doing a 20-year refurb on it later this year (have coolant hoses, thermostat, O-rings etc. for it already). Anyway, the engine supposedly had ~67,000kms on it, but has sat around for probably a couple of years. Last Friday, I took the bare engine to a local, well-respected motorbike mechanic to have it compression tested. He asked how long it had sat for, and I told him probably around a couple of years. He mentioned that it was likely to have compression readings "all over the place", as it had sat for so long...And it did. The readings ran from a low of 65PSI, through to ~115PSI. He told me that they would likely return to consistent readings once started and run for a bit. Question: What do you people reckon? Will they likely "normalise", or do I have a potentially dud engine?

What's the go with retaining the VTEC solenoid? To "fool" the existing ECU into believing it's still "driving" a 6th-Gen engine?

Bugger. Wishful thinking on my part, perhaps...

So...how'd the dyno run go (was going to be done on Tuesday, IIRC?) Inquiring minds and all that... 😉

TBH, didn't think they would. Am kicking myself, as I threw out an old BB FPR, which I could have quickly and easily compared to the one from the Y2K VFR throttle body. Even looking at the two different Partzilla diagrams (for BB and VFR), I figured it was a non-starter. Shame...

@MooseMoose I enjoyed reading through that. Angry octopus LOL 😂 I'm up for a fairly major refurb on my '99 later this year (although I'm also swaping in a lower km engine at the same time, hence "major" refurb.) In short, I'll be bolting in a Y2K engine, with '99 throttle bodies, and doing the following: 1) All coolant hoses/o-rings/thermostat replaced. I already have this kit (AS3 silicon hoses/clamps, and new OEM thermostat/o-rings). 2) All throttle body hoses replaced in silicon - possibly with the exception of the two "elbowed" hoses. Between the '99 and Y2K throttle bodies I have, I suspect I'll be able to source two still-pliable hoses... 3) I've previously thrown MAP sensor codes, travelling from Canberra (640M elevation), to the coast (0M elevation), so may need to replace that at the same time. 4) While I'm there, I may as well do the FPR as well, which leads me to the question I have...Will a Blackbird FPR bolt into the VFR throttle body assembly? I ask not because the BB FPR supposedly operates at higher pressure, but because they are cheaper... Happy to grab the VFR one, but if I can save a few bucks along the refurb path, I'm always happy to... Edit: And can someone tell me why the VFR MAP sensor is listed at ~3 times the price of the Blackbird one? (Or if the Blackbird one will fit the VFR wiring harness 😉 )

My bike is already de-linked. Just using the OEM rear caliper (with an SP2 front-end on it, including brakes). I'll be doing a major refurb on the bike later this year, and am already gathering parts for it. As part of that, I simply want to grab a compatible, bolt-in caliper, "go to town" on the thing, clean, paint and put aside, so that when I do the rest, it can simply be bolted up. It sounds like you're saying the 6th Gen is a bolt-in proposition, which is what I was after.