mrmatt

I've recently discovered Google's SketchUp, so I couldn't help myself and instead of actually milling my pieces I've been making them in my virtual reality. The program is decent, I've found a couple of problems with objects that have lots of arcs and circles, and a few of the functions are not quite intuitive, but for free it's great.

This is about how far the bracket has come in my mind, now if I can just get off my butt and make it

Haven't made any progress on the electrical, but I have been working on the headlight and gauge bracket.

For this I envisioned a Y-shaped bracket made out of several aluminum pieces that would attach to the outside of the lights. I got a piece of 3"x4"x1/4" L bracket and cut 4 1.5" slices out with my trusty hacksaw

I'm wishing I had a metal cutting band saw at this point, but I do have one of these (I've been working on a different project for a while now, might show it when I'm finished)

Squared up the top and bottom cuts and took the corner off

Now I need to drill the holes and make the center pieces, the base of the Y. Here I think I'll go for two bars of 1.5"x1/8". So far I've only been guessing on how thick to make everything, I might mill some material away when I have it all bolted up.

So here's a question... If I get a complete Triumph hub/drive assembly, like you did Matt, and want to use a Triumph wheel, then I will only need the 2.5mm spacer on the cush drive/sprocket side for chain alignment, yes? Everything else should bolt up?

Or will there be interference with the wheel & the caliper if the wheel is not spaced out?

Ok, sorry - 3 questions! :fing02:

I'm not sure on the Triumph wheel, it depends on if they used the same offset as Ducati or not. You will probably have to measure it all again and see what you come up with. The caliper will have to be spaced the same as the wheel since I am actually spacing the axle (which holds the wheel and rotor) so you will not have to worry about interference with the caliper

I have a 1992 VFR750F and would really like to put a high mount exhaust system on it...does anyone know if such a thing exists and where to find one?

Been searching but not having much luck..

Thanks in advance!

Two Brothers used to make a high left exit exhaust. I have a full low left exit system on my '92. They don't make it anymore but if you can locate a set of used Two Bros headers, it wouldn't be difficult to get an S-pipe made to hook up to a canister. You will lose the footpegs.

Just keep searching on ebay for 'vfr 750 exhaust', I was doing this almost daily and finally found the TBR headers for $100. It wasn't even advertised as a left exit system so I bet it wasn't found by a lot of other searches. The 3rd and 4th are so similar that I think all of the exhaust is interchangeable.

Started some work on the electrical side. I found a 15 pin connector for the gauges that will save a lot of space over the ones I had before. After getting my hand used to soldering I finally got all 14 wires done, and then slipped some shrink wrap tubing around each. I'll wrap and tape the whole bundle before it goes on.

Now I have to shorten all of these

I also got this in the mail today

Well, 10 months after promising to fit the RC45 bodywork, I have an initial stab at the front fiberglass

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I had to chop a lot of the lower off because it wouldn't fit around the exhaust and the clutch cover seems to stick out into the right side, so I also had to trim a little off the lip (hope I don't have to do any more). The kickstand on the left also requires a lot of trimming to get around, but I'm pretty close and just need a little bit more to get it.

I'm using the two brackets that are already there (the ones just below your knees) as an anchor for one of the three holes that join the upper and lower, and then lining up the upper to match the angle of the frame. It looks to be really close, I did notice that the body does not quite reach the front wheel when viewed from the side, but I do not think I can move it any more forward as it will come away from the line of the frame.

I also think I'll need some new clip ons that just go straight out, the 954 ones may be too high.

Very nice, good job with the subframe and integrating the tail into the tank. Is the 916 rim a 6 or 5.5 inch rim?

Bike's looking really good, put some more brakes on it before you ride though:), have you gotten all your fairing mounting points figured out? Also, what rearsets did you find there?

Got the muffler on and then promptly repacked it (actually didn't have any packing, was a little loud for me)

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I wasn't sure about the low mount mid pipe at first, but now I think it looks good enough to keep it on until I find someone to make a high mount one for me. I made the bracket out of some aluminum bar stock I had around my garage, two bends and two 8mm holes and its done, might do something more elaborate later

After several months of stagnation (couple of trips mixed in) I pick up my conversion project again

I found a left exit system on ebay off of a 3rd gen, wasn't specially listed so I'm pretty sure the person parting the bike out didn't know what he had. Got it for $120 shipped (!)

Step 1: remove center stand by pulling the spring off with a pair of locking plyers

Step 1a: bash knuckles on the closest floor/exhaust pipe when plyers slip off

Step 1b: curse

Step 1c: take dremel and cut spring

Step 1d: finish removing center stand

Step 2: take stock system off (felt heaver than the new one, should have weighed them)

Step 2a: shear two out of three of the rear header bolts

Step 2b: curse

Step 3: install new system :mad:

I still need to get a taller mid pipe, the one on it is a low exit, and find a carbon fiber muffler (or any lightweight one, any suggestions?)

Now that the exhaust is taken care of, nothing is stopping me from fitting the new bodywork, except that it needs to be trimmed and made to fit. I think I'll have to make a cut out for the side stand, but the exhaust seems to fit above the longer belly pan, the large stock collector used to get in the way.

I also picked up a really nice set of dual headlights from aztec8 ($178 ), they needed to be spaced apart a little more but it was no problem

I didn't want to give in and get these, but they're enclosed and should be easy to install, rather than trying to adapt a CBR bracket that was made to mount to the upper fairing instead of the frame. The brackets to mount the lights and gauges will still be tricky though.

Great project, I'm also watching on the edge of my seat

Also a fan of the Z (have a 300 in the garage that doesn't get out as much as it used to), I think it would be a great platform although heavy in the frame compared to a mini, there's also as much room as you would need (putting in the Corvette V8 is relatively common isn't it?), and it looks awesome

But would running both outputs to a common shaft increase the torque on your transmissions? I guess if you have one piston from each motor firing at the exact same time it would divide the torque into the two, but if it's staggered at all then the first would bear the full weight I would think

My 750 was missing a right mirror when I bought it so I picked up a cheap one on ebay but it was terrible, the mirror was so wavy that I could only tell that there was morphing shapes behind me. I got some 2000 mirrors from HDL ($70 ea, I think the 6th gen are cheaper) and they are much better, I would stay away from the cheap ebay ones.

Great work, really looking forward to see how it turns out. I picked up a pair of VTR master cylinders (same as your CBR units I think) and the reservoirs sit higher than the VFR, but I think the cylinder is about the same place so it probably won't help. I have a set of 929/954 clip ons and they put the handle bars about even or a little above the top triple so that just might give you enough room

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I've got a really nice Staintune slip on (sorry, not for sale yet) that I bet would work with the 3rd gens, though I am not certain about that. On ebay there's a cmpany in UK that makes a left exit system for the 3rd gen, its a bit expensive but looks good.

Very nice, bolt it up and tell us how it works (with pics :blink: )

I finally gave in a bought a Speedohealer. The install was super easy, though I did enjoy the disclaimer

'Do not attempt to install the product if you don't have basic mechanical skills.'

Having barely passed this qualification, I plugged it in (right above the fuel pump)

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and put the unit under the passenger seat

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It will calibrate from -100% to +10,000% scale, plenty for what I need. I tested it out by a roadside speed indicator, so far I think around 550% is correct, I'll be fine tuning this over the next few days.

I'll recommend the Speedohealer, a bit expensive (just over $100) but it works, is easy to figure out, and looks durable and good quality, but time will tell.

Edit: Corrected to 570.4

hi mrmatt

very interesting your modification i want to do the same thing with 929 or 954 forck ( it's correct ?.. ) or front suspension

what problem did you have to resolve ?

do you have the advice for me ?

perhaps i must create a new topic to collect information and advice

The front fork swap is fairly straight foward if you have any mechanical know-how. I believe that if you do a search for "Frankenviffer" you will get alot of results. I have also done the swap, so between the two of us (MrMatt) I'm sure we can get you squared away!

Agree, it was a fairly simple bolt on, just put the VFR controls on the complete 929 or 954 front end (I believe they are the same) and you'll be good. The even use the same size steering head bearings. The three things that you'll have to figure out on the VFR side will be the clip ons clearance with the dashboard, the oil radiator mount, and the inner shroud for the bodywork.

If you get some taller clip ons they should be able to clear the gauges (sorry I don't know about this one), the oil radiator can be mounted on the last hole of the fairing stay (I haven't had any wheel clearance issues), and for the inner shroud I trimmed the top of it when it starts to curve in enough to get under the oil hoses.

Good luck, don't hesitate to ask any questions, and post some pics when you get it :blush:

So did you notice any handling difference with the wider rear tire? I had a stock VFR rear axle modified, sent a new one off to SAFE-T, and he knew a machinist that could do the work. It's so good, I can't tell where the stock axle ends, and the new part begins!!! This is something that I seem to have pestered him about every winter for the past 3 winters. Well this winter I finally did it. Phase II is almost complete, gimme a few more weeks for the rest of my parts to arrive, and I'll post up pics!!!

Well, I can't really say that I have, but that doesn't mean much coming from me. I've only ever (in my life) ridden probably 3500 miles, 3k of which is on the 700, so I'm still trying to figure out how to ride these things. I really did notice the front 954 swap though, totally different bike. Maybe sometime down the road I could give a better ride review...

Glad you finally got that axle modified, waiting for the pictures

Awesome. I vote for PVM 10Y wheels!!

Yikes, that's more than I paid for my whole bike (before mods). They should at least throw in a tire for free...

My Ducati rear rim also came with the Pirelli. I have a new Conti Sport Attack mounted to it. The pirelli has about 85% tread life in it, I don't really know what to do with it. I'm a fan of the Conti's so far. I've done trackdays at Assen, Valencia and Sachsenring on the Conti Road Attacks, but I want something a little stickier. Perhaps like you, my next set may be the new Pilot Power 2CT's or something similar. The Bridgestone BT-016's look intriguing as well. I still need to install my new rear axle, courtesy of SAFE-T, and am just waiting for my final 2 pieces of parts to arrive. More than likely it'll be the weekend of the 13th, of June that is. I'm envious, yours is ready to go!!!

Nice, I hate waiting for parts.

Which axle/wheel combo are you going with? I suspect the VFR400 might be an easier swap, plus without the cush drive it should be lighter.

How mine looks all together with stock bodywork. The 5 spoke looks a lot (almost exactly) like the 5th-6th gen VFR, I think it looks good with the design of the bike. If I want something more radical and lighter there's always more options now (with a price)

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Look pretty good, stock/factory installed even!!! Any year on the CBR 900 in particular for the temp sensor, or is there a specific year that needs to be ordered? It looks like you have Pirelli Sync tires installed, I have a spare rear that will fit your rim, so if you need it, perhaps we can work something out...

Thanks, I matched the temp sensor with the year of gauges I got, so its from a 98 CBR900 (about $30). From riding today, I'm getting a warm bike temp of 165-175 F, is this the normal operating temperature? It looks very reasonable to me so I believe its accurate.

Thanks for the offer, the tire is just what came with the wheel and it seems to hold air have have some tread left. Tire types represent a large hole in my mind where there should be information, I was planning to wear it out and replace with a Pilot Road 2 or Pilot Power since I've heard a lot of people around here like them both.

When you tighten the chain on a 4th (and maybe also 3rd) gen VFR, the eccentric makes the rear end drop down a little, slightly changing your bikes chassis geometry. If you flip the eccentic and relocate the caliper to the bottom of the disc, the effect will be reversed, so you raise the tail (which the VFRs can all use anyway to improve handling/response) when you tighten the chain on the bike. It's been done by some here, but does involve countersinking a couple of bolts for clearance. You can do a search on the site. I'm sure a few threads must have been saved on the topic.

Beck

95 VFR

Ok, thanks, that makes sense. I'll have to think about that one, but it will be super easy to do once I figure out the caliper bracket/torque arm link again.

BTW, are you also doing a rear brake caliper flip??

Might as well do it now while you're deep in there!!

You will avoid ride height reducing effect when you tighten the chain.

Beck

95 VFR

I'm not quite sure what you're talking about here, I ended up putting the rear caliper back at the 12 oclock position again since that is how long the brake line is. Also, anywhere between 1 and 9 the caliper bolt heads would hit the swingarm, I didn't want to try to make a whole new caliper bracket and just used the Triumph one.

(and now its too late, I just put everything back... getting to know every screw very well...)

So it works... well done MrMatt on coming up with something new! :fing02: :goofy: :excl:

Now added to my list of potential mods... I'd love to have the lugnut holes on my 8-spoke welded up and convert it to single-nut...

Thanks, it was really Jim (sa1713) that got me going on this, offered me the Speed Triple hub that he had and told me it would fit in the 4th gen. All you need is a really good machinist and some precision spacers and it is a bolt on conversion

All day in the garage but I finally have it back together, with the Ducati rear wheel installed

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I used a few washers to space the rear caliper the same 5mm

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And made my own torque arm (with my dremel and hand-held drill)

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Its pretty rough, just used two 1/8 inch aluminum bar stock because I couldn't find anyone with the 1/4 inch stuff. I'll be making a better one later, but it'll do for now. I didn't get much of a chance to ride tonight, but what I did felt great, I'm really happy on how it's turned out. Also, I only swapped brake calipers out and it seems to work with the VFR rear master cylinder.

And I fixed the temperature sensor, ordered a CBR900 one and it is the same size as the VFR, just screwed it in and I get the right temp.