rc51jim

The master link that's made to be flared with this tool has a dimple in the center and thin walls that CAN flare. This link shown is solid steel and made to be flared in a press hydraulically. That tool will break before it even budges those pins.

Yes it comes with one. Quiets it quite a bit.

Mine was torqued properly (and it was a new nut) and staked. It did move slightly so I re-staked it. The notch that the staking goes into is about 1/8" wide. I had staked it at one side of the notch, and it moved to the other side of the notch. I staked it into the whole width of the notch, no more movement so far. I check it regularly.

Anyone know where I can get a Bug Buster, carbon fiber?

Finally got a new midpipe from Delkevic which had a slightly different bend. After a lot of messing around, I eventually got it to work the way I wanted (no fault of theirs). I made my own bracket to put the barrel band more to the center. I also shortened the midpipe by 4" which put the can behind the footpeg. I then had to space the footpeg brackets out about 1/2" so as to not touch the can. It's now in about as tight as it can be without touching anything. I would have liked the can to be parallel with the fairing, but the shape of the pipe doesn't bring the front up high enough. On to the next project!

Finally heard back from Delkevic, they're sending me both a high pipe and low pipe. We'll see how it goes!

I totally agree it looks wrong, that's why I haven't used it. I put their can on a low mount pipe I had from a 2 Bros, which puts it tight and parallel. Still waiting to hear from Delkevic.

I put it back on just for the photos Waiting for a reply from Delkevic. To me, the mid-pipe needs more of each bend. As you can see in the photos, the outlet of the mid-pipe comes out at an angle, so the muffler juts out at an angle also. No amount of clamping will bring it any closer. Tried the clamp inside the bracket, outside, clamp tab inside or outside, no luck. Rotated the mid-pipe up down and reversed, still sticks way out.

Purchased a carbon Delkevic high mount 18" kit. I definitely don't like the fit. I currently have a 2 Bros. low mount slipon and it fits parallel to the bike and tight to it. This high mount is not parallel to the bottom of the fairing, and it juts out away from the bike at an angle. Contacted Delkevic and they say I have the right components, that I just need to tighten the brackets and clamps and it will pull it into the bike. Nope. Tried flipping the clamp around, pipe around (just in case), rotating the pipe this way and that, and it uses the Y bracket which can only go one way. Still nope. It's like the mid-pipe needs more bend to it to get the outlet into the right position. Currently trying to find a pipe bender to make me a better mid-pipe.

What year VTR fan fits? Looking on eBay, there are a lot of different fans for 88-90 VTR250, and not much from a VTR1000, plus the sizes/blade configs are different.

Thanks, didn't see that one. Same was my assumption but wanted to be sure. We'll see how it goes. I have both a dial gauge and a mercury gauge. I may try them both and see what it shows.

I will probably sync my SV's today (I've synced carbs on previous bikes). I have 2 manuals and have read through the posts, but can't find a definitive answer. The Service manuals indicate to use #1 as the baseline (non-adjustable). #3 is set 20mm below and #4 is set 10mm below. There's no mention of what to do with the #2 cylinder even though it has an adjustment screw. I've read what other posters have set it at, but does anyone know what Honda says to do? Seems odd that it's not even mentioned in the service manual. What am I missing?

Yes, I'm aware of the reason for different heat range plugs. Due to the fact my bike came with one heat range hotter plug than stock, wondered if anyone had experimented (I'm not willing to). I replaced the current set (which looked fine and were a #9 Iridiums, and didn't show any wear) with another set of 9 Iridiums. Previous owner (or dealer) probably either put in 8's by mistake, or couldn't get 9's. No matter, 9's work fine.

I'm trying to locate another gen5 rider in the North Detroit suburbs. I went to a Friday bike night at Gibraltar Trade Center and saw a red VFR with a double bubble windscreen in the parking lot. Wondered if it belonged to anyone on this forum? Jim

OK, I went ahead and bought some new springs to test. Try and follow along as it gets a little confusing! This is by no means a scientific test, but it is a comparative test. I'm comparing the springs I have on hand to each other, that's it. If you're not interested or are bored and just looking to stir the pot, go elsewhere. This is what I tested: Used stock springs (don't know how long they have been in the bike, but it's a 2001 and I bought it used). New in the package stock Honda spring, #22401-MBG-D00. New in the package EBC supposed to be 10-15% "stronger" stock springs, #CSK29. 10-15% stronger is what the actual packaging says. New in the package Barnett #501-99-06091. Supposed to 99lbs, but unknown compressed length to get to that spec. I found one spec that said 99lbs at one inch so used that. Clutch - Spring - Barnett - Colors - Gold: 501-75-06005 (MT-05) = 75lb at 1-inch (default)Clutch - Spring - Barnett - Colors - Green: #501-82-06023 (MT23) = 82lb at 1-inchClutch - Spring - Barnett - Colors - Red: #501-99-06091 (MT91) = 99lb at 1-inch Since I don't know the installed (compressed) length when in the bike, I had to find some way to compare them. The stock springs are at 18lbs before the Barnetts even start due to the difference in lengths. I could graph them but that's too much work for non-exact data. Here's how they measured: Used original: Length 45.9mm - Wire diameter: 2.4mm - Outside diameter: 18.7mm Stock new: Length 47.2mm - Wire diameter: 2.4mm - Outside diameter: 18.7mm EBC new: Length 46.7mm - Wire diameter: 2.5mm - Outside diameter: 19.5mm Barnett new: Length 42.5mm - Wire diameter: 2.8mm - Outside diameter: 20.4mm My SAE Metric washers: 2mm thick, outside dia: 19.6mm, inside dia: 13.2mm What I can do is compress them to the same length, and measure the force at that same length. I measured them all at 2 different lengths just to see if they were linear in the compression rates. The results were as follows: 30mm compressed length: Original 58lbs NOS 62lbs EBC 62lbs! Barnett 77lbs Washers added about 9% 25mm compressed length: Orig 72lbs NOS 75lbs EBC 75lbs! Barnett 99lbs Washers added about 10% So, what's the conclusion? Only conclusion I can come to for sure is this: The Barnett springs are about 25% heavier than stock or EBC, and the EBC measured exactly the same as NOS. Also, the original springs were slightly weaker than new, as well as slightly shorter (I'm sure due to metal fatigue). Now, I know there can be variations in new springs due to manufacturing, but I averaged the ones I had multiples of and these were the numbers I came up with. As they say: Your results may vary. Good riding! Jim