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y2kvfr

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Blog Entries posted by y2kvfr

  1. y2kvfr

    Forking Righteous!

    By y2kvfr,

    24 April 2009 1630 hrs
    Run down to the basement. Using the dremel, with a wire wheel attachment, get the final paper out of the old air filter housing.
    A blast of compressed air blows all the fibers out and away. Using a small drill bit, I put a couple of holes in the housing. I put the UNI foam (two layers of the HF series) into the housing and safety wired them in.
    (Note: I thought I had the picture of that with me... where did that go?)
    I put the air filter into the air box, but didn't screw down the top.
    25 April 2009, 0530 hrs
    Yes, another early Saturday morning. My wife had split for work at 4 am, but I just couldn't get up. My 2 YO daughter (the wrench-ess) had decided my bed was the place to be. So, up and at'em! Down a bowl of shredded wheat, grabbed my sippy cup (insulated coffee mug with a flip top, a sippy cup for adults) and headed to the basement.
    I started putting the forks back together. I don't have a fork seal tool, so I had to improvise. At Trace's suggestion, I started looking for the bizillion PVC fittings I normally have laying around. None were to be found this morning. The story of my life, I know I have stuff, just do not know where it is.
    So, I cut a slot into a 1.5" ID Schedule 40 PVC in my chop saw. About, say 6" long. I then turned it sideways (the way you're supposed to cut on a chop saw) and cut my seal press.
    This 'halved' PVC pipe fit right over the fork tube.

    P4250001.JPG
    So, new slider bushing on, fork oil seal on, slide the tube in. Slide the seal down. Using the two pieces of PVC (deburred and cleaned mind you!), I alternately whacked each side with a rubber mallet. Note to self: next time use more oil on the seal.
    Seal in, now for the dust seal. Easy squeezy.
    I had previously cleaned out the damping rods, in it went. New copper washer and the damping rod bolt went in easily. Torqued without spinning (I've read the horror stories).
    Now it's time to fill with the new PJ-1 oil. Manual says 15.5 ounces. In it goes. Slide the fork tube (at least 5 times per SM). And then the damping rod. It was quite easy at first, until it started to fill up. WOW.
    Check the level. What a PITA. Next time I'm buying a turkey baster. Ugh.
    Now for the new goodies. I open the Sonic Springs package. I clean the old springs. HUGE difference in length. Their instructions say that most modern sportbikes will use the stock spacer. Apparently the 2000 VFR is not modern enough.

    P4250002.JPG
    Ok. So, I know I now have a heavier rate, and probably won't need as much preload, but I decided to make the spacer 5MM longer. I'll back the preload out and adjust from there. (My previous setting was all the way in, most preload, with the stock springs).

    P4250004.JPG
    The tubes go back together with out a hitch and I put the forks into the triple trees. I get everything torqued down and buttoned up (not at easy as I just typed, darn delay valve is a pain to work with) and look into my egg carton. Hmmm. Two retaining clips left over and my muffler clamp. Muffler clamp ok (muffler still on the shelf), but these two retaining wires.
    OH, the clip ons! I put the forks in per manual 39MM above the triple. Sorry, not so much. It needs about 41MM so you can put the retaining wires back on. Crap. Loosen the pinch bolts. Rock the front end and voila! Torque everything back down.
    By this time I've run back and forth / up and down the stairs to feed the kids, get them dressed and kick them out the door, it's already 60F outside, go play!
    25 April 2009 2130hrs
    The final throws of labor. I put the MIG back on, had to find a new bolt for the clamp. Luckily I had some cap head screws left over from the mirror extender builds. Worked like a charm, except I needed to rotate the clamp so the center stand wouldn't catch. Battery back in, BT leads connected, fuse box wired back in. All the tupperware back on. It's now 2330hrs.
    Ok, screw it, take it off the table! It comes down with out much of a hitch, kick stand down, ready for tomorrow.
    26 April 2009 0725hrs
    Check tire pressure. Wheel the '00 to the french doors and into the back 'yard' (it's still fill and no grass)

    P4260008.JPG
    I turn the key and thumb the starter. The first time in over 6 months. JOY!!!!
    I ride it to the garage, hit the 50 Cal button I installed and up the garage door went! WOOHOO!
    Here's the maintenance tally:

    Muffler: repacked and resprayed
    Clutch fluid replaced.
    Brake fluid replaced.
    Motor oil and filter replaced.
    Valves checked - within spec.
    50 cal mounted (left garage bay door)
    rocket launcher mounted (right garage bay door)
    Fork oil and seals replaced
    Fork spring replaced with Sonic Springs .90
    Stock shock replaced with '00 929 shock
    RedNeck Table built
    '08 Ninja 250 purchased

    Rode her in to work today. The sag on the front is about perfect. Sag on the rear needs to be checked.
    She felt more planted then she has in a long time. 24k miles is a long time to go without doing a lot of the above.
    By the way, the front brakes are really responsive, but the rear has a lot more throw than it used to. Of course with all the crud built up that is now gone, I'm not surprised.
    I'm going to need a chain and a battery by the middle of the season. I'm sure the CFO will love to hear that.
    I officially call this maintenance session complete!
    :fing02:
  2. y2kvfr

    Valve Covers!

    By y2kvfr,

    17 April 2009

    The End Goal: Sonic .90 Springs and New Url
    After spending most of the day fixing up my step-dad's '79 Cub Cadet 1250 (new seat and arm rests, needed to drill and tap the seat for the arm rests), I finally made it back to the man cave to button up the valve check.
    Getting a torque wrench on the rear #1 cylinder bolt was a real PITA. Anyway, I got both valve covers back on and took another hour to get the darn airbox and 14 hoses back together.
    While down in the cave I took off the clip-ons and loosened the lower triple pinch bolts forks.
    The forks just dropped right out! WOOHOO
    18 April 2009
    My sister in law dropped by, so the kids and I snuck down to the cave again. I hooked up my eldest's bicycle to a little push car and he 'drove' the bike and trailer around the basement. My daughter squealed with joy as he did laps on the bicycle.
    Mean while, over at the bench, I popped off the first fork protector. The second one is off now, but broken, a replacement is on its way (Thanks Seb!). I then backed the fork cap off the first fork and poured the sludge out into a empty kitty litter bucked.
    What stench! Gross!

    P4180032.JPG
    I tried to budge the bottom bolt with my T-handle 6mm wrench as my socket 6mm isn't long enough to fit in. No budging. Great. After much sifting through my wrench drawer I found a 6mm alan key. I dremeled away and cut the L off. With a 6mm 1/4" socket, then a 1/4" to 3/8" socket adapter, I chucked this monstrosity into my cheap impact wrench.

    Adapterators
    Fired up the air compressor (this drove the kids out of the basement), and wailed away. And wailed away. I ended up twisting the cut alan key. Back to the T-handle. Pop! Out came the bottom bolt.

    P4180031.JPG
    Back to the bucket. Damping rod and spring into the bucket. I sloshed as much oil as I could out of the tubes. Nasty smelly sludge.
    I nudged the top seal off. No issues. Take out the retaining ring. No issues there either. Now... the oil seal. The service manual shows a little fork slide McGillicudy up-down action. Ok, service manual says so... stretch, stretch, stretch, pop. COOL!
    Inspection of the bottom of the tube show NO wear on the teflon coated bushing. SWEET! Same for the other fork.

    P4180033.JPG
    Right now, the damping rods are 'draining' into the bucket, awaiting the next trip to the man cave.
  3. y2kvfr

    Valve Check!

    By y2kvfr,

    14 April 2009, 2030 hrs
    About a week ago I pulled the valve covers off, and the '00 has been sitting naked with the internals exposed just waiting for me to get a block of time to slip the feeler gauges in and check the valves.
    Well, after a bit of futzing around we have results (I took my time checking and rechecking):
    Valve Clearances (measurements in inches)

    Valve Clearances at 24k miles
    All within spec!
    I put the rear cylinder cover back on, have yet to do the front. Maybe this weekend she'll be all back together (finish up the valve covers and start the forks!)
  4. y2kvfr

    Time Is Always Short

    By y2kvfr,

    3 April 2009, 1000hrs
    I had just spent about 1.5 hours on my roof, fixing shingles (again) due to some high winds. About a week ago I ordered a set of Sonic Springs (0.90) and PJ1 10W fork oil. I ordered the seals and bushings from Service Honda as well.
    I have a choice here. Do I fab up my missile launcher/50 cal pushbuttons or put the rear back on and prep for valve cover removal, or finish up the MIG?
    I had some red RTV kicking around, rather than purchase some black, I put on the red and drilled out the rivet holes to accept 3/16" aluminum rivets. I sealed the end caps and riveted the stainless straps and end caps back on. I then RTV'ed the can to the pipe and put it up to dry.
    This entire process took way too long and before I knew it, it was time to leave to go pick up the Ninjette. Brand new, one owner, never titled.
    I took the trip to West Springfield with my 5x8' trailer and the HF wheel chock. My first ride of the year was about 1/4 mile on the 205R. Gorgeous condition, and my wife has always had used bikes, this'll be her first new one. Got the bike back to the house after down pours and heavy rain. Slapped a bow on it
    4 April 2009, 0530 hrs
    My wife went to work (thankfully no flat tire this weekend). I was able to spend some more time before the kids woke up at 7am.
    I put the rear wheel back on and started disassembling the air box. I haven't had the box cover off in a couple of years and found some nice insulation and whirley birds from a tree. They must have been added when I had my old house with the detached garage. Luckily nothing made it through the filter.

    P4040012.JPG

    P4040013.JPG

    P4150026.JPG
    I've decided to get some UNI filter Foam (BF-4), tear out the paper and use the foam (but that's another entry...)
    5 April 2009, 1100 hrs
    Continued to pull the airbox. I've never had the airbox completely off, and I didn't realize that there are no less than a dozen hoses connected to it. I took out the sharpie and labeled every hose so I'd be sure to get it right when I put it back together.
    With the airbox out, I moved on to releasing the radiators and the oil cooler. It was at this point that I realized that getting the front valve cover off is going to be a real pain in the rear. After much fiddling around it was free. I set it on the bench and covered it with a clean rag. The rear cover came off quite easily.
    I set the pistons to 1 TDC on the compression stroke and pulled out my feeler gauges. Crap. They are all WAY too big.
    I called a buddy that raced quads and he said he'd check his and bring them in to work.

    P4040014.JPG

    P4050015.JPG

    P4050016.JPG

    P4050017.JPG
    I can't help but take a picture of my daughter when she comes to the 'shop' to "help daddy". Her brothers are usually in the other part of the basement riding bicycles and wreaking much havoc. She comes in and, every single time, messes up my socket set.
    5 April 2009, 2100 hrs
    I can't do any more valve work, but my fork stuff should be coming in this week, so I started to pull the forks. This is when I realized that I should have pulled the forks before taking off the front valve cover. Would have made the cover so much more accessible.
    Time was again getting short so I finished the soldering of the missile/50 cal buttons. Really, they go to the garage door opener that I have. I hot glue the case and velcro it inside the front fairing.

    P4040007.JPG
    I'll try to finish pulling the forks this week before doing the valve check. It'll be so much easier without them in the way.
  5. y2kvfr
    March 2, 2009
    Start the MIG Indy teardown! I got my MIG from a 'big lister' quite a few years ago, after he had low sided his '98. He indicated it had never been repacked, so I purchased a bit of KaoWool from another 'big lister' about 5 years ago (yes, I've been meaning to repack this for about 5 years!).
    My new bolt & clevis are away being welded and painted (thanks RoBoots21!)
    My better half and the two boys are out getting haircuts and I have my 2YO daughter. It's not bed time yet.
    What to do, what to do???
    Start the MIG Indy teardown! I got my MIG from a 'big lister' quite a few years ago, after he had low sided his '98. He indicated it had never been repacked, so I purchased a bit of KaoWool from another 'big lister' about 5 years ago (yes, I've been meaning to repack this for about 5 years!).
    This shouldn't be a tough job, or so I thought!
    I brought Julia down to the basement for a little wrenching lesson. She loves to sit on the tall chair and whack my vise with a box-end wrench saying 'Perfect. Perfect Daddy!'.

    My Little Wrenchess
    So, where do we start tearing down a CF can? Drill out the rivets of course!

    P3030021.JPG
    Once drilled out, I used a small drift pin punch to clear the holes of the rivet dunnage.

    P3030023.JPG
    The straps essentially popped right off. Now we're in bidness! That was easy!
    Well, that's where easy ends. Pull, pull, puuuuullllll. Wedge wedge wedge. There was no budging the end caps. I then noticed a bit of silicone between the CF and the end caps. I X-Actoed the silicone to separate the end caps and the tube.
    Pull pull pull, wedge wedge wedge. No budging.
    Hmm...
    I put the up pipe to end cap bolts back in.

    P3030022.JPG
    Then flipped the can up so the ingress end was pointing down. Then I dropped it on the bench several times. This wedged the ingress end up into the can. This is when I noticed that the egress perf pipe ends were flared, holding the end cap in place.
    A little twisting with a flat blade screw driver 'unflared' the ends.

    P3030024.JPG
    Pull pull pull... wedge wedge wedge WOOOHOOO!
    Egress end cap is off! To reveal... what is this?

    P3030025.JPG
    It looks like toilet wax ring, but it is some sort of silicone. I assume it is to direct the exhaust to the tips.
    It's now time to remove the daughter-unit from the basement. I don't want the fibers getting into her lungs. I set her up with a DVD and headed back the basement.
    A dead blow hammer and block of wood separates the perf tube and ingress end cap from the CF and it slides right out.

    P3030026.JPG
    X-Acto knife back in action, I separate the original wool from the perf pipe. Nice wrapping job!

    P3030027.JPG
    For a 10ish year old OEM packing, it doesn't look bad at all!
    Here are the parts.

    P3030028.JPG
    Just one question... The original rivets were stainless. Since I'm using KaoWool, I shouldn't need to do this again. Should I use rivets or screws?
  6. y2kvfr

    Nothing To See Here

    By y2kvfr,

    14-16 March
    No new progress. I've determined that I might as well do the forks while I'm tearing into everything though.
    I still need to drain the fuel and pull the tank to do the valves. I'll be pulling all of the tupperware this week, probably hang it from the floor joists.
    I'll do the valves, forks and rig up my garage door opener.
    While I have all the plastics off, I think I redo the compressor attachment for the stebel and rerun beefier wires for the heated grips.
    But, unfortunately I was stuck doing closet organizers for the kids this weekend.
  7. y2kvfr
    6 March 2009
    I work (normally) a 9/80 schedule. That's 4 9-hour days, an 8-hour Friday and the second week is just 4 9-hour days, with that Friday off.
    This is my first Friday off in a VERY long time that I can dedicate to working on the bike. The first order of business was moving my second bench over to the workshop.
    I really wanted to work on the shock install, but a can of lacquer was calling me. My CF can is flaking and sun checked, so I went to it with a scotchbrite pad and some 600 wet paper.

    P3060001.JPG
    Next was to setup a temporary/hack paint booth to shoot my CF can.

    P3060002.JPG
    After three coats, voila'

    P3070012.JPG
    A little mothers, my drill press and some elbow grease, and the end can is polished up.

    P3070015.JPG
    In this picture, the top band is unpolished, the bottom band is polished.

    P3070016.JPG
    In between coats on the CF, I started installing the 929 shock. I decided to keep the bearing collar in the dog bone end as it fit my bolt perfectly. That left me with a small issue. The collar is proud a couple of MM. A fender washer drilled out solved that problem.

    P3060004.JPG
    A dry run install proved that I needed to cut a shoulder into the DB end to get a good seat. More drill press time...

    P3060006.JPG
    I have two dog bone ends, so I cut a shoulder into the second one as well. Things are going well enough that I thought I'd offer up the other end pay-it-forward. It turns out I had a PM waiting for me, member Gregg, it's all yours. (You'll just need a fender washer if you want to use the collar).

    P3060005.JPG
    39mm dead nuts. AWESOME!
    Eventually, after a little cussing trying to get the shock in... pop! It's all good.

    P3060007.JPG

    P3060008.JPG

    P3070020.JPG
  8. y2kvfr
    7 March 2009 2130hrs
    Burning both ends of the candle! My wife went out with a friend, kids are in bed. Time for the brake and clutch fluid flush.

    Ewwwwwwww
    I went to Advance AutoParts on the 6th to buy a vacuum. They have a loaner program. Pay full price, bring it back within 45 days and get the full price back.
    SWEET!
    Fluid purge went fine, as far as I can tell, but check out the Stout I pulled.
    That's been there since it was built in October 1999. Gross!

    Stout!
    Bleeding from the PCV was a real pain. I ended up pumping the pedal and keeping negative pressure.
    I have more pedal throw, but I can't tell if it is 'spongy' yet. This is the first time bleeding a brake system for me.
    One item of note, I used 1/4" ID hose and even with teflon tape air bleed into the purge line. I may have to do this again.
  9. y2kvfr

    It's A Wa-rap.

    By y2kvfr,

    7 March 2009 0400hrs
    Yes, that's right 0400 hours. My wife is a CPA, and has to work weekends now that it is the 'busy season'. She puts in 8 hours and is home for lunch. That means I have a couple of hours whilst the mini-us'es are sleeping.
    Don the mask and wrap the MIG!

    P3070009.JPG
    This KaoWool is really thick. I ended up wrapping the shotguns separately, then the single tube and finally the whole shebang.

    P3070010.JPG
    Problem is, it is WAY too thick. I unwrapped it, and peeled it in half.

    P3070011.JPG
    With a little coaxing, it slid back into the can.
    By the time I got it back into the can, it was about 0645 and the little ones were starting to get out of bed. Done for the day. Or so I thought.
  10. y2kvfr
    March 2, 2009
    Bike is on the operating table. The rear wheel and slip-on have been removed (more on the slip-on later). It's time to remove the stock shock.
    The triangle and bottom shock mount bolt are removed with out much to do.
    I pulled the front tank bolts and rear tank bolts. I propped the tank up and forward to gain access to the top shock mount nut.

    P3020012.JPG
    I had a lot of trouble removing the dog bone, so I coaxed the shock out with a punch and a ford wrench (dead blow hammer).
    I propped the swingarm up with 2x4 cut offs from building the table to get more access for removing the shock.

    P2250010.JPG

    P3020011.JPG
    Now that the shock was removed, I separated the clevis and the shock.
    I chucked a grinding bit into my drill press to clean up the dog bone ends. I cut both off, figuring someone else may want a freebie spacer for their project.

    Milled dog bone ends
    I wanted a quick check to make sure my spacing would be about correct, so I placed the M10-1.5x110 hardened bolt & dog bone spacer next to the stock clevis.

    P3020015.JPG
    Now to remove the OEM bolt from the clevis. Another Christmas present in action, the 4" Ryobi grinder popped the tack welds without issue. I also ground down the head of the new bolt to gain the clearance needed for the top mount eye.

    P3030018.JPG
    March 3, 2009
    A buddy's brother runs a garage, so he took my new bolt & clevis and welded them together for me. (I owe :beer: ).
    My buddy didn't like the look of the clevis, so he cleaned it up after the weld and painted it with 'hammered silver' primer

    0303091925.jpg
  11. y2kvfr

    I Need A Lift!

    By y2kvfr,

    February 25, 2009
    I've started the spacer modifications for doing the shock upgrade, but I really hate working at floor level. I need a lift. The $$$ for a real lift isn't in the cards, and I consider myself to be pretty handy...
    We just built our house (walk out basement, which is where I'm doing all this work) and we have a bunch of leftover lumber. The lumber is slated to be used to build a pool shed this summer. I need a lift right now though.
    So, a couple of 2x4-8's, a bunch of screws, a half dozen milk crates and two sheets of 1/2" OSB...
    40 minutes later:

    RNTable1.jpg

    RNTable2.jpg

    RNTable3.jpg

    RNTable4.jpg

    RNTable5.jpg

    RNTable6.jpg
    Now I can sit on yet another milk crate and do my maintenance. I've found one issue since putting this together. In order to flush my brake and clutch fluids, I'll need to get the front wheel out of the chock. The chock is the $40 deal from harbor freight, but I did manage to get it on sale for $20.
    I think I'll strap the rear down and lever it on the centerstand, unbolt the top of the chock and remove it. Should be simply enough (famous last words right!?!).
  12. y2kvfr
    After about 9ish years of ownership, I thought it was about time I do some real maintenance on the 2000 VFR.
    For Christmas 2008, my much better half got me a CBR 929 shock. It happened to be one with the triangles and dogbone still attached.
    In order to do the shock swap, I'll need to use the stock top mount clevis with a longer bolt and a space. SEBSPEED suggested I simply cut of of the ends off the 929 dogbone and use that.
    February 20, 2009
    It turns out that the DB is 36.5mm, so, using that and a fender washer I should gain a smidge of ride height.

    Metric tape measure with the DB
    So, I broke out my craftsman reciprocating saw, with a carbide metal cutting blade and had at it. Or so I thought.

    929 Dogbone awaiting end-ectomy
    After about 10-15 minutes and little to no progress I stopped and looked at the blade. It was clogged with aluminum bits. The blade says its for cast iron and hardened metal. Crud. I dig into the saw back and pull out a new demolition blade. Made for cutting wood and nails. I thought it may be worth a shot as I'll spend another 1/2 hour trying to cut with the carbide blade.
    30 seconds later the end was free.
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