Lifesaver

fake Old Navy underarmor

sweatpants

fleece balaclava

REALLY?

Rev It pants with liner in

Tourmaster Cortech with liner in

Powerlet Proform heated gloves

Gerbing socks with top elements only

still need overgloves and rain booties

aA LITTLE MORE THAN THAT TOO...

I just bought the heated gloves and a dual temp controller from Powerlet at the Seattle MC Show, then meandered over to the Gerbing booth to buy socks (since Powerlet doesn't make 'em yet), where I learned that I had saved $30 by getting the dual controller from Powerlet. Sweet.

I DO NOT REMEMBER WHY (With this 130 pound 5 foot 9 inch tall blond maniac woman over my souldr - seeing me type... so, you know what she is gonna lead to after I'm ffinnissheedeed typing 2 U, U know what I meanszzZ?, right?

My legs and core never get too cold as long as I layer up properly, but hands and feet were bitterly cold last March riding in a Colorado sleet storm, even with the "water-proof" boots and gloves I had then. HA! They didn't let any water escape... <_<

It was due to the CORE being cold is all...

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:

TracTTTion? :thumbsup:

Thats all you need for those situationzS!

:goofy: 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.

I am bringing up this topic again because my gloves suck! Actually they are fine to 35 or so, when combined with the heated grips, but my fingers totally freeze after that. The heated grips keep my hands warm but not my fingers.

Anyone have a review on the Powerlet gloves? I might try them if they are pretty good.

No!

Although, If they can still be found, then the under-the-grips-generic-or-name-brand heated grips will (I've tried them on my BuDDies Bike's-plural-solved any problem... point blAnk!!!

I have found that a sweatshirt under my MotoGP jacket(not leather) with the rain insert keeps me fairly warm, only where the jacket zips together do I feel the cold. MotoGP overpants with quilted liner keep my legs warm enough, I start to feel the cold at 25 degrees, but not uncomfortable. Socks take care of the worst of the feet issue, I haven't needed to upgrade to wool there yet.

Always be sure to keep the leather ON!!!

I freeze below 40F as all my gear is built for hot weather riding out here in AZ. But when I lived in Michigan I wore a thick traditional leather biker jacket with a sweatshirt and long johns underneath, leather chaps, pants and long johns. Some water proof snowmobiling boots, bacalava and gloves finished me off. I often rode in 25-40 degrees dressed up like that.

I'm telin ya, a heated vest would change everything U just said

Anyone have the Motoport liners? They are suppossed to be rated down into the negatives and are waterproof.... I should just buy them as I already have the mesh pants and jacket.

Just get a heated vest . Just be sure to check the zippers out before you purchase, unless... Get the Stitch. They have ike 4 versions... Get the vest with the most warmth/draw from the battery!

I installed and tested the grip warmers tonight and I can't believe I've ridden sixteen years without them.

One of the best "Bang for the Buck" mods out there.

I headed out and it was 45 degrees which I can handle without warmers, so it wasn't bad. Felt good to try out the new warmers and see how they work.

The ride home was 33 degrees, and the warmers were definately helpful. Along with all my riding gear (layers), I was very comfortable and could've ridden a long distance in relative comfort if I had to. The half hour ride home was great.

I was actually surprised how hot the grips get. Riding through town the High setting was too hot, so I switched to low. But on the highway, the hot setting was perfectly adequate to do the job.

Here's what I wear whenever the temps get below 50 degrees. It took a while to figure out what works best. The key is layers and making sure there's no exposed skin. The Under Armor is awesome. It's like a second set of skin. But you have to use the tight fitting synthetic stuff that's not very breathable, it works the best. Here's what makes me comfortable down to at least 30 degrees:

Under Armor

Cotton T Shirt

Turtle Neck Sweater

Icon Leather Jacket w/ Liner (Sleeves of liner cut off so my arms aren't too bulky w/ the sweater, etc.)

Icon Timax Gloves

Balaclava (like a ski mask, w/ no mouth hole and one oval eyeport made of synthetic material)

Icon Helmet

Sweat Pants Under Jeans

Boots w/ Thick Cotton Socks

Symtec Grip Heaters

Every year I will ride regularly until the first real snowstorm brings out the salt and sand trucks. Then the road surface is pretty much shot until spring. I'll still ride on the occasional nice mid-winter day though.

Goodnight...

Sorry about not reading any posts but yours.. I've never tried grip warmers, and have ridden in 0 degree climates daily for years with just a heated stitch vest (5 years worth of winters), and I think that warming the core, the spot with most of your circulating blood helps the most. Although, I'd think that the couple of times I got to my destination with hurting cold numb hands should have prompted me to get the grip heaters long ago!

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g188/shilofrinkles/valves154.jpg[/img]

How to perform a Valve Adjustment on a VFR VTEC 6th Generation Honda. A step by step pictorial of the procedure to ajust your valves

Take off both side cowls. Push in here once all the bolts are out to slide the cowls out with minimal struggle.

Also, disconnect the battery & remove both the seat and the inner half cowl (black plastic behind front wheel).

Remove these.

Remove these.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g188/shilofrinkles/valves023.jpg[/img]

Hold the tank & disconnect the wire that normally prevents you from lifting the tank too far. Disconnect all electrical connections, as well as all the lines/small hoses that prevent you from fully removing the tank. Do not worry too much about spilling a little fuel (empty tank is nice). These connections/lines are really self explanitory... Just remember their orientation for reinstallation. The brass looking banjo bolt has 2 little washers that could easily be lost... Be careful.

Remove the 7 screws that hold the airbox lid on.

Disconnect the vacuum line.

Remove the 8 screws (2/stack) that hold the velocity stacks down. Set the stacks aside. Remember, for reinstalation, 2 short stacks in front & the 2 tall stacks go in the rear.

Disconnect this hose.

Disconnect.

Disconnect.

Disconnect.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g188/shilofrinkles/valves035.jpg[/img]

Disconnect.

Disconnect... This is attached to the airbox base & just slides up & off.

Turn the airbox base over & disconnect this.

Unscrew this sensor from the base of the airbox. Set the airbox base aside with the velocity stacks.

Remove the radiator cap. I just disconnected this hose & let most of the coolant flow out. Try not to make a mess. The radiator & its hoses will spit out coolant as you remove the different pieces. I just had a large mug to catch the stuff in as I removed hoses, etc...

Disconnect.

There is only 1 bolt holding each radiator on. Remove both of them.

On the left side (facing forward from rear of bike) there are 2 electrical connections that require disconnecting. They are located where I am pointing in the photo. Also, on the right side, there is a small diameter hose that is located on the inner side of the radiator. Disconnect that too.

Disconnect the overflow line from the resevoir. I caught the fluid in my mug. May have to disconnect 1 other radiator hose to make removing the radiators easier. Remove the radiators & their hoses. Set them all aside.

Remove the 4 bolts holding the front fender on. (2 on each side).

Remove this bolt.

Remove this bolt. Now you can slide the fender off, and set it aside.

Remove this bolt.

Remove this bolt.

Remove this bolt. After you remove the last bolt from the calipers (2 bolts/caliper), Remove the calipers from the rotors & tie the calipers up & out of the way.

Loosen this pinch bolt...Loosen the same pinch bolt on the lower end of the other fork as well.

Remove this bolt.

Above bolt removed.

Put an allen wrench through the holes & pull this out. Remove front wheel, and set it aside with the spacer(s) oriented in the position they need to be in for the reinstallation.

Forgot to mention: Need to jack the front wheel up off of the ground to remove the front wheel. I used a car jack with wood between the header pipes & the jack, and cranked the front end of the bike up off the ground...

I have heli's. Remove the 4 bolts holding them on. Stock may have a little C type-wire clip to remove as well... Let them dangle off to the side of the bike after removed.

Loosen this bolt (2 total..1 bolt up top for each fork leg). However, if you are going to refurbish the fork fluid... Before you loosen this bolt, loosen the 2 fork caps... or else own a vice...

Loosen this bolt (2 total..1 down low for each fork leg).

Remove both fork leg's, and set them aside.

Remove the oil cooler lines from their stays (no bolts to remove)..both sides.

Looking up from under the leading edge of the upper cowl, you will see the 2 bolts which secure the oil cooler. Remove them both, and drop the oil cooler down & out of the way.

Remove the horn (1 bolt holds it on).

This is in the way. I just removed it & set it aside.

Remove the 4 bolts holding the spark plug housings down (1 bolt for each spark plug... The rear plug & the front plug housings have different types of bolts. Position the spark plug housing things out of the way once those bolts are removed.

Remove all 4 of the spark plugs with a plug socket wrench.

Remove the 8 bolts (4 per head cover) from the valve head covers.

4 of those bolts per head cover.

Crack open both front & rear cases.

Remove both front & rear head covers & set them aside. I put them inside clean kitchen trash bags for safe stoage.

Pop off the cap for crank access on the right side of the bike.

Now, you have to crank it (CLOCKWISE) & align up the index marks as explained in the service manual on page 3-10 & 3-11... pm as many trusted people as you need to, if you are in the least bit uncertain about how things should be lining up. Feel free to pm me for this step too.

4Tl index mark aligned. I align this 4Tl mark up for the front head/valves. The pictures below show how the cam sprockets index marks should be oriented when this 4Tl index mark is aligned at the crank. You may have to wind the crank (CLOCKWISE) more than one full rotation to get these alignments. Only do one bank/head/cam sprocket at a time to ease this step up, and never lose your timing...

Upper cam sprocket index mark oriented as it should be for crank at 4Tl (front head/valves). That pic shows the FI mark facing outward & exactly parallel with the ledge of the engine casing. Picture below is also with crank at 4Tl, but shows the lower cam sprocket.

Lower cam sprocket on front head. See the FE index mark in perfect alignment with the ledge of the engine casing.

Got to make that special tool for the cam chain tensioners now. I used the thickest feeler gauge for making this tool.

After I took a dremel to the above mentioned feeler gauge. Just cut and compare to the picture thats in the manual (page 8-13) as also shown in the previous picture above until you have an exact match.

You have to remove the bolt from the cam chain tensioner in order to instal the homade f. guage tool into it. This pic is of the rear cam chain tensioner, not the front.

This is the front cam chain tensioner (located on right side of bike, next to throttle bodies area. You can see the homade tool installed. Install the tool. Turn it clockwise (against pressure) until it no longer turns, then lock it in place by fully inserting the homeade tool.

Remove this bolt. Loosen the other bolt that holds it on, and situate this piece out of the way.

There are 2 bolts holding this on. Remove those 2 bolts and set this piece aside.

Remove the 2 bolts that hold this piece in, then remove this piece & set it aside.

8 bolts hold this piece on. Remove all 8 of those bolts. Make sure you remove them in a criss-cross pattern, a little bit at a time for each individual bolt... So you do not damage any parts of your cams.

Remove & set aside.

Take these out and set them aside. This is up to you... I take both of them out at once & I am certain to realign them correctly when I put them back in. Other's take only one out at a time, effectively maintaining their timing, because one of the sprockets' teeth will always be situated correctly on the cam chain...

Here they are out of the engine.

Take out the vtec lifters.

Take out the vtec outer springs. Be certain to maitain original spots within the engine. Put the same springs back into where they came out of when you are done... Stretched out part of the spring faces up when installed...

Take this thing out of the vtec lifters.

These are the slide pin stopper tools that need to be in hand (ordered) before you start the adjustment.

Put a slide pin stopper tool into the spring loaded hole designed to accept them, and then slide it all back together. The hole on the side of the lifter is simply to allow oil pressure in so as to activate the valve when normally operating the bike. Make sure that the inside piece is pressed all the way up against the upper inside plane of the lifter & not stuck in the hole on the side of the lifter.

Put the whole contraption, with slide pin stopper tools installed, back into their original location within the engine. Leave the outer vtec springs out of the engine for measurements. Realign cam sprockets index marks with the engine case ledge, and put cam chain back on them (take your time) before you continue with the next couple of steps.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g188/shilofrinkles/valves160.jpg[/img

Put this back on. I use 10 ft/lbs torgue for the 8 bolts. (I know this is not what the manual says..I think it says to use 9 ft/lbs).

Put this piece back in, as well as it's brother (the other piece that looks just like it). 10 ft/lbs torque for the 4 bolts.

Reestablish tension on cam chain by removing the homade key from the cam chain tensioner BEFORE EVER TRYING TO ROTATE THE CRANK when taking measurements, etc..

Use metric feeler guages to take measurements. Bend them a bit so they can access between the cam lobes & the lifters. Record the measurements. (Bottom of this post has the optimal specs & tolerances needed...so does service manual on page 3-11... Nevermind, here you go: Intake: 0.200mm for all valves (+/- 0.030mm for normal valves & +/- 0.08mm for the VTEC)...Exhaust: 0.350 for all valves (+/- 0.030mm for normal valves & +/- 0.080mm for the VTEC valves).

For the rear measurements. You have to remove the right side passenger peg & black heat shield to gain access to the cam chain tensioner that is hiding out back there. Remove this bolt, plus 3 others (easy to figure out which ones) to get the pegs off (hang them out of the way), & for completely removing the heat shield.

Remove the heat shield.

Put the homade tool in after you take off the bolt, and relieve tension on the cam chain by turning clockwise, then lock it by pushing the homade tool all the way in.

See the above pics & steps for accessing, installing slide pin stopper tools, removing VTEC springs and taking measurements. Everything is the same with one exception..THE TIMING. Consult someone (me if you have to) to be certain that you get it right. The difference is that while aligned at 3Tl (for cam removal), the sprockets should be indexed with the RE mark facing down (bottom sprocket) & outward. The RI mark should be facing towards the front of the bike (upper cam sprocket) & outward...both parallel with the engine casing ledge. Aligne them back up this way when you put things back together for measurements & final time, etc.. Do not forget to remove the homeade tool & reapply tension to the cam chain before you crank it for measurements too...

If all your valves are within specifications, all you have to do now is remove those cams again to get those slide pin stopper tools out. Then, reinstall the cams again & reverse steps mentioned above to get back to square one. Check your gaskets to make sure that they are in good shape & reuse them. I replaced mine at the 2nd inspection & not for the 1st one. Also, be sure to use dielectric grease for all electrical connections (not absolutely necessary though), lock tight medium for the brake caliper bolts if you want to, and slab on some moly paste as pictured below for the cam journals & lobes... Fill up the radiator, drain & replace oil soon after finished if not beforehand & then again soon after, and replace the airfilter, head/wheel bearings, fork fluid if doing that, etc...All of which already have a how to in this forum for them.

Cams lubed up with moly prior to final install.

If you need to adjust. Measure the shims & lifters with a micrometer (mine measured differently even when I measured the brand new shims... (1.80 stamped is actually a 1.775...). The equation is A = (B - C) + D. A:New thickness needed (lifter or shim) B:Your recorded clearance C:Specified valve clearance (either 0.200 or 0.350) D:Old valve lifter thickness as measured with micrometer. Order replacements, wait, replace, check measurements again to be sure that they are now within specs. Reverse steps above...

ALWAYS VERIFY THAT YOU DO INDEED HAVE ALL * SLIDE PIN STOPPER TOOLS OUT OF THE BIKE* I once had to unbutton everything because I forgot about one of them...not fun...but helped me to learn!

Later, Ian