Rush2112

16/43 for me. I went with a OEM VTEC front sprocket on a 5th gen and LOVE it! Power & pull down low and not a noticeable negative difference on highway or mileage.

I though that these bearing were made and used to reduce weight.

They'll definitely be lighter, but it looks like they will offer some other benefits too(less friction, harder, longer life). The more I learn the more confidence I've gained in them. I took the plunge and bought a set, they are scheduled to be delivered 5/7. I'll weigh them and compare to the Honda OEM bearings. I'm still using the stock VFR wheel so it won't make a huge dent in the weight... but maybe they'll smooth things out... you never know till you try!

I've seen some high end wheels that offer ceramic bearings as an option. My front wheel bearings showed their "growl" while getting my tire balanced and it is time to replace. Anybody have any experience with ceramic wheel bearings either pro or con?

It would seem to me that ceramic bearings would be prone to fail catastrophically and without warning. But a steel bearing will always (in my experience) announce their failure long before it arrives, thus the growling you're experiencing.

True? Untrue? I've never read a bit of literature on ceramic bearings.

Did a little bit more research and here is some literature:

"Silicon nitride bearings are both full ceramic bearings and ceramic hybrid bearings with balls in ceramics and races in steel. Silicon nitride ceramics have good shock resistance compared to other ceramics. Therefore, ball bearings made of silicon nitride ceramic are used in performance bearings. A representative example is use of silicon nitride bearings in the main engines of the NASA's Space Shuttle.^[21][22]

...from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory:

Silicon nitride ball bearings are harder than metal which reduces contact with the bearing track. This results in 80% less friction, 3 to 10 times longer lifetime, 80% higher speed, 60% less weight, the ability to operate with lubrication starvation, higher corrosion resistance and higher operation temperature, as compared to traditional metal bearings."

My Bonneville bike has ceramic wheel bearings. I didn't notice a change in either smoothness or rolling resistance, although I didn't expect very much. I did it to try and gain any advantage possible. I did see a significant difference in engine performance when I rebuilt the motor with ceramic bearing, but the rpms are a lot higher.

If you do use them, and if the $ isn't a huge issue I say go for it, make sure you freeze the bearing and get a heat gun on the wheel. They'll drop right in, and pressing the bearing in can (I've been told) crack the ceramic balls.

Thanks for the feedback on your experience with ceramic bearings. I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed you didn't see an improvement in smoothness. Your comments on freezing the bearings for install are spot on and that was my first thought when Bostrom crashed on the Cafe Racer show..."builder didn't freeze the bearings and beat them in instead causing bearing failure".

I don't have a heat gun, how much heat should be introduced to the hub? Are we talking blow dryer or blow torch? Those I have...

I don't know if you have them, but an excellent cure/abatement of handlebar vibration are these: http://www.vibranato...01-t150-brt.htm . I was skeptical but decided to try them, and believe me they really do work. And they're cheaper than the ceramic bearings, which I think are waaaaay overkill.

I glad to hear the Vibranators work for you. I was looking at those too. My only concerns I have is that I would lose my throttlemeister cruise control and that the Vibranators work on a tuned mass dampening principle. This implies that the mass used is tuned to a specific frequency and I'm afraid that would be designed more for lower engine frequencies to reduce arm pump and not so much for the higher frequencies.

From your experience do you have any input on the frequencies the Vibranators dampen?

Regardless, a motorcycle wheel may or may not spin at 2200 RPM at the furthest point in its diameter. I don't want to do the math or eat pie this early in the morning, but I bet that at the race, it spins MUCH slower.

My thought on this is that the outer race is fixed against the wheel bearing mounting surface of the wheel hub and it rotates without any slippage so it must revolve at the same rate as the outer wheel. The linear speed is much much slower at the bearing because of the smaller circumference but the rpms are the same. My quick calcs for 120/70 R17 tire gave 2,277 rpms at 160 mph. This might not be exact, but I figure it is in the ball park.

Also RE: your previous post, I agree completely about lightly greasing the seals where they meet the spacers, this also should help keep any water out of the bearing area. And the calipers and rotors will also add friction if not properly maintained and aligned. I think a poor fork alignment from the previous owners wheel self install caused the bearing failures to begin with and was part of my soft front brake lever feel.

68 bucks each. not cost effective.

Great if you are going superbike racing.

I know these are expensive, to be honest, it makes me a little nervous not having good 'ol trusty steel spinning along under me so I started looking top of the line which leads to $$$. There was an episode of Cafe Racer where one of the Bostrom Bros took a spill because of a bad front wheel bearing that collapsed and locked up the front end. May have been a result of the builder not properly installing the bearings.

Another benefit I'm hoping for with the ceramic bearings is a smoother front end. I have a screw holding my right wrist together from a previous injury and it is suseptable to high frequency vibrations that leads to numbness and pain. As smooth as my VFR is, after a while my hand goes numb and I think it is from some barely perceived vibrations and I'm thinking the ceramic bearings may be a little smoother.

I've seen some high end wheels that offer ceramic bearings as an option. My front wheel bearings showed their "growl" while getting my tire balanced and it is time to replace. Anybody have any experience with ceramic wheel bearings either pro or con?

The ones I'm looking at are hybrid bearings with stainless steel races, shielded, nylon cage with the hardest, most durable type of ceramic sealed ball bearing silicon nitride (Si3N4, same type used in rocket engines). These are ABEC-5 rated at electric motor quality at 11,000 rpm which far exceed the 2,200 front wheel rpm our bikes do at top end. Benefits are they are more durable (4 times more than steel balls), less friction, lower manufacturing tolerances, and more heat tolerant with less thermal expansion.

http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/Kit8172

Any thoughts, comments, or insights are appreciated. Thanks...

Very nicely Done!!! Combined the best of all worlds... 5th gen gear driven cams, lost the dumbo blinkers, and married on the 6th gen under tail exhaust... like I said, VERY NICELY DONE!!! Love the yellow and black bumble bee color combo

Pirelli Angels for me!!! Great grip wet or dry

+1

Maybe it's a gear driven cam thing but no more cheap oils for me.

I agree the rotella 15w40 is about the worst shifting , for an oil that get so much glamore talk

The good Rotella T that gets the sweet talk is the full synthetic 5w-40, not the 15w-40.

"African or European" "Coconuts" ?? Something has been seriously lost in translation here for me.... :computer-noworky:

I believe it may be a Monty Python reference... "Holy Grail" if I'm not mistaken.

Any updates on the build?

:blink:

How about a 3-spoke for the rear (just for you Rush2112!) and fit a F4i 3-spoke front wheel (which is basically a direct bolt on & lighter)

What do you think?

AHHhhhhhhhh Dude! You've uncovered my master rim plan...

:cheerleader:

:huh:

...Don't agree with the 3 spoker request though, I always thought that three spokers looked kinda weird and unbalanced. Ideal (aesthetic-wise) number of spokes had always been 5. 4 might be nice too. 8 is always appreciated here!

Beck

95 VFR

To each his own... aesthetically, I think BLS's MrRC45 looks pretty sweet with a 3 spoker

http://www.vfrdiscus..._5511_41329.jpg

I like the look and, more importantly I would hope it would be lighter...

:fing02:

I am looking to produce custom rear wheels for the VFR's, anyone interested?

Weights will probably be the same as stock, I might be able to do a little lighter, it will depend on the style of rim.

Should be looking around $600, powercoated.

Several style possible, what get's your interest?

I'd like to see a light weight 3 spoker... but I'm not in a position to pull the trigger on a "like to have" purchase right now, still working on suspension and engine. Maybe next year...

:laugh:

Hey, Thanks sa1713 for taking up the slack so I can be on vacation....... Shhh....., have to go before the wife gets out of the shower and catches me POV (posting on vacation)............

:laughing6-hehe:

Dude,

Don't tell my wife either... we're on vacation too!!! I'm addicted to my VFR and VFRD... I needed my fix!!! :pissed:

Is that strange?!? :angry:

I saw your thread and wasn't sure if you went through with the install. Unless I hear some bad news from the injector shop, the PC-V is a go. I found what I was looking for in the files area and it looks like it may be plug n play with the 5th gen too. Seems both use the same 10P connector for the throttle body electronics. Hopefully the pin arrangement is the same. For now I'll assume that it is.... :biggrin:

Looks like Honda moved that connector to the right side of the airbox (per PC-V install instructions) on the 6th gen bikes. On a 5th gen it is located behind the left fairing, just above the radiator.

Unless some sixth gen owner wants to go find the grey 10P connector for the TB electronics and take a picture of the wire colors for us...

Thanks MadMan,

I've got an old PC2 right now and it works for my current configuration. I'm looking to make some serious intake mods that would require a PCV w/ autotune (i.e. ram air induction). I'll let you be the guinea pig... sorry, somebody's got to be first and I'm not at that point yet where I'm ready to pull the trigger. I've got the full 5th gen manual if you need any support and I'm willing to pitch in any way I can. Let me know. Thanks... Rush

I've read through his posts and it seems to be straight up plug n play with any of the 6th gen bikes. However, I'm putting it on a 5th gen. Anyone done this yet? I need to make sure that the throttle body harness connection is the same on both models, if not I need to figure out what wiring needs "adjustment".

I posted up the 5th gen PCV install question previously... hopefully, Coderighter will see this one. Please post up your PCV retrofit info for all of us 5th gen owners so we all can benefit. Thanks...

:fing02: :goofy:

I'm attaching a doc written by an engineer, Mark Lawrence at Cal Sci (fellow rider too). It has everything you could possibly want to know about motor oil and how/why it works in a motorcycle engine. It is a long paper (16 pgs) but it is easy to read and explains everything. I skipped to the stuff about motorcycles first time, but I found i kept going back to find out more. Eventually, I sat down and read it start to finish... it's worth reading.

In a nut shell... Mark says use Mobil1 15w-50 if you will not be riding in any cold/cool weather. If starting your bike below 40°f, 5°c use Rotella T Synthetic 5w-40. If you can afford it, use Motul 5100 10w-40 or a blend with Motul & Rotella T synthetic or another high quality synthetic.

I use a blend of Rotella T syntheic 5w-40 & M1 15w-50 in my air cooled V twin and my VFR.

Everything you want to know about oil.doc

Veefer800Canuck added a link to another post for ceramic wool as the muffler packing material. It's in the post for "Best Grade Of Stainless Steel Wool For Muffler Repack ?" I tried to copy and paste, but it didn't work. I'm going top try the ceramic wool as a packing for my new exhaust that should arrive tomorrow.

Here's the link...

http://www.anvilfire.com/sales/k_index.htm

Like to hear how the finished project sounds...

BR, FM, & Veefer you guys ROCK! :fing02:

Thank you so much for clearing this up for me. Hopefully, I'll have everything done by Spring. :wheel:

I'd give you an official "Thank You" for your profile, but I don't know how to do that... I looked, but I'm a little slow sometimes :comp13:

YES!

It's a basic bolt in swap, with the only concern is the shorter F4 tube length.

I run F4/F4i forks on my Vtec track bike and if you run the forks slide up 10mm from stock like I do On my street VFR (for quicker turn in) then you'll have enough fork tube to clamp the clip-ons to. They (tubes)might be slightly lower than the top of the clip-ons but shouldn't be an issue.

The F4 happens to run the same fork spring as the stock VFR(.74's) which are too soft if you weigh over 150-160 lbs.

Stock VFR wheel and rotors can be used, but you will most likely need to use the F4 axle and play with spacers from both to center up wheel.

I think if your planning to De-link it's a great & easy swap.

BR

Thanks BR! I knew a quick answer was out there. Now, if you don't mind, I have a couple of follow-up questions. Do I just swap the F4 tubes into my VFR or do I use the F4 steering stem and the VFR upper triple tree? I thought the F4 tubes are 43mm and the 5th gens are 41mm. Do I need to get a different triple tree? RE: spring rates, I weigh 220+ lbs buck naked so I'm looking at getting a set of Traxxion fork springs to bring the spring rate up into my weight class. What are your thoughts on the steering stem bearings? The bike only has 15k miles and while I have it apart I can replace or upgrade. Also, if I pick-up an F4 rear shock do you think the shorter fork tubes and shorter shock would keep the steering geometry about the same? Thanks for your help...

Hey folks,

I've got a question and hoping for some input. I know there are a TON of posts regarding fork swaps and upgrades... I've searched and read many of them, and quite frankly, I'm swamped with info and I'm hoping for some clarity. I would like to upgrade my suspension in the near future and also de-link the brakes. I promised myself when I bought this bike I would leave it alone, but I can't help myself and I want to tweak & mod. Suspension seems to be the biggest area we can improve these bikes. Mine is a bone stock 2000 VFR and I would like to know if I can swap a F4 fork (1999) onto my bike? I will have the complete fork tube assemblies, steering stem, calipers, & M/C to make the swap and do the de-link of the brakes. Can I do this swap and is it worth the effort? Can I get better results with a different mod? This is my 1st Honda motorcycle and I value all your collective knowledge. Any help, suggestions, or insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks...