FromMaine

Holy Cow! That thing is chowdered. Glad to see you were not injured as that could have ended in so many different ways. Hard to believe a properly staked axle nut would fail in this way. You obviously have your suspicions, hopefully you can bring it back to spec.

A little over 2 years ago I bought a 1990 with 45,000 kilometers/28,000 miles on the clock from a member here from Canada. I went on my merry way off to sea for work thinking I'll pick it up when I get back. Well that didn't work out as the border was closed by the time I did return. Glenn, the owner, was kind enough to store it for me, put a charger on it and periodically start it up for the better part of 2 years as I waited for the Border to reopen. When it did re open my first try was not successful. In order to enter I needed my passport, proof of vaccination, proof of negative Covid test within 72 hours and had to fill out a Arrive Canada online form only after I had proof of a negative test. My test came in to late to meet this standard so I shelled out $175 for a quicker one at a clinic in Bangor. Once at the border, it was the usual drill, passport, proof of vaccination, proof of negative test and proof of Arrive Canada form filled out. Then it was.... Reason of visit "to pick up a motorcycle" What type? "Honda" Model? "1990 VFR750" The Border agent suddenly relaxed a bit, and leaned out the window, " I have a 2002, and love it" Well since there was no one behind me we chatted for about 15 minutes about VFR's. It had been raining since I left, but it really started to come down now, The remnants of Hurricane Ida were tracking right over New Brunswick. I stopped for a bit just short of St John as the trusty CRV's AWD light had been coming on about every 5-10 seconds and the vehicle was going light. With standing water on the highway like I had not seen in a long time I knew it was hydroplaning, also the 4 cars over turned and 2 in the woods kinda confirmed things were not well. So I pulled off the road and notified Glenn I may not make it. After a quick perusal of Hotel options I carried on, slowly, like 30 mph in a 62mph zone. I ended up stopping 4 more times as I could not see, and the Honda was starting to go at less than desirable angles. I made it finally, 12.5 hours for what is normally a 9 hour trip to Nova Scotia. Glenn and his wife kindly put me up as I was shattered and tired. We had dinner the Glenn and I loaded the bike on the trailer. I was up at 5 am and on the road at 6. Made it to Calais around 12, and declared the bike for import and was kindly directed to the side. A few minutes later a young woman in Border Patrol gear came over and asked a few questions and I handed her my paperwork. Half hour later she came back to apologize as no one on station, nor any one they called had done a motorcycle importation. I laughed and said they must do a lot of snowmobiles though! She smiled and said "Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, we see a Lot of Snow Machines......... A few minutes after the head of Customs came out for a quick chat and asked me about the bike and could I get out of the car and have a look with him. Nice guy I showed him the head stem Vin and he said he could nor believe this was a 31 year old bike. We talked bikes for a bit then I got back in the car. A few minutes after the woman Border Patrol officer came out with a bunch of papers for me to sign and noted That I was on the hook for $5.08 in duty, which her boss laughed off and I was on my way. I cannot convey how professional, attentive, courteous and friendly the whole process was. Thank You Calais Maine Border Patrol. The bike.

For the record, I went with a rattle can white enamel called interestingly enough, Appliance Epoxy by Rustoleum. A quick look at their product page shows its actually an enamel, which appears to be what Honda used on their rims. I brought the rear wheel from my 91 back with me from the UK and looked into powder coating it as it needed attention. No one nearby, the cost of shipping from where I live is prohibitive, and the cost of having it done put it out of the family budget. I also reminded myself the marine industry, I work on ships, had pretty much given up on powder coating as its so hard to repair, and I live about a half mile from the Atlantic. So I had a go at sanding the rim, cleaning with alcohol and sanding the spots that needed it. Let it dry and put 3 coats on.. in stages as it dried. Let it sit for a few days and put the tire on. After 3 years and about 20K I had to touch it up a bit during a tire swap and decided to give it a sand and light coat in the end. The pic is how it looks 6 years on. The front is the original 4th Gen in Black that I painted the same way (had a third Gen rim but wanted the floating rotors). The oem paint was good so the white has lasted 3 years quite well. Not as much riding lately for obvious reasons but about 35K total since the experiment. For about $25 in paint, tape, sandpaper and alcohol, I'm OK with it. Just a thought. Forgot the link. Specialty Appliance Epoxy Spray Product Page (rustoleum.com)

More like getting caught dating his teenage daughter.🙂 Some days I think I would be better off pulling a plug wire on my 1000's and 750's, certainly easier on the wallet.

Got it. That's quite a life style change!🙃

Seconded. What's next?

Squirrelman is right, I have never found a roller to be out of spec. Take a micrometer to them and check. Also the housing as I did have one that was suspect. If it all looks good see if you can order the springs and caps from Honda. I have not had much luck trying to cheap out with alternative springs in the past. I did have a bit of luck stretching the springs a bit to get a bit of life out of them, but its a diminishing returns effort. Try it if lead times seem to be a bit long. Also take note of the index marks on the gears before disassembly.

For the last 12 years or so I have carried a Slime mini compressor on my bikes along with the tools and plugs. The compressor fits nicely into the left upper part of the fairing on my 3rd and 4th gens, The plugs and tools are in my Tail bag. On my V65 Sabre I hard mounted a compressor to the bike with a switch. Large swaths of Maine, and northern New England have no motorcycle services along with no cell service as does parts of the west in Utah, Montana, North Dakota etc.. Better to be self sufficient than stuck in a lonely place.. Used it once myself, then on some Harley in Colorado, then a Camry in I think, Quebec.

That is some really nice work!

Man, that is hard to look at! Glad you seem to have a good sense of humor/karma about you. Dropped my 4th gen for the first time this past May in my driveway. My homemade sliders saved the plastic. Found out though I could not lift it by myself and had to go get a floor jack. Positioned the jack and had to figure out how to lift the bike enough to get it under the slider so I did not damage anything. Close your eyes and imagine a monkey and a football, because that's about what it looked like. 11 years ago I dumped my VF1000R on a gravel road in Arizona (don't ask) and managed to pick it up and be on my way. Kind of hard to realize I'm not the guy who can pick up his own bike anymore.

That is amazing, rising 738 ft above mean water in 107 miles, that is a lot of locks. I'm Bluewater so I only see the Panama Canal, and the middle of the Pacific or Atlantic is easy. Well the Atlantic does suck in the Winter, but that takes some attention to detail on a river with a full load to traverse that to any point. The Hydro power Station looks huge, I'm sure you could fit every dam in Maine in it with room to spare.

I took this pic a few years back to remind a buddy of mine from the south who was heading north that he could in fact find one of these in the road. Highway, back road, any road. I came out of my post office in town years ago to see a full grown one saunter by. Reaching up to 7 feet at the shoulder and 1,500 lbs, this is not Bambi. The State of Maine installed this life size replica in the north bound section of our one and only highway at the Kennebunk service area as a reminder to tourists. The state does not have game fences on the highway and the cut backs on the secondary roads can be as little as 1/2 the length of a Moose, if its even cut back at all. They can be on you in a heartbeat. If you have to be out at or after dusk in northern New England, bring your A game and some driving lights you can angle to the side and slightly upwards as your headlight wont help much.

The first pic is my 91 VFR I had while working in England, it on what's called a transporter bridge, or ferry bridge in Newport Wales about 6 years ago. The bridge was built this way as the estuary it crossed had a 20+ foot tide and dried out at low water, so a floating ferry was not really an option. It was built tall as there were factories up river that delivered their goods via sailing vessels so the masts had to clear. This was built around the late 1800's. Their are only a few in the world. The second pic is a stock photo of the "ferry" hanging from cables as it crossed the estuary. It does look like an old time ferry. It was kinda cool, I used it a a number of times over a weekend in the area. Pics are not in order, sorry.

Mate, for the record, You are still nailing it. Many, many Thanks for your service to this community. Best..........Michael

Having 2 VF1000R's and an 86 and 87 VFR this is great information, thank you both.

Welcome to the Board. You landed in the right spot in my opinion. I have found the members here to be exceedingly generous with their time and expertise. Give them a chance to prove it🙂.

Looking for a small piece of Kangaroo leather to repair a pair of gloves. In 2010 I bought a pair of Frank Thomas gloves w/ kangaroo palms that I ended up really liking. Wore them for about 40K until holes appeared in them. Tried to repair with Elkhide but it never felt right. Frank Thomas was out of business by then, but managed to find a pair here and another in the UK and bought both. Now have worn out another pair recently and am down to 1 pair of used gloves. Would like to see if I can get a few more miles out of the pair with holes if possible. Think a piece about the size of a legal envelope would be enough. Have looked online, but does not appear there are many Kangaroo's in this Hemisphere. 🙂 PM me if you have anything.

Update: After 12 hours went out to the garage and had a look. The lever had not budged a mm from the night before. No leaks everything seemed fine, removed the bands and pumped the lever, plenty of room between the grip and lever when pulled in hard. I had the bike elevated so I gave the wheel a spin. felt a little resistance, but there are new pads upfront so I thought they might just have to seat. I decided to remove the left caliper and see how the wheel spun, it spun freely. So I removed the pads and started pumping to see if one piston dragged while doing so. I pumped until the end and they both fell into the plastic basin below at the same time. At no point was there any resistance at the lever. While waiting for the fluid to drain I was trying to figure out why there was so much resistance the day before. I looked into the bores and they were perfectly clean, no corrosion. The seals were intact and seated properly. I removed the caliper and put it on the bench and took out the seals, the grooves were shiny like new. I threw the metal parts in the ultrasonic and had a think. No idea why I had issues at first, when I finally got the piston to move and could not remove it when it was almost out, well maybe it was not as straight as I thought it was, or some unknown operator error on my part. All I knew is that I now had a functioning caliper in front of me. I put everything together, bled the system in about 5 minutes and gave the wheel a spin. It was better, but I still could feel a tiny bit of intermittent drag. I'm going to leave everything as is and test ride it in the morning on a short ride and see if it settles in.

Welcome, glad you stopped by. Grab a beer. That is hands down my favorite motorcycle livery. Yes, I think all riders of a certain age lusted for anything two wheels with that paint job.

Your father was lucky in my book, lots of guys killed by wearing wedding rings, but also watches, gold chains, belt buckles, tools and one guy who was using his computer down in the engine room when something happened and 400 volts ended up at the receptacle. I've done26 Atlantic crossings, six in the engine room because of short manning. We were required to do an hourly walk through the engine room and inspect the engines Generators and record readings. I made sure I never had any metal on me, not even a few coins in my pocket. Won't ask what happened but glad you are here to talk about it. We do fire drills once a month on the ship, some times without notice. All of us are also required every 5 years to renew our SOLAS certs, a week long set of courses that include 2 10 hour days in a full nomex suit, boots, helmet, gloves, full mask and a Scott pack on your back. I won' go into the details, but nobody went out for a drink after on those days. My garage is 12 X 24 and made of wood, even the floor. I have a fire extinguisher on one side mounted by my bench, then another on the other side near my parts racks. in between are my bikes, didn't want to be caught having to climb over or around especially if the fire was near the extinguisher. I am 15 feet from the house and we have 3 more in there.

Pulled the last caliper out of the ultrasonic, let them dry, then hit both pins with my brass wheel. Always do, but doesn't hurt to see it posted for all to read.

Trust me, I am definitely in the market for replacements or alternatives. I assume you had to fabricate carriers for the Nissin 4 pots? If you could elaborate I would be very interested in reading what you needed to do. Many thanks. Michael

Finished bleeding the system this evening and had my 3 heavy duty rubber bands (the type they use on lobster claws, this is Maine after all) on the lever before I came in for the night to read this. I'm well aware of necessity to double check, and test not just the brakes, but any maintenance done on the bike. I do appreciate you mentioning it though. For the record I am a tea drinker, have been all my life, PG Tips is my go to choice. Lived in Falmouth, Cornwall for almost a year back in 2015, our ship was dry docked at one of A&P's dry docks, but Pendennis did all the work. Bought a 91 VFR to get around on. Yard rules were we could not be on the ship when the yard quit work. So we had every Friday from Noon until 7 am Monday morning, unheard of as we are a 24/7 operation when running. I saw a lot of the southern part of England and all of Wales during that time, only missed one weekend because of frosty roads. Cornwall is much like Maine, small towns, strong fishing tradition, , rocky shores, lots of guys shipping out to make a living,, epic winter gales, over run by tourists in the summer and funny accents🙂 BTW, my wife has been a nurse for 45 years now, 25 straight in ICU, 8 in the Operating room and now Cardiac Rehab as she needed a break. I'm an expert at getting advice🙃 Michael