apexandy

Not sure how I missed this… Sorry man, and thanks to Zefarton for answering If you run the complete front end (forks, triples, brakes, wheels, discs, axle, spacers…) it is pretty much a direct swap. I drilled and tapped the stock steering stops and installed small allen bolts to limit the forks from hitting the frame. I used an RC51 upper triple clamp so I could drill and mount handlebar risers. Because it isn't a gullwing design my front end is actually a little lower than Zefarton's. With the radiator tucked up close to the frame with custom brackets I have just enough room to keep the wheel from hitting the rad. Good luck!

I also figured out how to get the low fuel light to work with the Koso LED indicator panel. Here is a little diagram I made if any one is interested: For those who are curious about this stuff… The stock gauge uses a 7w Bulb which has the correct "power requirement" to work with the low fuel "thermistor" in the tank (when the fuel drops below the level of the thermistor it heats up and lowers the resistance of the circuit). With the Koso LED indicator panel the low fuel light will always be lit as the LED requires such little power to activate. I tried different resistors but there was alway a tiny bit of power getting through and that was enough to light the LED constantly. The relay allows the LED to be on a separate on/off circuit from the thermistor. I tested it on the last tank and it worked, time will tell if it continues to function properly. So now I have a fuel gauge and a low fuel light, just like stock :) Going without the low fuel light on the Koso gauge isn't really a problem as the fuel level is consistent (thought not necessarily accurate to percentages of the actual tank level) and the Koso gauge has a user adjustable low fuel warning. However it takes over one of the gauge readouts (for example, if you wanted to have the gauge on engine temperature) and starts flashing when you hit the specified percentage of remaining fuel. A little annoying… now I can postpone the fuel level warning until 10% and rely on the low fuel light. -End of long winded and probably unnecessary explanation.

I'm not at home to check but I know fuel gauge should be on 100 ohm. Tach... Hmmm. What are the options again? It think it might be 4 cyl 2 pulse high-act. And I set the scale for 15,000rpm. If you aren't getting any reading on both I would think it's very possible something is wired incorrectly. Also, I did the resistor and diode mods to my tach this winter and it's working perfectly now.

Here's a little taste of what occupied most of my winter modding time:

I am using driven brand bar risers mounted to an RC51 top triple clamp which I reinforced with aluminum plates and JB weld on the underside of the triple. Then a low bend dirt bike bar. I'm happy to answer questions and help out! Also don't forget the search function. A lot of what I did was already researched and done by others here and other places on the web. Post up a build thread to get feedback and to show others how you've accomplished different mods. We like looking at pictures :) Good luck!

Well I'm glad they're working well for you! I'm probably imagining things :) Bike sounds sweet by the way!

Not running them anymore… back to stock coils. They definitely weren't unseated. Did the same thing after uninstalling and reinstalling multiple times. Has your bike always had the "tick over hiccup" or is it more recent. And does it only start happening after the bike is up to operating temp?

KGS, after listening to the video a few times after the 7 min mark I am somewhat suspicious of you having a similar symptom to what I had. It is hard to tell from a online video clip but it seems as though after it warms up it starts to idle a little less even and when you rev it, unless I am hearing wrong, it seems to "clear it's throat" a touch as it revs higher. As in it doesn't just rev cleanly straight from idle towards higher RPM. Would you say it does this after it has warmed up past 80* C? My bike worked great on the GSXR cop's for 700kms… then I started having the same issues I just described to you… however they got worse and worse. At about 800km's (I was on a 1000km ride) while stuck in traffic I had to rev the bike at at least 4000rpm to keep it running but once at 100km/h it would run decently enough… and even strong under higher throttle and higher rpm (though even this started to suffer closing in on the 1000km mark). A few times in town I had to pull over and let the bike cool below 75*C. When I got home I could recreate the problem easily. Bike would run fine until it reached operating temperature then it would start to cough and misfire at low to mid rpm's. Switching to factory coils solved the problem immediately. So I ran the last 4000km with the stock coils. I have done some reorganizing and have found good spots to hide the factory coils… so that's what I'm going to use now. I figured it's possible the coils I bought were just on their way out… although I find it strange I had 700km of the engine running great and then had two of the coils start acting up after the bike was warm. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from doing the mod… just adding to the discussion. KGS do you think it's possible your bike has started stumbling after reaching operating temperatures? I am wondering if the CBR coils might be a better option as they do have a different internal resistance… but I don't understand the science behind it.

Maybe you mentioned it before douglas, but what coils are you using? Also, out of curiosity do you have a voltmeter on your bike? If so, would you be able to let us know what your readings are at idle before and after the mod? I'm still confused why certain aspects of this mod didn't work so well for me. And let us know how it goes! How is yours functioning KGS? After fixing the loose coil has the stabling issue disappeared?

Nice upgrade! On a semi-related note… what kind of specifics can you give on the stiffer clutch springs? I'm assuming it provides a more solid and positive clutch engagement? I find my clutch a little "soft" when shifting hard and sometime when clutching a wheelie. Do you think stiffer springs would help in these situations? I especially notice it with hard shifts… it seems as though the bike takes a little longer to recover after a shift at high rpm… not a solid engagement of the next gear. Does that make sense? What are the downsides of the stiffer springs?

+1

The fuel reserve light is connected to a "thermistor" in the tank. The fuel acts as a coolant, but when the fuel level drops below that of the thermistor sensor, the sensor will heat up and the low fuel indicator will light. The 5 watt bulb in the stock gauge provides the correct resistance in the circuit for the thermistor to function properly. It's possible the "indicator light check unit" has something to do with this as well. With an LED the light will always be on. I saw someone that used a 150ohm 5w resistor fix the issue, but haven't tried it myself. I just use the fuel level gauge as the reserve warning. I find it to be consisted, but not very accurate to the actual percentage marks. a 70% reading is half a tank, and I have my reserve light set to come on at 30% because after that the gauge drops quickly. As for the tach glitches... this thread might help: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/76055-koso-rx2-gauge-on-4th-gen/ I haven't tried it yet, but intend to. Hope that helps :)

Some have been asking about wiring up the Koso gauge. Here is some information I put together that might help. The only 2 things that don't function properly on my gauge are: fuel reserve light, and Tach is slightly jumpy from about 6500rpm-9000rpm. But I have attached the tach wire directly to the factory wire, not the coils. I might try the coils this winter. Not sure you have the wires labelled yet your factory loom. But these are what the wires correspond to and where you will run them on your gauge. I left the speedometer wires out of the equation as you are using the magnets, but you could splice into the wires in the factory loom if you were running your koso pickup off the rear wheel. Also, the fuel level wire wasn't labelled on my Koso wiring diagram... it's the wire paired with the tach wire connector (black I think). Red: Any wires that will go directly to the gauge (Run a dedicated ground) Pink: Wires that would go to the left side of the indicator panel with one ground wire (switched positive) Green: Wires that would go to the right side of the indicator panel with one switched power wire (switched negative) From the Left on the VFR wiring diagram: Green Connector- (Not in order of wires in actual connector block) Bl/Br Clock Switched Power O Left Turn Signal G/Bl Speedometer 1 R/G Clock Constant power Bl/Br 12v Switched Power G Ground (Run a dedicated ground to the actual gauge) Y/G Tachometer (Unless you decide to wire directly to coils) Bu/Bl High Beam Light P Speedometer Signal 2 Y/Bl Side Stand Light Blue Connector Bu/R Oil Pressure Light Lb Right Turn Signal Gr/Bl Fuel Gauge Bl/Br Switched Power Lg/R Neutral Light Br/Bl Checklight G/Bl Ground Br/W Meter Lights Switched Power Br/Bl Fuel Reserve Light (Needs correct resistance to operate... could try a 150ohm 5W resistor) G/Bu Coolant Temperature (I ran the koso wire with the attached temperature sensor directly from the thermostat housing to the gauge)

The LED light bar acts as the run/brake in red and turn signals in amber. Though I might add turn signals this year just to make sure they are nice and visible.

And since it's winter and I can't be out riding... I'm going to post some more VFR-SF related pics :) My dad bought a cycle hill tire changer used and the guy delivered it to my house, so before sending it off to my dad I changed out my PR2's for dunlop Q3's This gives an idea of the different profiles of the two tire types. You can't completely trust this pic as the dunlop hasn't even been mounted yet, but the PR2 off the rim here. And all mounted up. Road a few hundred km on them before putting the bike into hibernation mode. They handle quick yet still nuetral and predictable and have loads of grip! I wasn't really lacking for grip with the PR2's in cornering (although I could tell the rear was starting to slip a touch at the end of it's life) but I will say I find the front tire has a lot more grip under very hard braking. Instead of the front tire chirping a touch (even after nicely warmed up) on the PR2, the Q3 just lifts the rear tire. And they look boss... I know, a great reason to buy a tire. This is where the whole build was done My dad lives 650km away, but we got to do a little riding together this summer :) And here is the photoshop concept I put together of the build before I even had the bike tore down from it's stock form.

I am running a fan. It only comes on when the temps go above 102... which is very handy sitting at a stoplight on a hot day. I relocated the rear coils to the battery box and the front under the left side rad shroud. The fuel pump is also in the battery box. What part gave me the most grief? The bodywork... In other news... I threw together a few video clips of just the beautiful V4 music and a bit of a walk around of the bike.

The oil cooler was bypassed. I cut off the stock metal pipes, flared them slightly and looped the rubber hose from the inlet to the outlet (the oil pump needs the cirucuit to be maintained... you can't just block off the ports). A number of people I found online had bypassed the oil cooler with no apparent significant downsides. The stock cooler is quite small and without the fairings the bike gets a lot more cooling air anyway. In 5000km the engine heat hasn't been an issue at all, with temps normally in the 75-85*C range. That being said... it doesn't normally get above 30-35* here in the summer and I don't spend a lot of time in sitting in traffic. Also, I know it's not the best solution to remove the oil cooler as it does more than just try to keep overall engine temps down, and I do have plans to fit either a "filter cooler" from another honda if I can figure out one that fits, or I might find a better fitting cooler to fit in a chin spoiler. But for now, the bike seems to be just fine without it. Here is a short rundown on parts from other bikes: -Speed triple seat/solo cowl (modified) -GSX-R passenger pegs -ZX14 clutch and front brake radial master cylinders -complete front end and brakes from CBR929/954 -RC51 upper triple clamp -CR low bend dirtbike handlebars -Ducati streetfighter mirrors -CB1000r master cylinder mirror mount brackets -CBR929 rear shock -Yamaha MT-03 headlight -Tail tidy made for MV agusta F4 (modified) -Front brake lines for made for CB1000R (not the best fit, but they work) -Two bros muffler and link pipe from speed triple (cut and welded to a VFR delkevic link pipe) -ST1100 throttle cables (strangely enough, wrong free length... needed to modify the carb attachment for the cables) -CBR900 choke cable and lever -CBR1000 Front fender -CBR1000 Tank badges (backwards) -ZX10 Mosfet regulator/rectifier

Looks great!