Belfry

Funny guy, annoying voice ... didn't know he rode a VFR.

MMmmm ... farkles I also bought the VFRness with fuse panel, but haven't gotten around to installing it yet. Would you mind taking a few shots and posting them as/after you do it? The VFRness seems straightforward (though Cogswell mentioned in one of his posts that it's a lot of wire to tuck into place) but it wasn't immediately clear to me looking at the pieces how the fuse panel is supposed to be wired.

Nice mount. Did you connect directly to the battery or tap into a switched wire? If the latter, which one? Thanks.

Fascinating ... I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However, if those are your photos we're not actually seeing the results of their attempt to copy your design. I suppose you could email them and ask that they stop using your photos without permission. Probably not much hope of enforcing any copyright claim.

Just ordered a set from Frank (as mentioned in the previous emails) at Promoto Melbourne. Price is $249 AUD with an air mail shipping option to Canada (same to US, I think) of $35.28 AUD (which is a current promotion of half rate shipping for international customers--regular price $70.55 AUD). Went the same route as vfeistr: found the Oggy Knobbs kit on the Promoto site, contacted Frank via email, he confirmed the price and shipping and sent a PayPal invoice.

Thanks, Monk. I thought the point of bedding brakes was to get the new surfaces mated, I didn't know about the whole pad material-transfer aspect. Interesting.

It must be winter, the oil thread is getting active again (I like a good oil thread.) BLS, I have read your many posts about oil with interest. (Didn't we used to have a kind of bowing, 'I'm not worthy' emoticon? I wanted to insert that here.) I used to be a proponent of Mobil 1 red cap for motorcycles up until a few years ago when they reformulated (or, more likely, remarketed ...) their lineup. Since then I have tried various oils in my bikes but haven't found anything I like as much as I liked red cap. I am currently using the motorcycle-specific Castrol Actevo Xtra 4T 10W-40 semi-synthetic. I like it better in the VFR than the Castrol motorcycle-specific 10W-40 conventional oil I tried last time (the semi-syn is smoother shifting). But I still don't think it's as good as the old fully synthetic red cap. Do you endorse the above Mobil 1 0-30 Advanced Fuel Economy (which I assume is not bike-specific)? If so, I might give it a try next time around. I change my oil and filter frequently enough that viscosity breakdown from mileage is not a huge issue for me. My main concerns are smooth shifting, engine protection (antiwear) and cleaning (detergents).

Wow--I think you have mine beat, not that it's a competition. I was surprised that mine ran so well despite all the crap in the filter, but mine was mostly loosely-packed wool and seeds. Yours actually appears more obstructed than mine was. Although I think my squatter was likely a Texan, I'll be taking a couple of extra minutes when I put the bike down for the winter this fall to stuff a lightly oiled rag into the snorkel.

I did inspect pretty thoroughly, but didn't go into the airbox. To be fair, I'm quite sure the previous owner was unaware of the "stowaway" and the condition of the filter. The bike runs great now--but she ran well even with all that crap in the filter! I think it's a testament to Honda engineering. Clearly the system was able to compensate for the restricted airflow. Now I'm curious as to whether my already very respectable gas mileage will improve.

I'm posting to the guides section since this isn't a question--it's more of a cautionary tale. Some may remember that I bought my 2006 last summer and rode it home to BC from Texas--2,600 miles or so. I was due to be in the neighbourhood (New Mexico) anyway, so when I saw the flawless 2006 with factory hard bags and just 4,300 miles in Texas, I jumped. The bike performed flawlessly on the ride home. The only glitches were a flat, and some numbness in the throttle hand (probably due to poor sport bike technique). I bought a set of PR2CTs and changed the oil and filter last season, but otherwise didn't do any maintenance. I have a couple of longer rides planned for next month, so I've been slowly checking some of the other maintenance items. Today I finally decided to check the air filter. The bike was so clean I was hardly expecting the filter to be dirty, let alone to look like this: And this: Needless to say I was shocked to find this in my otherwise spotless bike! All the "furry" stuff on top of the filter appeared to be wool of some kind (a chewed up glove?), and along with the "liquid" stains (and smell ...) were hundreds of small seeds in the folds of the filter material. Since I've never seen any mice around my place (in the city) and the place where I bought the bike was in rural Texas (deer wandered through the owner's yard while I was there), I'm guessing that this mess has been in there since before I bought the bike. Remarkable that I still got nearly 47 mpg on the way home! Also remarkable is how well the filter worked. This is the filter housing, untouched, as I found it underneath that Hantavirus-infested mess: Given that, I decided to replace it with another OEM. Not cheap though, I found one locally for $60. It looks to be about $10 less online, but I wanted to get back on the road ASAP. I had to fend off several attempts to sell me a K&N for $70+ that will "last forever," but I've read that they might not filter as well as the OEM and clearly this incident is nothing if not a testament to how well the OEM works. I suspect if it hadn't been for my uninvited guest, the OEM would have still been fine--like the new one: The moral of the story? Check your air filter! Clearly my bike was a garage queen in its previous life (only 4,300 miles in four years), giving rodents plenty of opportunity to take up residence.

Just wanted to say thanks to Sebspeed for starting this thread. It would have never occurred to me to try Pine Sol as a degreaser. I picked up a used vacuum-actuated petcock for my DR650 on eBay recently. Great deal ($5 plus $6 shipping for a part that sells for $85 at the stealer...), but it came pretty dirty. I rummaged around under the kitchen sink and came up with a half bottle of Pine Sol. I soaked the petcock in five parts Pine Sol, one part water for about 24 hours and it came out looking almost like new! I will second what someone else said though, don't stick your hands in the Pine Sol tub for very long without gloves. I decided to scrub at the petcock with a small brush for a while and found that it sucks all the oil out of your hands too.