BoulderGeek

Wow, Hyperpro's website has totally turned to crap! Can't find anything there, and there are no importers listed. When I bought my GP shock for my '93, they had ordering forms and serviced my order directly. Guess I won't be buying another.

I am wondering what the better solution would be: 1. use a spacer between my Gen 6 rear wheel and my Gen 3 SSA hub interface 2. Dremel the Gen 6 rear wheel mating surface to clear the exposed bolts coming out of the gen 3 hub The short of it is that I want to swap rear wheels between my Gen 3 and Gen 6. The 8-spoker '93 wheel works great on the 2004. but, the reverse is not true. I would rather not hack up the 5-spoker rear wheel, however. Suggestions?

So, it looks like my options are: 1. Ohlins S46DR1S @ ~$750 2. Try to swap the Hyperpro in my Gen 3, if the bearings can be made to fit. Cost: only time 3. Respring/revalve the stock Showa @ ~$300 with Racetech forum discount 4. Source F4i shock from flEabay for $50 and do above, ~$350 + locate appropriate spacer I spent weekend time examining swapping rear wheels from '93 to '04. learned that the gen 6 wheel needs to be machined to clear the hub mounting bolts on the '93 drive unit. So, no shock fun, yet.

Thanks for that info. It's weird to me, the new 2004 VFR rides as actively as my modified 1993. I didn't get maintenance records from the prior owner. He was the second owner, and only had it for 1,000 miles and one year. He didn't know anything about the first owner modifying the suspension, but I find it hard to believe that it rides as well as it does on a stock Showa. I guess I need to dig in there and see if I can find any evidence of mods.

OK, riddle me this: should my aftermarket Hyperpro shock mounted in my 1993 Gen 3 drop into my 2004 Gen 6? If so, i'm done. I'd rather not take both bikes apart and find that it doesn't. I'm sort of lazy that way.

This is the most common way to upgrade forks, but because it's so easy to change a shock I don't know of anyone who has done this. Not sure I would trust a MTB shock builder to do a motorcycle shock. Air shocks are different. Well, they also do motocross shocks, and are branching more into motorcycle applications. I've seen their shop and spring press jigs. They can easily do a Gold Valve and spring install. Whether they _will_ or not remains to be seen. Since we get a VFRd discount, and I have RaceTech experience, this is what I am initially inclined to do. Where are people sourcing CBR XX shocks?

So, i just got a Gen 6 (2004). Prior bike is 1993 VFR750 with Hyperpro that i had custom built with longer pushrod and spring/valving for my riding. Unfortunately, that shock isn't going to fit my 2004, from what I have read. I am currently having my mountain bike rear shock custom rebuilt and custom valved by PUSH Industries, here in Colorado. They don't know it yet, but I am going to ask if they would do a RaceTech spring and gold valve installation on my stock Showa unit. I am wondering if this my best/lowest cost solution under $500? I know that stock shocks suck. I gave my KLR Showa away and had a custom shock done by Cogent Dynamics. But, since the VFR isn't going offroad, I am hoping that a properly sprung and valved Showa might be OK for my purposes. Soliciting comments.

Love that pic, Miguel. Glad you're getting good riding in. Just wanted to let you know that I put that picture on the electronic bulletin board for the current weather at South Pole Station. It makes me feel good to see your VFR on gorgeous twisty Colorado roads, while it tells me that the temperature outside is -90F with -125F windchill! Keep living the life and providing good services.

I didn't think that my Gen 3 Showa rear shock was rebuildable, so I bought the full Hyperpro remote reservoir GP shock. I suspected that the Showa was pretty toasted at 20K miles, so it wasn't that big a stretch to go with a known-good new unit. Plus, the custom vavling and custom +10mm length enhanced my handling. Like Wingspan, I did linear rate front springs at the same time (the 1.0kg springs were way backordered and I was impatient, so I went with .95kg units). I actually don't mind the Hyperpro spring color. As mentioned, it is so deeply enshrouded that you really have to look for it. But, the ride quality is great. It totally transformed my porky and wallowing 1993 VFR. Glad no one got hurt in the spring swap. Had I seen this two years ago, I might have tried it.

You're my freaking hero, Veefer! I'll look into that. :lurk:

So, what's the word on blue guage mods for Gen 3 1990-1993?

My first point to make is that I do not wish to step on any toes or contradict what has been written here. This is an excellent starting guide. I have had confusion in reading all of the guides and install information regarding replacement of the fork springs. My spring replacement is now done, and I wanted to jot a few notes to the community, as there are some new members who will likely want to do the same thing. I got a set of Race Tech .95kg/mm springs (the 1.0 springs were on backorder too long). Since my 1993 VFR is claimed at 476lbs, and I am 200lbs, my thumbnail sketch was that Miguel's 1.0 springs were supporting ~50lbs more than my rider and bike weight. And with his notes that his front end was a tad stiff, I figured the .95s would be an acceptable compromise without an excessive waiting period to get them. Again following Miguel's lead, I ordered the Race Tech 5 weight low-friction suspension fluid. They sold me two quarts, which was one too many. You need less than one quart (.95 liter) for a full replacement on a 1990-93 at least. My confusion stemmed from most guides (Clymer, Race Tech, VFRD and other board posts) saying that complete disassembly was required to do a good job. When I did my old 650 Seca springs, I just drained the forks, pumped them out, and replaced the springs (being careful not to lose an eye on the pressurized end cap). I was skeptical that complete fork removal was necessary, and hesitant because I didn't want to introduce stiction and binding in my properly aligned forks. I drained the fork oil with the bike supporting its own weight via the drain plug on the aft side of each fork lower. I collected the fluid and poured into a completely non-scientific graduated container (a Classico spaghetti sauce jar that had ounce markings. I got roughtly 22 ounces from the two legs collectively. Placing the bike on teh center stand,and following Miguel's advice, I took my Jeep's jack and placed it under the mounting bracket for one of the exhaust headers, just aft of the lower engine cowl. I only lifted enough to get the front wheel off of the ground about an inch. I removed the top caps and fitted a straightened wire coat hanger around the damping rod, inferior to the damping rod nut. Thanks very much to whomever suggested this. Without this step, I would have lost the damping rod down the fork leg after removing the top cap assembly. This is an important step, and following it will save your day. On each fork leg, one at a time, I pulled the springs and washers out. I used the wire to draw back the damping rod and cartridge along its range of motion, and turned the front wheel outboard while draining the last bits of oil from each leg (i.e. the left fork leg turned left to drain completely with gravity and damping rod action). I measured the difference between old spring and new, and cut a spacer from the aluminum tubing to just that delta. I kept the original spacer washers, plus the four new ones in my spring kit, so I guess I got another 3mm of preload that way. I filed the spacer edges smooth and got all the shavings wiped off. I replaced the fork drain bolts, and measured out the proper volume of suspension fluid according to my Honda Service Manual. I used the figure for the Canadian version, just from my unscientific observation that their machines come with slightly more performance spec than US models. My fork fluid volume was 390cc per leg (I measured in milliliters, hopefully the density difference of the oil won't give volumetric skew). This is somewhere around 13.5 ounces per leg, which shows that my 11 ounces recovered had left each leg low. Perhaps this is compensation for more spring mass of a longer OEM spring, perhaps not. I pumped the damping rod and cartridge a few times, until uniform resistance was displayed. Then I reassembled, now with race Tech's washers and my custom spacer. The washers bound on my fork tube in each leg, so I had to remove the washers and slightly file them down with a mill bastard file. Then I used 220 grit sandpaper to deburr. Just a little bit of filing and sanding and they popped right down. I backed eack preload screw out on the top caps, inspected the O-rings, and reinstalled the top caps. It required a lot of downforce now to get the caps threaded up. I was concerned about not being able to feel a cross thread, but I seem to have gotten them threaded properly. I adjusted preload down to two lines showing. I took a test ride, and the feel was much better, though now a tad stiff. Backing out to the third preload line seems to make a nice balance. So, my end result was a spring and oil change, without fork or wheel removal,in about 2 hours. Next time I could have it done in 50 minutes or so. YMMV. :cool: