Terry

Actually, it does seem to work for me now. I have complained to them previously, maybe they listened?

The Webike website sucks (I can only view it on my iPhone or iPad, never on my Windows devices) but their service has been 100% reliable.

My VFR1200 steered like a truck until I replaced the front tyre and fixed the saggy rear preload. The front tyre didn't look terrible, but was definitely a contributing factor.

Is it possible to shim the upper shock mount? I know on other Hondas from the same era, the top shock clevis uses a vertical bolt that passes through the frame; shimming the clevis down by 4-6mm will have the effect of raising the rear end and speeding steering. Edit: just beaten to the post again!

Those badly hacked wires are for the brake light switch, nothing to do with the headlight. The PO has probably taken a 12V feed off the brake light feed for something else like a USB charger. You should remove the dangling wire so you don't get a short and take out the fuse. The headlights (low and high) are powered through relays; these are magnetic switches, when the coil is powered it causes an internal switch in the relay to close and e.g. allows power to reach the low beams. There is a separate relay for the low beam and high beam, but they can be swapped around to test. To close the relay, 12v must be fed to one terminal of the coil, the other must terminate at the ground to compete the circuit. For the headlight, power comes from the right pod along the blue/white line and that powers the low beam relay coil to close. The same blue/white wire feeds th high beam circuit as well so you know that is OK. Both coils are powered from a red/black wire in and feeds out to the low beam bulbs on the white/black wire. I'd suggest you find the low beam relay, check that it is receiving 12v on both the red/black and the blue/white (when ignition is on) and that there is continuity to ground on the green, and that there is 12v on the white/black when 12v is applied to the blue/white. You could have a dead relay (can switch it with the high beam to test) or a bad ground.

I fitted one of those shift stars to my last 5th gen (which I bought in '14) as it had a pretty baggy gearshift. It was a worthwhile mod on that bike, IIRC the shift star was a bit more "spiky" (as opposed to rounded) and the detente arm had a ball bearing in the wheel, so a nice snicky-snick feel and more positive action.

Another one for the those in the Chilly North. Took this one today by Lake Waikare, lovely summers day at about 25C. Sorry. The bike is no beauty but the view is all right.

Have a look at the rear calliper; I had something similar on my 09 800 and could feel a slight "clatter" on slightly rough roads, especially through the footpegs. When I grabbed the calliper there was a bit of vertical freeplay, in my case this was the calliper bracket (the dashed parts below) where that sits on the wheel bearing carrier, rather than just the calliper sliding mounts. I also have a 5th gen and there was no discernible freeplay on that one. I went as far as full rear hub disassembly and replaced the calliper slide pins and boots, and there was nothing obviously amiss aside from freeplay in that specific area. I have slipped a spare feeler gauge into the joint and that has diminished the freeplay to a point that is no longer noticeable. Most importantly if this is the same as your issue, there is absolutely no risk; the bracket is trapped by the wheel hub against the swingarm, and the torque arm stops rotation, so the rattle is actually of no consequence.

From the wiring diagram, there is nothing magical about the shift switches on the left bar, so that should be easy enough to replicate on the right in some form.

I'm just showing off a lovely beach that is a pleasant ride away, Langs Beach just south of Whangarei. And my '09 of course.

Bizarrely, the VFR1200F ride-by-wire system uses full-length throttle cables that attach to a very standard cable drum on the side of the throttle bodies, very similar to earlier VFR800s. The drum then drives a potentiometer which the ECM reads and uses to direct the stepper motors on the TBs. I looked at a current Triumph Scrambler 400 recently and the RBW has the potentiometer mounted as part of the throttle/right switch pod, so no cables at all, which makes a lot more sense to me.

I have my Helibars oriented so that there is half a bee's dick of clearance between the buttons on the switch block and the tank when on full lock. That will probably give you some idea of the clearance between the grip and the tank. Not great but probably not much different ot the bars that I have on my 5th and 6th gens.

I have Helibars on my 1200, they certainly raise the bars up and back a bit and reduce wrist pressure to the point that is not a limiting factor for me on a long ride. There's no issue with lever angles, I set mine so my wrists/fingers are straight when seated normally. The brake hose is OK but the clutch hose does sit across the top of the preload/damping adjuster and prevents easy access, but I rectified that by cutting off the locating tab on the banjo bolt giving more flexibilty in hose routing. My only real criticism is that the bars sit at an angle to the horizontal that does not quite feel natural to me, but given the constraints of the tank contour and fairing, there really is nowhere else for higher bars to sit, so not a bad compromise. Let me know if you want any specific photos.

Just back from a sun-drenched, twisty road test of about 280km. The verdict? Totally worth it. Although the spring is notably stiffer when you bounce on it, this translates to much less unneeded suspension movement on dips so the net effect is to absorb bumps better and keep the chassis much steadier in bumpy turns. It is also more comfortable, and of course confidence-inspiring. $usp$pension upgrade$ - the best money you can spend!

In addition to the SV lines, there are connections for the fuel pressure regulator and the flapper valve.