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Terry

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Everything posted by Terry

  1. Terry

    IMG_2832.jpg

    From the album: Terry's V4s

  2. Terry

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    From the album: Terry's V4s

  3. Terry

    IMG_3299.JPG

    From the album: Terry's V4s

  4. Terry

    IMG_2995.JPG

    From the album: Terry's V4s

  5. Terry

    IMG_3183.JPG

    From the album: Terry's V4s

  6. The only "winterization" that I do is put the thermal liners into my jacket and pants.
  7. I use a cyanoacrylate Super Glue. Actually that is what Oxford supply with their grips. Very unforgiving stuff but seems to stick well to the cleaned bar. I use isopropyl alcohol to wipe the surface first, let it dry, fit the grips (being careful not to extrude glue over the rest of the bike, DAMHIK) and then leave it alone at least overnight. I think I have had one grip come loose, always the left, and usually as a result of wrestling with the bars when moving the bike about the Mancave. I now make a point of pushing hard on the bar ends rather than the grip under these circumstances.
  8. I've got Oxfords on all 3 or my bikes, so I guess that is a ringing endorsement right there. AFAIK the real differnce between the models is around the lead length. I believe I fitted the sports model to my MT-10 (hey it is very sporty) and wished I had gone with a set with longer cables as it would make routing much easier with that bike's upright and wide bars. No such problems with the VFR..
  9. I think I might need to win Lotto before I do that. I don't mind a little squish in the brake lines as long as there is decent power at the lever. With some decent pads and having fixed the fault I unknowingly was riding around, I'm happy enough. More than enough brake power for a bike without ABS!
  10. Just back from a 200km test ride. Massive improvement once the new pads bedded in (after about 5 applications). Even the rear brake seems to be working better than ever (got to love linked brakes).
  11. Correct; the slide pins were the culprits, not the pad pin. One set of pads looked more worn that the other which also suggests that the hydraulic force was fighting the unmoving calliper rather than just moving the pads.
  12. I have been a little unhappy with the power of the front brakes and decided to replace the pads with my favourites, EBC HH. When I bought this bike last year I gave the pistons a decent clean (and a thorough fluid flush) which helped a lot and I thought I had done a decent job of giving the system a decent once-over. Turns out, not so much, as I missed a fairly important part of the right calliper, specifically the sliding pins. It took me about 5 minutes to replace the pads in the left calliper including cleaning the pistons, but as soon as I had the right calliper off, it was obvious that the main slide pin was corroded solidly in the alloy hanger. After trying various methods to free it while still plumbed in, I had to admit defeat and break the banjo fittings loose and pull the calliper right off the bike. Some strategically aimed whacks with a drift got the offending parts apart, and the both pins were dry and crusty and a bit corroded. I cleaned them up, cleaned all the rubbery bits, slathered on some silicone grease and then went through the process of reassembly and bleeding. Should have taken less than 30 minutes but ended up being a good couple of hours. And at the end of all that I now wonder whether I really needed new pads or if the lacklustre power was mainly due to the lack of calliper movement. Check your calliper slide pins people!
  13. Having two CBR11s is just being greedy. I am biased, but personally I think the 6th gen is inferior to the 5th gen; certainly better looking, but much more complicated and hefty, and no performance advantage. Actually I don't think any of the 750-800 VFR's really exceeded the performance of the original in 86!
  14. They are fundamentally sound but with a couple of potential weak spots that can cause issues but are reasonably cheap to resolve. The regulator/rectifier can fail and lead to either under or overcharging the battery. Some of this can be directly due to the 3-pin connector between the RR and alternator getting wet, corroding, forming high resistance, getting hot and then melting. Removing the connector and joining the wires with crimp splices or solder plus weatherproofing stops all that (but the RR can still fail). The thermostats fail (usually open) which is no big deal but painful to replace as it lives under the throttle bodies. The linked brakes work well but are unforgiving of maintenance, and the secondary master cylinder is exposed to road crud and can seize, causing a locked rear brake. Check your 30k bike has been regularly used; otherwise you can get rust on the fork stanchions and even rust inside the tank (which would definitely put me off).
  15. One other possibility is that the clutch master has some residue blocking the return port; this can cause the clutch to slightly disengage as the line pressure is unable to release fully, taking some of the clamping pressure off the clutch plates. As it is less invasive I would start there.
  16. I used to be the same but when you get down to it, the engines will go practically forever, what starts to feel baggy is the suspension, steering, cush drive and sometimes the brakes. All these are easy enough for an owner to service or upgrade with basic tools. My other ride is a 2005 ST1300 with nearly 130,000km, but with some new bits in the forks and a YSS shock it handles better than new.
  17. I wasn't trying to put you off the 1200 either. I think Hondas of that vintage are beautifully-crafted bikes, and the 1200 is now emerging as yet another quality unique product. I don't have room for another bike (at least that's what I tell my wife) but I do keep looking at used 1200s and thinking "what if..."? I also fancy a CBR1100XX Blackbird one day, for much the same reason. There is a video from Honda Collection Hall where they demo the 1200 and I can't get enough of the exhaust note! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seFPlh6gvG0
  18. I can heartily recommend a different Yamaha. I've had my MT-10 for 28000km so far and it has never disapointed. When giving it the beans, it IS thirsty, but on a brisk and spirited country road ride it is no worse than my VFR or ST1300, but the 17L tank is a little limiting (200km is really about it before thinking about refuelling). The riding position is very decent, I have the comfort seat and a fly screen and that is also good enough especially with some bicycle shorts. The chassis, brakes and especially the engine are what you might expect for a nearly current model, and the MT has real character that no other inline 4 ever has.
  19. The washer and hose guide are quite important; without the washer, the chain adjuster clamp bolt can bottom out in its threads without applying decent clamping force, which leads to the eccentric rotating loose sometimes.
  20. When I opened up my VTR1000F (78000km) looking for a rattle I found the same sort of slack. I suspect they are all like that; we are normally used to looking at cam chains which must be kept very tight to avoid timing issues, but I guess the oil pump chain only needs to be able to stay on the sprockets. The water pump chain in the VTR was just the same. The rattle in my VTR was only obvious at low revs and in neutral and turned out to be slack in the hub damper springs of the clutch.
  21. The CBR900 fork legs are 45mm I believe. If you are looking for fully adjustable forks and want to de-link the brakes then CBR600F4i forks/callipers will fit the stock triples and wheel/axle/discs. VFR750F3 makes a very sound recommendation about simply modifying the fork cartridges if you want to improve the stock forks. Correct weight springs and changing the valve bodies in the cartridges will make for a more compliant and controlled front end.
  22. I like your style. The correct number of VFR's is N+1, where N is the number you currently have. I did ride a brand new 8th against my then-current modified 5th gen (suspension upgrades and delinked brakes) and honestly there was nothing in it. The 8th "felt" new with a nicer, tighter clutch and gearbox, but that was really all I noticed. It will be interesting to hear your thoughts.
  23. As coolant heats up it exands, so running the engine with the radiator cap off will lead to overflows when some heats gets into the system. The point about hitting 107C at idle suggests that the radiator fan is not coming on. That should be cycling on around 101C and off at 98C and you should be able to hear or see that happening. If not you may have a broken wire, blown fuse or stuck fan blade. The thermostat sounds like it is working normally 78-80C is the normal opening point.
  24. That's much too pretty to ride. Great work, I love it!
  25. Dude....you've got so many bikes! I think you win.
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