Terry

Sorry - slight thread highjack. I just had a decent 400km test ride on the YSS shock. I also fitted a Pirelli Angel GTII rear tyre and reworked the fork Gold Valves. The old ST13000 (2004, 126000km) is handling very sweetly indeed. The YSS has been a good investment. Surprisingly plush and well controlled. 

Oxford Hotgrips for me. I'm way too old to enjoy cold hands. They are perfectly comfortably for my endless rides (longest about 14 hours non-stop). My knees and butt are much more at risk of being show-stoppers than my hands. 

That's looking fab, Mike.

I took your advice and bought myself a YSS shock for my ST1300 recently. Only ridden for 50 km so far but is a night and day difference to the 120,000km original...

Honda marine make a nice 12v voltmeter. I had one mounted on my ST1100 that looked like a factory fitment.

I just know that when I pulled my 86's starter clutch apart (it was making some terrible noises) I had my heart in my mouth that I was going to find it horribly cracked (it wasn't). I am mighty impressed with your ingenuity to this point and wish you great success!

Sounds like you are inventing a whole new sideline business modifying later starter clutches to keep the 86 bikes on the road. Go fo it! 

1 hour ago, Captain 80s said:

 

Speak for yourself.  Mine do quite often, usually on purpose.

I'm sure that is only when you are clearing a tabletop jump.

That's a bummer. All I do know is that you cannot substitute any other year's starter clutch if you replace it. The bumps on the starter clutch case are triggers for the ignition and the 86/87 bikes are unique, compared to later VFR750s. 

16 hours ago, WDIV said:

Is the MT-10 just a bigger MT-09? 

 

Not really. The MT-09 is a triple but the MT-10 is an in-line 4 derived from the R1 supersports. Has been retuned for torque and midrange and is as wild or mild as you choose. The R1/MT-10 engine is unique in having a crossplane crank which gives the exact same firing order as a 180 degree V4. It is light, taught and naughty.

I think I can play this game! I've owned this plate since 1987 when personalised plates were first released, and it has graced a number of V4s over the years since. Currently on the back of my MT-10 (but have you heard one of those??). 

1 hour ago, Dutchy said:

Living the RV life!

 

 

I don't remember the Netherlands being quite so hilly or dry?

Thanks for the heads-up Miguel, and for the effort that you have put into keeping the site going. As others have said, I have "met" some great folks here over the years and gleaned much useful or just entertaining stuff. Enjoy your inferior orange motorcycle!😁

Short drives don't heat the oil enough to drive out any condensation. The combustion process of burning fuel generates water as a by product and some of that enters the crankcase. Check again after the bike has had a decently long run where it has been up to operating temps for 30 or more minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-21MwnRHvl8&t=142s

The rubber feeler on the sidestand pre-date the introduction of the sidestand switch. Their purpose is to flick the stand up before you hit hard parts when you have forgotten to raise the stand. I learned (the hard way) that they don't always work when you flick into a slow tight turn really quickly...

Yeah, what Danno said. As long as air can pass through the spacer then all is good and no need to go the full Swiss Cheese route.

I was made to think about this in discussions with our local suspension guru who was working on my MT-10 Ohlins forks (which I wanted softened on sharp bumps beyond what the adjusters could do). He went to the trouble of machining down the spacer to ensure that it occupied as little volume as possible, as anything that reduces the air volume over the oil causes quite a steep increase in effective spring rate as the fork is compressed. But you are quite correct that a closed tubular spacer would be OK provided the volume of fork oil was reduced to offset the volume. 

Interesting spacer; you would want that to be open to the air otherwise it will behave like you have a very high oil level. 

1 hour ago, bmart said:

Bitubo is in my hands. It looks nice. Started the swap tonight and have questions. I do not recall my 1998 being this difficult. 

 

Removed top shock nut, lower link, and "triangle" but this shock won't get by the collector. Took off the wheel and can to make more room to raise/lower swingarm. Still, it will not clear to get out. Am I missing something? Surely this has been completed by others in less than a month... I thought that it would be together by now! 😭

Its been a few years since I did a shock swap on mine (stock out and DMR modified CBR954 shock installed) and I went down the same path as you with the linkages removed and the wheel off so I could easily raise and lower the swingarm to suit. Keep at it as there is a magic combination of swingarm angle that will allow the shock to slip through. If your Bitubo has a remote reservoir, I would feed that through and up before the shock body. I would wrap the new shock spring in masking take to prevent scratching the spring.

I had my last VFR start to reset the clock when I started it hot. It just needed a new battery. For less than $100 it is a cheap thing to swap out if you've not already done so.

Cleaning the fuses and diodes is a sound strategy too. Thanks to Grum's help, I figured out that my occasional hot-start problem on my ST1300 was a dirty diode connection. Who'd a thunk that?

While I am all for experimentation with suspension, I don't believe it is possible for us mere mortals to open a shock and change oil or shims. Showa shocks like the Blackbird or VFR have a nitrogen charge above a floating piston at the blind end of the shock body. To open the shock you will need to fight against that gas pressure to get the circlip out, followed by an "exciting" pressure release.

How Showa build these shocks in the first place is a mystery to me, but as there are no shortage of sealed gas shocks in the world it must be simple with the right machinery.

To do the job right, you need to breach the blind end of the body and release the pressure in a more controlled manner, then fit a valve there so you can re-pressurise after rebuilding the shock. 

YMMV and all that.

6 hours ago, RossR said:

 

Thanks Terry,

 

As I said, I am at kindergarten level.

 

So, fork caps and cartridges off the VTR1000F Superhawk/Firestorm plus an appropriate spring change, and the correct grade of oil would be a quick upgrade.

How bad/good is the quality of the OEM fork spring? I've seen posts by Jamie Daugherty where he says that the rear shock spring is appropriate for a 12lb person, and judging from the feedback on the VFR forums and the CBR1100XX forums, he really knows his stuff.

 

Ross

Hi Ross

All that will get you is externally adjustable rebound damping, but all the stock setup shortcomings are still there; the VTR damper parts are identical to the VFR, just with the adjustable rebound bleed. My view is that the VFR is undersprung and overdamped as stock, which gives a harsh ride. The main culprit is the compression valve body which is overly restrictive to compensate for an overly soft spring (for less Japanese-sized riders anyway).

If money is tight then for best effect I would spend it first on a set of compression Gold Valves, then springs (something like 0.9-0.95 kg/mm seems right to me), then rebound Gold Valves, and last on the VTR adjusters. Jamie Daugherty certainly knows a thing or to and I've used his parts as an alternative to Racetech. 

Just my 2c worth. 

Terry

On 6/6/2022 at 12:37 AM, RossR said:

 

Thanks Terry,

 

Same dimensions but the F4i forks are 43mm so putting the F4i cartridges into the 5th Gen 41mm forks would not work. Correct?

I am at kindergarten level with regard to this topic.

Not correct. The fork tubes are different diameters as you say, but the cartridges are all the same 20mm OD in all the Showa forks that I've seen. There are model-specific differences e.g. in the valve base at the bottom where the CBR has a larger diameter bolt securing it to the fork, but that valve base is still intended for the 20mm cartridge tube. If you work through the Racetech site you will probably see the same part numbers listed for Gold Valves for the different bikes as well. 

If you want to make your 5G forks externally adjustable you should get the fork caps and cartridges off the VTR1000F Superhawk/Firestorm. That cap will screw straight into the VFR fork, and you will get adjustable rebound. You are right that a F4i cap is 43mm and won't fit the 41mm VFR fork. 

On 5/31/2022 at 12:35 AM, RossR said:

 

Hi Terry,

 

What modifications did you do to the F4i forks. Did you swap out the entire front with the triple trees?

 

Ross

Hi Ross

I fitted 6th gen triples and bars to my 5G, installed the F4i forks with .95kg/mm springs and re-used the Gold Valves that were in the original forks. The damper cartridges are actually the same dimensions, just with the external screw adjusters. I also bought a 600F4i front fender, although you can get a 5G fender to fit with some creative bracket making. The 5G axle, wheel and discs are perfect as is. I used some 954 callipers and a 600RR master cylinder. The only bit that needed sorting was the ignition lock, the pin missed the socket on the steering head until I shimmed the lock down with a couple of washers. 

On 5/15/2022 at 10:08 AM, comradeQuestion said:

My bike has aftermarket clutch and brake lines which are noticeably longer than stock.  They're actually a little too long, but its not a big deal.  The fast idle cable is stock since it had obviously never been removed from the throttle body when I pulled the bike apart.

 

The problem isn't the lines, its the handlebars, levers, or master cylinders hitting the fairing (or tank).  I'm going through this right now with my project bike that has cbr600f4i forks and bars on it.  They aren't angled correctly and don't have the same rise, so they either hit the tank or levers start hitting the fairing.

I put  6th gen VFR800 bars on my last 5G 800 when I fitted the 43mm forks from a 600F4i. Worked like a charm.  

Personally I'd take the clutch slave apart and see if it is seized.

4 minutes ago, BusyLittleShop said:

Under what principal of physics???

Boyles law?

Sorry couldn't help myself. I've certainly personally experienced that tying the brake lever back to the bars overnight makes for a significant improvement in lever feel and gets rid of the squishies. Not sure that the same would apply with the clutch as my sense is the actual hydraulic line pressure is much lower.