BiKenG

Indeed. All the CBR1000RRs use the same wire colours for each cylinder and probably 929 and 954 and maybe even CBR900RR before that. In fact i'd say it's a fair guess that Honda always use the same colours on their 4 cylinder bikes. As an example of why we tend to moan about prices here in the UK, I just bought a suitable harness - from the US. It was cheaper to buy one from all the way over there AND ship it here AND pay any duties, than I could find one here. Greedy UK breakers want 3 TIMES the price. I made a reasonable offer, but was declined. Their loss. It is immensely frustrating (not to say costly) to constantly see stuff available in the US for so much less than the UK. We don't call it "rip off Britain" for nothing. BTW, we're allowed to call it that, no-one else is. I've already got some RR11 CoPs on their way to me. Bought from outside the UK of course as it was cheaper.

The problem I see with the standoffs is that it pushes the whole thing away and off the plug. Normally the rubber end of the CoP is a snug fit around the plug and keeping it sealed. With the standoff you won't have that seal and more chance of problems if anything gets past the upper seal. Not saying you will have problems, but it's something to be aware of. I have also become aware that some VFRs use plugs with the exposed screw thread at the top and others use a plug with a solid top and any cap or CoP is only going to really fit properly on the plug type for which it was designed. Otherwise it will either not actually clip on or will be loose. Maybe these differences only apply to later VFRs already with CoPs and so fitting CoPs to earlier bikes shouldn't have this problem, but if the plugs have also been changed... It might be an idea if thinking of doing this, to be sure the top of the plug is compatible with the CoP being installed. Finally, I think the primary connections ARE polarity conscious. Get it wrong and I cannot but think it will fail to work correctly as the HT from the secondary coil will be trying to find ground through the primary. The negative side (earth) of both primary and secondary coils must be connected together. The secondary coli MUST be connected at both ends or current cannot flow. The high side is to ground via the plug (and the spark), but the low side has to be connected to ground to complete the circuit and without any other possible route, it must use the same ground terminal as the low side of the primary. At least, that's how I see it. If anyone thinks differently, please chime in.

On the basis that gig says they fit, I've ordered a set from an RR11 (same as RR8) off eBay. I suspect they're actually the same coil as the VFR1200, but with a different top seal which is not available separately, hence the different part number. I'll confirm that when I receive them,

Ah, thanks for that. Did they fit down inside the head round the plug. The VFR1200 ones I tried were very tight before they had engaged on the plug. Did you have to shave the lower rubber section at all?

Can anyone confirm how the later CBR CoPs fit to a 5th Gen? I tried VFR1200, but they seemed too short. The CBR1000RR4-7 Cops will fit, but slightly long. The above picture looks perfect, but hard to tell and as far as I can see looking at pictures, the later CBR ones (RR8->) look very like the VFR1200's, but impossible to confirm either way as I don't have any on hand to check. Well I do, but they're on the bike and even without fairings, they're a ba****d to get to. Anyone have an RR8-> CoP they could measure?

Old topic I know, but in discussing the merits or otherwise of CoP vs normal coils, no-one mentioned ignition interference suppression. This is a very big deal and manufacturers put a lot of effort into passing the strict regulations. Resistive plugs were a BIG improvement, but stuffing the coil right on top of the plug has to offer the best improvement of all. I doubt performance or even emissions really has anything to do with it. Ignition suppression is probably the biggest factor, but packaging now plays a very big part in vehicular design. Just trying to cram everything into the available space can be tricky and with bikes they need to be able to place everything for optimum weight distribution. CoPs are simply better at all these. Whether it's worth doing on an older bike is just down to personal preference. I like the idea of freeing up some space and saving a bit of weight. As long as they work correctly it'll make bugger all difference to the performance though.

From now on, playing around with forks like this will be known as "Fork Swappage" (thanks JZH)

Lots of people playing with fork changes etc, but without any real data to judge what effect the changes may or may not make. So I set up a spreadsheet and entered some typical examples to illustrate what happens. But first... This is done for the 5th gen 800 and it relies on original spec in order to be able to calculate what it does. If anyone needs data for a different model, providing the original spec is available, just let me know. I have based everything on the suspension being fully extended as that's the only reliable and repeatable state. Hard to measure in practice of course, but that doesn't matter as what we're concerned with really is changes away from standard, which is the line in red. The fork length is from the upper surface of a flat top yoke/triple clamp to the centre of the front axle. Gull wing yokes and/or forks not being flush with the top of the yoke will have to allowed for as it's impossible to build-in all possible variations. E.g. the standard forks I believe are 780mm overall. But they should extend above the upper surface of the (flat) top yoke by 41mm, plus the top cap which is about 2mm so the length to use is 737mm (780 - 2 - 41). In case that disappears geom800.tiff It can be seen that reducing the OFFSET has a significant effect on the TRAIL which suggests that it's not a good idea to replace with forks with a very small OFFSET. It can be counteracted by dropping the front and/or raising the rear to steepen the RAKE, but there's a limit to how far you can go with this. Anyway, hope this is of interest to others.

Hmmm. Food for thought. Thanks Seb (I assume it's Seb, correct me if I'm wrong)

Thats exactly the info I wanted. I can't see that not being the best option to convert a VFR800 to single front mounted rad. Thank you for that. Ah one more question, which exact model is that from?

Understood. In truth, Honda don't make the best looking bottom yokes. I like the idea of a wide clamp with 3 bolts entering from the rear and hence largely hidden from view. So having a bottom yoke made is an option I have considered. Can you confirm though the CB1000R uses a 35 mm offset? The VFR is 40mm and the CBR/RVT etc is 30mm IIRC, so the CB1000R is in between? I have no data on that bike (apart from using handlebars and other things on my FireFighter). I wasn't aware it is not the usual 30mm. Or maybe I was and simply forgot. Now where was I...

The fork colour certainly looks great. I guess I'll find out how fragile. Regarding the fork offset, surely if the CB1000R has the 35mm you want (as it must be if you use that top yoke), could you not have used the CB1000R bottom yoke also? Was there a reason why that would not fit?

Thanks for your confirmation on the fork parts. Why make your own bottom yoke though? Surely you could have used one from a CBR1000RR (or even 929 or 954) or RVT? Not criticising, just wondering if there's any reason and that I should look out for. Also, what preparation did you perform on the fork outers prior to spraying? Did you sand them down at all and/or use any primer? I've long wanted to find that colour for forks. Now I have to find a way to obtain that paint in the UK.

Hey SEBSPEED, looks like you used CBR1000RR4/5 fork legs, what about the yokes/triple clamps? Top looks like CB1000R, yes? What about the bottom, same? Are your forks at 214mm spacing/width? Any problems with the rad and tyre clearance with those shorter forks?

Anyone done a comparison of radiator sizes of the 750s. Quite a few 800 owners are interested in a single front rad conversion and the obvious candidate would appear to be a rad from the 750, but what are the sizes and inlet/outlet orientation of those models? Anyone got the dimensions handy?