bmart

I was... and no one understands why, including the reseller...or my other VFR. 330 is not long by any means in this bike. 

I'll try to remember some of the gory details. 

Stock shock removal wasn't bad. I took off the Delkevic can, but left the midpipe (not the smartest, but it worked) and the rear wheel. I had ~5mm of shims between the top clevis and the frame to get to my preferred 330mm shock lengh (eye to eye, 5mm more than stock). I assumed that the top pivot would...pivot. It would not. I recommend loosening the nut/bolt holding the top of the stock shock to the clevis first. If you do that, the rest will fall out with plenty of room. 

Bitubo was set to stock length, so I adjusted it 5mm longer on the bench to make my life easier (read that as much harder). It should fit right in where the 330mm shock just came out...right? Just like the 330mm long shock in the red VFR, right? As my New England buddies would put it. Yaaaa...nooo. 

Bitubo suggests taking off the exhaust shield on the right side to route the canister over the large tube, I went behind it. There is no way this is anywhere hear the exhaust, any moving parts, or the metal shield. We'll see who is right on this one later!

The rear bodywork must be removed also in order to get to the right passenger pegs which is where the canister braket is mounted. Do do this, of course, I had to remove the luggage rack. This is when I realized that the luggage rack bracket is also mounted to the right passenger peg bracket. 

Once I got all of the removal sorted and the new shock length set, I fed the canister up through the hole, ensured my routing was adequate, and had the tools and bolts ready...I fed the shock in and bolted it from the top. Keep in mind that I'm doing this between other bikes and a bunch of trays with seeds/seedlings that we're trying to grow. 

I can get two bolts in with the triangle plates, but not three. Any two, but never three. A lot of things were tried and in the end I was stuck with shortening the installed shock 3mm to get the last bolt in. Not a big deal, but now I had to lengthen the shock 3mm to get back to 330mm. Easy, right? Yaaa...nooo. Apparently the factory did not tighten the top lock nut enough, so when I turned the height adjustment, the whole shock would spin, risking kinking the canister hose/fitting. 

A lot of creative work to keep from doing a full uninstall...as the knucklehead mechanic (looks exactly like me) reassembled everything else (tank, bodywork luggage, etc.) to "save time" when I finished on day two of a 60 minutes job. It is now set to 330mm and I can't wait to try it. As it came from my pasta making people overseas, it feels a lot different than the Penske. I can't believe that it is as good or better, yet. If I get to ride it this week, I'll take some measurements cold before, and warm after, and get it in the ballpark. The Bitubo manual suggestions in this area aren't very good, so I'm on my own with settings. 

If I were to do it again:

• I would not adjust the shock length until it was installed, and I would notice that I could use the tool supplied instead of trying to fight with the 6 sided nut
• I would double check that the top lock nut on the shock was TIGHT
• I would put a jack under the small section of the swingarm just in front of the rear caliper instead of being lazy and lifting it over and over with one of my own appendages (the jack is 20' away, but there are 4 bikes, a car, a lift, and some other things in the way)
• I would take off everything that I needed to at the start and not put it back until the shock install was complete
• I would buy/borrow the proper wrenches for the lock nuts on the shock as reaching these when installed really bites with big straight tools (never thought I'd type those words)
• I would beg for a not red spring. Most will love the look, but I much prefer black!

I'm open to all tom mockery and helpful suggestions. Adding some pics:

Search the forum. You'll find the answers you need. VFRs need some AC/DC love from the factory. 

Don't think so. It took a lot of work. I'll post the details if anyone cares. Regardless, it is in and needs to be set up cold, then hot...then hopefully never removed again. 

Stock is 325. 333 is still fine, but I run 330, same as in the Penske, and same as the stocker with the shims...that I just took out of the same hole. 

My worry about having to do the upper mount last is that there's no way to get up in there. I can reach the bottom, at least, but does it seem right that there will be no way to get it back out again? Shock is 330mm, just like the Penske in uglyred, so nowhere near the "longest" setting on the shock or what is common for the 5th gen. 

Soliciting advice. More than 6 hours in to my under 60 minute job and no luck yet. The third bolt just won't pass the second plate. Jacking the swingarm up moves it further out of alignment and the swingarm won't go down any more. I've tried putting the bolts in in varying order without luck. I've tried using the nuts of the ones that went in to old it all together, tight and loose, but no luck. I've had a prybar under the botton shock mount to try to force it up by compressing the spring, but there's no leverage to be had in that position. And it is does go in, it will never come out again. Something isn't right. 

I seem to remember when mounting the shock in the red VFR that I had to raise the swingarm to get the shock in. This is the opposite problem. 

Thanks Terry. I finally remembered that in addition to removing the top nut, you really have to loosen the mount to the shock top also. It should move, but it never does. 

Got Bitubo in, but now linkage won't go back together. 4 hours in and I give up until another day. Just three bolts, but they won't align and go in. Plate are properly oriented, but the bolts just keep pushing the bearing sleeves out or won't go in all of the way if they don't push the sleeves out. This was 60 minutes of work... Argh! At least everything is broken in and scratched now. 

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! 😭

Any pics of the insides of the calipers?

What brands do we have to clean? I hope that it is only Suzukis...as I no longer own any of those. 

We're supposed to clean them? 

On the 5th gens, my R6 track bikes I primarily have been using Mobil 1 M1MC-134 for many years. I've also enjoyed the Bosch 3300 on the VFRs. They used to recommend the Mobil M1-108. Even my cars have similar filter recommended for them: Mobil M1-110 & Bosch 3310. I'm not sure if you can reach folks from where you are, but I've called and talked to the oil filter engineers more than once with detailed questions. 

Do you want to do mine? I've been putting it of since I got the '98...

Let us know how you like it. I wanted to drive over mine. Finally sold it and went with Osmand. 

You're not wrong! The bug I joke about is that everyone wants to be called one, but no one wants to be one. That generation is dying out and what we're replacing it with are people who read something, then claim being an expert. I've recently defriended one of these nincompoops in real life only to find out that no one understood why it took me so long to recognize. This guy would fight for days about something he read, only to find out he ws wrong...then picks up a new topic to fight about. I thought that he wanted to learn. Instead, he wanted to know and be right. I like to give people a break, but life is too short! There's a mediocre book called The Death of Expertise that drives it home.

As I am so fond of saying, if it involves a human, it is going to be hard. Don't get me going about "experts."

Cool!

That looks...complicated.

Shock question for you smart folks. 

I've been riding the '98 with the Thermosman special forks internals and Penske rear back to back with the '00 with Gold valves and stock shock adjusted as best as can be and lengthened ~5mm with shims. Truly, there's no comparison. Thermosman is a magician and I wish I never did the gold valves on the other. What is done is done. The money is gone. I'm guessing that it'll feel better once the rear is sorted. 

I couldn't find any info on a Hyperpro or Bitubo shock on a 5th gen. Has anyone used one? I'm not interested in teh YSS and other partly adjustable shocks. I want fully adjustable (rebound and compression). 

bitubo 938....euros? Unsure!

https://www.bitubo.com/Bitubo/catalog/ENG/articolo/9-prodotti-finiti/hhywvcxvqg-mono-reg-precarico-mollaestensione2-compression.html

Hyperpro has a lot of shocks on their site, but only this fully adjustable one for the VFR. 699 Euros?

https://www.webshop-hyperpro.com/en/motorbike/honda/vfr-800-fi/vfr-800-fi/1998-2001/suspension/rear-suspension/rear-shock/HO08-1AB

My first preference would be a Penske, but new is out of out touch financially and haven't been able to find a used one at a reasonable price in years. Similar for Ohlins. Once I have to send it to be resprung and revlaved for me...I'm up to nearly new prices, nearly $2k. 

If anyone has used a Hyperpro or Butubo shock (not just spring), I'd love to hear about your comparison to others. Thank you!

Sounds like a lot more work than buying a harness and powerplant to me!

We are...opposite people! Nice work. 

Fun with VFRs...

So, the yellow 2000 dash blinkers seem to be affected by some resistance. I don't have a good reason for the delay in lighting. When I tried the original ones, they were delayed also, so nothing to do with the actual LEDs. It is buttoned up and is "adequate."

Today when I got in from a ride, I left the key on to let the fan run (219F). 10 minutes later, the fan was still running when the dash showed 158F when I turned off the key. This seems odd, no? I could have sworn that it would go on at 218F and off again at 210F. 

The UGLERED '98 is getting some corroded connectors replaced when I get a little time. Looking forward to the test to see if the dash still gets wonky with resetting the trip meters. 

Good ideas are welcome!

Finally sucked it up and did the coolant flush tonight. What I took out looked like it would glow in the dark, but it was spotless clean. I wonder if the previous owner put in 100% instead of 50/50. And there was some air in there. Flushed twice with tap, then flushing solution for 60 minutes. The tap flushing and running. Then drain and fill w/50/50. Hoping it runs a little cooler now. 

Fan came on at 218 and went off at 210. 

Also hoping to ride it a few miles tomorrow as a test and to get some fuel in it. The light is blinking. 

Have you looked at your boot height? They may just be too thick for smooth shifting both ways. I've seen that countless times. Moving the lever can help one way, but makes the other way worse.