Beck

If you ride a lot in the rain or fog, try to keep moisture/rain from getting between the steering tube and the wedge tube assembly ( you can roll on an appropriate sized O-ring on the GPS mount shaft and push it down agains the face of the steering shaft top nut) of that GPS mount as they can corrode and the mount could get really stuck to the steering tube. Many a bicycle frame and handlebar stems had been destroyed because of people trying to remove stuck steering stems caused by corrosion. A light coating of grease or anti-seize compound on the GPS mount wedge assembly and shaft can help avoid this problem. Chombi

That looks like more candy on candy!.....cool!

Best way to go is with a bench mounted buffing wheel and polishing compound. You can also just clamp your variable speed drill to a bench and buy polishing bonnets meant for drill chucks.......But as I noted, try to get any anodizing and/or finish off the aluminum part before starting the polishing process, Otherwise it will take a very long time and lots of effort to polish the parts. Also, if you ride in the wet or park your bike outdoors a lot, it will be good to protect the polished surface to keep it from oxidizing really quick and dulling up. There are companies out there that sell a clear resin based coating that is meant to protect polished aluminum. Check this one out: http://www.everbritecoatings.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=6 Goldwing riders supposedly used this on their polished aluminum wheels with good results. Good thing about it is the coating is supposedd to be easy to restore/rejuvenate if needed and is self leveling.

I wonder if you can wrap the reservoir portion of the 929 shock in some sort of reflective heat shield/refractory batting material to deflect the engine heat...... Beck 95 VFR

I love how people that have never done this conversion to there bike or ridden on one always say "that's not going to handle well at all" I've been riding for about 5 years now and have ridden sport bikes, cruisers, and sport touring, I've had this conversion done for almost 3 months now and i dd the bike 5 days a week and i can still scrape pegs and do every thing i normally did with the stock rim. I do admit that my tire looks nothing like the one on reapers, mine sits all the way flush with the rim, but i also went with the 200 series. Uhuh....I've been riding motorcycles since I was in gradeschool and have experienced crap handling that resulted in too wide a tire on my bikes. Even the slightly overwide Dunlops 207s (they manufactured them a bit too wide in error) I had crap handling from the moment I put them on that made the bike a handful in the twisties because of the misshapen (too steep) sidewalls that resulted in with my 5.0" rims. It's a pinched tire profile that caused the problems in my case, An overstretched tire with sidewalls going horizontal will surely have its own issues not to mention the safety issues that crop up. It does not take rocket science to know that putting those stretched out tires (which the tire manufacturers never meant them to be) on those over-wide and heavy rims will never be as good in handling as the original design that Honda put in for the bike.....I still say this is just and aesthetic mod at best and the handling will be crap. At the least, those super wide and heavy rims and tires will most likely have your bike understeering like nuts........It's "Chopper science" you are doing at best..... I always say that if these gumballs give the best handling on bikes, then why don't the GP teams do the same on their bikes. Beck 95 VFR

I have mine like that. ('99) Removing the right bolt is the issue with header clearance. You can tap the bolt hole all the way through the mount to the center of the bike, then insert the right centerstand bolt from the center of the bike out. IIRC, the mount is threaded all the way through just rough on the inside, I ran a sacrificial bolt through to clean up the thread. I used some all thread with double nut on the inside and a single nut on the outside. On and off in a few minutes. There you go, maybe you can refine this into a list of parts and instructions that other 5th genners here can try out on their own rides.... Thanks for posting about your solution..... Beck 95 VFR

Too bad the centerstands can't be made to come off and on the other gen bikes as they do on the 4th gen. It takes me just a few seconds to slip it on and off my 4th gen to do maintenance on the bike, so I never really missed the centerstand since I took it off many years ago.... Maybe someone can figure out a way to make it similarly easy to take it on and off different VFR gens?? Could be a very worthwhile project for someone to take on,especailly for those who really do not use their ceterstands when away from their garages........ Beck 95 VFR

Uhmmmm...why go so uber wide with the tire/wheel anyway? Couldn't you find a narrower car rim with simialr nicer styling than stock instead and avoid all the possibly dangerous, out of bounds wheel/tire dark side engineering you guys are doing?? I thought only Hardley guys did that with the gumball tire/uber wide wheel stuff they do their their choppers anyway.... I'd bet that despite the awesome looks you are getting with those super wide tires and wheels, they will never handle as well or as safe as VFRs with stock width tires/wheels.......Then it's just a "poseur's" mod at best... Beck 95 VFR

Awwww....No 10 minute hula hoop dance with the chain spinning against your greased up belly?? And what does one do when it all gets tangled up with body hair in sensitive areas??

I dunno,.......... but I find that it looks racier with the hole left open and the chintzy plastic plug on the other side eliminated so you can look right through the hollow axle.....just like the HRC endurance bikes...... I also use the hollow axle to thread my cobralinks lock though when I lock down the bike for extended periods. I don't think a thief will bother trying to tear down the whole rear end of the bike to steal it then..... Beck 95 VFR

The best front end solution for me would still be something a person could just plug-and-play, instead of all the fiddling and fabricating around with different triple clamps, figuring out new steering stops, axle spacers...etc..etc..etc......Unless I end up retiring early with a lot of money won from a big lottery and a fantastic garage to work in filled with all the tools I dreamed of....it's just not gonna happen with my 4th gen....If I do come across lots of money and time on my hands soon, I will most likely just buy myself an RC45 or a Desmosedici instead.....! Beck 95 VFR

+100 on replacing those badly cupped Duncraps....... I ruined a whole season of riding trying to extend the road life of my also badly cupped front Dunlop tire a couple of years ago. The bike's nervous handling totally took all the pleasure away from riding my VFR. It was like rediscovering real riding again after I replaced it with new PR2CTs. Night and Day! No more Dunlops on my bike ever! Every set of Dunlops I have put on the bike, including the originals cupped badly and never seem to have performed to anywhere near what the bike's real potential is. Beck 95 VFR

Nice, definitely cooler looking than OEM. Like how the gear indicator fits right in....but, won't you miss the neutral light?? Beck 95 VFR

Some had noted when these compact Nautilus airhorns from Stebel first came out that these horns are sensitive to how they need to be mounted perfectly vertical, or the air pump burns out, leading to many failures even when very new. Did Stebel already solve this problem, if there was really a problem? It's a mod I seriously considered, but I pushed off on it when bad news started to come in on how some of these were prematurely failing out there in surprising numbers. Beck 95 VFR

Consider getting the Symtec system. Works great, easy to install, cheap...cheap...did I say cheap (but well made. Mine cost me something like 15 bucks. when I got it)? Plus the heating is balanced because the heating grids are different from left to right to compensate for the effect of the plastic throttle barrel. I've had one for over 3 years now on my 95 and it hasn't let me down yet. Never did like the old fashoioned looking hard grips that Hotgrips typically provided with their system, plus you have to deal with mounting one of those ceramic resistors on your bike that I think gets quite hot. They might have changed them already, but I also remember the Hotgrips had an ugly looking switch in their kit that looks like it came from a WW2 army vehicle. Beck 95 VFR

I'd stick a googley faced picture of the "Doctor'" in there and people can watch him spin. but then you have to buy the matching helmet, of course. You can have him sign the window if you can show it to him at the next Laguna Seca Moto GP. Beck 95 VFR

You can get single and dual beam HID bulbs. Some are only single because the auto/bike uses multiple bulbs like the H7 bulb. They only come in one filament that's why bikes have two sets. 5th gens use H4 bulbs that are dual filaments. Thank you for clarifying, I didn't know they made a dual beam type HID system. Knowing this might make me consider putting one on my bike one day as a winter mod. Beck 95 VFR

Do I understand correctly that as the HIds are not "dual filament" bulbs. I assume you just have high beams? Beck 95 VFR

I don't think it will work as the 800s have connections to the rear suspension at the rear of the engine cases. the 750's do not have this. Having the engine cases donnected to the swing arm pivot was aprt of Honda's "controlled flex" suspension system that supposedly introduced some compliance into the bike's chassis to improve handling. when leaned over. Beck 95 VFR

The reason I think many have a hard time polishing things like VFR frame spars is that they most likely have clear anodizing on them. Anodizing is very very resistant to abrasives and polishing compounds. You really need to strip the anodizing off the aluminum with a lye based compound like oven cleaner. Once the anodizing is stripped off, the work to polish up the aluminum will be cut down to at least half the work. The oven cleaner stripping trick has been used by classic bicycle collectors that like to polish up old anodized aluminum components to a mirror finish. Beck 95 VFR

3rd gen running hot?? that's strange cause I thought 3rd and 4th gens actually run cool engine temp-wise. There must be something else wrong with your cooling system. Many wondered why Honda went with side radiators in the first place as ti seems like it would logically reulst in hotter runnging bikes, as the cooling airflow is not as direct as with cinventional front mounted radiators. Honda seems to have compunded the problem by reversing the way the cooling fans work by pulling in air from the side of the bike instead of out, which seems to result in heat saturation around the engine because the hot air in the fairing does not have an easy way out.. The earlier gen VFRs do not have this problem as they have conventional front mounted rads that pull the air through the front and out the sides of the bike easily. Only heat problems I know on the 3rd gen is how your right ankle can get very hot because of the pipes running next to the right rearset. but that's mostly with riding in slow speeds in very hot weather too. Honda seems to have finally gotten the message on their side mounted radiator concept. Note that they had abandoned it with the 1200. I haven't heard of any hot running issues with the new bike yet. Beck 95 VFR

Thanks guys!, My secret to keeping it looking new for all these year is Lemon Pledge on everythng on the bike after each ride. and a clay bar finish cleaning session on the farings and tank every year. Now the tank bumper strips will alsohelp preserve the paint from scratching and abrading at the tank too, as I suspect it was just a matter of time before I start seeing primer at the knee indents if I did not put these things in. Beck 95 VFR

They're bumper rub strips made by the Japanese auto/bike accessory comapny "Fizz" that I bought real cheap last X-mas in a trip to Asia. Found them a bit too short to use on my car, so I had an idea and put them on my tank to protect the paint on it. Little did I know it had a second function of providing grip for my kness on the tank and suddenly I'm steering the bike less with my hands but leaning the whole bike instead. Something I never felt on my 4th gen as it's very narrow at the tank, so there had always been kind of a "disconnect" with the bike. Last two rides with the rubber rub strips on the tank were some of the best I had with my bike as I feel more connected to the bike when I lean it over. If you do get one for your bike, make sure it has a rubbery/tacky feel to it wo it has traction against your pants knee area. The bonus is it also protects the paint on the tank against wear from pants with rougher texture like ones made from heavy duty cordura. It also is an alternative to the clear dimples tank gripster tank covering that does not look that great on some bikes. I ha e another set i can add above the first one to provide more gripping area, but so far, one strip on each side seems enough. Beck 95 VFR

Not a fan of the CB1000 "swirly whirly" design wheel, but I guess it's at least another wheel option for the 4th gen that will work as the original 4th gen wheel isn't that much of a beauty either. Beck 95 VFR