Blue Viffer

This is my Front end super uber mod. Please don't try this without much thought and get all your questions answered by a professional before you begin. I decided to change my forks out to RC 51 forks after much thought about rebuilding. Rebuilding with new springs valves and possible F4 internals would run somewhere between $700.00 - $1000.00. I figured with a little luck I could change my front end for about the same and come out ahead with trick upside down forks and better brakes. Now after much looking on this forum and VFR World and even STNet. I read about and saw pictures of Murphy. Having a few years back looking at Superhawk forks and decided that I would not gain enough for my money I shelved that thought. Now comes along an ill timed pass on a Van that did not see me and Voila instant money. Insurance. Again don't try this at home. Getting back to the story....Well I read that you could put on 929,954,RC51,R-1 or any fork of the 43mm dia using Honda triple clamps. You can use 929, 954 or RC51 clamps and use the other forks with their corresponding wheels,axle, brakes and fender. Make up some brake lines and there you have it a new front end. Well guys and gals it isn't quite that easy but almost. You see Cars Trucks Motorcycles or anything on wheels have to be stable when moving in a straight line or even turning so we have what in the auto industry is called alignment of a vehicle. Now being an Auto Mechaninc and not a Jet Aircraft Fixer I knew enough to understand ride height and a little about what we call caster and kingpin inclintaion or rake and trail on a motorcycle. So.... looking at my bike all stripped down and reading about Safe-t and Whylee putting RC51 forks on their bikes I looked more into that than the other options. I also have a 954 sitting in the garage so could look at that front end and forks and picture them on the VFR and also compare lengths of fork tubes. Now with Safe-T's measurements of Fork tube lengths and my own 2 bikes to measure (VFR & 954) I decided the RC forks were closest in length and looked oh so CUTE with the adjuster at the bottom of the front of the fork tube. Kinda like the old superbike forks of old. Any way back to it. Now having decided on the forks you have to decide on the clamps to hold them. Whylee had already finished his bike and posted the fact that the 929,954 Steering stem or bottom clamp hits his radiator hose when turning. Not to good. So looking at the RC steering stem or bottom Clamp it has a gullwing shape and drops down at that point. The other good thing about this is you can use shorter fork tubes in this bottom clamp and still maintain the proper ride height that your VFR had to begin with. NOW THE CAUTION!! Ride height is not all that you need to be aware of. Larry of Busy Little Shop will tell you the RAKE (TRAIL) is also important for stability and ability to turn or not to turn. Ask Whylee. Not Having the computer knowledge or previous years of experience with Motorcycle Rebuilding that Larry has but having Auto Experience I know you need the right Caster in a car or RAKE TRAIL combination on a bike to turn etc. Again this is the reason I chose the RC51 lower clamp to allow adjustment up or down of the fork tubes to gain that Caster or RAKE TRAIL NEEDED. If you choose the top plate or clamp of a 929, 954 you also have a gullwing shape. It allows if you have the shorter than RC 51 fork tubes you a chance to use those tubes and maybe adjust them up or down enough for proper rake trail combination. If You use short tubes like 929 or 954 or maybe even R-1 or gixxer tubes you will absolutely need to use the 929-954 top plate and the RC51 bottom clamp combination to give you any chance of adjustment....Or you could have Larry or someone of his calibre make you up custom clamps. If any of you FRANKINVIFFER'S out there would like my Opinion after doing this modification listen up. Advice. Think carefully about what you want out of your bike. Handling will only improve if set up right. The forks will only be able to soak up bumps better if set up for your weight. Money, always add a little extra for any unforeseen problem in any modification to your vehicle. If you want to continue then this is what I recommend. 954 top plate or clamp. Same as 929. 2000-2001 RC 51 steering Stem. I do not recommend the use of the RC 51 top plate at all. It will work but it limits the ability to adjust the forks only so far down for those of you using shorter fork tubes. Forks to use. Your choice but I would look hard at something of comparable length to the VFR. RC 51 is my choice but you could use others. Probably but I am not sure in length the Suzuki SV1000. You could also probably use the FZ1. More likely longer than an R-1 with the same brakes. Possibly the Suzuki V-Strom 1000 also. Any of these will require their brakes wheels axles and fenders. After you are done with any modification take it slowly at first to get a feel for the results. Make or have made the proper adjustments to get the right alignment (Rake Trail) for proper steering. And be really careful on your first test ride. Then recheck your work. Tighten or check tightness of all your critical bolts and nuts. Always check your brakes before riding a modified bike like this. After my modifications I am still fine tuning. First I need to get a little less trail or caster in my bike so it steers a little quicker. My bike has been raised in the rear 10mm for clearance of exhaust and is not stock rake. It turns like a stock VFR with my combination right now. Yes it soaks up bumps better and has better front suspension and brakes but I still need to fine tune it. With this mod I no longer have linked brakes and need to change my rear master cylinder to get better brake response from the rear. I went with the RC front Brake Master for better Clearance around the windshield area. And now want to complete that with a Hydraulic master to match for clearance around the left side area. I am not real happy with my convertibars so I am going to 929-954 handlebars on top of the top plate as I have plenty of room to do this with the combo 954 top plate and long enough RC51 fork tubes. I think this is a very good mod for those of you who are capable or willing to learn....But this mod is NOT FOR EVERYONE! Some of you should not even think of a mod like this. Your bike is fine the way it is being used and works great. Again this is the way I did it and just my HUMMBBLLEE OPINION. For those of you interested I am sure if you ask you will get honest opinions from Safe-T, Whylee, or Larry as to how and why they did or do modifications. Good Luck and Hope this is better insight than the rest of us had when we decided to make a leap into FRANKENVIFFERING. frankinviffer is a trademark of Safe-T inc. vince Sorry Whylee I did not put this in print before your get off. Hope your bike isn't too badly damaged.

I agree with the upper clamp that gives room to mount the clip-ons. That is why I suggest stock 929 or 954 upper, it is a gullwing shape and when used with the lower early RC 51 Steering stem gives plenty of room for asjustability. vince

For those of you that don't understand the difference in the early versus late RC 51 Steering stem. Here is a picture of the two side by side. The 2000-2001 is the one on the left. It is the same as a 929 or 954 steering stem except for the gull wing shape. Therefore the forks can mount lower in the clamps and you will have room on top for handlebars above the stock 929 or 954 top clamp. Hope this helps. p.s. the one on the left has the steering stops cut off for my instalation on Blue Frankenviffer. vince