BusyLittleShop

Bummer... Some Yamaha's use a generator instead of an alternator... ask Rick about using their RR... The RC45 RR is robust and sports big fins...

Mr.RC45's stator was this discolored at 45,000 mile mark... replacing it with a new one didn't produced any more volts... it's possible that my old dark brown stator is still good...

With so few examples world wide there are no aftermarket parts for the RC45... all the parts are OEM... I've swapped flywheels with another RC45 in my shop... still no joy...

Mr.RC45 shows the same voltages at the same rpms... I've gone through extensive trouble shoot procedures and even changed the R/R twice and stator once... no joy... I'm not so hot when it comes to electrics so I'm watching the thread... right now I can't go 3 days without a external charge... it will just quit running...

Well with all do respect to Bailey... it's not a better solution in my opinion... subtracting metal from the critical casting where the bearing race plugs into weakens the design... not to mention the insert has to made thin and thin metal will not hold up to hammering and sooner or later the bearing race may work loose... also there's is a liability question when you sell a bike and don't informed the owner that the frame is not 100%... Welding and machining the hole to Honda's original dimensions is by far the safest and best fix...

WOW... I'm impressed... nice job... you brought that frame back from the dead... not only will too much torque do that but also collisions... flip forks are so strong now a days that the weakest part is becoming the frame... I've witness broken bearing seats and elongated bearing holes as a result at the Fameman's shop... I about fell out of my chair at the sight of you grinding a bearing race... mercy man I would never tackle that problem... I think you're about one step away from machining your own steering stem and triple trees... BTW... did you weight the frame???

I've done all my own suspension work... including making my own internal shock parts... to revalving... to servicing my own rear shock fluids... VFRD members can advise you better than I on a number of shock shops that have brought them joy on their VFRs... I will say that to improve the smoothness of a fork's action and to minimize stiction there are a number of ways offered to a tuner... Ti Ni(Titanium Nitride gold coating)... BDC (Black Diamond Carbon)... GOFHP (Good Old Fashion Hand Polishing)... As far as stiction goes your buddy is right... fit and finish are paramount... I spent a couple of days sanding and polishing my stock RC45 fork legs to reduce stiction... I pull the forks apart and chucked the leg up in the Lathe... I employed a 600 crankshaft polish strap around the leg... got the leg wet with Acetone and spun it at 750 rpm's... I worked the strap evenly up and down the leg until all the marks were gone... I was mindful not to go below the surface hardness of chrome... I was successful in establishing a smooth uniform finish over the length of the leg... border='0' alt='user posted image' /> I removed a number of scuff marks... border='0' alt='user posted image' /> I decided to go it alone and tackle the polishing job by hand with the help of the Lathe... I use Nevr-Dull magic wadding under a trimmed down section of black PVC... in about a day I had one leg polished up real nice... border='0' alt='user posted image' /> In conclusion... I estimate a 25% drop in stiction as a reward for my hours of labor... I still got hammered as a result of race track ready suspension settings but now to a lesser degree... I can't cry about it as I prefer to sacrifice a bit of comfort for a volume of control... that all change for the better after I swapped the stock forks for for a set of R/T Ohlins... currently I have more control and much much more comfort... well my version of comfort that is... border='0' alt='user posted image' />

That's one way but I think stiction is best felt with the hand... First raise the bike enough to free the front suspension... Then turn both fork caps until they're free from the fork tubes... Finally grasp front wheel and raise and lower suspension 3 to 4 inches and note if you feel abnormal amounts of stiction... basically your front suspension should free fall with gravity... If it doesn't free fall then unloosen axle pinch bolts and check free fall again... Still not free falling??? Next check fork tube alignment by unloosing the left and right two bottom pinch bolts on the lower triple clamp only... check free fall... Once you have eliminated the axle and fork alignment then it time to go inside the fork... Check the upper and lower precision rolled copper bearings and not if any of the gray Teflon is rubbed down to the copper... replace as needed...

Extra stiff springs due take more energy to compress and they also rebound with a lot more energy as well... consequently compression dampening needs to be greater to slow the compression of the extra stiff spring and then rebound dampening also needs to greater to slow the rebound of the spring... I would check the forks for abnormal stiction... do you know how that's done???

Actually the stiffer the spring action the more dampening it will take to control it... I'd recommend trying a 10 weight over the 5 weight HS... you may favor the more control feel the extra dampening will afford...