JimMoore

-1/+1 is a FANTASTIC mod for the 5th gen. I can't recommend it highly enough. It totally transforms the bike from "Meh, this thing is kinda pokey" to "Holy crap, this thing is pretty fast!"

Cool. Thanks. Why are the gears split like that? Any idea?

That's interesting. I may have to give it a try. That job is so hard on my CBR600 that I've just about convinced myself that shops never do it. They just take the money and tell you it's good-to-go.

Windscreens are funny. They don't always work like you think they will. A bigger windscreen = more protection, right? Maybe, but maybe it will direct a blast of turbulent air at your forehead. Or maybe it works for a 5'8" guy, but not for a 6'2" guy. I've come to prefer a smaller windscreen thet keeps air off my chest but leaves my head in non-turbulent free air.

That's not how it works. The wind will move you the same amount to the side. You'll just be further downrange at the end.

Squeeze the tank with your knees and relax your upper body. Try to ride with your fingertips. Most people hold on too tight. The wind moves their upper body, which causes steering inputs.

I'm not sure about that, but I do know that hard starting is an indication of tight valves. I'll also second the other poster. Mine starts at first touch of the start button.

If you can't get a clean start on the choke you need to start contemplating a valve adjustment. I haven't done one on this bike, but I'll be it's a HUGE PITA.

Thanks. I'm completely familiar with the concepts. As a note, the 98 VFR is geared to go 141 mph ... in 4th gear. Doesn't that seem a little overgeared to you? It seemed overgeared to the Honda engineers. They changed the ratios in the 6th Gen back to a more reasonable setup. You're right about a couple things though. I don't get great gas mileage. And I couldn't care less. I don't ride a sportbike to save gas. But if that's your bag, have at it. I ride my sportbikes to have fun. And who gives a shit if "the engine spins faster than normal?" It's supposed to spin fast.

If you really want to go faster, replace your sprockets with -1/+1. that makes an huge difference in performance and it's practically free. Maybe $50 for both sprockets.

Lefty-Loosey. That pinch bolt is torqued to 54 ft-lb, so it's on there pretty tight.

Yep. Exactly. Sound reasonable?

I'm going to use them to connect the wires from the stator on my CBR600 F3. The plug is fried on that bike. If it works OK I'll probably do the same thing to my VFR eventually.

100 miles yesterday. Seems to be fixed. Thanks for the help, fellas.

Thanks guys. Quick question. Is there any reason I shouldn't use heat shrink butt splice connectors? I've had success with them in the past.