JZH

Very few VFR engines are ever torn down for repair... One of your fellow Kiwis might know. Can't remember his name, but he's done his own big bore conversion. Good luck. Ciao, JZH

Maybe they were off a different bike? Post pics, someone might recognise them. The 1200 came out in 2010, didn't it? Ciao, JZH

PC fans aren't going to like rain, much? Ciao, JZH

"More bikes? That's a good, that's a good idea. I like that one..." Ciao, JZH

The fairing stay may have stress-fractured because the lower headstock bolt was missing? Ciao, JZH

I don't have a lot of documentation on the 6th gens, but from what I've seen, the pistons are the same for ABS and non-ABS. Ciao, JZH

Damn, that's some kind of bright shift light! Ciao, JZH

No, they're not, but all 6th gen seem to be. ABS model calipers are also gold, rather than black, but that's not really an issue unless you're only swapping one side! 5th gen (front) RHS: 27mm, 22.65mm, 25.4mm LHS: 25.4mm, 22.65mm, 22.65mm 6th gen (front) RHS: 25.4mm, 22.65mm, 25.4mm LHS: 25.4mm, 25.4mm, 25.4mm Ciao, JZH

Well, about sixteen years after I bought it, I'm selling my bike lift. I put it on eBay on Sunday and I've already got a bid over the minimum price (and dozens of "watchers"), so I expect it will sell. It's been so long since I bought it I don't remember how much I paid for it, but all I care about is that it (a) is out of my way, and (b) allows me to buy an ABBA Sky Lift to replace it. Yes, it has served me well, and supported many of my bikes at one time or another, but it's just too big to allow me to function in my garage, now that I've stuffed it with assorted power tools and machinery. I still remember the day I brought her home... Well, okay, I don't remember much about that day--but I do have photos! Here's her first triumphant lift: My venerable RC36 has spent half her life on that lift (in various stages of undress)... But she's also lifted everything from my RS250... ...to my ST1300--oof! But as I say, it's time to move on, and to make room for one of these: (No, not a VTEC.) The ABBA Sky Lift will be a great, space-saving help with my maintenance and modification tasks, and will save me a lot of space in my tiny garage as well. I will let you know when I finally get one and start using it (for lifting my project RC36, naturally). So long, old friend! Ciao, JZH

The OEM position should have the groove (and ring) almost invisible. That picture's about 5mm up from stock. Ciao, JZH

I may as well repeat what I said in the PM, in case anyone else has something to add. As far as I know, if there weren't colour options available, Honda usually didn't publish the colour codes for the parts. Stands were only ever black, so there was no code mentioned in the Parts Catalogues. (I'd be surprised if they intentionally used black with a greenish tint, but you never know!) Standard screws and bolts have the "surface treatment" noted in the last digit of their part number, e.g., "-07", but parts that are made for a particular bike, such as those with "MT4" or "MZ7" in the middle of the part number, do not have these designations. I know that the different surface treatment designations are listed somewhere, but I don't recall where I've seen it. Ciao, JZH

Great photography! Ciao, JZH

Not very "anonymous", is it! Ciao, JZH

I didn't mean that you could only use OEM Honda bulbs, but if you use something else (on a US-spec bike of that era) you will have to do some mods--and some mods are better than others. There is a mod to the 3rd/4th gen headlight unit that is, in my opinion, very elegant and effective. That is the Bob Peloquin H4 mod, which involves dremeling the headlamp housing to make regular H4 bulbs fit perfectly, but it is not for the faint of heart. Then there are mods to regular H4 bulbs, which vary from the okay to the horrible. Whatever you do, remember that the exact position of the light source (filament, HID capsule or LED) is very important in a reflector headlamp system, so if you just "slam it in there" your beam pattern will almost certainly suffer (and isn't that what you're trying to improve?) Good luck with the Philips. They're usually decent quality, but I kind of gave up on worshiping OEM stuff when I discovered that Philips itself was marketing (evil) HID conversion kits in Asia. Ciao, JZH

One could argue that Honda makes entire motorcycles and engines (it is the Honda Motor Co....), but NGK only makes spark plugs. Which one is more likely into the proper use and care of spark plugs? I tend to follow manufacturer recommendations, and the manufacturer recommendations I follow most closely are those of the OEM suppliers. Ciao, JZH