JZH

Donning my Riders.org t-shirt this afternoon I realised that I haven't seen Randy Mamola around MotoGP for a while. Any idea what he's up to these days? Cheers, JZH

Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure is to pull the forks apart again and check everything again... Ciao, JZH

"For profit" is a bit exaggerated. There is no getting around the fact that lower speeds are statistically safer, so "saving lives" will always be a powerful justification for reducing speeds--and for some people, that means at any price. We just have to elect the ones who think the price we pay now is already reasonable. Ciao, JZH

Honda uses color-coded wires, so any black ones are probably the alarm wires. Ciao, JZH

Undercover police catching speeders is a thing in some police constabularies in the UK, but it's not universal. They tend to operate in the usual "hot spots" like the Cat & Fiddle Pass. They've got similar things in many European countries, e.g., France, where private contractors loaded up with ANPR and camera recording equipment drive around (speeding) on the motorways... Soon we won't have to worry about getting caught speeding on our motorbikes--we won't have any motorbikes! Ciao, JZH

Sorry to hear that. I own two Aprilias and, while the fit and finish isn't quite "Honda-like", it's generally pretty good. But these are older, niche models (RS250 and SXV550), which may have been built differently than the latest models. Ciao, JZH

Go here: https://www.bike-parts-honda.com/honda-motorcycle/750-MOTO/VFR/1989/VFR750FK/Frame/FRONT-WHEEL-2-/13ML7G41/F__1101/2/10184 Wheel paint codes are often noted in the Honda Parts Catalogues, and in this case what that tells me is that the wheel paint color is NH138 (Shasta White) for both the white and red color codes (the Granite Blue Metallic color has different color wheels). Ciao, JZH

I don't like Waze that much, but it does the job (and it's free). I often use it just to show me the speed (and limit) in real-ish time. Ciao, JZH

Not married, I see... Welcome! Ciao, JZH

I've swapped German, UK and US Honda headlights around, but not on a VFR. The beam pattern is different for Europe and the US, but nobody would notice on the road. Rumour has it that the DOT-spec calls for a certain amount of light to spill up, over the "cut-off", specifically to illuminate road signs (which are otherwise non-illuminated in parts of the US). I don't know whether to laugh or cry about that... Ciao, JZH

The wheels are the same (apart from color, perhaps), but the ABS models have different disks (so the sensor ring can be mounted to one of them), but if you have ABS on your bike you should be able to swap disks. Ciao, JZH

The Harris is very nice. I have them on my RC46s because they've got the cleanest design: the chainguard is integrated with the hugger, so you can ditch the clunky OEM chainguard rather than having the hugger attach to it/sit on top of it. Ciao, JZH

I'd point out that Honda now specs Lithium Ion batteries (made by a Japanese company called Eliiy Power) on some of its bikes, so the technology is officially "mainstream" now. Ciao, JZH

The pitch has to be the same pitch as the damaged threads, but the diameter is different. According to Helicoil, the taps are called "STI" (Screw Thread Insert) taps and they are not just larger standard taps. That makes sense, as larger standard threads usually have different (larger) pitches, so the new tap would have to be a "fine" thread version with exactly the right diameter to accommodate the Helicoil wire. There could be a coincidental match, though... Ciao, JZH

Yikes! I take back my doubts. That's a picture from the company's current eBay listing. It's evidently a copy of the old Motad 3rd-gen RHS-exit design, which allows the OEM exhaust can, with its swivel feature, to be used with the Black Widow aftermarket full exhaust system. Oh, dear... FWIW, their later efforts (5th gen+) look a bit better, but it's clear that their headers for the RC36 (both 3rd and 4th gen) are still pretty ropey. [Btw, there's some interesting header information in the early part of this classic VFRD thread...] 😹 Ciao,