enzed_viffer

Looks hidden enough, is it going to get too hot there? Quick and easy solution though!

I took that same remote and soldered a couple wires to the circuit board's button contacts, connected those two wires to a Radio Shack 12V relay and the relay to the high beam circuit. Flashing the high beams operates the relay and the garage remote. It's mounted up around the headlight under the fairing.

I *was* going to do that, but instead decided to KISS. So I mounted my door remote under the front fairing above the headlights, and have wires going back to the right-hand switchblock, where I added a waterproof switch (not that it matters) where there's a blank (normally occupied by a light switch on UK/Euro bikes?) All I need to do is a quick press with my thumb, and voila! (A small misspelled musical instrument). Oh - and the door goes up. Or down. Or up AND down if I've taken the scenic route home and my SpousalUnit is approaching from the other drirection and using the remote in her cabriolet. OOps. Marital discord.....

Been on there for some years now, and haven't even needed to change the battery. If it does go flat, I might just wire it up to the battery, seeing as it's a 12V remote.

Hmmm... a common theme here...

Mrkn's have fat heads, mayhap?

I run 91 or 95 octane fuel.

If the bike is basically stock i.e. no ECU trickery or highly modified engine components all you are doing by running high octane fuel is increasing carbon buildup inside your cylinders, and wasting money. Stock VFRs run just fine on 87. I would bet it's a big part of your fuel mileage issue as well.

I run 91 or 95 octane fuel.

Our knowledge about gasolines hasn't made much progress; because some

people are still buying more octane than they need...

Most gas stations only have 87 octane, and 91 octane. 89 octane is

created by mixing, 50/50 of 87 and 91

91 and 95 are my only options here. The fuel companies promote the 95 as containing cleaning additives so I feel better using the higher octane, but I can't tell any difference riding the bike.

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Um, guys - you're talking at cross purposes here; UnZud uses RON for Octane, so IIRC, 87 US is roughly equivalent to NZ's 91 (RON) octane. I run 91 usually, and occasionally (like in mid-summer, when the bike can knock slightly at low revs) 98, which also has (allegedly) beneficial properties for injectors etc. courtesy of detergents and whatnot.

As for my bike, I'm about the jinx it by saying I've had no major issues, although I've replaced stuff (suspension, lights, wheel nuts, grips, tyre valves, thermoswitch, horns, etc.) just because I could. Had to replace the seat cover because it frayed around the front edge, and the steering head bearings (with tapered roller bearings), and all disks, one at a time because they were U/S. AFAIK, it's still on the original R/R (with a fan on it for the last 9 or 10 years), and the current battery's been in it so long I can't remember how old it is; maybe more'n 5 years.

I'm not sure why the Gen3 wheel looks so good on the Gen6? I love it.

Because it's got thinner spokes than the standard wheel, which makes it look lighter and more elegant.

It's great that Honda returned to a multi-spoke wheel for the latest VFR - that looks good too, as does the swingarm. Pity they didn't also re-engineer the hub - it is (IMHO) one of the uglier hubs on a bike with an SSSA

What's a Fartenheat? I thought we lived in a metric world...

Mine does a lot of slow traffic work at times, but I don't believe I've seen it get over 110 degrees Celsius. Or thereabouts. Maybe it's our maritime climate....

Whelp, for many months now, I've been running a 95/85 thermoswitch (on at 95 degrees Centigrade, off at 85), instead of the standard 106/96 one. It works well. And for a longer period of time, I've run a manual override switch (only on by shorting to ground, rather than one that can also disable the fan). The latter works well, but is rendered almost redundant by the lower temperature thermoswitch. If it wasn't that most of my riding was commuting in traffic, I wouldn't bother with any mods.

Two... no, wait - THREE (3) things. Firstly, I beefed up the wires running to the horn from the BlueSeas fusebox. Then I added a Fiamm horn under each side of the front fairing (just enough room there on the '01). Lastly (or perhaps, firstly), I carefully tweaked the little screw on the top of the OEM horn to ensure it was as loud as it was capable of being. Total cost was (IIRC) about NZ$35, so five-eighths of not very much at all. Funny thing is, although I used it a fair bit when I first upgraded, to 'punish' errant motorists, I very rarely use it now. Must be getting old...

I've had an Oxford Magnetic tankbag for YEEEAAARRS, and use it most days. It's expandable, has back straps and padding to allow it to be used as a backpack if the base is zipped off, came with a rain cover and bungy cords, a clear top for putting maps under. And it's been very good. I hadn't had it long when I did a long 4-day trip including about 90km on unsealed (gravel) roads, which is probably how the tank got all those scratches... Or "character marks". "Signs of a life lived well". "Highway patina".

LOLeeeee

The last few sets of tyres, I've gone with Pilot Power front and Pilot Road rear - a great combination. No problems with cupping - just wearing out.

The best stuff apparently is what is used in the aero industry. Planes are repainted regularly (shabby paint increases drag), and have lots of alloy bodywork, so their stuff has to be good.

Yes, but it's also rather nasty, so they do their job wearing full hazmat gear.

It's not an easy job... having stripped one set of VFR wheels I know I'll never do another!

After doing my last VFR (it was a Granite Blue Metallic with white rims), I'd gladly do it again. It looked really good, and it was far easier to keep them free of chain spooge and road spooge and other random spooge than the paint was. The silver painted rims on my current VFR are OK-ish, but if they misbehave at all I'm heading off to the hardware store to buy some stripper....

The most exciting work I've done on a chain was about 11 or 12 years ago, when I didn't have a chain breakaer, but I had lots of power tools. The bench grinder was a bit awkward, then I had a brainwave (which actually turned out to be a brainfart). I got my laminate trimmer, stuck a cheap grindstone bit in it, which normally spun at a few hundred rpm, so I reckoned 24000 should do the job really quickly.

Guess what happens when a mild steel, unbalanced bit with a heavyish unbalanced stone gets spun up to insane revs?

Yes - it gets more unbalanced!

And the steel becomes ductile from the stress!!

And then the whole loop feeds on itself!!! Yay!!!!

So there I am, holding this wildly vibrating beast as tight as I can, with both hands, both knees, and wondering how I'm going to turn the sucker off before it explodes and kills me.

Luckily, after a while, I managed to bump the switch against my knee. (yes, my eyeballs and major organs were all vibrating like that...)

I saw it twice - once when it first came out (when I was just starting to ride, and motorcycles were swarming onto our shores from Japan), and again years later. Thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was about what we were experiencing.

Still haven't seen "easy Rider" though...

I have a soft plastic key fob - free gift from donating blood, and it has my blood type on it. In the cupboard on the key rack, I have a Ducati leather/metal key fob I've had for... hmmm...20 years. Bought it when I lived in Christchurch, because I intended to buy a Ducati one day. That day hasn't come yet.... And if it did, it would have to be a wet-clutch model; the rettle of the dry clutch models at the traffic lights would drive me nuts!

This is weird - I was just posting a caption to a pic I posted years ago in one of my albums. My son made me one a few years ago; I just told him what I wanted, he thought for a few seconds, said "Yeah - I can do that!" At the time he was working at an electronics store, and the next day, he came home with an IC and some other doodads, soldered it all together, and Voila! A small misspelled musical instrument, and a flashing brakelight. When the brakes were applied, it flashed the brakelight repetitively, after each flash increasing the duration (i.e., shorter off/longer on) until after (IIRC) about 10 flashes, it remained lit.

Shame they're illegal here... Oh - and then it died, after I had to remove it to pass a 6-monthly Warrant of Fitness check.

It's not clear from this article if in fitting a newly designed swingarm, they saved any unsprung weight. Although the VFR's SSSA has a cetain kewlness factor, it's not light, and enither are the hub, rear brake, etc. Anyone who's ridden a VFR back-to-back with a bike sporting a conventional swingarm will notice this straight off. (And from what I can gather, it's heavier and uglier than SSSAs from other marques).

It's something I forgot when I had my Elka overhauled and "Ohlins-ised" (it has all Ohlins internals, apart from the shock shaft). I was disappointed when I test-rode it, because I was expecting a much more compliant ride, and I didn't realise until just this week (yes, a couple of years later ) why my expectations were a bit wack.

If nothing else, even if it is lighter and stiffer, the new swingarm is at least no longer ugly. It's a shame though that Honda didn't take the opportunity to change the hub at the same time they changed the swingarm and rear wheel.

Ah.... hmmm. it's KAIKOURA and OTIRA.

Kaikoura is famous for its crayfish (rock lobsters... Rock, Rock, Rock Lobster!!), and kai koura is actually named after them; 'kai' means 'food', and 'koura' is the Maori name for crayfish.

Oh - and it's a very beautiful place, great for whale-watching, fishing, sight-seeing, riding motorcycles.....

WHAT? you left "Godzone"????

LOL. He/She is not doing a very good job of looking after his people: he's got some real ratbags in charge here, who have it in for bikers, making us pay HUGE insurance because apparently we have a propensity for crashing (or getting run over by other drivers).

NZ is still one of the greatest countries in the world. Also pretty sweet roads, pity they have to tax the crap out of us to use them!

I'm here in the US on a work visa so will be making my way home at some point.

BTW Crazy Blue - "Noo Zilund" in your profile gave me a laugh

Hey! It's unzud_vuffer; Crazy Blue's the boik.

WHAT? you left "Godzone"????

LOL. He/She is not doing a very good job of looking after his people: he's got some real ratbags in charge here, who have it in for bikers, making us pay HUGE insurance because apparently we have a propensity for crashing (or getting run over by other drivers).

Often (depending on the bike, and its aerodynamics) going lower will reduce buffeting. You first need to work out what's causing the buffeting (turbulent airflow over the windshield, perhaps? Or where it's striking you?)

The worst I've ever experienced was on a BMW GS1200, with the screen in a fairly upright position. The screen itself was causing turbulence behind itself due to a low-pressure zone behind it, which kept collapsing and reforming.

Pretty sure all of those green wires are ground. Same for the green with grey dotted lines…. it would probably just show up as green on the diagram.

Yeah they have destinations on the front of the harness I'm seeing but I don't know what that bridge connector was. It was taped all up inside the harness but it sure looked shoddy. Regardless, I still haven't found the place where it ends but it's toasted and I can't bring myself to trust this harness.

I had to spring for a harness removed from a running bike that claims to be completely unmolested and hope it plugs right in and fires. $50 I didn't want to spend but hopefully my wrap job ends up being significantly less than I planned for.

All the ground/earth wires on the VFR harness normally join together in a plastic plug on the left side of the bike, behind the frame, just under the front of the seat. It can be a problem area if the plug gets corrosion in it from moisture ingress, causing random weirdness. On my bike, I pulled the plug apart, joined all the wires together by wrapping all the wires together with copper tape and soldering it all together in a ugly, shrink-wrapped lump. Not the best aesthetics- wise, but seems to have got rid of an electrical gremlin or two...

Just make sure that whatever you do with these green wires, you have something going from them to the battery negative or frame.

When I had my VTR1000, I had a similar problem the first oil change I did. The previous owner had rounded the head of the drain bolt, and I had some anxious moments before I managed to get it out, including heating it, vice-grips, panicking, asking on forums. Can't remember what I did in the end, but I think I had to drill it and use an EzyOut, and thankfully didn't need to helicoil it. The VTR drain bolts are quite small and therefore not too robust.

I want to know if the headlights are any good.

Because the VTEC headlights are just about unbeatable, in my opinion!

It's true they illuminate the road and upcoming objects like no other and w hi-beams on even moreso.. but they are also part of the 6th gens' stator-frying suicidal tendencies.

Led technology in cage headlights has been perfected. Shouldn't be a problem and I imagine is Honda's attempt to rectify the critical failure glitch in the 6th gen's charging system. Less demand and a stator with lower output = less potential overheating.

The 5th gen I owned before my 6th gen didn't light up almost anything, so it can't be worse than pre-VTEC models.

I'd buy, but am seriously economically challenged at the moment. I reckon it's what the 6th gen should've been, at least the 2006 modified 6.5 gen version.

How curious.....in 13 years/160k miles of VFR riding my experience is the exact opposite; the 5th Gen fries the electrics yet has excellent headlights. Not quite as good as the 6th Gen, but bloody brilliant still. 6th Gen has no issues with electrics at all. I wonder if the differences are down to regional differences?

I've had no problems with the electrics (still on the original R/R as far as I know), only my second? third ? battery in 10 years, and the lights (55/60 W with adaptor rings) are very good. I've only ridden 1 sixth Gen - that was immediately before I test-rode and bought my current bike.

I've had several opportunities to buy a newer bike, but couldn't see the point; what could it do that my current (much modified, much loved) 2001 doesn't do? And I must say the latest iterations of the VFR don't do anything for me. If I was going to get another bike, it might well be a different marque (despite over 40 years exclusively on Hondas, and 20 on V4s).

I run Pilot Power front, Pilot Road2 rear, and it's working very well. I commute every day, rain or shine, and have had no 'moments', even when hammering it on the buslane that sweeps onto the motorway, which probably has diesel and crap on it.

I run PP/PR2 and the only negative I notice is the bike is less stable at low speeds, or low speed lane sharing. I think this is due to the sharper radius on the front tire profile. Good wet weather grip and turn in though. Better than the Metzlers I ran before. I think next time I will go PR2 f/r

The PP seems to be very sensitive to air pressure. I've got Ariete/Bridgeport valve stems, and the front one has always had a slow leak. I can tell straight away if the pressure's dropped below 36PSI, as the steering becomes sluggish at speed, and wanders at slow speed, especially following longitudinal cracks in the road surface. I think it's a combination of the front-heaviness of the VFR (especially with the jacked-up Elka/Ohlins at the rear, and the dropped Ohlins/Showa/Racetech forks), and the PR tread pattern.

I've got only one thing to add: don't just wash your rear wheel; get a rag with kerosene or WD40 on it and wipe off any chain spooge first. I found out that using spray-on / rinse- off wheel cleaners was causing the emulsion to run onto the tyre and soak into the surface of it. It does wear off after a bit of riding, but if that riding happens to include damp or wet roads early on, then your ride may be a lot more exciting than you expected.

My bike is lucky if it gets washed once a year, but I do wipe off some of the worst road grime occasionally, and give the paintwork a bit of a wipe over with Plexus or whatever is handy, like Lemon Pledge.