VFR78

The braided lines. Before anyone says “why that colour”, it was a moment of madness, that I regretted as soon as they landed at the front door. 

On 5/13/2023 at 3:36 AM, Skids said:

Definitely does work.

“Pressure causes any air bubbles to reduce in size, making it easier for them to rise up through the brake lines. Have never done this myself but am told it does work.”

The issue with the Gen 8 is that there are a couple of high points in the braking circuit, so air in the abs unit or in the line joining the left and right calipers does not have anywhere to rise to. Unlike say racing/twin line connections directly to the master cylinder from the calipers.

I think the real solution might be bleed, bleed and then bleed again!

4 hours ago, Skids said:

Definitely does work.

I’ll give it another try, after a few more kms, to let everything settle down.

On 3/30/2023 at 5:37 AM, Skids said:

You'll be fine. I managed my 6th Gen and recently my 5th Gen without too many issues and I am a skill-less f*ck-knuckle!

 

As long as the kit is good quality you shouldn't have any issues.

Front done, rear yet to be attempted, given I need to take the back of the bike apart, to get to three separate lines.

Vacuum bled the lines and result was a bit spongy. Re-bled using the tried and tested old method, still not ideal, but marginally better than the OEM lines. 
 

There are a myriad of connections in the lines, so there are plenty of places for air to get trapped.

When I put braided lines on my old non ABS Hornet, the lever was rock hard, with instantaneous braking. Maybe the ABS unit has some softening effect. 
 

I tried the rubberband/zip tie trick on the lever, for a day, without any success. I can’t understand how that would really work, so wasn’t expecting much.

The bike is a G8, like the forum.

That rivet link looks like it might be a bit tight.

1 hour ago, Skids said:

You'll be fine. I managed my 6th Gen and recently my 5th Gen without too many issues and I am a skill-less f*ck-knuckle!

 

As long as the kit is good quality you shouldn't have any issues.

Thanks Skids, I hope “You’ll be fine” isn’t the “kiss of death”. As a mechanic, I make a great surveyor!

45 minutes ago, ShipFixer said:

Will say - stainless braided lines plus serviced calipers are worth all the effort though!

Thanks for all your help ShipFixer. I had read about all of your pain last year and are praying that it won’t be the same for me. My bike is a Gen 8, so hopefully the flare nuts will be less inclined to be stuck. I won’t plan any rides, once I start, just in case I never finish.

I have just purchased (received in 8 days Naples/Sydney) a full set of Fren Tubo Type 2 braided brake lines and front Brembo pads, for the Viffer. After 8 plus years, and over 90,000 kms, I figured a refresh of the old lines could not hurt. The cost was about 20% cheaper than buying OEM in OZ.

The brake lines include replacements for the rubber lines to the rear caliper and in the ABS circuit, so the whole replacement process going to be a bit of a faff.

Any advice regarding possible “bear” traps would be most appreciated. My biggest concern is with the ABS modulator circuit and whether it will end up with air in it and get out of sorts or should a simple bleed fix that.

Just about to launch into the same work myself, but seriously considering getting a new bearing carrier complete and refurbishing the old one for future servicing. Rear end is still good, but after rebuilding the front, I figured why not do it all. A two sided swing arm sure has its benefits.

50 minutes ago, Fritzer said:

Just curious what kind of clutch friction plate life people are getting on their 5^th gen VFRs.  Clutch on my machine was replaced 30,000 ago.  I am getting ready for a 3,500 mile trip this summer from Oregon thru N Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington.  Should I replace my clutch before I leave?

My 8G has 88,000km on it and the clutch is still feeling fine.

53 minutes ago, Ziffer said:

I don't know. I think the last round was around $1700.

That is about $2500 AUD, about half the value of my bike as it is, not including shipping to Oz. It would be great to have one, but it’s a bit much for this retiree.

Any idea of the cost yet?

Hi VFR78,

Thank you for your donation of 25.00 USD. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation.

Thanks VFRDiscussion

On 8/15/2022 at 12:50 AM, RC79NC001 said:

Getting closer to the 100k goal....

What significant preventative maintenance have you done to get to there?

Thanks Ducnut. I had noticed the dodgy merge, but getting the VFRD headers all the way to OZ, at an unknown cost and timeframe, had me looking at the Delkevic. 
 

The full Delkevic system, muffler included, is only about $550 USD on “Fleabay” in Oz. I guess that all the Delkevic does is remove the cat, without considering a tuned layout.

Maybe best just to stick to OEM with Arrow slip on. Its lasted 74,000km,so far.

Are they better than the Delkevic? What is the cost? How much extra tuning is needed to make them work well? Might be interested!

On 7/3/2022 at 12:47 PM, VFR78 said:

Front end refresh at 73,500km. New tapered roller headset and fork seals etc. Nothing wrong just felt it was time. 9,000km ride coming up in October.

Finished and no tankslapping at 110kph.

Front end refresh at 73,500km. New tapered roller headset and fork seals etc. Nothing wrong just felt it was time. 9,000km ride coming up in October.

Quite strange that the bike didn’t like distilled water as a coolant. It should.

4 hours ago, Grum said:

Thanks Cogs. That's a great story and fantastic having the mechanic backup your findings, it also reinforces you were most certainly doing things right, and I would never doubt your experience and expertise.

I stand corrected, yours is now the second bike I've heard of where all vtec valves were tight!

I’ve had mine checked twice and no adjustment has been required. I wonder if the bikes with tight valve clearances were put together like that.

Hi VFR78,

Thank you for your donation of 25.00 USD. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation.

Thanks VFRDiscussion

3 minutes ago, RC79NC001 said:

88888 Mi Today....

What, if any, significant maintenance have you done over those miles? Mine is at 65,000 km and I was wondering what preemptive maintenance I should consider, to avoid moving to a new bike.

I thought VFR stood for Very F$&ing Red!

WTF

Thanks Grum.

There are four bearings in the back, so it’s not an easy job!