tbzep

There's no substitute for cubic inches/cc's. 😎

With so many wanting more power from our VFR's, this guy goes and adds a crapload of extra weight. I'd want nothing less than a Busa or ZX-14 motor shoving something like this around!

I did quite a bit of camping when I was in college on various geology field trips. I had a pup tent. It rained on the inside (condensation only, no leaks). All the single layer tents had the issue regardless of size, but the bigger ones weren't as bad. The double layered tents were better, but they were more bulky and there were still other issues/complaints that I can't recall off the top of my head. My favorite professor of all time, brought a sleeping bag and a tarp. He laid the tarp down, put the sleeping bag on it, got in and rolled up. He was dry as a bone every morning, even if it rained. I finished that first field trip by just leaving the tent flat and rolling up in it. From that point on, I never packed a tent ever again...tarp only! BTW, he wasn't your typical college professor. He had a full career as an oil industry geologist. He retired from that and taught geology for fun. Awesome guy!

I wonder if it had some out of spec (soft) valve seats. Weird that it stopped at 130k miles.

VFR's afik, are all shim-under-bucket. Being a little loose is better than tight, but more noisy. As valves slam into seats year after year, they seat deeper and the clearance gets tighter. The lash could eventually get tight enough that it prevents the valve from sealing and you end up with a burned valve. I don't think I've ever seen a VFR engine that burned a valve. We have Baileyrock's zillion mile engine and now 3rdgenred's that haven't been checked and are probably tight, but they keep going and going and going.

Have a few beers and you will quit thinking about them. 😉

With Thrush glasspacks? 😁

Glad you could save her. That's the worst part of my job, knowing someone has just lost everything.

Duchy, I don't think you can do a pair valve mod that way!

Has it been retired from service, or are the "sails" stowed until needed? I've read that a few are still in service, but many are now museums.

They may be counting the same revolutions, but the output is different due to the software involved. Ok, I get it now. The factory electronics take a single signal from the sprocket and calculate two different quantities: speed and mileage. The mileage is exact but the displayed speed is (say) 5% too high, presumably as a favor to the consumer to reduce speeding tickets (or whatever). So without modifying the electronics you can only correct one or the other, not both. Yes. These aftermarket trinkets modify the signal that goes to both the speedo and the odometer.

I didn't say that. I said you can make one accurate, but not both. The odomoter is inherently accurate on the VFR if you are running stock gearing. If you fix the speedo, your odo will become inaccurate. If you change sprockets, both speed and distance will be off. You can fix one or the other, but not both.

Manufactures get the odometers pretty much spot on all the time but vary widely on speedometers. In fact, I've owned three 6th gen bikes (2004, 2007, 2008) and all three were off by a different percentage with OEM sprockets, but all have had accurate odometers. The aftermarket sprocket made the speedometer and odometer innacurate at the same time. The SpeedoDRD and Speedo Healer both will allow you to be accurate with one or the other, but not both. In other words, with your OEM sprockets, you can keep an accurate odometer with your 10% speed error, or you can fix your speed error and end up with about 10% lower reading on mileage.

Why? They are $70 shipped from Wicked Racing via eBay and the website.

I'm sure a few members are using them. It's been around a few years. I just thought it was time to give it a proper review on its own thread while the install was fresh on my mind. If you do a full search, it has only been mentioned 5 or 6 times and those posts have almost no detailed info in them. I've got one on my 5th gen, located under the seat by the left side of the battery. Works great... set it and forget it years ago. Speedometer is dead on based on GPS and Doppler radar confirmation. I thought I had written a short write-up on it back then but it may have just been another comment in a thread... kinda like this one You commented on a thread started by Burns asking about the unit. In fact, that post was pivotal in my decision to buy one. If you did a thread on it, it may have been trashed when the system went down a few years ago. I know I lost several hundred posts.

I'm sure a few members are using them. It's been around a few years. I just thought it was time to give it a proper review on its own thread while the install was fresh on my mind. If you do a full search, it has only been mentioned 5 or 6 times and those posts have almost no detailed info in them.

My recently acquired 2007 Anniversary bike came with a 45 tooth rear sprocket. In addition to the regular speedo error, this increased it even more. With my other VFR's (2004 and 2008), I've always just done the math in my head. However, I hate math and the sprocket puts more miles on the odo that I'm actually running. For the first time since Al Gore invented the internet, I decided to put on a speedometer correction device. The unit that everybody's heard of is Healtech's Speedo Healer. However, there are other options. I chose 12oclockLabs SpeedoDRD for three reasons. 1. It's cheaper 2. It costs less 3. I didn't pay as much The unit doesn't look like much at first glance, however, it is completely sealed and does its job well. Programming is simple. Installation is stupid simple. I purchased my SpeedoDRD from WickedRacing via eBay for $70 shipped. The best price I could find on the Speedo Healer was $110. Since there hasn't been much written about the SpeedoDRD, I thought I'd give it a try and review it. Installation: Pull off your left side fairing. Optional: Remove the coolant overflow bottle. Trace the speedo sensor cable back to the connectors. The speedo sensor is the TDK unit sitting right beside the clutch slave. The connectors on 2007 and up 6th gens are at the lower front of the engine, tucked in a large plastic cover. The connectors on 2002-2006 are tucked behind the frame above the TDK speedo sensor, IIRC. Pull the connectors apart and snap them into the SpeedoDRD. Run the SpeedoDRD somewhere that you can access it. Put everything back together. This took me less than 10 minutes, including hunting down a screw that bounced away and ended up under the other VFR's cover. Location: The only negative I can give on this little unit is the length of the cable. For the 2007 and up models, it isn't long enough to leave the unit under the seat, which would be the obvious location to access without having to remove the fairing every time. For the 2002-2006 models, the cable should be plenty long to place it under the seat. This negative for my 2007 bike actually made me decide on a location that I can access without even removing the seat. I ran it up to the fairing bracket that sits right below the VIN plate on the frame. The unit just sits behind there minding its own business, protected by the fairing. If I want to access it to look at the saved max speed or to reprogram it, I just reach in and flip it out. The unit is sealed from the weather by heavy clear plastic so it should do fine there. Programming: Verify how far off your speedo is. I used a nice phone app called Ulysse Speedometer. Turn the key on. Hold down the button and watch the LEDs flash as indicated by the instructions. Let go of the button. Rinse and repeat a couple more times as indicated by instructions (written and video on website). I needed negative 9.5% programmed into mine to cover the OEM error and the larger rear sprocket together.

Says the man who rides a 4th Gen in 2015. Either it was never much of a fortune or you are one heavy drinker. Or a hell of a womanizer. Just kiddin'. Still a great bike IMO. Moving up to a 5th, 6th, or 8th gen gains weight, but not HP. Might as well spend the fortune on wine and women!

I 'm wondering the same thing. I 'm happy with the stock gearing, but I plan to change to 16/44 at some point in the future. I don't want to see my bike's MPG drop in the straights and I only want it to accelerate with slightly less effort and to be a bit easier to ride in the city. As it is right now, I can tell that my VFR doesn't like too low speed. I've also heard that MPG might even improve with 16/44, probably because stock gearing is somewhat tall and the engine doesn't have to work so hard to accelerate the bike. I've got a stock 2008 and a 2007 that I bought with 2 teeth up on the rear. I can't say anything about the mileage because the sprocket throws off the odometer and I haven't done any riding with GPS yet. However, I doubt I'll get better fuel economy because it bumps up the rpms into v-tec territory a lot more often and makes me want to twist the crap out of the throttle even more!

Does that middle bike have a V-4? Seat looks a little uncomfortable but I bet you can get some serious lean angle on it.

Your take off from a stop would be tougher but top speed would increase. See if thi helps at all...http://www.gearingcommander.com Top speed would theoretically increase. In reality it wouldn't because the VF500F was never able to redline in top gear on level ground, even with the stock sprocket. With that in mind, you'd be hurting performance in every gear and RPM. That's just going by my experience 25 years ago. My college roommate owned a 1984 model and I owned a 1986 model. You might get a little better fuel mileage if the RPM drop isn't enough to lug the engine at cruising speed.

It's beautiful. I could never keep it clean, though. Wet it down and ride it down a dusty backroad, then take some pics. I want to see what it would look like if I owned it!

I can't even afford to get over to the east side of the state for a TMac, much less overseas! Appreciate the offer, though. I'll just live vicariously through your VF500F2 posts.

I'm so jealous. My first bike was an 86 VF500F. I proposed on that bike 27 years ago. The wifey has even told me if I could find a decent one I should buy it. Every single one I've looked at close enough for me to think about buying has been in terrible shape. You've gotten your hands on two sweet ones in just a few months time and you get the full fairing to boot!

Oops, we've been quoting the image every time.