Stray

I agree. Heated vest helps fingertips. Great bit of biking gear but I keep forgetting to unplug before walking away...

Yup, air filter will go in during service - before any dyno runs. Same with end can. No fuel management I’m afraid. Jeff is too busy to mess with that sort of fine tuning. Best we can expect is a simple dyno run before and another simple dyno run after fitting the new header. No dyno tuning - just dyno measurement. Frankly we are lucky to get this much from a very obliging and generous supplier. Stray

Had this exact issue in my “other” bike - dead battery. Fired right up after a charge. As as it gets colder a marginal battery will start showing its weakness this time of year. Either charge or replace.

Amazing next-level work Seb, as always!

Welcome aboard mate! Did insurance cover your totaled CBR500R? I’ve heard great things about these bikes. Stray

Update: Here’s Jeff’s bike on its way to a race engineer’s workshop (British Talent Cup) for an oil and filter change before the dyno. Jeff is also going to drop a Lextek air filter into the mix. Really excited about this now! Stray

Damn man, you must be leaning pretty hard to scrape a side stand - big respect! I don’t have the guts to lean like that... Stray

One more thing: if you want to be put down on the initial list of 25 interested parties please supply a full name and address (for shipping), and ideally a phone number and email so Jeff can get in touch if needed.

Huge respect to Jeff who has gone as far as buying a VFR just to dyno test the Lextek for us. Worth noting he is a lifelong Kawasaki fan so he really has made s leap! Does anyone know what power/torque increases are with other header systems (same muffler)? I’m thinking of Sandy Bike Spares/Black Widdow; Delkevic, Motad and Two Brothers. Also, does anyone have a comparison between 5th gen catless and catted headers? Is there a difference in power/torque? If memory serves the TBR needs a retune as primaries are quite a bit larger. Bike will run poorly without some fuel adjustments. Am I talking cr@p here? Please chime in so we can put together a benchmark against which to compare the Lextek. Dyno results should be with us in us in a matter of DAYS - how cool is that! Once again, I am absolutely stunned by how accommodating Jeff has been with us: no other supplier has ever been as generous or as quick to act! PM me for prices if interested. Best, Stray

SURPRISE NEW DEVELOPMENT ON LEXTEK HEADER TEST: Jeff has gone and bought himself a 2000 5th gen!!!! Here is Bike he bought: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/277093886239865/ This means dyno testing will happen imminently - hurray! Jeff was also gracious enough to answer our questions in detail and with photos. System weight is 5.7kg with link pipe (no muffler). Internal weld quality is great - see those nice fillets... Downpipes internal diameter starts at 32mm and goes up to 38mm. Exit tube is 50.8mm - same as standard I believe? He is happy to post overseas: box size is 58cm x 32cm x 15cm for calculating costs. He is happy to ship batches in one go to save costs but you will have to add another 15cm (height) for every extra system. So three systems would measure 58 x 32 x 45cm (3 times 15cm). Box weighs 5.7kg as stated above. Jeff will do a generous discount on first 25 orders. Thereafter the same deal in batches of 5. Please PM for price (Jeff doesn’t want to publish it here). If anyone wants a full system (with brackets, gaskets and muffler) please look on the Lextek website and let Jeff know what you’d like - he will apply this same discount to the entire system. He prefers payment by BACS (direct bank transfer) as margins will be very small on this offer and he doesn’t want to incur PayPal/CC fees. Jeff will also ask Lextek to make adaptations for 8th gen front tubes and (if necessary) 6th gen rear tubes once his initial stockholding is exhausted and they need to produce more. Currently there are 45 systems in stock. Jeff has very graciously agreed to dyno his new bike with both the OE system and Lextek header. He will use a Lextek muffler on both runs. Results should be in by end of next week. Big apology to BiKenG who will miss out on a free header. Sorry it turned out this way for you, mate. On the other hand it means we have a fellow VFR800 owner, who is an excellent exhaust builder, setting up a dyno test and cheap group-buy deal for us. He bought a bike just to service our needs - that’s pretty hard to beat, I think you’ll agree! Jeff may join our forum shortly as Kawaman (long time Kawasaki fan) and answer questions directly himself. Mods, please fast track his application if you see it! Best, Stray

BiKenG, you’re first in line mate but PLEASE GET A CATLESS HEADER! We need to know how the Lextek stacks up against the best OEM setup with wider pipes and free flow. Comparisons to a catted header are not really helpful for a performance system. Do you have a fuel tuner (Power Commander or Rapid Bike sort of thing)? If not can you get your hands on one just for the test? Can someone borrow BiKenG a catless header to fit? And a fuel tuner too maybe? As for trailering your bike up north, it would be easier if Jeff ships you the header and you test your bike at a local dyno. Power runs are only about £20 - a fraction of the fuel and time it would cost you to drag the bike halfway across the country. What do you think? Sent you PM with my number so we can get this sorted. As for crossover pipes on later VFRs, I can only think of one reason - to give them more length (oooh!). Perhaps Honda thought longer front pipes were optimal? That’s a very good idea but I don’t have an account! Could BiKenG (or someone else) do it and link to this thread? Warn them only to read the last couple of pages though or they’ll de-friend you... If we combine the intetested parties from FB, VFRW, Bikersoracle (never been on that one) and VFRD we should drum up rather a lot of buyers. Everything hangs on how well the Lextek performs on test which is why it is so critical to get the right bike with correct header and fuel tuner. Every VFR 5-8th gen owner worldwide will be interested in the outcome - has to be done right for everyone’s sake. I’ll discuss international shipping with Jeff tomorrow. Should be a good way to do this. Might ask Lextek to ship direct to a nominated member in each country or something. Will update when I know more. Best, Stray

After lots of life happening I finally got a chance to have another go at removing the rear hub...with a little help from my scaffolder friend! Did somebody say BREAKER bar? Note the wooden shovel stuffed through the front wheel spokes. Well, that rear nut was so seized my entire weight on the scaffold tube wouldn’t shift it! Half inch socket handle was bending like a banana - thought it was going to snap. So out comes Mr Mapp Gas Torch to play with Mr Scaffold Tube and this time they got it loose between them. Soaking with penetrating oil overnight might also have helped. Got the sprocket and cush drive off easy enough but the rear calliper took a bit of figuring out. Stripped it almost all off but ran out of time and couldn’t tackle the giant circlip to get the last bit done. Very frustrating when there are time limits on wrenching. Had to bolt it all back together loosely to put bike away and go to work. That means taking it all apart AGAIN next week when I get another 1.5 hours to wrench. At this rate my children will inherit this unfinished project in 20 years time...

LEXTEK UPDATE Hello chaps, Since I posted the Lextek link Jeff at Simmi Performance has had rather a lot of interest - hurray for forum power! I’ve been in contact with Jeff from the start and spoke to him about setting up a group-buy to fill the void of the Tyga saga. We've been talking about the concerns/questions on here and Jeff has been really accommodating. So much so, he has agreed the following: 1. A 15% discount for forum members who use my name (Spiros) in the group buy; 2. A 20% discount if we reach 25 orders for members who use my name (Spiros) 3. He has agreed to get the header dyno tested! He wants one of our members (someone in Barnard Castle where he’s based) to bring their 5th gen (non-cat standard ORM header, ideally) for before-and-after runs to compare!! The member needs to get their stock system dyno-tested, buy a header from him (he will post it to you), member fits the header and shows up for a second dyno run. At this point Jeff will REFUND THE PRICE OF THE HEADER!!! Can’t really argue with that, eh? Jeff has a friend with a private Dyno (some race outfit) who does his tuning for him and the runs will be free Wish I could take the offer but I’m too far and bike isn’t roadworthy. He who hesitates loses a free header. If you're close to Barnard Castle, have a standard 5th Gen non-cat header and fancy a FREE Lextek stainless system then please PM me for details. Only one offer available I’m afraid - first suitable pilot to apply gets the gig. Those living in the north of England may have come across Jeff before. He used to own and manufacture Simmi Performance exhausts (mostly cans, baffles and link pipes - not to be confused with SP Engineering) until he sold it. He now works for the new owner who is the second-largest Lextek distributor in the world. Back in the day Jeff was famous for his excellent craftsmanship (he’s been compared to Yoshimura quality in many periodicals and online if you search) and his outstanding customer service. Having spoken to him several times I can personally vouch for the second. Lextek are just finishing up their inhouse dyno system for testing exhausts going forward, but it won’t be ready until early next year. Jeff has relayed our interest in this header to them. He has also received some disobliging comments from people who doubt this header will perform - Lextek have taken this quite seriously and want the dyno test run ASAP to prove their product works. Hence the offer on here. Apparently one of their top guys commutes to work on a 5th gen... In addition to the the above I am compiling a list of questions to send Jeff tomorrow. Please chime in with anything I may have omitted: a. How much does the header weigh b. Pictures of the inside of the tubes to show quality of welds and cutting c. What is the internal diameter of primaries/secondaries on downpipes d. Will rear down pipes interfere with cam chain tensioner on 6th gen? Jeff says we can do some measuring and if the current setup touches the CCT, Lextek have agreed to modify the rear tubes (all models will then come with 6th gen rear tubes as these also fit 5th gen, no? Please correct me if this is wrong?). He said they would also look at providing modified front tubes for 8th gen. Not sure these would fit 5th/6th gen bikes though so please educate me e. Is rear exit OEM size so we can run existing link pipe/can f. What is cost of shipping to US/Europe/Australasia etc Please post any missing questions so I can send them all in one go. Most important thing is to find that ideal 5th gen de-cat bike in Barnard Castle and a pilot willing to fit a Lextek system for the dyno test. In my opinion a bike with Power Commander/Rapid Bike tuning module would be ideal as we can get the most out of both setups this way. Please let let me know your thoughts ASAP so we can get this show (dyno) rolling! Link to Lextek header here again if you missed it last time: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F382587019138 Once the ball gets rolling I will run a poll of interested members on here so we can achieve the full discount. Please express your interest informally to give an indication of numbers. Best, Stray

Interesting! But is that down to merge design or tube diameter/cat? Or even the different front down pipes for front mounted rad? HighsideNZ, did your 5th gen lose top end and gain torque with the rc45 headers? Your answer to this question should tell us a lot. The Delkevic system for 5th, 6th and 8th gen is exactly the same except for different front downpipes on the 8th (for front mounted rad). If 8th gen guys find the Delkevic system gives them more top end and less lower end, then we have our answer! If not, then the power delivery differences must be down to other factors (pipe diameter, cat, sprocket gearing, airbox etc). Of course, I could be talking out of my behind. It’s been known to happen...

Hello All, I’ve been naughty and changed the sprocket gearing in my 5th gen so speedo needs recalibration. If anyone has one of these Speedo Healer things kicking around I’ll take it off your hands for fair money. Looking to save on the frankly ridiculous cost of a new one. I belive 5th and 6th gen harnesses are interchangeable according to Speedo Healer website. Based in the UK but happy to import if shipping is cheap. Many thanks, Stray