RossR

Buzzner, that's exactly what I thinking yesterday, when I looked at how some have modified the 929 shock which is a different length from the OEM VFR shock. They simply put a spacer at the top. I don't know enough about motorcycle geometry to assess whether these triangular brackets lift it in a differently than the washers. I'm still learning. The link that I provided earlier to the ebay vendor in the UK is precisely for a spacer to be fitted to the top of the shock. He only charges about GBP 5.00 per spacer. I corresponded with him yesterday. He is a VFR enthusiast & an auto mechanic. He cautioned about raising too much at the back because then you get better cornering, but at the price of more instability on the straight which could lead to a tank slapper. He said that he thought that a 4mm spacer would raise the bike by about 13mm, which he felt is all that you need on the street. He also sells a 6mm spacer but advised against me buying it. "Brown81", take note if you are reading this as you wanted to go for 25mm. The other vendors offer options from 20mm rise to 35mm rise so I still haven't figured it out.

I did find the same company after I started this thread. They are very much cheaper (probably clearing out stock) and their website shows that they ship worldwide. I just don't know which height to order since they have multiple options. There is also another solution from the UK which is even cheaper and easier to install, but I don't think that he ships outside the EU.: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-VFR800F1i-and-VTEC-4mm-Rear-Shock-Ride-Height-Spacer/121341826210?hash=item1c408954a2:g:nZ4AAOSwQz1bKlpF:rk:6:pf:0 The person at at VFRworld who gave me this link said that a 6mm shim gives about 25mm rise at the rear wheel, so I guess a 4mm would give about a 17mm rise.

I noticed that Lust Racing and Hyperpro sell a jack up kit to raise the bike at the rear suspension. Does anyone have experience with this? Does it really improve the handling of the bike? The options range from 20mm rise in increments of 5mm to 35mm. I did a search for "jack up kit" on the forums, but nothing came up. I hope that it's OK to post links so that readers know what I am talking about. Any feedback and advice would be appreciated from someone who has actual experience with raising the bike . I am 6' 1" so getting on and off a higher bike is not an issue, but I weigh only about 170lbs, so I was wondering if raising the bike would increase the weight on the front wheel, and cause the back to have much less traction. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-VFR8...h=item3628f2cbbf:g:QLgAAOSw-xVaSUWW:rk:1:pf:0 https://www.moorespeedracing.co.uk/honda-jack-up-kits/vfr800f-98-01-hyperpro-jack-up-kit.html

Hey JZH, I found the information on the Ohlin site. The stroke travel on the Ohlins is 57mm. I am no expert but I don't think that a 1mm difference will matter. https://www.ohlins.com/product-item/56335/ Ross

Quote from DaHose post #1: " The difference in overall shock lengths was addressed by flipping over the original ZX10R mounting nut, and running it all the way down snug." In the second paragraph he did state that the Kawasaki shock is 20mm shorter than the VFR shock. Regarding stroke length, I will post if I find out what the Kawasaki's is. BTW, at Revzilla the Ohlins for the 2016 Kawasaki ZX10R is the same part for 2017/2018 so presumably the stroke length is the same for all three years.

Found this recent thread on vfrworld.com, and thought that it might benefit 5th Gen owners looking for a budget upgrade to their rear suspension. https://vfrworld.com/threads/discovered-a-great-shock-upgrade-for-5th-gen.54848/

I also only took a quick look as I don't know much about EFI mods, but what is really interesting is that in addition to not needing a computer MAP, thay say that you can rent a diagnostic tool from them for $20 that allows you to troubleshoot and fine tune. They say that that you do not need a dyno. http://www.techlusion.com/dobeck-SAFR-tool.asp I just noticed that they have a youtube channel and that may be a good starting point. https://www.youtube.com/user/TuningHQ/playlists Ahh! I just found some Q&A on their site where they compare Power Commander and the other competition to their product. http://www.techlusion.com/EFI-controllers.asp http://www.techlusion.com/dobeck-FAQ.asp?#DPvsPOWERCOMMANDER At this point it's all "Greek" to me until I do some study. Do these EFI modification modules really make any difference if you have a standard exhaust system? Ross

Hi, Has anyone ever used this EFI controller on a 5th Gen? It costs a lot less than Power Commander, and the website claims that it is very simple to set up. Dobeck Performance are in Montana, and appear to be legit. I personally have no experience with EFI mods, but it sounds interesting. No computer MAP required. http://www.techlusion.com/dobeck-TFI-controller.asp VFR800 specific (fits a few other Honda models as well) http://www.tficontrollers.com/Cruiser/viewproduct.asp?pid=21

Ken, I don't think that they sell batteries. Powerlet is simply a made up name for a DIN ISO 4165 Plug, (sometimes called a Hella or Bosch plug) which I am told is quite common in certain heavy farm machinery and RV's and boats as it is very water resistant. Powerlet seems to have built their business on selling this connector under the Powerlet name, and they sell a huge range of cables and connectors that connect to the Powerlet connector for accessorizing. They also used to sell heated clothing which they is now on closeout. Hence the page that I linked to, which is on Calculating Excess Capacity when using a lot of accessories. I was suspicious about the validity of their statement on the fuel pump, but knowing little to nothing about electrics I thought that comments from the Forum would be interesting. I think, at this point we can safely say that it is inaccurate unless proven otherwise by an auto/motorcycle electrician. I personally plan to open, check and clean every connector on my wiring harness just to be on the safe side. Based on all the R/R failure posts on this forum grounding and poor connections seem like the first place to start for prevention. Regarding Ricks' R/R, yes, I did surmise from posters experiences that it is definitely not as reliable as the Shindengen MOSFET FH020AA R/R.

Terry, I think that you hit the nail on the head. Heat, low quality wiring and ground connections and a poor quality R/R all in combination or on their own lead to failure. I have a 1996 Mazda MX-6 V-6which regularly burns out the ignition module that is contained in the distributor. (about $1000 for a new Mazda distributor as Mazda will not sell you the ignition module on it's own, and has made it really difficult to remove the module from the distributor). Most MX-6 enthusiasts attribute this failure to excessive heat in the engine compartment burning out the module. It would be nice if companies like Powerlet actually provided us with evidence when they make such bold statements. Just another example of the need to be cautious about what one reads when there is no solid evidence to back up the statement.

I am an absolute neophyte when it comes to these issues so I can't make any useful comment. Powerlet's rationale is that: " A dirty fuel filter can cause the fuel pump to use 120 watts, 60 more than normal. A dirty fuel filter is a common cause for a voltage regulator to fail on a fuel-injected bike." As they do make very high quality accessory wiring products I presume that they know what they talking about, and found it interesting that they would say this as I have never seen it mentioned before. Also, I very rarely hear of fuel filters needing to be changed nowadays on bikes and cars, so presumably our gasoline is pretty clean, and only a contaminated fuel tank would clog a filter. Duc2V4, I think that you are absolutely right about it being a combination of events, and I would cautiously add that overheating of the R/R may also be a factor on bikes with side radiators and the R/R placed behind a radiator. The intriguing thing is that not every R/R burns out early in the life of the bike. My bike (99) which I just bought last Fall has about 67,000 kilometres on it and has had no R/R problems to the best of my knowledge. It has absolutely no accessories on it. It would be interesting to know how many of the bikes with R/R's that have failed were heavily accessorized, especially with Heating apparel. Also, I have read about cases of R/R failure even after upgrading to Ricks R/R and an upgraded wire harness, so what caused the failure here. I think that the appropriate Shingden R/R is what most people end up being happy with. Perhaps Tightwad could give us his opinion on this?

" A dirty fuel filter is a common cause for a voltage regulator to fail on a fuel-injected bike. " I found this quoted on the Powerlet website and thought that it would be interesting to hear people's opinions on it given that the R/R is the the main area of sudden failure on the otherwise indestructible VFR's. Scroll down to Table 4 " What if I don't have enough power?" #3 http://www.powerlet.com/learningCenter/excessCapacity

Aha Dutchy! I told yer that high Top case was dodgy. I'm glad the precious cargo survived, 'cause you probably needed it after the event. Hats off to you for travelling in style! Now, if only someone one could design a comfortable4 piece of gear to protect your arms as well as the bottles were protected! I am just reading your Baltic Trip thread, and it's way more interesting than "refinishing cases". You were having such fun. What a shame that it got cut short, but you sure have such a great attitude. I should have read your posting and Terry's posting more carefully. DUH! Full frontal 90 degree crash in both cases. Of course sliders would have made no difference whatsoever with regard to saving the frame. The main thing is that both of you survived to ride another day. North of 40 where I live (Alberta) we have lots of four legged vermin especially at dusk and dawn when the sun is low, and in your eyes, and too many 4-wheeled vermin in the city. Left turning cagers are the #1 cause of serious motorcycle accidents in Calgary according to the police. Short riding season, so cagers don't look for or see motorcycles, and everybody is in a hurry to get nowhere. Thanks to all the posters for the advice. I shall get back on track in my next post as my purpose in starting this thread was partly to see what others had done with their damaged cases, but also to share what I have gleaned from Internet searching as it's not an uncommon problem. SFDOWNHILL, my cases are identical to yours. Givi E-41N Keyless, and can you believe it, Givi Canada does not have the chrome surrounding the Givi logo, even though they were still selling the cases last year! They say that they have discontinued the cases, and will not be carrying spares for them. Fortunately, it's only a decorative part. As a starting point, many people assume that their cases are ABS just because that's what most fairings are made of. Givi cases are not ABS. They are polypropylene (PPE) which is one of the more difficult plastics to paint, but not impossible because most car bumpers are PPE so the appropriate materials are available. Always look for the plastic identification on the inside of the case before starting a refinishing project. SWEEPER, thanks for the tip on the heat gun. I just might try that before I sand and fill them. I shall post Before and After pictures when I eventually refinish the cases.

Max, Dutchy, Do you think that front frame sliders like R & G ones would have helped to prevent the frame from breaking, or made it worse. There you go. I hijacked my own thread!

Friendly thread hijacks are always good! The Virtual camaraderie is what it's all about.