comradeQuestion

Did you un-stake the nut first? I loosened a factory tight axle nut on a vstrom 650 recently and nearly had to stand on the breaker bar to crack it loose. Its only supposed to be 75 ft lbs, yet the VFR's is 150 ft lbs!

Keys have been sold. Hmm.. probably just an aftermarket key. The only other key I've seen is the one used on the 6th gen which is also used on a ton of other Honda models: https://www.partzilla.com/product/honda/35121-MAS-G01 That's the key I got for the 6th gen lockset that I installed.

There are two types of keys, type 1 and type 2, which I believe are just mirror images of each other. Both my '98s had type 1 keys, so maybe the 2000 and 2001's had type 2 keys? I'm not sure, never seen any other 5th gen key before. Partzilla has a picture of each which may explain it to you: https://www.partzilla.com/product/honda/35121-KW3-771 https://www.partzilla.com/product/honda/35122-KW3-771

If anyone is interested I have two 35121-KW3-771 (type 1) keys that I can now offload. I was going to get them cut for my project 5th gen, but decided to replace all the locks with a 6th gen lock set. My previous bike I just bought the correct key online and brought it to a reputable locksmith. They copied it for only a couple dollars, and it worked just as well as the non-oem key that came with that bike.

Looks like everything else is the same, so if anything they likely just changed the valving or spring rate slightly. If the eye-to-eye length changed, they likely would have changed the linkage components too, since that would affect ride height. Honda changes the part number for even the smallest change, like having an otherwise identical fastener be nickel plated vs black oxide coated.

Ugh, I was mistaken. Yes, the water pumps appear to have the same hose connectors on them. Its the thermostat case that has the extra nipple for the fast idle wax unit. Honda changed the part number for the water pump cover gasket between the 5th and 6th gen, but the o-ring that seals the pump body to the engine case is the same part.

The newer water pumps (2000 and newer) have an extra nipple added for the fast idle wax unit. I've read on here that all the years of 800's will fit each other other than the fast idle unit hose connector.

Its funny you mention that because I'm considering selling the bike at this time, and wanted to strip it of all the aftermarket parts that are on it and sell them separately.

My bike has aftermarket clutch and brake lines which are noticeably longer than stock. They're actually a little too long, but its not a big deal. The fast idle cable is stock since it had obviously never been removed from the throttle body when I pulled the bike apart. The problem isn't the lines, its the handlebars, levers, or master cylinders hitting the fairing (or tank). I'm going through this right now with my project bike that has cbr600f4i forks and bars on it. They aren't angled correctly and don't have the same rise, so they either hit the tank or levers start hitting the fairing.

The Lisle compression tester works, though you need to buy the adapter. https://www.lislecorp.com/specialty-tools/compression-tester I got mine a year or so ago, worked great on both my VFR's (with 10mm adapter) and a Ducati Monster (12mm adapter).

My bike came with Convertibars. Not really sure I like them, but they do get you more upright. There's just barely any room between the tank and nose fairing for you to change the handlebar position, so the convertibars have to be angled awkwardly for my hands. Also, I can't have the clutch lever angled far enough down, so my wrist is in extension when operating the clutch which fatigues my wrist quickly. It seems like every aftermarket handlebar I've looked at would interfere with the fairing and/or tank, or would need extended throttle cables.

Here's the parts fiche: https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1998/vfr800fi-a-interceptor/rear-fender Its #5 in the diagram. Could be yours for the low low price of $17.72!

See for yourself: https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1998/vfr800fi-a-interceptor/cylinder-head-front If the part numbers are the same, then its the same exact part. Though if they are different, they may still be interchangeable with the old part. From what I understand all the engine components (block, heads, oil system, rotating parts, etc) are either the same or interchangeable.

Don't bother paying for the vacuum hoses. Just buy some silicone vacuum tubing on amazon and cut to length. I've done this on both my 800's when I took the throttle bodies off and refreshed everything. I think I paid $20 for enough hose to use on both bikes. Beware though that the two "L" tubes that connect the airbox to the starter valves (that the "choke" lever operates) aren't 8mm, they are something else. I just put mine back in and it works fine still. I also reused all the plastic T junctions that the vacuum hoses connect to. They weren't cracked, so I'm sure they're fine.

5th and 6th gens have 3 piston sliding calipers, but only 2 of them are actuated by the brake lever (middle is actuated by the rear linked system). With cbr600f4/929/954 calipers you get 4 pistons and they are rigidly mounted to the forks (not sliders). If you do the VTR fork lowers you'll have to de-link because of the change in calipers.

Ziffer, I see you are in Northern Washington. I'm in Portland and go to Seattle semi-regularly to visit family and just removed the headers off a 1998. Just another option if you want to go forward with finding 98-99 headers.

You can still buy new ones for the 1999-2009 models, just get ready to drain your wallet. Not sure why the 1998 has a different part number than all the other 5th and 6th gen years, I can't imagine they changed the engine case enough that the newer part won't fit. Looks like used ones are cheap on ebay, so its worth the chance of getting a bad one. It doesn't sound like starter motors on VFR's are prone to failure, so the used ones are probably fine.

The housing of the one on the left does look ever so slightly larger, though it could be the angle of the camera. Thanks Duc, I think that's about as definitive as I could have hoped for.

I'm curious about this as well. I've "heard" around the forums that they are compatible, but haven't heard anyone say "yes, I put a 6th gen water pump on a 5th gen". It looks like the drawing of the 5th gen water pump in the parts fiche was reused for the 6th gen. What's strange is the cover gasket it different (#8 in diagram): 5th - 19226-ML7-000 6th - 19226-MCP-900 However, I can't tell the difference between the pictures of them on partzilla. The ML7 gasket is used on a bunch of older Hondas (all VFRs until 2002, magna, cbr600f, cbr900), and the MCP part is used only on 6th and 8th gen VFRs. My guess is that Honda made a minor change to the impeller, so the housing needed to be changed slightly (larger maybe?). They did do quite a few tweaks on the 6th gen to alleviate the cooling issue, wouldn't surprise me if they tweaked the water pump as well.

Yeah, his site has lots of good information on the carb'ed VFRs. I read his shop blog every time he posts and there are some good general maintenance tips that apply to all bikes, not just the older ones.

Well, looks like I may have just been a little impatient because the order shipped yesterday. I admit I've been a little jumpy lately with parts availability, and also I have a trackday next month that I'd like to take this bike to.

Well everyone, I pulled the studs two weekends ago and they were a little crunchy when spinning the nuts on and off. As soon as I felt that I knew I had to replace them. I ordered them online and now the distributor says that they are on backorder with no ETA. Sounds like everyone that got the WiLD headers went out and bought all the VFR exhaust studs in stock! I tried to cross reference similar Honda parts, but didn't come up with anything (all the CBRs use M8s). If I really have to I can get some 18-8 stainless fully threaded studs and use those.

It is a little hard to justify cheaping out on $65 worth of hardware (studs - $21 and nuts - $44) when the headers I'm going to use them on were $900.

It appears to just be surface rust, but I took a few pictures. First one is as I found it, and second one is after using a brass brush with WD-40. All the other studs look about the same. Looks usable to me, I'll probably just use 'em. For some reason though the nuts on the #2 cylinder were different, I guess just another clue to this bike's past. The other nuts looked alright and probably just need a quick clean.

Well, I finally got the headers off this evening. I ended up just trying to twist them using towing straps (I was pulling vertically before) and that seemed to break it free. It still took quite an effort to get the two downpipes off after that (another hour or so) but the job is done. I ended up having to remove the right side rearset by removing the swingarm nut to give better access to the header pipes. One trick I did was to put the hook of the towing strap into the header opening and wrap the strap around my shoulders so that I could pull vertically on the downpipe while pushing down on the collector with my foot. This seemed to deform the graphite gasket enough so that the downpipe could start to slide out with a lot of forceful wiggling. I think the takeaway here is that you won't be able to pull the downpipe straight out, you'll need to deform the gasket to make room for it to be wiggled out. I actually had a similar problem with removing the muffler on my 58k mile bike, and unfortunately this also means that the gasket will be destroyed and you'll have to replace it. Thanks for the help everyone. One more question for you guys. Should I replace the exhaust studs and bolts with new ones or just slap the old ones back in there with the WiLD headers? All of them came off easily enough, but the studs have some moderate surface rust.