Wiggo

I bought some knurled handwheels from Ebay. Check you get the right bolt size, obviously. I think Gen 5 uses an M6 bolt. https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Male-M10-X-30mm-Thread-Soft-Touch-5-Lobed-60mm-Polypropylene-Hand-Wheel-Knob/524955930

Yep. My other bike is a metric cruiser and I fitted a Kuryakin Hypercharger to it. It Dyno'd fine but wouldn't run properly on the road and bogged horribly above 60mph until we took an air bleed from the back of the airbox to the top of the float bowl...

Fixed my cheapo screen extender which had lost one of the locking pins by copying the remaining one and 3D printing another. Rather pleased with that...

Cured a grating front disc by freeing off the bobbins with a power drill and brake cleaner, went for a stunning ride in the sun, then replaced the chain guard, cleaned out all the crap from the chain guide and replace the rusted bolts from the brake hose clamps on the chain guard. Finally cleaned up the swingarm and treated all the chainguard to a coat of plastic dressing so it's lovely and black and shiny again.

I'm sure you're both right. As it simply velcros in place, it can't hurt, can it? What about pipe wrapping the headers, too, to keep the heat in the pipe?

Me three.

OK, so you can get a riser conversion on Ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-VFR-800-fi-Street-Fighter-Bar-Riser-Conversion-1998-2001-MADE-IN-THE-UK/223482426590 They'll let you mount whatever you like, but you will need longer brake lines, clutch lines and throttle cables, and you may have to extend teh wiring harness, too. And if you go too high, you'll foul the fairing.

Another dumb one, sorry. I have a new high level exhaust. At some stage, a previous owner fitted a new stainless steel pipe and end can, and where the stainless pipe meets the mild steel collector just under the swing arm, it has seized solid. I've heated it (not too much, as it's very close to the rear tyre). I've beaten it with hammers (large and small). I've tried to drive it off with a big screwdriver from the left side of the bike. Nothing seems to be shifting it. Now, I know I can take the old pipe off with an angle grinder but I'd rather keep it intact if I can. Any clues?

According to Givi, I can only mount the PL257 side frames after I mount the 257FZ rack for a top box. As I'm not that fussed about a top box (for now at least), does anyone know if it is possible to manage without the 257FZ? I assume that the FZ rails mount to the Frankenstein bolts and to the passenger grab handle mounts, but has anyone made up their own brackets from the grab handles to the PL257?

Thank you! Only one main beam was on when I checked on the drive, but both were on when the other half followed me on it the other day, though she said she had high beam on by accident. Looks like I have a dodgy bulb or connection to track down...

Headlights. I know on High Beam both lights are on (and the blue dash light): should they both be on with just Main Beam? My other half's Kawasaki ER6-F only uses one, but I know there was a fad many years ago to install twin headlight conversions... The bike's a 5th Gen Fi-Y model, btw.

Thank you! I got her for a good price - a little over half of what I've seen some asking for on Autotrader, and right on my doorstep, too. However, the seller made the classic mistake of advertising with half a dozen blurry, camera phone photos that were too small and too dark to see the bike properly, and had had no interest in a month, despite two price drops. It will cost me a few quid to get her the way I want her - I've put risers and a Renthal style bar on, changed the throttle cables, I'm recovering the seat, replacing all the fairing fasteners, I may de-cat and put a stainless high level system on, and I'm toying with powder coating the wheels in the same bronze/gold of the Honda tank logos. And I may invest in some hard luggage if I can find some at the right price, as it was a long trip with roll bags tied all over my Suzuki VL800 (Ermintrude) that made me get the VFR in the first place...

Well in that case, here she is...

Another new owner here, too, with a 2000 bike, so that's a great list for me to work through...