ridervfr

I had 70,000 miles on my rear pads too! I mean I took them out to clean the caliper etc. Recently I went with some sort of organic pad set up and cleaned the caliper and used new seals etc. I recently got a new braided brake line too from the UK. No pictures but bike has all steel lines around like all my other stuff has. Beautiful build quality not duplicated now, love these bikes.

Welcome aboard, nice score! Like the orderly work shop, that should help you when its so cold out your gona freeze your bippy off.

I cut off the plastic sheath and use the butt connector, I then crimp/steak it/and solder, followed by the heat shrink tubing that I thoughtfully installed on the wires before starting the yab. Straight butt connectors or other types of electrical connectors that just rely on a crimp are garbage and are gona bite you in the butt down the road. There is a connection called (well I call it a "Bondini") you strip back a portion of the wire, separate the portion you stripped and then twist in your donor wire in the centre parted section, followed by solder shrink tubing and electrical tape for good measure. I love the clear shrink tubing I have kicking around, it used on aircraft and you can see the solder joint etc.

What he said, 30amp fuse next to the battery (starter relay) probably shorted regulator rectifier wires, see if there is a melted mess on the right side of the bike where the r/r is mounted and check the white plug with the 3 yellows/1black/1red.

I have a top of the line Shoei, X12 or something or other, bought new 4 or 5 years ago maybe? I decided to wash the liner and it disintegrated in the washing machine. I bought a new liner from Shoei for $100 and am happy as a pig in poop. I tried on the latest greatest racing style full face shoei and they changed the shell shape and or chin bar where it does not fit me as well as the older one. Time kills these liners/helmets too, I never throw away my old helmets as I think they are works of art. They sit on a high shelf on a wall unit and look cool. Anyway, I have taken them down periodically and I have to tell you, the liners turned to dust! I have two helmets I switch off between, the Arai flows alot of air and is noisy, the Shoei fits firmer and is quiet and the shield mechanism is nicer. So there you have it, when you need a new brain bucket, just go out and get one. You only get one head and riding around in a crappy helmet affects your disposition LOL

I look at things a little different than other people, that being said, I have not bought a new new motorcycle since 1993 and that bike cost $3999 (the good old days.) So, my used 1991 used VFR with 4000+ miles cost me $4500 26-27 years ago and I am still running it (can you say, "Ahead of the game?") That particular bike I have bought things without looking at prices so much (I get things at 10% over dealer cost and have Fun funds set aside on Ebay.) Without getting into networth ect it is cheap to keep an older bike on the road compared to buying a 15,000 dollar Busa or some other higher dollar new bike (which could possibly get me into trouble here.) BTW I do ride fast here and have a clean zero point license (hope I dont jinx myself LOL.) When you get a new used bike its pretty automatic that your going to have to lay out some cash for a least tyres, battery, and other ancillary stuff. My 93 had a dead regulator/rectifier out of the box, it had new tyres and chain and sprockets on it (bad master link that was replaced at a cost of ten dollars.) You get the picture, I am not penurious when it comes to spending money on these bikes because once your done, you have something that (sounds like a cliche) you can't buy for money. The build quality of these bikes is really good, they did not cheap out what-so-ever. I like what you did with the fuel lines and how you repaired the tatty carburetor plastic tray. I was able to get OEM replacement fuel lines when I needed them and ended up getting Samco radiator hoses from the UK for both of my bikes. I did club level racing here in South FL when I first moved down here, did a light weight sportsman and a heavy weight sportsman class. Had fun, they did not have track days when I was involved with it. If I was going to do a track day, one of my VFRs would be the last bikes I would go out on, (and this is where my head is) if you even have a low side accident on one of these bikes, you basically going to be screwed for parts. Plus one of these bikes that I own is called, "First Wife" can you imagine flogging your poor first wife on a track day? I think not LOL. I would get a dedicated track bike if you wanted to go that route, Ninja something or other or maybe a nice 600cc inline 4.

Enjoyed your story and pictures, nice friend giving you that bike for your B-Day! Someone gave me a free complete motorcycle as a back-up parts bike which I ended up using everything from the wiring harness to the engine on my high mileage unit. I have two of these generation 3 bikes. My 93 has the same pipe you have, interesting front brake set-up with the master cylinder. I have some EBC full floating rotors on my 91 that I bartered off labour on. Had my 91 since 95 bought with 4500 miles for $4500 and it has 82,000 now. 93 was bought for $500 with 15,000 miles and has 32,000 now (93 was brought home like your bike, on a trailer.) It takes labour/love/money to properly resurrect a neglected or just a 30+ year old motorcycle period. I took my 93 on a 250 ride for my 55th birthday during the holiday Thanksgiving Holiday and it rode like a top, 90mph cruising with passing 135mph, maxed out for a little way 150mph. I still have to tell myself they are old bikes, but Honda did give us the beauty of the engine Rev range, so why not indulge it sensibly? Good luck and keep on posting.

Gas tank has a nice fake "wood" job on it though. Total abortion, I think you should punch that bastard in the bread basket for doing something so heinous to an innocent VFR!

You need a tank, you going to make a mismatched "Frankenstein" bike? My 91 was that way until a friend shamed me into painting it. Its a 91 but was bought with 92 livery colour. My 93 was bought with a tank like yours, they installed a new pet cock thinking that would solve their problems I guess (it did'nt) it did save the bike from any use which was a good thing. I bought it with 15,000 miles as a rolling bike that turned over, thats all I knew. I got a replacement gas tank fairly quickly for it on Ebay and used it for years. I ended up buying a another tank on Ebay as it was way nice without a hideous dent that looked real ugly. So, my 93 is on its 3rd tank LOL crazy chit. There are alot of tanks out there you wont have a problem, I am holding on to my old white one for what ever reason (there was someone that sold me a used Penske shock to these style bikes years ago off CL, I called his number because I wanted to buy his rolling parts bike, number was out of order, I am trying to replay the tape in my head to find the warehouse district he worked out. Anyway, PEaCe and happy wrenching/riding.

You have the rest of the air box and top part of the carburetors with the velocity stacks? I have the same bike btw Granite Blue 👍

Many years ago in a dimension far far away (Miami) I was working at a shop where a 98 F3 600 came in (used abused race bike) I had the inspiration of trying the front wheel with the floating rotors, basically the entire shooting match. Installed it on my bike same spacers as the VFR, axle etc, (funny thing was that the 600 had double pinch bolts compared to the VFRs single ones. I liked the lighter steering, (never weighed the old VFR wheel, sold on Ebay to finance a new used wheel.) It was at a time when there were still salvage yards breaking bikes, I ended up getting a nice CBR600 front wheel, for $200 dollars, bartered labour for some iron EBC full floating rotors and that is it. This bike rides different than the 93 I have too, super compliant and with new tyres you can drag a foot peg just on a routine little mission. Hope this helps

Funny, the local constabulary hated them (St1300s) and burned out the clutches and basically just trashed them, they are long gone, favoured instead for the legend of Harley Davidson lol. They ride Road Kings for two years and make money auctioning them off to nit wits. Don't know what they do in california but that is another country anywhoO. lol

Geez, Yep, your right have to correct that, I have 18 year old tyres on it right now. I need to get some new IRC race type rubber for it. Side bar: bike used to be parked in a bedroom at my house before I got married. Cheers

its a good thing to do, I owned one of my gen3 bikes for tens of thousand miles before I deleted it. Its a gross system with a lot of typical Honda overthink engineering. Bear in mind this bike had no expense spared on its engineering and parts. Its a very special machine - back to point. I had a welder weld up the hard metal pipes after I removed them from the bike and I may or may not have replaced some of the fancy silver gaskets associated with the mounts that go to the cylinders. Next was some miscellaneous plugs from the auto parts store to address the elbows off the air box and then some small hoses with screws jammed the ends for the plenums. Its a cleaner set up and simplifies maintenance. I have a Ninja 500 that I did not remove any of this on because it runs so well and I feel I can actually go backwards on that mod (according to an race engine builder.) Its not as intrusive as the Honda set up though. Good luck and post pictures.

Gawd, that is "jacked" ice-hunchin ; )

Maybe in some foreign currency you could get 80,000 something. Name of the bike is "First Wife" you being a sane smart person like you are, do you think I would ever, ever sell her? Let me answer for you, NOoO : )

Had it since 1995, bought it with 4500 miles for $4500.

You could use one of those old oil cans with a spout/spring loaded handle and fill it with DOT4 or Honda brake fluid and go through the bleeder that way, I don't understand the concept of changing nipples on the bike your working on though, does it belong to Governor Cuomo? I think he has pierced ones. Oh, your a Briton - Sorry mate to drag you into our chit show political arena. They bleed that way in the aviation field too btw.

I have the commercial MityVac bleeder and let me tell you its TITZ. Works on stubborn clutch systems as well as the lame/brain linked brakes on these/gold wing bikes. I have run into problems with bleeders. I used new OEM Honda bleeder and lost lever, had weeping around the thread holes on the clutch, & calipers! I used teflon tape with lousy results and am not a fan as when we used to use these on compressors its a big no-no. I ended up using a 3M product that was a white paste and thread sealant which we used at the train yard. Fast forward to a year ago, when everything was going great with my 91 VFR and low and behold, I had a dragging front caliper. I ended up overhauling the brakes and (a little foggy on how I ended up getting here.) I replaced the braided brake lines with HEL ones (bike had FastLine ones from 20 years ago) and I wanted to change them. Long story short, I mentioned this problem I was having with the weepage around the bleeder nipple threads, his recommendation was to switch to his stainless steel bleeders. I did and problem solved. You know, I was pulling my hair out a while back when I replaced the slave cylinder and had the same problem, I used my 3M solution which is ok, but not my style. Nice to know there is a solution to the problem.

Morgan Carburetor synch tool. I had the Motion Pro one with fake mercury and it sucked out loud. Morgan tool, I can do the synchronization on my Gen3 bikes in five minutes with three associated flash lights and a ninety degree screwdriver from my Triumph days. Tool is great as it simplifies the entire process which is key.

Nice bike, like the solo tail section, Looks familiar - I am thinking about a different colour for my wheels next tyre change, I think a light gold might look good. Peace - oh, those are my two, black one has 81,000 miles almost a one owner, white one is a 93 I got 6 years ago and built up from a rolling wreck.

Love my Morgan Carburetor Tool!

I had that happen once on a 636 Kawasaki back in the day, I was using a Sear torque wrench at the time. I have three Snap On torque wrenches now, if I was working on your bike, I would not reach for any of them. A T-handle with a 10MM six point socket on the end would be all I need. Its too risky and not necessary to use a torque wrench on these small fasteners, cam caps, bolts you mentioned etc. If your concerned you could get new ones from Honda, I trust my feel on these things, flash to my installing a newly machined head on my Kawasaki, do I use a torque wrench? Yep, you better believe it, it has a torque sequence and three stages of tightening (I think) I re-torqued the head bolts upon the first valve adjustment. That is where torque is critical. You live and learn - you wont make that mistake again right? Peace

Pretty kewel. First post as I just joined. I remember back in 90 I saw one on the street in NYC, have seen a few on the track in the past (not alot of them floating around really.) Used to see a nice RC45 at a dealership in NJ - now that same bike is beyond a red velvet rope (back in the day they wanted 27,000 for that 45 and that was back in late 90's. Peace