Darth Bling

Here ya go! Shows thats a 7.1" 799lb spring! To soft for any VFR unless you weight a 100lbs. am dead tired.. and buzzed cant read the chart well. are you sure? i told the guy selling the springs on ebay . i ride a vfr 2 up most of the time!!!! ggggrrrrr :goofy: The stock VFR800 spring is 15.3 kg, or 857 lbs. So your 799 lbs spring is actually softer. For comparison, i'm running a 1050 lbs spring on my Elka shock and i weight about 190 lbs.

Has anyone done this? Seems like it would quicken steering a little and help with laden with luggage/passenger.Is this a direct bolt in? Bill Yes, I've done it. It is a direct bolt in.

Saturday, February 23rd. Portland International Raceway reopens after upgrading and repaving the track. My mother came into town that weekend to check out the track and watch me run a track day on Sunday. So, we're at the track on Saturday for the ribbon cutting ceremony. There was quite a collection of vehicles at the track to do the inaugural first lap. Portland police were there with their Dodge Charger, a guy in a go-kart, a Porsche, a few vintage vehicles, a Ferrari and a pair of bicyclist. There were also three guys from Cascade Tracktime there too. They were on a Suzuki DRZ (I think), a dirt bike, and a tricked out Ducati 1098. The Duc was fully loaded with all the trick race parts. It even had carbon rotors too! I got to see this thing in action the next day during the track day and it was fast! Anyway, a couple different people gave speeches and one guy gave a great history of the track. For those of you who don't know, PIR was built on the site of the old city of Vanport, OR. Vanport was the largest temporary housing project during the 1940s in the United States. It housed over 40 thousand workers for the wartime shipping docks during World War II. After the war, the population dropped to around 18 thousand. On Memorial Day, May 30, 1948, a dike on the Columbia River breached and the city was destroyed in that single day. Years later, a small racing club negotiated with the city of Portland to hold a race on the ruined streets of Vanport. Then in the early 1970s, a real track was built and which is what has matured into present-day PIR. Time to cut the ribbon! The Portland Police car led the assorted collection of vehicles around for the first lap on the new track. Afterward, we were all invited to walk around the 1.9 mile track to check it out first hand. Out in the middle of PIR, there's a pretty big pond. Lots of ducks and stuff live in there. And here's a shot of the back straight. As I would find out the next day, this section of the track is wicked! It seems like a gentle curve, but above a hundred it certainly doesn't feel that way. You really have to fight the bike to hold its line when you're accelerating down the straight. You're basically hanging off the entire time down the straight. As part of the renovation, PIR redid turns 4 through 7. The track was widened throughout these corners, and turns 6 and 7 were changed. From what I understand, turn 6 was somewhat of a blind corner originally, so they moved the fence out of the way. They also made turn 7 into a knurly 90° corner. Many people were calling it the "hair pin" since it was so tight. Formula One style curbs were also installed throughout the track. And that brings us to Sunday the 24th! Track day! As part of a fundraiser, the Porsche Club of American and Cascade Tracktime were hosting track days. The track was still wet that morning from late night rain and it was only about 50°F out, so conditions were less than ideal. After two car sessions had their go at the track, it was the bikes' turn to head out. There was about 40-50 of us out on the track. The event was billed as a beginner/intermediate track day, but there were quite a few semi-pro guys there too. There is nothing quite like pegging the bike out on the front straight when some guy on one of the various superbikes that were there blows past you going at least 40 mph faster than you. The amount of power those bikes had was unimaginable. So, the first run was wet and cold. Everyone’s helmet visors were fogging up and nobody could see where they were going. I was doing okay, but I felt really uncomfortable out on the bike. I didn't have any confidence in my tires which was a Pirelli Diablo up front and a Metzler Z6 in the rear. Yes, you heard me; I was running a sport-touring tire on the rear! Plus, I was using GP-shifting which I still wasn't too comfortable with yet. And the track was wet (did I already mention that). Somewhere during my fourth lap (first two laps were sighting laps), the linkage on my shifter broke. The nuts had back off from the vibration and the linkage just came apart. I was stuck in third gear for the remainder of my lap and I exited the track. On our second run, the cars had managed to dry the track out some more. Unfortunately, some poor guy lost control of his bike down the front straight (it must have been a mechanical failure) and crashed out. Before lunch, all the riders had a meeting to discuss some passing etiquette. Apparently the pros were irritated at some of the newbies because they were taking wide, erratic lines. Well, duh! As you know, track days usually split into three groups based on skill level. When you mix really fast guys with really slow guys, you're going to have problems. After lunch, we had our third session. The track had warmed up a tiny bit, the sun had dried it out, and I got the tire pressures on my bike dialed in. I was able to push the bike pretty good this time around. I was becoming more familiar with the layout of the track and so I was starting to get my knee down in some corners. Unfortunately the red flag came out and we were all force to pit. I eventually found out latter than Dwayne, the guy who had set up camp across from me in the parking lot, had run off the track at turn 7. He kept his bike up (the mud had also dried out too and was now just dirt) and was able to rejoin the group, but that brought out the red flag. Sitting for a few minutes in the pits wasn't good for my tires as they started to cool down. Once back out on the track, I manage to pass this pesky gsxr1000 that was holding me up in the corners, but I ended up braking too deep into turn 7. My tires hadn’t quite warmed back up enough yet, so I ending up running off the track and into the dirt. The checker flag was just being brought out, so I waited by the fence chatting with the photographers until the track was clear to head back to the pits. The fourth session was a complete blast. I had confidence in my tires (that Z6 was solid all day), I was pretty comfortable with GP-shifting (only had one bad shift all day), and the track was clean and dry. Once I got out on the track, I proceeded to grind down my knee-pucks every opportunity I could get. Unfortunately, after about four hard laps, one of the bolts in my shift linkage snapped in half and I was again stuck in third gear, so I limped back to the pits and called it a day. Prior to my shift linkage breaking during the fourth session, some idiot got black flagged for riding over the curbs. Well, instead of proceeding to the pits on his next lap like he should of done, he thought the black flag meant stop. So, he pulled over and stopped on the track. Obviously, this is not a good thing to do and the marshals were screaming at him to move. And as you would guess, some guy comes blasting out of turn 12 onto the front straight heading right for this idiot. Luckily he grabbed the binders in time and scrub some speed off. With his front tire locked and his rear tire pointing at the sky, he rear ends the other bike. Both guys are fine. Luckily for Mr. Idiot, the other rider just turned and walked away in a fit of rage. I’m guessing I was about 10 seconds behind all this when it this happened, because the first time I saw a red flag was going through the last turn 12. As I'm following a group of bikes through turn 12, we had to grab huge handfuls of brake coming onto the straight to avoid the accident. The new track at PIR is awesome. It's super grippy and tons of fun. It's a really fast track since you have two really longs straights to get massive speed on. I managed to hit 140 mph a few times at the end of the front straight.

I can answer some of your questions Auspañol. For the custom spacer, all you need to do is get some snap rings. It only costed my $2.26 to get mine from the local hardware store and they worked great. With the RC51 front-end, you do lose a little height up front, but that's not the real problem here. The real problem is the increase trail you get with the RC51 triples. Don't quote me on this, but I believe the VFR triples had a 40mm offset and the RC51 triples have a 32mm offset. With increase trail, the bike because more stable for straight line speed but it looses some of it flickability. The reason you'd want to raise the rear of the bike is to steepen the rack angle and thus decrease the trail, restoring the nimbleness and flickability of the bike. This is why fellow VFRD member Cassandtim is currently designing a set of custom triples for his RC51 front end swap. He wants to retain the stock VFR offset with the RC51 forks thus keeping his trail the same. Now, I've personally have had any zero problems with the increase trail or lowered front end. And, I also had a Blackbird shock on my bike too. The Blackbird shock was good for about a 1/2 inch raise in the rear (it won't be as much for the 5th gen since the 6th gen shock is shorter than the 5th gen). Out on the track, I had no problems scrapping my kickstand and rear brake pedal, and my headers never touched down once! I think everybody been running two lines from their brake master cylinder to each of the front calipers. You could do a single line down to one caliper and then run another line from that caliper to the other side (like Triumph does on their Daytona 675). I don't know of anybody running a single line down and then splitting it to each caliper. Hope that helps!

It also looks like the 600RR (03-06) also used a 22mm axle just like the RC51. In fact, the Honda part numbers are the same between the 600RR and RC51 for the wheel bearings and inner spacers. I've read of one guy putting an RC51 front wheel on his 600RR, so it's definitely doable. I'd imagine you'd have to have axle spacers made to make sure the 600RR wheel fit correctly in the RC51 forks. Plus, you'd have to put 320mm rotors onto the rims too. The nice thing about this swap is you wouldn't have to swap the bearings out. Rims from a newer 600RR (07+) may work too. I believe the axle diameter is also 22mm, but the fork legs are closer together. This makes it pretty much impossible to put an RC51 or an older 600RR wheel onto a newer 600RR, but the reverse wouldn't be true. :rolleyes:

Ok, just did a search and this is what I've found... Yes, 06-07 (probably 08 too) CBR1000RR rotors will fit on the RC51 rim. 929 (00-01)....................330mm 954 (02-03)....................330mm RC51 (00-06)..................320mm 600rr (03-08)..................310mm 1000rr (04-05)................310mm 1000rr (06-07)................320mm Offsets and bolt patterns are the same. The only differences are rotor thinkness and rotor diameter. It is my understanding that the 929/954/1000 rims are all interchangable. The RC51 has a different axle diameter (22mm vs 25mm on the 929/954/1000), so you'll need to install RC51 wheel bearings and have custom axle spacers made if you want to use a 929/954/1000 wheel in the RC51 forks.

Yes, those rotors (1000RR, 929, 954) will bolt onto a RC51 (SP1 and SP2) front wheel. Of course, just because they physical bolt on doesn't mean they'll actually work (without some mods anyway). The 929/954 rotors are 330mm and the 1000RR and RC51 use 320mm rotors. So, if you use 929/954, you'll need to shim the calipers out somehow. And, you'll definitely want to check to see if the rotor offset on the 1000RR is the same as the RC51. The 1000RR uses radial brakes, so they're may be some alignment issues. I haven't heard of anybody performing this swap yet (nor have I heard of anybody swapping an 1000RR wheel into a pair of 929/954/RC51 forks either), so I can't confirm if it'll even work (it may not even bolt on, who knows). The newer CBR600RR might also work too since it shares many parts with its bigger 1000cc brother.

I'm pretty sure the last 5- 1 gal. containers of Rotella T 5w-40 syn. were CI-4 Plus whatever that is? :unsure: I think CI4-plus is the older standard that SJ4 is replacing. I don't think the new Rotella T 5w-40 Syn will be out yet for another month or so. But, I think new the 15w-40 dino is already out. :unsure:

Just read some news about Shell Rotella. Shell Rotella now meets JASO MA spec since switching to the new CJ4 standard to help improve diesel emissions for ash and sulfur. The old Rotella formulation did not meet JASO MA specs due to its high ash content. Info can be found here: http://www.gl1800riders.com/forums/viewtop...13e96d5e67e6976 http://www.shellusserver.com/ubbthreads/ub...amp;Number=3450

Don't forget the Blackbird shock as on VTEC stock option. The Blackbird is on the left and the stock VTEC shock on the right (with an aftermarket spring). The Blackbird shock doesn't have any extra adjustability over the VTEC shock, but it is slightly longer (higher ride height) and it has a stiffer spring (16.1 kg vs 15.3 kg).

I just couldn't help myself. I just bought myself a new motorcycle, a 1998 VFR! :D Here's a picture of the beast: Yeah, I know, it needs a little TLC, but I'm sure I can get it fixed up some day. :goofy:

I found a few mentions of WP: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...st&p=347655 http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...st&p=261938 http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...st&p=234017 http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...st&p=447989 http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...st&p=400459 The problem with the search function is that it doesn't look for words with less than four characters. So, if you do a search for WP, you're not going to get anything. Same goes for "CBR" or any other two or three letter word. You could do a search for say "WP suspension" but then you'd get a whole bunch of results that you don't need. The trick: do a search for WP*. Adding an asterix makes the search engine look for any words that start with those letters (so CBR* would return any posts with CBR, CBR900, CBR929, CBR600, etc.). The nice thing about this is it bypasses the less-than-four-letters rule. :thumbsup: Great pictures by the way! I would of loved to have been there on the tour. :sleep:

Already tried it. I must of had a short or a broken wire when I put mine together because it never worked. I've been meaning (for the last couple of years) to take it apart and see what happened. I know it worked for a little bit because I tested it and it got nice and warm, but when I was doing the finally stitching, I must of broke something. Anyway, even if I never fix it, I can still use the homemade vest by itself. It's nice and toasty.

Just some generic ATV handlebar mitts. Available in camo too. :P The mitts work pretty well, but I stopped using them. The material is pretty flimsy and it's kinda tight inside the mitts to reach all the controls. I find it's too much of hassle to take them on and off all the the time. I didn't like using them in town because if you take you hands off the bars, say at a red light, it's hard to get your hands back into the mitts quickly. Plus, since I have an electric cruise control, the mitts had a bad habit of pressing against the front brake lever from the wind which would cause my cruise control to disengage. I'm thinking my next 'mod' would be to craft a set of homemade handlebar mitts to solve these issues. Then I can leave them on the bike all winter. :D

Yeah, but the former is so much more fun with some special equipment... :huh: :goofy:

I'm assuming these remote start systems have a fail safe so you can't remote start your bike if it's in gear. :salesman:

I've never seen the movie, but it looks interesting.

Nope, no plans on adding an extention. The base I used is from their 6th Gen LED mirrors.

Everything you need to know should already be in the first post of this thread. If there's any part that's unclear about what I did and what parts I used, let me know and I will edit the post. :warranty: :D Yup, the little bit of free time I do have is spent either sleeping and (until recently) trying to fix my dryer which stopped working. <_< Getting my dryer to work ranked pretty high on my list since having dry clothes to wear is important to me. :P

Sorry, work been taking up all my time this last month. Once my hours drop back down to 40 per week instead of the 60-80 that's it's been, I'll have more time to get the mirror mounts made. Progress has been slow so far, but I've been working on it.

Nice story! Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

Green is ground. Green/Yellow is brake. Blue/Brown is running light. (At least according to the service manual). I know for sure green is ground. But if you hook everything up and the brake light bar stays on all the time, then you've got the tail light and brake light wires switched.