mtnpat

I tend to go one extreme or the other with my motorcycle oil. For less expense I go with Rotella T4 15w40, or If I want a synthetic full ester hi-po oil (read as more expensive), I go with Silkolene Pro 4 15w50. 😃

That’s cool, no argument here against ethanol free gas. thanks for the comments.

I did some research several years back and it was all favorable on this product, switched from Stabil (which I also think is decent) to Star Tron and have done my own research since by using the product on many motorcycles. It’s designed to help stop phase separation in ethanol laced fuels and from what I have seen it does that. I know what bad stale ethanol fuel looks like, saw that in a KTM carb, it’s quite apparent. Haven’t had any problems over the years with stabilized ethanol fuels with regard to hoses and rubber parts either. I even did my own study a few years back on fuel stability with ethanol pump gas and a few glass jars….I had a control sample and then used different fuel stabilizers and let them sit for over a year and then observed the results. if you still have links to the negative tests you saw (I’m assuming they were online) I would be interested in seeing them, I’d bet others would too.

I have good luck using Star Tron to stabilize ethanol fuels, I use it 100% of the time in my motorcycles, when riding and when storing. I still sometimes drain carb float bowls to keep pilot jets from possibly getting clogged.

Had to make sure I got out one more time this season so went for a 50 mile ride in the rolling countryside. I was going to stop at a scenic location to take a picture while out, but I didn't want to stop riding so here is one from when I got back 🙂. Time to drain float bowls and put it in a row along side the other bikes in the garage, cover with a sheet and put in rotation for the 2 trickle chargers I use (for 5 bikes now). Plans for the winter are basically going through the suspension, front and rear. I have a brand new, 0 miles 2017 ZX14R rear shock I may try and fit plus a lot of cleaning and inspection of linkages. Minimum of a fork fluid change and the installation of a set of external preload adjusters in the front. Hmmmm, probably headset bearings too while I'm thinking about it. Oh and toying with the idea of a rear tire hugger, either that or a mud flap 😉. My ZRX1100 might be moving on to someone else next year. It's too nice a bike not to be ridden. And I'm not riding it, especially now that I have another red Honda V4.

Checking in from VA....I still have the VFR, ridden it a few more times, got a few more things sorted. Only one recent stupid moment. Got the 750 out for a couple of 50 mile or so rides late summer, I really like the bike, a lot different than my ZRX1100 and ST1100. Anyways pics to prove it happened and everybody likes pics...I have been using it to run errands and such. As far as continuing to get things sorted, after checking the spark plugs I went ahead and put the cooling fan back on the radiator, I didn't really need it for the rides I was doing so waited to re-install it after having it off while working on the engine. The other thing that needed sorting was my lack of a working petcock situation. Some may remember that my bike came with a gutted, missing pieces shell of a petcock so I was just using it as a way to get fuel from the tank but not to shut off the flow of fuel when removing the tank. It works great but I needed a way to shut off the fuel. I looked at a few different inline options but didn't like any of them. I thought about fitting a Pingel brand petcock to the tank but that option is pricy and would require I make an adapter plate. While surfing the net I found an inline disconnect that goes in a fuel line and shuts off the flow when disconnected. So far it has worked out well.....fits in the space and doesn't leak, flow rate is acceptable with an 1/4" ID. A couple of pics, on the bench and then installed. Oh and the stupid moment.....well that happens when you get ready to go for a ride, check your oil, coolant, tire pressure and then forget to put gas in the tank AND you don't have a working gas gauge because you had not yet procured a new fuel tank sending unit to replace the one that came on the bike that looked like it had been on the bottom of the North Atlantic with the Titanic. The wife graciously rescued me and brought me gas but I really hated bothering her while relaxing. Yea that was a dumb ass move. Funny how you can forget to add gas as you get all excited to go for and start your ride, but it only takes a fraction of a second to realize what you didn't do as the bike coughs and stops running - OOPS. I have since fixed this situation, replacing what I had that was basically just a blank off plate, with a functioning sending unit. Oh and the KBS gas tank sealer/liner I used is still holding up well. Here is a pic. The pinhead size bubbles are from my not doing the application 100% correct, bubbles appear where the coating ends up too think and the solvents are trying to gas off and weren't able to because of the thicker application. I tried, I literally spent hours rotating and draining off excess sealer but it's hard not to get some build up. You want to avoid bubbles because that is a place where the liner could break down, so far it has not, I am thinking it would only be a problem with large bubbles. Anyway, again, the KBS product has done the job well in that it cleaned out the rust, prepped and then sealed the tank well. That's about it for me. Once again if anyone wants to do a ride in the Shenandoah Valley there is still plenty of good Fall riding weather left so just send me a message or something, available most weekdays or weekends.

Great advice here.

I know a few people were wondering about replacement pumps for our Gen 3 bikes and had actually asked me for a link to where I found the one I used. Basically after reading and from my own experience, it is often best to source parts for our Japanese bikes from Japan instead of China when available. I mean if you pay $10 for a fuel pump, well you should probably not expect it to last that long. I'm not saying that just because a pump from Japan costs 10 times as much it is guaranteed to be better, but there is probably a reason it does. With that said I went with a K & L pump manufactured in Japan for my 91 model VFR, and I found it on Amazon, sold by K & L. It looks identical to what I believe was probably the factory Honda pump that was on my bike all the way down to the Mitsubishi emblem on the end cap. Maybe I have been fooled into paying more, maybe not, but I feel good about my purchase and the thought that I won't be left stranded somewhere with a short-lived failed pump. Anyway, here is the link, happy motoring.

Echoing scottbot and jefferson, I hope things go well for you in 2021. Your bike(s) will be there for you when you are ready, meanwhile good to hear from you and thanks again for the windscreen 😎

Thanks Gebruiker. Good to hear from you. I plan to have the bike totally legal with a state safety inspection before too long so that my wife does not frown at me when I say I want to go for a ride.....I actually have 5 bikes with expired stickers....what a pain in the backside. Can't wait to get the VFR out to really stretch it's legs, compare it to my ZRX1100, etc. Hope to be posting some scenic mountain riding pics early this Summer!

Agreed, getting the fan out is a bit of a trick itself on this bike.

Removing the fan (3 bolts and 2 electrical connections) can help a lot towards accessing the front spark plugs. Also, besides unbolting the radiator at the bottom, loosening the bolt on the top (same side) will help the radiator to be pushed forward out of the way. Using the factory spark plug socket and a box end wrench is also highly recommended.....not sure how you would get to the fronts without it.

First, @moroseduck, thanks for the kind words. And if you are able to change spark plugs and hoses you are doing good. You don't need a lot of tools to work on a quality bike such as your Honda, eventually if you can gather up a good metric socket and wrench set, two torque wrenches of different ranges, some feeler gauges and a multimeter you can troubleshoot and fix most things on a VFR. Not many specialty tools are needed unless you get into rebuilding engines and transmissions. So good luck and post up any questions, I'm sure someone here will answer. NEXT - my 91 model VFR is tagged and on the road now!! I've done two rides, the first only 15 miles, the second 40 miles. The bike has performed pretty flawlessly. The K&L fuel pump is doing it's job nicely, so is the Shindengen voltage regulator/rectifier and Yuasa battery.. The sealed gas tank is doing it's job too, no contaminated fuel or fuel filter. The engine sounds great and I have not found any flat spots in the power yet, the tune I have started with and the carb sync seems pretty close to being on the money. Starts and idles well, revs fast and smooth. I'm pretty impressed with the 6-speed transmission too, nice solid shifts, even when I miff the shift. Two oil changes already with 15W40 Rotella-T, one when I initially dumped the overfilled crankcase and once again after the first 15 mile ride I did. The re-packed Yoshimura exhaust I am pleased to announce is in my opinion is not too loud, it has a nice tone and doesn't get rowdy until you get up to 6-7k RPMs, just cruising around it is not obnoxious. The Brembo front brakes are working well, providing good modulation and power, I haven't had to really test them yet (thank goodness), just a few hard stops. The suspension is ok, the shock actually feels decent for my weight (165 lbs) and riding style, it has both compression and rebound damping in the amounts I want (a touch more rebound than compression) and the spring rate is not bad. The fork does not have the stock spring because it came with the bike extra, so probably an aftermarket spring was installed at some point. The fork needs more spring rate for me as it has too much sag and I'm not really feeling the front end. My plan is to freshen up the fork oil and at the same time check and see what springs are in there and how much spacer. I'm thinking about adding a fork cap that includes some preload adjustment, that should make tuning easier. Anyway, without further ado, here are some pictures!!! Here is a shot in the garage while I was still working on it. I went with a stock 170/60-17 rear tire and am glad I did, I think it looked stupid with the 180/55-17 it had on it. You are a 750...be proud of what you are! No need to go all American Chopper on these bikes. Just my opinion. Now I just need to find some new people to ride with! Open invitation, anyone who would like a tour of the twisty rolling roads in and around the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia let me know. Thanks again to everyone who has chimed in, showed support or just followed along during the VFR build. Please let me know if I can help anyone with anything. I'm in Virginia 85 miles West of Washington DC just South of Front Royal.

Great looking bike, thanks for sharing. Regarding removing the air box lid, doing that would *greatly* increase the amount of air coming to the carburetors so to keep the air/fuel ratio correct you would also have to increase the amount of fuel coming in by installing larger jets and/or changing the needle settings. But, there is a limit to what any engine needs as far as air and fuel, without things like larger intake runners, camshafts, exhaust, you can overwhelm the engine. Plus, if you removed the air box lid I’m not sure how you would secure the filter. Overall what others have said, about all you would want to do is remove the snorkel and then add extra fuel by re-jetting. Most Japanese bikes with carburetors are on the edge of running lean (too much air) from the factory anyway, you definitely do *not* want to add more air without adding more fuel.

That would be good. I was wondering if the red lenses are US spec and the amber ones Euro? I have seen pics of both. I wouldn't mine a set of the amber ones.

Spring is approaching and a mans (and woman's) thoughts turn to motorcycles. I was able to get some parts I have been needing and now I have hope that I will be able to ride the VFR for the first time soon. Here are some quick but exciting for me updates. First off, some of you may remember this: Not that attractive and half-ass functional, my plan was to tape it up properly and make do. Well @RC1237V saw that and was like I can help this person, so without my asking RC1237V offered to send me an airbox lid that did NOT have 15 holes drilled it....we would swap and I would send him the holy one. His thoughts was since my bike was mostly stock and was likely going to remain that way it deserves a nice factory piece. What a great way of thinking and I was like heck yea, thank you. Now I have this: I did finally figure out what the holes in the lid are for.....they are to hold spanners 🙂 The key piece I was missing though for this bike was a windshield, you see mine looked like this: That stain is on the inside. While I had the screen off fixing things I tried wet sanding with some 600 grit and it did not even touch it, that is when I gave up. Then I remembered that RC1237V had one or two bikes that were being converted to naked street fighters and that he mentioned somewhere about having extra parts. I reached out and we came up with a great deal on a windscreen, heck he even threw in some dash surround parts for free which was really nice. I think this is much better: Just a couple of things left to do. The first is taking another swing at the gas tank, I'm going to clean the inside again and then seal it. I bought this recently. It looks to be pretty time consuming to do it right so I need to blank off most of a day, as good a reason as any to take a vacation day: Then it will be time to replace the 12 year old tires with these Metzlers that I found at a great price ($205 shipped). I will post up when I do. I have a home made bead breaker that has served me well for years. For mounting the new tires on the rims I have found the zip tie method to work amazingly well. Get all that done and I just need something to put here: I have an appointment with the Virginia DMV next month. I wonder if the state safety inspector will say anything about the red turn signal lenses? They are hooked up and work but are not amber. I do have the add-on set of amber turn signals that bolt so if I have to to pass inspection I can put those on. Thanks for reading, good luck with your riding, bike builds and 2021.

For me as well as losing the clutter, removing the PAIR system eliminates a possible source for vacuum leaks which will definitely cause issues with tuning and engine performance.

Funny, mine came right out. With the help of a pair of side cutters 😉.

You’re right, thanks for talking me into it. I just ordered a tank sealer kit. No reason to not do it right. I’m going to go ahead with my second treatment with vinegar, but this time after flushing and drying the tank I will coat the inside.

I have thought about it and was planning to go this route if necessary. The vinegar did a great job of dissolving the rust so I am thinking I won’t have to.

I'm going to give my gas tank another vinegar treatment this weekend because using my bore scope I have discovered some rust on the ceiling of the tank that did not get soaked when I filled the tank. When filled sitting upright, you can't actually completely fill it and touch all parts of the inside of the tank because the filler neck is lower than the ceiling of the tank. I will be cleaning out the layer of preservative oil currently in the tank and adding 2-3 gallons of vinegar and this time turning the tank over so that the top of the inside of tank gets covered with vinegar and the rust dissolved.

I definitely will, I'm looking forward to riding the VFR750! My other Honda V4 sport touring bike is 750 lbs dry and is my favorite street bike to ride. I'm thinking a 550 lb Honda V4 sport touring bike is going to be really nice! I'm hoping it's a cross between my ST1100 and my wife's SV650 with a similar aluminum frame to the VFR, and a 90-degree twin which is an awesome engine.

What does your bike still need or what would you like to upgrade? Mechanically I think my bike is in good shape (now), but until I ride it and run it through the gears I can’t say for sure. Cosmetically it is “ok”, stand back 10 feet and it looks good.

I can see that. Maybe they “worked” on the carbs upside-down on their driveway. You know, for a solid base.

WTF? People have never heard of a rubber mallet? And why would you need to beat on them anyway, I guess somebody totally disassembled the carbs at some point and was trying to re-attach the stacks. It almost looks like somebody was hitting them with a punch.