tok tokkie

Basically you are wanting to convert your bike into a Cross Runner. Look at the thread about it. Suspension travel & ground clearance will limit the roughness of your routes. Need a decent bash plate to protect the sump. Four cylinder power/torque characteristics also are not good for really technical riding - but anyway that is not your aim.

The spring tubes are not on that Vincent. The springs were in long thin tubes behind the blades in your photo; you can see the 2 bolts where they mount at the bottom. The tops mount to the bobbin like thing just behind the steel joining plate. That is where the spring load goes. The thing that looks like a small modern shock at the top is, in fact, just an hydraulic damper - no spring there. The spring load is carried from the bottom of the girder to the lower wishbone. In your design the entire wheel load is transmitted up to the 4 short angled tubes onto the spring/shock unit. There is a spreading load there whereas the Vincent has only the damping forces there. I agree with VFRider about the spreading but have no gut feel if it is significant or not.

My 550 packed up. The screen digitiser failed; if you touched the screen it kept getting the input after you lifted your finger. Had to wait an age for the false input to go away. I did a little Googling & found there is a $28 spare part available. I have it on order from Hong Kong. Thread with pictures of how to fit it here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=528905

Nice work Red. Tony Foale is much younger looking than I expected.

I have followed this with interest. I look forward to the dyno test results though I don't expect any improvement. I compliment you on the way you have responded to the doubters & challengers - you have politely & patiently stated your interpretation of the theory each time. It strikes me that if we are looking for more power how difficult is it to replace the existing alternator with one that generates the required Amps at the required Volts instead of running full tilt all the time & dumping the excess Watts as heat?

Mate you are almost as far removed from your Scarab VFR800 as it's possible to get with that little number. Is it a TW200? I only know them through a shop in Sydney that customises them but I haven't seen many other 200cc bikes with tyres like that. I take it you're on www.advrider.com? Some great reports there set in your neck of the woods from MetalJockey, of Eastern Cape. I am on ADVRider but only the Jo Moma forum regularly. Yea it is a TW. I also have a BMW F650 Dakar but I much prefer the TW. Metaljockey! What a civilised man (though he is an animal when drunk I hear). He sets such a high standard locally which means the pricks who want to show off and be antisocial are kept somewhat in check by his example. I have met him. His most well known trip was through Angola: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=10359.0 But his latest was together with his wife and child; check where she took her bike. http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=39411.0 Here's one I did on the TW http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=39398.0

I, like you, want to do this (although not on this bike) and want to keep the aero look. My 93 rear lower fairing though is metal. So, may I suggest you make your undercan WITH lower fairing built in/on in metal. No plastic to burn. Larry VFRrider That muffler is in Canada complete with the headers. I retrieved it from the crashed bike & sent it to Canadian Ken (?) who gave it as a gift to someone who liked the idea. Instead of simply bolting it onto his bike he decided against the idea & it is either wasting its time in his den or has been thrown out. This should make you lot smile. I have now downscaled to a single 200cc cylinder = 1/4 of a VFR. Where I now go. I also do multi day solo trips on very deserted gravel roads in the boondocks.

Good lord, the trail on that MTB front end is nuts!!! It is nothing out of the ordinary. The trail is the distance between the centerline of the steering axis & where the tire touches the ground. In this case the uprights of the suspension are unusually far forward so the wheel axle has to be moved well behind them to restore the conventional trail dimension.

That is a very old Vincent with ordinary girder forks. I had a Vincent Comet like this. Those are 'Girdraulic' forks. The fork blade is a big aluminium forging with the springs in the narrow tube behind. The Whyte forks are very interesting because they don't have the scissors linkage. The top link is like a standard girder fork - the top link is steered by the handlebars. The lower link is like a Hossack. The suspension forces will be carried by the lower link so those loads will not go through the steering bearings. The brake loads will not go through the shock so there will be little front end dive (depends on angle of the pivot points). Would it not be simpler to do it like Whyte?

I have been to the UK VFR board in the past. My recollection is GreenVFR is the technical authority there. In other words that opinion is from someone who knows a lot about VFRs and has a special affection for them.

WSBK: Ten Kate Drop WP Suspension In Favour Of Ohlins Setup http://bikerholic.com/2009/06/26/wsbk-ten-...f-ohlins-setup/ I have WP suspension on my BMW Dakar - scored a used setup. Was very surprised to read on that old thread that BMW use it as original equipment when it is a subsidiary of KTM.

Those clip-ons are pretty. Not seen that before.

I did something very similar on a dirt road (on a similar bike to your 'vfr'). I was very interested to look on the Zumo some days later (I was concussed & had no recollection & had to be collected by my wife from the local hospital) to see what my speed was when I binned it = 86 kph = 54 mph. Advice I had been given was gas it through thick sand so I was doing as I was told.

I have followed this all the way. There was such an extended silence from you that I feared you had moved on & it would never materialise. That kit looks beautiful - as does the dyno chart. Economics have turned against you so sales will be lower than they would have been. Once some of these have humiliated 1000 cc superbikes and the even bigger bikes they will gain a legendary reputation. The birth of a legend I predict. Brilliantly done Dan. (That it can be a sleeper is wonderful but most will have your logo all over them I suppose.)

LH side with the brake! Yea I had a Triumph Tiger Cub and a Vincent Comet like that but things have moved on since then.