douglasthecook

Definately keep updating us on the bodywork. I'm really interested in this particular section!!!!!

Very Nice!!! You'll have to give a ride report to tell us the difference between the before and after. Looks good!!! I would like to get my hands on a little VFR 400, perhaps before I leave Germany, as they're on sale in the U.K. quite often. How difficult is it to get the 18" tires for it?

Thanks Phantom and Goodhawk for the kind words. DBG, dang dude, everytime I see your bike I notice yet another nice touch on your bike, such as the custom exhaust hangar, and lack of passenger footrests. I wish I could could do that to mine, however I like it when my wife holds me close on rides!!! I like those bar end mirrors, how well do they work? Your bike looks really clean w/o the mirror stalks sticking waay out in the wind!!!

I wondered what reservoirs you were running. That is something I may check into later as well. The one thing keeping me from that right now are my great Pazzo levers. If I got different master cylinders, I would have to buy another set, and I really just want to ride now and put things off 'til next winter. It was also good to see your wheels. I like the looks of the polished rim lips on the 4th gens. That may happen soon here as well. You have a great looking bike. Thanks!!! I would like to get the Pazzo levers as well, but that'll be saved for later, waaay later!!! Spiegler has some sweet radial master cylinders for the brake and clutch (http://www.spieglerusa.com/cfm/mc_ca.cfm), that is another option that I have considered, but I just want to ride, I'm tired of down time!!! I would like to upgrade to those eventually, but I have other mods on the list ahead of those. Your bike looks really good to, your fairings are in ALOT better shape than mine!!! It's kinda funny how we both went with a CF front fender, and a double bubble windscreen. As far as the rims go, it wasn't that time consuming, very rough on the hands though. I did all the sanding and polishing by hand. It took about a day per rim. I don't like alot of chrome or polish, but a little can go along way to making a big difference, like your custom top triple clamp (that thing is SWEEET), really makes your cockpit stand out!!! If you decide to do yours, just hit me up, and I'll give you the details, I'd be more than happy to help, as you've helped me quite a bit on this, thanks again for that BTW!!! Now if we can only get Phantom to finish his project up, there just might be enough Frankenviffers to take over the world!!!

Thanks for the compliments!!! It was rather fun to do. DBG, as far as the front fender goes, I think yours is of a better quality, if mine ends up cracking I'll order from the same place that you got yours from. Other than that I'm quite pleased with the results!!! I ended up swapping the Cycle Cat clip-ons to the opposite sides, as the coffin style reservoirs gave me some clearance issues. The 954 brake master cylinder fixed that, and I found an Aprilia clutch master cylinder of Ebay as well. I kept the clip-ons swapped because the pinch bolt contacted the instrument cluster, the way I have them now they are in the back and don't touch the instrument cluster. I didn't have any issues with my throttle cables, however it seems that my choke cable may be a little short, or in need of adjustment. It never seemed to work 100% before the swap, so it's something that I'll look into at a later date. After I get a good set of leathers and boots the next items on my list are an aftermarket rear shock, and some Predator or Motad headers to go with the Micron pipe.

Thanks!!!

Ok, so after about a month of waiting for all my parts to come in, everything is back together!!! So far the initial riding impressions are quite good, the 954 Front end offers up ALOT more feedback, and the brakes are OUTSTANDING!!! The Micron pipe sounds GREAT!!! I'm quite happy with the sound, appearance, and build quality of it. I haven't been able to test out the wind protection of the new windscreen yet, as I'm still scrubbing in my new tires, and don't want to put myself in a position that would put me back to square one. As far as the change from the 45T rear sprocket, again around town I haven't had a chance to really fel it out yet. Perhaps by the end of the week. Pics can be found here... http://vfrworld.com/photos/showgallery.php...amp;ppuser=1185 I found it easier to just use my VFRWorld album, as the pics were already updated, and didn't see a need to post them twice. However if you guys think I should post some here as well, let me know and I'll attempt to do such. Thanks to everyone that helped, listened, gave advice, and paved the way for this to get done. It it weren't for the VFR community, this would have never happened!!! You guys and gals are the best!!!!!

Ok, a little update on my project. I'ts 90% completed, I have a clutch master cylindar on the way, as well as a new 954 top triple clamp. My bike is finally off the stand, and is proudly standing on it's own power and two wheels. Hopefully I'll have it finished by next weekend. It would have been finished alot sooner if I were back in the States, but I'm not ( quite enjoying Germany BTW) and it takes forever for stuff to get here in the mail, priority even!!! Soon I'll have pics on my bike, I've been calling her the "Swan" after hat goofy show that lasted two seasons where they took some average looking woman, spent alot of $$$ on her to make her look above average. I'll let you guys decide when it's all said and done.

Your bike looks really nice, glad it all came together!!! Hopefully I can get mine looking as sharp as yours!!! I think I'm going to use the Cycle Cat bar ends, as it doesn't look like I'm going to trim my tubes, but as you know with this project things change daily it seems!!!!!

Ok, so I got most of my parts in last night. All the ones that I need to finish up my front end swap hopefully, providing I don't have any issues with some of my stock components. I decided to swap the left and right bar risers so that the mounting tabs face the rear of the forks, and won't hit the instrument cluster. We'll see if this works. I'll be busy this weekend for sure. Your bike looks really good BTW, DBG!!! HEY!!! Where are the pics of your custom upper???

SWEET!!! Glad to hear that she's alive, and breathing again. Mine is still on life support, although she is getting noticable better. Hanging the forks the other day really made me feel like I've accomplished something. Now if the rest of the parts would get here...follow the link for pics... http://vfrworld.com/photos/showgallery.php...500/ppuser/1185

Some of my stuff came in today, so I was able to install my wave rotors, and hang my forks!!!!!!! Progress is FINALLY being made. Now we'll see just how long it takes for the rest of my stuff to come in.

If you have a tap and die set, perhaps you could use the stock bar ends from your old tubes??? I have such a kit, and may look into doing that. Not too sure if you've seen this website, this guy is one of the first to start this mod I believe. Not too sure how he was able to use the brakes lines that he did, unless the bar risers had more than a 2.5 inch rise. I think the best pic that illustrates is the 8th pic, the cockpit view. I enjoy tinkering, but I'm getting tired of watching other ppl ride. It's alomst 55 degrees, and quite sunny here in Germany today, and if my baby were servicable, I'd be on her. I sure hope all this is worth it.......... http://www.hiperform.com/vfr_project.htm

So I'm sitting here looking at the pics of your mods so far. Looks pretty good if you ask me. How much did the custom brake lines cost? I just installed the new Galfer lines on my front end last weekend, and am just waiting for the remainder of the parts to come in before I finish up. I'm guessing you removed the material from the tubes from the inside ends, as the bar end weight still needs a hole that has been tapped.

Ok, when you get back from lunch, will the pics show your unique items, such as your 4mm spacer under the vortex top triple clamp? I'm really curious so see the details of the brake and clutch lines. Why did you need to shorten the tubes? Hopefully my parts will be in this week, and I can put mine back together. I'm using the master cylinder from the 954 as well, so we'll see how mine differs from your CBR 600 F4 master cylinder. I'm really looking foward to comparing notes with you and Phantom, when i'm done of course. And again, many thanks to you guys, as this is not something that I would have tackled w/o the knowledge of the ppl on this website!!!

Pics would definately be a plus. I just installed the Galfer lines on my front forks. No custom ends there. Hopefully we can find a work around on this. I'm still waiting for my packages from my parent's house. They just sent them yesterday supposedly. I'm already tired of waiting to put my bike together. It's been rather nice here lately, and I'm dying to ride!!!!

Ok, this is what I got back from Cycle Cat..... Doug, The kit you ordered was a custom kit for a VFR I believe. There are no cables or lines included in this kit. We recommend Speigler. Please let me know if there is anything more we can do for you. Chris Calovini Director of Business Development Moto Millennia division, Havensmark, LLC ph: 614.577.8080 x 102 fax: 614.577.8088 email:chris@motomillennia.com Not too sure if you ordered a custom kit or not. I did. I'm going to look into Speigler.

I know MotionPro sells cable in a wide assortment of sizes and lenghts so this may be another option. I treid to find the link that I had for a company that I knew of that did cable lenghtening, but I can't seem to find it. Are the throttle cables long enough? It seems (logically thinking) that if the choke cable is too short that the throttle cables may be as well. I e-mail Chris from Cycle Cat, and will check my e-mail when I get home. I'll let you know what I find out.

This is definately not good news. Have you tried to contact Cycle Cat and see who they go through? I know that there are companies out there that do this. Another route would be to measure the length of the choke cable and see what else is out there. Speedzilla is a good resource that I use occasionally. I'll do some research as well, and hopefully one of us will come up with a solution. I suppose another option would be to call some dealers in your area and see if they know anything. There aren't too many english speakingdealers where i'm at currently, unfortunately.

Found it!!!!! This site is alot bigger, and more informative that I previously thought!!!!! http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29080

Ok, much thanks to 767Fixer I was able to remove the throttle assembly from the clip-on. My next question is what have you guys been usingto torque the steering stem retention nuts ( the castlated ones with the keeper under the top triple tree)? It looks like a special tool/socket is needed, and I'm not too sure if the wife will let me spend any more $$$, as I just spent a little over $2k on parts for my VFR. Any advice/guidance will be greatly appreciated. And many thanks goes out already!!!

Donny, that's a pretty sweet looking CF Fender you got there. Any updates on your progress? I ordered the same Cycle Cat clip-ons as you. I was going to get the DBR13's, but they are out of stock, and Chris from Cycle Cat recommended the ones you got, plus they were in stock. Did you replace your steering stem bearings? I have new ones on the way, and was wondering if you did replace them how you seated them. The Manual says to use a bearing seater, I'm gonna see if I can find a length of pipe the right diameter, and length and see if that'll work for the bottom bearing. Here are pics of my bike in it's current state...... http://vfrworld.com/photos/showgallery.php...500/ppuser/1185 BTW where is Nashua IA? My wife is from Sioux City.

Yeah, the A.F. pays me good $$$ to fix their aircraft. The thing is, I didn't have my manual with me when I posted that (should have waited until I checked my references first). I was at work, trying to recall my difficulties. I wasn't aware of the pin, and I didn't see it in the manual either, so thanks for that tip!!!

Ok, I'll give that a shot, thanks!!!!