jstanwood

I'm about two years late, but it's been a while since I've been here.

I had my forks reworked by DMR, and love the results. I highly recommend them.

This only applies to new bikes, but I always thought it would be cool if dealerships did the following when you bought a bike:

1. Set sag
   
2. If sag cannot be set because the stock springs don't have enough range for the rider, swap out the fork/shock springs to match rider weight
   

That would make too much sense, though. It would cost a little more, but at least people would get the most from their new bike right away.

Wow...glad you're OK.

You'll be baaaack!

Got my final piece today, charger map is loaded, no wet spots below, slight wining from belt, helmet on......

Ill try to post a riders report soon. :fing02:

If only i knew how to ul pics...

OOOHHH!!!!

GALLERY HELP

Come to the Gilmore on Sunday and ride demo bikes! :biggrin: They have new tires!

Nice work as always, Larry!

Ever go camping at work?

I just pitched a tent...

And thanks to you, I just choked on ice cream! :wheel:

Is it a penis support of some kind?

USA size ofcourse, not Japanese....

I'm with Dutchy. (Not in that way, though!)

BLS, if we're right, please debur the edges a little more.

Congratulation, Dan! Excellent job! :491:

I thought I would send an update and link over to The Kneeslider for you!

All he needed to add there was the Cheese Grater and Naca Duct! He was soooo close!

:dry:

Very nicely done. I agree that a nice big NACA duct would break up the slab-sidedness of the 916, too. They only had a NAC-let™ near the belly pan.

I wish I had enough time and money to do something exactly like this to my 4th gen.

You're not that old, are you? :blush:

Now THAT would be a cool 2009 VFR.

:goofy: Especially if it whines!

Can you release it quickly enough if necessary? Or, does it really just add some friction to fight the throttle return spring? The nub may beat your or the tank in the wind. You need some test rides!

Oh, and don't let BR see that picture in the background of him railing the Dragon. You know about that ego of his, right?

I like it!

And here's the crappy sketch:

Hose routing guess Knowing what I know now, if the hydraulic hose could exit the shock at these angles, there should be good clearance between the hose and the headers.

That looks better, but it's still kinda messy in there with all the hoses, clamps and suff around the reservoir, going in all directions. That will also not work with high mount pipes that a lot of us have. Makes you think whether it might have been better if they figured out some sort of piggyback arrangement to the main shock unit instead. I wonder if that all fits in the well where the tool bag sits in under the seat. The tools can always go sowhere else like the tank bag or any cavity left in behind the tail side farings........maybe??

Beck

95 VFR.

You might have to work on a left-side mount with a high-mount pipe. Klaus said they could rework the bracket if necessary, but I don't see how one would fit under the left footpeg mount, because the fuel pump gets in the way. I thought about the piggyback res., too, but the res. is larger than it looks. It's definitely bigger than the manual preload adjuster from the stock shock, so I am not sure it could actually fit there. I also thought about putting the res. under the seat, but that would defeat the cooling purpose. It was already a tight squeeze with the hugger I have, and my luggage won't fit anymore. But, I use the shock with every ride, and I've used the luggage twice.

I just finished a crappy sketch of how the hoses should leave the shock, and I need to scan it and send it to Klaus. (Architects like you, Brown81, and my wife would scoff at it, but it's been a long time since I was a draftsman, and I don't have all my drawing tools handy.) He said they could replace banjo bolts of necessary to get the right alignment. I just have a feeling I'm going to be redoing this again in the near future, anyway. I'm probably going to twist the hose on the res side so it's hidden better. I just have to be careful, because there's 125 psi of nitrogen trying to force the oil out if I break the seal from the crush washers.

Too bad Martina can't drop her bike off at their shop for them to find a good solution. It's in NJ, not that far from NYC!

Cool, sounds like both of you and Dutchy are liking the shock so far!

Sheesh, after reading this thread, I am thinking I'll just get the cheapo shock without the remotes! Then, I'll just take it to Evolution or some place like that and have them help me set it up. I don't take pillions very often if I can avoid it, and rarely any luggage.

Dave,

As long as you're honest about your riding style and weight, the 640 (no remote res.) is probably a great shock, too. You will be sure it's sprung for your weight, and the valving will be set up for the spring rate and your riding style. That may be all we were missing all this time, plus the fact that our shocks were probably sacked out. For all I know, I may not have to mess with the compression settings. If you skip the remote preload, the install should not be that hard. I think the toughest part for me was dealing with the hoses and the damn things hanging from them. With the "practice" I have now, I think it would be a 2-hour job to install the 640. You may still lose a knuckle or two, though.

I updated Klaus on my progress this morning, and he has more suggestions that we will work through. One may involve changing the banjo bolt for the reservoir hose so it leaves the shock differently. A 45-degree angled banjo bolt would help. I'm afraid to melt the hose with it so close to the exhaust, so it doesn't bother me that we have crappy weather right now.

While the heat reduction and extra adjustments on the model 641 night be nice, finding a place to mount the res. has been a pain. Once Klaus and I find a good solution, though, he'll apply it to future jobs.

Dave,

I've managed to sneak maybe 50 miles since I originally mounted the shock, and the difference was amazing. But, like Dutchy said, it could be my imagination. The bike does seem a lot lighter on it's feet, and it turns much easier. I can feel the bumps in the road surface, but the shock soaks them up and maintains control. It's still less jarring then the stocker. I have yet to do my normal 3-hour loop. Testing on frost-heaved pavement has been good, though.

Dutchy, maybe you should have ordered yours from the US! :unsure: My shock preload was just about perfect out of the box. I still have to install the new fork springs, but I thought one change at a time would be good. I'm glad you got to test ride yours, though.

I finally had time to get the space heater in the garage (laugh, you Southerners!) and spend a half-day of quality time working on relocating the shock reservoir.

I'm getting much quicker at the disassembly and assembly process on the old girl. This time the fuel petcock even worked! I did lose a knuckle somewhere early in the process, though. It was still cold in the garage at the time, so I didn't notice until there was extra red everywhere that didn't match the paint. Nothing a shop towel and electrical tape couldn't fix, though. (We're out of Band-Aids )

Reservoir mounting bracket Here is the bracket that Klaus from Wilbers USA sent. The only modification I had to make was to make the slots a little taller to fit the bolts from the footpeg mounting bracket. A drill bit and a file made quick work of it.

Dutchy,

You now have a picture of what Klaus sent me, so you can pressure Wilbers or Thurn to cough it up. You essentially paid for it. It's included with the shock for other bikes.

Hose routing With some careful twisting, I got the hoses to leave the shock at a better angle. They easily reach the reservoir and preload adjuster on the bracket. The reservoir hose may still be a little close to the headers, but I'll have to try it out and keep an eye on it. I used some creative zip tie routing to pull them away as much as possible.

Reservoir mount Klaus from Wilbers USA recently sent a bracket for mounting the remote reservoir. I had to make the holes a little larger to get the bolts for the footpeg bracket to line up. Also, note the heatsink from my old Pentium Pro CPU (remember them? :lol: )

Final 1 This looks and works much better. I can reach the adjustments easily, and things are out of the way.

Update:

I got an email from Klaus at Wilbers USA this week. He let me know he sent a bracket to mount the remote res. That was very cool of him--I didn't even ask!

This is one example why I like the USA, customer service.

Wilbers Germany told me I could order one for te equivalent of $40 plus shipping................ well euh thanks but no thanks..

With a little luck the rains will stop on Sunday so I can start tinkering with the spare footpeg hanger....

I think you can bargain with them. If you had a 5th gen, they would have shipped you a bracket. So, you know there is room in the profit margin for it.

I'm waiting for it to warm up a little bit, too. I don't want the brittle plastics cracking in the cold garage. :goofy:

Update:

I got an email from Klaus at Wilbers USA this week. He let me know he sent a bracket to mount the remote res. That was very cool of him--I didn't even ask! It just arrived today. :thumbsup:

If I get time this weekend, I'll pull the bike out so I can tinker. I'll take pictures, of course. After a peek, it looks like it will mount on the right, between the subframe and the passenger foot peg hanger. A tube sticks out back for the res. to strap to. I still don't think the Corbin bags will fit, but it's not the end of the world if I have to sell them.

Strike off #2 of my winter project list, fitting a new rear shock. (ok, I still have to attach the external adjustor)

It looks like Wilbers donot place the banjo bolt in the same place/hose orientation on each shock because mine has no interference whatsoever... With the banjo bolt facing towards the back, the hose points towards the left (where the SSA/chain is). Wilbers advises NOT to place it on the side where the chain is (in case it snaps?), but on the other side is my -hot- high mount exhaust...

Your hose hangs out the same way mine does! :goofy:

On a more serious note, you will see what I mean when you try to put the front of the battery box back in. It will hit the banjo bolt until you"modify" it.

Mounting the external adjuster in a good place is the difficult part. Enjoy!

View from above Of course, once I got the hoses routed nicely, the battery heat shield hit the banjo bolt. I was tired of fighting, so I grabbed the tin snips and pliers.

You've guessed it, battery flat as a dodo.....

Thanks for reminding me to switch the battery tender cable from the scooter to the VFR. <_<

Here, the thermometer says GO! However, the wind chill says NO! Actually, I just checked your weather, and it's not much different than here. I am just a wimp!

EDIT: Well, I did it! It was good. <_<

My plan is to saw of the footpeg hanger bit (retaining the grip and seat lock) and affix the adjuster in front of the grip (to place the bike on its centre stand).

I've located 2 left hangers for a 4th gen (94-97) via the net here in the Netherlands

What should I pay for one? $10?

Shall I buy both, chop both and ship one to you?

Thanks for the offer! :goofy:

Buy one and chop it, then post pics. I think $10 is a steal, and it's no big loss if it doesn't work well. If it works great and looks good, I'm sure I can find another hanger over here for less than the cost of shipping. Winter is making me patient, but it is supposed to get to 38f/3c today, so I may be a nut and test ride it.

Even with the current setup, I can still put the bike on the center stand by using the front of the hanger. It was months before I realized there was actually a "grip". The reservoir is on there so well, that I can still use it as a lift point.

My other thought was to make a bracket that bolts through the hole in the left hanger, but that would require fabrication skills and machine tools I don't have.

I think I'm a bit too late for the Wilbers group discount, but how much did that full boat looking shock for your 4th gen cost you, delivered. I came acrss some money lately and I'm trying to decide whether to join in on the Wilbers or go for a Penske or Ohlins for my 4th gen, instead.

Beck

95 VFR

Well, Ohlins already helped you decide not to get one of theirs. They stopped making them at least a year ago.

Depending on the options you want, Penske may not be good either. What are you looking for? (twin or triple clicker, remote preload, ride height adjustment, etc?)

I did progressive fork springs, the 641 (triple clicker), and remote preload, and the total was a whopping $1034, shipped. :o (I'm still sore.)

I love when funny stuff happens in translation. I have a very funny/sick mental picture or two. Have you seen American Pie? :lol: They usually frown on mounting of many kinds in public.

One of the advantages of being dutch is the abilily to claim ignorance when it comes to words having a slightly different meaning.... but euh englis iz not me mother tongue... :goofy:

That's what makes learning other languages so much fun! It's best to be with friends to help you learn the double meanings. :D

Another good example was from the Wilbers box. I looked up "Tolles Fahrwerk", and it translated literally to "Mad Chassis". That's not what I was going for with my purchase. I'm hoping for a calmer chassis!

Toll can also mean Super, whereas Tollwut is rabies.....

My box reads

<snip>

Maybe they sent me yours, and yours to me! Mine is all German! (I know from their web site it was meant to be translated as "Brilliant Suspension", but Mad Chassis is more humo(u)rous.

Wilbers box Racy--I mean Racing Suspension

This is what the top op my shock looks like

<snip>

Will have to look at my bike to see why this bolt cannot face rearwards.

That is the exact orientation as mine. If you mount it with the hose toward the front, the hose will interfere with the exhaust. If you mount it to the back (180 degree rotation), it will likely hit the heat shield for the battery box. So, if I had to do it again, I would use pliers to make the hose go left it were going out the front. Don't forget to cover the shock in something to protect it while you stuff it in there. I used plastic food wrapping, so the only damage was to my knuckles.

Although it's been quite a few years since I did shock swaps on my old 4th gen, I don't recall seeing any reason to completely remove the fuel tank. I just unbolted the rear mount and propped it up out of the way.

I was more afraid of dropping the tank or hitting it with something while I was wrenching. I could have done the job with it on, but I appreciated the extra room while I did my contortions. Plus, the airbox lid is a good place for tools. :o

Did you have any similar deals with the hose orientation? I was afraid to crank on the fittings to rotate them.

I was mounting tables at the apres ski in Austria!

Lucky you! That looks like tasty :goofy:

I love when funny stuff happens in translation. I have a very funny/sick mental picture or two. Have you seen American Pie? :lol: They usually frown on mounting of many kinds in public.

Another good example was from the Wilbers box. I looked up "Tolles Fahrwerk", and it translated literally to "Mad Chassis". That's not what I was going for with my purchase. I'm hoping for a calmer chassis! There is an "establishment" near the race track here in Indy called the "Classy Chassis". I wonder if it's related? :D