SEBSPEED

That looks great Mike, I'd love to try it out! I forgot to send that PM the other day... sending now... :dry: I have a stock 600RR throttle here in one of the parts cabinets for the 86 VFR, I can compare the two and let you know of any differences. :mad:

Here's my photoshop paint: And here's the pics to go along w/ the work I did on the switches... For the left side, I had to completely disassemble the new switch and the old switch, so I could swap the wires over. It was tedious, but now I have a plug & play switch with new styling and better controls: I cut the locating tabs off the CBR600F3 clip ons and bolted them in place, then threw the switches on to get an idea of how they'd look: Then I added another workbench to the garage: Gotta love it when the company throws away perfectly good stuff!! Now, the right side. At first it looked like it was going to be difficult, but in the end it was just a matter of extending the 1000RR wires by 9" and leaving the actual switch alone. First I took both old & new apart to see what I had going on, because I counted 7 pins in each harness plug, yet the VF switch pod had 8 wires coming out of it... hmm... Turns out the extra wire in the VF pod was due to a difference in the configuration of the starter button - the VF switch has 4 poles and the CBR switch only has three. CBR: VF: So the VF has an extra wire, fine. Now all I had to do was make the wiring longer and put the VF plug on the end! Luckily I had a rashed up F4i switch "in stock", and lo and behold, all the wires in it are the same color too, save for the brake switch wires. Those are BL/Y & BL/Gr vs the Gr/Y & Wh/Gr of the VF. The harness plug is even the same, except for color: Cut the wiring and rubber sleeve to the desired length, and removed the CBR plug: ***more coming later, gotta run out for a BBQ*** :cool:

True story! Kind of. Appreciated! Kind of. You're such a toolbag Steve. :biggrin:

Great White, what can I say - great minds think alike? I can however GUARANTEE that my bike will NOT be orange. It won't even have a speck of orange on it! :biggrin: Thanks very much Mike. Is that a throttle tube you have? Or an assembly? Either way, the tube should fit right into the 900RR throttle housing I'm using. I don't know if the lines would need changing. Sending PM...

Ok, left side pod is done, reassembled and all. The 1000RR start/kill switch(same as 900RR) looked daunting at first, but is actually going to be easier. I was thrown at first by the extra wire in the VF start button, but now that I have the differences in the switch figured out, it's going to be easy. All I have to do is cut the harness plug off the 1000RR switch, add 9" of wire(stolen from a rashed up CBR switch, which all the same color wires!), and then reinsert the pins into the proper slots in the VF plug. I'm proud of myself for getting over that hump! No really, I'm pretty damn pleased! Just one more hurdle - the fuse box. I'm wiring in an F4i unit, and it also has to find a new home behind the front fairing. I'm going to test the newly configured switches at motorhead's house on Sunday... cross your fingers for me! I have new pics, of course, and they will be up tomorrow. :biggrin:

I had to get the cap off a VF500 tank once, and had no key. It took just a couple hard knocks with a flathead screwdriver & a hammer to pop it open. Of course, the lock was junk once it opened... :cool: That didn't matter at the time though, as the bike was being parted out anyway.

The only way you'll be able to open it with a key, is if you get the serial # from the ignition of the same bike. With that, a dealer can order you a new key. Or, you can hire a thief to pick it for you. Just don't meet him at your home. :cool:

In order to put the carbs in, I had to first get the throttle cables and wiring harness in place. I ran into more small parts that I need, like starter relay, fan relay, some clips, some rubber mounts, etc. Here's some new pics. Harness was stripped of all the old gooey tape and re-wrapped with new 3M vinyl electrical tape. All connectors were cleaned and filled with dielectric grease. Repainted thermostat housing w/ new t-stat installed: Next thing I'm working on is integrating the new switch housings. I'm using a 1998 VFR800 left switch, and a CBR1000RR slim start/stop switch on the right. only issue I see so far, is that on the VF, the headlight connector is integrated in the VF left switch pod, while the VFR has plugs that connect to a headlight subharness. The VFR subharness includes the headlight and signal relays, while the VF headlight relay is on the left rear side of the bike. VF switch end: VFR switch end: The funny part is, that I cracked open the switch pods, and all the wiring inside is the same. Same colors & all. I will verify against both wiring diagrams, but I'm hoping to just de-solder both sets of wiring from the switches, and transfer the VF wiring over to the VFR switch pod. Do you guys think that will work? VF: VFR:

Nice. Is that a 900RR front end on the first bike?

First off, congrats on the bike & the trip! Second, get rid of those Z4's!! Worst tire ever!

The mirrors fold back, but I know what Jamie's thinking - engineer a bigger door! :happy:

Why yes; yes it is.

Sexy! I like your drive-through garage setup too! :mad:

ps - does this swingarm change the wheelbase in a belt-drive favorable manner?

Ever go camping at work? I just pitched a tent...

Sorry to hear about the guy, and I think you've got some good points here.

Were you sure to get the right coils? You should have Accel part number 140403, it's the opposite of what you think it would be. Your bike has CDI ignition but if you use the CDI Accel coils you will see flames come out of the spark boxes - seriously. Yup - see the pics in this post on the previous page: link These are the 3.0 ohm resistance coils. :biggrin:

They're both a little crooked, there is a second set in the works, but these are staying in to get it running! :blush: Make me an offer! :beer:

Oh and, the float heights are set, carbs are ready to in once I figure out what to do with the brackets. Also, the clamps on the (new) carb insulators are taken from two different sets of F4i throttle bodies that I had out in the shed. they look mo' betta than the original ones, and have hex heads + the Phillips head, so, no more stripping the clamps! Yay!

Sounds like you've got some time to think about your choices... it's too bad that you're away from your bike during the short Canadian riding season! In the meantime, here's some pics of work I've done lately: Finished the brackets for the Accel coils: And painted them - I did them in flat black like the diaphragm tops, but I'm not sold on it and may add a new coat of gloss black instead of leaving them.. Almost got the new 520 chain installed. I had a 110 link chain from a previous project, but need a 112 for this bike. Someone from the board sent me 6 links of the exact same chain that they had left over, so with two master links and one link of the gift, I can make a good 112 link chain. Problem is, I have one gold rivet-type master, and one silver clip-type master. I don't mind the silver link, but I refuse to use a clip link!! I'm not sure I like the black sprocket either. I can't imagine cleaning a white one though... God help me! Lower rad is installed, I need a couple grommets and spacers for the top rad mount so I can get that one in there too. I remember that the two originals were rotted and I had thrown them away, let's hope Honda hasn't discontinued them... Oil mod is complete! I don't think I posted the battery box all finished up: Here's what I'm thinking of for the brake torque arm - minus the socket, of course: I'm also thinking of making a new torque arm so I can integrate it, and keep it from looking like a botch job. And speaking of botch jobs, anyone think I should leave the "Red Bull mod" on the bike when it's done? :fing02:

Awesome. I vote for PVM 10Y wheels!!