The Phantom

Agreed, can't quite see enough in the first pic to be able to make an edumacated comment :lol:

You're welcome. Not charcoal :lol: I was keen to see how a matte black finish would look, and the bike required repainting anyway, so away I went with 400-grade wet and dry... it looks like hell up close but I got the effect I was after! Tell you what, though - starting in on the tank was VERY difficult, as it was relatively unmarked. The factory black gloss is a lovely colour, 'coca-cola' in sunlight with nice pearl metallic hues. The bike was 'mocked up' for that pic: - CBR1100XX mirror is held in place with wire - Rear bodywork is missing a piece where it meets the indicator (since repaired) - NR-style aluminium scoop under bellypan is just silver spraypaint - Mesh side panels are actually silver-painted flyscreen... - No brakes or drivechain But it served its purposes - told me I was on the right track with my mods, and more importantly inspires me to get on with it when the project starts to drag its heels... which is often! To give you an idea, I have an email from Safe-T from 2002 asking me "did you ever finished painting your bike?" :goofy:

Yep, same goes for the 94-97 VFR if you lose the steel heatshield that bolts to the back of the RH footpeg assembly. But it looks grand without it :goofy: Not quite as good as an 800, mind you - there's a lot less plumbing on display: http://www.ozvfr.net/gallery/Phantom-restoration-pics/aba Looking forward to *your* pics now Trace!

You don't muck around :goofy: With the 'hidden' outlet and no rear pegs, I think this is possibly the cleanest looking VFR rear end I've seen. If you go with JetHot, and are prepared to pull the whole system off, the rear bank header pipes look pretty amazing when coated. Especially if you leave the upper heat shield off... http://www.vfrworld.com/images/list/don_wright.jpg Oh, and tell your wife to forget about the 636 - the new magic number is 675... http://www.triumph.co.uk/uk/3932.aspx

Very sharp Magellan. I'm all for recycling :lol: I've also been wrestling with where/how to mount the licence tag under the Wolf system. I like your solution but it does hide what you've done, also I imagine it mutes the sound a little? Which probably would be a good thing with my system... Can you post some daylight pics, with the seatcowl fitted? (I'm assuming you have one). I'm thinking the red canister + seatcowl will give a nice symmetrical look to the rear end of your bike (and perhaps you could consider losing the rear peg brackets just for the pic B) ) Gee, I wish I'd finished my Wolf installation already, underseat exhausts are becoming so passe :beer:

Shim is simply another term for 'spacer'. If you've ever placed a folded cardboard coaster under a table leg to level the table, then you have 'shimmed' the table. Shims are also used as part of the valve clearance adjustment for gear-driven VFRs - in this case they are simply a small metal disc cut to a specific thickness and marked as such. The shim that works best on the VFR shock is a simple U-shape used for adjusting camber on cars, as per this: http://www.cliphouse.com/ImagesProducts/PSN116-T.gif Just ask your local car tyre dealer for two or three, probably won't even charge you if he knows you.