Renevator

Hi Renevator, Thank you for your donation of 25.00 USD. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation. Thanks VFRDiscussion

Druid & Arrow Thanks for the input - not too late as I've not even started on the bike rebuild yet - been organising our garden, rebulding shed, preparing to install a summerhouse so my wife has an art studio to balance the enormous amnount of time I will spend in the garage doing this VFR refurb . I've had some interesting input from variosu sources, and have narrowed it all down to the following forks: R1 (00-01), Fireblade 929/954, CBR600F4i, or Aprilia Falco Showa's, which would mean getting an engineer to make me a spindle to combine the Honda & Aprilia Triple Tree, frame interface difference. Yeah, not so narrow, I know. I will probably be swayed by the combination that gives me the closest trail to std (rake of course being fixed). I've not done all the calculations yet, but hope to soon. Mind you, I did have a suggestion to just keep the Maxton adjusted std forks, make a bracket to take some CBR900 calipers and spend the dosh on some lightweight wheels - now that's just annoying, as it makes sense, and now I want it all Thanks againg all for your comments - i'm learning day by day.

Seb & Yoshi - many thanks for that, v helpfull. zRoYz - apologies for not responding to your post earlier - seem to have had a very interrupted week. Well, you've hot the nail right on the head there. The reason I've decided to spend the effort & time in a front end and rest of the bike rebuild on the VFR, is as a result of being honest with myself about the bike, and me. As we all do, I've hankered after a change in bike for a while, but I had to recognise my delusions of wealth, and admit I wasn't going to be in a position of affording anything much better than the VFR for quite some time. Of course, I could sell it ann add a little more cash to whatever I got for it, to buy something else, but I'd still only be looking at a £2000-£2500 bike, and for my money there's nothing better than my current VFR for that sort of cash. I've realised I'd need to spend at least £4000 to get anything significantly better, and even then, I'm not so sure. So after much deliberation, and as I said, a reasonably large dose of honesty with myself, I realised I still had a bike that was capable of offering me everything I could expect from a bike, well, at least with my current abilities anyway. So I thought, why not just spend that extra £1000 on the VFR, and make it something very personal and completely suited to me. It's been something of a cathartic decision to take my bike off the road. I probably shouldn't mention it on such a hallowed VFR forum, for fear of being ostracised, but over the last year or so I've utterly abused my bike, in so much as I've done sweet f.a to it, but still expected it to get me to work & back everyday - through all weathers and seasons. It's a honda, so it did just that. Jesus these bikes are well put together. I can blame circumstances, life, work family obligations etc, but in the end it was entirely down to me that my beautifull VFR was beginning to show it's age, but thank god I finally came to my senses and realised I needed to address my lack of commitment. Hense the question at the beginning of this post, and the very interesting & exciting journey I'm now on in my quest to rebuild this bike into my very personal VFR. Which is more than I can say for the next 12 months I'm likely to spend commuting by bus & car (though I should thank my lovely wife for allowing me to use her car :-)) Of course I'm not going to be doing anything original - reading about the many wonderful Frankenviffers here prioves that - but I'm aiming to make the bike mine, and sod the residuals, if you know what I mean. So, back to the suspension - sorry, got carried away there. I understand your point entirely about Parker and his confidence change in having the R1 front end you built. It's an odd thing isn't it, that when your confidence increases, along with your skill, you can do so much more with so much less. I think that applies to all manner of disciplines. How many notes did Count Basie leave out, and how wonderful did it sound Yes, I have made mistakes on the road, mostly when I've been riding out of my skill level, though I do try to be aware of what I'm doing as much as I can, so I can also see your point that having the best set up possible to correct those errors is the wisest route. I'm sure the f4i conversion would probably serve my skill level, but if the rebuild plan goes, er, to plan, I'm likely to end up with a bike that's a keeper for quite a few years, so I reckon going that extra mile in doing a USD conversion will be money well spent. It seems now that with a well thought out conversion I'd be trading off very litle and gaining so much, so thansk forall your advice. With a fair bit of study I'm pretty sure I can do the spannering, but I'm going to need the expertise of an expert to revalve any USD forks I fit, both to the VFR & my requirements, and I've got a couple of good options over here in the UK to get that done. I have however just ordered Andrew Trevitt's suspension tuning book (can't remember the guy who recommended it here, but thank you whoever you were) in an effort to educate myself better on all aspect of this weird suspension science, and along with the help of guys like yourself on this terrific forum, I'm hoping I'll end up with a nicely sorted VFR. Incidentally, in the initial quote I had form one suspension expert, he told me that R1 forks are more costly to service than Showas, as fitted to Aprilia's and Fireblades. I did wonder if I could make some Aprilia Showas work, but they are an odd size in relation to Triple Tree possibilities, so not so east to make fit, and maybe that's reflected in the fact that they seem to be a bit cheaper as used ebay items, than say CBR1000 or R1 forks. Anyway, I've got my eyes peeled on a few other forums for some choice unwanted USD fornt ends, so fingers crossed I get something sorted before the end of summer - got a fair bit elase to do, including a nice paint job, if I can teach myself to spray as well...doh! little ambitious, but what the hell :-) Cheers Rene

O, I'm a bit more informed now, having read various "Frankenviffer" threads - there are some amazing conversions out there, and some of you guys sure do know your stuff. I'm still very tempted to do a USD conversion, and from what I can tell the R1 (Prob 1998/2000 model) forks are only about 5mm shorter that the stock VFR750FR forks, so shouldn't give me loads of problems by changing the way the bike sits, well, no more than the easiest of USD set ups would anyway. I'm going to need to sort out the Triple Tree, wheels, rotors, calipers etc, but one thing I wanted to check with those that have such a conversion (Parker, your opinions would be very much appreciated), is have you sacrificed road riding ability in any way. I've read on some conversions that folk reckon they've lost a fair bit of turning circle (obviously this depends on what config they've used) and they have also noticed a slower turning rate, which I find a bit confusing as I'd expect the use of slightly shorter forks, thereby making the steering angle smoewhat sharper, to have made the bike turn quicker ?? I'm not looking at geting a track set up here, and in saying that I guess it makes it obvious that I'm only really looking at a USD set up as a bit of a vanity project, as a properly sorted F4i conversion would probably do all I need and can justify. What I want to acheive (as well as enjoying the process of personalising my VFR of course) is a more compliant, taughter front end without loosing any of the wonderful VFR ride quality. I'm teaming the front up with my Maxton shock, so the rear is sorted. If I forget the USD appeal, I could just get some VTR1000 forks, and CBR600/900 calipers, and get the forks rebuilt by Maxton to my weight etc, but I'd be looking at the best part of £800, so I'm trying to see if a USD set up will be acheivable for less. I've asked, but the work Maxton did on my std VFR forks isn't transferable to the VTR forks, which is a shame. What I don't want to do is end up with a worse handling bike than the one I've got of course, and I know for sure going the VTR/Maxton intenals route would guarantee me the right results, but that ol' USD bling factor is very appealing, and if I get it sorted I can always improve it some more with Maxton internals at a later date, whan money allows. Any feedback you coud give me on, er feedback (pardon the pun), would be much appreciated. I'm no 'zRoyZ' rider, but I can still appreciate what a great bike he's created for someone with the right skill, and as I said I'm not looking for a track tool, just an improved road tool that takes nothing away from the VFR ease, either in instabilty, turning abilty or ride comfort etc. If a USD conversion gives me a much better sport/track tool that's a bit of a pain in everyday, easy town riding, I guess I'd be wiser to stick to the std fork config mod. I know it's all subjective, but any comments would help. Cheers Rene

I'm in the UK, but it's vaguely possible I could get stuff sent over from the US by a work connection. Not quite ready yet, as I've only just started thinking about this whole front end revamp, but always willing to hear of a bargain. Cheers.

zRoyZ - Many thanks for that thoroughly informative post - I should have known, but I think I'm going to have to think about this front end rebuild project a lot more before I commit to anything, and re-read all your posts about the conversions you've done. The R1 set up on Parkers 750 looks great, apart form the master cylinder, but I guess there's limited choice for something to match the std clutch cylinder. You clearly know your stuff, and it's amazing I get to benefit from your knowledge - so thanks again. Lovely looking VTEC you have there, a thoroughly sorted motorcycle.

Twoeyedbob - I get your point, and of course it's true that the rider is always key regardless - Ron Haslam could beat me on track even if I had a Fireblade & he had a paddock scooter . To be honest, I'm as influenced as the next man by all the lovely new shiney toys out there, but there's no way I can afford to replace the VFR with anything significantly better for my budget - I'd have to be looking in the £3500-£4000 range at least. After a bit of casual browsing at all the many & varied "frankenviffer's" on here, I've come to the conclusion that transforming my bike to the way I want it, for my reasons, regardless of future value, will give me more pleasure than trading in for something different. I did in fact try a swap last year - for an Aprila Falco - but you know, on balace, for my life, the VFR is actually a much better bike. Having used the Aprilia brembo's though, it did highlight where I could improve the VFR, and that is the main reason for a front end change, as I already have the benefit of Maxton fork cartridges. It's also a bit of a project thing for it's own sake, within my limited abilities of course. Thanks everyone for your input. It does seem for me, that the F4i is the way to go, without going too crazy, especially as most things just slot in. Must say that VFRHusband's bike looks well trick - not quite my taste but a credit to you sir ! Re the f4i - does the bike end up with the same geometry - i.e. are the assembled forks the same length as the std 4th gen. I know dropping the std forks by 10mm is a recommended mod, and the Firestorm forks end up 10mm shorter than std, so is the f4i result the same as the Firestorm?

Having read a few posts both here and on the equally brilliant Bikersoracle site in the UK, I thought I'd get some feedback (er, sorry, no pun intended) from those that have changed their front end, be it Firestom (VTR1000), or a complicated USD set up. If you've made a change, would you be so kind as to tell me what the change was, and how you feel about the results. I'm hoping to be able to do a simple conversion myself, mainly for the brakes as I already have Maxton internals in the std forks. While I appreciate the ultimate way would be a USD set up, form say a fireblade or R1 etc, I'm not sure it's the best bet for me, especially as it would no doubt cost approx £1000 to finish I would imagine. I'm also not sure it looks right cosmetically - something of an overkill, dunno, need to think on that. My personal preference would be either a Firestorm or CBR600F4i (FX/FY) set of forks, refurbed calipers from that model, and then to get the GP20 fork cartridges from Maxton, to match my Maxton rear Shock, and also 'cause they really know what their doing, and would transform the Firestorm intenals for sure, as I understand they are pretty rubbish as std. I reckon that would set me back about £600 all in, but I could recoup some cash from selling my std VFR forks wth Maxton internals. One question though - why has no-one done an 800 conversion, especially from a VTEC? I presume because of the differing fork diameters, and the fact that it's just not possible to get the wole yoke tree/wheel interface etc to fit - anyone know more on this? Any comments gratefull received - pics too of the finished work please if you have them. Thanks.