JES_VFR

Sorry if I'm asking questions that have been answered in this or the other threads, but I'm just getting back to this after last years crash. Finally got the '01 back and the autotune module is dead, so I have to do something about the tuning. Now I can't say I'm not shocked and surprised that the RB units can not do gear by gear on the VFR. The PCV can do it without the gear position sensor, they just tap into the Tach signal and the speed sensor and compare to some stored gear ranges and know the gear your in. Why can't the RB units do the same?? Also is the issue with the 5th gen's narrow band sensors not trimming fuel related to how seldom the 5th gen ECM is in closed loop mode? The 6th gens go into closed loop mode a lot more often to meet the later emissions standards.

Can you give us a picture of the "T" fitting in the fuel line?? I need to check the pressure on my '01. I will probably want to do it on the '99, as well as a C14 that I'm instrumenting for some research work. KISS principle would be best to get gauges on these bikes.

Turbo City no longer makes them. But since they were just a squished OEM FPR your best bet would be just squish the one on your bike. I have a spare I'm going to try mashing, then see how it does on my '01. The PCV I have is running Autotune, so the FPR should just sharpen the tune.

I'd bet that there are a bunch of cells that have funky trims after the conversion from the pcIII map. When I got my PCV on my VFR, I forget who's map I copied and converted, only to have it run like crap. Then I hand copied the cells from the PCIII to the PCV and surprise it was a world better. Also don't forget to get Coderiter's vacuum switch to cycle the autotune off on long closed throttle operations. Otherwise you will have a stumble that seems to move all over the place. I wish there was a way to convert PCIII map to a target AF table. My '99 is supposed to have one of the best PCIII maps in existence for TBR exhaust. But if I want to run the Autotune, I have to translate each of the cells to an AF ratio. Anybody out their have a way to do that???

Oh agreed, more bikes or more anything else equals more projects.... That's why I'm swapping my RC51 that I never had time to make a track bike out of for a second 5th gen. It not gaining a new bike so much as gaining another VFR. It will be good for running around town on AND as a mockup dummy for projects.

Well if you put it on the dyno, You should be able to see the flat spot you mentioned. As well as deal with any single cell anomalies in the PCV map worked out. Congratulations on getting it running in the end. I just had a freshly cleaned injector fail on a friends car, sticking wide opened. It's very frustrating when that happens, particularly when its a vendor you deal with often and they do provide before/ after documentation. I'm about to swap the RC51 for another 5th gen, so that I can keep riding while I take care of projects. Any updates on the HID projectors??

I'm guessing mostly his driver's license . . . Having gotten to compare the Phase I Torocharger to a stock bike, I'd say that punk up the road on a zx10/gsxr1000 or that ilk. Please do as finding copies of the Erion or TBR headers is getting harder and harder I'd love a reasonably priced copy of the Erion or TBR. I'd love to do the underseat exhaust, but I've already seconded that space for my HHO cell so I'm stuck with either a narrow oval high pipe or standard angle low pipe option. JZH said there was a smaller diameter hose that needed a 180 bend that he did not source. And Trav, can you post where you manage to source them please? My local source is hung up on the Samco hoses.

Any updates on how this is working out??? I'd love to do it right now, but I can't afford it right now.

Well I swapped out the back ground panel bulbs for these http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FWLED-xHP5.htm And 3 of the idiot lights with these http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2F74-xHP.html And for the turnsignal idicators on I used these. http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FWLED-x4.htm My flashers were already cycling fast because I have LED's in the back, and I'm adding flush mounted led lights upfront, so I also grabbed one of these. http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FLFS-1-FLAT.html This module plugged right into the '01 harness and the flashing is slowed back down to a normal rate. The only bulb I did not replace was the FI light. As others have said it glows all time when you try to use a LED. I still have a couple of extra 74 base LED's so I may try adding some resistance to the FI circuit to make it work with the LED. but for now everything in the panel works so I'd rather just get it back together.

yeah, I'm looking for cool white or at least natural white leds.

Well I've used some 4 led, side firing ones in my cars and they worked well, very bright, but even lighting. I'm trying to find them again, but so far no luck. As for lower wattage, I don't use load resistors or the LEDS that have them. Mostly because as KPerham said, it just defeats the purpose. Now for the FI light and/or the turnsignals, I'm surprised there is that much voltage in what should be a switched circuit. I wonder if it is some sort of back current, given the crappy grounds of the 5th gen. Anyway thanks for the input everyone

Well, I've got one dead 194 bulb behind both the speedo and tach, so they both have been sort of dim at night. I'm lazy enough that I was in no rush to dig in and replace it, but since I have the instrument panel out in the middle of repairs from the crash, I should take care of it. I just figured that I've had better luck with led's in two of my cars and they use less wattage compared to the regular lights. I'm not going blue, but I'll probably go bright white.

While I have the Meters out of the bike, I'm going to change the bulbs for LED's I found the printed copy of KPerham's led list, which seems to have been lost. I notice that he says not to use LEDs for the FI light and the turn signal indicators. Did this ever get sorted out?? Also does using a non-load sensitive flasher solve the problem.

Nice work, I do like the gear indicator as it might keep me from hunting for that 7th gear on long slab rides. But that's just another farkle that will go on the never ending list.

Not yet - me and Kostritzer were giving suggestions on how to go about it locally. I mean, heck I've got an oscilloscope and low amp current probe but I'm a bit far away. :) Oh yeah, you mentioned a small inexpensive oscilloscope didn't you. Can you shoot me a PM with the brand and if possible a link of a vendor to purchase it from? The shop ones I keep seeing are way beyond the tool budget for now.

Hang on. What you're saying means that you know that over-charging the primary coil results in a higher voltage in the secondary winding. Which also means that we're assuming that over-charging the coil is cool. Shouldn't we focus on confirming that's fine first, and then worry about the spark gap adjustment to compensate for the higher voltage? I wasn't suggesting overcharging the primary. I thought that Scott had already checked the peak primary voltage and current. Yes lets make sure that the primary is operating at the correct current. Then look at the spark gap to peak the secondary windings output. If I've jumped ahead, sorry my bad... My point was that Scott has changed the coil, so he has to look at what he has on the VFR, not what the coil is supposed to work with on the GSXR.

Never mind what the GSXR uses for a plug gap!! IF you test one of these COP's connected to the VFR, what does the spark look like?? Is it bright blue white with a vicious snap?

Just a thought here, mostly directed to rangerscott69 Did you change the spark plug gap at all? the lower resistance in the primary winding of the COP will increase the potential high voltage in the secondary coil. If you don't open up the spark plug gap, your going to get a long yellowish buzzing spark, which you don't want. You want to open up that gap a few thousands (I'd try steps of .002"), to get that spark back to a nice bright blue white arc that "snaps". I see it all the time with the younger guys in my car clubs. The get new heavy duty COP's with low resistance primary windings and then complain that their rides are sluggish. The ford/lincoln guys particularly seem to suffer from this as OEM ford COP's are crap.

Sorry, I've been busy planning a carb rebuild and a usd fork conversion on my son Alex's GS700e. Yes that would be bad, I'd hate to have polish my bike's headlight 'glass' as often as I have to do my car's. Okay, had not thought of that, I thought that the back halves were sealed like the back half of a conventional head light. Okay I've got it now, It just wasn't 100% clear before which adjustment system you were planning on using. That would effect how far out the back of the headlight you can go with the projector housing as well I guess. Mr Wizard? No, I just thought that you'd be proactive and test it with say steam from a tea kettle or a cool humidifier before its all bolted back into the bike and fixing a leak becomes a double effort. I've been there with the clear lenses on my last two fords products. One the oem sealant gave up three times (dealer reapplied it the first time, I did the second) before I just decided to use an epoxy putty to bond and seal the lens to the reflector housing. If I ever decide to put HID projectors into those lights, I'll have to land a new set on ebay first as those are never coming apart. Just offering since I live right around the corner from the vendor that we sourced HID components from when I worked at the dealerships. My buddies Mitsu waits about 10 seconds after startup before the headlights will come on. I can't tell on another friend's Lincoln since the automatic eye for lights was knocked out by an overly aggressive windshield glass repairmen.

I realize they are mounted fairly far forward, and TBH I don't know if that will create a problem with heat. However, HIDs don't get that hot, as a rule, and the potential heat source is quite far back from the front of the glass projector lens. The location was the result of positioning the projectors so that they didn't stick out the back of the headlamp housing. That is important for three reasons, the first being sealing, the second being clearance for adjustment and the third being interchangeability with my ST1300. I wasn't thinking about the heat from the HID in the projector, I was thinking about the heat generated by light focused on the headlight assembly glass. I've cracked headlight glass using a scratch and a magnifying glass on a bright sunny day (ssshhh don't tell). Well I understand the need to seal the housing against the elements, but I thought the back of the g35 units were already weather proof, so you just needed a through gasket like the h4's use. Heck if the back of the projector is already sealed, you would just need to open up the oem boot. No, I haven't. However, I've seen a few aftermarket products over the years and most left something to be desired with respect to quality of manufacture. The OEM G35 projectors I'm using are miles ahead of the aftermarket "FX-R" replicas sold by The Retrofit Source, for example (I have a pair of these as well). They might work just fine, though! I wasn't even considering copies of the oem projectors, but the mini Bi-xenon projectors caught my eye. They don't have aiming built into their housings, just the Hi/lo cutoff. They essentially bolt into the standard h4 bulb mounting with a pretty secure threaded clamp system and use the standard headlight housing adjusters for aiming. Seemed a simpler solution to the issues of modifying the housing and then having two adjustment systems.. See response #1! I did not mean light leakage, I was referring to moisture leakage. I just thought you would have tried some sort of misting or fogging test on the bench with humidfier and/or spray bottle. I will have to sort that out once I've got the fairing off. I have decided I will need to use Acura/Mitsubishi D2S igniters, which means I will need to buy some different ballasts--hopefully compact ones! There are lots of compact ballasts out there. I could check with my sources and see what they recommend for d2s capsules. Yes, I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Chinese responded to a clear market niche! I have no idea about how the quality of those small projectors compares to OEM projectors, but at least the mounting sysem makes sense to me. It looks like the projectors would be adequately centred, solidly mounted and re-sealable, with the only issues being where to mount the ballasts and (for some) opening the headlamp units. Could be a winner? I'm going to continue with my OEMs, though. Those are the ones I was talking about, they do appear to be solidly mounted and their smaller size won't require some crazy huge bezel, so they can still retain a certain level of stealth. I'd seen a few projector conversions done on both cars and bikes, and they all screamed "ghetto" to me with the obvious retro fit looks of the final product. Particularly the ones on bikes where they fill the headlight panel and just have the small rounds for the projector (like certain Ducati's have oem). I also worried about the HID conversions that just put a capsule in the standard housing. But then I saw a some projector conversions done on a C14 (a police unit prototype no less) plus a couple of Suzuki's and now I'm sold. Now that my state is not doing their annual (and anal) safety inspections any more, it is possible to install a projector system like this and not have inspection issues. Before that the capsule conversions were barely legal; you had to get a guy that did not want to look too hard at what was in the stock bulb position. One last question,.. Are you going to use a delay for starting (at least on the US VFR!), similar to the delay relay's that tightwad is using, to maximize the life of the HID capsules??

Well continuity to ground is a sure sign that the stators are Tango Uniform.. Why, who knows. as for your comments on your RC having previously been a good charging machine, I don't know what to tell you. My SP2 just about makes 12.8 at the battery, at idle.. I have yet to have a battery sit in it connected, for more than a couple of weeks without needing a recharge. So you know the next time I'm in doing any electrical work on that beast, Its going to get a new stator, a new rick's R&R, all grounds tied together and the positives from the R&R run directly to the battery. I keep planning on tying all the VFR's grounds to a common point and running the positive from the R&R directly to the battery.

I'd be interested in the plates. Okay, I spent a little more time looking around at these retrofits and now I have some more questions for you. Why did you install them so far forward in the housing? I understand these lights don't need the reflectors at all to focus the light pattern, so their position fore/aft is not critical to the pattern produced, but I would have tried to move them as far aft in the housing as possible to disperse the hot spot on the front lens as much as possible. There is some space behind the headlight housing and the front forks on the VFR, space I would think would greatly help manage any heat issues. Why did you leave in the reflector? Or are am I not believing my eyes when I look at the reassembled headlight and don't see the reflectors.. When I looked at it before it looked like you were only leaving the reflector for appearances. It looked to me like your mounting plate was a complete replacement for the reflector.. Am I missing something here? Did you look at any of the mini projector replacement kits? or are there too many compromises in their designs compared to using the full size units? I mean a pair of the one company's superbike kits would run $300 and would not involve as much fabrication.. Have you tested the headlight to make sure that you got it resealed? I have enough issues with US OEM car headlights leaking, that I don't want to open myself up to a leaking VFR headlight. Made any decisions on where you are going to mount the ballasts and relays?? Seeing the H4 to bi-xenon projector kit, has me thinking about this a lot. Whether I do a full size set of projectors like your are doing, or just go with the H4 style ones, I think I'm hooked. 70W of power to the headlights is a lot better than the 110w/120W that I'm currently drawing. Add in the much greater output and its a no brainer.. Now, I'm off to find a spare headlight.....

I'm sure that when Dynojet rolls out their pc5 for the VFR1200F, they will have the de-restriction worked out. Its kind of a must for them, as they will be working with in the ecm harness to determine the gearing for map by gear anyway. I'd be that it's just a change to the Throttle by wire positioning map.