Jump to content

Misspent Youth

Members
  • Posts

    186
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Misspent Youth

  1. Most aftermarket bar ends for 7/8" bars are simply rubber plug insert/tighten arrangement. Sometimes a screw, sometimes an allenhead, to tighten.
  2. Re: Bar Ends - the OEM bar ends are unique to the Honda setup and won't fit a regular bar. I went with cheap universal ends that work fine.
  3. I got a longer throttle cable from the Helibars folks. Only needed a 1/2" or so, iirc. In any event, Helibars sells/sold a longer cable that did the job.
  4. The wind isn't bad at all, just more noticeable than the stock position. 50 miles won't be a factor, as there's still way more wind protection than you'd get on a naked, or smaller-faired bike. I should mention the rubber blocks I glued to the stops do slightly limit the lock-to-lock distance, which could impact turning radius, but I've not noticed any issues. Maybe if I participated in Japanese gymkhana antics . . . . I chose the bikemasters for cost, because they're black, and I don't really care about the handlebar so long as it's shaped to my liking. That said, assuming no fairing clearance issues (the bikemasters don't hit the fairing), you can use any handlebar, which is nice. The only time I get a knee down is if I'm having an accident, so for riding comfort I've also added BLS's footpeg brackets. My VFR is seriously comfortable with this set up, though peg-scrapers might touch down. While I'm on a VFR roll, I cured the sensitive throttle and made the VFR really dreamy with a G2 Throttle Tamer (the one for 6th gen VFR works fine), and syncing the TBs flat (all the same) using a Twinmax at 1200 rpm. Very smooth, now.
  5. I've done it on my '98 and you should be able to find a post or two from me w/pics responding to previous seekers. You'll need a longer throttle cable to use the bikemaster superbike bar that I used. I believe I bought my cable from the helibars folks who sell them separately for use with their bars. Another inch should do it. Motion pro also builds custom-length cables. The conversion gives you more comfort because you are more upright, and you get to rotate the rightside controls forward/downward to reduce the angle on the front brake lever. The upright position does put you up more in the wind with the stock w/s, but I don't do much long high-speed riding. If you do, consider the larger Givi or another touring-type shield. Otherwise, it might get old to sit upright on longer trips. If you do a lot of longer speedier trips, consider the helibars, instead, as they'll give you quick-change options of up/down, front/back bar placement. The handlebar relieved the weight/angle-induced problem with my right arm starting to buzz (fall asleep), and more leverage is nice at lower speeds. I'd do it again, given my needs. Easy enough to put back to stock. The bars will hit the tank at full lock, so I adhezed rubber blocks onto the steering stops and they've not moved. If I had more energy, time, and talent, I'd drill the stops and thread the holes for use with bolt stops (bolts held in place w/nuts). I also had to do some shifting of the clutch/brake/fast-idle controls and their banjo bolt angles to make it all work easily and look good. Just trial and error to work it out. Tried to stick with the stock throttle cable, but it would pull open slightly when making righthand turns off of intersections from a stop (too exciting).
  6. The vtr fan works only on the side-mounted radiators on later VFRs. Stock set up pulls air in from the left side (only), which is insufficient, while the vtr fan REVERSES the air flow through the left-side radiator, PUSHING it out the left side after drawing it through the rest of the fairing/engine area. If your bike's radiator is in FRONT rather than on the SIDE, then using the vtr fan will cause your bike to overheat.
  7. What's a good way to make this check? Technically you would want to test a run of wire end-to-end, but that isn't possible with the stator wires because you cant easily get to the ends. But what you can do is test the stator per the service manual. So you'll have to somehow get one of your multimeter leads underneath the insulation of each connector or splice on the side that is nearest to the Rectifier/Regulator, and then connect the other lead to ground. The manual says the resistance of each yellow wire to ground should be between 0.1 - 1.0 ohm (which indicates a good stator), so if you have more than 1 ohm then you probably have an issue with your repair/modification. Perfecto - thanks. I suppose I could penetrate the insulation (beyond the connection) with a pin and use the pin as the upstream test point.
  8. Thanks to you and Tightwad for the info/tips. My head's swimming with so many apparent choices among the available methods of connection and protection of the connection. My goal is to relocate the r/r to the underside of the fender eliminator, so that's a complication for the stator, and battery connections/wiring.
  9. I'll bet the big iron's the key. I've melted a bunch of plastic on connectors! Thx
  10. Thanks for the clarifications. Re: the soldering, how do you solder after the crimp with that plastic cover in the way on the lug? Do you do away with that? Move it off and then try to slide it back over the now crimped/soldered connection?
  11. I was all set to do the "eliminate the connector" drill and direct-connect the stator wires to the r/r wires, but now see that apparently a "standard" connection won't work for long. You used "10G spade lugs" and I found this site/pic that shows those: http://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2%20books/links/sections/206%20Spade%20Lug%20Terminals.html 1. How did you use spade lug connectors to make the connection? It looks like these go under a bolt head, or something like that, not attached to one another. Did you have one of these lugs on each side? 2. You used 10G lugs - what is the gauge of the stator and r/r wires? It looks smaller than 10 gauge to me, so wouldn't the lug not fit very well? Or am I misunderstanding? I just want to do this job right, the first time. Thanks for any help.
  12. Were those crimped, only? Or crimped and soldered? What kind of crimp tool? I understand there are good ones and less good ones. Interesting outcome.
  13. Sounds like a great deal and a great experience making it right. In addition to the mods you're considering, I'd suggest adding a PCIII and having it dyno-tuned. Really livens up the mid-range and smooths the entire power curve. Probably $500-600 retail, all-in, but it's worth it.
  14. I've been waiting for the Chinese guys to install replaceable brass bushings in the pivot holes. Interestingly, the pics appear to show one of the levers with a bushing, but the other with none. The ebay site doesn't suggest a bushing is there (just says hole is precision whatever), so I'll wait. Aluminum wears pretty quickly and I don't want a sloppy lever that's pretty.
  15. Thanks for the helpful info and video. Once replaced, please do post to confirm the replacements don't leak (or otherwise!).
  16. I did it. Check post 115 at http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...c=49788&hl= Works great for me using the LSL superbike kit. Don't know about doing it with stock bars.
  17. I'm no expert, but that chain looks a little tight with 2-up. IF it is, that's too much pressure on your output shaft bearing and seal. I'm thinking it should have a little flex room left when the swingarm is fully opposite the countershaft sprocket. If you've checked and all's well, please disregard. Otherwise, looks like good times!
  18. Well I gave the standard msrp price since I got mine for 18.00 (hey, I'm a parts counter monkey, remember guys). Anyway, I have an update: Last night I actually had the fan switch on while limping along on some residential back streets last night (I had a roofing nail in the back tire and about 11 psi left). The temp was 224 when I heard the fan switch on. At the time I was creeping along at about 15mph as I was about eight cars behind some bluehair heading home from her nightly church meeting. It only stayed at 224 for a few seconds and by the time I was another block down the street, it switched off again. Oh and for the detail people. At 2230 hours last night I installed a stop-n-go mushroom plug with the pistol grip tool and filled the rear Avon to 48 psi. So today I ran it pretty hard on my way into work, but did not encounter enough traffic to get the vfr past 190F. And on the commute home tonight at 2015 hours, the indicated temp did not pass 223 until I was home, with the engine idling as I dismounted to unlock and open my garage door. Again the temp immediately stopped climbing and started to decrease. I don't think that the push/pull issue is one at all, since either way the fan motor's work is to move air through the radiator core. As for it moving hot air from the header pipes, oil cooler and cylinders through the radiator to the exterior of the bike, I'm not sure that makes a huge difference. I mean heat is being removed from within the motorcycle and dumped into the atmosphere. I don't think that it matters a hell of a lot if it is drawn from the radiator or from the other sources, those calories are removed from the bike's systems and others will have to migrate in from somewhere. What I do notice is that when the fan kicks in, I can easily reach down and feel the heat coming out of the left side. Before when it was sucking in air on that side and supposedly dumping heat out the right side, I could not feel heat on the right side. I also think that there is much less heat bleeding into the cockpit area at a stop light. I think that I need to borrow a couple of small digital thermometers to monitor the temps in these areas. I'm tentatively calling this a success. Good info. Now it occurs to me Honda might "suck" rather than "push" because pouring that heat that close to the fairing side might soften the paint/plastic if it goes on for a while? Apparently the VTR pushes, so I'm looking for why the VFR pulls, and the extra plastic comes to mind. Thanks the experiment and ongoing data.
  19. Alright, so the stock fan flipover won't work. Honda may have wanted to suck it in for ambient air to cool the radiator, or they wanted to kill some noise. It seems pushing air out through the radiator with the VTR blade would move hot air out of the engine/pipes area (and pull ambient air into that area, maybe even through the right side radiator), but doing so would be to push hot air through a hot radiator to achieve a cooling effect. So I understand it works in practice, but that's one question that occurred to me - do you get the same cooling as stock if you're pushing hot air across the radiator? The second issue has to do with push/pull. It's easier to pull a load than push it, and it seems when the stock fan is in use it would be easier for that motor to pull air from the outside through the radiator, than for the motor to push air through what, due to the fan's closeness to the radiator, actually becomes something of an obstruction. So my next issue is fan motor longevity if used to push, rather than pull. I have no clue, but throw it out to those who might. I'd love to make the switch if the stock situation was done for noise purposes, the change was effective, and it didn't shorten my stock fan motor life.
  20. Did anybody answer the guy who asked: "Why not simply remove the stock fan from the stock fan motor, turn only the blade OVER so it pushes OUT rather than sucks IN, and reinstall the now-inverted blade back onto the stock fan motor?"? If so, I missed it.
  21. Get the BLS blocks. The sidestand does touch on the 5th gen, but it affects nothing and if it bothers you you can hold it off with a small bolt. I'm picky but ended up letting it touch the stand. LOVE the BLS blocks!
  22. Any problems with fairing interference at lock to lock turning?
  23. FWIW, I recently a sold a '92 w/20K miles on it and what appeared to be the original R/R and it put out a solid 14.7v across the board, way better than my '98 did stock, or even with the upgraded unit.
  24. Could be. I'll go ahead and install yours just to get the tidier install, alone, even if the volts didn't come up.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.