Misspent Youth

I've got the Vacuumate and that's what allowed me to duplicate the factory 5th gen settings. Got lucky and found mine used. Great tool.

I've synced them flat (all the same) using a Twinmax (2 cyls at a time) and to factory spec (using Vacummate tool that allows precise setting, and allows measurement of rpm using vacuum). It ran great synced flat, better than trying to offset using traditional tools that aren't as accurate, but the factory spec offset is better still. Very smooth. It's key to keep returning the rpm to 1200 during the setting process. It takes a while to get it right, but should go faster in the future now that it's done properly. Bottom line is that flat sync is easier with traditional tools and will be fine if constantly reset to 1200 rpm, but offset's a little better, if done right. I suspect most shops wouldn't take the time to do it right, even if they knew how.

Check the 30 amp fuse for the starter relay, too.

I appreciate that it's apparently rare, but MBrane had the very same misfortune, hence my concern.

So, what should be doing or avoid doing to prevent this kind of failure? Or is it a manufacturing/material defect? I ride mine easy (but bought it used) and would hope to have it around a while.

Your left testicle is safe. I believe the piece is an oil galley plug from my Tecumseh-engined chipper/shredder. I recalled removing an allen-headed, threaded plug to install a plug and play oil dipstick this past summer. Thanks for the input, and sorry to all for the distraction. I was initially quite concerned I'd left off something substantial, for the safety and for the apparent loss of cognition. At least safety remains intact.

That certainly looks like that kind of function, but the shoulder's plating has no wear except where that aluminum ring rides up next to the head. Oh, and no Ducati. ZRX and Concours guys confirm it's not one of the bolts on those bikes. No word from Triumph guys. It's frustrating not to have any memory of this bolt. When I saw it my first thought was "omg, I left THAT off the VFR? And then rode it?" and that thought may have cleared my ram or damaged my hard drive (brain).

Last pint for you, mate, but thanks.

That's good news as to the VFR, but it's still driving me crazy. Thanks for the input. I always clean the work bench before Bigger Jobs, but several smaller jobs intervened while the VFR was apart - it's likely from one of those.

Might be time to weld the tool box shut. My 5th Gen spent 2 years on the lift because I was too busy to quickly do some relatively minor maintenance - clean/lube rear susp linkages, rear brake pivot, remove/lube sidestand, chg coolant, clean electrical connections, chg brake fluid, and remove/clean calipers. Rear wheel and muffler came off. Everything went together fine and the bike rides OK. Then I'm cleaning up the work area and putting away tools and found A LEFTOVER PART!! (pic below). I've disassembled the VFR several times and don't recall seeing this part. I regularly work on 4 bikes, a chipper shredder, and a power washer. I buy used parts that have extra stuff I don't need and remove for "later use". In other words, I'm not 100% positive the part comes from the VFR, or even a bike. I've been through the factory manual twice and don't see anything similar. Now I don't want to ride any of the bikes until I figure out which one is missing a possibly very important part. The ring around the middle is an aluminum spacer that, due to the wear pattern on the bolt, seems to go against the bolt's head. The bolt's face is flat. The wear suggests it's from the VFR due to age/miles, but the allen head suggests my Triumph speed triple (which doesn't appear to be missing any bolts - been through that manual, too). Anyone recognize this piece? Help!

Honda does a few things to reduce top speed, including adding timing cutouts in certain gears. Check out the latest Cycle story that includes review of the CB1000 (or whatever that retro is called) - they had to dyno it in 3rd gear due to the ECU limitations in the upper gears.

I've used a Throttle Tamer on my 5th Gen for 5 years now (installed with whatever heated grip blanket was on there when I got the bike) and it makes a big difference to the on/off throttle snatch prevalent on the 5th gen. Can't speak to 6th gen. I also had a pro dial in a PCIII to ease that transition, but he acted like he didn't understand how to get there, and just did a standard PCIII setup that smooths the lines (torque/hp), so, along with a good starter valve synch, I attribute the improvement to the Throttle Tamer. Keep in mind the V-4 will never be in-line 4 smooth, esp at lower speeds, but at least there's a way to help these early-days fuel injection setups.

I don't know if it will clear out the grease, but in your place I'd use spray electrical contact cleaner first. If I could contain overspray in the area, I'd also consider spray brake cleaner. As you've noted, dielectric grease is not to be used on contacts. I understand it should be used to seal the backs/sides of plastic connectors to keep water out of the connector.

My response doesn't help you, but I've never heard of that problem before in more than 10 years on/monitoring VFR boards. Unless it's the gear selector mechanism (can access w/o splitting cases), sounds like you'll have to find another engine/trans (may be easiest/cheapest) or pay to split the cases for a look (and freshening, while inside). Gear teeth, shift forks/drum, and gear dogs, are all possible problems.

Those part nos. correspond to the throttle cables for a 2008 ST 1300.

You don't say how long the bike was laid up for repairs, but if it was a month or so it's possible that the clutch plates dried out while it was laid up and are now sticking. Happened to my Concours. Only cure was to open the cover, remove the clutch plates and soak them in motor oil for several hours before reassembly. There are other less-invasive fixes you can try first - search sticking clutch plates on the webs. I just put my VFR back into service after 1.5 years of inactivity and had no issues, so who knows.

I used non-LSL bars and everything fit. Before you cut yours, make sure all of the stuff fits on the bars at the length you'd want (both sides). I drilled holes rather than grind nubs. Plenty grind nubs and never have a problem that I've heard of.

I understand the tubes where the butterflies are located and where the injectors do their injecting are specially coated with some material that could be harmed by some kinds of cleaning (abrasives? chemical?). I wouldn't clean those without doing some research to make sure I didn't do more harm, than good.

I don't know if the LSL kit includes (or requires) a longer throttle cable, but my home-brewed setup did, as, even after careful routing/positioning, the throttle was pulled open a bit on right-hand turns (very exciting). I believe I replaced the stock cable with one I bought from Helibars (a bit longer). I'm sure LSL has their kit figured it out and it's fine, but thought I'd mention it.

So, fuel from leaky injector that's deposited on the intake valves is finding its way to the outside of the bike to manifest as a fuel leak? How is that happening?

That's an easy one that I can explain here. Just slip a regular screwdriver with a fairly wide blade into the split in the bush. Turn the screwdriver in the split enough so that it spreads out the bush and expands it's I.D. Once it's a little larger than the fork tube O.D., you can slip it right over the end. Putting a new one on is even easier. Just carefully start to slip it onto the end of the fork tube and it will open up and let you slide it down. You can use the screwdriver trick again if you need to. There's so much more I could have covered in the video but the intent was to keep it mainly on seal removal and replacement. My video editor kept telling me it was too long and I had to explain to him that I can't skip ijmportant steps. Every video can't be 5 minutes long, but try telling that to someone who has never even changed their own oil! Thanks for the additional explanation. Your written communication's as good as your video - a gift.

Thanks for putting this together. Unfortunately for me, the only thing I needed to see was how the lower bushing was removed/replaced, and that's the only thing you didn't do! As for starting the fork cap under spring pressure, a tip that worked for me is to find the thread engagement point while the spring is out and mark the tube and cap with a marker. I then install the spring and line up the marks for a clean thread start with little risk of cross-threading.

It will run, but if the sensors on the airbox are disconnected when the engine is run, it will set FI codes.

Idle speed these days is a function of ECU settings that likely are not accessible to change in this bike. If the 2000 rpm speed is intended, it may be an effort to reduce complaints of lurchy on/off transition in models-past, make it seem smoother in traffic, etc.

Age-related (as opposed to mileage-related) items to me include anything made of rubber (brake/fuel/coolant lines, cush rubbers, suspension seals [linkage, shock shaft oil seal and fork oil seals - both of which are also mileage-related]), fluids (brake/clutch/coolant/fuel), electrical connectors (subject to corrosion and increased resistance/heat), plastic body panels (nubs get brittle), and tank rust. Brake/clutch master/slave cylinder rubbers and caliper fluid/dust seals deteriorate based on age and use.