Captain 80s

This. I am so glad my ST1100 is properly configured. And nice job Worfje, it looks really good.

Pro-Lites on Two Face. No issues. I think Galfer offers some non-wave floating rotors too.

The pieces look great. I'm a little concerned about the axle.

Right before, or right about when, I felt the shit was really gonna change on pricing, I bought around 3 sets of tires (of what I could still find in the brands/models I wanted) and tied them up in black plastic bags. Just mounted my last set about a month ago.

I have YSS on 5 bikes now from a ST1100 down to a CB-1, including a 1995 VFR. They have gone up in price over this last year, but they are still a very good value for a really nice shock. Separate ride height and pre-load adjustment with adjustable rebound damping. This is the eBay store for the UK YSS R&D, Firefox Racing. YSS 1990 - 1993 VFR750F

For a given shock length, the 1986 VFR700/750F Arm Assy will result in more ride height than the 1987 VFR700F piece. Of the two people that seemed to take this journey to "workable", I think I read one used the 86 piece and the other an 87. ??? Not interested enough to go back and read again. Readily available on eBay. Listings might say "for 86 & 87", but be sure to confirm the one you want is the one you are buying if you go that route. You will still need to get the VFR spring on there. Still doesn't seem worth it to me. Just buy a YSS and be done. Good luck.

I would have thought after almost 10 years and 11 pages this would have been sussed out by now. After re-reading, I couldn't find anything that would have made me want to go this route when I was considering a shock "upgrade" for my 92. I think you may have missed where you might need to use a linkage piece from an 86 or 87 VFR. Good luck.

The UK RC24 1988 & 1989 would likely be the best source for parts apart from an actual RC35. As JZH correctly stated, the engines we redesigned some from the 1986 & 1987 and are unique in many aspects. But they are still tappet actuated valves, not shim/bucket like the later 1990 RC36. The 1986/1987 and 1988/1989 VFRs on a whole share very few parts, even though they look very similar. (There's even a bunch of small changes between 1986 & 1987, mostly regarding the ignition system) Your bike with the bodywork off (frame, engine, wheels, forks, brakes and exhaust.) looks pretty much identical to the 1988/89 UK VFR RC24 except for the subframe. That would likely be the wire harness I would be looking into for everything non-Police related if yours isn't salvageable. And the UK 88/89 ECU would probably unlock some revs/power. Very cool and good luck.

Knowing Honda.... they probably went even softer... but somehow made the damping harsher to "compensate".

One of the left over bits when converting a Hawk to a VFR wheel is this center piece. It is conical, and slightly different, on each side allowing you to use it as a spacer that the balancing shaft cone can engage. I even used 2 of them to sandwich a Ducati wheel for a friend. I also bought an extra spindle to mount the VFR wheel to that works darn good. I am going to shorten it on a lathe to make it a little more handy and less bulky.

I wasn't talking about bump starting it. I was talking about the technique of running next to your bike and jumping on (like when you bump start) while it is running in neutral.

Not exactly. That sounds a little harsh on things. With it running in neutral I run along like I'm gong to bump start it. When I get pretty much as fast as I can push, I jump on, and snick into first gear. Then with the clutch pulled in I do on-off-on throttle transitions until it breaks free. Usually doesn't take long at all. Potentially dangerous if you have never bump started a full size street motorcycle and/or you don't have a good area that is (mostly) free from unexpected hazards and stops. Somebody can always push you while you're already on board before you snick first too. If rocking back and forth with clutch in doesn't do it, I would wait. No need to scrape a gasket for likely no reason in my opinion. But I've done the above more than a few times, and I would rather do that than scrape. Whatever your comfort level is.

Plates are likely stuck from sitting. On a high friction surface, like asphalt or brushed concrete, put it in gear with the clutch lever pulled in and rock back and forth as forcefully as you can. Warming the bike might help, might not... heat usually helps a lot of things. If it doesn't break free, there is a potentially dangerous way to do it too that also doesn't involve taking anything apart. I have done it many times..

You have to pull the boots off of the collar ends push it thru one of the sides. When you get it thru enough, you can remove one rubber and then slide the collar out that side. The rubbers can't be removed with the collar in place... well... not and save them. Sometimes the rubbers are casualties if the collar is really bad and it has to be pressed/impacted out.

Yeah, you did good. Welcome.

That's a "Tax disc", right? Which they phased out before you left?

Parts Dept Manager is an idiot. Totally lost somebody, and somebody that talks about the experience, because he didn't get generic 1157 (and 1156) from one of his distributors. What a turn off. If I was the parts counter person, I would have been too embarrassed to even say it out loud. We stocked Honda headlight bulbs, the most common ones, and maybe some dash bulbs. But at the time they weren't ridiculous. But we could get a box of turn signal bulbs for the price one Honda bulb. And not look like lazy, greedy idiots.

I worked at a Honda Dealer for over 12 years starting in the early 90s. It was nice being a single line dealer (especially Honda), but the writing was on the wall you had to expand your line up. We moved the Dealership (SUCKED) and also became a Yamaha Dealer (and a MZ Skorpion Dealer for a while.... ugh). So we picked up Snow Machines and Watercraft too. While cool, they suck to move, store and work on while taking up valuable real estate, even in a larger facility. Snow Machine customers bought the machine and you pretty much never saw them again. I did get to ride around Yellowstone on Yamaha's dime though, that was cool. They do not have it easy. The margins are shit and people will drive across the state to save $100 on a $10,000+ bike when they live 10 miles from you. There is no loyalty anymore. OK, so we made pretty much zero on that bike, would they like to head over to parts and get some accessories, apparel or chemicals? Nope. Sand paper rubber you know where. Of course there are awesome people too that understand about building relationships. It goes both ways. The people that were loyal and friendly reaped so much more benefits than the difference between "out the door price" from one place to another on just one bike. We set them up constantly. While I really enjoyed (most of) my time, there is no way in hell I would do it again. Started to suck the passion right out of me.

Didn't ride today cuz it was still chilly in the upper 40s this morning and the roads were still damp after a storm. Thank you for some perspective.

Getting the correct spring rate for you and your bike, choosing the right oil and height, will go A LONG way in improving your situation. Start there in my opinion. You will be blown away by the difference. After the honeymoon period is over and you perhaps start picking up on some areas you may want to refine regarding valving, that can be done fairly easily. The cartridge holder can be removed without completely disassembling the forks. If you go the dealer route, make damn sure they understand your desire for a specific oil height, and how/when to measure it. You don't just want "fork oil capacity", which is done far too often.

Definitely "custom" front cowl brackets, both the upper and the left/right mids.