swas

The bars at the clamp are about 9mm higher, however, the original 800 bars are less than a 90 deg angle from the clamp, whereas the VF1000 bars are as best as I can see 90 deg, so increasing that 9mm by quite a bit at bar end (I don't have exact figures). I also mounted mine with the fork tube cap 6-7.5mm below the top of the clamp (had difficulty getting repeatability on this figure) to create extra bar height and to account for the fact that the location tit on the bottom of the clamp is not compatible with the 800's top tree/fork clamp. I have not had any reason to change this as the clamp on the VF1000 bars are good. This method also allows bar rotation position calibration for comfort and screen clearance. I have also used a marker pen to record on the fork tube cap the position of the clamp gap to save me the process of setting it all up again when bars need to be removed. I was contemplating all of the expensive bar replacements but this worked so well for me they are still there. Oh, and the 2nd hand bars came up a treat after an aluminium paint job!

Thanks HS for the prod. Life had taken me away from VFRD for some time, but not my viffer - it asked me no questions needing help, so I got out of the habit of visiting the site.

In order to help with my back problems on a 2001 VFR, prior to surgery, I fitted 2nd hand VF1000 bars in place of the standard viffer bars. Very little work required, very little cost and worked well. The idea came from VFRD inmates. Had surgery a couple of years later but left the bar upgrade on the bike. Mine was lower back problems and causing grief other than riding, now it is just a hard worn 75 yo back giving very little problems on long trips.

I've been researching the same conversion and assumed the two plugs shown on the right angled mixer in the parts explosion pic were for O2 sensors?

enzed - If it's any consolation to you I am in a similar situation wrt contemplating having to give riding away due to a dodgy back, which whatever I do gives me grief after riding. I am sorry for you and I have enjoyed your many posts and flaming deaths over many years and have always valued your technical contributions whilst reverse engineering our wonderful bikes to sort out some quirky problem, either self inflicted or Honda inflicted. There is a price to pay for success in longevity and it can be hard, some good things have to be sacrificed sensibly. I feel your anguish and wish you well.

Boethius The rubber sleeves over the external push on connections to the brake switch wear a tiny hole through allowing contact with the metal. A search will tell you how I know!

Good on you Augo, Great report and the pics and map enhance the story. Bringing back memories of a similar ride in 2010 to the Ulysses AGM. Wonderful. Sure there is plenty of straight road across the Nullarbor but "boring" never! It seems like it might be when contemplating the return journey, however, I didn't find it that way. Happy travelling.

Agree all the way with you Grum. I have on occasion had to use higher graded fuel and have not noticed any differences. I avoid ehthanol added fuels for bikes and cars where they display the contents, there are some conspiracy theories I have read which say that Oz fuel can contain ethanol without it being marked! Some of the newer brands of fuel have ethanol in their 95 RON which kind of defeats the purpose? Perhaps there is a bit of 'snob' value in using higher rated fuels? Almost the same discussion as oil change intervals Cheers Mike

Bonnie indeed! Nice impetuous button press on your part. Even better TLC is heightening the enjoyment. I've recently bought a BMW R1150RT to try and improve comfort on long trips, the VFR belting my old bones around too much now - but I can't sell it. The crystal ball keeps telling me to upgrade the shocks and move the beemer on if the ride improves (decisions, decisions). The VFR is certainly a thoroughbred. Mike

My experience as well. Fitted 6+ years ago and has been reliable. Simplicity and compactness other attributes. I use a Powerlet outlet which fits in the steering stem for temporary or occassional accessories, very convenient.

Welcome to VFRD. The only way the issues are related IMHO would be the extra heat upsetting the electrics. I would think you have an air bubble in the cooling system and it needs "burping", plenty of info in the forum on methods to achieve this, use the search feature. A simple trickle charger connected full time is not recommended for batteries, only the newer 'Smart' chargers which regulate their input to the battery should be used long term. However it doesn't sound like your battery is completely stuffed, just intermittent ? Have you checked that the connections are clean and tight both on the battery and the other end of the large cables? Any problems here will affect both charging and starting. Trace the 3 yellow wires from the engine to the RR and check the plug and socket to make sure it isn't starting to burn the contacts inside - the usual beginning of charging problems leading to RR, battery and stator failure down the track! When you find this plug/socket on the 3 yellow wires is where you check the output AC volts from the stator and also the resistance or 'ohm' values of the stator. The charging circuit of the VFR, and a lot of other Honda's, is one of the most common problems and you will find plenty of references using the 'search' within VFRD which should cover your electrical knowledge wherever it is at! You need a lot more voltage checks than just the battery at rest.

Roger, Had a similar problem, varnish like coating on the sides of the slave cylinder which didn't fix the leak when polished off with metal polish but a slave cylinder kit fixed it. Clearing the air out of the clutch line was a bigger problem when putting it all back together! A right PITA job compared to brake lines. The leak from the slave cylinder was almost imperceptible but there was no alternative solution. Phantom I think has the solution to the lurchy starts, when the fluid level drops far enough the clutch barely works. I didn't get to the air in the master cylinder valving stage but it was very close!

Would the gearbox damage be anything to do with the 'Factory Pro Shift Star Kit'? Don't they simply cut power during shifting? If timing is inaccurate the gearbox would suffer. I may have misunderstood that you are re-installing the kit from damaged gearbox to replacement gearbox

Well done Lee, couldn't have put it better myself.

Dutchy, My guess is:- When you first put the bit of cardboard over the metal bits you most probably prevented a wire with chafed/broken insulation from touching ground or just got lucky moving the harness enough to clear fault. With the following symptoms I would reckon you have more than one wire with chafed or broken insulation in the wiring harness allowing them to touch each other intermittently. There are plenty of ground or earth wires running around in the harness along with 12v carriers! Intermittent short circuits are almost impossible to find with an ohmmeter, doesn't matter how expensive they are, unless you can wiggle the harness whilst you happen to be testing the culprit wires - a big ask. From what I have read you haven't inspected the wires at the site where you first got a 'fix'. I think you need to open up the wrapping on the harness in this area and have a good look, use a mirror if you have to. Wrapping up the harness after finishing is easy enough, not pretty, but it's all hidden. I know there are some strange events surrounding RR's failing but I doubt it would cause this fuse to blow! I suggest you do some more investigation before the RR arrives, as much as is possible with the buggered finger, of course. Good luck. Mike