vfrcapn

I did the same conversion and +1 to Veefer's comments. Offset of the new triples should not be disregarded as it is going to have the single biggest impact on trail which determines turn in. Lowering the front and raising the rear gives a different effective steering angle which can mostly offset the increased trail. I'm happy enough with the conversion and would do it again for the reasons Veefer stated. Good luck!

You lost me right there....How would I no longer have a need for it?

I thought this may be the reason, when using SP forks. Looks to have "better" adjustability with the gullwing. Yep, good point, missed that.

If I was to do it over Veefer's approach is how I'd probably do it, better than my method. I made up some aluminum stops: I know they'll be worthless in a crash but they do work as stops to keep the bars from hitting the tank or pinning my thumbs against the tank. If I had to machine them over I'd use steel, one did break and I remade it a little beefier. It's been good for a few years now. Looking at the second pic, I don't see why a flat 954 lower wouldn't work just as well as the SP1 lower?

I just got the bushings today, planning to start tearing it down tonight if I can get the energy. I'll post up up a pic by tomorrow hopefully, have to have this done by Saturday morning for a weekend ride.

I read the 954/929 flat lower has clearance issues with the frame or other parts so I went with the recommended gullwing SP1 lower on my 5G. I think I also read the RC51 flat upper wouldn't leave enough fork showing for clip-ons, so I went with the suggested gullwing 954 upper. I'll have the forks off this week for new seals and can take pics of the lower clearance issues if needed.

Pure art, nice.

Looks great!

1) The Corbin and Sargents are good seats but like helmets they seem to be individual preference. I've tried both and prefer the Corbin for comfort even though it weighs a ton and generally doesn't fit as well. My experience was that the Corbin is firmer which I found more comfortable on long rides. Both are going to be wider than the stock seat, with the Corbin being a little more 'dished'. I think Sargent offers a bolt on back rest. 2) It depends on what you want a new screen for? Depending on your height and other factors the original may provide cleaner, quieter air flow. Or a double bubble may be better at flowing air over you. For me the db was too turbulent and after a couple years I went back to stock. I've never heard of a screen burning the gauges. 3) A PC can richen up the lower rpm's making the FI less notchy, and with a proper tune can squeeze the most hp out with a slip on. I don't know that it's a huge improvement but PC2's can be had pretty cheap and there are plenty of maps around to try out. 4) The mirror improvement is basically looks. I also hated the condom mirrors with the rubbers constantly popping off.

Looks great, congrats! That underseat would be so nice with my TBR system.... <drool>

Wow, first time I've seen the completed project. Looks great!

Same concept with the electrical tape, it should last awhile but tape is cheap and easy to replace. I never used the peg to put the sidestand down, I just use the foot of the peg.

I did a similar mod to Veefer's: I don't think you need to weld though if you can't drill and tap the sidestand. Get a small hose clamp at the local hardware store and insert a small spacer, metal, wood, whatever and secure it with the hose clamp. Adjust the size of the spacer so the sidestand is spaced where you want it. I did end up cutting off the peg that projects perpendicular to give my toes more room.

I did the solder route for the splice and now have 13.2V at idle, a solid 14V at 2.5K and 5K rpm. I'm wondering if the bad starter switch I had contributed to the connectors burning? The switch was sticking half way, bike started and ran but headlights were not coming on. Not sure how long this has been going on but I know I had more than a few long (daylight) commutes with the headlights off. ?? BTW, Walmart sells an inexpensive AGM battery for the VFR, about $60.

Were those quick disconnects crimped and soldered, or just crimped? Either way, you can see evidence of heat there too. But that's exactly how I bypassed the OEM stator connector on my bike, and now I'm wondering if my quick disconnects are also burnt. I don't know what to say about these connectors, except that maybe you used quick disconnects smaller than 14 gauge? If so, as a general rule of thumb then I don't anything less than 14 gauge would be capable of handling the current flow that each phase of the stator is capable of producing. FYI...on a 12 volt system, for a short length of wire 14 gauge is rated at 30 amps, but 18 gauge is only rated at half that. Just crimped. Those were definitely 12 or even 10 gauge connectors. I don't know what I could have done wrong, strip the wire, insert, crimp. I'm wondering if it's just an over amperage problem and not resistance through the splice? This was a new splice in Dec. '09. Which replaced the original connector which was still barely charging the bike:

Those splices look soldered to me, and the fact that they burnt at the splice means that you had a bad solder joint. And based on this picture I say that the failure most likely resulted from resistance and not over-voltage, so keep that in mind when you solder wire-to-wire or use solder to fill in crimp connectors. It's always a good idea to make sure the splice did not create any resistance in the wire, especially if the wire handles a lot of current or voltage. They were soldered, I guess I'll have to work on a better connection next time. This was the other end of the splice, showing a lot of heat at the crimp.

Good things never last...or lasted about 18 months in this case. The stator just keeps burning up connectors...

Nice work. So I think you get the first "swirly 4-spoke mounted to a VFR" award? I was wondering when someone would go that route, would like to see pics of it finished.

Off-on heavy rains forecast all week so some r&r on the sss... And then there's this, still rolling ideas around in my head...mainly about the necessary custom exhaust...

Keith, you WERE planning to keep me in the loop on this, right? My project $$ loop is drained but still I'd be interested in any custom triples to fit the RC forks. Currently running the SP1 triple and would like to go back to the original geometry with some custom parts if possible!

I agree, it is there to help with flow under the windscreen and to help reduce turbulence behind the screen. In all likelihood, without it you would get a low pressure vortex up under there. I had a long day at work and my engineering brain is shot at the moment. I'll be having some beers with some old college buddies who did aerospace engineering with me later tonight. Perhaps we can hash this out and come up with only a mildly beer influenced psuedo scientific answer. You crazy engineer guys. Way to catch up with your buddies VFRBulldawg - I can see the scene at the pub tonight: VFRBulldawg: "Okay guys, really great to catch up, it's my shout so I'll get the beers. While I'm gone John I want you to start deriving the formula for lift from first principles, paying particular attention to verifying the coefficient of lift." John: "Can do Bulldawg, can't wait to get my teeth into it - and some hot chicken wings " VFRBulldawg: "Fred I want you to consider the profile drag for a 5th Gen ZG windscreen, let's review at all speed gates in 10mph increments from zero to supersonic, that should give us enough data to reach some decent conclusions" Fred: "Check - no problems buddy" VFRBulldawg: "Bobby, you weren't an honors student so you're the scribe, write everything down on the back of these 50 beer coasters I've collected." Bobby: "But Bulldawg, can't I do some calculations?" VFRBulldawg: "Bobby, we've been through this before, you should've studied harder at college, now enough of these complaints, remember there's no I in team" Fred: "Dawg, are we going to think about any 7th Gen Aerodynamics tonight?" VFRBulldawg: "Let's not get ahead of ourselves boyz - one VFR generation at a time" Fred: "Copied all brother" VFRBulldawg: "Righto, so has everybody got their calculators, a thirst for good aerospace engineering, and a thirst for beer?" All: "Sure have, you bet, can't wait" <hi-5s all round> And so the evening progresses in a fog of beer, applied algebra, and good times with some old mates ... :beer: And you guessed it right - I'm the "Bobby" in this story - although I didn't study engineering! :happy: lol, I'm actually the Bobby in this story and I did study fluid dynamics in my ME program. Anyone have an extra beer coaster...? :laughing6-hehe: