vfrcapn

Hey all, I have a host of questions and I figured that this would be the best place to ask!

I have a 5th gen (1999) and was wondering the following:

1) I know the seat debate rages on continuously, but I'm looking for a seat that's slightly shorter than the stock and that I can ride all day on (I'm getting sick of 10 hour days on the stock seat). I also would like to be able to have a passenger backrest, but that is not completely necessary. I know this all points me towards a Corbin, but I've heard some bad things about Corbins, and was wondering if there are any alternatives.

2) I'm considering a new windscreen. I currently have the stock Honda one. I've heard however that different windscreens cause the sun to focus and burn the gauges (I'm drawn back to the ant in the magnifying glass days). Anyone care to shed some light on this for me? Also I don't know which one's are good. I'm 5"8 if that makes any difference.

3) What's the benefit of having a Power Commander? I have a Two Bro's slip on now, but I'm not able to tell if I'm running lean (as opposed to all my carborated bikes which made it rather clear they weren't happy)

4) Are the post '99 mirrors a huge improvement?

Any and all help is really appreciated :)

-Isaac

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.

This was fun helping a fellow board member with a project. He even got his underseat fab'd cheaper than mine!

Dan has a 5th gen OEM set of headers and can make this for anyone now, OEM, TBR or Erion.

John is a great guy to get this done for.

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!

Thanks vfrcapn for the idea. I do have hose clamps of various sizes but I wouldn't like the way that would look. For now, I tightly wrapped a thick layer of electrical tape around the stand where it hits the lowering block. Being black on black, it's hardly noticable & creates a nice soft sound when contact is made. Instead of the bang of metal to metal. Time will tell how well it lasts.

I do like how your mod is done & looks. That will last forever & is easily adjustable. If I had the means & ability I might do that myself. But for now, I like my simple way.

How do you put the stand down without the peg that you cut off?

Thanks again. I do appreciate your input.

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.

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.

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:

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

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...

Got a lead with Ben (Talldrinkofwater) here and he may have some good news soon, fingers crossed.

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've always been under the impression that the vent on the bottom of the screens was to induce a little high pressure in the cockpit area... help spoil the low-pressure turbulence that would normally be seen from the air rolling off the top of the wind-screen? the laminar lips would just be trying to do the same thing... just 'extending' the turbulance further back... I dunno.. I'm just moderately versed in this stuff.

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:

The 5G '98-'99 manual lists the same clutch bore size, 14mm. I've been running an RC51 clutch master for years w/out any issues.

This is good. I might give it a try because I have one available but for brakes I think it is much more important to make sure you have things match.

I've tried mismatching brake masters before and won't do that again!

Cylinder bores must match for brakes and clutch. As far as a hydrolic clutch goes the slave cylinder "ratio" must be compatable as well. I am looking into doing a clutch resevoir conversion but I have not had the time to track down what will work.

As far as the brake resevoir goes. Personally, I would wait and decide if you are going to do a front end swap. That will dictate what your braking "system" will be and you will be able to plan accordingly.

But on the 3rd (I believe they are the same as 4th generation) specs are as follows per the service manual.

Brake masters are (mm/inch) ; Master cylinder ID = 12.700-12.743 (0.5000-0.5017) - Master Cylinder OD = 12.657-12.684 (0.4983 - 0.04994)

Clutch Master are (mm/inch) ; Master cylinder ID = 14.000-14.043 (0.5512-0.5529) - Master Cylinder OD = 13.957-13.984 (0.5495 - 0.5506)

I was hoping to use an RC51 clutch master I have but the RC51 master is smaller then the VFR version.

The 5G '98-'99 manual lists the same clutch bore size, 14mm. I've been running an RC51 clutch master for years w/out any issues.

The cherry on the cake will be the repaint.

Then maybe a display stand in the living room! It's looking great, looking forward to that first ride report and pics. :fing02:

I'd be interested in a set, for the 5th gen. :wink:

Looks like a cool idea. I'd open the larger pictures up but they're 3MB ea, can you downsize them a little?

Is your son a student? Win 7 is very cheap for students and educational professionals, I got mine (Win 7 Pro) for somewhere around $40. Which model laptop do you have?

n185103355_33113929_49.jpg

Welcome to the site. That upper looks pretty good with those headlights, hope you find a lower to fit up to it. :fing02:

Pics would be great. Did you do the welding yourself? I'd be very curious to hear how the underseat heat management works out with the RR muffler. Do you ever get over to the valley during the summer months?

It looks great, the dual tips look just like the Wolf system, nice job. And adapting the 6g bags is very cool. :fing02: Makes me wonder how hard it would be for the 5th gen bike.

Tim,

You guys done moving I hope. Drop a line if so, I am interested in a set of triple clamps with stock VFR rake and trail.

Would love to use your files if you allow it or perhaps ok Seb to send me his edited file with the gull wing top clamp me to take to a local machinist.

keith

:laughing6-hehe:

I think the 4 pot billet would actually stop you better...

I'll put this on my wish list Larry, would be nice on my '99 along with a single braided brake line through the swingarm! :fing02:

Poke it with a fork, I think it's FINALLY DONE! :fing02:

It looks freakin awesome, congrats! :wheel: :lurk: