Auspanglish

Good job!

Eee gad!! Not sure if she needs TLC or ICU.

DOWNLOAD FROM DROPBOX HERE PS: no need to subscribe, just click on the second option "continue to website" or something to that effect.

It's an nth gen; timeless!!

Sounds a bit lumpy but the revs seem to rise fine and the bike doesn't appear to be vibrating overmuch... Check all four exhaust pipes are hot by spraying water on them once the bike is warmed up. Have you synchronized the carbs properly? Is there a hole in the exhaust somewhere? Any popping noises when backing off the throttle or engine braking? Are you experienced with carburetors?

Yeah, you know I know that Leon, just pulling your leg!!

No, no, by all means... I didn't take it as harsh. There was no emotional content or derogatory commentary, it was concise and precise, a good call. What matters is that the data recorded here is accurate. Interestingly enough some products or substances will remove a lot of baked on grease and grime, especially on the wheels and the chain, much better than others as there is a chemical phenomenon wherein like dissolves like, that is to say that substances of a similar nature will absorb, or assimilate, other substances of a similar nature much more easily and that's why it's so easy to clean things up on a motorcycle rim with WD-40 or kerosene or other petroleum-based products, even some furniture polishing sprays work really well because they must have a similar molecular structure and don't repel each other, but just using some water obviously gets you nowhere... So, lipids will dissolve easier in lipids and aqueous substances will merge with aqueous substances blah blah blah, some vitamins are hidrosoluble others are liposoluble. Soap merely used to be saponified animal fat and this was good at cleaning our skin because we have sebaceous glands and the dirt and grime collects on our skin in a film of fatty grease, of our own adipose secretions... we've all heard the expression greasy skin. So anyway I appreciate being called out actually. Now back to your regular viewing, where you'll hear Miss Piggy say...

Well, half false... but I stand corrected and retract (half of) my statement. I admit my affirmation is flawed. I had an experiment in mind and mistook gasoline for WD40. In rectification, WD40 and kerosene appear to be harmless. This is the experiment I had in mind: https://advrider.com/f/threads/chain-o-ring-wd-40-exposure-effects-study-and-results.345397/ My apologies... I shall humbly proceed to edit my earlier post...

Don't know for sure about the UK I'm afraid. It's a reasonable assumption. What I do know is that kerosene won't harm the o-rings in chains. (Edited according to subsequent posts in order to avoid any misleading notions regarding WD40 and o-rings).

It´s a recommendable practice and one I adhere to. Yet no amount of pre-ride checks could have detected what happened to me as it developed while on the road. In the case of the OP, The indications were already there and it was more a case of heeding to the warning signs, or not.

The biggest hurdle I see here is the division of the target audience over 3 or 4 continents or geopolitical areas: 1. USA/Canada 2. Australia. 3. UK 4. Europe CSK are located in the UK so probably economically viable for groups 3 & 4 as above. Numbers-wise the greater interest will surely reside in group 1. Anyone in group 2 will pay through the nose due to tax and shipping, unless they locate a manufacturer in situ. Group 1 might be able to offset costs and make the final price point attractive IF they could finally get together in a cave and groove with a pict all at once, split a deposit for the prototype, then have 10+ of the final product whacked in a crate and slung onto a slow boat through China with a declared value inferior to the real bickies forked out (in order to lower possible customs duties and insurance costs, only if, I repeat only IF, willing to sacrifice on eventual insurance payouts if something did go astray on the way over). Sincerely though, a US manufacturer would surely be able to make some business out of this. Otherwise, the viability pales. The aforementioned geographically limitating factors, general fluctuations in consensus, ebb and flow of VFR800 owners who just come and go, have me in a big comfy armchair with a megalarge tub of popcorn here... don't mean to be a party pooper.

Glad you got away with it Katie. Fate, fortune, chance or luck, you got away with it.... again. You have been very fortunate in that nothing further came of it than a premature monetary exchange for a preschedule maintenance job. Lucky again that only the pads needed changing as the lack of material left means your rear brake disc (rotor for you 'mericans) was about to be the sacrificial component. That would have resulted in a much greater hole in your wallet/purse and longer downtime... you surely would have been riding the train home. Although you surely would also have detected louder noises and greater heat being generated. Time to start playing Sudoku or more memory specific exercises, as you say you "really do know absolutely nothing" and yet you had a previous identical experience. Is this premature senility settling in? Too much German beer by that brand name, what's it called again... Alz... Alz... Alzmymemoryfailsme? Fortunately, on the one hand, you got away with it with no skin off. The downside to which is, after two identical experiences in which no physical harm resulted, you may now be lulled into a false sense of security. Yet luck doesn't really exist and eventually the numbers of random chance will work against you, the difference is you. Next time, I urge you Katie, don't tempt fate!! Here's an example for you that I went through: Something over a decade ago I bought an awesome looking silver 1998 (5th gen) VFR800FI secondhand from a dealers, with a 12 month all-inclusive warranty. Sure and soon enough I found myself in the vertiginous labyrinth of intermittent R/R failure. The dealer's said it was just a flat battery and that they'd recharge it. I had recently joined VFRD and a local Spanish forum CLUBVFRSPAIN.es and was in the process of discovering the virtues and defects of this model: the motor is unbreakable, the R/R is as trustworthy as a drug-addicted girlfriend who works street corners on Friday and Saturday nights. Yet I conceded. Next day some 300 km away, same story. Towtruck to dealer´s and discussions with the head mechanic, "no, not just a new battery, a new R/R", I had taken readings with a multimeter and the bike was running off a battery which wasn't receiving any recharge. I assumed from a survey on CLUBVFRSPAIN.es on which models fry R/Rs and which fry Stators that it was the R/R, plus it's a 10 minute, plug'n'play job and an R/R is worth less than some batteries. Nope, they were following the old school protocol; when electrical knowledge is nil, first attempt the cheapest solutions, then according to ease or less workshop hours (and it's true, changing a battery takes less time than changing an R/R). So off I go again, knowing that it was just a matter of time til the battery suffered critical discharge and this time hopefully not far from the dealer's. I was tempted just to swap the R/R out myself and send them the bill. I accepted the new battery, trying to be patient, if you get narky, they get defensive and you get nothing. The unavoidable, highly predictable outcome occurred and back to the dealer's we went. This time I showed him the score with my multimeter. He conceded. "We´ll have the part this AM". I waited. They close for lunch from 14-16:00 h. At 14:15 their runabout arrived on his scooter with a package from the Honda parts outlet. Lo and behold, it was the wrong model R/R. I said I needed the bike and would return after lunch, that I would take my chances and run it off the new battery just a short distance and put it on a tender, don't worry. I went for lunch and at 16:00h I was at Honda's doorstep, said I had come for a 1998 VFR800FI R/R to replace an erroneous one supplied to such and such a dealer's. They recognized the case and gave me the right one. I went outside, took off the rear fairing, replaced the R/R and rode away home. Several days later the dealer's called me asking what had happened. I said I fixed it myself at the Honda outlet. They said they needed the old R/R for their warranty purposes. I said "send a courier to my home address to pick it up". Oh, wrong story sorry... hahaha, we're talking brake failure... thing is, a short time after that phone call, I was riding on a 3-4 lane highway at the stipulated 80 km/h limit when, all of a sudden, the bike started to slow down... and vibrate... at first I noticed some resistance to forward motion and some vibration, I headed towards the outside lane. I rolled off the throttle and found it would slow even more, I attempted to continue forward to an area I could pull off the highway as there was only a very narrow shoulder with guardrails and I could see a decent pull-off area about half a Km ahead. On the right (in Spain). Insisting on the throttle, the bike vibrated even more, more like shuddering. There was no low crunching sound/feeling from the engine, I thought of the electrics again but this wouldn't produce the vibration... I hoped it wasn't the front brakes or I'd be catapulted off at any moment (all this in what lasted some 20 seconds max), I quickly looked down at the rear wheel on the RHS, smoke billowing out... cars now honking at me. I pull off the highway. Jump off the bike. Put distance between us. Watch the smoke subside and realize it's coming from the rear brake calliper. Called roadside assistance. Towtruck back to the dealer's (oh what joy). The heat generated was enough to melt the rubber o-ring on the pin that holds the brake pads in and cause the billowing smoke. Turns out there was a chunk of rubber from the inside of the brake line blocking the rear M/C. The dealer's had to replace the brake lines of the entire system as the 5th gen's got CBS (combined braking system), the front and rear are connected and act together. They replaced the rear calliper and pads, cleaned out the rear M/C and of course the discs/rotors had warped, all three mind you... so they installed Galfer performance wave rotors, new rubber diaphragms, etc. All free of charge under warranty. I later swapped these rotors onto the 6th gen I bought at a later date. Much better bite than OEM. Needless to say the dealer's lost all the profit margin from the sale, if they ever had any. I had experienced no prior warnings in the form of a hard to manoeuvre bike in the garage or parking lot. Don't ignore the warnings if you're fortunate enough to get them. Long story short, it may just seem like a pain in the ass, but it could be your ass on the line. Live and learn, above all, don't forget to LEARN!! My apologies for the shaggy dog story. Rant over.

Bravo!! or Pip pip!!... as some of my octogenarian Oxonian customers (sic) might have said. Not something an Oxfordian, as opposed to Oxonian, would have uttered I dare say. Common sense, the least common of all, has prevailed!! It may well have been the glide pin has freed itself, if that binding happened to be the cause, we may never know. And no, it hasn't excaped me you've experience riding bikes and for the record did check the rear wheel's behaviour on the centrestand... albeit your plea of guilty to the alternative lexigraphy of brave. Awaiting the verdict with baited breath... check the homeward national express and rail options.

It's often disguised as "Liquid Paraffin"... often sold in garden sections or hardware stores as lamp oil, wick lantern fuel or fire starter... (read the contents as they do differ)