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wanted to make my first post, thanks for letting me into the community! recently acquired this 2002 with 8700 miles, my second 6th gen. I wanted to start by replacing all fluids and giving the bike some love as it has been dormant for ~5 years. smelled a bit of coolant at operating temp and wanted to investigate. found out the leak was coming from a few hoses connected to the thermostat. ordered a new T-stat, O-ring, and hoses connecting to the housing. 1. wanted to say thank you to the forum for providing me information to do this. 2. are there other components that should be replaced while the vee is still exposed?

Im new to this forum, after selling my 1987 interceptor in 1995, i just bought a 2003 interceptor, can someone bring me up to date on any modifications i should check to see if they have been completed. Such as pcv?, blue wire mod, etc. Any help would be appreciated. I also have a rough acceleration just off idle, feels like carb balancing/synchronization, and suggestions....bog

Good Afternoon Everyone, Very excited to be able to join the forums and a great group. I purchased a 1994 Honda VFR 400 NC30 today (this is what I was told the model is), with an odo reading of 21k-odd km. From what I've seen she hasn't been taken great care of and I am expecting replacement of nearly every washer, bolt, seal and deep clean and to do suitable adjustments throughout. Good price for a Project and it'll will keep me busy for some time. I need some assistance please with the front shocks please... As this feels like the only legitimate "dangerous" aspect of the bike. When driving up the driveway, over speed humps or pressing the front brakes it makes a very clear "knock" at the front. Basically whenever mass gets transferred to the front. From what I've seen online this could be head bearings, shocks needing a service, wheel bearings etc. I've uploaded a video if you please wouldn't mind in telling me what is causing that knock and what you can see or hear from the video as to what the actual fault can be. Then, how do I go about fixing it? Please let me know if you need more information. I will be asking kindly for your assistance throughout as I need to get her back to standard and then refurbish her as good as possible. Thanks in advance. It's great to be a member of the Community. shocks.mpeg

Ohlins reinstalled, powdercoated pieces installed worked overnight to reassemble the bike I spent most the night and last night istalling new bearing on the swingarm and beginning the reinstall of all the parts. I installed the swingarm last night and rebuilt Ohlins shock, put the subframe into position and put in the plastic undertray. I had to make some repairs to the undertray since it had alot of holes drilled in it over the years for various parts. I filled them all in and smoothed it out with my pastic welder. Keep the dirt and rain out. My wheels still need shoes! 83° Aluminum Racing Angled Valve Stem Ariete from Kurvygirl.com Different Angle I installed new LED lights in the dash - all from superbriteled.com there is a thread on it in the forum by veefer800canuke I opted for white for a brighter dash and to save on wattage over bulbs. LED Dash Lighting I had to get the correct polarity but they all work by turning a few around. knobs and switches Left Lamp turn off switch, HI LO Double Burn switch, Heated Seat, Heated Grips Powdercoated swingarm Passenger Hanger and footpegs, powelet panel Reoganized accessory wireing moved all the boxes forward and some by the fuse box, moved the accessory fuse box on top of the battery lid, to make more underseat space for tools I rewired the whole accessory area, rerouting the wires to the front of the bike better and added a powerlet on the front and side for my Zumo GPS and the side for my heated vest. Rerouted the autocom wires and moved the autocom forward. Changed the battery leads with less leads and changed the switching power from the plate light to a soldier job from the headlight relay wires, less wires to deal with 3inchs vs 2 feet of switching wire. I wired in LED indicator on the dash for my heated grips its blue on the top right, the top left is the voltmeter from signal dynamics, its red in the dash shot above. I added a heattroller for the heated seat I built, I could never quite it right before using resisters either too hot or not hot enough, now it can dial it in just right. I heated seat is great when I get out of work at 7am and there is frost all over the seat, it clears it off in moments and is comfy in minutes. So far I have done tons of work New Chain New Sprockets New Fork Oil New Fork Seals Rebuilt the Ohlins Shock Powdercoated swingarm, footpegs, rearsets, hub, and passenger hangers Installed new bearings, rubber dampers, and seals in the eccentric hub rewired the accessories added 2 new powerlets repaired plastic damage from a couple of getoffs that resulted in deep scratches, 8 years of roadblast. sanded and sanded and sanded getting ready to paint Primed all the body pieces Sanded off scratches on the Staintune polished and cleaned Repaired a broken header stud replaced and put in new seals on the rear cylinders and headers New Wheels powdercoated installed trick valve stems New bearings on the wheels, swingarm, rearhubs, along with new dustseals New bolts and nuts all over - cleaned up most though Rebuilt the rear brake caliper new seals and polished the pistons, new bolts Bled the rear caliper Bought new graphics for a VFRD inspired paint job - even made my own font to use for the project availible in the site comments forum

Hello everyone ! Last Saturday I did my monthly Viffer check which consist in : checking tires state and pressure checking (and cleaning if necessary) the air filter tending to the chain cleaning the whole bike and I came upon THIS : There seems to be some oil coming out of what I though is a solenoid part of the PAIR system. however, when browsing bike-parts, it doesn't appear to be linked to the PAIR valve (E-18 in the schematics) : 3 Does anyone knows what could cause this and if I need to bring her to a mechanic ASAP? Precisions: _ This is the first time I noticed this. I did the flapper + snorkel mods 9-10 months ago and used the marble trick to block the PAIR system around 6 months ago and, as I said, I check the airbox every 4-6 weeks... _ This is my primary commuting vehicle so she runs at least 5 times a week. _ Since I couldn't leave it open (shared garage) I cleaned it and put it back together Thank you in advance for your help P.S. I am a French mechanic nooby so please bear with my lack of knowledge and poor English

I purchased a 2000 VFR with 26,000 miles on it about a year ago. Had a complete check-over/tuning service done and it's been great! But recently I've attempted a couple longer rides and headed out on the interstate to cover some miles quickly. After about 75 minutes I noticed the speedometer needle would drop to 0 when I put my turn signal on. A few minutes later, the tach needle would do the same and the turn signal indicator light was very weak. As soon as I closed the throttle exiting off the interstate, the bike died and wouldn't crank over. Got it jump started and it ran fine until I stopped again, then wouldn't crank over to restart. I replaced the battery and had the alternator checked to be sure it was charging (it was). Tried another highway trip yesterday and the exact same thing happened at about 75-80 minutes in! Any ideas what's going on? Maybe something to do with extended operation at a continuous 70+ mph? I have done multiple 2-3+ hour rides on back roads and state highways with no problems. Thanks for any help!

was wondering what everyone suggest for just general maintenance as well as had a few questions too! I have a 1997 vfr and the previous owner had just water instead of coolant and I want to switch it to coolant: 1.) where is the coolant reservoir located? 2.) do I need to drain the water first or can I add coolant to it? what can I add to the gas I read once about something that can keep it from getting gunked up I'm going to be away from the bike awhile, a friend is gonna take care of it and run it a bit but i still just want to be sure! I'm new to this so literally any advice would help! Thanks!!

The Honda book lists NGK CR9EH-9 or Denso U27FER-9 sparkplugs for my 2001 VFR800FI. The Denso at least is a copper plug. Bike Bandit lists NGK and Denso iridium plugs for more than twice the money. Will I really see longer plug life or any other benefit from the iridium plug? I'm tempted to stay with stock, not so much because I'm cheap but because it is the factory recommendation. What do the assembled experts think? Thanks in advance.

My service manual (ordered from Helm Inc) arrived today. As I paged through it, I couldn't help but miss an electronic version of the same. I had the 6th gen version on my iPad and wish I could do the same with this. I would be happy to pay for it as a download, and I suspect I'm not alone in this view. it occurred to me this is the first paper based book I've purchased in about five years, and I'm a fairly avid reader.

So, two years in with my VFR1200F and I still love it. Put about 42k km's (26k miles) on it so far and still feels like new. I've got some technical knowledge but I have most of my maintenance done by a local here who does nothing else. But, I'd like to be able to replace my own headlight bulb :D. So, last week I tried to do this but I failed miserably. From my perspective, looking in front of the steering column, you can see two "twist to close" little hatches that hide the high beam (lowest hatch) and main light (top hatch). I managed to unscrew the lowest one, and then even replace the bulb (but only just!). The top one, from my perspective, seems like I'll need to break my hand & arm in about 3 places to be able to do. I've found no real topic on HOW to do this, is there a trick I'm missing out on? It seems impossible to me! Or is it a case of removing half of the front of the bike to be able to do it? For the record: I'm not trying to install some sort of HID kit, just your regular H7 bulb... Thanks in advance for your vast & collective knowledge!

Hello VFRD community. Quite long time not riding my VFR, so that's why I have not many thing to post up here in my beloved VFRD site. But this one is motorcycle related and sure will be very helpful for VFR owners. I was playing around with motorcycles for a while, and all my maint, mod information of all my bike I record in an Excel file. The file is very informative, become bigger and bigger... But then I found it is very inconvenience to keep doing so. Especially in this smartphone and social interactive age. So that I made an application which records all my Maint and Mods. And soon I realized everyone should be able to enjoy it as well. That's why the Ride-Smarter application is now published. By-Biker-for-Bikers Apps. Main idea of the application is to manage everything related to your motorcycle and your riding. Now we have this apps available as WEB APPS - so any smartphone, tablet, computer all can access. There are some main features of the apps as below: 1. GARAGE MANAGEMENT: In MY GARAGE menu, you can add all your bikes in your garage to the apps, it will store all information related to each respective bike of yours (number plate, purchase date, price, etc...). Open the Apps anytime, anywhere, you can feel somehow you are sitting in your garage. LOL 2. MODIFICATION MANAGEMENT: When you click on any bike of yours (RIDE IT), it will come to the Modification and Maintenance stuff of that bike. With MODIFICATION, you will be able to add your Farkles with all necessary information: ODO at the time you install, name, brand, cost, etc... And with only one click, you can see all the farkles you added to your bike. Unlike before, when someone asked, you need a while to remember, or pull your spreadsheet on.... And interestingly, all the Mod will come with its photo. 3. MAINTENANCE ADMINISTRATION: Pretty the same as Modification. You can add all kind of your bike Maintenance into the system for recording, tracking and especially reminder. If you have your mechanic shop to do your bike Maintenance, this is very useful. Show the Maint page of this Apps to the shop, and tell them when was the last Maint, what have been done, and even show them the cost. If you do your bike maintenance by your own, this apps even MUCH MUCH MORE USEFUL. This keep track of all your maint things, and you can use it as a Maintenance Plan, to set the Maint date in future, then the Apps will remind you when the time comes. You will never forget. Before a riding trip, make for you a cup of coffee, sit down and review the Maintenance record on the apps - this will make you much much more confidence with the bike. And with all items are "green-checked", your bike is ready for the trip !!! :ride: ============== For both MOD and MAINT features, you can combine to create your own PROJECT. Like a winter project, just put everything in your head into the Apps, come to the shop to buy all the things you already listed there, you can not miss even one of them. ============== 4. STATISTICS EXPORT This feature allows you to export all data of your bike into a JPG or CSV file. You can even hide/show any items which you like to before click "EXPORT". Think about when you want to share your bike info with your friends, just one click. And especially think about selling a bike. How many of you have been struggling remember and list all the things for a sale post? Sure it takes time to recall everything, and chances for missing some items are very high. This Apps will do it for you without a mistake. Just one click and then your sale post will be furnished with all necessary information. 5. OTHERS This Apps also provide the Road tax and Insurance reminder - you will surely no need Cops to tell you about your insurance expired at the middle of your trip :naughty: We are developing more and more features right now. Will have something like adding Engine running hours instead of ODO, fuel tracking, trip recording, etc... And there will be an interactive environment to be provided. Sharing will be so much easier. Give it a try, just a tiny little Apps, but very useful, very practical. Homepage of the Application: http://ride-smarter.com/ Facebook page of the Application: ://www.facebook.com/ridesmarter/ Direct address to access the Apps: http://ride-smarter.com/apps/ Or you can browse to the Apps Homepage, then Click on the below icon: Give it a try and feel free to question me, here on VFRD or any address given on CONTACT page of the Application. Have fun, my Friends!

Since getting my ZX14 last month I have been switching back and forth between the bikes taking note of the differences. One thing that has bothered me is that my VFR seems to steer like a truck compared to the ZX. This is strange because I always liked the handling of the VFR. I didn't expect the ZX14 to be so much better. Today I figured out why... my tire pressure! I had last checked my VFR tire pressure about 6 weeks ago when the weather was VERY COLD. I run my tires a bit lower pressure in the winter (32f, 36r) so they heat quicker and stay warm. Today my pressures were 26 Front and 29 Rear... no wonder it was steering like a truck. Pumped them up to 40f/42r and my VFR is back! Such a nice ride into work today... I have to be more careful to not let anything like this slip past me again. I own 4 bikes and it's a lot of work to maintain them all... but it is fun.

Hey all. I recently traded (straight up) my 2005 DR650SE for a 8.5/10 IMHO VFR750F /White ...28.5K on the ODO. Anything I should be looking for as a blissful new owner? Here is the specimen, since I know how y'all feel about picless threads.

Hey fellow Ohio VFRs. I'm coming off a dual sport and am quite spoiled with changing my own tires. These whte rims have me on the ropes. Tires ordered. Where to get them swapped is the issue. Any recomendations within a resonable distance of 44077? TIA

Hi all. My chain is binding quite a bit at certain spots, and I can feel a bit it in first gear sub 5-10mph, but does not seem to pull me down going any faster. I oil it every 200 miles or so now, even on the stand if I don't choke it up some it rattles and seems moody. I figure it's time for a new chain. While my sprocket doesn't look worn, I've heard that one replaces the chain and sprockets together... I don't need/want to pay for a premium chain unless that is my only option, but I certainly don't want any thing shoddy on my bike either. Looking on ebay I have no clue what's good or bad, and don't know what sites are best, so I thought I'd ask on here first. That said: What do you suggest I look for? Sprocket and chain or just the chain? OEM only, or are some aftermarkets ok? Where should I go looking? Thanks! Raptre

So if you're going to break down somewhere, where could be better than at the mechanics.... My VFR is due for rego this coming week which in NSW requires an inspection. These are done at basically almost any car related place. Most mechanics (car, bike, truck) and tyre shops are accredited inspectors. They plug some details into a website and the 1 of three parts of your renewal is complete. Been raining almost non stop since tuesday with much the same last week and more of the same expected next week (Hows that summer eh!) so it was a rainy lunchtime that I rocked up a the nearest bike shop (these guys have serviced the VFR often, so they are a known factor) to get checked. It takes about 15mins and is pretty painless. For any regularly maintained and serviced vehicle you'd be pretty unlucky to fail. Passed no worries. Stood in the garage doorway gearing back up to head out again in the rain. Pushed it out, turned the key hit the starter... it tried and nothing, and a couple more times.... nothing. Pushed it back in. They checked the voltages and under load and it was quite clear that the battery had given up. Thinking back I have had a couple of failed starts in the past week so it shouldn't have been a surprise. Now the dilemma - I can't leave the bike as I won't be back for several days. I can't wait long as I have to get home to mind the kids as Mrs has to work. A brief discussion ensues and the plan is to swap the battery and I go for a ride for an hour to get some charge into it. Then I go again tomorrow (that's today) to top it up. I look out at the rain coming down, shrug my shoulders and decide that there really isn't any choice as I don't have a charger at home. That battery has lasted 3 to 4 years so I'm not unhappy. I think the new one in the bike now is maybe the third one (in 8 years). So I spent an hour in the rain cruising up and down the freeway charging the bike. 24 hours later and its a beautiful 26C and I'm doing the same thing. Fingers crossed it will start and be ok on Wednesday. But I guess I broke down in the most fortunate place. I think the last breakdown I made to a bike shop eventually before it all went quiet as well. The VFR is always looking after me even when it's not feeling too good. So if you're going to breakdown, do it at the bike shop :) Random pic of bike not related to story.

This week I took my VFR in for a major service. I've been after a "second opinion" for a while. It's not that I'm not happy with the place I normally take it, but I've never heard anything good about the place, though no one can give me specifics. A mate offered to pick me up and drop me off so I booked her into a smaller workshop that has a very high reputation. The bike has 116,000km on it and it has been a fair while (time wise) since it's last major service. Late afternoon the shop called. I don't know about others, but I always get a little nervous when the shop calls in, you never know what they will say. Though normally if its late afternoon, its all done with nothing to report. So it was with a little concern that I answered. The shop guy asked what I've been doing to maintain it. I was honest and told him that I do little more than lube the chain and check the tyre pressures. I am totally lost mechanically so I just make sure that it's clean and serviced regularly. He replied, well keep doing what your doing as your bike is fantastic shape considering its age. I was very happy with that comment. He said it had been in need of a tune (as expected), the pads will be due about the next service or a little before but otherwise all good. I got to the shop and was taken aback at how the guys couldn't stop raving about its condition. They said there is often a little trepidation when test riding a bike with this amount of kms on it as you never really know what shape its really in. Apparently the main mechanic got back from the test ride and told the boss he should have a ride. If that's not an endorsement of my bike I don't know what is. I have to say I am still chuffed at such glowing praise of my bike and even the way I've been looking after it. Now hopefully after a long period of ride absence (apart from the commute) I'll be able to report again in a fortnight or so following a ride. My wife's been filling in for some broken staff at work the past weekends, so it's been a month or more of chasing the kids about instead of riding. I'm in two minds whether to join a short city fund raising ride or to go for a solo proper one. I'm starting to think the second.

Stopped at the petrol station on my way to work yesterday. Filled up the tank and got organised to set off. Turned the key, all the lights, and hit the starter. A bit of an noise then nothing. A couple more attempts and nothing. The bike wasn't starting. Here I was at 6am on a highway petrol station with a bike that wouldn't start. Nothing obvious (like leaving it in gear) so I pushed it away from the pumps and into the parking. Called a rescue company I know, but it was a little too early for them and all I got was an answering machine. Texted my staff to tell them I was running a little late and pondered my next move. Realising that standing out in the cold when I could push the bike 10m up the road to the McDonalds and be warm and have breakfast was silly. Waited in McDs hoping the company would call me back or until the bike shops were due to open. About 7.30 decided to give the bike a try. It fired on the first stab of the button!!!! So I ran around getting my riding gear back on with the bike running (didn't want to risk it not starting again) and hit the road. About 30mins later I pulled into the carpark of my local bike shop as one of the techs is arriving. Switched it off and showed him... "Here look at this" I didn't even get the dash lighting up. "Flat Battery" was our consensus, but I also had a niggling concern about the RR. After several hours charging the battery, and a test ride. The verdict is a blown alternator. I've been running on battery only for i don't know how long. It wasn't a very nice train ride home.

Where to start starting with the chain All my parts arrived one by one, the chain and sprocket set first, then the brake pads, fork oil, fork seals, and various other things. I decided to replace the cradle on my Zumo and with it install a bmw style plug in the head tube from Powerlet. They make a vfr kit so I bought it, using the existing molex setup I had before I just solidered the molex wires to the kit and then taped it all up good. I figure I need a disconnect if I want to use the new head stand I bought, I will need to move the wires out to use it. I took a look at my brakes and boy they look good up front, I decided to keep them on since the new ones are not much thicker. I was under the impression that my brakes were in bad shape when I bought the parts, not the case. So I set about removing the front wheel and taking out the forks. Fork service has become easy for me, lots of practice with the dirt bike and my vfr, buddies bikes too I have done it a number of times. My fork oil was dark and dirty as it can get. I removed all the parts and cleaned it up best as I could and then replaced the bushing and slider with new parts, new seals and topped it up with new fork oil. I thought perhaps my forks were a little harsh so I checked the spec with racetech and sure enough I had too much oil in there, I must have used stock oil hieght - I used 120 mm for the gold valve/racetech setup I have. Should be a bit less harsh on the bumps with a larger air pocket. It took me an hour to finish both forks off and anther half an hour reinstalling the front end and torquing it to spec. Country music blasting in the garage cause I cant stand Prarie Home Companion - sombody please tell that guy Garrison Keeler that he cant sing for squat, please stop! Sometimes its funny the skits but I dont agree with the guys point of view - So I changed the station. I never listen to Country music let alone a nationally syndicated program from Nashville but for most the night it was kind of fun easy listening, the longer the night the twangier it got. I got the forks done and decided to make a how-to-video (not yet edited) on chain and sproket replacement. I did not think I had time for the fork service, to stop and go over every step and deal with the camera so I skipped that. Changing sprokets is a messy job. On into the 3am region (I work nights so its old hat for me) I was done by 5am. The garage was a disaster area and grease and grime everywhere. Sounds like an opportunity to change the radiator fluid, I sort of lost my fan switch this summer and so I was boiling off on a trip to New Mexico, I used alot of water to replace the boiled off stuff, I fixed the fan switch but by then I had spit out a good portion of my coolant onto the road. A stop at the grocery store in some small town and a bottle of distilled water topped me back up. Its been super cold lately and so I started it up to see - what if I got too much water in there and not enough antifreeze? I wasnt about to chance it for the rest of the winter, the worst is yet to come! So I changed the antifreeze. I did a great job on it tightended the plug so much that it got easier as I went, so easy in fact that it came right off! Snapped - damn it! I did not have the correct size and my easy out was not getting the broken part out. Good thing I had a bucket handy I just drained off all the coolant, a sort of half ass flush job all over the garage floor. I did manage to get most of it into the bucket. I took the cover off and drilled out the hole and then tapped it with a larger plug, works doesnt leak and it did not snap off this time! ' Much more work to go, need to remove the shock and get it serviced, my old Ohlins has 70k on it now! wow time flies. My plastics are in bad bad shape and my tank is too. In think I need to replace them, I cant paint for shit so I wont even try that! Unless anybody is a painter wizz on the forum? I happen to like red! I could put some VFRD graphics on it! That would be cool eh? Removing the speed sensor Removing the clutch slave cylinder