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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

Hi, I red few posts about suspension upgrade on Vfr1200 and decide to ask as in new post; I am looking for best curving performance, solo street aggressive ride. What can I get as recommend from someone's experience? P.s. I could noticed that one of the best combination are ohlins shock and cartridge forks nix 30?

Hi all, In the middle of doing a Nitron shock install on my 1999 VFR. All was going well, removed the linkage plates, found the top mount nut, and then I discovered I didn't have the large hex bit required to undo the bolt securing the connecting link. I attempted to undo the nut on the opposing side but suceeded only in rounding it slighty - it was tight as hell. So, one taxi ride to Halfords and back later and I have the hex bit, bit because it's so damn tight I rounded the bolt head - now I'm truly screwed. The way I see it, I cannot manoeuvre the old shock out of position without getting the connecting link out of the way, and I cannot get the top mount off the shock (to allow the shock to come further down and possibly allow me to articulate it out of the way) because access is so damn poor. I'm in crisis mode here - save me people!!!! The pic will hopefully show the extent of the problem.

I've been looking around at rear shock options for some time now. Obvious choice is a Ohlins or Penske...but i want a 3 way adjustable and i don't have $1,200 to $1,500 laying around. Anybody use the Nitron or know anybody who has? Whats your input on it? The point I'm at is anything is better than stock, I'm really starting to notice how poorly my rear shock handles, and the fact that big bumps are actually hurting now. Also has anyone heard about these guys? http://www.daughertymotorsports.com/ They have a revalved and resprung 929 rear shock with an adapter for $420.... sounds like a smashing deal to me. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Hi there, this is my first post, though I've been working my way through the 8th gen pages over the last couple of nights. I've now had my beautiful white VFR800 for a week. I'm not a very experienced biker -- had a Kawa GPZ550 for a year in the nineties, and spent the last year with a 2013 CBR600FA, nothing in between. The CBR's suspension felt perfect to me -- fairly plush but well-controlled -- and when I test-rode the VFR I found the suspension quite harsh by comparison, especially over less than ideal road surfaces, something a few reviews I read commented on. I thought it was something I'd just get used to, but after a couple of days of riding it was starting to bug me, to the point where I was even starting to wonder if I'd made a mistake, despite loving the bike in almost every other respect. So I went online and found a discussion somewhere else (which I've now lost) containing someone's recommendation of how the forks and shock should be set up. I tried it, and it really makes a difference. It seems to soak up big stuff better, but also isn't so chattery over road imperfections, and it's reduced the on-off feel of the throttle where it's only just open, I guess because bumps aren't being transmitted to the wrist quite so much. These are the settings (the bike was set up as stock when I got it) Forks: preload as stock (fourth notch in line with top of nut), rebound 1.5 turns counter-clockwise from full hard (versus one turn stock). Shock: preload, three clicks clockwise from full soft (versus seven stock), rebound 1.5 turns counter-clockwise from full hard (versus 0.75 turns stock). If I hadn't read that other article, I wouldn't have had a clue what settings to even experiment with, and probably would have just left them alone, so I hope this might be useful to a few people in a similar situation.

I've noticed many top bicycle shops provide a scientific fitment service for their customers.. Motorcycle dealers should provide this service too...! They should be able to make adjustments to our bikes to fit us better? My wife and I both ride VFRs and it would have been great to trained experienced professionals to fit our bikes to us, such as; seat height, pegs, bar reach and suspension sag at the very least....

I was lucky to come across a mint condition Red 2001 with 12k miles. It only had two owners and just got serviced at the dealer. It has Heli Bars, Corbin Gumfighter,Zero Gravity and a Vance and Hines SR2 exhaust. My plan is to spend $2k to unleash all the factory "built-in" power and plus some well proven and reliable "add-on" power that will not drastically reduce the engine life. Plus another $1k for the good folks at DMR for suspension upgrades. it took me about a month to find and buy this bike, another week to get it registered and tagged and another month to find the parts. The first thing I did was send the Corbin seat back to Corbin to get redone like new. (In the meantime I found a like new OEM seat for $80 on ebay) Here is a breakdown of how I am spending the $2k on unleashing the engine, plus another $1k at DMr for beefing up the suspension for the added power. (Everything is ordered and on the way) 1. $400- Corbin Seat 2. $150- ECU (Germany) 3. $ 20- OEM Air Box 4. $ 60- K & N Air Filter 5. $500- Staintune (Australia) 6. $350- SS Headers (UK) 7. $300-Power Commander 8. $ 20- O2 Eliminator 9. $120- HealTech Gear Red 10. $160- RDMOTO shorty 11. $595- DMr fork kit 12. $420- DMr CBR shock 13. $350- Clutch Porthole 14. $350- Stator / Rectifier 15. $200- Barnett Clutch Kit First I will modify the OEM air box by cutting away and removing the flapper assembly and install a 2nd Snorkel in its place. (Also unplug the pair valve) My theory is the snorkel is necessary, the flapper is not, so by adding a second snorkel it will add power without compromising the underlying purpose of the airbox design. Next steps: 1) Remove headers & exhaust 2) Install catless full system 3) Remove ECU 4) Install Euro Spec ECU 5) Install gear indicator 6) Install Power Commamder 7) Load Fuel Map file Start bike..... 8) Install DMr fork kit 9) Install DMr CBR shock Go for test ride.... 10) Install Barnett Clutch 11) Install Thurn Motorsport clutch case window 12) Install Thurn upgraded Stator, with Rectifier relocation mount kit. 13) Install Thurn Rear Hub Cover 15) Install RDMOTO short reach clutch and brake levers. IMG_4171.MOV Nov 5 Update: Now that the headers are installed, the double snorkel (no flapper)air box mod with a fresh K & N filter and adding 3oz Lucus octane boost every fill up. Still waiting on Euro ECU to show up before I do any new fuel mappings. DMr suspension kit has shipped. Also waiting on 2nd engine clutch cover. First job is to switch out the stator with a $50- el cheapie china stator so I can get my OEM over to Gerhard, along with the engine case clutch cover. As far as riding the bike all week, its starting to really open up ?? IMG_4198.MOV IMG_4213.MOV

Has anyone tried using VFR1200 triples and forks for their Gen 3-6 front end conversion?Does anyone know of any significant reasons not to use VFR1200 forks and triples on earlier gen VFRs? JZH wisely observed "Most people would say that if no one has ever done a particular VFR mod, there's probably a reason. Oh. Yeah, that does make sense..."In searching and following numerous fork upgrade / fork conversion threads on this and several other websites, it strikes me as odd that no one has mentioned or posted a conversion of earlier Gen VFRs to 7th Gen USD triple clamps and forks. I did see one person [JZH, as quoted above] use VFR1200 triples on his Gen 3, though he did not specify whether he intends to use VFR1200 forks as well. JZH stated pros and cons of VFR triples pretty clearly:Pros:- sturdy upside down configuration- radial brakes- 35mm triple clamp offset [Closer to Gens 4-6 40mm offset than most sportbike USD triple clamp offsets which are 30mm]- Honda steering bearing compatibility- Usable steering stop tabs [With slight modification]Cons:- to use the VFR1200 triples on the RC36 Gen 3, the upper fairing bracket needs to be cut and modified- the lower VFR1200 clamp is an unusual 55mm diameter [Almost all other USD forks use a 54mm bottom clamp]- the upper VFR1200 triple clamp is not a true gull wing like the popular CBR929 upper clamp, so it does not provide extra space to mount handlebars above the triples when using forks shorter than stock.- it's not easy to find VFR1200 triple clampsAnd one more downside I've noticed:- Only the Deluxe Model VFR1200 forks have rebound adjustment

The road heaves (bumps) are hurting my lower back more and more as I get older. Can someone guide me to a simple means of softening my rear suspension to lessen the hits to my vertebrae. Thanks!

Hello All. I purchased a set of Lust Racing lowering plates from a VFRD member, hat tip "cold soda". They were a breeze to install and achieved my goal of being virtually flat footed while stationary. The kick stand issue does not seem critical at this point, however, I have noticed the handling has changed a bit. The bike, a 2007, now turns in more aggressively. The change is subtle but apparent. So far I have only road tested in the neighborhood at low to moderate speed. My concern is the quicker turn in could get more pronounced at high speeds, with Bad results. I believe I will need to ease the forks up in the clamps a bit to balance the bike and reduce the new heaviness. My question: Who else has made this Mod and what did you do in addition to adding the plates in regards to handling, etc...? Thanks in advance for any insights, advice and opinions!

I thought I would share my findings on tinkering with my 5th gen suspension. I bought the bike in well-maintained but totally stock form back in April this year. I fitted a DMr-modified CBR929 shock in May, and then in September I installed new fork springs and compression valve from DMr, plus modified the rebound shims. I'll admit to being a total do-it-yourselfer with this, as I have been messing around with bike suspension since 1983 when I used a number of 20 cent coins to pre-load the fork springs in my CB400N, thus making it the only time in recorded history when one of those bikes increased in value... I had the shock in my VF750F rebuilt by a former racer, and when I got my second VFR700 I really went to town, with a Fox Twin-Clicker, PS springs and newly-invented Catridge Emulators for the forks. I blame Motorcyclist magazine for that, they ran an article on transforming the VF750 that way, so how could I resist? I kept my Suzuki RF900 bone stock for a while but the modification bug was nibbling, and I ended up swapping my stock shock plus cash for a second-hand Ohlins shock from another forum member in Singapore, and then adding 0.95kg/mm springs and Gold Valves. I was ridiculously trusting, mailing my perfectly good shock to a far distant land in the hope that a stranger would send something back, but it worked out well. I had a local suspension expert rebuild the Ohlins (it had been very well used) and it was wonderful. The RF was always a pretty decent handler, but properly set up it was a demon on back roads, always a bit heavy steering but super-stable. So the VFR was a bit of a blank canvas, but there was plenty I liked about it, with great fit and finish, comfy for me in the way the Suzuki wasn't, and in spite of leaping around on tired, stock suspension, a certain "rightness" about the way it handled. The CBR shock has been a good improvement, to the point where when riding the back end works just fades from your awareness. I gave the bearings a good check over and as a credit to PO's they were like new, apart from that I have left the spring set where it came from Jamie on the 3rd position, and have the compression damping set at 1.5 turns out and rebound likewise at 1.5 turns out. The forks have been a different story. The 0.9kg/mm springs are dead-on, I get just the right amount of sag and no bottoming, but I have not been entirely happy with the shim stack as supplied, and hence I have been fiddling (or wasting more time on that bloody bike as my wife might see it...). I've been looking for suspension nirvana where the bike soaks up every bump (even the big beastly ones) without getting kicked up, while maintaining steady composure, and so far I have rebuilt the forks seven times. The good news is that I have the process down to 80 minutes, including cleaning up! For anyone who is interested in these things, here is what I have learned. Firstly, the 5th gen fork uses very similar but not identical damper parts to earlier VFR's, and also to the 6th gen. Although the 6th gen fork is 43mm, it uses the same 20mm damping cartridge size as the 5th gen. Thus the combinations of shims and valve bodies that works well in one model will work just the same in another. This has become apparent as I have worked through changes to the VFR, because the same combination did the same job in my Suzuki RF900 (had I known this I would have swapped them over directly). Similar sized parts are also used in USD forks like the CBR954, so your humble 5th gen forks can damp just as well as fancy upside down forks, albeit without some of their other benefits of stiffness and external adjustability. Secondly, there is a nearly infinite combination of compression and rebound shims that you could use, but in practice if you veer too far away from a "middle-of-the-road" set-up, they don't work nearly as well. The shim selection chart that RaceTech provide (available in the downloads section http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/files/file/219-fork-gold-valve-installation/) is pretty much spot-on when using a high-flow compression valve body such as a Gold Valve. I doubt that you could get similar results from the stock valve body as it is very restrictive to flow, so buying a new part is good value. Thirdly, the compression, rebound and spring rate need to work together. If you use less compression damping, then rebound control becomes more critical, and dive and bottoming are more likely, so you can't really make these changes in isolation. And if you fit stiffer springs, you might need less compression damping and more rebound. As well as the shim stack, there is a fixed orifice in each valve body that provides low-speed damping control and bypasses the shim stack. The 5th and 6th gen rebound pistons flow oil from a small port drilled through the damper rod just above the valve that drains out through the hollow of the shaft. When an adjuster from a VTR or similar is added, the end of the needle is acting on this circuit and allowing fine tuning of the low-speed rebound damping force. The 6th gen looks to have the same setup in the through the hollow shaft of the compression body, but the 5th gen does not, so any aftermarket part needs to have a single small hole (1.3mm) drilled through the wall of the valve body. What the shim selection chart doesn't really convey is how the changes feel to the rider, and what the trade-offs are when you change shims, especially in the compression stack.If you add compression shims, you increase the high speed damping force. This means the fork does not travel as far on a bump, so more of the bump energy is passed through to the chassis. Less work is done by the rebound circuit as it has less spring energy to control. This does provide better feedback and stability, and provides a feeling of "control", but the trade-off is a loss of plushness as there are more jolts felt by the rider. Be careful what you wish for though, because if you use less compression shims you lose high speed compression damping force, which means the wheel travels further through its stroke, and the rebound has more work to do. At an extreme, this is felt as a vagueness or looseness, and a sense of less control, and goes along with more fork dive and reduced stability under brakes. For me the happy medium is to use 2 x 0.15 x 17mm shims in the compression stack, one shim was too loose, and three was too harsh. For the rebound circuit, I ultimately followed the RaceTech set-up as I found the DMr stack as supplied was too light when lighter compression valving was used. So my rebound shim stack on the standard piston now uses 6 x 0.15 x 17 mm shims. I have tried both 5W and 10W oil, and found that the 10W was a bit too firm but provides the best feeling of feedback; on a track I think this would be great, less so on the street. I have also stuck with an oil level of 120mm from the top of the legs, fully compressed with springs out, on the grounds that you don't want to make too many changes at once! So have I found suspension nirvana? Not quite, but having experimented a lot I think I have a better understanding of the gains and losses for each set-up, and I have found what I consider to be the optimum for the VFR. Looking ahead the only other change I could see being useful to a road rider would be to move to a low-friction oil seal, and If the parts could be had cheaply, adding an external rebound adjuster off a CBR or VTR. If I was focussed on track riding (and the VFR might not be the best bike for that) then a switch to a stiffer USD fork and brakes would make sense. Sorry about the lack of photos; I always seem to have a liberal coating of fork oil on my hands when I do these changes.

First off, thanks for this great forum! For those that may recall really old postings from "redshed", I was on a "No VFR" diet, and shooting to get under 200#. Well... I'm still here, mostly lurking, and I have accepted that I am going to ride more often at ~225# than at 190#, so I had better get the bike adjusted to my [ahem] profile.. The bike: 99 VFR with 5,250 miles (garage queen). Stock suspension, No bags, and never ride 2up. My Riding style: Never on the track, I ride for fun, mostly follow the speed limits, and don't push the bike to its limits. I do enjoy spirited riding on rare occasion. I plan trailer the bike to NC this spring, so I will get to see some twisty roads. The problem that I want to solve: At ~240# with gear, the suspension is SOFT and the front dives even under light braking At 15 years old, the suspension needs a refresh, and I want to "do it right" before the NC trip The approach - big bang Since the suspension is 100% untouched and needs to be gone through based on age alone, I figured it is time to do a blitz and rework it all at once. (thanks to BR who's posts educated me that doing front springs alone will leave you unbalanced). I want to catch the mythical beast of correct free sag AND correct rider sag. The plan below was developed based on reading tons of great real world posts from experts here (BaileyRock, Pete McCrary, etc), and reading books. Suggestions / questions welcome. The parts: Rear = picked up a Penske 8983 shock with an 1100# spring. It is used, so l plan to send to Penske for "refresh" Front = Picked up an all balls taper bearing kit for the steering stem (no issue, but while I am "at it" might as well do it all. Not ordered - advice welcome .95 front fork springs (I have no brand loyalty. racetech seems common use, but I'm open to alternatives) Fork re-valve - Race tech type 1 compression - (FMGV S2040) Factory fork seals redline 10wt fork oil While I am at it, I am going to replace the dunlops with the PP2, PR2 combo so loved on this site. If this setup looks good, feel free to add my weight / use case to the "wow" thread as another reference point.

Just had my first ride with the new Jamie Daugherty setup... I bought his CBR600F4 w/mount for the rear, and the fully adjustable front cartridge kit for the forks. I did not want to learn fork internals, so I shipped him my OEM units for him to install the cartridge kit in (plug and play for me). I am very satisfied with the pricing, service, and shipping - I would absolutely recommend his work to anyone. Install notes: FRONT: Get Jamie to install the cartridge kit in your forks, drink beer. Bolt forks back into place - use your service manual! I raised my forks 10mm in the triples REAR: You WILL need to take off the exhaust and undertail tray. Get over it. I didn't want to, and I ended up with a scratched up shock and then had to remove that stuff anyway. Leave the top mount loose so you can angle it as you push the shock into position, then torque mount bolt once its standing in its new home. I trimmed the undertail tray front left corner ahead of the clip, to allow the remote reservoir hose to sit comfortably. I drilled 3 holes through the battery tray to zip-tie the remote reservoir. Works great 1-up, 2-up it is slightly rubbing so I will continue to tweak. Ride report: Wow! It seems that everyone who has upgraded their suspension says it is the best money you can spend - but having only ridden my VFR and Ninja 500, I don't have the experience to know what a good suspension feels like. Now I understand - the ride is slightly more stiff, but you can feel the suspension working to absorb all imperfections on the road and keep the bike planted, and going into corners you have 100% confidence and control. VERY happy so far, it truly feels like a new bike, and more importantly it feels like how the bike should have come from the factory. Update: This install worked fine for 1-up, but for 2-up riding the remote reservoir was juuuust slightly contacting the brake line/chainguard bracket. It probably wasn't a big deal, but a brake line isn't something I want to play around with. I decided to tear down the rear again, take out the undertail tray, and trim the area above where the res was currently mounted so it could sit up higher. If you look closely at the right side of the bracket, you can just see where the res was contacting. Tore down the rear: Undertail tray with the initial cut outline: (I did the whole cut with a Dremel and then cleaned up with a utility knife) Cutting has begun: Cutting complete: Reinstalled and mounted: Removed the front zip tie for a cleaner look, and sealed the strap hole with RTV Complete! Happy to have the install fully completed to my satisfaction - and the bike feels better than ever!

Decided to measure sag today on the 1200. Had DMr respring and valve my stock forks and shock back in November. I bolted them up and headed out for a long road trip. It was such an improvement with Jamie's settings and mods, I made no changes...that is until today. Felt a few tweaks were in order after some recent canyon rides. So, ran through the sag first and was a bit surprised. Front was about 46mm, rear was 37mm. Front preload was set at 2-lines showing, or 6mm. Based on the 46mm sag, I added more preload by tightening it to 4mm. Trying to get it close to 30mm. Rear was pretty close, so I added one click of preload. Left compression the same front and rear for now. I'll try to get it back out tomorrow to see if it made an improvement. BTW, I weigh in at 185 lbs. Anybody else measure sag on the 1200?

Mostly information we have already. Unfortunately, our own Mr. Daugherty was not included on the list. http://www.motorcycle.com/buyers-guides/suspension-buyers-guide.html

Quick question - I have an '02 Non-ABS... looking to buy a used OEM ABS rear shock with remote preload adjust. I have found a fellow who will sell me one for a reasonable price - it has only been ridden for 10,000km (~6k miles), but has been off the bike for just over a year (he upgraded to a Penske). He has advised that I should have the shock refilled since it has not been under pressure/load for a year. Is this necessary? I wouldn't think so, as I'm imagining buying an OEM unit from Honda that may have sat on a shelf for 5 years... but maybe its different if it has been ridden on versus not? Feedback appreciated!! Thanks Mike

I was out getting acclimated to my 1200 last night. Not being too aggressive, but more than I was on the test rides and highways. In the tighter turns, I felt this odd looseness in the back end. I can recreate it easily, but I cannot diagnose it. I cannot tell if the rear end is slipping, wallowing, or loosing traction. The tire is brand new and manufactured in 2013. Tire pressure is 40 lbs cuz I am big. It's a Dunlop and I have never ridden on those before. Always had Pilot Road 2's. Tires should have been warm, 20 minutes on a highway to get to the curves. How do I start to diagnose this? Do I take off all preload and test it? Lower tire pressure? Is it in my head and this is how a drive shaft feels? (I kind of doubt this one) Any tips appreciated guys.

After the last long ride on my Gen7, I've "caught up" with all those on this list that realize the suspension needs work to handle any sport riding. Been doing the research on front and rear mods, but hadn't considered rebuilding/revalving the rear, that is until Jamie Daugherty at JMr said he could make the stock shock work quite well, for a fraction of the cost of an aftermarket shock. I'm a bit skeptical. Anybody have JMr rebuild their stock Gen7 shock?

Say... I'm kinda thinking on doing the F4 fork swap on my 6th gen over the winter, actually having Jamie D do the fork build, with me then bolting it all together. Starting to look at the cost of gathering up the parts, when searching for calipers & master cylinders on eBay I see some M/C (RC51, CBR929, CBR954, etc..) have remote reservoirs, are there any clearance issues, or fitment issues with Heli bars? Also, how bout that brake light, should it just plug in to any of these M/C and presumably work? Wondering if maybe I should be limiting my search to just F4 calipers and master cylinders, would that be my better path? Been doing a fair amount of reading on the matter and have a pretty good idea of what's in store, but there's always questions. I truly appreciate any insights. Thanks.

So I am no Rossi, but I do ride at a pretty good pace through the turns. I feel that I push pretty hard while still being with in reason. Anyways, going over my bike the other day and I am looking at my tires. My rear shows that I have used it all the way to the last mm of the edge to the sidewall. But looking at the front shows that I have plenty left, more like a centimeter left. So to cut to the chase, I am wondering if I need to adjust something. I have the rear at the standard height and the front lowered about a half of an inch. I wonder if maybe I should raise the rear some or increase the tire pressure in the rear etc... I had both the front and rear at 32 psi last time I checked. One thing that I have noticed after dropping a lot of weight off of the bike is the rear feels pretty harsh. I weigh only about 165 fully geared and I have pulled a lot of weight off of the bike. I know a lot of people say that the bike is under sprung from the factory, but I feel at this point that my front spring rate is about right and my rear spring rate might be a little high. My front preload is one line out from full stiff and has fresh honda pro oils in it per you guys advice. My rear is at full soft and I am not really sure about the rebound, I cant seem to find a good spot. I think I may just need a new shock, as I am sure that they get cooked with there location to the rear exhaust primaries... My bike is a 2007 with 46,000 miles. Hoping to hear back.

Hello guys, I have combed the threads and read all what I could find regarding swapping the OEM springs for RaceTech fork springs. I am about 180lbs without gear and my ride style isn't aggressive, just plain ol' fun rides (at least, so far), so I got the .90kg/mm spring rated forks. I am only interested in swapping the springs and fork seals at the moment. Now, I am trying to swap the stock springs out but I am really not sure how to go about installing the shorted RaceTech springs. I have read in most places that I need to cut the aluminum pipe that came with the springs to compensate for the deficiency in length, but I do not know exactly how I need to measure it. I found this somewhere on the Web, "So basically I have to measure from top of the spring to the top of the fork tube and subtract that by the fork cap thread length and add 10mm spacer." This bit of info is helpful but not very clear. Can anyone point me in the direction where to find the information needed - unambiguous info - that is. I appreciate it all. Thanks.

First of all I want to publicly thank Fred (Huntinggunns) for coming over yesterday and doing most of the work (I passed him tools...does that count?) of reinstalling my Jamie Daugherty rebuilt forks (re-spring, re-valve), installing new steering head tapered roller bearings, and swapping out my stock shock for a Jamie Daugherty re-sprung, re-valved F4i shock. If there is a motorcycle Heaven, I'm sure Fred is going! Thanks again! Anyway, after a test ride on our washboard-bumpy pavement yesterday, I came to the conclusion that my settings were off. I haven't contacted Jamie yet, but following Keith Code's method for determining and setting rider sag, I still have some questions. I was surprised to find that to get 38mm rider sag on the forks I had to crank the preload down to only one line showing on the adjuster. I was also disappointed that the rider sag initially was too soft due to the rough ride I experienced yesterday...I was hoping it was set too stiff! Maybe I am expecting too much in the balance between comfort on rough roads and having it stiff enough for hard braking and cornering. The shock was also disappointing to find that preload was set about right (again I was hoping it was set too hard so I could back it off). I determined that rider sag on the rear shock is 41 mm. So, 38 mm front and 41 mm rear rider sag. This set up feels much stiffer than my stock set up did as it should. I guess I was hoping for more compliance (comfort) as well. Since Jamie did not replace the fork caps, but just the springs and valves, I believe I am right in assuming that I have no rebound or compression damping adjustments just as before. I do however now have compression damping adjustment on the remote reservoir for the shock. I do not know how to make this adjustment...there is a slotted screw that turns about 1.5 turns from stop to stop. Is this the adjustment screw or just a set screw? The screw is in a fitting that could possibly be turned with an appropriate spanner, but none of my wrenches really fit on it, so I didn't want to booger it up without asking first. What rider sag are others using on a 6th gen?

I've been searching guides and such for some time. I don't think that i'm that impatient but i was hoping that one of you smart people would be able to give me a parts list of the stuff i need for doing my own fork seal replacement. I wanted to ask as well, if a shop were to charge me 280-330$ for replaceing my fork seals, could one agree that this is a rip off? Thanks!

I ride a 1995 VFR 750, which currently has 19,500 miles on it. I weigh in at a very chubby 325 lbs, and the bike often feels a bit squirrelly when pushed in the corners - wallowing in 90 mph sweepers etc. It embarrasses me that my courage on the bike runs out in the corners before that of the couple on the Harley in the Friday night ride group. In search of a remedy I have ordered up-rated springs front and rear from Racetech, for a very reasonable $250 total for both ends. When I call my local shop, the quote was 5.25 hours of labor and shock oil, for a total of about $500. Is this reasonable, or conversely - Is this something I can do my self, and not have the wife on my back for spending the mortgage money on the bike? Thanks