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That's the garage of every man's dream 😎 NO, what am I saying? That's the main residence of every man's dream; if you have that, why moving elsewhere? 😁

There are no headers being produced in the EU. There are UK suppliers like lextek, black widow and delkevic. Delkevic is not good for performance because of the collector design. Black widow has a flat spot in the rear header which reduces flow, dyno proven by modifying it and replacing the rearsets with different ones for clearance. My choice would be lextek, looking at the design it doesn't have any obvious drawbacks. The quality of all of them is probably pretty low because they're mass produced in China but they do a better job than stock. You'll have to pay some import fees of course. On the plus side, I've noticed a tangible gain in performance when I upgraded to an older style black widow header I found used. A good boost in midrange 7-9k rpm, probably in top end too but that's harder to feel.

I used Road 6 GT because I used to overload the bike when doing two up touring. 250kg bike, 200-230kg of me, wife and luggage. Riding fast uphill really strains the rear tire at that load, probably 80% of the weight is on it. Grabbing a handful of throttle in second lifts the front wheel so that's 450kg on the rear wheel. If you're not loading the bike to the max then it's not needed. I wanted to be on the safe side. I switched to Roadsmart 4 GT recently and the bike is much more agile than it ever was with Road 6 GT. They take a different approach with their SP and GT variants. While Michelin increases stiffness with a stronger carcass Dunlop changes the profile of the tire so the GT variant gives more agility to heavy bikes and SP variant gives more stability to lighter bikes.

Terry, so cool to read your eval of the 7th gen coming from your very VFR experienced background. It's different, but it is just incredible. I bought it the 1st year and the following seven were great. Looking forward to more reports from you in NZ.

As I was riding my 1200 in the weekend, I was thinking what a shame it was that this line of bikes has died out. That engine is certainly a thing of beauty with smooth and powerful running, decent economy, a great gearbox and plenty of character, the heat and airflow management is far ahead of the ST1300 (also known as "the Frying Pan") and the shaft drive is neat (as long as it is not leaking). I know the "X" version was produced, but there was so much more potential in this thing, it would have made a superb tourer (as per the illustration) and I assume there was a more sporty, chain-drive version in the works as well as the output shaft looks like it could convert to chain reasonably easily. Ah, well... I know that I will never get to ride an RC213V or NR750, but I have ridden or owned all of Honda's other V4 bikes at some point. Although the 1200 is considered "7th Gen", it really should be thought of as the last generation of VFR, which is a real shame but they did go out on some sort of high note. Just a shame that they hyped the concept up too much and then delivered a bike that was a bit too middle of the road. Under the plastic, this is one amazing machine.

Wasn't a k&n filter, it's a paper hiflo filter! A lot of dirt has got passed though, not necessarily past that filter mind but over the years. dB killer will have to stay, I borrowed it to use of my aprilia on a track day once, rode the honda and it was deafening! Not a huge fan of it tbf, right at the bottom of the list that though lol. Someone's had the snorkel off, I might get one actually. Again, down the bottom of the list lol. The manifold rubbers seem ok, bit hard and the clamps are rusty. Don't think they were leaking though. The butterflies were definitely shut, did make sure of that. I should have covered the throttle bodies before I stripped it apart to see if that affected the running, if it stalled I'd know it was definitely allowing a significant amount of air through. Update for today, the ultrasonic cleaner got them very clean, so clean it took the rest of the coating off the bores! I'll have to try and recoat it with something, I think I'll try some of this molykote stuff and see what sort of finish I get. I'm reluctant to buy new throttle bodies as they're all old now and there's no guarantee the replacement will be much better than they were, before I stripped it all off anyway!

Thank you, going to try this. 🙏🏻

If you had the ignition switched on while the airbox /sensors were unplugged then you will have a number of saved faults that will show up in the blinky light. I'd suggest clearing the codes page 5-7 Self-Diagnosis Reset Procedure then trying to start the bike again, it should then tell you what faults remain. My only suggestion regarding starting would be to check the engine is not flooded; wind the throttle fullly open and run the starter motor for a few seconds; the EFI system recognises this and will stop any injection to help clear the flood (if any). I'd also spring for some new spark plugs if you've not already done so.

hey guys, hope you are all doing good, i think i have aquired all the stuff im gonna need to try and do the headgaskets. gonna try and tackle it myself with a couple of people on standby just in case i get stuck. just waiting for the new head bolts to come should be in a few days. the only thing i dont have is a manual which is fine as they just confuse me anyway. the only bit of info i would need is the torque settings for the head bolts and torque pattern. hopefully gonna make a start in a week or two once work quietens down. gonna go check out a few youtube videos and try and get as much info as i can before i make a start. and worse case if i balls it up it will be an engine swap next year lol

Fuel cut off switch wiring issues

I use these: https://www.screwfix.com/p/essentials-sy5002-white-black-pressure-sprayer-5ltr/7490x 1 for engine oil. 1 for trans oil (ATF). 1 for coolant. 1 for diluted car shampoo. For oil filling, just remove lance & you're good to go, no messing about with funnels & they pump uphill. Label em, or it's OMG WTF did I just do. B&Q do a variety of PVC hose or eBay, I prefer clear hose on my fillers. Also have a hand pump vacuum bottle 3ltr for (Dot 4). Save a ton of mess for little outlay.

Cut switch works and pump now engages. I know fuel is going through the rails. It just wont start 😞 any help apprecaited 20251110_154448.mp4

Everyone. Hope your all good. My VFR was sat around for approx 18 months till i needed to get it going again. The fuel pump had died so this was replaced. However, it now wont start. It will turn over but wont kick in. My initial thoughts was the fuel injectors being clogged. So i stripped down to the fuel rails . As per the picture. I have had to sort some wiring on the baro sensor and the fuel relay.which was corroded and loose. I have now put the bike into servicw mode with a jumper wire... i will attach a vid of this. Just need somw advice as the FI is throwing up allsorts, but i think it may be because i have removed the airbox etc. 20251110_154022.mp4

Don't have any spare tubing but next time..

I just have a short piece of clear tubing that fits on the end of the funnel. For the trans/diff in the race car we have garden sprayers with the nozzles removed.

My new garage finally has the electrics fitted so I'm in a position to start servicing my bikes. First is my 14 VFR1200F. She's hardly been ridden in the last 18 months so today I changed the oil & oil filter and replaced the final drive oil. I had to improvise to get the final drive into the vertical filler hole so I heated and bent the pipe of one of my spare funnels. Has anyone else done something different/better? Next is replacing the brake & clutch fluids and finally the coolant.

Based on the experience with my own 1200, the preload adjuster on the shock may have lost its fluid; I don't know where it goes, but the same happens on the ST1300 that uses a similar hydraulic preload adjuster setup. You can tell for sure if you wind the adjuster right out to minimum and then start winding in until you hit some strong resistance. If its more than 1/2 to 1 turn, then the adjuster has lost oil. With little or no oil, the back of the bike will sit much lower than it should and make steering feel very lazy. Fixing this is no big deal: Loosen the banjo bolt while the adjuster is still mounted, then remove the adjuster from its frame mount. Now remove the banjo fully (keep a rag handy) and keep the open hose as high as you can so you don't drain the hose. Take the adjuster and wind the knob right out, then push the piston in as far as you can through the banjo hole using a blunt tool (e.g. allen key end); drain any old oil out Fill the adjuster carefully (I used a small syringe) with oil and let any bubbles rise and top-off, I had fork oil handy so used that. Reconnect the banjo and snug it down, then wind the preload fully in, then fully back out; this encourages any air to come back from the cylinder on the shock to the adjuster. Now repeat the adjuster removal, piston movement and refilling, let bubbles out, top-off, and reassemble the parts. With this done, I can now see a whole cm of the spring collar moved out of the hydraulic cylinder on the shock that was not there before, and the bike has a much better rear attitude. In conjunction with a new front tyre, my 1200 is now a great handling bike. Note that none of the above affects the oil inside the shock absorber, just the oil in the hydraulic preload adjuster.

Spring came off the Ohlins shock for a 5th gen. Please check Ohlins for x-ref on spring rate and maybe any other applications. Spring number 1092-69/170. Free + $15 for shipping in North America.

I'm too scared to open that link on my work computer, but I was quite taken with Pete "Maverick" Mitchell's accommodation in the last Top Gun...

So if the starter valves are all moving freely but the starter valves are all slackened off (closed valves, no tension on the adjusting nut) then you must have a significant source of air from somewhere else. Maybe it is obvious but is there slack in the throttle cable so this is not holding the throttles open? I also had a brain-fart once and got a vacuum hose trapped in the fixed throttle stop under the throttle body (underside, right front) that stopped the butterflies fully closing after I replaced a thermostat. Otherwise, I'd be looking for some significant vacuum leaks in the hoses. Or maybe the rubber boots on the inlets have got cracks? I recall that you should be able to seal off the throttle bore with your hand and have no air passing through the butterfly, as all should be entering via the starter valve.

While trying to find Dirk Pitt's hangar house online:

You should see a Gen 1 Fazer 1000's "Pair valve setup, proper dogs dinner/octupus pipework mishmash, nightmare to get at plugs, mine's long since been junked & blanked off. Genuine K&N's have their emblem cast into the silicone section, no emblem, its a Chinesium copy. If you're lucky, you've got a sprint filter, strongly doubt it by how much filth's got passed the filter. If you can get on with the Helibars, keep em, they're silly money, scrutinise the welds with a magnifying glass as they're know to crack if bikes been over scuffed clutch cover fins, bike's defo been over on right side. With Helibars you might need longer cables, stock cables weren't any use when I fitted a conventional bar setup, never had Heli-bars, but they do look pretty tall. Re: (Pair valve system) all of it can be junked, blanked off, cap off reed valves stubs or fit new CNC covers, I've a contact that machines em up & sells em on eBay, cheap too. Flapper does naff all, bike will run better without it. They all run lumpy & a bit woolly below 3,000rpm even when everything's correctly setup, uneven firing order etc, it'll run better with decibel killer removed if using a sports slip-on can, it's an over square motor, loves to be revved & happier at higher rpm, Iridium plugs if funds allow, check gaps, plugs get their earth from cyl head thread, use only a tiny smear of anti-seize on plugs, Halfrauds usually sell em discounted in a sale (NGK CR9 EHIX-9) Leave snorkel in situ, it'll run better. Check rubber throttle body mounting rubbers are still supple enough to actually form an air tight seal when clamped up, could be dragging air in? Tourmax are my go too brand, same spec as OEM at a fraction of the price.

There's a few "bullet" connectors involved around the handlebars, and you could simply have a dry joint on one of them, so your plan seems sound, pull the connectors apart, brush off any corrosion and spray a bit of Deoxit in there. You can also look for any obvious breaks or bad crimps. Given your symptoms my guess is the issue is in the controller wires that come from the left grip.

Frickn gorgeous! Mad skillz

Been reading more into the coating on the throttle bodies, apparently they're used in all sorts of honda bikes and cars and seem to be more critical than I expected. I wonder if that could be the cause of the irregular vacuum readings and needing to have the idle speed screw wound fully out? Has anyone used any particular product to recoat them? Apparently molykote 321 is the stuff to use so I've read? Has to be worth a go I reckon.