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Kanguro by name, but a 袋鼠 inside....

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Hello everyone, In July this year, I purchased a neglected 1998 Honda VFR 800. I wasn't planning to buy any motorcycle because I already had an SV 650, but my friend's neighbor had this one for sale and told me that I should come and see it because the offer was interesting. It turned out he was right. The offer was interesting. The motorcycle has been owned by one owner for 18 years, who can no longer ride a motorcycle due to back pain. Unfortunately, because of this, the motorcycle has not been used for the last 10 years. I managed to negotiate a good price and bought this motorcycle. The overall condition of the motorcycle is very good (especially considering its age). But due to how long it has been standing there is a lot to do here. This is my VFR 😄 Original exhaust will be repleaced with something good, but for now i have more important things to take care of. fairings off Take a look on brake fluid color xD There is so many things i had to do ASAP so i just started with good cleaning 😄 What a mess A lot better Side stand sensor wire was damaged, luckly it was easy repair due to oxidation i had to cut off small portion of wire and replace with new one good as new, Bike had some clutch related problems, It was hard to operate. Clutch worked like digital machine 0 or 1 it was really hard to operate smoothly this bike. Colour of fluid is telling me there is rust in system and also leak because level is below LOWER mark. Quick check and yep, there is a lot of rust in fluid reservoir is not tragic Just take a look xD I bought whole repair kit Direct comparison Hydraulic line torqued to spec Ok time to take care of this mess Piston looks bad Gasket is long time gone, no wonder it was leaking Sadly i wasnt able to buy new piston at that time (now i have new one) so I did what I could, I cleaned the piston with steel wool and wd40. There is still a lot of pitting but surprisingly its not leaking (i will repleace piston anyway) New parts from repair kit Time to fill and bleed the system Now its a lot better, lever works smoothly just like it should. But still clutch need some attention. Before even taking a look i bought new clutch set (turned out to be right decision) Engine flush wont hurt after such a long time without running Clutch soaking in oil Damn, looks really black 😞 But luckly there was no metal shavings and also magnet was clean. I didnt have at this time correct size washer but this one did the trick. Ok cover off Well, this clutch is garbage. Plates thickness is in spec but hardened up like a rock. Also there was a lot of heat telling by the look of this plates These plates were not included in the clutch kit, so I checked their curvature according to the service book. They were all within specifications so I cleaned them with a gray scotch brite. New springs were included in this kit. And worst part of this job, removing old gasket :( Filled with good quality new 10w40 oil. and took for a ride. Damn its a whole new bike now, clutch working perfectly. There is still a lot to do with this bike so stay tuned 😄

Really a very cool project. A lot of work has gone into it, I am impressed by your enthusiasm for this bike 😄

My 2014 8th gen...

The Kanguro has been reborn as 300cc edition So the 350 could get a little sister in theory

Well I actually own one from the list right now, the Kawasaki ZR7S There are a few interesting bikes on the list that a test ride would be fun if not owning. VTR1000F Super hawk Triumph ST1050 Suzuki VX800 Yamaha TDM850 Kawasaki ZRX1200 (I would be interested in the S) Suzuki RF900 Suzuki SV1000 Well the SV650 that is not on the list is actually a bike I really would like to own, had a friends loaned for a week, was a nice ride, Exactly the SV in picture above, it was a bit modified through. A question is if I want a older carb version or this newer fuel injected, I like both looks but older one has nicer clocks...but guess fuel injection is better these days.... But actually non that I really dream of in that list

Hey Peeps. I've some potentially good news on the shift shaft support front if anyone's interested? I'm sure many of you guys have at some point been interested in fitting an external gear shift shaft support only to find no-one make one for our 800's. From the info available all 800's & RC45's all use the same shift shaft assembly & the same shift casing. For those who aren't aware of this mod, it's a race proven bolt on external needle bearing support to the exposed gear shift shaft, adds extra support to the shift casing needle bearing & oil seal, which in turn will live longer, also gives full support to the external shift shaft, many racers use these to good effect, it's supposed to help with high rev gear changes, help minimise false neutrals & missed gears due to shaft flex, not that I've ever experienced this phenomena myself. Since I'm soon to be delving into a DIY shift star mod, I thought why the hell not make my own shift shaft support while I'm in there, costed up some blocks of T6, not that cheap for a small order, so a DiY unit won't be cost effective. Contacted a few fabrication shops, had a positive response from a well known UK company that fabricates a range of bolt on race products, no VFR add ons are currently in their product range, had some lengthy email chat with the owner, sent him a used shift shaft casing & shaft to suss it out, due to the casings dimensions I suspect he'll be considering a 2 bolt design, I did the same to begin with, after some more thought, I came up with a simpler 1 bolt assembly that is simpler to CNC, so we'll see what kinda prototype design he comes up with, he's mega busy, but promised to get back to me in a couple of months when he's sorted the design & all the dimensions & machining out, all being well I can strike up a decent discount for VFR owners on this forum, shipping will obviously add to the cost for some, but a group buy may well be on offer. Let me know guys if you're interested, numbers will obviously make a group buy more cost effective. I'm hoping the finished product will be less than £100 GBP, per unit. Watch this space for future updates.

Hey y'all I had my ignition fuse blow one ride, but when I replaced it, it blows almost immediately after starting. I'm fairly certain it's a short, and I'm trying to trace it right now. Is there any rubbing points on some wires that could be the cause? Would love some information on the ignition circuit if possible, any vulnerable connectors or something.

All this v4 talk makes me want to freshen up my ‘07 with a brake fluid flush, I’ve already installed new front pads and air filter. Unfortunately I need to take it to my local powersports dealer to freshen the brake fluid, I don’t have the tools and expertise to make it happen. The crazy linked brakes work well when serviced properly but I wouldn’t mind a non linked system. That’s the one thing I’ve always had the dealer do, they have the technology 😂.

Welcome! Nice bikes! There's plenty of things here to help your project journey. Thanks for the photos!

Hi, my name is Dawid, i live in Poland, I recently purchased a neglected Honda VFR 800 fi from 1998 (kinda project bike). I decided to join the community to gain and share knowlage 🙂 I also have Sv 650N. Here are some pictures 🙂

Don't use copper grease (ever) on bolts into anything. Small paint brush, AC50, you'll never see a seized a bolt ever again, used it for decades on A2 & A4 Stainless bolts in contact with carbon fibre which is reputed to be the worst combination for this mythical so call Galvanic corrosion, stainless into aluminium, stainless into steel, same deal with Titanium into carbon/alloy/steel, never seen any hint of corrosion even on bolts that's been untouched for yrs.

Is the blue bike joining you in the NL? When is it going to get the SC treatment??

What a journey to find out that the carbon deposits forming inside was the problem, but it makes sense when the engine eats oil, but VFR are well known to not eat up much or any oil at all as far as I know, good job finding the cause!

Cheers "Stray". I just might take u up on that kind gesture. Note to self: " take tons of pics to update this thread". Happy Xmas guys 👍

Ha, nice. Any bikes on that list that are also on your "want to have one someday" list?

Sounds awesome! Can’t wait to hear all the wild stories from your Yellow Peril adventures—sounds like a fun ride!

UPDATE - turns out that the ST cables that I had purchased in 2022 are the 1300 ones, and not the 1100 ones. I had even started a thread on a comparison of the two cables for the 5th Gen which I totally forgot about 🙄........Post Covid Brain Fog sucks! The best advice came from SEBSPEED. I posted a couple of links about the Japanese police VFR800P bikes with the high handlebars if anybody is interested. The ST1300 cables do have a minor length issue which has been pointed out by SEBSPEED and Gaz66 above, but they are usable if one does not have access to 'perfect' cables like the Webike ones. AnikMankar did use the ST1100 cables with his Helibars and has posted images of this elsewhere on this forum.

May I suggest you avoid the RDW-station in Waddinxveen? With an import from outside the EU, inspection is more thorough/involved. I am not a gynecologist but I know a C... when I see one..

Hi, it's me. The guy with the weirdest issues ever. It's a long story, but has been resolved. Enjoy. I bought the bike for cheap with 57k km, four and a half years ago. I changed the plugs at 72k km. Noticed the plug on no.2 cylinder was white. Assumed it's running lean on that cylinder. Had the injectors ultrasonically cleaned, changed the vacuum hoses and thought it would fix it. It didn't. Continued riding and thinking what else could be wrong. I bought a set of Chinese injectors for testing. No change. Swapped the OEM injectors back. Swapped the injector subharness and the whole electrical harness chasing one other issue. No change to the plugs. Did the valve clearance check and adjustment and starter valve sync. Compression was fine, slightly lower in cylinder 2 but only around 5%, not enough to sound an alarm in my head. I added the Rapid bike racing and wideband lambda sensor for tuning purposes as I upgraded the bike in many ways. Through testing and logging confirmed that he cylinder no2 is not lean. In fact it's pretty much spot on. Fast forward to this spring, I turned the bike on in the garage, let it warm up a bit while I put on the rest of my gear. Garage is not very well lit and I noticed the cylinder no2 header glowing. The picture is overly dramatic as the phone can pick up more infrared light and show it as red compared to our eyes. Still, it was visibly glowing, just not as much as the pics show. I confirmed my observations with an IR thermometer. The cyl no2 header was 100-150C hotter than the cylinder no.4 at all times, even during warmup it heated up much quicker. Took the sparkplugs out again. Much worse than before. This was around 90k km. Went on the hunt again. Swapping coil position, swapping plug position, swapping injector position, put Chinese injectors in again, confirmed the AFR was good by adjusting fueling and moving the wideband sensor from bung to bung, confirmed that the injector pulses were right and as reported by rapidbike software using an oscilloscope. Tested the OEM injector flow rate by making a DIY flow measuring device. Confirmed the flow is identical across all injectors by weighing the amount of fuel sprayed by activating all injectors simultaneously trough a makeshift harness. Couldn't get to the bottom of it. I gave up again, packed it all up and continued riding trough the spring and summer season. I noticed if I hammer on the bike on the highway the oil level drops. I assumed it's evaporation from extreme heat and high oil temp. Also, it's an old engine, closing in on 100k km so I thought a small amount of oil consumption at extreme loads isn't weird. Continued hammering on it. After one very hard ride thought the twisties I used the highway to get back home quicker. Blasted it to top speed and continued hammering at 180-200km/h for 40km. The Fi light turned on, I stopped it blinked the code for crank position sensor. The bike started cutting out briefly at random moments. I disconnected the rapid bike system, the Fi light went away and the bike didn't cut out anymore. Could at least ride safely. The idle dropped however. Felt like it was running on 3 to 3.5 cylinders. Got home, took the sparkplugs out. The no2 sparkplug has melted away. I lowered a boroscope into the cylinders. Piston no2 had tons of carbon deposits. The valve recesses were rounded off by thick deposits, hardly distinguishable. The circular protrusion that was visible on other pistons wasn't visible on piston no2. For reference this is how other cylinders looked. This is where I finally found the source of the issue. It all clicked. The slightly lower compression is a sign of cylinder and/or ring wear. It lets oil into the cylinder, mostly noticable at prolonged high loads. It accumulates deposits. They increase compression a lot, which leads to premature ignition and extreme temps. The headers glow, the sparkplug goes white and eventually melts. I bought PROTEC P4650 CX Carbon X combustion chamber cleaner and went to work. Took 10-15 cycles of cleaning but eventually it cleaned up. I helped break up the deposits by inserting a bottle cleaning brush in the cylinder and spinning it around. It really helped a lot. Here's a pic during cleaning process. In the end it was fully clean, just a shiny piston crown. I checked the valves. The extreme heat wore the valve seat on the exhaust side. I adjusted the normal exhaust valve on cylinder no2. Fortunately the compression stayed the same, the valve itself didn't burn. Other valves were fine after 25k km. With the cleaning done, oil changed and new sparkplugs in it fired right up. No Fi light, no cutting, idle restored, headers didn't glow and IR thermometer confirmed the temps are similar between all cylinders. Took it for a test ride, everything was fine. Connected back the Rapid bike system once I confirmed everything works. Wow, Rapid bike really makes a huge difference. Took it for a second test ride. Made sure to blast it on the highway. Took the sparkplugs out after 70km of mixed riding and a 30km highway blast. Sparkplug was brown-ish like it should be. Lowered the boroscope in the cylinder no2. Deposits already started forming. The circle on the piston crown wasn't visible. The deposits form on the center first. It is what it is. The engine runs great again. I'll use the fuel additive every now and then to help clean the deposits. I think the additive will work well on fresh deposits. Old, dry and crusty deposits need harsh chemical cleaning and mechanical agitation. Fresh, wet deposits might clean up with only the fuel additive. If needed I'll buy another set of Protec K1+K2 combustion chamber cleaner and clean it again in a year or two. Engine rebuild is prohibitively expensive, it's better to buy a used engine. If I find one for a good price I'll buy it. For now this engine will do the job.

Sometimes you just get a big surprise Watching this YouTube Video of 19 oddball motorcycle's left my mouth open My old TRX 850! Not a video I have posted through, a owner after me. But you can't say it's not my old TRX, there ain't 2 in yellow whit those front turn signals, twin headlights and gpz600 mirrors 😁

Yellow Peril build thread!!?😛

Not the usual smoke/mirrors/AI bot/photo shop/Nigerian scammer drivel. Fingers crossed also.