All Activity

Hello All, It’s been some time since my last update so thought I’d pop in with a request: does anyone have an RC24 pillion seat cover they’re prepared to sell me? I’ve decided to finally pick a look and go for it, even if it’s not perfect, and the combo of choice is: 1. VF400/500 top fairing 2. VTR1000 SP2 side fairings 3. VFR750 1984 RC24 tail (shortened) That’s my 5th gen pillion cover on for trial but I’d like an RC24 (1st gen?) cover so it matches the seat fairing. Anybody got one they’re prepared to sell (based in UK)? My pole of “trial” fairings is getting out of hand now so have to finish this project and get my garage back! In there, you’ll find: - Ducati 1198 (in the box) - RC30 from Harris - VTR SP2 - CBR600 F2, F3, F4 and later models all jumbled up - Early Fireblade 900 and 919 - Leon Camier’s BSB GSXR600 carbon fairings (seriously!) - GSX1100F - VF1000F - Triumph 675 (3rd gen) - VF400 with sides and belly pans - VFR750 - Suzuki GS650 - Honda NS400 - Honda CB250 - Yamaha XJ650 - Honda MC18 - Honda MC21 - And a whole bunch of others I can’t quite recall just now Garage looks like a breaker’s yard - it has to stop!!! Doesn't look too sad with the VF1000 front but it may be too big visually for the rest of the bike… Happy to have feedback and vitriol! Please, if you have a spare VFR750 1984-88 pillion cowl kicking around, get in touch. Best, Stray

I'm cutting and pasting some older post from VFRWorld, and then I'll update after --------- So, I bought a 2002 VFR800 the other day, as I've been looking for one since last year, but haven't been able to justify some of the prices out there. Saw one for a reasonable price, the guy said it died at a gas station, and he hasn't been able to get it to start. My buddy has a bike shop, and went with me to see it. It would turn over with a small jump pack, but would not start. At the time I bought it, it was downpouring, and he said he's pretty confident we'll get it running. He hasn't been around yet, and I've been working on figuring out the issue. So far, I've tried: - new battery - pulled a coil pack and plug, NO SPARK. Tested from the postive terminal to a coil pack, had 12v. (originally, I was getting .15, but was testing from negative to negative, which wasn't working out well for me) - removed the air filter, and have tried starter fluid. I've had occasional chuff, but that's it. At one point, it sounded like it was going to run, on starter fluid, but that was in the beginning, and have not had a repeat since. - removed the rectifier and diode tested it, which read correctly, but that really doesn't help if it is not running. The previous owner had it disconnected from the stator; I plugged it back in. Don't think there has been any difference. - unbolted the stator cover and verified that the stator is not cooked (appears to have been replaced recently) - emptied the tank, put fresh gas in it - checked and made sure the CPG was plugged in, although I have not tested it for resistance or voltage yet. - checked fuses (that I could find). Also looked at the bus bar, and, while the cover was disconnected, it did not look terrible from appearance. The one fuse cable pictured was pretty rough looking, and open, but still was testing 12v. When I turn the key on, it whines from the dash area. I searched in here, and checked, and the green cable on the blue connector on the left front looks good, and does not appear to be bad. I do not have a FI light on, until I try to start it. The fuel pump does not prime when turning into the "on" position, but when I press the start button, it turns on then. Here is a video of turning it on, turning over, and shutting off. You can hear the pump and the whine: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Wyq9sDQK1zK5NLs_jMHOuN6PoqGHh--/view?usp=sharing Tomorrow, I am going to probably remove the nose and get to the tip sensor, as that and the kickstand sensor (I have it on the center stand, and have tried starting with the kickstand down and up), are the only two things left I can think of. So I worked on it some more today. I am attaching the photos. - pulled the common earth block, scrubbed the bus bar, if you will, and put it back together. From some posts on VFRD, this one has not had the recall applied--I have two green ground cables at the blue connector, and there is no punch 10mm over and down from the "J" in the VIN number. - removed the front fairing and headlights (what a hassle), exposing the relays and tip over sensor. Note: the first thing I removed was the mirrors, and someone had used vampire clamps to install mirrors with integral turn signals. For fun, I tried turning it on, to see if the turn signals worked. Much to my surprise, when switching to the "on" position, it stopped whining, the lights worked, and I heard the 3 second fuel pump prime. However, further work on removal, and it returned to the same problem, no prime, relay whining. - bypassed the tip over sensor. Still no luck. I also removed it, and shook it, and I can hear the ball rattling around in the fluid, so I put it back. - removed the right headlight relay. This eliminated the whine, although the hi-beams were not working either now. When both plugged in, I got the whine from both relays, and no working headlights. I think there's an issue in the headlights, but I am not sure how this is effecting my lack of spark. -removed all relays and diode, and visually checked all fuses, and tested the diode. I had .520 and .504 from either side when testing on the multimeter, under the diode testing setting. When reversing, I got OL on both, so the diode tests good. - I removed the headlight fuse, and, when turning on, no whine, and the fuel pump primes. - pulled #1 plug and coil, put plug back in coil, and turned it over to test for visible sparks. No spark to coil, and when contacting the engine, no spark jumping to engine, either. So this remains my main issue--no spark. I did not test the fuel cutoff relay, but with lack of whine, I am not as concerned, as when I pull plug 1 (the only plug I've pulled so far), it's wet with gas. Several times among this point, when getting the fuel prime, I would give the velocity stacks a quick squirt of starter fluid, and after several cranks, I will get the occasional "chuff" from one or several cylinders. I don't understand how this is happening, if I have no spark. I have also noticed some issues with the kill switch. Sometimes it takes one or two tries to get it to turn on after turning off the kill switch. This tells me there is an issue with it, and it either needs to be torn apart, or replaced. I put it back into the on position, verified that it'll start, and left it there. So, to summarize, I don't have any visible burn marks, do not appear to have the recall applied, several relays appear to either be bad, or wiring is an issue somewhere that I cannot see. When removing plug on cylinder #1, I see and smell gas on the plug, and there is no visible spark when turning over. Thanks. Here you can see the fuel pump turning on, no codes, and it chuffs when I apply starter fluid, but not for long: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AgI6E24SJkOQgVdyAXZFXemfD85uvVvG/view?usp=sharing Here is the earth ground connection, after brushing it. It already was pretty clean, but I did so for extra measure: -----------------

After adjusting valve clearance on the other VFR in the morning decided to go for a ice cream in the afternoon on the Transalp, as today it's finally like Summer and 25°C (so you want to ride not 35-45°C line mid/south Europe) And Yes, I still fit my size 48 leathers! I'm perhaps boring, but I just love to ride my favorite road to that same cafe And a picture from on way home I guess my tires are safe for my roads I prefer to ride A tiny bit of chicken strip still but almost to edge. The Transalp is perfectly capable to have fun on twisty tarmac road's 😎 So much fun as joy!

I use Solidworks for work and at home. Show me what you are trying to do, and I'll see what I can do.

Vfr1200 is shaft driven

Shoot me an email, I'll try to squeeze it in

Service the clutch slave and master, check the clutch basket fingers for grooving and file if necessary. Also, send me a picture of your old clutch cover, as I may have a use for it...

From the pictures I don't see anything that needs replacement. Its hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like there is some minor glazing on the friction plates (first picture) that could be addresses with a light sanding with emery cloth. Check the shop manual, there are thickness limits for the friction plates, length limits for the springs and flatness limits or the steel clutch plates. If they are within limits I would address the glazing and put it back together. Also while your in there check the clutch slave cylinder operation and clutch rod straightness. Any "stickiness" in the clutch slave cylinder operation could contribute to the "lurch" in clutch engagement.

Not sure what you mean? However, there is some question about whether I will be able to get my van (and its hitch) into the garage at all at this point...but there is no question that I would NOT have enough room to maneuver it around inside if I did! I will have some Unistrut to play with in a few days, so I will decide what to do after that. This is an electric "pallet stacker", btw: What makes it different than a "forklift" is that it requires support underneath the load, so I will need to be able to slide the front wheels of this thing underneath anything sitting on the floor of my garage below the bike shelves. So that means everything there needs to be on legs or wheels or a platform. No problem with workbenches and tool cabinets, but more of a challenge with machine tools such as my bandsaw, drill press, welding cart, future plasma table, lathe, mill, etc. Fortunately, I like planning; unfortunately, more than doing! Ciao, JZH

The last place she probably wants to go is the Netherlands! Ciao, JZH

I bought some of that stuff to build an enclosure for my 3D printer (not yet assembled...). Very cute--compared with the brute utility of Unistrut! Generally, however, aluminum anything is a lot more expensive than steel, plus I'd not really know where to start with calculating the loads and sizes required. I've seen unistrut used in countless (sometimes dangerous) situations, so I'm fairly comfortable using it for the shelving structure. I've ordered some test pieces and brackets, so I will have a better idea soon enough. Yeah, I don't think I want to put a pic of my actual house on t'internet, but it looks something like the house on the left: Mine's not red, not directly on a canal, and is a little taller, but it's a traditional house in a traditional row of Dutch houses like this. Most such houses have had their ground floors converted into modern living areas (from whatever they were originally, such as a retail shop or workshop). Ciao, JZH

Interesting development. Is the air fuel mixture tuned properly with the Power Commander 5? With the amount of mods that you've done it's only possible to guess where things went wrong. Porting the cylinder head is very tricky and can easily be detrimental to performance if done wrong.

You'll have to change your "In My Garage" blurb... Ciao, JZH

Strange. I once had an EBC (I think) on my 750, and both it and the OEM rotor it replaced had huge cut outs to allow the rotor to clear the axle studs. Bit of an oversight on Brembo's part! Ciao, JZH

Does the 1200 have a hollow rear axle? (Most of) the other VFRs do. If you had a pair of jack stands, a small floor jack and a piece of steel rod or bar that fit through the rear axle, you could set the axle on the RH jack stand, lift the bike up enough to rest the steel rod or bar on the LH jack stand and, once the rear is stable, use the floor jack to lift the bike under the exhaust to raise the front wheel off the ground. It shouldn't crush the front exhaust pipes if lifted that way, but the 1200 is a heavy beast... Ciao, JZH

Well, it would have to be really simple! I have been struggling with Fusion just recently (pointlessly re-designing the JD's Garage plasma table plans to my ridiculous specifications), but that is what happens whenever I try to pick up CAD again. But I've never managed to go beyond the CAD to the CAM, so you might need someone who has at least done that bit before... Ciao, JZH

I'm happy I bothered checking the valve clearance even seller told me they were checked about 6k kms ago, have the interval, turned out only cylinder #2 inlet valves was in spec, all other was tight, some awful tight...... Next as I have the radiator off as coolant drained I plan to take off the thermostat housing and give it a fresh paint Even If usually leave some patina this needs fresh paint as looks tatty

https://chatgpt.com/ ?

Fitting a new clutch cover and wanted to check the plates as Ive had a lurching problem where the bike, if held say at lights when coldish with the clutch pulled in, it could give a sudden lurch forward catching me off guard when I move off quicker rather than slower. I've never pulled a clutch apart before and I just wondered if anyone could spot anything untoward in these pics? There's a few scratches on a few of the tangs but nothing looks buggered or how Id not expect it to look and friction plates seem to have a consistent amount of "meat" on them. Bike has done about 50K KMs. Thanks all for any input before I put it all back together.

I have the SW Motech center stand like the one above. Fantastic addition, most maintenance is a breeze! Highly recommended!

Anybody up to convert my chicken scratching hand drawing to CAD and maybe model and STL? Fairly simple stuff. Its been a long time since I did any CAD (Unigraphics, Catia).... I got sucked into management. Thanks

Does the fuel pump prime when with the kill switch at run you switch the key to on ? You should hear it

With RED especially, my experience with ColorRite is... ColorRong

For $77 for the paint, it is expensive but I feel the match would be perfect. It is an option for sure.