'New' to me 1996 VFR 750 and Lots of Questions

Yes please, would appreciate it. Looking forward to it

 

Are there any cosmetics or body work specialists here? On the bike there are some scratches and some small ABS plastic portions are missing. Was planning to fix and repair them, and use touch up paint.

Was wondering what should I pick up from these options? Or if anyone has any better suggestions/ideas?

Thanks everyone.

 

Do you have the service manual for this bike? Honda also publishes a general mechanical manual as well.

For parts like the thermostat , look on one of the suppliers sites under Honda parts. Sometimes the OEM parts and an independent will have different
SKU or ID codes. The larger suppliers have chat or toll free lines open.

 

when you do the t-stat, pay attention to the orientation of the hole, on the gen3 bikes, it faces forward, would think its the same on the gen4s. Also consider replacing those two hoses, depending on the mileage on your unit. Make sure you tighten the hose bands enough, if you dont, its carburetors off to fix.

 

Some of the contributors here not only are into cosmetics but corresponding attire, and general bitchiness.

Best bet on fixing your plastic is to buy a book and start reading the dozens of posts on the subject on this site and who knows how many others.

I would also suggest getting hooked up with some motorcycle enthusiasts in your locale.

 

I have the service manual from VFRD ~306 pages long. Is that what you are talking about? Thanks for your help

 

Do I have to remove carbs to replace a t-stat? Also, for all these hoses, vacuum and fuel lines. Can I use automotive ones or these are specialty motorcycle ones in terms of the sizes?

 

Thanks again for your sound advice, I am going to see if I can find VFR enthusiast in my local area, who is an expert and can lend me a hand

 

If the service manual from VFRD is the appropriate manual for your bike and you have counted the pages with due diligence, a reading of same might provide a few answers to the questions on the more simple aspects of your bike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDWEi9lIY0M

"I want to bite your hand!"

John Lennon
c. 1960s

 

Nothing like a good hand job there dude.

 

Stant 180° part number 35788 or BT 378 180 .

The photos show the Stant number you need. I had to grind a little off the pin to clear the top half of the housing, and grind one millimeter off the radius to seat it in the lower housing. Final mod is to drill the by-pass hole (no typo this time). Final photo shows the saucepan test with an ASTM certified thermometer (thank you Weyerhaeuser lab). It starts to open at 180 deg and is fully open by about 190.

 

I specifically said, lending a 'HAND'. I didn't include any job, no expectations for it. I have better options for it :soap:

 

As always, thanks so much SM

 

As with tires, oil and handjobs there are always alternatives expressed by we of the peanut gallery. This, save a few claims of absolute virginity and prowess above and beyond normalcy by others.

 

So I am planning to patch and fix/touch up some of the broken plastic on the bike. Looking at color, it's R158p which seems pretty pricey and expensive from colorrite and a few other alternate places.

Are there any generic ones which anyone has used from home improvements store or auto parts store? What if I take my old fairing to HD/Lowes and they color match in a gloss exterior paint? Would that work or no?

I read on one of ST forum : red Rust-Oleum plastic paint: Sunrise Red 211367 ---Close replacement for R158P

Any suggestions or advice to buy color in a cheaper option? Thanks so much for any input and help.

 

Yes expensive paint, add to this it's hard to reproduce the paint from the factory. On that note it's your call, your money. A few here and there have just repainted the whole bike to another color. making it a one of a kind, which some look pretty sharp, maybe you should think about going with a blank canvas and go from there. just saying

 

Thanks RVFR for your input.

At the moment, I have another question, yesterday I started the bike and let it idle/warm up and I was noticing R/R was heating up. I used IR thermometer and temperature was rising for it, while wires for stator and R/R were cool enough to touch.

Is there any solution to fix heating up of R/R? Battery is charging up fine, at 4-5k rpm it's showing 14.1-14.4V.

If it helps, R/R is an upgraded 'Sun' one with upgraded wiring too.

 

The R/R dissipates excess current and acts like a light bulb, so "hot" is relative. Does the documentation for that R/R have a specified temperature range?

You can post the peak temperature here and maybe someone can feedback on it. However note the R/R always heats up to some degree.

Jeff Barrett has posted several home-made upgrades. Your upgraded wiring may accomplish some of the same things. But one thing that comes to mind is he adds extra/redundant grounds. Everything takes less strain when ground is working correctly and is at zero volts.

 

Thanks so much, R/R doesn't say anything about model number or anything. Please see attached picture.

Temperatures was nearly between 55-65 degrees centigrade. I have added 2 grounds yesterday, one on tail light and one on green wire of R/R. Going to add one on right side of the bike close to radiator and another one on left rear end close to fuel pump(i think?). Are there any other suggestions to add additional grounds?

Thanks so much for all the help.

 

LOL my 5th gen is stock so you're way ahead of me, but others may chime in on grounds and temp. For sure with all of those grounds, you've done well. Hrm 149°F. For complex electronics that is at the maximum end but I don't know about an R/R.