what did you do to your vfr today?

Well I've now ordered this kit for my bike - borrowed my friends yesterday.... It seemed to work really well and even though I removed the tyre (with this kit you don't need to) the tyre is still up - lol

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STOP-N-GO...122051?hash=item2a6b239b43:g:zP0AAOSwHnFV1ZyI

 

I sold the red 6th gen VFR. Now I don't have to feel guilt for not riding it enough. I still have the Y2K and the VTR so it's all good.

 

I feel fer ya, only down ta two bikes



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Well, I tried to put on a part that fell off some time ago, only to find out the wrong parts were ordered. Wen to take a picture of the other side, now it won't go back on. Ordered two.

 

I hear ya. It feels weird and wrong to be down to just two street bikes. (I don't count the little bikes, the dirt bikes and the projects.) I am looking at CL more now. I found a non-running VTR Superhawk down in San Antonio that intrigues me. It's just a 10 hour drive round trip.

 

Acquiring non-running VTR1000's is starting to seem like an affliction, Jim. But there do seem to be a few around where the front camchain tensioner has let go and the valves and pistons had little collisions, and for a man of your talents (and VTR surgery experience) that should be a walk in the park to correct...

 

Next time you have the forks apart, take note of the DMR shim stack and your rebound stack + spring and your weight, I'm putting together a bit of a shim stack data base to help other people.

 

I have to admit to being fascinated by suspension talk and upgrades. I have always been focused in making them go and to a certain extent making them stop. I have a confession to make "I have never fooled with the suspension settings on my bikes." This includes changing fork oil weights, adjusting the spring heights or messing with the dampening. I just never learned to do it and I was never such an aggressive rider that it mattered a lot. I would like to learn but i just don't know where to start or what I am looking to achieve.

Are you looking for a stiffer ride? Heaver springs, thicker fork oil, slower dampening?

 

I am in the same boat as Big Jim here, are there any good threads here on what's going on in a vfr's suspension? Since my VF needs suspension attention I think I've got some learning to do. For instance, yesterday I got under the seat and gas tank of the 500 and saw that theres a turny button on top of my rear shock that's set to "4", and theres a valve stem coming out of my shock that I have no idea what to do with. This is all so simple on cars. At least it's easy to get to on bikes...

 

I have that kit but mine has the small containers of compressed air instead of the compressor. Haven't tried it on the bike yet but had it with me when I had to plug a tire on the car. Very easy to use... once I had it figured out. Wasted the first plug. It's worth doing it once in the driveway at home in daylight for practice. If I had to use it for the first time on the side of the road at night in the rain I would have been cursing, now it would be simple. I have used tire plugs many times in the past but this is by far the best type I have tried. It stays in the tank bag and goes everywhere with me. Good peace of mind.

 

Pick up the Race Tech Suspension Bible (Electronic copy available at VFRD), it has a lot of great info about suspension, probably more than you'll want to know. There's a few how-to tutorials in there too.

 

^ what he said, then after that has been some what absorbed, there's all the butt work getting to figure how it feels vs. what and how it all works, in that it's all trial and error.

 

There is enough information on VFR suspension out there, and plenty of help here to get it pretty close on first try.
After that you need to test.
My opinion is that you can't do one side without the other. Both ends are pretty bad standard.
The end result is suspension that is softer on small stuff, much better at handling big bumps, much less dive under brakes, and miles more stability on bumpy corners.
As I've often said in this forum, I no longer pay so much attention to road surface when going hard, I now know the bike will hold its line.

 

The DMr shim stack is very similar to RaceTech C33 with 3 x 17 x 0.15 main shims, although I now run it as C32 with 2 of those shims. The rebound is set as RaceTech rH17 stack, and I'm using 0.90kg/mm springs. I weigh about 85 kg.

 

Your 500 has air-adjustable pre-load (7-21 psi range), and a 4-position damping adjuster (4 is most damping). More air pressure will raise the back of the bike higher and make it less likely to bottom out on bumps and/or with a heavier rider/passenger on board. The damping controls the speed at which the compressed shock rebounds, too slow and the wheel won't keep contact with a bumpy road and you lose traction, too fast and the bike will weave and wobble as the shock over extends. There is Goldilocks-zone of happiness when the preload and damping are set to match each other.

 

My suspension is pretty comfortable when just riding down the road. It does not bottom out and takes the bumps nicely. In the corners it doesn't feel planted and can be upset by road irregularities.

 

Suspension modification is a bit of an addiction of mine. I blame Motorcyclist magazine, they posted an article in 1984 (I think) where they took a VF750F and added a Fox twin-clicker shock and Progressive springs and pronounced it a major step forward in control and comfort. I was young and impressionable at this point.

The first bike I altered properly was my 86 VFR750, which received exactly those bits, plus cartridge emulators. Even then I had to modify the modified parts as the Fox shock had way too much compression damping for road use. After that I put and Ohlins and Racetech fork bits into my 95 RF900, and that was awesome once I adapted the fork compression damping to my liking. When I bought my well-used 99 VFR, the suspension (especially the front) was obviously amiss, jolting and saggy at the same time. Saggy was fixed with decent springs, and the jolty part was sorted with new compression valves and shims. A new shock was the icing on the cake. Not one to leave well-enough alone (and happy to discover the joys of second hand bits from eBay) I later installed VTR fork lowers and CBR600F4 brakes for the delink. This formed part of my post-crash rehabilitation.

I have spent a disproportionate amount of time fiddling with the front suspension on the VFR and trying different combinations of shims in the compression and rebound stacks, so have a bit of a feel for what the effects of each are.

I also own two other bikes, a VTR1000F Superhawk and ST1100 Pan European. Guess what happened to the suspension on both of those...

 

In the corners is where setting up the suspension will pay off. I always target the behaviour after hitting a decent bump or hollow in a corner when leaned over. My aim is to feel the bump but not have the bike jolted off line, and this to me is where the spring and especially compression damping play a big part. Personally I am much more sensitive to effects on the steering end of the bike, and I care less about perfection at the back end (although this still needs to be a good match for the front).

If it was my money I would spring (!) for new springs and compression valves for the front end first as I think these made the biggest improvement. You can (and should) re-shim the stock rebound valves in the fork if you fit stiffer springs as there will be more rebound force to control. The fork cartridge dampers are easy to disassemble and modify, and any changes are reversible if you are not happy.

My view of the stock VFR front suspension is that it has an over-abundance of compression damping and somewhat limp springs. That combination is fine on smooth roads, but on bumpy sections the fork can't soak up the irregularities as easily as it should, transferring more force to the chassis and kicking the bike off-line. The compression damping can't really be tuned out as it is inherent in the design of the valve bodies used (very small ports). Aftermarket parts from Daugherty or RaceTech have much more free-flowing ports that allow the fork to be more absorbent of jolts.

 

Thanks! I see that my forks also each have a tire stem valve in them, I guess for preload as well. I'm only 150lbs, should I have them set pretty low? The bike doesnt feel particularly stable on bumpy roads. Thanks again.

 

Where does one get such components like new performance springs and compression valves? Is this a hit am miss operation or are the calculations to get ti close?