what did you do to your vfr today?

Welcome to ours .... driveway was clear last night



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Sow will be heartbroken that you are living in sin with that snowbunny.

 

I finally got out for a ride. Between bad weather, family obligations and work, riding has been on the bottom of my to-do list but not today. The weather was dry, sunny and in the high 60s.

 

Rode it.
Quick trip to the country side.

 

Mine's stripped of all bodywork.

Went to put the centerstand on it and realized I had to drop the headers as the hanger bolt on that side is too long to fit with them in place, so I didn't do that. Put in some plugs and cleaned up the routing for the Power Commander I installed a couple weeks back.

Then I put steel brake lines on it, a process which takes a lot of hours and makes me want to say words that will make the baby jesus cry every few minutes. I have run fluid through all the lines, I am pretty sure, and left the lever zip tied so when I get back to it I can check for leaks. One or two more trips around the bike bleeding those annoying things, and hopefully it'll stop when I step or squeeze a lever.

For the public record, I did the Galfer kit as I got it for about half the price of the HEL lines. There are a couple of problems with it, not the least being using a double banjo bolt on the left front caliper, which will make wheel removal a pain in the ass. I guess Galfer doesn't make a two-way fitting for a single banjo like the stock one, so that's just a fucking mess. The clutch line is bent backwards, too, and I'm not sure every fitting was set at the best possible angle. A couple had more torque than I'd like trying to get them lined up and screwed into the calipers.

Also, the Galfer's hangers are fugly. Really bad. The lines are a lot narrower outside diameter than stock, so they aren't held down by the stock mounts on the chainguard. Galfer's solution is a clamp that doesn't fit well at all, and really looks bad to boot. The best of BOTH worlds! Imma have to engineer something up for that myself, I guess.

By the way, I've been working on cars and motorcycles on and off since I was 7 years old. This is the first time I can say I have a least favorite braking system.

Next time I get time in the shop I'll change the oil, sync the throttle bodies -- which I think are good, but the starter valves were WAY the hell out when I began the process -- then figure out how the hell to get all the plastic back on. Just in time for the next weekend of rain.

 

That is why the HEL lines are more $, they come with all of the correct size grommets and stock style fittings so they attach exactly like the stock lines. No fuss, no muss. You get what you pay for.

 

Galfer seems to be one of those companies that makes an excellent stuff and a whole bunch of massmarketed high profit items that are just short of crap. I have not checked out Speigler for VFR' but I know they make some excellent stainless steel brake products.

 

Galfer's lines are excellent quality. The kit is shit. Does that make sense?

What I mean is, they just don't do a good job of the engineering. So individual components are good, but you're left to solve some problems. I know Hel and Speigler are both more expensive, but the components that make the difference aren't. I guess you're paying extra for convenience as much as anything.

Whatever, I got to it on my lunch break today. Only found one leak and it sealed with a twist. Finally get the air out and have a firm pedal and lever. Changed the oil, got rid of that K&N and put in a purolator (and Mobile 1 T4 ) so we'll see how that goes. I was a Honda filter/Spectro Golden guy for years, then Honda oil, but I decided to try something new. Fixed some routing of lines and cleaned up a few little things while I had it apart, too. Once again, it looks new, but it is 16 years old and needs a little TLC.

Tomorrow at lunch I put all the damned plastic back on and actually ride it! I like wrenching, but only for like an hour or two at a time. Not a few days at a time. I'm getting impatient to get back on the road.

 

Well UPS truck rolled up and dropped off this thing here!

So we read the instructions and the Honda book...

Man was they waaaaay off.

7 hours later Lefty was singing the song...


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My RVF has been on the lift for a week now....



& as you can see I'm currently working on a space issue... lol

 

Man, just one line to each caliper... so simple. I'm totes jelly.


I got mine buttoned up. In total I cleaned up some crap under the fairings, added fasteners that weren't there, new fairing bolts, etc... just stuff from the bike being old, nothing broken. And the external fairing bolts I replaced just because I like shiny things.

New brake lines. New front pads (EBC sintered). The pads I find interesting in that the ones I pulled look identical. But, even though they had some meat left on them, they were noisy, super inconsistent, and just unpleasant. I wonder if they are real EBC or the no-name pads you can get off the amazon or the ebay that look the same.

While it was nekkid I did oil, plugs, better routing for a couple of things (lead for the power commander, overflow hose for the fuel tank, and the disconnected O2 sensor leads), and polished the clutch pushrod again. When I got the bike the clutch was sticky so it'd rev and then the clutch would grab -- along with the wildly out of sync starter valves, it made the bike VERY hard to ride around town. So, since I yanked the slave to put that steel line on I figured I might as well clean it again. I don't want that particular problem to EVER crop up.

The roads were dry enough this afternoon to seat the brake pads. First impressions are excellent. Lever only goes about half way to the bar and the brakes aren't controlled by movement of the lever so much as pressure on it. Nice and firm, and super consistent. Just like I like it. Back brake pedal seems to have more authority on the front than it used to, so I'm tempted to pull the stock honda pads from the back and drop EBC in there, too. Clutch is better. More consistent, though it wasn't bad before so it might just be psychosomatic. SO line are a giant pain in the ass, but really do work a treat.

Shifted OK with the T4, but I won't know if it's really working for me until I can flog the thing and shift under power. Sunday's supposed to be dry, so I'll beat it up then.

 

I've had a slightly leaky oil seal on the front left leg so decided I'd give it a go... along with strip down & clean, take a look at all the bits you never normally see, clean & polish all panels both sides, drain carbs, remove battery, just generally get it into great condition...

The forks are now back on, just cleaning it for now.

 

Sent an extra stator off to custom rewind to get rebuilt and beefed up, just got my nutty huge reg/rec in the mail. Went with the SH847 from roadstercycle.com. Now to see where i can cram this thing. Going to pull off all the fairings and go through the electrical connections one by one, inspect, clean, replace as needed with new parts that i'll need to order as well. Hoping to fix this charging system once and for all.



The 96 has been fun while the 86 is under the knife. Got a vinyl cutter for xmas, should be a good time. Rok straps + a bungee net for peace of mind and i feel like i could strap just about anything down. I took the regular highway home instead of the 85mph freeway, didn't wanna push my luck

 

Big R/R.
Really big.

 

Oh yeah, still pondering where i'm gonna mount the thing. Got interrupted messing with wiring so i didn't get as far as i'd like, but all the rear connections have been done up. I'll get it done little by little, body panels stored nice and safe out of the way for awhile.


Cleaned with contact cleaner spray, tiny bit of ox-gard on the pins, then dielectric grease behind the connectors once they are together.



The AC wire connection coming off the stator looked particularly awful.


Ah well, here's to another year on two wheels. 96 lookin good in the work garage

 

ATX I would be chopping that AC connector out and soldering the joint. It shows a lot of heat damage and it's not uncommon for the body to melt enough that the wires touch.


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I Was feeling pretty good at the time, so figured I'd back out the Viffer to warm it up, as its been a couple weeks, then thought maybe i'd run it up to the fuel depot, Ha 35 then rain. Poop!@*! If that wasn't bad enough a head cold plowed me a couple hours later. At least I got to hear the Viffer sing it's song. My son in the back ground took the Street legal CRF for a spin.

 

Whoa ATX , those are some gnarly looking connectors. If it were me I'd be replacing them... LOL yea thats a big RR

 

Well back to the tool box.
Just when i got it smoof...
I get an exhaust leak. The nut done fell off.
Ordered a rear later modle Kawasaki ZX14 shock to replace the pogo stick in me bike.


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Got Sebs cover installed