Hi I'm feeling a bit stiff this morning after a long Sunday in the garage, my first after weeks of being a couch potato. Feels good to have achieved something though! The ’89 VFR750F-K has now done some 1500 miles in my care, and I’ve grown to if not exactly love it, then certainly recognise its worth as a fantastic all rounder. In 9 months it’s been largely ignored then dragged out of the garage and used without attention or complaint, except the odd day with a low battery. Given that it cost me £600 on ebay last November, that's pretty impressive. It’s had atrocious brakes since I bought it though, and although I'd convinced myself that they'd got better with use, I think it's more that I'd got used to them. As the tyres were now about finished as well, I pulled the wheels last week sometime and had a new set of Avon Roadriders fitted, ordered a set of seals, and Saturday afternoon bit the bullet and pulled all three calipers off. They were filthy... The last guy to do the same job had reassembled the calipers with liberal amounts of Copaslip... The back of the pads was covered in it, and it was leaking round the edges. This had attracted years worth of dust and grime... It wasn't a pretty sight. The dust seals hadn't been fitted right last time, and were extruding out of the calipers, the seals were damaged on the caliper slide pins and the pistons were grungy... Amazing they worked at all. I had to reconnect each caliper in turn to the rear m/cyl and bleed it to push the pistons out... No way were they pulling out. (Lesson learned: do it before you take them off!) Yesterday I stripped them bare, cleaned everything thoroughly, fitted new seals and (lightly) greased the sliding bits (and only the sliding bits!). Then fitted them all back on and bled the systems. After some trouble getting all the air out I got real brakes front and rear. Quick test ride last night, and rode it into work today. It's a different bike! The tyres have had an even bigger effect than the brakes. The ancient Bridgestone Excedras were obviously more sport profiled, having quickish steering bordering on instability at low speed (not that they were a problem) but the Avons are extremely stable and linear by comparison, lean it over 10 degrees and it just stays there requiring no effort. Brilliant. Always liked Avons! The brakes are also much better... Not surprisingly... And getting even better as they bed in. Might give the front one another bleed after it's done a few miles, as it was a pig to bleed and still feels a little spongy, but it's already a huge improvement. So the old VFR is now up to scratch (pun intended) and ready for some action. And it’s going to get some – a friend of mine visiting from South Africa is borrowing it for a trip to Ireland in two weeks. Stu
Hi Stu, Sometimes I will work for hours on my car or bike and see little or no improvement, it really makes one feel good when the work is finished and you go out for a test ride and you see a big improvement. I think that situation will bring a smile to most, plus a little chest puffing.Good job getting the old girl back up to speed.ed
