New to the forum, just an into and my 1985 VF750F...

The side panel "tabs" don't all line up. The tank one is the problem. They fit without modification otherwise. But they don't quite line up the way I like in the stock location so I'm cutting item back a bit for better gaps and fit.

The 90-93 VFR (could be off a bit on the years) had the primary drive sprocket cable speedometer. It was still on the sprocket after that but it's a sensor instead of a cable drive for the electric speedo.

I'm using the GSXR 750 unit so it flows enough from a single can for the 750 displacement. A little bit of overkill since the GSXR puts out so much more power, but I'm OK with that. The stock GSXR should also keep the noise down somewhat. I hate cackling noisy bikes.

I'll just have to tune and jet for the bigger can.

It will also move further forward and in once I pull the stock footpeg brackets off and mill up something smaller and nicer. I've already pulled the footpeg brackets off the frame and it looks much better than the pics above....

 

Just saw this thread. I didn't know VF's this nice existed! If mine was that good I wouldn't be selling it in hopes of finding a newer one!!

 

Well, my UK bud just found me a CBX750F dual headlight assembly and a set of NC24 floating rotors.

The NC24 rotors will bolt on to the F2 front rim and I'll be able to keep my speedo/odo as is. The floaters will also allow me to bolt up the RC51 twin opposed calipers. Later on I'll see about sourcing some EBC 320mm floating rotors they offer for F2's.

The 'ceptor will also get dual headlights over the winter and a new fairing. Similar to the VF fairing, just widened a bit for the headlights.

Kind of endurance racer-ish.

Then, a new paint scheme probably taking cues off a couple CBX750F's I've seen with nice paint schemes but a touch of 'ceptor thown in. Kind of like the Rothman's Hondas of the 80's.....

 

Just snagged an RC51 push pull throttle. 20 bucks shipped.

Looks to have the same cable ends as the VF where it enters the grip body.

Now the RH bar is all VTR stuff.

SP2 brakes, SP1 run/start switch and SP2 throttle.

Man, I've really gotta stop this....the postman is gonna have to show up at my house with a semi truck.........and the credit card company is lovin' me.....this hole just keeps gettin' deeper.....

 

Quick look at the new headlight assembly that will be part of 'er new mug:



I think I'll whip up a quick photochop. It looks really good in my minds eye.....

 

grabbed a couple pics off the internet and did a quick and dirty rendering:





Initial impression.......I like it!


Full steam ahead....

 

After "back and forthing" it quite a bit, I do believe I've come around to painting it the stock (as close to stock as possible) 1983 red and white colors.



Just want to catch a bit of the flavor of my first interceptor, which was a brand new 1983 red and white.

The bike is far enough of the stock 1985 that this is not a serious change at all.

Well, I'm also Canadian. So Red and White is a bit more "patriotic" for me than red/white/blue.

 

Dual headlights will look very unique, always been my favourite, kinda reminds me of the '86 FZ-700 dual headlight setup. Nice choice on the paint scheme too, very classic and clean look.

The sound of any superbike coming on the pipe is something I guess I'll never outgrow! Gotta have my bikes loud.

 

Picked up the linkage for the swingarm the other day and a bunch of bolts, axle adjusters, brackets, bits, etc.

I've just been watching eBay mostly. There's no bike wreckers handy for hundreds of miles (more like around a thousand miles and a 6 hour ferry ride) so everything here has to be shipped in anyways.The military has me in a "north-ish" semi isolated posting for the next couple years so that's just the way it has to be......

But, good news is I'm pretty well set for parts to start fabbing, altering and fitting this long, dark, cold winter when the snow is halfway up the door.

I've also gotten tired of "long handing" out spacers and other roundy type bits. Old age might be getting to me because I just don't seem to have the patience or desire for the tediousness of it anymore.

I still don't have the coin for a "proper" mill or lathe, so I bought a 6 inch independent 4 jaw lathe chuck today. With that and an old wood lathe that's been handed down through the ages I'll fab up a simple turning lathe that will let me at least spin out my own spacers at home.

Nothing super elaborate and it will most likely only spin aluminum for me. Most of those who can afford their own metal lathe are thinking "troouuuuble" but I've got it covered. I hand fabricate many of my own tools now (yes, you can get into .001 accuracy by hand, it just takes forever to get it) so this will at least spin true and will have a nice tooling bed to speed fabricating up just a touch.

Ever try to hand tool a perfectly round wheel spacer?

I'll tell you this much; it's not fast or much fun.

And man am I tapped out for cash now. They may all be "recycled" parts, but it all adds up after you buy a truckload of 'em.

Gotta wait for next month just to buy some raw aluminum stock.

Now that's tapped out brother....spare a dime for a hot cup o' joe mister?

I promise I won't go spend it on bike parts......

 

Updates:

Nc24 floating discs-



Cbr600rr swingarm:





Cbx750f headlight:



In progress:

Sp2 front calipers, custom fairing, custom under engine exhaust (dumping high mount muffler, think 2008 cbr1000rr) and too many more little bits to list .....




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Decided on an exhaust.

The Hindle 4/1 is going back in the rafters and I'm doing a "GP" type like a TaylorMade exhaust:





Concept drawing:



Im keeping the collector box and dumping it into a transverse rear muffler under the swingarm linkage. Basically, a resonator to deepen and mellow the tone in hopes it wont be too loud or too obnoxious...

 

Cut and paste updates:

Things are moving right along.

Swapped in a CBR1000RR shock for the CBR600RR side reservoir unit. Fits much better:



It's like it was made for the bike. All I have to do is move the fuel filter off the bottom of the fuel pump assembly and the swingarm/shock clear everything nicely. A side bonus is the spring rate on the CBR1000RR unit is higher than the 600RR, static sag is pretty minimal but I have to get it all back together to know for sure if I'll need a bigger spring.

I also made the lower links for the unit prolink. I sourced 4 10mm eye ends, 3 feet of 10mm 1.25 pitch all thread (10.5 hardness) and 4 nuts. Cut all thread to length, install nuts and eye ends and we're done! Easy as pie.....

Then I decided to build a custom exhaust to compliment my new swingarm. I just didn't want to hang a big exhaust canister over the rear, I'm soooo tired of that look. Same with under tail exhausts.....

I found myself liking under engine exhaust like the DuatD Exbox for Ducati and the American Taylormade systems so that became my pattern.

So I got the angle grinder out and whacked the back of the stock collector off. Now I'm up to cardboard mockup stage and will start metal fabrication tomorrow. It's probably not to everyones liking:





I'll admit it's not for everyone, but I like it and that's all that matters.

I just have to get it quiet enough for my preference without choking the life out of the engine. I already tried to measure the DB's with just the collector and my iphone DBmeter stopped recording when it jumped up past 108 Db at about 5000 RPM. It's at 100 Db at idle. That's just too much for my old ears...I've got a couple ideas for quieting it down but keeping it relatively "straight though".

All in all, I think it's coming along nicely.

 

Yay recycling!







Take one long dead snowblower, a sawsall, a welder, metal forming tools and some hard work and the underslung exhaust is well under way.

It's still open all over the place, but I couldn't resist firing it up. It already sounds quieter and a bit deeper than just an open collector.

This weekend I'll finish closing it up, cut an access panel and start building the baffles/packing and outlets.

 

Sound bite!



The welding is all done, but it's all just temp rigged to run right now. No copper gaskets so there's a hint of exhaust noise from the front. Little bit of valve clatter also as it's stone cold.

That's crappy old iPhone video so it's not quite accurate sound recording either. Not to mention, it's int he garage so it's "booming" a bit. Make no mistake though, it's far from quiet.

Not good, but not bad either. That's essentially just a big open box behind the stock collector section. 95 Db at idle, maxes out the Db meter at 107 and 3500 rpm.

Tomorrow, I cut the bottom access panel and start adding baffling and sound absorption mat. We'll see how it goes.

And just because everyone likes fire, here's one where she "popped" due to a couple no starts and rich mixture:




(no, that's not my working footwear! LOL)

 

After another days thrash, the muffler section is built and re-welded shut and the single 2.5" outlet is done. It's raw, splatter everywhere, pinholes here and there and the welds are not dressed out, but it's in it's "more or less" final form:






It normally sits a touch higher, it slipped down a bit during those pictures because there's no clamps on the rear pipes.

Here's a sound bite:



That's taken with the iPhone, so quality suffers a bit. Measures 90 Db at idle and 106 at 5000 Rpm. 5000 Rpm is the peak I hit in the video and where the SAE J2825 measures it.

It no longer maxes out the Db meter but however just below it's max for the iPhone mic. Before it would trip it with an "OVER" warning on the Db meter app. It might drop 1 or two more at idle as there's no copper exhaust gaskets in and there's a header leak right at the head. No tto mention, it's measured inside the garage, so there's a good bit of reflected sound going on.

It's not super quiet, but it's not obnoxiously loud.

I'm going to hold off on adding any more damping to the box until I live with this for a bit and see how I feel about it.

Plus, I'm not looking forward to cutting it open again and welding it all back up. Getting a bit tired of welding and grinding right now.....

 

I started the fairing project with optimism, then as the process continued I became doubtful, but now that it is closer to the other side all I have to say is that I think it's turning out bitchin' !





That's the way it sits right now, no photoshop magic, just a couple strips of black vinyl and masking tape to make the colors look close.

I realize it might not be to everyone's tastes, but I couldn't be more pleased!

Recent addition was reworking the upper curvature of the headlight opening to match the base of the windshield better: