Do less?

Discussion in 'Racing & Track Days' started by misti, Jan 21, 2014.

  1. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

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    There's a local guy I respect who's an AMA racer and does one on one instruction. I'm just having a hard time
    Parting with the time and the money. If I have a weekend to get away from the wife and kid,
    I'll be camping off some dirt mountain road or chew up some pavement on the VFR to explore a far away corner of the state.
     
  2. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    No shit?



    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
     
  3. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    My favorites are the harleydood paper mache lightweights and the all time winner the Wermacht version in chrome. I think a guy could almost make a living renting them out at harledoodfests.

    Ya know I was just fine with HD's until that notorious BZ started all that stuff about Harleys. Sneaky dude..

    BTW...we talked..

    The mach 1 91 got suspension upgrades about ten years ago, Racetech.. The OEM Honda shocks if ya want to call them that at the time I think were not rebuildable. Had some long talks with the Engineers at Racetech. Installed Gold valves in the front end. Never a problem. I did some of the work and had a pro do the final tweaking. Gold valving calls for almost a cleanroom environment.

    Worth every peso IMO..
     
  4. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

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    The value of suspension upgrades and the terrible electrical system on the VFR may be the extent of universally agreed upon topics here.
     
  5. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Is that why we never hear from the Honda Gods?
     
  6. Big_Jim59

    Big_Jim59 Member

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    Good point. Does Honda lurk here? If you were to really get into evangelical marketing, these brand and model specific boards would be a good place to start. It's kind of ironic to have a whole discussion group dedicated to the VFR (or any brand for that matter) and not have one visit from a product rep.
     
  7. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Now you've gone and done it! Plagues of harleydoods posing as Hondadoods from the factory. ;)

    10:1 that dudes from Honda USA read stuff here. Some may even be "members". If this is the case, info travels up the pipe but anything to do with R?Rs is probably way off the reservation on orders from Japan.

    There is no way in hell that Honda Inc. aint' got its ears to the the turf.

    Got a buddy in Seattle. Japanese-American third generation.. ( has a Sportster.. No BS) He has a younger brother who works for Honda USA in Torrance. The brother is an engineer and is in styling. My buddy tells me he is tight lipped about some things concerning his work.

    Honda does fix things. Got called in to help fix some CR-250 two strokes that had a glitch. 161 of them and more gone to Canada. Honda sent over a QC engineer/mechanic/ test rider with some tools to fix the glitch. A big wheel from Honda USA from Torrance showed up too. Been in the states for years. Very impressive guys IMO.

    Took the QC quy to a place in Seattle so he could go home with Levis for him and his wife.. I let him ride my R100RS mit farkles,
     
  8. Big_Jim59

    Big_Jim59 Member

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    I kind of figured they had an ear on these boards but I was thinking about more of an active presence.

    I always wanted an R100RS until I got my VFR. Then not so much. I still think they are one of the best sport touring designs ever made.
     
  9. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Would you go for passive/aggressive?

    Me too but I kept the R100.. It's a Euro model 40mm and Nikasil barrels. Lots of mods making it fast and not so realiable. The brakes were not so great.

    Krauser Fourvalve heads/pistons
    40mm Mikuni flatslides
    Luftmeister 3 paw clutch
    Chopped flywheel
    Revised valve geometry and three angle cut
    Luftmeister 2 into 1 exhaust
    Progressive springs with anti-dive kit
    Koni shocks
    Snoflake wheels
    Solid state ignition w/ high capacity coils
    K75 bars
    LED brake light made by a Canadian guy I met at a rallye in BC one year
    Filled seat cowling
    Leather kickup seat by Rich.
    A BB paintjob
    Reynolds rideoff stand
    Brown sidestand
    Krauser panniers

    Pic on Rich's Seats.com in the "vintage" section..

    Would I build one again? Nope.. Gotta say it has not left me stranded as much as the mach 1 91..
     
  10. Big_Jim59

    Big_Jim59 Member

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    I had many of the mods you listed on my /6. Since I worked for a dealer i got all kinds of goodies. Mine had the weld in swing arm brace and a rear end out of as 800 to make it a bit quicker. I also had the late model, smoke red body work. The only RS I know if that came with 40mm carbs in the US was the 1977 model. Oh. . .and the brakes were never great.
     
  11. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Mine started out in that metallic brown against sort of a grey. Mine is a 79. Never heard of a weld in swing arm brace (??) With the combo of the Krauser heads, light flywheel and later the Mikunis the stock gearing was about right. The Krauser heads although lots of monkey motion and 70s technology do add horsepower.

    The K75 bars are aboot the equivalent of Helis on a VFR. A little loss in turning radius but you know about those airhead fronts by now...

    I "acquired" a spare set of Krauser heads and pistons. I am sitting on those.. They can be used on BMW vintage class racebikes. Got that info from Reg Pridmore at a bike thing I am involved in.

    We should maybe stop lest we get accused of some Hitlerian move to usurp doing less and having more fun.

    Other mini farkles too. Least impressive but a good thing was a fork brace.
     
  12. misti

    misti New Member

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    :) Thanks for posting. I appreciate that you want to be a better rider and are open to asking questions and having discussions on the forums to facilitate that. You mention that you think you suck at riding...what would you say is the hardest thing for you to master or the technique you struggle with the most? Or maybe since I seem to be taking so much shit for asking questions around here I should invite you to ask me the questions you would like answered (about riding skills and technique) and I can do my best to answer them here.
     
  13. Big_Jim59

    Big_Jim59 Member

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    First off, thanks for asking questions and offering your expert advice. It is nice to have a go-to person for answers even if it is not appreciated by some.

    I spent the day riding yesterday. Dallasca and I did a nice back road loop and then I had a chance to push it along one of my favorite back roads on my way to the house. I was being a bit more aggressive than usual and I noticed that the bike and my lines were much better. I think one of my biggest problems is timidity, not trusting the bike to do what it was designed to do. It's funny but this is a newbie problem. It takes me a while to relax and to start letting the bike do what it was designed to do. I had enough seat time yesterday that I had started to relax.

    Several years ago I t-boned a drunk driver who unexpectedly turned in front of me. It was not a bad crash as crashes go but my bike and I were both damaged and we both required repair. I have had fear issues ever since then that have effected my riding. I tend to over react to situations that might become dangerous. I tend to look for every possibility of danger. In Jazz music they talk about being "behind the beat." In motorcycle riding my fear has put me behind it, dragging the beat. I am waiting to react rather that acting. Does this make sense?

    I mentioned, at a point earlier, that I tended to wander and my line changed in long sweeping turns. I noticed yesterday that this happens 1) Because the VFR will changes lines rather quickly. This is unlike many of my previous bikes that were pigs and had to be wrestled into corners in the first place. 2) when I am slow in the corners and have lots of time to react. By taking the corner more aggressively I was holding a better line because the bike was more committed.

    I know I could benefit for a day of track instruction but that's not in the cards for the foreseeable future.
     
  14. Gator

    Gator Insider

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    I was thinking of taking the VFR to the next track day and ride it conservatively in intermediate. I want to feel what the bike dies at speed. I know I will probably do most of the day on the CBR as I love it and have it set up well for track but 3 or 4 sessions should give me a feel for it. My only concern is vetc engagement, if I'm dialing on throttle fairly hard it hits and that might be interesting while still leaned over. I can try and stay in higher rpms with all valves open but I'm sure sometimes I'll be in the transition zone. I did pick up a Power Commander for her from Dan Kyle's place while recently out in California and I hope with a good dyno tune to make some of the transition smoother. I have read on post here how it can be made better.
     
  15. DfnsMn69

    DfnsMn69 New Member

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    From personal experience I can tell you exactly what will happen the front tire will lift up and make the corner VERY interesting. Had it happen to me twice scared the be jess out of me both times. Now I do everything I can to make sure my revs are above 6800 going into the corner.
     
  16. Gator

    Gator Insider

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    Run a little wide when that happens? Lol, I would rather have that happen than a high side. thanks for the info.
     
  17. Big_Jim59

    Big_Jim59 Member

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    Oh stop please! You are making me lust after a 6th gen. (Not)
     
  18. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Unless someone makes the perfect motorcycle someday, most bikes have peculiarities or ideosyncracies aka personalities. Some BMWs' jack up in the corners. A predictable. Two strokes come up on the pipe and the little men with keys wind in the horsepower. Vtec engines come up on the cams. The irregular stuff is what nails riders and failure to do pre-flights.

    One of the great schools by the Pridmores has a carrot and stick approach starting with tires. Show up with substandard tread and you go home and they keep the money.

    A similar safety precaution that is enforced on racers who attend mandatory race schools before any license is issued. Muy importante is the final word of go or no go from the race referee.
     
  19. Gator

    Gator Insider

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    I still have 2 Two stroke bikes. An RD 350 that is mostly stock excerpt for crappy DG chambers, filters and re jetted. It is pretty linear in power and does not hit the pipe as a built RD does. My neighbor's built RD is a dog down low until it hits the pipe then it's a raped ape. My CR 250 has a power valve which helps greatly in low end power for 2 strokes but it will still come on fast at upper r's. 2 strokes will teach you throttle control quickly, one way or the other painful way. lol
     
  20. Bubba Zanetti

    Bubba Zanetti Member

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    Hmmm....if I had to guess it could be because skiing (although high risk and fun) is an activity that attracts the least amount of Harlydoods/dudettes thus keeping the gene pool more free from inerrant thinking than usual.

    BZ
     
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