Maintenance Recommendations

This is my first post, however I have benefited greatly from reading what you folks have posted in the past.

I am the original owner of a 1998 VFR800 with only 17,500 miles. I have owned several bikes over the last twenty years, consequently my VFR has seen very little milage for about 10 years. It seems to run great, but I decided to restore it to new or better condition. I'm in the process of changing all fluids and filters, installing all braided lines, replacing all brake pads, and chain and sprockets. A full Delkevic exhaust is en route. I will also change the spark plugs and perform some up grades like an H.I.D. headlight, clear L.E.D. turn signals and tail lamp and a fender less kit. I am presently not sure whether I will perform any suspension upgrades.

Am I overlooking anything? I considered upgrading the rotors, but that seems like a high cost/small return for my type of riding. Should I replace the coils and wires? Should I go after the suspension since she's pretty much stripped down now?

Any suggestions regarding products to consider will be greatly appreciated.

 

Hands down the best ROI I have gotten out of any of the mods I have done so far has been the suspension upgrade I did! This goes for both my VFRs. I used Daugherty Motorsports (http://www.daughertymotorsports.com) for the modifications. Jamie Daugherty is a member here and has done many upgrades to fellow VFR owners bikes here on the site. If I was only allowed one mod, it would be the suspension. Not trying to say that the stock is crap, but when you see and feel the difference, you will be amazed at how much better the bike rides, especially in the twisty stuff.

The other mod I feel was worth while, was the change to steel braided lines and EBC HH brake pads. Can I prove the braking is better? Probably not, but the brakes work great, and do not ever feel "spongy". Whether it is truly because of the lines and/or pads, I'm happy with the change. Again, this goes for both bikes.

The last thing would be the exhaust, not because I feel it increased HP or made the bike faster, but it gives the exhaust tone a much heavier growl and it just sounds great. If you gain a little HP, then awesome, but again I'm happy with the result.

Of course, this is based on my perceptions and experience, YMMV.

Cheers.

 

FWIW. If I were to xo it over again, I would not have bought and installed the 4 HID lights on mine. I would have gone go Piaas or possibly LED head lights. The hid look brighter but ffom behind the handlebars, I did not see a great improvement. I've read someone say the prisms in our bike do not match the type of light put out by hid to be optimum.

Zoom-zoom did a comparrison with some LED a couple years back. Its a great read. He is very pleased with those.

 

Thanks Randy. My H.I.D. kit just arrived today I had 13 year old PIAAs on before. I'll let you know what I think of this kit.

 

OOTV, I appreciate your input. I'll contact Jamie.

 

Other than the normal stuff one does to keep their bike up to speed, you've covered most and then some extras. . But Suspension is Hands down the #1 thing that makes the VFR shine brightly. Then maybe after that a good tune of some sort, then matching up a great set of tires. on a number of occasions being at bike gathering of sorts where the topic of suspension comes up, just dialing in the sag to the rider plays huge pay backs.

 

I have never used the Piaas but a friend has them on his truck. I was considering them at the time. I am really interested in hearing your thoughts after you have run the hid and can compare them with the piaas you had.

 

Thanks RVFR

 

When I installed them years ago, they were a big improvement over stock, and I'm sure they've improved since then. I'm sure it will be at least a month before she's all back together, but I'll let you know my impressions.

 

Interesting .. I'm looking into what headlamps seem to be the best bang. with the 4th gen back like ten years ago silver stars where the ticket, and so far for the money silver stars still are. though some of the trick newer H4s are worthy a peek, example Osram makes a nice set. , but those new fanalged leds are starting to get my attention. Yea HIDs where the hot ticket "if" but now LEDS are starting to be the thing, ain't technology fun. Here today, gone tomorrow.

 

RJP welcome to the forum, it is good to have you here!

The switches and connections are corroded from age, and random ones are subject to failing. Open the switches and connections, spray clean them, and emery board the contacts if required to remove the corrosion. Inspect and replace anything blackened or melted.

 

I would not waste money on LEDs/HIDs, they are more trouble than they are worth. Unless you are doing a projector retrofit PIAA>>HIDs.
I would add to your list, Syncing the start valves, Having the fuel injectors ultrasonic cleaned and new spark plugs.
I would not wast money on a full delkivic exhaust, you have a 1998 header, which is arguably better. I would just get a high mount slip on and have your factory header professionally sandblasted and ceramic coated.
I would invest in a new custom valved/sprung shock and have jaime daughtry rebuild/valve/spring your front forks.

 

Thanks Knight

 

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, an HID kit is sitting in my garage. Spark plugs are replaced and my forks are en route to Daugherty Motorsports and I will be receiving one of Jamie's CBR 929 shocks.
I'll look into the start valves and fuel injuctors.

 

Does anyone have any advice for reinstalling the fuel pump/filter assembly in to the tank. The shop manual says to replace the "packing" which I gather is the rubber gasket. The assembly was very difficult to remove. I was curious if there was a "trick" to reinstall it.

 

Carefully

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

 

Mission Accomplished

Well, I finished the minor restoration of my 1998 VFR. I'd like to thank those of you who offered suggestions. Here's the final result: View attachment 34013 View attachment 34014
I'll follow up with some lessons learned and product reviews once I'm sure this will post properly. I might have to shrink the size of my image files.

 

Nice red chain!

 

Brakes and Suspension

My bike already had a Sargent seat, Throttlemeister throttle lock, Helibars, K&N filter with modified airbox, PIAA bulbs, Powercommander II with dyno tune, and a Two Brothers carbon weave slip on installed. It also had a Givi luggage system. I can recommend all of those products. I'm not sure the modified airbox resulted in any performance improvement, but there was an enhanced induction sound. The Givi luggage system probably afforded me more luggage space than on a Gold Wing. I generally rode around with the top box in place and the panniers removed.

I've owned quite a few bikes over the years, from Ducatis to Harleys. My 916 always garnered a lot of attention, but the VFR really only seemed noticed by people who knew motorcycles. Well about two months ago, I was out riding and visiting a few motorcycle shops. She was a bit dirty and the clunky top box was in place. However, she was receiving a lot of compliments from motorist and cyclists at stoplights and shops. It struck me that man this thing is 17 years old and she still looks resonably contemporary. So I decided to spruce her up.

I already have a more touring oriented bike and I very rarely ride two up any more. Accordingly my theme was to make it look more sporty. She had also taken one very slow speed tip over as I was slowly making my way through stopped traffic on I-75 many years ago. A lady opened up her car door, hit my pannier, much to the rage of her husband. It tipped me to my right and I couldn't keep her from going over. Consequently she had some pretty minor scratches to the nose fairing and right side fairing. I had that repaired and repainted by http://overtwocustoms.com/ in Lawrenceville, GA. They generally do high end Harley type custom paint jobs. They repaired and painted the nose and right side fairing as well as painted the lower and left fairing. I had envisioned more of a gradual fade but I really didn't articulate that to Lauren. He was a good guy to deal with and I was pleased with his work.

I am thankful to those of you who almost unanimously recommended that I overhaul the suspension. Also, as you recommended I solicited the services of Daugherty Motorsports, http://www.daughertymotorsports.com/ I went with the CBR 929 shock and had Jamie respring and revalve my front forks. You guys were right this and my brake overhaul were the two highest return modifications. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't have attempted this without your advice. I was a bit intimidated regarding the difficulty of this project. As it turned out this was about the most straight forward project. Removing the front wheel and sliding the forks out was a snap. Just getting the rear shock out from between the swing arm and central frame area took a little patience and persuasion but wasn't very difficult. Thank you Jamie.

As mentioned, my brakes are greatly improved as well. My brake and clutch fluid were looooong overdue for a change. I read somewhere that somebody mentioned that if your clutch engage point is way at the end of your lever travel you might have a gunked up line. Well my fluid was pretty bad. After changing the fluid and replacing all lines with Galfer braided lines, my clutch engagement is still at the long end of my clutch lever but everything operates well. In addition to the Galfer lines I installed EBC HH pads. I don't have much to compare the pads to and I'm sure there are other great products out there, but this combination provides me with braking that exceeds that of my old 916 and the equal of my old RC51. Admittedly, with the linked braking, this project is pretty extensive. Also, feeding the fluid through all the lines is quite a process. The service manual is almost required as a certain sequence of events is recommended. I don't have a high degree of confidence that I fed the fluid well enough that my brakes are appropriately linked. But I am overwhelmingly satisfied by my bikes stopping power and the feedback. The tech support people at Galfer were great. I called several times and they responded promptly, patiently, and answered all my questions. I rate them very highly as well as the quality of their product.

By the way, as many of you may know, there's a guy on youtube, MikeE RideWNC , who puts oput some excellent "how to" videos. I'd like to give him a shout out as well.

I'll finish this up later.

 

Did you buy the kit where you have to separate the lens from the housing and install the projector lens? If you look at all vehicles that come standard with HID's they all have the projector. I see a great improvement with my projector HID's