Giving the VFR98 a new look and some TLC... Mostly fairings

Discussion in '5th Generation 1998-2001' started by SpadaSpud, Feb 7, 2017.

  1. SpadaSpud

    SpadaSpud New Member

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    Hi All,

    Im new here but got a 1998 Red VFR800. Shes got just over 120,000km on it 60K+ are mine. had her about 10 years. not sure when exactly would have to check. Last few years she has been a little neglected but shes been a great bike.. Was a daily commute for about 6+ years but not so much now. I want to give her a new look plus give her the missing TLC she needs and get back into riding more. Well mrs is gone so time for more riding now. lol

    She is all stock apart from a Staintune exhaust. I was having some cooling issues so i have recently changed the thermostat. and all fluids and air filter. (Thats a bitch to get to.) Also put in a manual fan switch. Will replace the thermostat temp sensor soon but would prefer one that comes on like 95C. it can get hot here.

    She has had a drop once or twice but nothing ever major and shes never hit anything.

    I have done the clutch in the past but cant remember at how many Ks but might need to do again.

    But have a few things i would like to do.
    1: Replace all Fairings. most important.
    2: Thermostat temp sensor for 95c
    3: Aftermarket mirror that dont have the condom rubber boots.
    4: Power commander or similar that i can add a digital control display.
    5: Replace all fairing bolt and fasteners.
    6: put second fan on RHS radiator to assist cooling. or anything else that helps cooling. It can get hot here sometimes downunder.
    7: replace clutch/brake levers
    8: mounting for phone. ive got a otter box phone bracket for this. Just have to make something to fit it to and where.
    9: New rear spring/shockers. Fronts maybe aswell. There all ok for the moment but will look into after the other. ex diddnt kill them toally by being on the back all the time. lol
    10: repaint or powdercoat rims. not important at first but would look better.
    11: new clutch as it felt likt it was slipping when i give it a little. cant forget that

    But for starters, I want to get a complete set of new fairings but original will cost a bit so want to get a the aftermarket ones out of out of China on ebay or wherever. Will be going for a all black as its been red for all its life.

    I have see some on there but you never know what your are really getting or how good they are. Some even say they come with heat-shields. Originals never needed that so have to wonder about their quality. Yes ABS plastic is a must.

    I did contact a few with some questions but their replies didnt not fill me with confidence on their products


    Anyone got recommendations on sellers on good ones they have got? ebay or elsewhere dont care. just want something half decent. I dont want crap quality that need heat shields that have issues with heat

    What else i should do im not sure, but im open to suggestions on other things.

    Im looking forward to giving the girl a new look and some new life as i have no intention of letter her ever go.

    So any help on the fairings or other suggestions/ideas i would love to hear on what to get but more importantly where to get.

    Here's to the next 120,000k's for her.
     
  2. Lint

    Lint Member

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    useless.gif

    I too would like advice on fairings. The previous owner of my 99 must have put the cheapest set he could find on mine. Terrible fitment, cracking, gaps everywhere, etc.
     
  3. GigemVFR

    GigemVFR New Member

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  4. zoom-zoom

    zoom-zoom Member

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    First off, Welcome to the site and good luck with the project.

    Not sure how much physical damage has been done to the factory fairing you currently have but it may be cheaper in the long run to have the old fairing repaired and painted. There are numerous shades of black that are amazing and a local body shop could likely provide a few sample cards for you to choose from. A friend of mine recently painted his 98 VFR800 the pearl black used on the 2016 Ford Mustang. Inside the bike looks merely gloss black, but when the sun hits the bike, the metallics in the paint really jump out. The bike isn't really clean in this photo but it might give you an idea as to what the bike looks like in black.



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  5. Terry Smith

    Terry Smith Member

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    Gidday Spud.

    Owing to some unintended horizontal riding (crashed on an oil slick) I found myself in need of a new top, right side and tail on my red 99 VFR late in 2015. Based on the recommendations of others I went with Auctmarts via eBay. I sent them a chunk of my rashed fairing and they colour matched the parts. As received the paint was a 99.5% match (bearing mind some sun fade on my old parts, I was very happy) and the fit I would rate at 9/10. The parts are ABS but compression moulded, not injection, so the fit is not quite as good as stock, but great for the price. They are a little thinner than stock.

    The top fairing fits the lights and mates with the sides well but there is a small gap (3mm) alongside the black filler panel top right. The tail piece is ever so slightly shorter to there is a bit tension front to back, and I elongated the mount holes to suit. The mounts for the black filler panel between the side fairings were not quite right and one broke off when I forced the issue. After 18 months use, all is well and they are holding up fine.

    For mirrors, you can use mirrors intended for the 00/01 models, they swap straight over. I bought Emgo brand, they look and work well.

    I replaced the friction discs and springs in the clutch with EBC parts and it feels like new (98000km).

    I use cheap adjustable levers from China/eBay, have got these on three bikes now and no issues. Make sure you order the brake lever correctly, AFAIK only the 98-01 levers fit, they also fit CBR1100XX.

    I could fill up pages on suspension upgrades, suffice to say I have a modified/rebuilt CBR929 shock and CBR600F4 forks fitted to 6G triples with CBR600F4 brakes (so I delinked the brakes). The shock and other suspension parts came from Daugherty Motorsports in the US, but I'm sure there will be local supplier in Oz who can do the same.
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  6. SpadaSpud

    SpadaSpud New Member

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    Hi Guys,

    Thanks for the replies. I have not been on here due to personal issues but im gong to ry and get back to what i originally posted and refurb the bike.

    Will go throught all your post and see what i come up with.

    Other thing i need to do is redo the clutch. it slips when i give it to it.
     
  7. Terry Smith

    Terry Smith Member

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    I replaced my clutch fibre discs at 92000km, no slipping but the engagement point was narrow and a bit lurchy. I used EBC CK-series parts and added some EBC uprated springs to boot. Feels like new now, with smooth wide engagement. You will need a new clutch cover gasket, but the job is pretty easy to do, and on the sidestand you don't even need to drain the oil first. Don't over-tighten the clutch spring bolts, they only need 12N-m which is bugger-all. The longest job was scraping the old gasket off, and it is suggested that you grease up one mating face when you re-install the new one so it comes off cleanly in the future. Stuff rags into the cases so the old gasket bits don't fall in.

    For completeness I would also at least flush and bleed the clutch hydraulics, better still would be a disassembly and clean out of the slave cylinder. Haven't done this yet myself but I have been cleaning up my brakes lately and have no issues popping the pistons out, cleaning the parts, and reassembling with the old seals still in place.
     
  8. RC46-SP2

    RC46-SP2 New Member

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    Dunno if the original poster is still on here, but I'll take a pic and post it later.It shows a Server power supply fan I "mounted" (wired) to the RHS radiator. It's on with the ignition (eventually I'll splice it into the fan switch on the LHS rad.), and is holding up well so far. Not too bad, for something I had lying around.
     
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  9. Lint

    Lint Member

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    I'd like to see that!
     
  10. RC46-SP2

    RC46-SP2 New Member

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    No worries, here you go. Mounting is rudimentary at best, but it isn't going anywhere, and is doing it's job at present...

    You can see I earthed it it to the rad. mounting bolt, and ran power through flexi-tube back to the rear of the main frame. I've then run that into the fuse box where the rad. fan's fuse is. As I said earlier, next time I have the fairings off (hopefully to fit a 3-row cooler, and coinciding with the next oil/filter change), I'll re-run the power, and splice in to the power going to the rad fan (the logic being that it is only powered at higher temps, thus only comes on - and thus will only power the RHS fan - when required. Happy to be corrected if there's a better way to wire the thing.
    WP_20171209_13_42_38_Pro.jpg WP_20171209_13_57_45_Pro.jpg WP_20171209_13_57_53_Pro.jpg WP_20171209_13_58_06_Pro.jpg
     
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  11. Lint

    Lint Member

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    I think I'll add a waterproof fan to my radiator. It does tend to get hot here in the long summer.
     
  12. smack doogle

    smack doogle New Member

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    Very nice, and good luck with the "restoration". I have a set of brand new Auctmarts fairings (red) sitting in the garage in their packaging. I plan to restore the stock fairings so they're up for grabs if you'd like to save some money on Chinese fairings.
     
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