"Factory" Shift Kit VFR700 / VFR500?

Just bought a shift kit from Factory. Basically an updated detent arm and stiffer spring. It's for my '87 VFR700. Labeling on the box says that the kit is for the VFR500 Interceptor. I called Factory and spoke with a very nice older guy, who said that the kit >should< work, as the parts interchange between the 500/700 Interceptors, but added "if I open it up and see that the parts are different, then it won't work". Can anyone here confirm that the detent arm & spring are the same? Thanks in advance!

 

There are two Gearshift Stoppers and they both are the same part number between an 86 500 and 86 750.

Parts Diagrams are your friends.

https://www.babbittsonline.com/oemparts/a/hon/506c7658f870023420a3bc33/gearshift-drum

https://www.babbittsonline.com/oemparts/a/hon/506c8b17f870023420a3d611/gearshift-drum

 

Just following up regarding the Factory shift kit.. Began installation today. Found that the "wheel" portion of the stock inner detent arm measures about 18.5mm. The replacement arm, with the updated wheel with bearing, measures 16mm. Just a bit concerned as to how the smaller wheel will ride, or seat, in the star wheel. I do appreciate the confirmation of the VF500 Interceptor detent arm being the same part # as for the 86-87 VFR700/750. Did Honda update the arm to utilize a smaller wheel in these detent arms at some point?

 

That could be a feature that Factory feels in an improvement. Given that the two stock pieces share a part number, it seems likely.

I don't know of any supercessions, but there is nothing stopping you from going back into the links I provided and see if an older part number has been lined out (superceded).

 

The wheel and star of the Factory kits are designed to be more "positive" so I would not be surprised to see different dimensions to the stock parts. I had a kit in my first VFR800 and that made a big improvement to what was otherwise a bit of a baggy shifter.

 

Just following up,, I attempted the installation but have found that it's not going to work. The kit replaces the inner-most drum (star) stopper /detent arm. The outer "neutral" detent arm is reused. When the updated arm is installed, and the 2 arms are secured with the OEM nut & washer, the arms bind. The interference seems to occur with the updated bearing wheel (which is a bit wider that the OEM wheel on the stock arm) in the area that it rides on the star. Everything else is correct (width of the mounting areas, etc) and I tried it several times, including without the return springs on the detent arms. It may be possible to make it work with the absolutely correct shims and some messing around, but I didn't feel that it was worth the risk if it started to bind up again after some use. I ended up installing the new spring, even though the spring diameter was identical to OEM, and re-installing the stock arms. Not posting this as a hack on Factory Pro. Plenty of positive reviews & results, and I've used them on other bikes with very good results. Just putting it out there in case anyone is considering for an RC24/26..

 

Interesting. Thanks for the report.

 

You mentioned "arms". Its been some years since I last fitted one of these but I thought there was only a single detente arm riding on the shift star?

 

Most bikes that I'm familiar with do use just one detent arm that engages with the star wheel. My '87 VFR has 2, the send being referred to as the "neutral detent arm", and appears to be there just to better locate the neutral position. The complete shifting mechanism is fairly complex, more-so that I've dealt with previously. It works, but maybe an example of the Honda engineers overthinking a bit.