Not the Real '89 VFR -a mild custom

I have handled a bunch of these as I have disassembled a lot of parts bikes and wheels, so I always seem to have plenty of extras when rebuilding a bike.

But if I needed some, it would absolutely be worth a try to source them alternatively (cheaper). The material doesn't feel that exotic or anything.

Heat, crush, water, chemicals (like wheel cleaners - light acid).

A real benefit would be to have a known good system where you could swap them out for comparison. Good luck and do report back.

 

Well - Yes! The Cure, all fixed and me somewhat wiser
Finally gave up after fitting new, home punched fibre washers and using the factory torque settings when fitting the discs back into place.

So, I removed the front wheel yet again, un-bolted the discs and measured them for the umpteenth time and concluded that there was a very minor thickness variation around the disc circumference -0.03mm, in and out, with no rational explanation that I could give.
Contacted a local manufacturer here in the Brisbane area (Metal Gear) and asked if he was prepared to take a look at them and give an opinion.
He said "Yes" and subsequently measured the discs to inform me he found the thickness variation to be as much as 0.06 on one disc, the other a bit less
and after placing both discs on his granite certified flat surface, one had a warp in it (He took me through into the factory and showed me this)
"These are cheap, no brand Chinese knock offs, only fit to be thrown away - take them back to where you got them and get your money back."
(I did, and they did give me a full refund!)
Metal Gear sold me a set of their own discs which I fitted, and straight away there was no longer any vibration and the bakes worked as I might have expected.
Incidentally the "no brand" discs were also 5mm thick (approx.) and were engraved with "minimum thickness 4mm" where Metal Gear say the factory thickness should be 4.5mm and minimum thickness 3.5mm.
Metal Gear say any thickness variation beyond 0.01mm will be felt through the brake lever and create vibration when stopping, and this cannot be compensated for by floating calipers, and will "not" bed in with time.
However, wheel mounting pad discrepancy, such as the existing 0.4mm (my measuring) on my bike can be compensated for by a properly operating "floating Caliper". In fact, this was one of the reasons floating calipers were used back in the days of early motorcycle disc brakes they told me. Higher precision machining on later manufactured bikes has subsequently permitted a number of variations to disc brake setup.

I have learned my lesson! Even though I was purchasing the discs from a company that has its base in the UK, and the stock was delivered from the UK I was informed, I now believe it originated in China.

 

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since last I wrote, not the least problem, a nasty skin cancer (PDS if you want to look it up) took rapid hold of my right ear and so far, has cost me 2/3rds of my ear removed, and now going though radiation treatment.
Not to worry, my 50-year-old son and I had planned to attend the VJMC National Rally some 1350 km's away, by riding our bikes, with me on the VFR and he on one of his Suzuki's.
However, it was not to be, but a gap in the treatment allowed us to put the VFR on a trailer and tow her down to Jindabyne in Southwest NSW. There were about 380 bikes registered for the rally and this turned out to be something of a record for our club.
Once there, we shared the riding during the rally and had a good time together. The VFR 750 never put a foot wrong, worked like a clock, I even got to do a little "spirited" riding on those beautiful high country back roads, long sweeping bends one after another with almost no apposing traffic.
The attached photo I took of my son as he left on one such ride, and even he is becoming a fan of the old bike, says it handles well and certainly has more get up n' go than he expected.

 

Best of luck with your treatment, nice photo

 

The rear wheel (white one) poking out from under the cover in the right-hand top corner of the last photo in the series is my current project.
As always, my projects are a long-time incubating. I purchased the '86 back in about 2020 (I think) expecting it to be a quick job.
As laid out earlier in this story, I already had the bike when I got sidetracked on the '89 so now back to this olg girl.
I am part way through the paint job now; she is going back to the original Honda Pearl Cresent White color scheme but have a small dilemma:
I have sited various pearl white '86 bikes, looking pristine, but some have white mirrors and some have black mirrors.
Question is - what color were they painted by the factory??? Anyone with real knowledge of the correct color - please tell me
If you are like me, looking at picture of early bikes - you can find both, hence my confusion

 

In the US, the original 1986 Limited Edition pearl white model 100% had white plastic mirrors. Not painted, color impregnated. As did the 87 the following year.

 

Thanks Captain, I might have known you would have the answer
I think the mirrors I have may even be white under one coat of paint (white) where a previous owner was trying to hide scratches
The next question now is - should I do the pearl on them since the rest will be getting the treatment?

 

I took "the old girl" out for a spin over the weekend, did something more than 1300 kilometers over three days on a club ride with the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club, of which I am a member here in Australia. She never missed a beat, when like the proverbial charm, despite (or perhaps because of) some quite spirited riding (for me anyway). It is an annual event that both my 51 y/o son and I do together. This year, what with a nasty (PDS) skin cancer, then whilst still going though 20 sessions of radiation treatment post-surgery for that, I broke my leg and had a metal plate surgically implanted. Not as though that was enough, I now appear to have an allergic reaction to the metal (awaiting test results) this almost 80 y/o did not think I would be going anywhere.
A great weekend, let me relax a bit and got away from all the drama (except the itching rash), at least for a long weekend.
The trusty VFR did everything right, and on the return journey my son and I split from the main group, for a detour to visit a sister of mine for a brief visit. The bonus was that we had many kilometers of free riding at a pace that may have been frowned on by some, but roads with almost no traffic, and being middle of the day, "skippy" was napping in the shade somewhere while we powered on. Bliss, the only noise, that of a VFR in my ears while we burnt up the tarmac! My son was on his KTM 1190R, and they were made for cruising like we did, his only disappointment was when we chose not to take 50km shortcut though a dirt road, but in deference to the VFR, we stayed on the black top.

 

Personally I'd have the plate removed and take the extra healing time, when I bust my tibia just below the knee @68yrs old it was a battle NOT to have it plated, it took longer to heal but IMHO is better

 

It seems when you get older, they fuss about healing, and did not give me the option, just told me it was going to happen. Took them a further month after the accidentto install the impant due to me being mid-way through radiation, and now it seems the allergic reaction may be caused by this implant? Time will tell, but they will only remove the plate "if" a metal allergy is proved to be the cause.

 

Good luck mate