Time to upgrade the 1998 VFR

The 1998 VFR has just shy of 30,000 miles on it. The bike rides great, but tends to wander around a bit in the corners when riding at a spirited pace. There are some other things that need to be taken care of as well.


So far this year I have done the following:
PAIR valve delete with block off plates.
Valve clearance check and adjustment.


Other modifications/maintenance done within the past few months:
VTR fan replacement.
Flushed the cooling system and replaced with Engine Ice.
Fresh clutch fluid.
Fresh brake fluid.


Things to be done this time:
Revalve and re-spring the front forks.
Revalve and re-spring a 929 shock.
Replace a leaking right side cover (crash damage, see: http://vfrworld.com/forums/general-vfr-discussions/31855-dog-1-vfr-0-hit-dog-morning.html )
Replace brake pads with EBC HH units, front and rear.
Replace the front wheel bearings.
Replace the stock rubber foot pegs with something less squirmy than the stockers.




April 5, 2012

I wanted to have the springs and valving upgraded front and rear for my weight and riding style. I do not have the funds for a Ohilins setup and frankly, I don't want to sink that kind of money into this bike. I spoke with Jamie Daugherty and he is doing the work for me.

Pics.

Got the forks out easy enough. Sent them off to Daugherty Motorsports to have them revalved and resprung for my *ahem* roundedness...

I was gonna do the forks myself but I can't do the rear, so I decided to give Jamie the nod on this one.













April 14, 2012:
Been working waaay too much. Got some more work done. The rear tail, battery and under tail came off. The under tail was pretty easy to remove. It was just three screws.











April 15, 2012:

I removed the tank and got the shock out. The Amazing 5th gen shock is pictured below.



I figured while I am waiting for the reworked suspension to arrive I would do some other upgrades as well. I really don't like the rubber rider foot pegs. I tried to buy some for a 1987 VFR 700F2 which will work, but... one side is no longer available. So I did some searching on Amazon and eBay. Settled on some eBay pegs. They look decent, but are a tad short.







There is a brand new right side cover waiting to be replaced as well. It has been seeping oil since my dog encounter a couple of years ago. If I have money left over in the project I might buy a new lower for the right side to make it look passable again. A power commander is on my wants list but it will probably will be outside the budget for this pass. I have a combined budget for the VFR and CBR and I really want to keep it to that budget, so I am watching the money closely. Yeah, yeah... bike projects don't have budgets. The funds allocated fro this are pretty healthy, and it's for 2 bikes. We will see how far I get.


More pics.

Replaced the right side case cover that was leaking (tiny crack, very small leak).







While I had the cover off I decided it was good time to check the clutch disks and springs. Disk packs and spring height were like new. Excellent!




The bike looks very bare right now. That right side cover looks pretty sexy though.

 

Got 70,000 plust miles out of original clutch pack. New parts were new corks, steals, and springs. I noticed a difference right away with the new springs as the clutch pull was a little firmer, not Ducati firm! but firmer. Out on the road, not much of a difference with the new parts except over 110 mph or so, over 120 mph, you could feel a 10% difference. Nice write up with dah viffer :smile:

 

Well, my tires came today. I realized that my Pilot Road 2 front was a bit thin in the skin and probably wouldn't make the 1500+ mile trip to COTU that is 3 weeks away. I bought some Pilot Road 3's. I don't need the rear yet, but it was a combo deal. I will need the rear before the season is out.

Jamie is done with my suspension. Hopefully that will be here by Friday so I can get the bike put back together over the weekend. Then I have to do a shakedown on it before my trip. w00t!