elwray's 2003 VFR

At the end of October, I made an offer on a Silver 2003 VFR 800 being sold on consignment at a local Suzuki/Yamaha/Kawasaki dealership. As soon as I got into the parking lot, the salesman called me back in and told me the owner accepted the offer!

It needed some work, so I took a few pictures along the way.

First day - 18,400 miles

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The chain and sprockets were toast, as were the tires. Rode it home very very gently and put her in the garage and started ordering parts. Micron slip on exhaust sounded nice, though! But the previous owner had them flipped -- left can on right side and vice versa. Not a priority though, no leaks.

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FIRST THINGS FIRST

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The stickers have GOT to go!

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That's better :)

Then it was time to get the plastic off.

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Not surprisingly, the plastic rivets on the bottom were missing. And several just broke when I tried getting them out. So I stopped by the Honda dealer, and they wanted FIVE DOLLARS EACH for those. Outrageous. Ordered a bag of 25 plastic rivets from thefastenerwarehouse.com (part TR 240). Haven't tried them yet but they look like they ought to be a great replacement.

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Oil looked to be pretty dark, but not too bad. Hard to tell without actually sending it out for analysis though. Filter wasn't on too bad - an extension and cap wrench were a huge help here. Replaced with Amsoil 10w-40 and Purolator oil filter from the Pep Boys.

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Now on to the air filter. First off, being able to just tilt the tank back and prop it up is SO nice on this bike. Makes it very easy!!

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That filter was NASTY. Cleaned it all out as best I could and put it back - a K&N is on the to-do list but not a priority at the moment.

sprocketcenter.com was very helpful on the phone, and shipped out quickly.

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Another member pjm204 helping me change the sprockets and chain. Went with a DID 530 I think, and stock sized sprockets. Used the RK Chain breaker/riveter tool. Fairly easy to use!

Then the antifreeze, brake fluid, and hydraulic clutch fluid needed to be changed out:

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Coolant looked pretty clean, but flushed with 2 gallons of distilled water anyway. Filled with Prestone Green 50/50. Cylinder drain bolt wasn't too easy to get to, but a short ratchet makes it a pretty easy job.

Brake and clutch fluids weren't too bad, but a little dark. Just took a while with the linked brakes.

Time for tires!

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Let me just say, center stands combined with single sided swingarm = easiest wheel removal ever!

Put a scissor jack and wood under the headers to get the front wheel just barely off the ground so I could remove it. Put ratchet downs on the ceiling to the rear passenger pegs JUST in case, but it wasn't going anywhere.

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Went with Shinko 005's.

Windscreen also needs to be replaced. Thinking about trying to sand it down and hit it with Nightshades spray paint. Can't be worse than it is now!

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Getting along with her new garage mate, my 2007 Honda VTX 1300c

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Next up:

EBC Brake pads already ordered, as well as passenger seat cowl and those grab handle cover pieces.

I'll post up more pics once that gets done.

Thanks to all for the information and answers to my questions this far. You've been a great help!

looking good, great work so far

good to see her in good hands

Make sure the AMSOIL 10W40 is not labelled as being "energy conserving".

(nevermind the Suzuki thing....)

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[image: View Post]veefer800canuck, on 02 November 2009 - 10:56 PM, said:

Make sure the AMSOIL 10W40 is not labelled as being "energy conserving".\

Thanks for the tip... it's the Motorcycle stuff, explicitly NOT energy conserving (same stuff I use in the VTX with a wet clutch). Just got a bunch of emails that the parts shipped!

[image: View Post]elwray, on 03 November 2009 - 02:58 AM, said:

[image: View Post]veefer800canuck, on 02 November 2009 - 10:56 PM, said:

Make sure the AMSOIL 10W40 is not labelled as being "energy conserving".\

Thanks for the tip... it's the Motorcycle stuff, explicitly NOT energy conserving (same stuff I use in the VTX with a wet clutch). Just got a bunch of emails that the parts shipped!


How about an update!....btw...ordered a Two Brothers exhaust last night. Now I can chime in with the sweet V4 music when we ride.

I got the EBC HH brake pads on -- threw me a little at first since all three packages were identical, but the old brake pads are clearly different for the front and back.

But the EBC replacements are all "rear" pads - they have the little groove cut out of the tab. Works on both the front and the back.

After fussing with a stuck piston on the front right caliper, everything went back together quite nicely and broke the pads in. Stops even better than before!

Only issue is I think I may have to replace the diaphram/gasket in the master cylinder. It gets a little damp around the seam where the cover connects to the reservoir after riding for a bit. Not quite a leak, but just sweaty kind of. :goofy:

Got a "new" rear seat cowl for cheap on eBay - had a few scratches on the side from handling they said. Hardly noticeable, and for the great price I can definitely live with it. Also picked up a set of the grab handle blanks to insert once I removed those. Also removed the passenger pegs/brackets. This is strictly a 1-up bike now... I've got the VTX for passengers :fing02:

I've got a few more pics; I will post them once I get home. Took a ~350 mile tour through the Poconos two weekends ago and the bike ran great -- had a LOT of fun. The only problem was my clutch hand on fire from so much shifting! I need to ride more :laugh:

Nice job on the full service - you're a rat after my own heart!

Next time please get some real tires though!

What kind of brake fluid did you use? It could be overfull, or maybe you got the wrong stuff in there?

I've found that putting a piece of aluminum foil over the header keeps oil from spilling on it during a change, and not burning off afterward. :fing02:

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 24 November 2009 - 08:33 AM, said:

Nice job on the full service - you're a rat after my own heart!

Next time please get some real tires though!

What kind of brake fluid did you use? It could be overfull, or maybe you got the wrong stuff in there?

I've found that putting a piece of aluminum foil over the header keeps oil from spilling on it during a change, and not burning off afterward. :fing02:

The tires were a great price, and I thought I'd be taking it easy for the first few thousand miles while I got used to the bike... overestimated how long that would take :biggrin: I've pushed these as far as I'd want them to go and they seem to be fine.

I used DOT4... I don't think I overfilled it... It didnt start leaking till I did the brake pads. I'm thinking I may have flipped it 180* and one side was flattened a bit from where it was sitting for the last how ever many years. I'm going to try and flip it back and see if that fixes it, or swap it with the clutch cylinder gasket/diaphram - same part.

The aluminum foil will DEFINITELY be deployed at the next oil change!

Whenever you install new pads, the pistons get pushed back into the caliper, which pushes fluid back up to the reservoir. So, if you filled it to the tippity-top and then pushed the pistons, in, chances are you have too much fluid in the system.

Instead of taking some out of the res, just bleed it a few more times to get some of the extra out again.

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 24 November 2009 - 09:29 AM, said:

Whenever you install new pads, the pistons get pushed back into the caliper, which pushes fluid back up to the reservoir. So, if you filled it to the tippity-top and then pushed the pistons, in, chances are you have too much fluid in the system.

Instead of taking some out of the res, just bleed it a few more times to get some of the extra out again.



+1

[image: View Post]Auspa�ol, on 24 November 2009 - 09:57 AM, said:

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 24 November 2009 - 09:29 AM, said:

Whenever you install new pads, the pistons get pushed back into the caliper, which pushes fluid back up to the reservoir. So, if you filled it to the tippity-top and then pushed the pistons, in, chances are you have too much fluid in the system.

Instead of taking some out of the res, just bleed it a few more times to get some of the extra out again.



+1

Yeah it wasn't THAT high though. It isn't "full". It's up to about the machined inner line on the reservoir when it's level... so whenever the bike is leaned or handlebars turned no bubbles show. On the clutch cylinder, because of the angle it's on, it's full in the window when upright but when angled it only comes up to about half of the window.

What's the black plastic "thingie" that you're draining your antifreeze into? It looks like some special oil changing pan that might make taking old oil to Pep Boys a little easier.

[image: View Post]Pete McCrary, on 24 November 2009 - 11:22 AM, said:

What's the black plastic "thingie" that you're draining your antifreeze into? It looks like some special oil changing pan that might make taking old oil to Pep Boys a little easier.

Picked it up from Walmart.. it was only 6 bucks or something? It's nice I think it holds 5 or 6 quarts. There's a very shallow upper part with two plugs in it, that you open up when you're filling it. The antifreeze/oil/whatever goes down into the "master reservoir" which has a capped-off pour spout on it. Once it's filled up, just screw the drain plugs back in, cap the pour spout and it's all sealed up in there. I LOVE the thing. It's SO much better than using old aluminum baking pans!

FYI though, the pan is tall enough to contact the header so if you're using it, for instance, to drain antifreeze and let the bike warm up with distilled water in it, you can melt the pan a little bit. Curious how I know? :unsure: :goofy: