ultimate frankenviffer? Rick Oliver's RC30 with a 3rd gen engine swap

When I heard about this bike being featured in the new Practical Sportbikes, I just had to jump on it! Its kinda like the ultimate frankenviffer in a way, right up there with HondaRV4's bike. Since I know its not easy for everyone in the US to get a copy of this mag, I thought I'd share the article with people here who would really appreciate it. If you're interested in picking up a copy, it can be purchased from http://www.classicbi...ks.com/catalog/ February '12 issue. Enjoy!

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Very nice, but text too small to read.....

Veefer800Canuck

Very nice, but text too small to read.....

For some reason the pic's shrunk when I uploaded them.

Looks awesome. My next project is to attempt something similar. I want to build a replica of the CB1100R that Honds made a prototype of a few years ago. Need to find a close match for the upper fairing though. Wanna use a 900 Hornet as the donor bike. Not sure if it will work. If you have any suggestions about the fairing

please let me know.

Thanks,

Kevin

Check out my bike I just finished. Under a300fo.

Kostritzer is my favorite beer.

a300fo

Looks awesome. My next project is to attempt something similar. I want to build a replica of the CB1100R that Honds made a prototype of a few years ago. Need to find a close match for the upper fairing though. Wanna use a 900 Hornet as the donor bike. Not sure if it will work. If you have any suggestions about the fairing

please let me know.

Thanks,

Kevin

Check out my bike I just finished. Under a300fo.

Kostritzer is my favorite beer.

Mine too Kevin, its the perfect dark beer as far as I'm concerned.

kostritzer

Veefer800Canuck

Very nice, but text too small to read.....

For some reason the pic's shrunk when I uploaded them.

IIRC, the forum software resizes the pics, maybe try hosting them elsewhere at full size?

I'm uploading them to my FB account right now.

Ok, you should be able to click on them now to make them slightly larger and more readable.

a300fo

If you have any suggestions about the fairing

please let me know.

I am with you, not against you. The force is strong in you.

at very short notice this is the best I could come up with:

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but, funny enough, a yamaha fairing seems to fit the bill as well:

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a300fo

Looks awesome. My next project is to attempt something similar. I want to build a replica of the CB1100R that Honds made a prototype of a few years ago. Need to find a close match for the upper fairing though. Wanna use a 900 Hornet as the donor bike. Not sure if it will work. If you have any suggestions about the fairing

please let me know.

Thanks,

Kevin

Check out my bike I just finished. Under a300fo.

Kostritzer is my favorite beer.

Love that bike as well Kevin, you and I should hang out! ;)

I make it to Ontario every so often with my job. Let ya know.

Thanks Timmy.

Just got to convince the wife to start another project.

And in case anyone was interested in doing a similar project to this RC30, Service Honda lists RC30 frames for $2200 and RC45 frames for $3200... Are they truly available? Well, there are other parts for these bikes listed as discontinued, but the frames are not. In fact, I was able to purchase a head gasket for my NC30 from service Honda, they had it in stock! Just typed in the part number on a whim and there it was!

Was Thinking 919 hornet due to availabilty and price. Not worried about the twin shock setup as depicted on the prototype.

The 919 fairing I have found so far are not too pretty. Would have to do clip ons, Fairing mounted mirrors, different exhaust setup, Make the tank more agressive looking, small headlights, and get the paint right. Sure theres a lot I am forgetting.

a300fo

Was Thinking 919 hornet due to availabilty and price. Not worried about the twin shock setup as depicted on the prototype.

The 919 fairing I have found so far are not too pretty. Would have to do clip ons, Fairing mounted mirrors, different exhaust setup, Make the tank more agressive looking, small headlights, and get the paint right. Sure theres a lot I am forgetting.

Why not start with a bike that already is more similar, and cheaper? Mid nineties CB1000F...

[image: Honda%20CB1000%2092%20%202..jpg]

kostritzer

And in case anyone was interested in doing a similar project to this RC30, Service Honda lists RC30 frames for $2200 and RC45 frames for $3200... Are they truly available? Well, there are other parts for these bikes listed as discontinued, but the frames are not. In fact, I was able to purchase a head gasket for my NC30 from service Honda, they had it in stock! Just typed in the part number on a whim and there it was!

I don't know if Service Honda's database is completely accurate, but if you did get a frame, it would have no VIN on it, so you'd have to figure out how to get the bike registered w/o VIN or frame number of any kind. (Stamping your own extra VFR's frame number onto it would be a big no-no!)

Thanks for the scans, btw. I've known Rick for years, ever since I bought one of his NC30/VFR750 rear wheel conversion kits in the late 90's, but I've never met him in person. A few years ago Rick helped me get an RC30 rear hub modified to accept an NR rear wheel, but rather than pay him cash he insisted I send him some VFR750 parts for a "project" he was working on. Now, I don't know if any of my old FL's parts are actually on that bike, but it would be nice to think they'd been made good use of!

Ciao,

I hear ya John, I'd only be interested in building one as a track bike anyway. I don't know if Honda would sell you a frame unless you had a VIN to begin with anyway.

Also in the article it states that he has a 500cc NC30, would love to see what that's all about as well! I know G-force has them up to 450cc with a custom crankshaft and pistons, but 500 seems like it would be near impossible without custom cases!

Hell yea, they sure will. I got my VFR frame brand new, out of the box, right from my honda dealer no questions asked. Did not have to provide a VIN.

$1142 and here you go sir. It even arrived a month early. I had to get a VIN assigned by the provincial government, the same way you would if you welded up a utility trailer up out of a new axle and some virgin angle iron.

Well, some years ago when I bought a new, ueber-rare Honda frame from David Silver Spares (not an actual Honda dealer, true) I was informed that it had no frame number, which I acknowledged and then duly provided my credit card details. It's not illegal to buy an unstamped frame, but stamping your own number onto it is a bit tricky...

Ciao,

Sometimes Dutch people are nice.... :sleep:

(exhaust headers...)

vfroem

Sometimes Dutch people are nice.... :sleep:

(exhaust headers...)

Hey, I always wanted to ask how you did your NC30 rear hub in the 3rd gen swingarm. What did you do to make up the difference in width?

So be "nice" and tell me please, with pics! ;)

Lovely bike, thanks for posting the scans up. And as always, it takes something special to get vfroem out of lurk :smile:

What made me post was the RV4 quote...

Not even close to the hallowed RV4 ! An RC36 full of innovation that would stand up to any scrutiny.

How about a Slipper clutch??? That is what made the RC30 fast into corners and a real winner..i presume the RV4 also

I find something new every time i look at the RV4 lol.

Glad this RC30 is running a VFR750f engine that slips straight in.

An rc30 with a 36 engine(woo) and a kwack front end(yuk) :unsure:

Not much thought on that oil cooler was there?

Could he not go- water cooled oil cooler- a la RC30 for example?

Its a bolt on with a Honda cooler on the oil filter connected to the water pump using the already present entry and exit point for the hoses. Just drill and tap...

I would have that set up on my vfr, but a 2bros full system does not allow without further modification to downpipes.

Would ask whats with the 'rear cylinder oil catch tank' rc30 hrc style on the rc36 engine?

Handy to find out what use it might have on an rc36 engine

Im sure Rick knows his stuff, so what going on there? Does he get more power to tame?

e2a- More positively - What it does show to me, is how the vfr750f is nicely maturing - becoming more desirable and attainable to use again, especially for those special builds or spend thrifty rc30 owners.

Can only promote good things for us collectors of potential scrap that can now be described as very useful 20 yr old VFR parts. :fing02:

I hope the older VFRs have at least another 20 years useful life in them yet.. they are so reliable and adaptable....

ill crawl back in me shed now...

Maybe ultimate frankenviffer was a little bit of an exaggeration. Rick definitely could have gone further with the bike, but it looks like he was trying to put it together without spending a fortune on it.

That being said, I'd love to see this bike with everything HondRV4 has done to his bike on it. I have to believe the RC30 frame is a better base for a track bike, but as I haven't finished my 4th gen track bike I don't know what weaknesses it will have or if I'm even skilled enough as a rider to notice them.

As for the breather, in the article it says seat or tank clearance was the issue as either the heads and/or valve covers are taller on the 750F engine.

I thought the general direction he was trying to take the engine was to have it set up so if he ever did find an RC30 engine, he could slot it in and have everything he needed already there.