My Build

I'd go to where you need to...to get a solid map. Power Is nice, but if it's dialed right, it's the best thing for the motor.
I had closer options but my choice was the furthest.

Got it tuned but did not ride yesterday. Got sick for the first time in many years yesterday so I'm bed tied for the next few days.

Going to be pulling it apart as soon as I can function. I don't like the paint my painter used so the bodywork is going right back up there.
That means at least a month before I have a full ride review :(

NO!!!!!! your not allowed to get sick. lol

Hope you feel better and I feel bad for you that the painter screwed up. I wouldn't put up with it either.

Jamie's forks are da bomb!  Still need to play with preload some as I don't know the ideal sag on this bike.  We are at 34/35mm and I don't remember what on the rear, maybe 30mm.  But she's nice and stiff now, proper.  Jamie's forks aren't Ohlins but they are pretty damn good and at $350 revalved and resprung, just pull the trigger.  Worth every penny.  You should be breaking your hands and whiteknuckling it to get them off your bike and in the mail to Jamie Charles.

Reflash works quite well.  I did some WFO in 1st/2nd, Don's reflash works 100%. 

Since the power is done and mapped (no cat) and the suspension is sorted, the whole bike feels so planted now.  I was hammering the thing into and out of corners, and I mean beating on it for a full test.  The bike is also very deceptively fast.  Due to the weight (stability in the wind), you just don't realize how fast you are going.  I was constantly cruising at 100MPH and the bike felt like I was doing 75-80. 

The biggest thing and my most favorite thing to test on a built bike is throttle application coming out of a turn.  The better the bike is sorted out the quicker I can get back on the gas coming out of a corner.  On my RC51 I'd still be well leaned over, same on the R1, and now the same on the VFR.  Coming out of the corner I can get on the gas sooner and really took some ham fisted attempts to get the rear to spin coming out of a corner.  The rear just hooks up and spits you out just like it's supposed to.  Now I have the wonderful task of building my confidence up on the new suspenders and throttle.

The decat made the exhaust sound much more proper.  It will never sound as good as the R1 (same firing order as the VFR800) but it sounds so much better than stock, and throatier than with just the can.  Removing the cat opened up the sound to a nice degree and it's still not overly loud (no decibel eliminator in the can, I have never installed it). 

I'm quite pleased with all the work and my vision of how it should behave under throttle and suspension compressed.  I'm going to leave it set stiff for now until the suspension wears in (usually 1k miles on the shock) and then dial it out some for comfort.  I beat it on it good and it never let me down.  Think I saw 150 at one point, so stable in the wind and at high speed.  Didn't do any MPG evals as I just wasn't interested in that at this point :goofy:    Tuner did tell me (IIRC 13.5 afr) to lean it out at cruise rpm if I wanted MPG's which will be at about 80 in 6th for me. 

Sad that I couldn't get this sorted out for the Hog Tie :(

Rode it on Saturday then on Sunday pulled it back into kory's shop, and proceeded to pull off all the fairings and Kory took the luggage apart for the 2nd time to get it all repainted :(  It's loaded up in the car as I type. 

Not one complaint about the BT023GT's either, great tires and I should have bought some extra sets as I very much like the compound.  The grip is excellent as is the feedback.

That's my review for now.  Few other things.  The Ohlins rear raises it up some out back which was a welcomed change.  If I had my way I'd bump it up a few more mm but I'm content.  Sargent seat is awesome.  Like the seat material so much more.  I was able to hang off of it very easily and the seat material, well you don't slide around on it like the stock seat. 

Hopefully I have it back together before the f'in winter gets here and ruins all my plans.  I had budgeted for proper heated gear this winter but that got used but I may just have to pull out a credit card so I can ride all winter.  :goofy:

hvrdave, thank you for all the advice on the cat removal, autotune, and your comments on the suspension.  My OEM hugger hasn't gotten hit by the Ohlins bracket yet :cheerleader:

I've done 1,000 miles since last Friday, mainly fully loaded, with camping gear ect , Ohlins rear shock, 4 more turns on rear spring preload, 6 clicks more on the rebound and 4 clicks on compression, and she handled perfect, topbox, panniers, tank bag, camping gear, solo. I have since been out solo, got the rear shock dialled in perfect, she now holds a perfect line, I now can get the power on a lot earlier on the exit of the corner, no more wanting to run wide, so you had to close the throttle, to avoid this. Now I can keep the throttle pinned, and it holds the line perfectly, the VFR is now, so much quicker, its hard to believe its 260kls, Like you, no problems with the rear hugger and the Ohlins mounting bracket. 

Feels strange huh?  You know the weight of it and such, but once going it feels just like a literbike. 

Only thing to make it perfect, for me, would be rearsets, de-linked brakes, and ABS removal! 

Jamie's forks are da bomb!  Still need to play with preload some as I don't know the ideal sag on this bike.  We are at 34/35mm and I don't remember what on the rear, maybe 30mm.  But she's nice and stiff now, proper.  Jamie's forks aren't Ohlins but they are pretty damn good and at $350 revalved and resprung, just pull the trigger.  Worth every penny.  You should be breaking your hands and whiteknuckling it to get them off your bike and in the mail to Jamie Charles.
 

Thanks for the report luvtoleanit, I've been waiting for a review of Jamie's work on a relevant bike. I'll be pulling my suspension soon.

Really good info in your post and quite enjoyed your journey to attain VFR 1200 perfection. Won't tackle everything you did but the Don G re-flash looks like a winner based on all the postings, in addition to yours. Soon as the bike goes away for the winter I'll send Don my ECU so it can be released from the sad confines of its restrictions. We'll just keep the wife's ECU where it is and see if my 70 pound weight differential penalty and 2010 ECU version will allow me to now keep up? The thought it all just comes down to superior skills on her part is a bridge I continue to put off crossing by investing in superior technology.

Jamie's forks are da bomb!  Still need to play with preload some as I don't know the ideal sag on this bike.  We are at 34/35mm and I don't remember what on the rear, maybe 30mm.  But she's nice and stiff now, proper.
 
That's my review for now.  Few other things.  The Ohlins rear raises it up some out back which was a welcomed change.  If I had my way I'd bump it up a few more mm but I'm content.:

I'm on the same path for most of your mods and am looking at suspension now. Going DMr on the forks and shock, but was curious about ride height. What factors drove you to raising the rear? PM sent.

Stock, the rear is to low in my opinion. Needs to be raised for better handling.

luvtoleanit Don has resolved the top speed limiter. Send it back if you want it removed. I dyno tested the 2nd re-flash Don did to remove the speed limiter and my bike ran all the way to the 11,100 RPM limiter in 5th & 6th gears.