Veefer Madness

Hey guys, new to posting here. I found this site after deciding that my build had to be on this platform about a year ago. Just found the right bike so here we go.

First bike was an anemic facelifted 2008 Kawi Ninja 250 that I bought off the showroom floor. It was fun for about 2 weeks until I realized that I had no love for it A because it was too small of displacement, and B because it was the first brand new thing I had ever had in my life as I was used to and addicted to building my own shit.

Needless to say, I rode it for about a year and a half with no accidents and no mishaps, but also no real excitement or passion. One thing I will give the bike is it was light as phuck and very tossable. I sold the bike in 2010 and have been waiting to get another bike ever since.

Two years of trolling CF, a marriage, and a baby boy later, I decided what I wanted and pulled the trigger on a 1998 fifth gen VFR 800 vtec. I've been sculpting this bike in my mind for about a year or more now and while it may be spring before things start moving really quickly, I'll have some fun shit coming in this winter while I finish up some other projects.

Rode it home 150 miles last Saturday. 45k miles, 3 owner, salvaged title vfr but it's in what seems to be solid condition with the salvage title coming from a LOW speed drop that scratched the plastics and barely grazed the engine cover. PO took e insurance money never resprayed the bike I guess.

Anyhow, it's getting stripped and a salvage title, well, igaf really. Moving on, shit pic but my camera wasn't handy.

Has polished swinger, wheels lips, and faces and slip on pipe. For $1600 I'll listen to those gear driven cams all day long baby. Here she blows ..

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I don't usually name shit simply because I buy and sell a lot of cars, but I think this project might be around my garage for a while and I'd like to give it a proper name. Because of my fondness for gratuitous cereal pulp garbage tv I'm thinking maybe 'The Biggest Loser' because this fat bitch needs to lose some lbs, but I'm thinking perhaps the 'The Axis Of Evil' simply because this bike will be an amalgamation of Japanese, German, and Italian parts (more on this later) but time will tell.

To give you an idea of what I'm normally wrenching on,

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I've had a dozen or so old BMWs ranging from e30s (mostly) but some e28, e36, and e34. The above is just my current project.

Oh and my other sssa Honda that I inherited in pieces. :rock:

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This is an old pic right after I got it mostly put back together. It now looks much different but I'll have to throw up a pic of that later. Needless to say the garage is pretty cramped right now so the ruckus will be for sale soon.

Anyhow, enough bullshit from me. I'll update this thread with parts as I get them and plans for the vfr. And try and keep lots of pics in my thread for your effective time wasting pleasure.

Cheers

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your build. I don't think you will find many fans of the gratuitous profanity here. Not to be on your case or professing to be self righteous, it just doesn't fly here. Other than that, hope you find what you need ..the collective repository of information is truly impressive...

Welcome to VFRD from across the pond.

You work in the manure trade? :-)

Sorry about the cursing... immaturity or a glaring lack of intelligence I suppose: so while I'm surprised it is offensive to you guys, I respect that and will persist to watch my tongue in this, a more polite forum. I already have taken a lot of info from this site and appreciate the collective work it took to collect and compile. So here's a big thanks.

Moving on, the damage is quite superficial and I'm only assuming that the PO must have been hard up for cash and thus decided to make a claim on it and as we all know insurance companies will not hesitate to total a motorbike and doubly so for a 15 y/o motorbike.

I intend on building this platform into a street/speed fighter. I know most of you gents are into track and touring but I thought maybe I could contribute a few things along the way and someone might enjoy watching this project develop.

From one vfrd newbie to another, welcome. Slowly but surely, fighters will take over MuHaHaHaHaa..

I've got a small build thread on mine on here and on CF (that I should update). 1098s rear wheel went on easily, I used an 04 gsxr 600 front end that only needed a top bearing change to fit ( used the top bearing from a yamha srx 400, I think) and the front mount rad is almost done.

I decided on a Vfr for my next fighter project because I wasn't looking for outright horsepower ( my last was a gsxr 711, about 130hp at the wheel and 185 kgs wet) I wanted a bike with some attitude and the right noise. The Vfr with gear driven cams is like nothing else, gets power to the road beautifully, and stripped back properly, they can look and sound amazing.

Good choice, it's a complicated bike compared to an oil cooled Gixxer, but worth it.

keef

From one vfrd newbie to another, welcome. Slowly but surely, fighters will take over MuHaHaHaHaa..

I've got a small build thread on mine on here and on CF (that I should update). 1098s rear wheel went on easily, I used an 04 gsxr 600 front end that only needed a top bearing change to fit ( used the top bearing from a yamha srx 400, I think) and the front mount rad is almost done.

I decided on a Vfr for my next fighter project because I wasn't looking for outright horsepower ( my last was a gsxr 711, about 130hp at the wheel and 185 kgs wet) I wanted a bike with some attitude and the right noise. The Vfr with gear driven cams is like nothing else, gets power to the road beautifully, and stripped back properly, they can look and sound amazing.

Good choice, it's a complicated bike compared to an oil cooled Gixxer, but worth it.

Thanks man, yeah I've been following that build of yours, the tail looks better than I thought I like it. Duc wheel looks good and I'd go a similar route but I decided on a custom 3 pc. Rear wheel from my other obsession.

How have the 600 forks reacted so far are they aggressive enough? You have the vfr front wheel still on it? Is it adaptable to the gsxr brakes?

I too have fallen in love with stripped vfrs but I've got to say the 150 mi ride home was quite nice on the fully faired bike. Alas all of my riding is within 30 miles or so of my place so I'll sacrifice the comfort for looks.

First will come a thorough run through of the mechanicals and maintenance. Then forks and shock, sub and tail, headlights, digi gauge and so on. I'd like to get this bike back on par with factory power output which is plenty for me. And hopefully get this 480lb beast trimmed down 60-100 lbs. from where I don't know quite yet.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm getting out of BMWs for a while so I'll probably be wasting most of my time between here and CF for a while. Cheers

paladinreed

I'd like to get this bike back on par with factory power output which is plenty for me. And hopefully get this 480lb beast trimmed down 60-100 lbs. from where I don't know quite yet.

Don't quote me on this, but I think the most I have heard of people trimming on these bike is around 50 lbs.

Welcome to the site. I don't mind the cursing, send it to me in a PM if you feel too sanitized! :)

It is easy to lose 20 lbs, not much work to lose 35 lbs, but it costs a lot of time effort and $$ to lose 50+ lbs, from what i have seen!

Welcome. Hoping to see a nice detailed build thread.

paladinreed

Two years of trolling CF, a marriage, and a baby boy later, I decided what I wanted and pulled the trigger on a 1998 fifth gen VFR 800 vtec.

Welcome to VFRD! By the way - your new bike is not a VTEC. But! (however), unlike the Vtec models, it does have gear-driven cams, and it doesn't have Honda's crappy camchain tensioners, so the motor

is pretty bulletproof.

I was wondering when someone was going to correct that info about a 5th Gen.

Welcome, paladinreed. Enjoy your stay!

paladinreed

keef

what do you mean by aggressive enough? i need to have them resprung, as the VFR is heavier than the gix6, and i am 95ks without gear. Definately better than the original VFR forks though.

I changed the vfr front wheel when i did the forks, i hate having mismatched wheels with different spoke patterns. I have 04 gsxr 600 forks yokes, and calipers, ducati 848 front wheel, 01 gsxr 1000 rotors, and a ninja 250 front guard.

Welcome PaladinReed. I'm not in the manure biz either. Good answer Dutchy. :laugh:

Doesn't bother me generally, eff bombs don't matter much at all to me.

But this is a more polite forum. Good way to put it. :beer:

Its exciting seeing so many new builds happening! Hopefully your all's will progress faster than mine =P

Can't wait to see what you do with the bike paladinreed!

I've got my VFR totally apart now and have access to many parts that are not bolted to the bike, let me know if you need any measurements or even parts!

And oh! You titled your post Veefer Madness................. now that is a member here who can tell you all about <CENSORED> and <CENSORED>

:beer:

enzed_viffer

paladinreed

Two years of trolling CF, a marriage, and a baby boy later, I decided what I wanted and pulled the trigger on a 1998 fifth gen VFR 800 vtec.

Welcome to VFRD! By the way - your new bike is not a VTEC. But! (however), unlike the Vtec models, it does have gear-driven cams, and it doesn't have Honda's crappy camchain tensioners, so the motor

is pretty bulletproof.

See? So much to learn! This is my first real bike after all. Is variable timing impossible with gear driven cams then?

keef

paladinreed

keef

what do you mean by aggressive enough? i need to have them resprung, as the VFR is heavier than the gix6, and i am 95ks without gear. Definately better than the original VFR forks though.

I changed the vfr front wheel when i did the forks, i hate having mismatched wheels with different spoke patterns. I have 04 gsxr 600 forks yokes, and calipers, ducati 848 front wheel, 01 gsxr 1000 rotors, and a ninja 250 front guard.

I meant more or less if the spring rates and dampering of the 600 forks were sufficient for the larger chassis and weight of the vfr. It seems that you answered my question by noting that you felt like you needed to upgrade the springs. I understand wanting the continuity between the two wheel styles. Unfortunately the rear wheel I have in mind is pretty unique and not something I can replicate with a non custom front wheel which I have no intentions so far of trying.

I'm mostly going to be concerned with finding the lightest and best looking options for the front wheel

PishvaianRider

Its exciting seeing so many new builds happening! Hopefully your all's will progress faster than mine =P

Can't wait to see what you do with the bike paladinreed!

I've got my VFR totally apart now and have access to many parts that are not bolted to the bike, let me know if you need any measurements or even parts!

Thanks for the offer man. I may well take you up on it.

Appreciate the warm welcome, hope I can stumble upon some info other people find useful or interested during this little build.

A couple of questions have come to mind so far.

Does anyone know off the top of their heads the specs, size, weight, offset, centerbore etc of the rear wheel. (17x5.5 I think I saw at some point)

Also, what are good options for upgrading the rear spring from aftermarket or oem manufacturers or from different models? Once again, I've read of 929, 954 places but what are your opinions? I'd like something perhaps with adjustability and fairly aggressive rates.

I'm about 5'11" and 165lbs. It's also likely that my wife will ride passenger on a weekly basis in nice weather so like I said adjustability might be nice.

Ok so this is embarrassing but adding photos from my iPad from any orientation seem to render my pics rotated all weird when I post them... As such... Advice?

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Looking forward to another VFR fighter build! Enjoy the process :)

paladinreed

I too have fallen in love with stripped vfrs but I've got to say the 150 mi ride home was quite nice on the fully faired bike. Alas all of my riding is within 30 miles or so of my place so I'll sacrifice the comfort for looks.

My naked VFR is the most comfortable bike I've owned. Aside from rain protection and cold weather riding (warm gear negates this issue for me) I love the smooth turbulence free air and balanced riding position. If you want a comfortable bike just plan your mods accordingly. Pick a decent seat, set the seat height and angle right, and get bars that put you in the right riding position and you'll have no issues with comfort. You probably won't even have to sacrifice looks :) Just my 2 cents.

apexandy

Looking forward to another VFR fighter build! Enjoy the process :)

paladinreed

I too have fallen in love with stripped vfrs but I've got to say the 150 mi ride home was quite nice on the fully faired bike. Alas all of my riding is within 30 miles or so of my place so I'll sacrifice the comfort for looks.

My naked VFR is the most comfortable bike I've owned. Aside from rain protection and cold weather riding (warm gear negates this issue for me) I love the smooth turbulence free air and balanced riding position. If you want a comfortable bike just plan your mods accordingly. Pick a decent seat, set the seat height and angle right, and get bars that put you in the right riding position and you'll have no issues with comfort. You probably won't even have to sacrifice looks :) Just my 2 cents.

Dude, first of all, your vfr build was simply incredible. I'd love to have even half of the talent you demonstrated go into this bike.

Sorry about the late reply but I try not to post in my build threads without a picture to accompany simply because here is nothing worse than a build thread without pictures in it.

Somewhat of an update however. Last night cruising fleabay I got a bad case of the itis and scored a cheap straight Ducati 848 subframe and seat to start fleshing out the conversion and a 929 rear shock to boot. I just realized that if I don't get on this project then I won't have a bike to ride as soon as spring hits and I can't have that..

Secondly, I'm spitballing this custom rear wheel and am thinking a 17x6 et ~10-13 with a 190 or 200 series rear tire. Are there any glaring issues with that in application?

The 1098s rear that I have is 17x6, and I have a 190 50 at the moment, but will change to a 190 55 in a week or so. Mine is used right to the edge, so no handling issues with a 6 inch

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paladinreed

Ok so this is embarrassing but adding photos from my iPad from any orientation seem to render my pics rotated all weird when I post them... As such... Advice?

Fixed it..... Welcome to the madness!

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Well, I got the bug. After I ordered the 848 sub I got the phase 1 fleshed out and decided to do some work. This is nothing new. I'm sure each and every one of you have had your bikes equally nude at some point whether for maintenance or just a good thorough cleaning. I'm afraid I'm not going back however.

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Wanted to gratuitously show off the real reason I even got into bikes (lol). Spec 1Rs for my wife and I. My taste in language is obviously as bad as my taste in graphics. Bear with me. I'm really not all bad

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And lastly a shot of my old 250 which was also red and my least favorite color. What's up with that?

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Seriously finding ever more enlightening info on this site and really want to say a big thank you to the everyone who.contributed their builds to this site

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Christmas on Halloween?! Nahhh.. just some heavy Italian turd.

Couldn't resist mocking her up.

Tear down
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The bobber look is the worst.
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And crude mock up
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Now I need forks to make it look halfway decent.

As far as subframe comparison, the ducati frame is heavier than I thought it would be. Contrarily, the vfr8 frame is lighter than I suspected. Granted the ducati tail has to hold a 20lb exhaust and potentially two riders so its pretty beefy but I had too much hope that it would be featherweight comparatively.

I suspect between the two I've saved 3-7 lbs between frame and passenger pegs and relocating electronics. The other weight will come from the light, seat, and plastics.

The tail will be getting an exhaust tucked up under it so while it looks high in the pic that's a rough guestimate for the clearances and aesthetic I'm looking for

Cheers.

keef

The 1098s rear that I have is 17x6, and I have a 190 50 at the moment, but will change to a 190 55 in a week or so. Mine is used right to the edge, so no handling issues with a 6 inch

Keef, that tire makes my heart race, thinking about the little time I've spent on a track! I got to run my FZ6 around the track this summer, and I didn't have much chickenstrip left, and I was clearly sliding a good bit with the tire boogers! But my god, you look like you were at 10/10ths! riding ltterally on the edge of that tire of a bike that you assembled yourself! Way to go man! I can't wait till mine is complete, and better yet, till I'm comfortable enough on it to ride it hard from time to time!

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paladinreed

As far as subframe comparison, the ducati frame is heavier than I thought it would be. Contrarily, the vfr8 frame is lighter than I suspected. Granted the ducati tail has to hold a 20lb exhaust and potentially two riders so its pretty beefy but I had too much hope that it would be featherweight comparatively.

paladinreed, have you considered Ducati's monoposto subframes?? I just spent about 5 minutes searching around for the weight comparisons of the biposto (two-up) subframe, vs. the aluminum (solo) monoposto subframe with no luck. But there are tons of them on fleabay! Check it out!

Thanks PR, the vfr will power slide through corners if you get it just right. The rear tyre was ripping up a little at the start of the trackday, so i softened the rear suspension up a bit, and then it was much better, really good through one particular corner at Eastern Creek here in Sydney. Not bad for a touring bike.

And Paladin, once you change the exhaust, dump the headlights and fairings, you'll lose a fair bit of weight. The ducati wheels i used are a lot lighter than the vfr ones, i think the 1098S rear wheel (bare, no cush/sprocket etc) weighs 3 or 3.5 kgs. It kind of offsets the extra weight of the SSSA.

keef

The 1098s rear that I have is 17x6, and I have a 190 50 at the moment, but will change to a 190 55 in a week or so. Mine is used right to the edge, so no handling issues with a 6 inch

Pish is right. This is seriously BA. I would ride a machine I put together that hard no problem. My problem is just not having near the skill to maximize this bike. I've got a lot of riding experience to catch up on only having ridden street for less than two years. Awesome pic

PishvaianRider

keef

The 1098s rear that I have is 17x6, and I have a 190 50 at the moment, but will change to a 190 55 in a week or so. Mine is used right to the edge, so no handling issues with a 6 inch

Keef, that tire makes my heart race, thinking about the little time I've spent on a track! I got to run my FZ6 around the track this summer, and I didn't have much chickenstrip left, and I was clearly sliding a good bit with the tire boogers! But my god, you look like you were at 10/10ths! riding ltterally on the edge of that tire of a bike that you assembled yourself! Way to go man! I can't wait till mine is complete, and better yet, till I'm comfortable enough on it to ride it hard from time to time!

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paladinreed

As far as subframe comparison, the ducati frame is heavier than I thought it would be. Contrarily, the vfr8 frame is lighter than I suspected. Granted the ducati tail has to hold a 20lb exhaust and potentially two riders so its pretty beefy but I had too much hope that it would be featherweight comparatively.

paladinreed, have you considered Ducati's monoposto subframes?? I just spent about 5 minutes searching around for the weight comparisons of the biposto (two-up) subframe, vs. the aluminum (solo) monoposto subframe with no luck. But there are tons of them on fleabay! Check it out!

It's just awesome you get to go shove your bike around a road course! Closest thing to me here is almost 4 hours away in Oklahoma at Hulett. It isn't often I'm in OK.

As far as the subframe goes, my wife agreed to this project (I have too many others) under the one condition that she could A ride shot gun, and B learn to ride solo on the street. So it has to be a 2up seat for my needs.

That is also the reason for the goal of as much weight loss as possible because she is about 110lbs wet.

I know that for a first timer this bike is a little much but I'm proud to report that she took it around the block the other day before the strip down successfully going into all gears 1-3 and back into neutral to park. I was pretty impressed seeing her on a bike essentially 5 times her size. She gears up well so as long as shes not hurt from a tip over, I don't care much for the bike... That is... until it's built

If she likes it enough we'll get her something more suited to her size.

keef

Thanks PR, the vfr will power slide through corners if you get it just right. The rear tyre was ripping up a little at the start of the trackday, so i softened the rear suspension up a bit, and then it was much better, really good through one particular corner at Eastern Creek here in Sydney. Not bad for a touring bike.

And Paladin, once you change the exhaust, dump the headlights and fairings, you'll lose a fair bit of weight. The ducati wheels i used are a lot lighter than the vfr ones, i think the 1098S rear wheel (bare, no cush/sprocket etc) weighs 3 or 3.5 kgs. It kind of offsets the extra weight of the SSSA.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to being able to handle the bike a little better just in general after shaving some lbs. The rear wheel I have planned will hopefully be no more than 13-15 lbs which is significantly heavier than the ducati wheel but I thought still pretty good.

Is the duc wheel magnesium?

btw PM incoming.

Not mag, forged alloy. The rear duke wheel felt lighter than my carrozzeria front wheel.

Paladinreed,

well, you are building this thing yourself! you could always have two subframes? design it such that it would be a simple four or so bolts to take on and off, then a simple wiring setup, and you're good to ride two up or solo!

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So I had the fabricator scheduled to come out yesterday but he bailed on me. (Hard to get good professional help here) so I went and bought a pipe bender and some materials and fire up the welder.

I must say I was making good headway fabricating the pipe but my little MIG running flux has been punching small holes in the steel. So I've got to have someone else do the welding for the subframe.

Here are a few pics.

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Picked up w lobster claw from an 1125cr to see what was up. I think ill like it. Rads and coils will be remounted to look much cleaner and more flush underneath them.

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fit more towards the back as to cool the R/R???? :goofy:

Are the shrouds going to go over the rads to force air in, or just decorative to hide the rads?

If you leave them open, it will stop the rads from working, the scoops force air in from the outside, but air will also be pushed in from in front of the engine. The air from 2 different directions will cancel each other out.

If they're just decorative, carry on. I think you'd need to tip them down a bit at the front, the lines don't work. The lines on the tank point down, then the line from the cowl goes back up again. I think you need to make the lines on the cowl follow the tank.

Dutchy

fit more towards the back as to cool the R/R???? :goofy:

har har

keef

Are the shrouds going to go over the rads to force air in, or just decorative to hide the rads?

If you leave them open, it will stop the rads from working, the scoops force air in from the outside, but air will also be pushed in from in front of the engine. The air from 2 different directions will cancel each other out.

If they're just decorative, carry on. I think you'd need to tip them down a bit at the front, the lines don't work. The lines on the tank point down, then the line from the cowl goes back up again. I think you need to make the lines on the cowl follow the tank.

Well, they are primarily aesthetic. I really want to do a front mount, but I also want to run some lower side fairing. So this just keeps the stock system in tact and allows me to run a good looking mid fairing.

Two I plan on getting the entire exhaust jet-ceramic coated which should reduce surface and ambient temps a little in that area, and also the front of the bike there is certainly not the hottest spot as far as heat coming from the engine/exhaust. It gets lots of airflow, and its mostly exposed now. Not to mention the rads are going to be remounted horizontally and the coolant piping simplified (tucked in hopefully) so they will be tucked back and against the aluminum frame rather than out there by the front pipes.

I may vent the backsides of the lobster claws to provide more "through" airflow but in the end I think they will certainly be functional to a degree and expect cooler ambient and riding temps. Time will tell

I do agree about the lines though. That will take some piddling with. They were just placed on the rad that shouldnt be the final mounting place.

The rads need air to flow through, not just past them.

With a normal front facing rad, a lot of air hits the front of the rad, creating high air pressure. It then flows through the rad to the back where the low air pressure zone is, as the air flows through the rad, it takes away the heat.

When Honda mounted them sideways, it needed to use the fairing to create high pressure on one side of the rads ( in front of the engine) and low pressure on the other side, to make air flow sideways, when it just wants to go front to back.

With the scoops the way they are, you will still have the high pressure in front of the engine, but you have added another high pressure zone on the other side of the rad. as those giant scoops capture a lot of air. Two high pressure zones means no flow through the rads, just around them as the air looks for the easiest path of travel.

With my bike, I noticed that without the fairings ( and with the er6n rad shrouds that created a little bit of negative pressure on the outside of the rads) the fan was always running, there was heaps of flow around the rads, but not through. It meant it was always hot.

Put a TL1000R top rad on it. I bought a new from china one for $112 delivered, paid a rad shop to move the inlet from top left to top right, and then some I did new silicone hoses. You could probably get away with using most of the existing rubber hoses. Much easier than the internet made it seem.

Not lecturing, but I ran mine for a year and a bit with the side mounts, always ran hot with the fan on, and that was with ceramic coated headers and a vtr pusher fan.

Just had a thought, if you blocked the front of the intake scoop, and opened it up at the back, it should help suck air through the rads from in front of the engine.

Have a look at cycra power flow dirtbike rad shrouds, that'll explain it better than I can.

Decided to get the rest of this tacked together. Good news is, Im getting better at this. And its now ready for the pro. Bad news is, he's got his hands full with correcting my early mistakes and making this sub look decent but I have the fullest confidence I didn't muck it up too bad.

Hopefully will go out to him tomorrow or Thursday.

Ghetto rigged tail support and positioning but its pretty darn straight if I do say so myself.

Pics

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Played with the 2007 CBR exhaust I picked up for $50. Think it might work with a few inches chopped out and a clean SS linkpipe tucked up in there. The fat ducati tail will swallow it.

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Just zipped on. Can probably utilize stock 848 hangers to look factory

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Finally, all tacked together and hung until it goes to the welder. And the lobsta claw tossed on for a laugh.

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Cheers gents.

PSA- Entire front end of this 45k mi bike is for sale. Forks are nice and straight, no pitting or major leaks. From tire to controls Id like to sell as a unit. Shoot me offers if interested.

Also, picking up complete 06 GSXR600 front end on Thursday as well as an entire 08 CBR600rr front end to play with.

Looking good, mate. The angle of the seat seems to flow with the angle of the tank, too.

Can you take a shot from the front so I can see how wide the claw is?

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If anyone needs any measurements, I've got a hold of two front ends to muck around with.

2008 600rr on the right

2006 gsxr600 on the left

Will also be pulling the vfrs stock front end if anyone wants a caliper on something lmk (pm if interested in parts or whole)

paladinreed

apexandy

Secondly, I'm spitballing this custom rear wheel and am thinking a 17x6 et ~10-13 with a 190 or 200 series rear tire. Are there any glaring issues with that in application?

I have an RC45 BST. Carbon rear on mine, I went for the 5.75" version as I was not sure if the 6" would fit with a 190 section tyre. With a 180/55 Michelin Pilot Pure fitted I can just get a 13mm socket between the tyre edge & the swingarm. The socket external dimensions are approx 18mm diameter, so a 6" wheel would reduce clearance by 3mm. A nominal 190 section tyre would reduce clearance by 5mm, so you should be left with approx 10mm of clearance to the swingarm.

I'm pretty sure a 200 would fit, but may rub as the tyre flexes !!! Remember that wider tyres do NOT usually improve handling.

keef

Looking good, mate. The angle of the seat seems to flow with the angle of the tank, too.

Can you take a shot from the front so I can see how wide the claw is?

Rethinking the undertail pending ducati fairings mock up. A really high left exit might be cool as well I'm beginning to think.

Also, have a few parts for sale still in a new thread in the classifieds section. Already sold and shipped numerous items successfully on this forum with great response. Hit me up if you see something you need.

Mohawk

I have an RC45 BST. Carbon rear on mine, I went for the 5.75" version as I was not sure if the 6" would fit with a 190 section tyre. With a 180/55 Michelin Pilot Pure fitted I can just get a 13mm socket between the tyre edge & the swingarm. The socket external dimensions are approx 18mm diameter, so a 6" wheel would reduce clearance by 3mm. A nominal 190 section tyre would reduce clearance by 5mm, so you should be left with approx 10mm of clearance to the swingarm.

I'm pretty sure a 200 would fit, but may rub as the tyre flexes !!! Remember that wider tyres do NOT usually improve handling.

Thanks for your input on the wheel specs. Might I ask if the rc45 wheel is stock offset? Overall I don't suspect the handling to be changed much with the 190 but I do think it will fit/seat better on the wider custom wheel.

Cheers

I'm running a 6 inch ducati wheel, have used a 190/50 and now a 190/55. The 55 is much more betterer.

no issues with clearances, looks better than the 5.5 inch 180 section (especially with a smaller seat unit), and doesn't sacrifice any handling.

Not too much to update, just some more stripping. Trying to get some stuff sold before I resume. Budget is tight this time of year. Check out the classifieds if you need anything you see coming off the bike.

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Also, a quick pic of how the subframe got finish welded. I'll smooth them out before it gets powder but I still have the battery box to incorporate before that.

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What are the general opinions on ballistic batteries? Size needed? What is the expected life when tended with a battery charger? Obviously there is going to be a significant shortening of the harness and far less electrical draw on the system than stock. Need to start looking into this issue.

Lastly, got some cool alu cnc pieces although yet to get the thing they mount. Doh! No clams for that.

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Also have word on the rear wheel. Should be complete in a couple of weeks and could be in my hands by January sometime!

Knifemaker headlight bracket? Looks just like mine :)

And I'm running an 8 cell ballistic. It works awesome!

Yeah it's the same design, and honestly the best looking headlight brackets for adapting that headlight I've seen. I love it on your build. The design was sold to another CF member and now they're being produced by DBDesigns over there and he's does a few sets at a time.

Thanks for the input on the battery. I'll have to start mocking up a small battery/electronics box for the tail now with some dimensions from online.

I did a search for "knifemaker headlight" and one of the first things to come up was this pretty incredible build over on Custom Fighters.

http://www.customfighters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33094&highlight=LSL&page=39

Pretty awesome, and build motivation!!

You should check out his recent build... A virago engined custom framed sportbike with handmade CF bodywork. He's a talented man.

Woahh, thats pretty sick! Hopefully these three latest builds on the 5th gen VFRD page turn out as nice as that guys! the CF work that he's done on his bikes looks incredible

apexandy

You should check out his recent build... A virago engined custom framed sportbike with handmade CF bodywork. He's a talented man.

Yeah homeboy has some serious talent. But don't discount your own. Both craftsmanship was incredible on both builds especially in the one off body parts.

PishvaianRider

Woahh, thats pretty sick! Hopefully these three latest builds on the 5th gen VFRD page turn out as nice as that guys! the CF work that he's done on his bikes looks incredible

Don't hold your breath haha

The more I'm on this site the more I realize most people have more work into their "stockers" than I will have into my customized ride. Lots of skill on this site. Comparatively I'm just throwing a bike together.

Don't hold your breath haha

The more I'm on this site the more I realize most people have more work into their "stockers" than I will have into my customized ride. Lots of skill on this site. Comparatively I'm just throwing a bike together.

Haha yes thats how it starts, I thought that I was doing the same, just throwing something together. Then the more you read, the more you find other cool custom bikes like that one on custom fighters, the more ideas you get! The more ideas you get, the more you want to do to your project It's never ending!

. . . . or is that just me?

Definitely not just you.

Well, what began as a pretty modest build/parts list has gone irreversibly mad. I mean. It is really out of hand.

I guess I can only blame this crazy bout of cabin fever I've got.

Here is how the bike sits right now.

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That's where she sits. PAIR removal and brake de-link are next.

I have so many questions at the moment it isn't even funny. I'm just going to throw a few out there and let the hive mind do its thing (or more likely summa you nice son's a' guns might sound off)

1. Anyone know what the top triple nut size is? 33mm? I need to go get a socket tomorrow the proper size to remove it.

2. Easy way to bleed the entire braking system without a speed bleeder without making a gigantic mess.

3. Im wanting to run solid brake discs as opposed to something drilled. Does anyone know a company who manufactures these types of rotors?

4. Rear caliper and master upgrade? I'd like to know my options here.

These are all I can think of off the top of my noggin. There will be more questions to come no doubt.

In the meantime, Happy Holidays to all. Hope Santa brings you a buncha shite that goes vroom or boom!

#2- I don't think it is worth trying to bleed out the fluid. I just took my whole system apart without a bleed and it was not bad at all. Just keep it off the paint.

Keep up the progress! ,

1. 30mm

2. Mityvac

3. No. And why?

4. Other that have de-linked ha e used a CBR rear master.

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Front end is almost ready to go on.

This is how she currently sits.

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This is the mock up of the 06 gsxr600 stuff. Need to lose 1mm on the OD of the top bearing and it will plop right in Im hoping.

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Not using any of this terrible linked brake stuff. Thank god. It weighs a ton! PAIR removal coming next.

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And last but not least I got this sexy thing waiting to go on.

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vfrAustin

#2- I don't think it is worth trying to bleed out the fluid. I just took my whole system apart without a bleed and it was not bad at all. Just keep it off the paint.

Keep up the progress! ,

Thanks this got me movin'.

SEBSPEED

1. 30mm
2. Mityvac
3. No. And why?
4. Other that have de-linked ha e used a CBR rear master.

Thanks for the shout Seb. To answer number 3. It is mostly aesthetic, I know many race bikes run a solid rotor (granted they are generally carbon) but I like the look and was feeling out options for rotors other than/stock/wave rotors.

I've seen the CBR used by some people and that's probably the route I will take, Might try and adapt another caliper down the road sometime.

As I look over the build I can't help but wonder about the angle of the subframe. Did you work that out with a seat mounted and the wheels on the ground? Then sit on it? I hope it is worked out but it just looks to high. I am not referencing the whole look thing and that whole angle debate. I am just wondering, does it work for a person to ride the motorcycle?

I know you got it all covered but I just wanted to toss that out there.

Great progress!

I think i'm using a gsxr 750 rear master - it had the correct mount spacing, but it's not quite perfect. Its a little stiff and wooden, but i need to adjust the pedal height properly.

Not overly concerned, it works well enough to hold the bike still at traffic lights and on hills, and steady the bike in slow speed traffic, so it's not an issue for me at the moment. It's 12 or 14mm, much better than the OEM 17mm.

What's the bike with the fat tire in the background?

The tail height will be fine tuned with the shock mount adapter and the 929 shock is adjustable as well. It might be a bit too high at the moment but its pretty close. The fact that it was mocked on the stand and then without the tank or exhaust in those pics make it look extreme.

The bike in the back ground is a 2007 Honda ruckus

Also, Keef how did you mount your bar risers for the dirty bars? Do you have any pics? This 06 top triple seems unsuited for drilling safely for the risers. Wondering how much difference is between the k4/5 and k6 top triple.

What do you mean unsuited?

I didn't drill mine myself, the front end came with the top yoke already drilled for risers, I bought if off another ASF member. No tricks to it though, it just had two holes drilled through it, no extra welding to bulk it up, it's been fine for years.

keef

What do you mean unsuited?

I didn't drill mine myself, the front end came with the top yoke already drilled for risers, I bought if off another ASF member. No tricks to it though, it just had two holes drilled through it, no extra welding to bulk it up, it's been fine for years.

Unsuited as in the cast has the ignition hoop and the mounting.points for the tumbler and thus it looks like the spacing is off to safely drill the yolk for risers. I'm guessing the top clamp is a bit different between the two models. But ill try to figure something out

Mine has the ignition loop cut off, and I relocated the key to the rear bodywork, first off using the OEM key zip tied to the subframe, then using a small generic key set into the right hand side of the bodywork.

If it won't work, you'll have to get some custom made billet yokes. Bummer.

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Vfrd is getting the first look

I had a feeling that's what you were up to when you mentioned coming from the BMW scene :) Will be neat to see how it flows with the overall look. I just worry they don't have enough bling ;)

What are the wheel dimensions?

Haha yeah they are super bling. I have another look in mind. I'll mount it and see how I like it for a while. If it's too much I'll break it down and powder it all another finish. Just can't bring myself to powder those beautiful lips.

As for flow from front to back wheel there will be none besides surface finish heh... This is definitely a performance modification but it is mostly just something I've wanted to do since I got the vfr.

17x6

et10~15 (need final weight and offset figures)

Michelin Pilot Power 190/55

^^^ That gonna look awesome ^^^^

The front end is ready save for proper bolts for the bar risers. Ended up using an ALLBALLSracing conversion bearing that worked like a peach.

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Did PAIR removal and just a touch of cleaning

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This is how I ended up plugging the airbox, with a 5/8 vaccum cap

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The bike is going to be put together and ridden for a couple hundred miles before the final teardown so Im hopin I can at least have it rideable by March.

The SV650 radiator is going to be easy Im thinking and looking at Keef's front mount I'm having to go aftermarket for the oil cooler. Wondering about the easiest options there.

That's looking awesome, mate!

Glad it went it fairly easily. What bearings did you end up using? Did you have to massage them to get them to fit?

Look for a an oil cooler that is right dimensions, with universal fittings. That way, you can cut off the Vfr engine side oil line fittings, and have them crimped to new lines with universal fittings on the end, rather than what I did - crimping the Vfr engine fittings on to new lines, and then attaching those to a small portion of the OEM hard lines to fit the sp1 cooler. It works well, but was a pain in the arse and looks a a bit messy.

One thing I feel is an issue in the VFR side mounted rads...the higher revs at the track mean high coolant temps...my bike has puked at the track before. Hope the SV radiator has improved airflow and cooling effectiveness. Is the cm2 area about the same? Apologize for not going back through the thread if you already did it...

keef

That's looking awesome, mate!

Glad it went it fairly easily. What bearings did you end up using? Did you have to massage them to get them to fit?

Look for a an oil cooler that is right dimensions, with universal fittings. That way, you can cut off the Vfr engine side oil line fittings, and have them crimped to new lines with universal fittings on the end, rather than what I did - crimping the Vfr engine fittings on to new lines, and then attaching those to a small portion of the OEM hard lines to fit the sp1 cooler. It works well, but was a pain in the arse and looks a a bit messy.

Thanks bubba. The bearing was perfect retrofit. I believe it was a 47/30/12 and Im using a washer to float on top of the bearing to take up the extra 3mm to flush it up with the top of the neck, then dust caps/lock nuts etc etc. Just in case this information hasn't been passed on in a link form. It is invaluable:

http://www.allballsracing.com/index.php/forkconversion

The oil cooler will be a project for next month and I've yet to look into it too much. I've never had to recrimp oil lines, what's involved?

Lastly, anyone thinking about using this front end be warned. If you want to run risers expect to modify the hell out of the top triple clamp. I spent about 2 hours grinding to chop off the ignition bolt mounts and flushing it up so the riser washer/bolt could sit flush on the bottom side. And there is very little room to play with. I'll see if I can toss up a pic.

zupatun

One thing I feel is an issue in the VFR side mounted rads...the higher revs at the track mean high coolant temps...my bike has puked at the track before. Hope the SV radiator has improved airflow and cooling effectiveness. Is the cm2 area about the same? Apologize for not going back through the thread if you already did it...

I had measurements of the sv rad back a couple of pages but I'll get exact measurements that illustrate the cooling area between the two rad set-ups sometime. Needless to say, as proven again by a few of the fellas here running them, the front mount are tremendously more efficient in design.

The sv650 rad is also about 3/8 of an inch thicker than the vfr side rads and roughly 30-40% bigger the size of one. I don't see it having any problems and it will eliminate a TON of extra hoses and whatnot the stock rads require. The rad only has an inlet and outlet and a predrilled bung for a coolant temp sensor I'm hoping to use.

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Couple more of the wheel. Can't seem to get enough of it.

Also, dismounted the stock oil cooler so that I could more easily mock up the front mount radiator. It is wider than the frame by about 2 inches on each side, but that isn't to say that it is a wide rad. I think it will do well and tuck away behind the 1125cr intakes nicely. Remains to be seen.

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Also, here are a couple shots of the risers and the required modification to the k6 600 top triple.

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Good stuff :) Two questions, do you have any idea if the bottom of the rad is going to interfere with the front wheel? Also, are you going to reinforce the backside of the upper triple for the riser mounts?

apexandy

Good stuff :) Two questions, do you have any idea if the bottom of the rad is going to interfere with the front wheel? Also, are you going to reinforce the backside of the upper triple for the riser mounts?

I'll be able to get better travel measurements when the front end is back on. This radiator is pretty darn narrow and I'm convinced I'll have tons of room for full suspension travel.

The triple was a solid cast thankfully so I was able to cut/grind/flatten it enough to get a washer and nut on the bottom side flush. It was a pita however but I think it will be plenty strong. If I have to do it again, or perhaps just down the road I'll get a custom billet top clamp made up with beefy riser mounts. In the meantime this one will just get blasted and powdered.

My TLR rad is 140 or 150mm high, and is tucked up nice and tight under the headstock like yours Reed. It sits about 20mm above the cutout in the front cylinder head. Even using almost all the suspension travel because the springs are too soft, I haven't had any issues. As long as it sits above the cutout in the cylinder, it should be fine. If anything, the wheel will hit the engine before the wheel hits the rad.

I've had no probs with mine though, so you should be sweet. I also rode in heavy traffic in 35 celsius, stop/start traffic, slow moving traffic, and faster freeway stuff. The front rad was beautiful, never got over 101 degrees C. The fan kicked on and off like it was supposed to and kept temps in check.

One thing i've noticed (after reading some threads on here) is that my front end has given me too much trail, so it steers a bit slow. I'll need to raise the back/lower the front, or just use a 120/60 front tyre instead of a 120/70 like i usually do.

Just something for you to keep in mind.

Yours is looking good.

Thanks Keef. Excited to see how the rad does. I honestly don't know if I will remount a rad fan right away or not. The oil cooler I plan on using will have almost 3 times the surface area of the stocker which might also be helpful.

In other news the wheel face is now done in the final powder. It's called tin foil and has a really fine texture. Final cap, emblem, and bolt scheme will hopefully come after this weekend. I'm hoping to have a friend render the bike and wheel in a few color schemes all mocked up in photoshop so stay tuned.

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Lastly, what's the word on aftermarket clutch master cylinders? Can I essentially get a hold of any MC that has the same specifications as the stock one? This is one of the many areas of the bike where I've had to seek out some suggestions. Thanks guys

What's the goal on clutch master cylinder? The RC51 slave cylinder and VFR are the same part. I've got the RC master on my VFR. I don't have the numbers on hand, but I think most of the Duc masters out there are the same size.

KPerham

What's the goal on clutch master cylinder? The RC51 slave cylinder and VFR are the same part. I've got the RC master on my VFR. I don't have the numbers on hand, but I think most of the Duc masters out there are the same size.

Once again with this build. It is aesthetic. I prefer the look of the newer age masters without all the bulk. I just think the large square style res is a little dated looking on the streetfighter. On an oem or oem+ bike they look well and good but it won't match the gsxr stuff on the other side either.

Yeah, that's why I went with the RC master.

apexandy

Good stuff :) Two questions, do you have any idea if the bottom of the rad is going to interfere with the front wheel? Also, are you going to reinforce the backside of the upper triple for the riser mounts?

+1 I would have to fill the void on the back of the upper riser with a piece of flat alum cut to fit that area.

KPerham

Yeah, that's why I went with the RC master.

Gotta have the remote reservoir bottles. I did all VTR.

Looking good !!!!!

The Alu. stock cut to fit is what I was thinking too. It would act as a big washer to distribute the load. Just insurance really.

It's possible the upper triple might be fine without reinforcement… but the casting on these sport bike upper triples in quite thin and not designed to support risers in that location. Wether or not it's strong enough is ultimately up to you but it's an easy modification to reinforce the backside with aluminum plate cut to fit in the recesses. I also JB-welded mine in to fill in any gaps and add a little more strength. It's a mod I've seen many "custom fighter" members do and cheap insurance in my opinion. Anyway, just want to warn a fellow rider about a potential safety issue. I know many people probably wouldn't even consider what I've done completely safe.

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^^ That's strong. ^^

As a layman I would think that the area is sufficiently strong without reinforcement. First of all the alloy casting is close to 4mm thick even at the thinnest point where the hole is drilled. On the bottom side there is a large m8 bolt secured by a 17mm self locking nut with a 1 inch washer (another 4mm or so thick). With that said there is nearly one quarter inch of steel and alloy that the risers and bars are secured to.

I'm going to guess that in the event of an impact violent enough to crack, break, or shear these components, the least of my worries will be whether or not I still have control of the bike via the handlebars. (It should also go without saying that this will not be a stunt bike required to take punishment in the form of sustained front end abuse setting down wheelies etc.)

But with that said, I am no expert.

One question Andy. Did you JB weld and secure the riser bolt at the same time for initial bonding of the Alu stock to the bottom of the riser? Or did you clamp it etc? If anything I would worry about the degradation of the liquid weld over time and the potential for cracking or breaking between the stock and clamp when torqueing the riser bolts. I don't have a lot of experience with liquid weld products but I thought they were a little prone to essentially drying out over time.

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^^^ Now that I would reinforce. By eyeball I'd say I have at least 2mm more material on the GSXR triple than the modified triple above. I will however see if I can get a total width of the triple and washer mounted together to see exactly what Im working with.

One question Andy. Did you JB weld and secure the riser bolt at the same time for initial bonding of the Alu stock to the bottom of the riser? Or did you clamp it etc? If anything I would worry about the degradation of the liquid weld over time and the potential for cracking or breaking between the stock and clamp when torqueing the riser bolts. I don't have a lot of experience with liquid weld products but I thought they were a little prone to essentially drying out over time.

I first fit the aluminum plate to fit as flush as possible, then bolted the risers down with the Jb weld "wet". I am not so much relying on Jb weld for strength and it's adhering properties as much as just adding a compound to fill any small voids between the aluminum spacer and the triple.

Here is a mount dismount for reference of tail height. I'm like 5'11'' and it could maybe stand to come down a couple of cm. But I like it overall.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151979472687753&l=1608133388448790782

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Seb you need a lost-wax casting setup !!!

I think I'll need to shorten the sub about an inch and lower it about an inch. Thoughts?

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Take it off the stand and sit on it first, it always looks a little high when the front wheel is on the ground and the back is a few inches in the air. Put it on the side stand and have a look, and sit on it and see if it feels too high. If the plastic "looks" right, you can put extra foam on the seat to level it out a bit so you don't crush your nuts on the tank.

The line in the tail matches the line in the tank fairly well IMO.They flow nicely. It might be a little long though.

If it was mine, i'd also change the angle of the exhaust, it looks too vertical to me. I know it shows off the rear wheel pretty well how it is, but it doesn't match any other line on the bike.

It think it looks a little high appearance wise, but this will always be personal preference. If you could shorten it a touch or move it forward a bit I think that would be a good change. As for the angle of the seat, I've said it before and I know not everyone cares as much, but seat angle that slopes you into the tank ruins any sort of ride comfort. And sitting on the bike in the garage to see how it feels is better than nothing, but it's the same with sitting on the bike in a dealer… it doesn't mean much until you actually get to ride it for more than 30min. In the end if you like the look of the high tail and don't care too much about comfort over 30min of riding then you'll probably be fine, but for me, I know riding a bike with a seat sloped like that would ruin the riding experience. Just my two cents.

Your doing good work on this bike and it's taking shape nicely. And everyone will always have different opinions on style :)

Looking better but loose the stickers on the tank .. :goofy:

paladinreed

I think I'll need to shorten the sub about an inch and lower it about an inch. Thoughts?

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OK, not a huge fan CF's because I generally ride several hours to where I want to ride for several days.

That being said, I also don't know a lot about you and your GF/Wife's bedroom activity but looking at the pic above (and I know the wheel is in the air on the rear stand) I don't think that blowing that exhaust up towards her visor is not going to make up for the fact that her arse is above the top of the tank and she is precariously perched on the back with her knees (maybe) near your shoulder/ears depending on where you place the rear pegs...not all in all a bad position but probably less than desirable for riding on public roads even for 30 minutes.

I agree with posting up a few pics of it on the side stand and probably shortening the rear subframe about 30-35mm and lowering it a few degrees.

BTW, great work getting to this point regardless of my lack of taste in enjoying your selection of accessories. I did like the partial pic several pages back of the M3 wheels. :beer:

keef

Take it off the stand and sit on it first, it always looks a little high when the front wheel is on the ground and the back is a few inches in the air. Put it on the side stand and have a look, and sit on it and see if it feels too high. If the plastic "looks" right, you can put extra foam on the seat to level it out a bit so you don't crush your nuts on the tank.

The line in the tail matches the line in the tank fairly well IMO.They flow nicely. It might be a little long though.

If it was mine, i'd also change the angle of the exhaust, it looks too vertical to me. I know it shows off the rear wheel pretty well how it is, but it doesn't match any other line on the bike.

stubby can is stubby bro heh. I agree however, maybe I'll take a look at it as a high mount

apexandy

It think it looks a little high appearance wise, but this will always be personal preference. If you could shorten it a touch or move it forward a bit I think that would be a good change. As for the angle of the seat, I've said it before and I know not everyone cares as much, but seat angle that slopes you into the tank ruins any sort of ride comfort. And sitting on the bike in the garage to see how it feels is better than nothing, but it's the same with sitting on the bike in a dealer… it doesn't mean much until you actually get to ride it for more than 30min. In the end if you like the look of the high tail and don't care too much about comfort over 30min of riding then you'll probably be fine, but for me, I know riding a bike with a seat sloped like that would ruin the riding experience. Just my two cents.

Your doing good work on this bike and it's taking shape nicely. And everyone will always have different opinions on style :)

I agree on the comfort thing. It may be unrealistic but I would like to set the bike up in such a way that even a 4-5 hour ride is somewhat comfortable. Im convinced I will need to lower and shorten it altogether by 20-30mm. I wanted to however, put it all together with the factory swingarm-to-frame geometry before I go changing that measurement with the height of my custom 954 shock mount/spring height and preload adjuster etc.

You see, this is where it becomes black magic to me as far as steering and handling dynamics. If I shortened the sub then I could just adjust out the extreme angle with the mount or the shock setting but I don't want to adversely affect handling.

Switchblade

Looking better but loose the stickers on the tank .. :goofy:

The German flag color scheme is pure coincidence and will not be staying lol. Stickers will go soon :)

CornerCarver

paladinreed

I think I'll need to shorten the sub about an inch and lower it about an inch. Thoughts?

[image: attachicon.gif]image.jpg

OK, not a huge fan CF's because I generally ride several hours to where I want to ride for several days.

That being said, I also don't know a lot about you and your GF/Wife's bedroom activity but looking at the pic above (and I know the wheel is in the air on the rear stand) I don't think that blowing that exhaust up towards her visor is not going to make up for the fact that her arse is above the top of the tank and she is precariously perched on the back with her knees (maybe) near your shoulder/ears depending on where you place the rear pegs...not all in all a bad position but probably less than desirable for riding on public roads even for 30 minutes.

I agree with posting up a few pics of it on the side stand and probably shortening the rear subframe about 30-35mm and lowering it a few degrees.

BTW, great work getting to this point regardless of my lack of taste in enjoying your selection of accessories. I did like the partial pic several pages back of the M3 wheels. :beer:

Thanks for the feedback. It took half a bottle of wine to convince her to briefly go out in the 9 degree weather last night. I wanted to see precisely how extreme it was for her up there. You're right, she is a bit "perched". Not having had the passenger pegs on complicated it a bit as well but all in all it wasn't terrible with us 2up just sitting on it.

Needless to say, overall the angle was more extreme and the suspension compression wasn't as significant a factor as I thought it was going to be so I'll chop up the sub again.

Speaking of wheels, the RS should be finished by the end of the week hopefully and out the door to me.

paladinreed

Speaking of wheels, the RS should be finished by the end of the week hopefully and out the door to me.

Maybe I missed it, but what are the dimensions for that wheel? I'm excited to see it on the bike. :happy:

FSAE

paladinreed

Speaking of wheels, the RS should be finished by the end of the week hopefully and out the door to me.

Maybe I missed it, but what are the dimensions for that wheel? I'm excited to see it on the bike. :happy:

17x6

et +13

Ended up coming in at just under 13 lbs :fing02:

Pretty happy about that.

paladinreed

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And now for a pic of it on the bike?!?

I like it so far !!!!!

paladinreed

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Looks cool, but does it fit on the bike without any interference?

Good  lookin  wheel   !!!!

Nice looking bike... job well done!  She'll be waitin' when you get back :D

Sucks to see you selling your bike Pal. That things got your fingerprints all over it. Must have been a difficult decision and it can be hard to get someone to understand the effort and buck up. 

Good luck and be sure to post up the next project.

Best,

Austin

Sucks to see you selling your bike Pal. That things got your fingerprints all over it. Must have been a difficult decision and it can be hard to get someone to understand the effort and buck up. 

Good luck and be sure to post up the next project.

Best,

Austin

:1:

Sorry to hear you are letting it go. On the plus side, many thanks for the parts I needed! :beer:

Looks great! Nice Job..always good to hang on to a project like this :fing02:

Good deal! Lots of info here on that. :beer:

I have some extra black wheel lug nuts. If you want a set of 4, shoot me a PM.

I have some extra black wheel lug nuts. If you want a set of 4, shoot me a PM.

Coat those bolts with something. They will rust rather quickly now that you've stripped the factory coating off.

Coat those bolts with something. They will rust rather quickly now that you've stripped the factory coating off.

The bolts are not stainless, they have some type of electro-chem coating which is easily removed with sockets or wire brushing. Speaking from experience, unfortunately.

I doubt the motor had cosmoline on it. Cosmoline is a thick heavy grease that would drip and run off when the motor came up to temp.

Attached Images

• [image: 20150303_120933.jpg]

This  stuff is great  for coating parts  .

Gosh this is a mess but its slowly getting there. I'll start with the rc51 master rebuild. I bought this master almost a year ago and after version 1 of the bike was up and running I tried to mount it but for the life of me could not get it to bleed so I recently bought a rebuild kit and dove in.

I have never done one of these before so it took me about an hour sadly but it was filthy so there was also lots of cleaning involved.

Master and new parts

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pull out dead remnants of rubber boot and mess with the slipring/retaining clip for about 15 minutes finding a decent tool to make it work

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pop goes the weasel as the spring does its job now unhindered

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Here is a shot of how it all comes assembled for anyone wanting to know. I was looking at the parts fiche to start trying to determine the order but one cant see piss all with the terrible resolution pic

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Also, my new rubber washers in the kit were different sizes than the old ones and did not want to mount even despite me using a little bit of brake fluid to lube them. The originals were in good shape so I actually just reused them. Fun on Wheels!

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New stuff in its general assembly order

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back in and booted. 

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And there we have it. Pretty easy really. Just make sure and clean the cylinder really well and I used qtips and DOT4 to lub the inner cylinder and the rubber gaskets. 

I also went ahead and mounted the black bars and tapped them for the right side controls set pin.

[image: 20150304_143917.jpg]

Mounted the Diavel mirrors. Honestly I love these mirrors but I need to have the bike back in one piece to decide if they're actually going to work with the style or not. But this is more or less what the new front end is going to look like. 

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And lastly here is a shot of a $15 bobber fender my brother had lying around that I believe Im going to chop up into a rear hugger to keep stuff more or less off of my spring, rear manifolds and lower subframe.

[image: 20150304_094805.jpg]

Oh and also found some now NLA stateside ATE Superblue DOT4 racing brake fluid. Stuff is more expensive per liter than a decent single malt scotch but its all I've ever run in my cars and I wanted it for the bike too. So I ordered some while I could. Also going to be running Engine Ice so all of my exposed fluids will be blue which I think will look mega. We'll see. 

More to come. Cheers.

Super blue is NLA???

Yeah, its no longer legal for retail sale here in the US. Something about the color and DOT regulations. This happened a year or two ago. 

I've been watching for it and saw 3 liters on ebay unopened. I wanted all three but while it was expensive before it is outrageous now. So I only bought 2 liters and will keep them exclusively for the bike. 

Looking really good man! I like the grey and black. 

I have a 1098 solo cover, and a smoked led integrated taillight if you're interested...

Looking really good man! I like the grey and black.

I have a 1098 solo cover, and a smoked led integrated taillight if you're interested...

I'm very very jealous.
Nice work.

Cheers man. Been waiting for an update on yours. Hows that busted arm? I guess Id stay pretty preoccupied with a mt09 in the garage too...  :fing02:

It's getting there. Bone is good, arm is still weak as piss. not riding yet, waiting on strength and flexibility to come back before the doctors (and my wife) let me ride again.
still managed to put a scorpion full system on the MT, and an O2 controller, ready for when i can ride. Hurt a bit, and took me 2 nights instead of an hour, but the result is good.
i should probaby get the rad on the viffer and finish the new headlight, eh?

It's getting there. Bone is good, arm is still weak as piss. not riding yet, waiting on strength and flexibility to come back before the doctors (and my wife) let me ride again.
still managed to put a scorpion full system on the MT, and an O2 controller, ready for when i can ride. Hurt a bit, and took me 2 nights instead of an hour, but the result is good.
i should probaby get the rad on the viffer and finish the new headlight, eh?

Glad to hear it's coming along brother. Any progress is progress! I can't wait for pics of both man.

Speaking p progress I took it on a very short ride earlier.

Need to bleed the rear brake a bit more and keep an eye on the coolant level till I know I have here full up. It only took a half gal of engine ice and it's full but I don't know if my short ride was long enough for the wp and therm to open and to start churning it through the system or not.

Hugger bracket made. Looked startling like a penis (and I'm not joking) so I held off on those pics.

Here's a couple more.

Looks good! Bet it's super fun to chuck around with those wide handlebars. What made you go back to the stock rear wheel? 

Hey FSAE. The bike is certainly a treat. The bar height and width make the more aggressive tail angle more balanced and comfortable.

The bike handles well but since Ive got it back together I find the front end a little floaty and I think it might be because of the torque on the headstock which I cranked down pretty good. I might need to back it off a little.

Im also riding with a new rear tire for the first time and the last one was pretty flat spotted so all in all it seems much more responsive.  

I wanted to change the rear tire on the BBS wheel to a 190/50 because the 5th gen swingarm has so much less clearance from the front of the tire to the forward bend of the swingarm as compared to the previous generations. and the 55 aspect ratio was just a little too close to it imo. Also Im working on a solution the match the front wheel to the BBS and Id like to reinstall them at the same time. Lastly, the BBS was just a mite too flashy so it will get a slight rework on the color combination. 

Thanks for the shout!

Nice!

Definitely an improvement.

It's always nice to see an exhaust setup that doesn't block the wheel from sight.

Not to mention how much easier it is to remove the wheel.

ggathagan

Nice!

Definitely an improvement.

It's always nice to see an exhaust setup that doesn't block the wheel from sight.

Not to mention how much easier it is to remove the wheel.

I absolutely agree. It's been a long time coming getting it up under there. Just didn't have the time and talent to do it before.

Really Nice work.

keef

Really Nice work.

Thanks bro. Right back at you. Now for the wheel situation after I ride out the rest of this season.

Doing some more stuff to the bike.

After looking for good ignition alternatives I reluctantly just relocated the stock unit. I'll be getting a button type key cut this week so nothing protrudes from the tumbler and it will all be getting a coat of satin black to blend hopefully.

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The bar area will look much cleaner without it after I clean up the wiring. Also deleted the BAS. And bought. Ewing shorty levers in black.

Got rid of the zip tie holding the left side rad hose in shape. Got a 1 &1/4 cable holder and it works briliiantly.

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Cleaned up the front sprocket area real nice and test fitted the kit.

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Also picked up a thurn chain guard.

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Was a little long and heavy looking so making some cuts and it will get blacked.

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Here's some chainguard inspiration for you

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You wanna talk about inspiration. Your vfr sf's chain guard is amazing in both styling and execution.

Seb, you're a talented (insert CF language here)!

20170803_125846.mp4

20170803_125807.mp4

20170803_125952.mp4

What a long and incredibly successful build.  Your bike looks beautiful and unique-sounds great as well.  I admire guys like you who have the determination, patience, and courage to take on such a task-and the talent.  Congrats on a truly unique and beautiful creation.

Wow, such skills.  :beer:

There's Andy,

there's Seb

and now we have Paladinreed too!!!  :beer: