93 Vfr Newb In Over His Head!

Hey everyone! I bought my vfr last year as my first bike, which I found out to be a terrible mistake. It wasn't a mistake because it was powerful, or big, but rather that I loved this bike too much. I thought the v4 was so unique, the swingarm so cool, and the gauge cluster, which had a gas gauge, so useful, that when I inevitably dropped it, it was gut wrenching. I've never struggled with wanting to ride like aggressively, I prioritize safety over adrenaline(despite various "ole geezers telling me I wouldn't be able to help myself because I'm just a youngin') which I say light heartedly, of course, I appreciate all advice from wise, experienced riders... but the first time I dropped the bike because I panicked after stalling it at a stop light, I did some damage to it. The second time I laid it down I was literally just sitting at a light. Trying to pull my phone out of my pocket to check a missed call real quick, I lost balance and laid it on the opposite side. The third time I ran into it with my truck(I know, I sound like the most irresponsible person ever, mainly because I am.)

Now, I am trying to repair the bike I've abused, because dangit, I just love it so much. Ive learned enough to, I believe, justify repairing as much as I can, trusting that I'm not going to lay it down again due to lack of experience. I've learned that people's temporary discomfort at a stoplight takes a back seat to making sure my bike doesn't decide it wants to do a wheelie without me on it, and I've learned that keeping your bike upright is, in general, a good thing. I've also learned that when you go to frantically move your truck when you're half asleep, and you can tell that you're getting close to your bike, pressing the clutch in does not have the same effect as the brake, so maybe you shouldn't leave one leg hanging out the door so you can effectively reach said brake.

All that said, I really am looking to replace all the plastic, I'm trying to figure out why it won't start after this terrifyingly cold winter, and I'm curious as to why I slip back into neutral after shifting into second if I go 75%-100% throttle. The plastic is my main concern, as getting it to start could just be my starter(it won't crank at all, battery is good, makes no noise) and as long as I go half throttle I can ride it just fine. I don't need to go anything beyond half throttle anyways, so I can definitely make do. I heard airtech is not recommended for any plastic, so I'm wondering what my options are. Sorry for the long read, if you read all of it, well done. I'll post up some pictures if you want, but the state of my bike is pretty embarrassing. Thanks so much!

post it up do a repair write up.. :beer:

take a class on proper riding :wink:

Plastics for a '93 are getting rare as rocking horse crap.

You may wind up plastic welding yours back together, if possible. Or, look for some that are not as damaged as yours are and fix them.

As for the slipping out of 2nd, it can do that with a lousy shift occasionally, but if it does it all the time, whenever you get on the gas hard, then your gear dogs are rounded off, and you'll have to pull the motor, flip it upside down, and split the crankcases to get to the offending gear, and replace it.

Good news is that you don't have to completely disassemble the engine, the lower crankcase half will lift right off once the engine is upside down, exposing the transmission.

I suppose if you removed the gas tank and all the bodywork, and drained the oil, had some sort of rigging to gently and firmly support the bike, and SEVERAL strong friends, you could probably flip the entire motorcycle upside down with the engine still in the frame, and proceed with the trans surgery from there.

Though I've never seen it done, I think it may be possible.

anyone???

I am hopeful that your shift issue is simply a combination of the embarrassingly bad VFR gearbox, and a technique problem. I used to get the false neutral too with mine, but learned to really push the lever through - all other shifts were fine. It can also be useful to 'preload' the shift lever, this simply entails putting some upward pressure on it as you are approaching your shift point, and when you do shift it makes for a more positive action at the lever.

Failing that, I'd put a Factory Evo Star shift kit in it before I went to the trouble of going into the gearbox! Not sure what they go for these days - $250? - but money well spent.

I agree re. bodywork - get a Urethane Supply Company airless plastic welder, and start fixing.

One day at a time ...

http://thurn-motorsport.de/html/verkleidung-rc36.html

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If you like what you see, drop Gerhard an email and ask for a quote including shipping across the pond :cool:

Gll429, I have already taken the beginners abate class, will take the advanced one either this year or next.

Veefer,I was going to fix it all myself, make my own bolt holes and what-not, but I went to take my fairings off last night, and discovered that the mid right faring was broken off, with pieces still attached, and the broken piece completely missing. I think my little cousin broke it off and panicked, throwing it away. It was hanging because the bolt fell out, so I assume he just walked past it, not seeing that. Anyways, I am looking at getting at least a new mid, but ill keep a lookout for a set. I tried shifting it pretty firmly, it would still pop out. I'm getting ready to get a hold of someone, ill post his estimate for repair on here, as I am incredibly inexperienced with repairs. If it is too pricey I will try to tackle it myself.

Phantom, ill try preloading it and let you know if that helps, it isn't bad enough for me to worry too much right now, but that shift kit could very well be an option.

Switchblade, I completely agree. Right now my priority is getting it started, everything else can wait.

Dutch, I can't really understand german too well, are all those pieces for sale, pre painted? or is it an example of his work? Would that be 659 euro?

Also, how would riding without the mid or lower fairings go? I wouldn't ride in the rain, so I assume rust wouldn't be an issue. I'd love to get riding asap, and I'm not worried about turning heads.

you can ride with no fairing.

plastic welding is EASY!!!

if your trying to get the bike running., check your fuses.

make sure you have gas.

the key is on and the run switch on run

make sure bike is in neutral and pull in the clutch . :beer:

I'm glad to hear that its easy, ill probably give it a shot. Haven't checked fuses, but everything else you mentioned is good. This cold was just killing things left and right..

I've been piecing mine back together for years now. I slowly found all my fairings on ebay. Some were in good shape, some I had to plastic weld and I think it all turned out great. Take your time and rebuild one day at a time and it will come together. I've had my bike for over 8 years and I just got it running last year. All the fairing work is complete, now I just have electrical to figure out.

I looked at your pictures, it looks awesome! You have some incredible patience to do that for so long, that's something I need to work on. Fortunately it runs like a dream when it is running. I looked at my plastic, the upper, and lower are in good shape. Need to do some Bondo to some of the corners, reshape them. But other than that they are awesome. The tail is salvageable, but the right mid is gone for good. Looks like ill be rocking the naked look for a bit. It looks like the plastic welders are about $300. Does that seem accurate? Thank you all for your advice, I already feel like I have more direction.

plastic welders cost 15 bucks if you use the soldering iron method. and $40 bucks if you get a hot air one from harbor freight.

i prefer the soldering iron. :wink:

I've got an extra right mid fairing from my old 93 I'll sell to you if you are interested. It is in good shape with just a few minor scratches on it with no cracks and no broken tabs. PM me if interested.

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Rollin

The 659 euro is for the 3 pieces that form the front fairing only. Unpainted.

that's $913.04 USD, and IDK if that's with shipping? wowsa, that's pricey!

Try seeing what the Honda ones are worth at the dealer.

My guess is $0.00 because there are none anymore.

Just for giggles, last time I checked, ONE lower side fairing for my '98 from Honda was about $350, so the THURN prices for the complete lower and upper fairings seems in line with reality.

Of course that's already painted, but for the 3rd gen, if they don't exist from Honda anymore, then $900 begins to look good even Unpainted.

Gll, where did you find one for $15?

Dutch, ill pass on that piece, my upper is in good shape.

Mcrwt, that's sort of what I was thinking, that is without shipping. But hey, I never tried buying one before, so I have nothing to compare it to.

Veefer, that's a very good point, I just better make sure I don't drop my bike again. I'm going to NC to ride Route 129 in June, so I'd like to get this thing looking a little better. We'll see.

Edit: So I started poking around my bike, checking to see if I could diagnose the no-start issue, and discovered this. It would be the starter relay plug. I assume that's what's causing the no start? The album also has pictures of parts of my plastic that are damaged. Gll429 wanted to see. I'm on a tablet and IMG isn't working. Neither is copy/paste so I'm typing the URL in :P

Oh, and hope you like Darth Vader. Always chuckle when I'm riding and see him staring at me. Sadly, he is over plasti dip, and won't be able to stay..

http://s53.photobucket.com/user/Morgan-UFC/library/VFR?sort=3&page1

oh, and I don't have a license plate bracket for my bike, any good, cheap ones out there?

I'll check to see if I have an extra. If I do I'll include it with the mid fairing that I'm shipping to you.

Rollin

Thanks Rollin, I really appreciate it.

Got the bike running. New solenoid fixed the no start, although the wiring was swapped from the original configuration, because we bought an aftermarket solenoid from Redline Honda here in Ft. Wayne. We kept burning fuses with the original wiring. Ill post pictures, although I didnt get a picture of the original wiring config, we just swapped them out one at a time. Interesting development would be that my neutral light stays on now, until i let out the clutch, then it goes out. Anyone hear of this? I'll do some searching to see if I can solve it myself. First start of the year was flawless on old gas from this terrible winter after just a few attempts. Sounds great, haven't ridden it yet to see if the oil change fixed my shifting issue. Looking forward to getting some miles in!

Edit: Found a topic regarding the neutral light, are saying it would be the clutch diode, or the silicone rectifier( http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/60153-neutral-light-comes-on-when-in-gear/ ) My issue is I cant find it. Looking through the service manual now but I have energy drink running through me and I'm having trouble concentrating. Any help as to where it's located would be amazing.

Another edit: Found the clutch diode, checked it with a multimeter, and I'm definitely getting some numbers, but they're all over the place, never settling on any one number. Is this good? First time using a multimeter, had it on the diode setting, and just looked it up briefly on YouTube.

are you sure the neutral light isn't as simple as a burnt bulb?

Burnt neutral light bulb? Its on, bright as can be. Or do you mean something else?

I would be almost certain your clutch diode is toast. I just rewired my whole harness and was having the same issue with my old clutch diode (neutral light would turn on when the clutch lever was pulled in, regardless of gear). I had a few spare harnesses and 2 of the 3 diodes were toast. The 3rd one fixed the problem.

yeah, I'm picking one up tomorrow, should do the trick. Got to ride it around the neighborhood, because the tail is off I didn't get on any main roads, rode like a dream. New oil completely fixed the popping into neutral, at least that's how it seems. When I bought the bike I was told the oil was changed last season, and I think he might have misspoke. After I drained the tar out, put some fresh oil in, and changed the filter, it was amazing. Put some seafoam in as well. Going to begin repairing the plastic with the welding kit I got from harbor freight, the 16 dollar kit, and after its all fixed, it will be paint time! Sticking with all original plastic I was thinking matte black. Thoughts? Also, I have super cheap side mirrors, and was looking for a better replacement. Would you recommend OEM, or are there good fitting aftermarket? I'd like to stay OEM if possible, but I can work with what I got. I'll get my brother to send the pictures and video of it running tonight.

MorganR715

. The second time I laid it down I was literally just sitting at a light. Trying to pull my phone out of my pocket to check a missed call real quick, I lost balance and laid it on the opposite side.

Dude, congratulations in your adventure to the motorcycling world. -- But nobody has pointed out the obvious. When on the bike focus on riding! Ignore the damn cell phone! Watch out for trucks, and dont assume you know how to ride even now. Practice, practice, practice. Riding is like learning to fly an airplane, its a skill, and you get that from over time.

Please plan to take more riding skill classes in the near future. I dont want to read about you in a wreck and now your in the hospital.

Good luck

I definitely appreciate the advice. I learned from my mistake very quickly that day. I am taking the advanced course for abate next year, as well as any other useful classes they offer(group riding would be nice). I understand that hearing all the negative decisions I made might make me look like a kid who has no idea what he's getting into, but I am a very defensive rider. I ride slowly in town, always assume I'm invisible, and while there are definitely things I have yet to learn, and while I don't want to sound cocky at all, I try to prioritize my safety over the adrenaline rush from speeding in town, or taking a corner at 30. I will always concentrate on learning, but I'm an old fart at heart. Excessive speed is overwhelming for me, I like the cruise so much more. :P

Edit: Got the pictures! The list was to get the bike started, replace some foot pegs, and replace my bent shifter. One of the foot peg brackets came in(It was cheaper to buy the whole thing than just the peg, and I love spare parts) but the other didn't, and the shifter hasn't come in either.

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burnt male end

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melted positive lead for the solenoid

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Silly, ebay pegs. Did the trick for the last bit of the season, but time for some real ones.

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Old shifter that hasn't been replace yet. I understand I can bend it, but I found a perfect one for cheap, and I will be cleaning the bike this week :P

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new solenoid in. Again, had to switch some of the wiring. Not sure if anyone else had that experience, but definitely fixed my issue!

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new peg and bracket installed. Love it, so much.

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And the video of it running. We did let it warm up before revving, made sure it was running well before this. Sounds better in person, but I'm just happy to hear it run at all. Also took the majority of the plasti dip off, old owner had that aftermarket pearl white paint job.

It might not be apexandy sized mods(Which I am very jealous of, by the way. Your bike looks amazing. Made me think about whether or not I really want matte black)but I'm just excited to start pulling this thing back together the way I think it should be. Ill be cleaning the metal here and there, and update once I have more noticeable results.

I was wondering if I could take the silencer, if there is one, out of that slip on. I don't want it to be obnoxious, but I love free mods, and I'd like a little more tone. Could not find any pictures or videos of that exhaust, so if anyone has experience with that, I'd love to learn.

I saw a moron on a moped checking texts the other day...oooyvay

As for mirrors I would recommend EMGO mirrors made for the 2000-2001 VFR. They don't have the ugly rubber condom sleeve and they bolt right on with no modification needed and are reasonably priced compared with OEM. ($28 each on Amazon)

Part Numbers:

20-37341 (right side)

20-37342 (left side)

Here is a pic on my 3rd Gen.

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I like those! Hopefully I can pick some up before this trip.

My next thing to tackle is repairing the body. Anyone have any experience with Plastifix vs. plastic welding? I got quoted $500 to paint all of my bike from the best, but most expensive body shop in Ft Wayne, not sure if I should try to go cheaper.

$500 is actually pretty reasonable for an entire bike especially if it is being done by somone who does good work. OEM decals may be difficult to find but you can check out Xtreme Decals for decent quality aftermarket decals but just to warn you it may take some time to get them.

Rollin

As for the EMGO's, do give the main bolt a dab of clearcoat right away. Mine rusted within 1,2 weeks...

But the mirrors themselves are good!

Morgan your doing great , don't worry about the negative crap here. Your learning, your right and your were not born perfect . Kept up the good work ..

I always like a pat on the back ever and now again ..

Rollin, I guess I'm just cheap when it comes to paint. That price is if I repair and sand it myself, but if $500 is a good deal I might just do it soon. I had a change of thought, I might be going with a gloss gunmetal grey, but we'll see. I think if I were to do OEM style decals I'd try to get them to match the paint, find someone who can custom make them. Try to mix it up a bit :P

Dutch, ill definitely do that, great tip!

Switchblade, I appreciate it. I've made dumb mistakes, ill admit, but I always try my hardest to not repeat them.

I start to prep the plastic for repair today, hopefully getting some pics in.

Got to work on it a bit more, my rear left turn signal came in. Pics!

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Just got a new rear right fender in, gonna be working on that as well. Time to go pick up my clutch diode!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the final product.

Rollin

I really am as well. I cant decide on a color, though. I've always loved gunmetal grey(metallic) but someone said it would just make all the imperfections pop more. I understand that at the end of the day it's whatever I want, but I could really use some suggestions. Here's an album of my current ideas. Ranging from mean, to simple, to ridiculous.

http://s53.photobucket.com/user/Morgan-UFC/library/Paint%20ideas?sort=3&page=1

Morgan, read up on ABS repair. Regular Bondo is not going to adhere well and some of your hard work, once painted at cost, may crack. peel, split. Here is a link, and they sell an excellent book on how to repair ABS, highly recommended. http://www.urethanesupply.com/howtorepair.php

I've done it all, and if you follow good technique, there is no reason you can't come out with great results!

I'm glad you are so into fixing up this classic bike. Good on you.

That's a bummer! Oh well, I've been using Plastifix from Urethane Supply, all I really need is something as an alternative to Bondo to reshape a few corners that got ground off as well as flattening the crack spots we've fixed. Do you think I need a book for that? That's an honest question, not me being a jerk :P

Look up the topics from member resin here on vfrd. Lots of info ans pictures.

Thanks, Dutchy! Just got the front fairing off and taken apart. We'll get the cracks all fixed within the next few days, provided no complications, the tabs next week, and then sanding and off to paint the week after that! Decided on French Racing Blue, and I was thinking about powdercoating the rims black, but I'm not sure how that would look without hitting the frame too. Time to spend a few hours googling :P

Again, thank you all for your advice. Keeping me from making some serious mistakes and wasting money, I've learned a lot these past couple weeks. Trying not to lose any momentum, but as we pull plastic off we keep finding more broken tabs and cracks, hours of repair keep adding up.

Also found some clear front and rear turn signals, but they're 55 and 60 euro. Thats a lot of money for a small change. I know visibility is very important, but I wonder if a couple coats of night shades might work well...

Are you talking about the clear signals that are available from Thurn Motosports in Germany? If so they are pricey but look good IMO. I went with the smoked lenses from Thurn and love the way they look

Night shades is more of a dark purple color and to tint them correctly you will need at least 4 or 5 coats with lots of fine sanding in between. I did my tail light as seen below and even though it looks dark the brake light is still very visible when lit.

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Rollin

Yep, those are the ones! I'll think about em, 30-40 a piece is about the same as what I've seen some ambers go for. Your bike was what made me want them :P I have some experience with night shades, used it on my Focus with some good results, and did my friends Jetta for him. It's good stuff.

Instead of buying the turns I bought side mirrors, saddle bags and tail bags. totaled at 160. Picked up some smaller cycle case bags for 100 from motorcycle superstore, and the mirrors for 60 on amazon(went with the 2000 vfr mirrors). My tablet won't let me link them, but if you are interested just go to the closeout section and look for cycle case brand. I'm thinking they'll work pretty well, I didn't want massive ones, my dad is bringing his trailer on the back of the Golding, so this is just for wiggle room. Still making progress on the plastic, and I was told by a painter here that as long as you don't use bondo on the cracks, and just use it to flatten out spots, that cracking paint won't be an issue. Any truth to that?

So we have most of the plastic ready for paint, but we realized we bought the wrong rear fairing. So, we have an extra rear right fairing, fully repaired, no tabs broken, ready for paint. If anyone is looking for one let me know. If not, it goes on EBay!

So were on the home stretch for prep work for the paint, the decals are in, we just have a little more forming, sanding, and rebuilding tabs, then were done! Should be to paint by Thursday, then, reassembly and pics! I have one more thing I ran into, I'm trying to figure out what I need for my license plate bracket, but I'm not sure. Here's how it sits now:

[image: Photos1022_zpsaea09d94.jpg]

So do ya know what I need?

MorganR715

So were on the home stretch for prep work for the paint, the decals are in, we just have a little more forming, sanding, and rebuilding tabs, then were done! Should be to paint by Thursday, then, reassembly and pics! I have one more thing I ran into, I'm trying to figure out what I need for my license plate bracket, but I'm not sure. Here's how it sits now:

[image: Photos1022_zpsaea09d94.jpg]

So do ya know what I need?

your plate and 2 bolts to hold the the plate on.

I have both of those :P the license plate isn't long enough to reach the holes.

MorganR715

So were on the home stretch for prep work for the paint, the decals are in, we just have a little more forming, sanding, and rebuilding tabs, then were done! Should be to paint by Thursday, then, reassembly and pics! I have one more thing I ran into, I'm trying to figure out what I need for my license plate bracket, but I'm not sure. Here's how it sits now:

So do ya know what I need?

What about scrounging up to longer pieces of scrap metal like the two in the picture?

Get them long enough to reach the existing holes in the bike and the license plate and drill as needed.

It's not pretty, but it'll work.

ggathagan, thanks for the tip, wound up just buying a whole new piece :P

now for a little update...
Realized the plastic that runs past the tire that holds the plate was cut off by a previous owner. Just one more thing that I'm fixing on this thing because someone didn't want to do it the right way(probably an overreaction, but we keep running into stuff that was not done the right way and I'm worn out from it...)

So I ordered a new inner fender with that piece actually intact, should be here tomorrow.
Also, completely finished all of the plastic, had it sanded and ready to go to paint! The main fixer we used was called Plio Grip, and this is some serious stuff. In general we used Plastifix to repair the cracks, then Plio Grip on the front and back to strengthen and smooth out the fixes, then fiberglass mesh on the back to make them indestructible, because why not! Warning: This post will have a few pics, and they arent as organized as I would like.. :P

Here's what we used

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Broken tab before(upper fairing)

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The tab, not shaped but repaired, and some rebuild on that corner(had to reshape the edge running towards the top. That took a while to get right...

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The other side with a broken tab. Took a mold from the opposite side using putty and fitted it to this.

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most of the shaping done to that same tab, not dremmeled out yet

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A piece missing that we had to use fiberglass and plio grip around it to build up. There might be an easier way, but man this piece is solid now!(rear fairing)

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All of the black was 100% rebuilt from a putty mold. Obviously not sanded yet

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Another rebuilt piece with some plastifix on a crack

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and both of the sides needed these tabs rebuilt.

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And I'm not sure how this is going to turn out when finished, but we decided to mold the whole rear together. How do you think it will look? It was my dad's idea and I was VERY hesitant, because I like OEM styles, but it's sturdy as can be, flexes just fine, should be sweet!

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The back

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And finally, rebuilding every tab on the seat cowl!

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And that's all the in-progress pictures I have.. We had finished pics, but they got lost with a laptop dying... All in all I'm proud of the repair work we did, I'm hoping they last for a loooong time :D

Now, the bad news...

The paint was supposed to be done on the Friday of Memorial weekend, but they ran into a TON of issues from people who did not take the proper steps to repaint pieces.. Each one varied, as probably none of them were the original pieces from the bike, but some of them had between 8-10 layers of paint. We discovered this when the guy doing my paint primed it, baked it at 100 degrees(he normally does hotter, but he wasn't sure what the threshold was for the plastifix, and he didn't want to melt any repairs) and let it sit over Memorial weekend. Came back tuesday, to find bubbles all over the place in the primer from someone using cheap ingredients on a previous paint job. He spent a couple days getting all of that out, because it would gum up any sand paper he would use on it almost immediately, and then tried again. After 4-5 days of dealing with that, he was confident it was all gone, and put a final cleaning chemical, primed it, and picked a piece up, immediately causing hairline cracks that were very visible through the primer. That was today. Now, he is media blasting every piece, going back to original plastic, then going from there. He quoted us $500, and while he didn't cut corners on the work he did, he didn't blast any pieces he didn't think needed them to keep costs on par with the quote. Had we told him to do that from the get-go, it probably would have been done in a few days. Unfortunately, if the paint wasn't so built up, it would have been a LOT easier, but now it is going to be done right, and whoever decides to re paint this after us(if we ever sell it!) will have a much better time.

It's officially crunch time, as we leave next Saturday for the trip, and I have about one hour of riding in this season, and this is only my second season. Needless to say, I'm nervous about being prepared for a trip this long, but all should go well. Hope this post wasn't too boring, and maybe to spice it up, I can show you two things I didn't think we would be getting... Birthday presents can be sweet :P

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The screen is OEM, I was pretty happy about that.

The light is at the end of the tunnel!

Great update. Nice work with the plastic repairs, that Plio Grip looks the goods - Seb also recommended it. I have Plastex and a USC airless plastic welded, but the Plio Grip has gone onto the shopping list.

Sorry to hear of the paint mishaps, but that OEM screen looks fantastic! As does the bike in general. This is a great restoration.

Thanks, Phantom! It's definitely good stuff. Might be expensive but it's definitely worth it. It's alright, it's getting done, so I'm happy.
The screen is probably what I'm most excited about, lol. And I'm glad you like it!

One more update for today: Got the inner fender in yesterday, and installed today, here is a picture showing what the previous owner did
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They spliced some of the wiring to fit an aftermarket light on the bottom of the inner, so we'll have clean that up, but I dont care so much right now. Here's installed:

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And finally, a preview of the paint!!!!!
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Unfortunately, the painter was only able to get us some of the pieces. We needed the upper, rear, and tank to assemble the time consuming ones, and he forgot to finish the upper right half, so we can't assemble it to functioning condition, but at least we got some color in. Almost done...

Pics never do paint justice, but from here that looks really damn nice.

Frame looks good !!!

Yokel

Pics never do paint justice, but from here that looks really damn nice.

Thanks! Its an awesome color, just as bright in person, but smoother. It will look more dark blue indoors, but as soon as it hits sunlight, it pops!

Switchblade

Frame look good !!!

Thank you! It's in great shape, cant wait to put it all together

It's gonna be a great bike .

Agreed :P A few more pics. Gas tank and rear fairing go on today, after polishing the frame.

The rest of the pieces we got, as well as a chain guard thrown in

[image: IMG_2713_zps5a1c235f.jpg]

No special story, just the right mid

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Seat cowl, with the rebuilt tabs!(holes not drilled yet)

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Left upper

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and the rear, all molded to one piece. Absolutely love it.

[image: IMG_2704_zpsaa214c1f.jpg]

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both sides

[image: IMG_2706_zps94b457bd.jpg]

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and the edge we rebuilt out of the mesh and plio grip. Before and after

[image: Photos1005_zpse423572e.jpg]

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Sorry for posting this many pictures, still a little giddy from the paint job. And I know that you all know what parts are what, I just like to be thorough :D

Awesome paint !!!!

We love pic's !!!!

sweet :)

So did a ton of polishing/buffing today. buffed the front peg brackets to look more polished like the rest of the pieces using a steel wire dremel attachment, Used Mothers for the polishing, and we hit every piece on the bike. Shines like new! Love that stuff. Also got the tank on

Oh, and we took the steel wire attachment to the tip of the exhaust, made those letters stick out a lot more, and it looks a lot less faded. It's the small things that I love

Before

[image: IMG_2473_zps7e53faf8.jpg]

After

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Tank on

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Tank and Corbin seat on, seat wasn't cleaned yet

[image: IMG_2718_zpsf13b2f9d.jpg]

Slow and steady...

Sorry for the broken images. Changed the location for them, forgot it would do that.. Quick update:
We leave Saturday, so I called the paint guy hoping to hear that it would all be done(today is the latest he said it would be), and the reply I got was, "well, were hoping it will be done by Friday." That's it. No apology, just that. He knows about our trip, we asked for the parts required to get it road-worthy and he messed that up by leaving out the other half of the upper, and now this. I said OK and got off the phone as quickly as I could before I snapped. Pretty angry, as this is the third time he's pushed back the date. It was supposed to be done 2 weeks ago, and instead of his initial quote, being $500, were looking more at around $1500-$1750. Honestly not sure what to do. Gonna go collect myself for a bit :P

So, what now? You're not going on the trip?

I'd call him and first ask if he is aware of the trip a of the original timeline.

When someone says " Hoping by Friday" I hear Tuesday or Wednesday.

Rice

So, what now? You're not going on the trip?

I'd call him and first ask if he is aware of the trip a of the original timeline.

When someone says " Hoping by Friday" I hear Tuesday or Wednesday.

Yeah, we decided to cancel the trip. like I said, he was made aware of the trip when we dropped off the pieces three weeks ago. He was reminded multiple times, we even told him what pieces to do first to get the bike legally operational. He disregarded everything we told him, and I completely agree, that was my first thought when he said that.... Maybe some other choice words, as well. :P We are gonna take a trip for a couple days, maybe cruise along Lake Michigan, go somewhere and hang out, but all in all, a very disappointing outcome.

With out even reading this whole post i am reminded of why i have stuck around for so long. I read the title translate it into VFR enthusiast in trouble. I look and there are all of 7 pages of replies to help a "newb" out. Color me touched. And our own most notoriuse smart ass is tbe first to offer sound advise. Is it just me or did Yamaha steal the 2nd gen lines for their FJ1300? Must be why i like it.

VFR Capt.Bob

With out even reading this whole post i am reminded of why i have stuck around for so long. I read the title translate it into VFR enthusiast in trouble. I look and there are all of 7 pages of replies to help a "newb" out. Color me touched. And our own most notoriuse smart ass is tbe first to offer sound advise. Is it just me or did Yamaha steal the 2nd gen lines for their FJ1300? Must be why i like it.

This truly has been the nicest forum I've ever been a part of. I've been on Civic, Chevrolet, Toyota MR2, and Dodge forums, and none of them compare :P Not sure about the FJ lines, I'll have to look at it.

Not sure what happened, but he finished it. Got the decals put on. No long story, no complaining, just results. Please enjoy this.

[image: IMG_2785_zps9de6f028.jpg]

[image: IMG_2784_zps99e36b67.jpg]

[image: IMG_2786_zpse3b1253c.jpg]

Bike looks fantastic! Congrats on getting it all together before the weekend.

Does this mean the trip is back on?

niiiccceeelllyyy done!!

Gorgeous!

Wow - thats beautiful! Very nice! :beer:

Thanks guys! Unfortunately, the trip is still off. Already canceled the vacation days, cant get them back :( Still waiting on that lower metal cover that sits under the foot brake to come in. We'll shoot that and it will be close to 100%

Wow nice did not think that would work but looks great .

Yeah, I was nervous about how it would turn out, but I'm loving every bit of it now. The bad news is that this paint job is not working out so well. The issues they encountered with the bubbling did not go away like they thought they would. Bubbles are showing up in the paint, and I'm pretty annoyed. You'd think for a $2100 paint job(which he apparently knocked down from $3600 because "were good customers") it would turn out better. Not sure what is going on, and I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I believe I'm going to start telling people to never go to this guy. It's been a serious pain, he hasn't apologized once about anything that's happened, and he has been a terrible communicator. I just want the paint job done and done right, so we'll see what is going to happen. If everything is fixed for free we'll just go our separate ways.

Oh, and I realized my handle bars are two different types. I bought OEM handle ends, and they would only fit on one side. Any ideas for where to go for matching handlebars? I only need the right, but if I can get a polished set for a decent price I'll probably jump on em.

awesome job saving this third gen., hopefully the painter will stand behind his workand fix it to your satisfaction . Now go ride and enjoy that beautiful bike.

Don't pay the ferryman........

Sorry to hear of the paint troubles. We had an entire body from an RC51 repainted for a friend and that cost about $700 - a top quality job too. I think you ought to expect perfection for what you paid but doesn't sound as if the guy you chose is all that good... sorry.

In the not too distant future (1-2 months) I'll be fitting an RC51 front end to mine and when I do I won't need my original handlebars any more. You'd be welcome to them for free, if you pay the postage from Japan (Which may be around $45 - at a guess). Maybe someone else has a set for free, closer to home.

Even with the "discount" you allegedly got on the paint $2100 is way too much for a single color paint job. What was the painters justification for such a high cost when it really shouldn't have been more than $1000 total IMO.

Rollin

trjerm

awesome job saving this third gen., hopefully the painter will stand behind his workand fix it to your satisfaction . Now go ride and enjoy that beautiful bike.

Thanks! I'll be talking with him today. Hope all goes well. Going to a show this weekend, hoping to get a couple looks :P

Dutchy

Don't pay the ferryman........

No plans to. I'm sure he'll do right by me, but I'm prepared for the worst.

TheStig

Sorry to hear of the paint troubles. We had an entire body from an RC51 repainted for a friend and that cost about $700 - a top quality job too. I think you ought to expect perfection for what you paid but doesn't sound as if the guy you chose is all that good... sorry.

In the not too distant future (1-2 months) I'll be fitting an RC51 front end to mine and when I do I won't need my original handlebars any more. You'd be welcome to them for free, if you pay the postage from Japan (Which may be around $45 - at a guess). Maybe someone else has a set for free, closer to home.

Yeah, the painter he has at his shop has only been there for one month, so it adds another possibility for what the issue is... Nice! Definitely let me know, I'd be all for that. Could I get a pic of them sometime?

RollinAgain

Even with the "discount" you allegedly got on the paint $2100 is way too much for a single color paint job. What was the painters justification for such a high cost when it really shouldn't have been more than $1000 total IMO.

Rollin

100% agree. I definitely don't have my head in the clouds, we got ripped and we know it. His justification was the bubbling that was popping up, saying it was because of multiple layers of cheap paint underneath. He media blasted every piece all the way down to plastic, re-fixed the cracks that didn't hold during the blasting, as well as any new ones that were covered by the gobs of paint, and then finished the job. The primer he uses is almost as expensive as his paint, and every time he'd test the pieces he'd spray them with a fresh layer. The part that doesn't hold water is with the bubbling. He got rid of all of the old paint, applied his primer and paint, and still bubbles showed up. The constant during all of this has been the primer. I think it's a bad batch. My issue with that is that we paid for the fixing multiple times, and hours put into getting rid of this bubbling issue. If he refunds $1000 and fixes the current issues free of charge, as well as pay for a new set of decals(which will need removed to fix this) I'll be happy. If it's a bad batch of primer that's the issue, the company he gets his supplies from should pay for all of this in full. I've seen his work in person, and I have only ever heard great things about this guy, so I'm trying to hold off on putting him at fault completely. It isn't looking good, though. We'll find out more today, and I'm praying for good news..

Hey everyone! I wanted to update you guys and ask for some advice. Two weeks after finishing this, decals and all, I was riding on basically the only road here with some decent turns, and hit a spot in one of the turns that had a pile of grass clippings from someone who had just mowed and didn't clean off the road. Dropped it going about 40,but it mainly slid in the grass. The left side, plastic wise, is shot, excluding the rear plastic, but the rest of the bike is fine. I'd fix it up and keep it, but second gear is getting iffy, so I can't afford to fix the plastic again and rebuild the transmission when it comes time for that. So should I part it out or sell it whole? Kind of at a loss here..

Jesus Christ mate, you're as unlucky as me with bikes (won't go into detail here but PM me if you want a laugh)

For the sheer amount of money you've spent on it, I would never ever recommend you sell it, I say drain the bowls, get it on the centre stand at the back of the garage and leave it until you have spare funds to fix it.

Either that or strip all the fairings and keep them (getting them sorted at the paint shop who've done you over) and sell the bike as a working project. Someone will turn it into a street fighter, you can then buy a lower mileage example and swap your fairings over.

Don't give up on this, believe me, I know how hard it can be to keep the faith, I've been so upset at mishaps with my bikes that I've contemplated giving up riding all together, it's so upsetting isn't it. Stay strong!

I agree with Johnlondon, with all the effort you have already done, take your time fix it up & ride it. I will share this link of the issue I had almost 5 years ago

http://youtu.be/ywKQadpoD9c

fast forward to last year

Hi I am Gary, I have a problem........I keep picking up VFR parts...... :beer: take your time and it will all come together!!!

Well, found a parts bike out of Tennessee with an awesome Repsol paint job that I was going to pick up, but the seller didn't really understand how shipping and wire transfers worked, so he would only take cash in hand, in person. Cant justify driving 8 hours for a bike that might not be there when I pick it up, so I'm back to selling the bike. I'd post the link, but the forums aren't allowing me to. I understand what you guys are saying, its just not worth it to try to fix it up(at least, to me). If anyone on here is interested in any of the parts, such as the OEM screen, center stand, rims, etc. Let me know. Id like to see what I can get out of it.

MorganR715

Well, found a parts bike out of Tennessee with an awesome Repsol paint job that I was going to pick up, but the seller didn't really understand how shipping and wire transfers worked, so he would only take cash in hand, in person. Cant justify driving 8 hours for a bike that might not be there when I pick it up, so I'm back to selling the bike. I'd post the link, but the forums aren't allowing me to. I understand what you guys are saying, its just not worth it to try to fix it up(at least, to me). If anyone on here is interested in any of the parts, such as the OEM screen, center stand, rims, etc. Let me know. Id like to see what I can get out of it.

I know that bike it's been on craigslist a bunch , good luck .

Switchblade

MorganR715

Well, found a parts bike out of Tennessee with an awesome Repsol paint job that I was going to pick up, but the seller didn't really understand how shipping and wire transfers worked, so he would only take cash in hand, in person. Cant justify driving 8 hours for a bike that might not be there when I pick it up, so I'm back to selling the bike. I'd post the link, but the forums aren't allowing me to. I understand what you guys are saying, its just not worth it to try to fix it up(at least, to me). If anyone on here is interested in any of the parts, such as the OEM screen, center stand, rims, etc. Let me know. Id like to see what I can get out of it.

I know that bike it's been on craigslist a bunch , good luck .

Yeah? Whats your opinion of it? Might still be trying to go for it if it works out. Really don't want to get rid of this bike, and I might be able to get the funds for it.

Every time I think I've decided on what I'm going to do, something happens. Lol

Can you post a pic of the Repsol paint job, wanna see how it looks!