Another RC36.1 Restoration

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I picked up this 1992 RC36.1 last spring (2018) in Connecticut (USA). It was a good price, but it’s not exactly a cream puff so I’m trying to bring it up to a decent standard and as cheaply as possible. To do that, I've been poking around online and you all have been guiding me too, so thank you for that. By now I have a few insights and experiences of my own that might actually help somebody else. Time to get out of the shadows.

The odometer was at just over 25,000 miles when I got the bike and I am at least fourth owner. The bike's history is long lost along with a number of odds and ends, bits and pieces. I wonder if there is a way to trace it all back. The guy I got it from seemed honest and funny but he had some curious theories of shade tree mechanics so it's taken me a little while to learn to trust the ride. I'm still semi worried about the long term effects of some of his theories but so far, so good. The title showed that he'd bought the bike in 2012 at 23,122 miles. So, we're talking 2000 miles in 6 years. I’ve ridden about 1200 miles in less than 4 months without major surprises. I've also encountered the usual gen3 issues.

When I took it on, the bike had newish tires and chain and battery, the upgraded regulator/rectifier. And the starter clutch is supposed to be new too. The engine oil is the color of honey. I needed a few things right away and, as you'll see, this is a work in progress. The cosmetics really, really need help. Really. Look closely at my photographs and you'll spot plenty of issues. I haven’t decided exactly how to proceed yet, but I’m considering options. You are welcome to make suggestions here and I might even follow some up. And I can tell you all my experiences so far.

A few things done as soon as I got the bike home...

Front Brake Switch

It needed a front brake switch. These are $16 at Honda or $3 from China for a generic one on Ebay, or maybe it was Amazon. I’m trying out the $3 version. Sorry Honda. The one I bought is of a pretty cheap construction with a thin plastic shell, but it does fit and work as advertised so far. I check it before every ride. If it doesn’t last, I know where to find the real one. Or I can get 4 more cheapos…

Krator Mirrors

I picked up the Krator replacement mirrors too, also from Ebay (...or Amazon...). They’re fine. The bike came with carbon look mirrors that were a mess. I know lots of you prefer newer styling and you get rid of the boots. I’m content with the original look. The Krator fittings are plastic, not metal, and the boots are kind of a fiddly fit on the proximal end. But you can tighten down the collar so that with a little patience you can get the boot to stay in place. These cost $22 for the pair. Honda OEM? Um, more than $22.

Keys

I needed proper keys. The bike came with a single cut key that looked like a car key made at the DIY store. I had to get the key code from under the gas cap and there is a service that’ll make you the right key from the code. Once more to Ebay. Once more cheaper than the dealer. 

I don’t have anything against my local dealer. Not at all. I feel bad not supporting the guys more. But jeez louise, I just can't afford it. I wouldn’t even mind paying a little extra, especially if I could just walk in and out with the parts I need. Unfortunately, not only is it expensive, but they have to order most things from their warehouse anyway. So you still have to wait three or four days. I’m just sayin.

So far I’ve had good results from all Ebay orders. I'm not thinking it's better than OEM. But some things are good enough.

There's plenty more to add, but that's it for today. Stay tuned.

Welcome to VFRD!  I look forward to reading about your VFR restoration efforts, too.

Ciao,

JZH

Clutch diode. Silicon Rectifier

When I got the bike, the neutral light kept coming on between shifts. At first I thought it might be false neutrals because I’d read about some of you guys installing a shift kit. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I wasn’t actually hitting false neutrals, it was only the neutral light coming on when I pulled in the clutch. 

I found reference to the problem and decided I just needed a clutch diode, (also called the silicon rectifier). 
 

The thing is tiny. Maybe 1 cm2. And so far I haven’t even been able to find it in my wiring harness. I know more or less where to look, but not exactly what I’m looking at. I’ve poked around behind the right middle fairing and under the fuse box. I’ll look again when I take off the upper fairing one of these days. For now, I’m just riding with a neutral light between shifts.

On my particular bike, I think it’s also entirely possible that one of the previous owners just removed the diode and I’m looking for something that just ain’t there. Why would somebody take it out? Beats me. I already mentioned there are a number of bits missing and I’m not all that comfortable with the quality of some of the previous work. I’ll deal with it one of these days.

Clutch Slave Leak

Next up, there was a little leak when I got the bike. The previous owner pointed it out, a drip down the side stand. We decided it was clutch fluid. It wasn’t a huge leak but then the clutch reservoir isn’t all that big either.

The clutch slave apparently develops leaks on lots of Honda models maybe because lots of Hondas seem to use the exact same components. I’m not much of a mechanic so I was a little intimidated by the job. In the end it wasn’t all that difficult to fix.

First off, you need a replacement seal. Honda no longer sells only the seal. You have to get an entire clutch slave unit. Actually, this isn’t such a bad idea. My guess is that replacing only the seal is not always fixing the problem. At least part of the leak can be due to corrosion of the wall of the piston. So, if you only replace the worn seal, you also have to polish the wall as best you can, which may not be good enough. I found this out after I bought an aftermarket seal kit.

But I got the kit because it was around 20 bucks. You only get four items in the kit: a piston seal, a spring, a dust cap and a second rubber washer for the rod that actually gets pushed into the engine to engage the clutch. If you go to Honda, you get the whole unit for a reasonable $70. With the unit, you just have to undo the banjo bolt to the line, the three mounting bolts, and swap in the new unit. My job was a little more involved.

This is what it looked like on removal...

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You can see, the thing sits down next to the chain where it attracts lots and lots of goo. Yuck. What the hell? Honda couldn’t close up the backside of the slave? I know it’s been on there 25 years but still, is that the best design? Anyway, three bolts hold it on. To get the piston out of the cylinder, you only need to squeeze the clutch a couple times. Every time you squeeze, the piston advances a little more until it gently pops out, along with all the clutch fluid. It’s pretty dirty in there too.

The replacement bits go in easily enough. For the life of me I can’t figure out why the spring is necessary. Shouldn’t the fluid pressure keep the piston against the actuating rod? And for that matter, why the little rubber seal against the end of the rod? It seems to be more of a greasy rubber washer than anything else. It doesn’t hold any liquids back on either side. Whatever.

Replace the bits and clean out the corrosion from the piston and cylinder. How to do that? Well I used a scotchbrite pad. Yeah yeah. It’s not ideal, but it didn’t scratch the metal any, and it seemed to do the trick. Time will tell if the repair is going to hold or if the leak reappears. The piston goes back into the cylinder easily enough. Bolt the unit to the bike and let the real fun begin.

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Bleeding the Clutch

Now that the line is mostly empty, you have to refill the reservoir and pump the clutch. I did the job alone. You open the bleed valve, pump the clutch and, while holding it in, reclose the bleed valve. Release clutch and repeat until fluid comes out the bleed valve. How hard can that be?

The first few times you pull the clutch, there is no resistance at all. Once fluid gets through the line, some resistance builds and you might be done. Or not. Plenty gets written about this. I knew the stories, lots of them from right here. Here’s my take...

Once I first felt I’d got the air out of the system, I made my first test. My test idea was simple enough. Start the engine. Pull in clutch. Also pull in front brake…just in case the clutch doesn’t engage and the bike lurches…then snook it into first gear. If the clutch is working, the idle will remain constant and I can try easing the clutch. If the engine stalls with the clutch in, there’s more air in the line.

The engine stalled.

I went back through the line and tried again.

Stall. Again.

I went back to the book, thought a bit, and tried bleeding through the banjo bolts, top and bottom.

Stall. Dang.

I puzzled over this for a weekend. What a pain.

By Monday I figured I’d try a different test. Instead of starting the engine, I just put the bike in first and pulled in the clutch, then tried to push the bike. I didn’t expect the bike to roll, but it did. Wait, what? If it rolls in gear with the clutch in, then the clutch is working. Fixed all by itself over the weekend. Let's see, let out the clutch. No rolling. Jammed in first. Pull in clutch, roll. So back to the first test. On the bike, engine running, clutch, brake, first gear.

Stall.

That’s when it finally occurred to me the side stand was down.

Important note: put up the side stand during the test or the side stand cutoff will stop the engine. This turned out to be a good test for the side stand cutoff. As for the clutch, it was fixed that the first day.

Electrical: you mentioned updated rec/reg but another weak point are all the connectors in the charging system. The 3-conductor between the alternator (stator) and the rec/reg, and everything on the starter relay (adjacent to the battery)

Bodywork: G3 VFRs have complicated bodywork with lots of fragile tabs that have only become more delicate over the past 25 years. Take care when removing & replacing.

Fuel tank: some G3 tanks have a sympathetic buzz at mid revs. Honda came up with a tool design to *very* slightly tweak the vent line bracket located just in front of the filler neck.

Mirrors: you already replaced them but know that the condom-less mirrors from 2000/2001 VFR800 also fit

Welkom  :beer:

Thanks guys...

Lorne, you're getting ahead of me with the electricals and the body work. 🙂 I've been looking into both to upgrade, and made some minor progress. JZH has already got me using silicon grease in the connectors but the wiring isn't very clean and I'll be keeping an eye on that. I check the charging on every ride. The inside information on the gas tank is news to me. Thanks for that! I found a youtube on the fix. Funny fix. Weird problem. Happily, it's one that hasn't occurred yet.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT4zSj_19-g

I'll keep listing my experiences here and tagging them as I go. I'm not sure if any should be under separate entries or in other parts of the site but I'll sort that out as I go. Lots of folks on site have gorgeous rides and big budgets. I don't. I'm trying to bring this bike up to snuff as cheaply as possible. So fancy upgrades and add ons just aren't gonna happen. I see a great selection of fine RC36s in Europe for less than 1000 euros. Boy! Here in Connecticut, pickings are scarce and I really had to dig to find a decent, workable bike for under $1000. Now I have to be careful not to turn it into a money pit. If only I could get one from Holland to the States in the overhead compartment of the plane... 🙂

Throttle Lock

I wanted a throttle lock. I’ve used these on previous bikes. They can be really handy when you just need to relax your hand for a few seconds. I’ve tried three kinds of throttle locks. 

I’ve tried a yellow Caterpillar o-ring...

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And I’ve used the NEP throttle lock...

[image: Stock photo]

But for the VFR, I decided to try a Vista Cruise...

[image: Sound Off Recreational Universal Vista Cruise Throttle Clamp]

Yeah, so to begin, I just don’t get the O-ring thing. I know you’re supposed to slide it between the bar end and the grip. And there it defeats the return spring of the throttle. It does. But how do you easily engage and disengage while riding? You have to fiddle with it too much. It's distracting, maybe even a little dangerous. It’s not for me.

The NEP lock is more like it. I’ve had two of these, on two different bikes. It installs easily, adjusts easily. You trigger it with your thumb. It works fine.

And the Vista cruise is OK. You can see it’s sortof like the NEP and it's about the same price but having tried it, I prefer the NEP. 

It took a little effort to install the Vista Cruise. The VFR throttle tube has a ridge on it that you have to grind down or the throttle lock won’t fit. I’m pretty sure you’d have to do this with the NEP lock too. I used the little grinder on my Dremel tool. There’s not a whole lot of room in there for a bigger tool. It only takes a few minutes. Nobody is going to see if you don’t do a perfect job but it has to end up smooth enough not to interfere with the throttle lock. You'll know you're done when the lock can be loosely installed and the throttle turned under it without resistance.

This is the ridge in a 'before' picture. The clamp is just holding the rubber grip out of the way. I didn't take an 'after' picture...

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Then there’s that tab on the throttle lock that keeps it from spinning. It slots between the throttle cables. That has to be shaved down a little bit too.

Once the lock is installed, you'll have to slide the grip outboard a couple millimeters so the lock doesn't bind against the collar of the grip. And when you do that, the distal end of the grip will rub against the bar end weight, so finally you’ll have to put a couple penny washers as spacers in there to bring the bar end out just that much more. I suppose you could also cut the grip shorter...Naaah.

Adjust the lock to gently hold when engaged. And that’s about it. It might seem an unnecessarily complicated job, but it's straightforward. Now, here’s the thing. The trigger of the Vista Cruise sits right next to the starter switch. It’s not a big deal, but you have to get your thumb under it to hit the starter. Hmmm. Also, when you move the bars to full right lock, the trigger hits the gas tank. Some folks apparently just cut the trigger down. Still have your Dremel handy? I'm thinking about it. At first I thought the tank dinging would be a non-issue since I have no plan for riding speedway, but it turns out at the gas station and in other maneuvering spots, I am knocking the tank with that plastic knob. Damn. The NEP lock has the trigger higher up. A much better position for me. I’m wondering if I can rotate the whole Vista lock about 30 degrees or so to get the trigger up out of the way. I’d have to figure a different way to keep it from spinning around. Some kind of adapter for the tab between the throttle cables. I’m thinking...

Here's the current installation:

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LID, 9/10/2018 at 11:24 AM

Clutch diode. Silicon Rectifier
 

The thing is very small. Maybe 1 cm2. And so far I haven’t even been able to find it in my wiring harness. I know more or less where to look, but not exactly what I’m looking at. I’ve poked around behind the right middle fairing and under the fuse box. I’ll look again when I take off the upper fairing one of these days. For now, I’m just riding with a neutral light between shifts.

The wiring harness on my FP is currently un-wrapped, as I'm modifying it in several ways, but I think the clutch diode is located in approximately this location (but it could be a little further forward).  It is wrapped in electrical tape, but the bulge makes it pretty obvious where that is.

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Ciao,

JZH

John, it looks like yours is further to the rear of the bike than I'd been looking. Not under the fuse cover but on top of the expansion tank. Is that right? Have you moved your harness around since unwrapping it? Mine doesn't seem to be there. But I'll look harder. The book shows yours is in the right spot.

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Are you using silicon grease on every fitting? Would you use it on the diode here?

Thanks 🙂

Recovering the Saddle

In spite of all its dodgy history, my bike does seem to run terrific. I've come across most all the quirks built into generation 3 models by now and no surprises. Yet. That doesn't mean everything is sorted, only that I am getting to know how things work. I'm told that the suspension definitely needs a rebuild. No way a 25 year old VFR has a decent suspension. Well, maybe so, but it's good enough for now, so next thing for me is to make things look better. 

The seat could use a new cover and probably some extra padding under me. There’s a fine site on home grown seat modifications here: http://diymotorcycleseat.com/ There’s even a page on the guy’s VFR seat. It's all encouraging. Aftermarket seat covers are on Ebay for not very much money, but I’m thinking I’d like to try it myself first. When, or rather if, if that doesn’t work, then I’ll spring for a precut cover...

• Protects coated items against moisture, acids, abrasion, corrosion, and skidding/slipping, and provides a comfortable, controlled grip
• Remains flexible and stretchy over time
• Will not crack or become brittle in extreme weather conditions
• Proven in temperatures from -30°F to 200°F
• Peelable and removable off of most surfaces

Well, at least there's no rush on that translation...  (Besides, German is pretty much like Nederlaans, innit?  Should be no problem for you!)

Have you considered painting the bike red to match the cowl?  It's probably worth more than the bike, after all...

I suppose silicone grease should be used on the clutch diode terminals, but I hadn't really thought about it.  With terminals exposed to the elements it's probably a good practice to use dielectric grease, but these are generally wrapped and covered by the 'leccy tape.

Ciao,

JZH

9 hours ago, LID Yup. The other fork is the same. Fortunately the sliders are fine. It's only a cosmetic thing. And before you mention it, I know, the brake disc isn't great either... [image: IMG_3053.jpg.8e57a0cb2545fdb960b6789027497b04.jpg]

Ten years ago the forks on my '92 looked pretty scruffy, though not quite as rough as yours. I had the forks off to get emulators installed and decided to try cleaning them up. Some good paint stripper, #0000 steel wool, heavy gloves, safety glasses and a bit of elbow grease had them looking much improved. Next some Solvol Autosol and more #0000 had them looking really good. I pondered reapplying clear coat but opted not to. Two years later they still looked fantastic.

By the way, Honda didn't polish the fork legs evenly overall. 

In this pic the top leg is just stripped of the clear coat and the lower one has been polished.

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And they look great back on the bike, and stayed this way till I sold it 2 years / 20,000 km later.

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I suppose silicone grease should be used on the clutch diode terminals, but I hadn't really thought about it.  With terminals exposed to the elements it's probably a good practice to use dielectric grease, but these are generally wrapped and covered by the 'leccy tape.

Have you considered painting the bike red to match the cowl?  It's probably worth more than the bike, after all...

John, I thought the silicone grease was supposed to help conduct electricity as well as protect the connection from corrosion. Um, I'm not sure how exactly it could do both since it might be a conductor or an insulator but probably not a conductor and  an insulator 😛 

As far as painting the whole bike red to match the seat cowling yeah, that's probably not gonna happen. For now at least I won't do anything irreversible to the cowling. (I get the vibe folks around here would be offended) BTW, in Connecticut the color of the vehicle is on the registration. If I change it, then it's back to DMV. Just one more reason to think twice... Painting? That's the easy part. Going to DMV? Not so much...

On the other hand, I will take a whack at the fork tubes. Thank you Lorne! See John, pay attention, this is how you get me to do something. Tell me the job's easy and gets good results, then show me pictures. I've got some steel wool and paint stripper laying around here someplace. I'll check for autosol too. I noticed that some VFRs have black fork tubes. So I could always just spray them if I completely screw it up.

You guys might be aware there are currently 39 pages of topics on body work at VFRd. And unfortunately the indexing system leaves something to be desired so I've been slugging through one page at a time. 

Thanks, both of you, for playing along.

oxgard, better idea than s/g, found in elec dept of local "home depot" type store, or even in the mom n pop style hdwre  if ya have such a thing

Oxgard. Here it is. Ox-gard. Lowes has it. It's on my list. Thanks Airwalk...

Decals

Everybody has his own taste of course. I ordered an inexpensive set. I'm pretty sure you can get them made anywhere. I don't know any more about decals than I do about anything else around here. 😛

The only decals on the bike now are on the gas tank. They're in good enough shape for this bike. But they have that 90s bling with the purple edging. Yuck. Fortunately, it's subtle. (btw the tank isn't bashed, it's just a reflection in the picture. I don't plan to respray it. It's the only original paint on the entire bike. But I'll try to polish out the scratches. A tank cover would work for me too.)

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Original design decals weren't an option for me, which is fine. Is the design trademarked? I found this set in gray, but any color is available... My rims aren't white, so I didn't go with white decals. Not sure how these'll look on a black bike.

[image: IMG_3065.thumb.jpg.93153b252d1732faed7bb6315156d54d.jpg]

All I really wanted was the big VFR for the mid fairing. If I decide to remove the tank decal, I might use the honda wings there and maybe the large HONDA down on the belly. I have no plan at all for any of the other bits. Little VFR on the quarters? Oh, a little HONDA decal goes above the headlight and tail light. 

All that's in the distant future of this project.

54 minutes ago, LID

The only decals on the bike now are on the gas tank. They're in good enough shape for this bike. But they have that 90s bling with the purple edging. Yuck. Fortunately, it's subtle. (btw the tank isn't bashed, it's just a reflection in the picture. I don't plan to respray it. The only original paint on the entire bike. But I'll try to polish out the scratches. A tank cover would work for me too.)

Fwiw, the Honda decals on the tank are clear-coated and so much more durable, but impossible to remove.

Honda made a different graphic for each body colour, also the pattern changed during 1990-1993 model run. These oe decals have 5 colours, black, gold, red, white, blue, and clear. Not too easy to duplicate I think. The backing paper has notches and holes to help line it up correctly on the side panel, and it says Scotchcal 3M Film. The p/n are: Left:   64480-MT4-300ZC Right: 64440-MT4-300ZC

I have an unused spare set if you can't find them anywhere.

For reference, the first pic shows the stock decals on my '92 VFR. In the 2nd pic I'd applied red tape over the purple and replaced the VFR decal with the UK version.

[image: 1992VFR750stock.thumb.JPG.b976acfb81e6d14d54dd27eccac0518b.JPG]

[image: 1992VFR750modified.thumb.JPG.e47b7aa21e60419fed083021c03ee9da.JPG]

12 hours ago, LID

I thought the silicone grease was supposed to help conduct electricity as well as protect the connection from corrosion. Um, I'm not sure how exactly it could do both since it might be a conductor or an insulator but probably not a conductor and  an insulator 😛 

As far as painting the whole bike red to match the seat cowling yeah John, that's probably not gonna happen. However for now at least I won't do anything horrific to the cowling. (I get the vibe folks around here would be offended) BTW, in Connecticut the color of the vehicle is on the registration. If I change it, then it's back to DMV. Just one more reason to think twice... Painting? That's the easy part. Going to DMV? Not so much...

On the other hand, I will take a whack at the fork tubes. Thanks Lorne! See John, pay attention, this is how you get me to do something. Tell me it's easy and gets good results, then show me pictures. I've got some steel wool and paint stripper laying around here someplace. On site, there's also a thread about using oven cleaner(?). I'll check for autosol too. I see that some VFRs have black fork tubes. So I could just spray them if I completely screw it up.

You guys might be aware there are currently 39 pages of topics on body work at VFRd. And unfortunately the indexing system leaves something to be desired so I've been slugging through one page at a time. 

Thanks, both of you, for playing along.

I was joking about repainting the bike...  :wink:

The silicone grease doesn't conduct electricity.  The idea is that its application inhibits the corrosion of the contacts, which are thus able to maintain the clean mechanical connection they were designed to have.  I have some Ox-Gard in the garage, but I haven't really used it in anger at this point.

I powder coated my FL's fork tubes black before I shipped that bike to Europe (the first time!), I still have them and they're still black.  You're welcome to them, but I can't guarantee they don't have any nicks or chips, as I really haven't looked at them in years.  I'm headed to California for my postponed summer holiday at the end of next month...

Ciao,

JZH

Man, you guys are kind. Offers of forks and decals. I shoulda signed up for VFRd months ago. 🙂

I'd be happy as a clam to get this bike looking half as good as the ones pictured. White wheels and updated decals work great. For the time being anyway, my goals are way more modest.

Lorne, 9/13/2018 at 6:00 PM

Honda made a different graphic for each body colour, also the pattern changed during 1990-1993 model run. These oe decals have 5 colours, black, gold, red, white, blue, and clear. Not too easy to duplicate I think. The backing paper has notches and holes to help line it up correctly on the side panel, and it says Scotchcal 3M Film. The p/n are: Left:   64480-MT4-300ZC Right: 64440-MT4-300ZC

Now I'm completely confused. What color decals went with which bikes? So far as I know, only three overall color schemes were available. Red (90,91), white (93) and black-ish (92). I don't think my original decals are really white white, more like grayish dots. (see my tank picture above). Anyway, that gray dot color was the one I was trying to match with my aftermarket decal kit. I'll have to see once it's on the bike. 

And I don't understand how the oem backing paper had alignment notches(?) So far as I know about decaling, which is not much, you make a very small score in the body work for an alignment mark, apply lots of soapy water, then sortof schmooze the decal in place, with a squeegie and a towel. Then let it dry.
 

Lorne, 9/13/2018 at 6:00 PM

Fwiw, the Honda decals on the tank are clear-coated and so much more durable, but impossible to remove.

If I'm not gonna get the tank decal off without completely refurbishing the tank, then that's the end of that story. I could try the larger HONDA decals that I got with the decal kit on top of the originals. They're the same size. Would it be possible to place one decal on top another? Mmmmmm naah. Sounds dodgy. Just wondering. Probably wouldn't stick.

Sorry, I'm asking lots of questions. I'm not trying to be a pain. Any further explanations are welcome. 🙂 

JZH, 9/13/2018 at 7:22 PM

I was joking about repainting the bike...  :wink:

The silicone grease doesn't conduct electricity.  The idea is that its application inhibits the corrosion of the contacts, which are thus able to maintain the clean mechanical connection they were designed to have.  I have some Ox-Gard in the garage, but I haven't really used it in anger at this point.

I powder coated my FL's fork tubes black before I shipped that bike to Europe (the first time!), I still have them and they're still black.  You're welcome to them, but I can't guarantee they don't have any nicks or chips, as I really haven't looked at them in years.  I'm headed to California for my postponed summer holiday at the end of next month...

Don't make jokes. I'm very gullible. 😉

...besides, I'd go with red paint if that was the easiest way out. I'm pretty sure it is not. A local Connecticut friend who has general painting experience (cars and boats, not bikes), tells me black paint is always tough to get right. So he recommends I try a different color. Red is different. I have that silver/gray in my head, mentioned in an earlier post because I thought it would be an easier conversion from black. I know, it's boring, but maybe the police won't much notice me that way.

If you're off to your supply shop John, I have a whole list of bits I'd like. Hell, I'd probably be living at your garage if I was within 1000 miles of it. However, I'll try to salvage my fork sliders for now. I don't think they are that bad. I mean, I don't think they're terminal. Thanks for the generous offer. Um, but please don't throw your forks out yet...just in case.

12 hours ago, LID

Now you've got me wondering about this. Do you know of a source for the color match schemes? What color decals went with which bikes? So far as I know, the paint colors were only three. Red, white and near black, depending on year. But maybe that's only American market bikes. Also, I'm thinking you must be calling your oem decal color white...but I don't think it's really white white, mine is grayish white.

Compare the VFR decals in these three pics. The first is from a UK-model black 1990 VFR750. Note how the decals differ: black for black VFRs is red for red VFRs and white for white VFRs. So these decals would look all wrong if not applied to the matching coloured body.

[image: 1992_VFR750_black.thumb.jpg.207abd4c08ddc4d3798d5875a480c023.jpg]

[image: 1991_VFR750_red.thumb.jpg.443b4844212320c5a5eaf836eae5bc0c.jpg]

[image: 1993_VFR750_white.thumb.jpg.78a93430dfc8b8a42dc9926258a3b67c.jpg]

Oh, sorry Lorne, of course. The one picture of your decal explains it all. I'd been thinking of all the decals as monochromatic, like the aftermarket ones I picked up. I'm an idiot. Your decal also shows the notches for alignment around the bolt holes. I could print out a template right from that photograph to use to align the decals I have.

I'll certainly keep in mind you have an extra set available, thanks. I'm thinking I'll try my unofficial ones first. They were easy to come by, so if I mess it up I can easily replace them, and I'm really just not sure my bike is ever going to be restored to the point where it merits original decals. But anyway, that part of my project isn't going to happen until next winter I think. While the weather is good, I'm having fun on an ugly bike.

Moving along, I got the Ox-gard. You see. I do pay attention.

[image: IMG_3077.jpg.5c047a8bc53bf2340efaab4e55451171.jpg]

It turns out it's not exactly the same stuff as dielectric grease, so yet one more point of confusion. Great. I'd been using an old tube of the stuff on the left. Isn't bulb grease just another name for dielectric grease? It says so on the label. Is ox-gard? Not so sure. That label says it's good for aluminum. Most of my connections are copper. But as of now, I'll use them interchangeably.

And for something completely different, I took this off Amazon. It made me laugh. I spotted it when searching for my aftermarket mirrors. I don't have the link. Not really on point other than a set of mirrors I did not buy at Amazon. And sortof motorcycle related. Keep in mind the guy was ordering a set of mirrors for his VFR...

 [image: IMG_3041.thumb.PNG.9519739f3c5705d2d3307ccd735a30ab.PNG]

if you research further youll find that most opinions have the dielectric as an insulator while oxgard is a conductor, to add confusion consider this.. which is more christian, catholic or protestant? i choose to believe oxgard is the least wrong choice.....

Airwalk wrote:

if you research further youll find that most opinions have the dielectric as an insulator while oxgard is a conductor, to add confusion consider this.. which is more christian, catholic or protestant? i choose to believe oxgard is the least wrong choice.....

Really? That's what you got for me now? Religion? After I just spent 3 bucks at your church? Maybe I'll go ahead and mix the s/g with the ox-gard and they'll cancel each other out. 🙂

14 hours ago, airwalk

if you research further youll find that most opinions have the dielectric as an insulator while oxgard is a conductor, to add confusion consider this.. which is more christian, catholic or protestant? i choose to believe oxgard is the least wrong choice.....

+1 for Oxgard - I've been using it for a long time now on all my connectors, copper, aluminum or otherwise.  It's worked great.  Regardless of the type of metal is says it's for, it is a conductive paste while silicone is an insulator.  Both have their uses on connectors - I generally use silicone on the plastic body of connectors exposed to the elements to seal out moisture or on spark plug boots - on the Viffer everything has gotten a treatment with Oxgard and has kept things happy for the past 30,000 miles. 

Yoshimura

OK, I'm going to skip along from the whole potentially burgeoning s/g ox-gard can of worms. For now, I'll just compromise and follow Cogswell's reasonable policy. That's sure to make nobody happy, except maybe Cogswell. Everybody else can take some comfort from knowing I now have both products on the workbench.

[image: IMG_3091.JPG.911d935b7c02fe92b54a7c01afed8de3.JPG]

So, I also have this aftermarket exhaust, as neglected cosmetically as everything else. In accordance with my basic approach to keeping things simple, I'm not planning on making any changes to it. If the bike had come with the stock exhaust then that would have been fine too. I did notice the thing is a little loud. Unlike lots of riders, I prefer a quiet ride. So I did some digging to find that, sure enough, these suckers should be repacked from time to time. I checked at the Yoshimura website to discover right off the bat that they offer lifetime support for their products. Hey, that's my kind of support! So I emailed them to find out how quickly they could send me a brand new exhaust from California for free. Yeah, well, Thomas Lee from Yoshimura responded politely with the bad news that this particular product predated their lifetime policy. Rats. He did however suggest I could buy a repack kit for about $50. Uh huh, you know, the bike isn't all that loud...

Since then I've also discovered that you can use ceramic blanket as packing. This is a generic fix, probably not endorsed by any manufacturer. It sure looks like the right stuff to me. You can get it at places selling pottery supplies. Anything that is approved for "nuclear insulation applications"  (http://www.ceramaterials.com/ceramicfiberblanket.html) is probably good enough for my muffler. Of course, you have to choose from a variety of blankets and how much can you need? A few scraps? And if I jammed some under the seat, I wonder if it'd work to keep my leg from burning...

Just one more thing to consider.

Jack stands

Since Lorne has been good enough to make a few helpful suggestions, I glanced at a couple of his general contributions and found a few pictures from his version of the bike I'm aiming at. One of those pictures has the bike on a bottle jack. Here's his picture from his gallery:

[image: LBB4462ed]

This is good. I've been playing with ways of getting the bike off the ground with a floor jack. But I'd also been dubious of supporting much weight on the exhaust system. It couldn't have been actually designed to support all that weight. And unfortunately, I don't have a center stand to supplement a jack in the first place. I'd thought to shove a 1" pipe through either the rear axle or the transverse hole just behind the gas tank, then somehow lift the thing on jack stands. Maybe run a sling up to a rafter and suspend the bike from above? Anybody ever try that?

Of course I can use a lift table, ABBA or pit lift. They're just not in the cards. 

Certainly, when the bike is on the main stand or a swing arm pivot stand (like an ABBA), only a small percentage of the weight is on the downpipes.  This is why it works (I do it all the time) and doesn't result in crushed downpipes...

If you use jackstands, more of the weight would be on the downpipes, but I think it would still be okay.  (Besides, it's not my downpipes potentially getting flattened!)

Your Yosh looks rebuildable, but in my experience with another brand, end cans can be stubborn to get apart.  I once bought a Two Brothers repack kit, and all it was was some fiberglass matting and a handful of pop rivets--nothing you cannot find in your local DIY store for much less than $50.

Ciao,

JZH

12 hours ago, LID

One of the pictures has the bike on a bottle jack. 

Yeah, I still feel sheepish for propping the VFR that way - not very secure. Otoh, without forks & wheel the jack isn't supporting very much weight. 

Also, I forgot to say that while the 3G all used the same passenger grab bars some were bare aluminum and some, like those in the ad for the white '93, were painted black.

JZH, 9/16/2018 at 2:04 PM

Certainly, when the bike is on the main stand or a swing arm pivot stand (like an ABBA), only a small percentage of the weight is on the downpipes.  This is why it works (I do it all the time) and doesn't result in crushed downpipes...

If you use jackstands, more of the weight would be on the downpipes, but I think it would still be okay.  (Besides, it's not my downpipes potentially getting flattened!)

Lorne, 9/16/2018 at 10:32 PM

Yeah, I still feel sheepish for propping the VFR that way - not very secure. Otoh, without forks & wheel the jack isn't supporting very much weight. 

I don't have a center stand either, or I'd be doing exactly what you both suggest. For security I might also run a webstrap from the bike's frame up to a cross beam to stabilize the load some. Without the center stand, I'm stuck using a beam to pretty much support the entire weight of the bike. In the past, I might have assumed that was not a problem. After all, the beam holds up the roof of the garage, doesn't it? Well, I'm not so sure. 

Here's the garage. 

[image: IMG_3134.JPG.e080e4498c497389106d674ce0240898.JPG]

That cross beam is only sistered to the walls with some nails. It isn't really supporting anything but the garage door. Just the same I don't think a conversation with the homeowners insurance guy would go well if the thing came crashing down. And let's not even think what could happen to the VFR.

I'll figure something out.

JZH, 9/16/2018 at 2:04 PM

Your Yosh looks rebuildable, but in my experience with another brand, end cans can be stubborn to get apart.  I once bought a Two Brothers repack kit, and all it was was some fiberglass matting and a handful of pop rivets--nothing you cannot find in your local DIY store for much less than $50.

The ceramic blanket stuff costs as little as $9 for 2 ft square. That would be more than enough, don't you think? I've watched a few youtubes on repacking. Yeah, not pretty. But getting the thing apart doesn't seem to be the hard part John. Getting the thing back together with all that new fluffy packing, now that looks hard. I wouldn't have to deal with rivets at least. Mine is screwed together. I'll load Decibel X on my phone one of these days to measure the noise. Then I'll have a number to help me decide how loud is too loud.

Lorne, 9/16/2018 at 10:32 PM

Also, I forgot to say that while the 3G all used the same passenger grab bars some were bare aluminum and some, like those in the ad for the white '93, were painted black.

I'll be stripping that black rubbery paint off one of these days. I prefer the look you had on the polished aluminum rails.

This guy has a clean French version of our bikes, c.2015. I like the high line exhaust. There's nuthin to watch on the video except the bike at idle for 3 minutes, but if you skip to 50 seconds in, you can see he has some clear blinker lenses too. Nice. I only included this as another beautiful example of what could be achieved.

8 hours ago, LID

you can see he has some clear blinker lenses

In NorthAm, 3rd gen VFRs had their rear signals on stalks mounted to the mudguard. Uk and Euro models had them integrated either side of the brake light, with amber lenses. I swapped to amber lenses on my '92. Don't know if they are still available, and they also required a different socket than the standard.

1 hour ago, LID It's not clear to me how the lights operate on the bike. Each of these new lights has two separate filaments. Regular and high beam, presumably. That means both can operate all the time, like in a car. But is that how the VFR is wired? Or is one lamp for regular conditions and the second just for brights? Or both for brights? Anybody know?

If you "rock" the high beam switch, you can get both beams on at the same time (so, they are normally separate), but that's probably more than the wiring is expecting (135w per bulb in case of a normal H4, 90w for an OEM Honda H4)...

Ciao,

Lorne, 9/18/2018 at 5:15 PM

In NorthAm, 3rd gen VFRs had their rear signals on stalks mounted to the mudguard. Uk and Euro models had them integrated either side of the brake light, with amber lenses. I swapped to amber lenses on my '92. Don't know if they are still available, and they also required a different socket than the standard.

The amber lenses come up for sale used, online.  So far as I know, it's the same part for later 3rd generation models, but I'm not positive. Like you, I prefer those to red, which is what I have now. And I guess pretty much everybody back in the day thought it was a good idea to remove the original blinkers and chop the rear fender. Mine seems to have been done with a hacksaw. One more thing on the list to tidy up. 

But those clear lenses seem to make the whole bike look up to date. And they are available new...for a price. Front blinkers too. And tail light. I'll keep an eye on that. https://www.ebay.com/i/352416222500?chn=ps

JZH, 9/18/2018 at 5:59 PM

If you "rock" the high beam switch, you can get both beams on at the same time (so, they are normally separate), but that's probably more than the wiring is expecting (135w per bulb in case of a normal H4, 90w for an OEM Honda H4)...

135 watts sounds like a lot more watts (50% more?) for a system that is not very tolerant in the first place. I think I would avoid that. But my high beam seems good enough now anyway. It's the normal low beam that's weak. If one of the bulbs was a dedicated low beam, and the other a dedicated high beam, then I'd just swap out the low beam for the slightly higher wattage bulb. (ie, 55w instead of 45?) As you can tell, I'm still not sure what's goin on in there. One of these days I'll try a few experiments in the garage.

4 hours ago, LID

The amber lenses come up for sale used, online.  So far as I know, it's the same part for later 3rd generation models, but I'm not positive. Like you, I prefer those to red, which is what I have now. And I guess pretty much everybody back in the day thought it was a good idea to remove the original blinkers and chop the rear fender. Mine seems to have been done with a hacksaw. One more thing on the list to tidy up. 

But those clear lenses seem to make the whole bike look up to date. And they are available new...for a price. Front blinkers too. And tail light. I'll keep an eye on that. https://www.ebay.com/i/352416222500?chn=ps

The rear turn signal lenses were the same for all RC36 everywhere except the USA (maybe Canada?), so all amber rear lenses fit  both 3rd gen and 4th gen.  Front lenses were not the same, but all were amber anyway.  If you want clear rear turn signal lenses, you kind of have to get the clear tail light as well or it will look a bit strange...

Ciao,

JZH

JZH, 9/19/2018 at 12:52 PM

If you want clear rear turn signal lenses, you kind of have to get the clear tail light as well or it will look a bit strange...

...They'll look a bit strange if they're the most expensive part of the bike too. Those, and the red cowling 😛 . I do want clear turn signal lenses. I want a lot of things. They'll have to wait a while. I'm not sure I agree with you that clear signal lenses look odd with a red tail light. The french bike, link above, has that combination.

Meanwhile, I've been looking at different rattle can options to try for all the plastics. Lots of options. Lots and lots. A basic choice has popped up between lacquers and enamels. It doesn't look like they can be mixed. I think the lacquers might be newer tech for rattle cans. I'm not sure they are true old fashioned lacquers.

[image: IMG_3147.jpg.ab55388e367bc9e27d3889454244f76b.jpg]

Everybody promises wonderful results. No surprise there. If lacquer is harder and shinier then what could be the downside? This part of my little project is probably going to be an experiment in patience more than anything. OEM paints are not an option, not even the color-rite stuff. That's okay. As I said, lots of options. Dupli-color seems to specialize in automotive applications, but the other brands appear just as good. I'll be documenting as I go.

1 hour ago, LID

...They'll look a bit strange if they're the most expensive part of the bike too. Those, and the red cowling 😛 . I do want clear turn signal lenses. I want a lot of things. They'll have to wait a while. I'm not sure I agree with you that clear signal lenses look odd with a red tail light. The french bike, link above, has that combination.

Okay, I take it back.  Looks okay on the black bike.

Ciao,

JZH

Don't know if i saw it here or on the dutch VFROC forum but there was a topic of somebody making his own clear lenses.

First making his own moulds in silicone and pouring in some kind of epoxy or resin.

I checked, it was the dutch forum but all pictures have been lost

Just run your dual headlights wiring via a relais as not to overload the on/off switch assembly.

[image: 10 (2).jpg]

Wee yellow glass domes over the H4 bulbs for that endurance racing look   :tongue:

koekum, 9/20/2018 at 10:26 AM

Don't know if i saw it here or on the dutch VFROC forum but there was a topic of somebody making his own clear lenses.

First making his own moulds in silicone and pouring in some kind of epoxy or resin.

I checked, it was the dutch forum but all pictures have been lost

JZH said:

If you want clear rear turn signal lenses, you kind of have to get the clear tail light as well or it will look a bit strange...

The project-r clear lights all look pretty good to me. Clear lenses and LEDs. Nice... $250?! Ain't gonna happen... Maybe some day. But home made? That's another idea. A friend with a basic 3D printer tells me that he can't make any parts for the bike. His printer just can't do that. I don't know the technology for mapping and cloning stuff. I'd think the interior of the lenses would be just as important as the exterior. Now silicone molds? Epoxy? I'll see if I can find something more on that.

Dutchy, 9/20/2018 at 2:26 PM

Just run your dual headlights wiring via a relais as not to overload the on/off switch assembly.

In the American VFR, the low beam light is on all the time. The rocker switch is only for the high beam. But the lights automatically cut out when you hit the starter.

Near as I can tell by actually um, looking at the lights, they both run all the time, low beam and high beam, like in a car.

Low beam:

[image: IMG_3181.jpg.fa9ca893a7d58f228e86854f1b43971b.jpg]

High beam:

[image: IMG_3182.thumb.jpg.963887c5e28f8d4496961574b0b0b4c2.jpg]

And if I'm reading the wiring diagram right, then it says the same thing. It looks like both the Bu/Bl leads and the W/Bl leads are joined before any switches.

[image: IMG_3179.thumb.jpg.c9d671a7700a1cdfc4b786f4b38ca46f.jpg]

So, I'm thinking I should probably replace the lamps as a matching pair, not separately as I'd been planning.

BTW Dutchy, are you parked on like, the railroad tracks? Is that a good idea in those parts?

LID, 9/21/2018 at 2:25 PM

And if I'm reading the wiring diagram right, then it says the same thing (or not). It looks like both the Bu/Bl leads and the W/Bl leads are joined before any switches.

[image: IMG_3179.thumb.jpg.c9d671a7700a1cdfc4b786f4b38ca46f.jpg]

So, I am thinking I should probably replace the lamps as a matching pair, not separately as I'd been planning.

I often run one yellow and one white headlamp in my bikes, just for conspicuity.  It's usually the same type of bulb, just that one of them has a "French yellow" capsule on it:

[image: s-l1600.jpg]

But there's nothing really stopping you from running a 55/60 on one side and a 55/100 on the other.  They don't have to match, but the wires (and switches) do have to be robust enough to handle it.

Ciao,

JZH

JZH, 9/23/2018 at 8:22 AM

But there's nothing really stopping you from running a 55/60 on one side and a 55/100 on the other.  They don't have to match, but the wires (and switches) do have to be robust enough to handle it.

I was thinking it would just look weird to mismatch the bulbs. Folks would be telling me that there was something wrong, like one bulb was burning out or something. But a yellow bulb would have the effect you mention, and people would realize it was intentional. It's a fair solution John. The whole issue of overloading the wiring and relays is enough to make me think twice. You can see my pictures. The lights work okay. But brighter would be better and presumably safer...so long as the bike doesn't catch fire. 😛 And there are LEDs too. More expensive for now. They apparently come with their own cooling fans(?!). Lots of options.

I'm still muddled about the whole lighting design. My bulbs each have two filaments, low and high. But for one filament to be a "high beam" it can't only be brighter, it has to point up from the bike to focus further down the road. That presumably would be built into the design of the bulb or the glass lens on the front of the bike. The only obvious difference I can see, is that one filament in each bulb is positioned in front of the other by all of what, 1 cm? It might be possible that that tiny difference from the light source position is reflected through the lenses at enough of an angle difference to point further down the road. I don't know. It's not important to any practical choice, just something that has me muddled. Maybe I should just ride with the high beam on all the time...

On another semi-related point, I get in pretty good rides even though the bike isn't entirely up to scratch. Like yesterday. My local riding mates are on equally scruffy machines, although theirs are German. 😛 The hills in northwestern Connecticut are close by, not crowded, and pretty enough. Not spectacular by any means, but pretty enough.

[image: IMG_3177.thumb.jpg.0f0e4d64f720848e4ad6eb36442cfbc7.jpg]

The main difference between the two filaments in an H4 bulb, apart from their positioning, is that the low beam is shielded internally so that its light hits only the top half of the reflector.  Top of the reflector means all of the light is reflected below the middle line of the headlamp, so onto the road and up to the "cut-off", which is roughly at the same height as the headlamp is mounted.  The high beam filament is unshielded, so its light hits both the top and the bottom of the reflector, and thus there is no "cut-off" to the beam, all of which is thrown down the road, some above and some below the mounting height of the headlamp.

The H4 bulb design, however, is a compromise because, while the two filaments are in different locations, the reflector is in the same position, so the light from each filament (at least in the top half of the reflector...) is reflected slightly differently, depending on which filament is illuminated.  I imagine that the reflector engineers, whose job was to direct certain proportions of the light appropriately into different regions in front of the vehicle, probably hated that!

Ciao,

JZH

JZH, 9/23/2018 at 6:45 PM

The H4 bulb design, however, is a compromise because, while the two filaments are in different locations, the reflector is in the same position, so the light from each filament (at least in the top half of the reflector...) is reflected slightly differently, depending on which filament is illuminated.  I imagine that the reflector engineers, whose job was to direct certain proportions of the light appropriately into different regions in front of the vehicle, probably hated that!

[image: how reflector headlights work]

Thanks for the explanation John. I'm getting there. This illustration mostly confirms what you say, and helps. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp) My misunderstanding was on several levels. For starters, I'd been assuming...for no particular reason...that the high beam filament was the one closer to the front. I'd also thought that conversions, like HID and LED, used the same multiple mirror reflectors. Now I think they may be 'projector' bulbs rather than reflectors. And if the position of the filaments is so critical, then maybe Honda oem bulbs really are better suited for their own reflector. That could be a reason their engineers made the tabs unique. So we wouldn't substitute with normal and less expensive H4 bulbs. Hah! I guess we showed them... 🙂

For those who realllly want to get into this subject (not me), there is this: Reflective Optics Design for an LED High Beam Headlamp of Motorbikes, from the Scientific World Journal. Maybe better suited for another thread entirely: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4414011/

There's an archived link that explains a lot too. Hey! You're in it John! I just gotta get better at navigating vfrd...

18 hours ago, LID

[image: how reflector headlights work]

Thanks for the explanation John. I'm getting there. This illustration mostly confirms what you say, and helps. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp) My misunderstanding was on several levels. For starters, I'd been assuming...for no particular reason...that the high beam filament was the one closer to the front. I'd also thought that conversions, like HID and LED, used the same multiple mirror reflectors. Now I think they may be 'projector' bulbs rather than reflectors. And if the position of the filaments is so critical, then maybe Honda oem bulbs really are better suited for their own reflector. That could be a reason their engineers made the tabs unique. So we wouldn't substitute with normal and less expensive H4 bulbs. Hah! I guess we showed them... 🙂

I believe the Honda H4 bulb has the same dimensions as the regular H4--save for the positions of the tabs--so if regular H4s are put into a headlamp designed for the Honda bulbs the filaments should be in the same positions--provided the process of tab-snipping does not alter the overall position of the bulb.  Even a slight tilt relative to the OEM position would likely move the positions of the filaments by 1mm or more.

This is also why HID and LED conversions (where just the bulbs are swapped into reflector headlights) are such utter bodges: the "filaments" (or, the light source location) simply cannot be located in the same position(s) relative to the reflector as the H4's precisely located filaments.  These conversions do produce a lot of light, but it is no longer cast where the engineers wanted it to go.  Whether that's a problem or not probably depends on the specific conversion (and on which side of the headlamp you sit).

On some bikes it is fairly easy to re-engineer the headlamp assembly to accept regular H4 bulbs, thus making your own "Euro-spec" headlight.  However, on the RC36-I the reflector is smooth and the focusing of the light is done by the glass lens, which may or may not be the same for US and Euro-spec bikes.  But it's the same problem if you snip tabs.  Anyway, all you need is a Dremel...

Ciao,

4 hours ago, JZH

I believe the Honda H4 bulb has the same dimensions as the regular H4--save for the positions of the tabs--so if regular H4s are put into a headlamp designed for the Honda bulbs the filaments should be in the same positions--provided the process of tab-snipping does not alter the overall position of the bulb.  Even a slight tilt relative to the OEM position would likely move the positions of the filaments by 1mm or more.

[image: H4%20TILT%20SMALL.gif]

Your own illustration, poached from the archived link (2009), shows the problem John. But as discussed in that link, folks don't seem to think it's a big deal. For me it would be a trade between a brighter standard halogen headlight and a properly aimed headlight. If I assume my current lights are original(!) then they presumably have dimmed over time anyway. Lots of reviews on newer H4 headlights are critical of the lifespan. They say cheapo lights last just a few weeks while even good ones (e.g. Philips) are rated for only 500 hours. There is no explanation for why new bulbs don't last as long as the old ones. The manufacturers may think 500 hours is good enough. In any case, I'm guessing I won't get 25 years out of a replacement bulb 🙂 

LED tech advances pretty fast. It may not be so long before halogen bulbs are no longer available at all. Meanwhile, I'll know more when i dig into the assembly and play around with a standard good quality replacement. Stay tuned for that. Thanks again.

Volt Meter

Even though my electrical system seems to be functioning fine, I keep anxiously waiting for the day it fries itself. And so I have been monitoring it with my volt meter. Something like Magnetman…

[image: 0512142002.jpg]

I’ve also been muddling over which proper meter installation is right for me. This has been endlessly discussed in a link from 2012, still going strong. It seems just about everybody has a different solution...

Since the US spec gen3 fairing has the unused gas tank switch imprint, I had at first been leaning toward a Honda marine voltmeter. It mounts there perfectly and looks stock. (VFRpilot picture)

[image: image.png.6fe98c709cf27f9808e507bee22b2511.png]

So what's the downside?  Well, it’s pretty far out of the way. I need something that’s going to scream at me when things go wrong. Or at least sit in my general field of vision. Something like an LED up on the panel.

Signal Dynamics makes an LED like that. A tiny light that blinks.

[image: Head's Up⢠Voltage Monitor]

That's better, except then these guys went and over engineered the thing. Their flash pattern gets too complicated for me. It is green, or red, or yellow, or blinking, or fast blinking…or not blinking. They had to make a demonstration video on their website. And then there’s a little chart to interpret the lights. http://www.signaldynamics.com/heads-up-voltage-monitor/  Geez. I just want a damn warning light.

Koso came up with just the thing. A tiny row of LEDs from left to right. And it was even on sale. So that’s the one I ordered.

[image: Related image]

And yes, here it is. Ta daaa. Well, sortof...

[image: IMG_3264.jpg.5a131646aea116c9dde1b020ca7d7b3e.jpg]

Turns out, they decided to send the wrong thing. Yeah okay. Curiously, somebody just put the label of the device I ordered over the label of the product they mailed to me. Did they think I wouldn’t notice it was the wrong thing if it had a sticker on it? The actual product label is still attached underneath. Nice...

[image: oltmeter2.jpg.485305d2bdc79a0b8ee89650b6f1f86d.jpg]

And no LEDs. Rats. I can reorder of course, except whaddya know, now they’re out of stock. Uh huh. That might explain things some about the stickers in the shipping office. We’ll see. I’ll give them a call or text. At least they didn’t send me a shelf (re: post 15 September) I'm thinking I'll just wait for the back order.

Meanwhile, Magnetman's solution isn't so bad. 😉 
 

LED Brake Light

In a weak moment I decided to spring all of $5 for an EBay 30 LED light bar. These are sold as license plate lights with Samsung 5630 LEDs. I’m not sure what that means but I think it means each individual LED is a Samsung 5630. Samsung is a reliable brand. Based on a glance at the overall cheapness of the bar, I wouldn’t be surprised if these things are just generics. I see no branding at all on the assembly. No installation directions either. That’s okay. It’s a $5 experiment and three wires.

[image: IMG_3392.thumb.jpg.63255c222eca7e267f6b94391a4d6457.jpg]

[image: IMG_3393.thumb.jpg.d802446fd3a08abf70c4055522e64e44.jpg]

I started out thinking this might be a respectable lighting update. It’s supposed to be bright. That’s always good. And the LEDs might freshen up the appearance of the bike. So at first I thought I might just remove the standard bulbs in the taillight using this as a replacement. Now I’m thinking I’ll try this as a supplement maybe. The strip could be mounted above the license plate or inside the reflector, where it’s just about as long as the reflector is wide.

The LEDs are white and red. The thing is sold for cars to mount over the license plate. And the idea is that the red LEDs are an auxiliary brake light and the white LEDs are for backing up. Since my 92 VFR didn’t come with the secret reverse gear option, I am thinking the white will be wired as an addition to the regular tail light and the red as brake light supplement...mounted inside the stock reflector of course. That is my thought. I’m wondering if either the LEDs behind a red reflector will be weird. We’ll see. There are three pathetically thin wires. Black, Red, Yellow. What do you think? Black for ground, red for red LEDs and yellow for the white LEDs? That seems reasonable. 

I plan to test the thing first by hot wiring to the battery. See if it even works. Then if it looks okay, I’ll figure a way to install it, and wire it into the circuit. The official wiring diagram is simple enough. I just need to hunt down the stock wiring harness and find an elegant way to splice the new wires. Electrical tape comes to mind. And of course my oxgard and/or dielectric grease. I haven’t forgotten that lesson. 🙂

[image: IMG_3394.thumb.jpg.47f517a39cb243b08df4c6e61115b504.jpg]

Headlamp Update

...And an update on my headlight replacement. I found a couple bog standard Philips bulbs, also for 5 bucks. They’re rated 67/60W. A little stronger than standard, despite the 'Standard' label on the package. Those should be fine. 

[image: IMG_3381.thumb.jpg.3fc20c1761d7e8997d7f2c6a748a381b.jpg]

LED Test

…now sure enough, the LED thing works. Here’s a picture of the regular taillight. Everybody knows what that looks like. 

[image: IMG_3395.thumb.jpg.0cd791fd1c131d03fc34c8188fe0dbf4.jpg]

…and a picture of the red LED, hotwired. It’s at least as bright as the stock taillight. 

[image: IMG_3396.thumb.jpg.b13c56a087cee24bc1f52dbd6e8b2431.jpg]

…and both together. They don’t quite seem to match, do they...

[image: IMG_3397.thumb.jpg.b05bd5d77ca85248a406515925cfa8c8.jpg]

It’s not only the colors are a little off. The 21st century LED just doesn’t look quite right next to the incandescent bulbs. This may have been what JZH was hinting at a few weeks ago when we were discussing the aftermarket LED clear blinker replacements. I tried the white LED part of the bar too. I didn't get any pictures of that but imagine staring into a arc welder to get an idea. Youch. They're really bright. So my original idea is still workable: mounted inside the lens, red LED tail light and white LED for the brake. But what to do. I could disconnect the original bulbs and install the LED behind the lens. I’d have to do some surgery for that. Or I could forget the LED bar entirely and replace the stock bulbs with new LED bulbs. They seem to be type 1157. Lots of options out there in LEDs, many with an LED star pattern. And then it seems I would have to at least replace the blinker bulbs with LEDs too. Type 1073. Also lots to choose from. Or yes, here's an idea, just leave the whole thing alone. It’s been good enough for 25 years. It’s classic. Done. 🙂

There's a 92 being parted out on Marktplaats in Holland today, 17 January. That's like a Dutch version of Craig's List. Sortof. Anyway, I found several bits I've been scrounging for at prices that are much better than I've been able to find in the USA. Lots of bits still available as of today, 17 January. The seller will mail parts. Of course, if you live outside Europe, postage will add up...

https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/motoren/onderdelen-honda/m1362885237-alle-onderdelen-vfr-750.html?c=9b26ed2a557deff636f4f8b9c5b7a618

I posted this on the vfrd classified forum but then read the rules which specifically state you cannot post third party sources of stuff there. I can't think of any alternative than to put it here. Of course, the bits will get sold off in a couple days and then this posting will be a dead end. I'm not trying to get around the rules here. I'm only thinking this might be an opportunity for a member to find bits he'd been scrounging for...

Not fluent in dutch? Don't let that stop you. You might try english. I've yet to meet a dutch person over the age of about 6 that doesn't speak english...

Ed. As of March 17, the advertisement is gone.

Volt Meter Update

It being now February and all, I am itchy to make some small progress on things. My plan had been to sortof retire the bike for winter, strip all the plastics off, fix them up indoors and have everything shiny for spring. Plus there are those techy things that’ve been on my mind, which are probably more important than cosmetics.

That was the plan. More or less.

So far it’s been less. I never quite put the bike away for winter. I only bothered to clean it some, cover it and stash it in the back of the garage on the charger. This works out fine as long as the weather stays awful. Last week it dropped to 2F around here. There  was snow. Plenty awful. Today, 60F and the snow is going fast so on to plan B; I took the bike out for a ride. One good thing about having bad plastic…there’s less guilt about getting it salty. I’ll hose it off anyway. Of course the salt gets on plenty of metal bits too.

Anyway, small progress. I ended up keeping the wrong volt meter from Koso.  (re: 28 Sept, above) This is the one: https://kosonorthamerica.com/product/mini-3-clock-volt/ They were nice enough, the Koso folks, and apologetic for sending me the wrong thing when I had ordered an LED display. And they offered to swap mine over at my convenience. Ah, what the hell. A digital readout is probably better. So I wired the one I got to a trailer plug, the same thing I use on the charger. Like this… 

[image: IMG_0360.thumb.jpg.3af0ab74f3fe3e1e848b016f585ba8ed.jpg]

And I can stuff it in the map pocket of my Aldi/Lidl tank bag. As far as that temporary kind of mounting goes, it’s not great. I have to drop my eyes down to read it. And depending on the sun, there’s glare on the screen. I really don’t want to permanently molest the panel but I’m currently thinking it would work pretty good down where the clock goes on the euro spec bikes. As it happens, this meter also has a clock mode which I am completely uninterested in. (Koso makes these things with all sorts of inputs…air temperature, coolant temp, amperage, tach, hobbs meter for racing, probably other things…). The meter has three wires, hot, ground and switch, so you can run it through the ignition. Then it’ll go on and off with the bike. But the display doesn’t look all that weatherproof to me. For now at least, into the map pocket it goes.

[image: IMG_0359.thumb.jpg.d3ed317e1060912a93b2be518f2c77c1.jpg]

And it works. Um, I’m only getting between 12.7 and 13.6 volts. On the weak side. The guys at Signal Dynamics…yet another source of meters…seem to suggest that’s good enough, if only barely. Their LED display follows these numbers:

Voltage Table
• Flashing Green   Above - 15.2V
• Steady Green   12.9V - 15.1V
• Steady Amber   12.7V - 12.8V
• Steady Red   12.1V - 12.6V
• Flashing Red   Below - 12V

http://www.signaldynamics.com/heads-up-voltage-monitor/

Since my numbers are steady. I guessing the regulator/rectifier is doing its job. Since the numbers are low, I’m thinking the stator isn’t. You guys have already told me to check the stator and the harnesses. It might be okay. But if I’m reading the Honda service manual right, 13.5v is minimum at 5000rpm. I think the battery is getting sufficient charge. At least the engine starts every time. I can do more testing. There’s a terrific thread here from Talus in 2007:

If I copy him, then nothing much more than better ground wiring and some excellent craftsmanship could get me up to 14.3v. And oxgard. Anyhow, another part of the story to come. At least I’ll be monitoring now.

I've been sidetracked a few months but I’m still here. A few things to mention. Nothing major.

Taxes

Am I the only one to get assessed by the tax office at $3380 for a slightly battered 92 VFR? That’s apparently what the city thought my bike was worth. Boy. I’d be the happiest guy in the world to get $3380 for the thing. Or even 3000. How about 2000? …Anybody?

In Connecticut you have to pay an annual property tax to the city for the vehicles you own. The tax covers things like the fire department, so they’ll come and put out your fire when the electrics melt down and ignite. In general, that seems like a good idea to me. But they’re supposed to tax you on a percentage of the real market value of your stuff. I gave the tax guys a call when I got my bill. They were very nice and told me to file for an appeal. I did. At a later date, I was invited in to the office to defend my personal assessment that the bike was worth maybe $1000 tops, even though I paid a lot less and had the DMV records to prove it. They told me they got their valuation from the NADA. Sure enough, that says these old bikes are now worth over 5 grand. Yikes!

https://www.nadaguides.com/Motorcycles/1992/Honda/VFR750FN/Values

(note: the NADA values have changed a little since last year)

Of course, the taxman also assumes every bike out there is in very good to excellent condition. I don’t know where the NADA gets its ideas but the local Honda dealer seems to think that valuation is um, not based on reality, at least not for trade-ins. In the end, the taxman agreed to lower my assessment to $900, which I decided was fair enough. Then they sent me a new bill based once more on the original $3380 assessment. Grrrr. Happily I did not need to go through the entire appeals process a second time. At another visit to the office, the clerk just XXXed out the big number and entered the new, lower one. I paid my lower tax and am now awaiting a nasty dunning letter saying I am overdue on the original tax and better pay up or they’ll break my legs. And then yet another trip to the tax office.

As an aside, Connecticut also has a nice tax break for poor people. If you own any vehicle 25 years old or older, you can get it registered as a classic and the assessment value is then limited to $500. This includes your 1957 Corvette or gull wing Mercedes. Why don’t I think the legislators had my bike in mind when they came up with that rule?

Electrics, again.

I reported in February that I was getting marginal outputs from the r/r. So I thought to go through the harness and clean up the connections. I’d looked it over before only to find no sign of any melting anywhere, but it wasn’t all that tidy in there either.

[image: IMG_1810.jpg.9644087da477084083ccc0ad91c53961.jpg]

 I know. I know. Not my fault. That was a previous owners work. I’m getting between 13v and 13.5v most all of the time… I’d hoped to goose that a bit with cleaning and with my new Oxgard in the connectors, as generally recommended. I also followed the drill insofar as measuring outputs along the components. Everything checked out and after an hour or so of moderate effort, I was done and ready for my new voltage output. Sonofabitch. It was down instead of up. 12.7-13v. This is the quality of my work folks. Damn. But I also blame the Oxgard. I’m thinking I got a bad batch. Yeah, that must've been it... 😉

Anyway, I tried a second time…and after another +/-20 minutes, got voltage back to where I’d begun. JZH intelligently and gently suggested the connectors to the stator and to the r/r could be better. Ya think? I’m procrastinating. I should absolutely spring the $55 for the vfrness and be done with it. I’ll probably wait until getting stranded before taking such prudent steps. Meanwhile I’m monitoring. Also meanwhile I continue to look for a better mount of the voltmeter. My latest temporary solution is at the brake reservoir with an elastic band. The sight line is good there even if it looks sloppy. Need I add that sloppy is normal on this bike...

[image: IMG_1791.jpg.a0096ae6e3ef879b7e86a44899169928.jpg]

Grab Rails, part 2.

To distract myself from anything requiring spending money, I decided to try some modest cosmetic improvements. I have lots of choices here given the overall condition of things. I decided to take a whack at the grab handles. I figured the job was manageable and would give me a chance to try a few new things that I’d been reluctant to try. Like polishing aluminum. Lorne had encouraged me last fall to take on my fork sliders. I needed to try something small first to make sure I wouldn’t inflict any serious damage. So if you look at earlier notes (last September 12) you’ll see that my grab rails are black and the coating is in rough shape. Like this...

[image: IMG_1755.jpg.3fa99cbaed824cbda0874bb96bfa53b1.jpg]

I could redip them myself…still a possibility…but wanted to see just whattheheck was under there. Lorne had also pointed out that some of these rails came from the factory without the plasticky coating and I had the idea that burnished aluminum would be better than gnarly plastidip. That brought me to one of those point-of-no-return moments when you begin to wonder if you really want to do a job at all. Anyway. Here goes...

The plastic coating peals off without too much fuss. But it’s relatively thick and the aluminum underneath scratches easily if you’re careless with any sharp tools. As it turns out, twenty-five years of plastidip did a good job of protection. 

[image: IMG_1764.jpg.5dbbf1d874f06d905019013604595a88.jpg]

The unfinished finish of the metal I like. It’s similar to unpolished parts of the mid-frame. But there were a couple serious small scrapes in the metal in places where the plastic had been torn right through...

[image: IMG_1760.jpg.8e8c39500f4d6d54c98418a565c246e2.jpg]

So more experimenting and my next lesson. Turns out a wire wheel is waaaaay too abrasive for getting out small scrapes. I know steel is harder than aluminum so I expected a dramatic result but a wheel is overkill and just added to the damage. Old scrapes became new, deeper scrapes. A dremel sanding disc worked better.

[image: IMG_1761.jpg.100bd1da5367ef5d00ccc0bc0fd0a44b.jpg]

 That got me through the serious gouges, but even it was too abrasive. It must have been probably around 80 grit. A little bit of wet 500 and 1200 grit sand paper worked much better. Not perfect, but good enough for me. 

[image: IMG_1762.jpg.6fff4e024016987680ca565c25acc1ec.jpg]

I wanted to try out my little Harbor Freight polishing pad kit too.

I’ve never tried polishing metal before. Near as I can tell for polishing, you load a pad up with some of that white or red clay stuff, and just run it randomly around the aluminum. That’s what I did. And hey! It actually seems to work. I used the white, less abrasive(?) compound. The pad gets black and molts bits of cotton like a duck molts down. I may have been spinning it at too great a speed. And why the black? I mean, I get that the cotton may be shredding because it’s a cheap pad but the black? It’s not like the metal is dirty. Also, the blackness doesn’t appear to affect the polishing ability of the pad so I don’t think you have to keep cleaning the pad. I polished a bit and admired my progress. When I wiped the grab handle, more of that black stuff got on the white towel. 

[image: IMG_1763.jpg.341be63e0974155bda4ddf07d9d54a00.jpg]

It felt like pencil graphite. Slippery. But it was easy, gratifying work. The second grab handle went even better. And in the end they both looked okay...

[image: IMG_1767a.jpg.c7f92f973466d242cf7278f7107e27e3.jpg]

(Ed. The black stuff may be Aluminum Oxide, liberated from the surface of the metal. This is yet another of those internet theories that gets batted around endlessly. I haven't found an authoritative link yet, like from from a chemist.)

As they are now, I’m thinking the handles may need some kind of protective finish. Just to keep them from picking up dirt and new scratches. But Lorne wrote last year that he never put clearcoat on his fork sliders and they remained in really good shape (re: September 12) So for now I won’t bother with anything. And also for now, the grips look like the newest things on the bike and are making everything else look worse.

At my current rate of progress, I’m thinking the bike will be up to my good enough standard in about 5 years. But it’s running fine and I’m having fun and that’s what counts most with me.

Frame heat.

It being summer again, I am bothered, again, by the radiant heat along the aluminum spars under the gas tank. In order to get a handle on the initial condition, I borrowed one of those thermometer guns. It's registering up to around 165F (74C) on both sides of the gas tank. That's the surface temperature of the aluminum below my knees after everything is warmed up. Ouch.

[image: IMG_1563.JPG.340b6dbf55eda5c8b508eefe31c8e3b8.JPG]

I’d come up with a safety standard that said 140F is probably a maximum acceptable temperature, and as you see I’m well past that.

ASTM C1055 (Standard Guide for Heated System Surface Conditions that Produce Contact Burn Injuries) recommends that pipe surface temperatures remain at or below 140°F. The reason for this is that the average person can touch a 140°F surface for up to five seconds without sustaining irreversible burn damage.

I also checked under the tank to make sure that all the little heat shield blankets are in there. They are. Obviously they aren’t doing much to keep the heat away from the frame itself. 

There’s plenty of room under the gas tank and above the rear cylinders for additional blanketing. I’m not sure what would work. It has to keep the heat away from my knees, but I don’t want the heat contained around the cylinders to cause the engine or any local components to heat up too much.  So just stuffing a bunch of fiberglass insulation in there may be a bad idea. For now, just another glitch I’m living with. 

More polishing.

Since the polisher seems to work, I went over as much of the metal as I could easily get to. Pretty much every bit of metal on the bike could benefit from some treatment. There are some small scars in the frame that I haven’t repaired. Like you can see here...

[image: IMG_1804.JPG.7433cbfc7a36b19b020f4724dde89d48.JPG]

[image: IMG_1804.JPG.528531bb58e922db13c0cb403c4830bd.JPG]

I could sand them down I think, but then the surrounding frame will not match the repaired area. So I’m leaving them alone. In general, the more I disassemble of course, the more access I get and the better the final result should be. Because I am impatient, I’m just racing through bits I can get at. This was the exhaust...

[image: IMG_1799.jpg.76ea75db296adcddbfa1d648cdd3729a.jpg]

It was in semi-grotty shape when I got the bike last year…like everything else. The little polishing wheel shines it up easily. But I can’t get close enough around the screws or seams. I’ll look for a smaller wheel for those bits. Polishing also highlight scars. I don’t know what to do about them. They’re all over the place. Do I just keep polishing? It's not getting me anywhere. Here's a detail picture. You can see the tiny blotches and scratches, not exactly a mirrorlike finish...

[image: IMG_1802.jpg.22684078ed4dd0863cdf55932b0bc833.jpg]

Maybe I should try the red clay, which is slightly more abrasive. Overall, it all comes out sortof blotchy and mottled. I’ve been over it a few times and it’s always mottled. I’m doing something wrong. Here's what I have so far…

[image: IMG_1812a.jpg.ffb3ee9cc98c57879cf151fa041be2b1.jpg]

Fork sliders

I went over the fork sliders too. Lorne posted me results from his work. This is his bike...

[image: D200-B04871.thumb.jpg.f6d2f80a782ede08f3a31228eaf6696b.jpg]

(picture from Lorne)

Yeah, I'm never going to end up that good. I’d been reluctant to cut through the clear coat but the things are so cruddy I didn’t have much to lose. And, as Lorne said, any clear coat was probably long gone anyway. Like other components in need of work, I really need to take the forks off the bike to do a proper job. I just went over the leading edges to see what I was up against. Lorne had suggested steel wool. For me, 1200 grit wet sandpaper got rid of all the mess. And then I polished. The picture makes them look okay, but the real result isn’t so great so far, although it’s better than before...

Before...

[image: IMG_3053.jpg.8e57a0cb2545fdb960b6789027497b04.jpg]

Annnnnnd after...

[image: IMG_1808.jpg.be51d0ec1c9e3886e65eb28ffb0441d9.jpg]

You can see that I'm still getting that uneven effect from the polishing.  My sliders were originally painted with aluminum gray colored paint. I didn’t even notice it until getting on with the job. It must be factory paint; the Showa stickers are still in place. I could repaint when I get everything apart…one of these days. Or I can just strip away the rest of the paint and then polish. Again, like Lorne did. That seems the better solution. And easier. Still, slow progress.

Looking good!  I am definitely not a polisher, but I'm sure there are tutorials on the 'Net.  You can definitely get a mirror finish if that's what you want (and want to put in the work).  I've seen wheels polished like that--oh my eyes!

Ciao,

JZH

Thanks for the encouragement John. I may have overstated my ‘mirror finish’ goal. ‘Brushed look’ seems just about right for me, like in Lorne’s pictures. After all, the thing isn’t chrome… 

To be clear, this is a picture of LORNE'S bike. Not mine. LORNE'S...

[image: 1992VFR750stock.thumb.JPG.b976acfb81e6d14d54dd27eccac0518b.JPG]

…and there are definitely scads of tutorials out there. Many are surprisingly unhelpful…or maybe not so surprisingly. I got a google link to Here's How To Restore Your Crappy Exhaust System. My kind of title, even if my system isn’t all that crappy. The guy was even working on a Yoshimura. What are the odds?

https://jalopnik.com/heres-how-to-restore-your-crappy-exhaust-system-1794718932

As it turned out, he wasn’t all that helpful either. But he did a decent job with not much money or effort. So I recommend the link. 

Other folks endorse Autosol, like Lorne did. So I may have to spring the 10 bucks for that I think. There are lots of other recommended products, most likely recommended by folks who sell em. Can’t I just use toothpaste or baking soda? How about Brasso? As always I don’t want to make things worse, but most solutions seem to begin with serious sandpaper and scouring pads, and then gradually bring out a shine with finer grades of polishes. I’ll think on it. 
 

I was thinking, "wow, that looks fantastic".  And then I realised it wasn't your bike...  :sad:

Ciao,

JZH

VFROZ, 8/7/2019 at 1:24 AM

The only concern with the ones you point out is no cooling.

I've bought these:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nighteye-72W-9000LM-H4-HB2-LED-Headlight-Kit-Hi-Lo-Beam-Globe-Bulbs-6500K-White/252920366279?epid=6026513713&hash=item3ae33a84c7:g:noAAAOSwwvtb08nX&frcectupt=true

And I'm very happy with them.

They dont shine the light forwards, but back towards the reflector.

They also have a cooling fan and fit the 5G.

Light output is high, and low beam cut off is the same as stock bulbs.

High beams are much much better.

I do wish they wern't so white, I prefer around 4000K which is still white but I can't seem to find them.

Oz,

Actually, those LEDs caught my eye because they don't have the cooling fins or fans. I was thinking they might be another newer generation of LED headlight. The technology changes so fast these days. I see others with the cooling fins designed inside the lens capsule. And your Nighteyes are available here in the States too. I'm guessing the heat generated from the LED circuits is not a problem under the instrument display.

Like you, I prefer a color not quite so dazzling as the 6500K lamps. But that seems to be the current standard, unless you want to go for a different color entirely. (blue?)

Thanks for your experience. I expect everybody will be using LEDs very soon.

I have been running LED's in place of H4 halogens for a few years, starting with the Cyclops and now just using any generic Chinese bulb. I have used fan-cooled and no-fan, one key difference is the no-fan bulbs will run just the high or just the low emitters, the fan-cooled units will keep low on all the time and add high when you select high beam; so you keep good near illumination plus add the long distance light. Regarding heat, the LED's are generally consuming a fraction of the power of a halogen and converting more of that into light, so my view is they will always run cooler than halogen. I've also experienced using a 100W halogen bulb and that had enough heat to melt the plug connector on the back...

Provided you get LEDs in which the position of the high and low emitters mimics that of the the halogens, you will get near-enough the same beam spread.  And you also need to make sure you have a low beam cut-off shield which confusingly sits in front and below  the low beam emitter, so you don't dazzle others. There are "H4" bulbs that have an H4 base but nothing remotely close to the correct configuration. 

GebruikerNotLID, 8/6/2019 at 10:38 PM

JZH has taken pains to explain to me how anything but the genuine Honda bulbs just won’t work right behind the factory lens. (Re thread beginning Sept 20 2018) Generic H4s kindof don't work because the bulb gets tilted in the fitting, causing alignment problems. But these LEDs would not only get tilted, they seem to have the light emitters in an entirely different place. Look at the photograph. They're side to side, left and right, when they should be top and bottom. I think.

I didn't mean that you could only use OEM Honda bulbs, but if you use something else (on a US-spec bike of that era) you will have to do some mods--and some mods are better than others.  There is a mod to the 3rd/4th gen headlight unit that is, in my opinion, very elegant and effective.  That is the Bob Peloquin H4 mod, which involves dremeling the headlamp housing to make regular H4 bulbs fit perfectly, but it is not for the faint of heart.  Then there are mods to regular H4 bulbs, which vary from the okay to the horrible.  Whatever you do, remember that the exact position of the light source (filament, HID capsule or LED) is very important in a reflector headlamp system, so if you just "slam it in there" your beam pattern will almost certainly suffer (and isn't that what you're trying to improve?)

Good luck with the Philips.  They're usually decent quality, but I kind of gave up on worshiping OEM stuff when I discovered that Philips itself was marketing (evil) HID conversion kits in Asia.

Ciao,

JZH

Terry, 8/7/2019 at 6:34 PM

...I have used fan-cooled and no-fan, one key difference is the no-fan bulbs will run just the high or just the low emitters, the fan-cooled units will keep low on all the time and add high when you select high beam; so you keep good near illumination plus add the long distance light. Regarding heat, the LED's are generally consuming a fraction of the power of a halogen and converting more of that into light, so my view is they will always run cooler than halogen. I've also experienced using a 100W halogen bulb and that had enough heat to melt the plug connector on the back...

Provided you get LEDs in which the position of the high and low emitters mimics that of the the halogens, you will get near-enough the same beam spread.  And you also need to make sure you have a low beam cut-off shield which confusingly sits in front and below  the low beam emitter, so you don't dazzle others.

This is good stuff to know Terry. Thanks. Lots of good information. I'd never have guessed about the emitter cutoff on high beam for uncooled LEDs. And your comment makes sense about mimicking H4 bulbs too. Some of the LEDs have emitters on the sides rather than top and bottom. Some on 4 sides. Top and bottom emitters seem best to me, at least for lights that will work in generation 3 VFRs. Thanks again.

JZH, 8/8/2019 at 9:14 AM

I didn't mean that you could only use OEM Honda bulbs, but if you use something else (on a US-spec bike of that era) you will have to do some mods--and some mods are better than others.

...and I didn't mean that you meant only OEM bulbs would work either. 🙂 You see how my own attempt with standard H4s went on the first try. I wouldn't have the guts to try the proper modifications as developed by Bob Peloquin. I'd end up with the bike in a thousand pieces, scattered across the garage. And LEDs seem the obvious choice of the future.

BTW, Philips came through with a replacement bulb. So your faith in them can be partially restored.

Body work

I’ve been alluding to the generally dismal condition of the plastics since I started reporting here. They were awful when I bought the bike and they haven’t magically improved in the past 18 months. I want to be positive about this, so ‘awful’ is not actually an entirely bad thing. It means I can experiment without worrying that I’ll make things worse. They can hardly get worse. Cosmetics were not an apparent priority for the previous owner. Or probably not PO-1 or PO-2 for that matter…

We’ve had a couple pretty hot days and evenings here in Connecticut, and it being August my riding mates are on various family vacations, so I decided to make a first attempt. I wanted to start modest and see if I could come up with a working procedure that’d give me an acceptable result overall. I’ve read lots of tutorials here and elsewhere online. Some of you have been good enough to encourage me too. My feeble attempt last year at vinyl wrap didn’t work out. And getting anything done professionally was never in the cards. So it's going to be rattle can paint from here on in. Happily, it appears that relatively good things can come from regular old spray paint. So, off we go.

Even though I can envision beautiful paint schemes, my goal is more modest. Decent rather than spectacular. It's never gonna look like this...

[image: 970003847_londonvfr2.thumb.jpg.749f705b4b714f679c4da5beb76e630a.jpg]

(pic shamelessly stolen from UK based VFRd member, VFR. I can't find your source page now).

Instead, I've been using Lorne's 92 for inspiration. Not that Lorne's bike isn't just as fine as this white one. But at least his scheme is within reach. Thank you Lorne!

Paint choice

First things first. I was thinking I'd get to pick my color. Yay. When the whole bike is a mess, you are free to begin from scratch. That was my original thought anyway. The bike came from the factory painted Honda granite blue, otherwise known to most people as metal flake black. Various previous owners must have used generic black on the plastic bits. Those bits appear to have been scrounged not just from Honda black VFRs, but also from Honda red VFRs and Honda white VFRs. They are not in great shape.

If I were ambitious and experienced and brave, I’d go for something radical…like that pearl white above, or even RWB. But I’m not patient enough and you know my level of experience already. Brave? Yeah, sure. So for this first attempt, I’m sticking with black… So much for color choice. The thing is, the gas tank is in decent shape. It has some scratches but I think those can be mostly polished up and out, and I don't want to mess with anything more than I really have to. That means the plastics paint scheme has to complement the gas tank color. And that pretty much eliminates lots of good colors. VFR red…out. White…nope. Yellow? Not my thing. None of the VFR colors match black as easily as well, black. There it is. It's probably easiest. For a first attempt anyway.

So, off to the DIY store. In Connecticut that usually means Lowe’s. And there you get lots of choice in spray paints, and even when limited to only black color spray paint. They all promise good results. It was gently suggested I try Krylon paint over other brands. That was okay by me. I have no opinion. I read labels until I got a headache and then, just because I couldn’t decide…I grabbed this stuff.

 [image: IMG_2206.jpg.eebbec320c9b63726981f620ed492f48.jpg]

Fusion Gloss Metallic Black Stainless. No runs. No drips. No errors. Fusion because you don’t need to prime separately...and it sounds cool. Gloss Metallic because the gas tank has that metal flake in it. Black because well, there was no Krylon Honda granite blue. It was not so expensive. On sale for about $5 a can. I splurged. I’m guessing I’ll need three or four cans for everything. No runs. No drips. No errors. We'll see about that. I also took some Fusion Aluminum Silver Gray Metallic. I might maybe get creative with some exotic grey among the black if I think I can stand the excitement 😁 We’ll see. One step at a time.

Then there's Clearcoat. Clearcoat is a tough call. It confuses me more than anything else. One generally accepted drawback to any rattle can paint is it won’t be as tough as a proper professional spray. Clearcoat protects it. Near as I can tell, I should go for 2K clearcoat…which is a kind of epoxy that is shiny and tough and especially resistant to things common around motorcycles, like oil and gasoline. But it's dangerous to use. The 2K will kill you if you breath the vapor...

Product Description

A high-gloss 2-component clear coat for the permanent sealing of coated surfaces. Especially developed for parts and repair refinishing. This product has a long-lasting resistance to weathering & chemicals. It is quite easy to polish. SprayMax 2K Clear Coat has a highly smooth flow and an excellent filling capacity; it is especially used for larger surfaces (1 or 2 car parts).

This product contains isocyanates which are toxic to the respiratory system. A respirator mask is mandatory when using this product, or any product with isocyanates. 

https://www.spraymax.com/en/products/product/clear-coats-and-spot-blender/2k-clear-coat/

In any case, Lowe’s doesn’t sell 2K clearcoats, so I just got regular old clearcoat. Yeah. Not sure. It can be returned if I don’t use it anyway.

Meanwhile, no more stalling. Time to get an idea of what I was up against. Um, if you have a weak stomach for this kind of thing, it might be good to look away now. As I've said, the bike has most all the required plastic pieces in one form or another. The smallish tail section seemed as good a place as any to dig in. If the paint doesn't set up properly here, then I'll rethink the whole process.

The tail sections on third generation bikes came in three main separate pieces: left, right, center. Plus a couple smaller bits. Later I think Honda just made one big U shaped piece.  Anyway, here is what the tail looked like...

[image: IMG_2200.jpg.f7c41257ae76e56b81e980e927b1aefe.jpg]

[image: IMG_2203.jpg.10b958fafd608e28a017654b0d835b57.jpg]

The pictures don’t really do it justice. The previous paint job may have been done while the bits were actually on the frame. With a brush. There is no sign of any finishing work. The effect is sortof a lumpy semi-gloss finish, accentuated by several drips and runs. There are gouges in the plastics that were just painted over. Even by my middling standards, come on… sanding out a plastic gouge takes about 30 seconds. Also the three sections are mostly held together with zip ties. The old tabs are just gone. I might weld it to one piece.

ABS plastic

I learned from youtube that ABS plastic…which is the material we’re talking about here…can be essentially welded with what I think is acetone. By welding, I mean the plastic just melts when exposed to acetone and then rehardens in a new shape when the acetone evaporates. And that means it can be pretty easily repaired and made as good as new. You can also make and add ABS patches from any old scraps. Where do you get ABS scraps? It’s everywhere. The black stuff they make TV sets out of…ABS. Computer cases, VCRs, radios…there are mountains of the stuff in junk yards littering the world. Cut the bits up in any handy shape, smear on some acetone based goo, wait 30 seconds or so and you’re done. Yes, it’s messy. And some folks like to use other things for reinforcements, like fiberglass webbing. I just used ABS to repair all the cracks and holes. It works fine I think.

(Ed. Dutchy and Snowman11 have recommended other options. Dutchy suggests Superglue with baking soda. Snowman uses Plastex. I have no experience with either of these yet. But maybe in the near future, especially if my method doesn't work out.)

Anyhow, I prepped some. That meant dismantling, cleaning up and fixing cracks. Then I wet sanded with 220 grit paper. I started out with 500 grit but progress was too slow and the scratches too deep. 220 worked better. After that, I went again with 500 grit. The bits in the tail are generally small so it didn’t take forever. I did it all by hand. Even a palm sander would be too big for such a job.

I wasn't sure when I had prepped enough. The gouges all came out but even 500 grit sandpaper still left plenty of tracks, and the earlier paint was still not completely smooth in places. I didn’t want to take all the old paint off if I could help it, but I just didn’t know. Anyhow, first attempt, right? 

(Ed. It turned out that even 220 grit sanding was probably sufficient. The finer scratches were just smoothed over by the relatively thick Fusion paint. YRMV)

After sanding, I wiped everything with some alcohol.

I read that the paint works better if you warm it up. That seems a clever idea. So I put it in a bath of pretty hot water for a few minutes. The directions say lots of light coats, every minute or so. Lots of shaking. Got it.

I ended up using maybe half a can. I don’t know how many coats I did. They were all light coats. Right away I noticed something unexpected. The paint isn’t black. It’s a kind of dark grey, closer to the color of my wheels. I suppose I don’t mind all that much, it'll still match the gas tank, but I didn’t expect it.  Now I'm thinking the bike might come out looking like a 2 wheel Honda Civic. The boys back at Krylon marketing might try labeling it differently in the future. 

[image: IMG_2210.jpg.faeb1d71eeccb2570d747378eff2b242.jpg]

But, yes. No runs, no drips, no errors. In that respect it looks okay so far. Decent. I have to wait now. I don’t know what to do next. You can see, the paint is not glossy but textured metal flake. It came out thick enough so all the small scratches and swirls were smoothed. I thought I’d be lightly sanding and then polishing and maybe painting more. But I might get away with just polish to get it to shine up. And no clearcoat. At the moment, that’s what I have in mind. Ever the lazy optimist. Krylon says 48 hours to completely dry, and seven days to cure. So I’ll put it back on the bike after tomorrow and try polishing next week. Meanwhile, here it is so far...

[image: IMG_2220.jpg.6c9b3e3925b883c9ba9f9897dc852b01.jpg]

Yes? I really like the way the tail section now looks like a 1950s kiddie car, or bobsled...or something 🙂  I'm satisfied that I can continue with the bigger bits. And, much as I hate to ruin a perfectly good red seat cowl, I plan to paint that too.

Body work, continued

Man! I thought this thing was ugly on the outside! Every single piece of plastic on it is damaged in some way. No foolin. This job has been taking me waaaay longer than I'd anticipated. Rats. I am missing some good riding weather this weekend.

I've been proceeding with the ABS weld process rather than Leon's superglue or Snowman's Plastex. But I have both those in my head as backup. My ABS plumber's goo seems to be doing the job. One difficulty I'm having is that a previous owner used bondo in places. It's crumbling and detaching. Important tip: bondo is not the repair of choice for ABS. What a pain. I have to clean it out as best I can and rebuild around it.

Here's one for you experts. Can you identify this piece?

[image: IMG_2271a.jpg.eefede829cf89b03204698e9f6498254.jpg]

Is it:

a) a piece of a Sony television set, circa 1998

b) a piece of a Philips VCR, circa 1998

c) a new piece to my mid fairing, 1992

d) all of the above

If you knew the answer as d, then you have some idea what I'm doing this weekend. The piece took me easily an hour to make. It's actually cut more or less to size. Custom made for this gap here, on the right mid fairing:

[image: IMG_2272a.png.d389b239306f434cb4cec888eeee67c2.png]

I made a reinforcing tab on the back to try to stabilize it. The thing won't be anywhere near invisible, but I'm hoping to make it presentable once sanded and painted. In any case, it'll beat a big hole in the fairing. 

This is the kind of thing I'm doing that's slowing me down. And don't even get me started on the front blinker surrounds. 😒

(Ed. I have since been told that, in this kind of situation, most sensible repairers would fashion a slightly oversized rectangular patch, then cut out the irregular damage bigger, in the rectangular shape of the patch. Saving much time and effort, and getting a better result too. I'm an idiot...)

Body work continued continued

So I was texting to a good friend about my progress so far today, and I sent him a few pictures with questions. This is a guy who sometimes works on classic cars and boats for fun. He does fantastic work. Show quality work. He said I was doing good too! Yay. He said I have some talent. Yay. He said he thinks I’m more than half done by now… Huh?

Half done? Half?! You bet your butt I’m more than half done. Try 90% done. Half done. I never said I was Rembrandt. I just want to get this thing back together and ride it. I’m wasting some gorgeous weather here sitting in the garage when I should be on the road. And while I admit that tinkering with the bike is kindof fun in a spray-paint-induced-loopy kind of way, it’s not what I’m in this for. Enough is enough. Half done.

You all can see for yourselves. This is the kind of result I’m getting. I don’t have many before pictures but this is now…

[image: IMG_2283.jpg.7c8f7e827b699b10557e60fd0502060e.jpg]

You see that panel patch I fashioned myself? That's from the previous entry. Bear in mind the circled part had been nothing at all. A hole. If it were perfect, you wouldn’t see it. If my nitpicking friend did it, you wouldn’t see it. According to him, if I keep at it, you won’t see it. Tough. As a concession, I may take another whack at some mid panel lumpiness. (see below)

[image: IMG_2282a.jpg.b874ba46e9b8775a9dce934b3a1663f7.jpg]

It means waiting for the paint to dry then re-sanding down to the plastic to get it smoother then repainting. I’m told that’s part of the deal. If you don't do proper prep, you risk seeing big flaws after painting. Too damn bad. You see those flaws in the finish? That’s my signature work. I made those. If anybody doesn’t like them, they’re welcome to come down here and give me a hand. I'm starting from scraps here, give me a break. For now I’m going back to the garage… I have other bits to do while waiting for the paint to dry. Half done. I don't think so. 😒 😁

Since you are also staying in the Netherlands, you damn sure are expected to be a Rembrandt, van Gogh, Escher or bloody Rietveld!!!!  :goofy:

Dutchy, 8/24/2019 at 9:50 PM

Since you are also staying in the Netherlands, you damn sure are expected to be a Rembrandt, van Gogh, Escher or bloody Rietveld!!!!  :goofy:

Is that why they’ve been trying to throw me out all these years? I’m not Rembrandt? Jeez, You guys have high standards for foreigners. I wish somebody would tell me these things. I could've been taking a few painting classes…

I was going for this…

[image: vfr750bb.jpg.edc3d9946bdf81373fc09f2a70071db7.jpg]

(Lorne's 92.  http://www3.telus.net/lorneblack/vfr750_stock.html )

But now you make me see I should’ve been trying for this…

[image: custom.jpg.bae10c5c408f8236d77a2cf62a24af42.jpg]

(https://www.pinterest.com/pin/325174035594837852/?d=t&mt=login)

Curiously, I couldn’t find an online picture of a VFR in such dutch technicolor. Go figure.

Closest VFR paint job I can recall is owned by someone on this forum (whose name escapes me, but he's from somewhere near Sacramento). 

[image: 694743556_RC36-IIVFRRacer.thumb.jpg.5d58340e0867bdca360ffb2f12f49c92.jpg]

Ciao,

JZH

JZH, 8/26/2019 at 11:17 AM

Closest VFR paint job I can recall is owned by someone on this forum (whose name escapes me, but he's from somewhere near Sacramento).

Jeez Louise. How can you tell there's a VFR inside there? 🙂 These paint schemes are fun. And could actually have the benefit of covering up shoddy body work that someone of lesser skill might produce. 

As it's turning out, that someone is looking like me. The bike is back together...sortof. And the paint is curing for a few more days before I can try polishing but boy, what a boring color it's turned out. I'm going to have to see what the marketing folks at Krylon have to say for themselves labeling this paint black. If I can get a luster on it, it'll be better.  And maybe some seriously bright decals. Think neon. But the best I can say just now is that it's better than before and I'm only out about 20 bucks. I'll take a couple pictures of course. I have to take a break. I did other stuff too... 

Break from body work

Waiting for the paint to dry I’ve had time for a few other things I’d been avoiding.

Silicon Rectifier

[image: IMG_2296a.png.c7e2d1e3f500da12354c4f8b41f7295a.png]

Remember this? Of course not. Why would you. It was one of the first posts on this thread. There's a little diode buried in there. I got a new one as soon as I took the bike home 18 months ago. The neutral light kept coming on at every pull of the clutch. It's discussed here:

Way back then I took a look inside the fairing and couldn’t even find the thing in the wiring harness so small is it. Then I ignored it all for a year. After a while, I even stopped noticing the light. But yesterday with time to dig around, and the guidance of JZH, I looked again and found it, sure enough, hidden behind one of the coils, all wrapped in black tape. The job only took 10 minutes. I couldn’t get the harness out so I just cut open the tape on the exposed side with a razor blade and swapped out the diode. With Oxgard! Or was it dielectric grease? 

Oil Change

Another job I’d procrastinated on. The previous owner said the oil had been changed just before I got the bike, and since it was honey colored then, I took him at his word. That was 18 months and several thousand miles ago. He used a Hondaline filter and said he used genuine Honda oil. I don’t use either.

This is one of those topics endlessly discussed and most everyone has an opinion. My own was adopted from the guy at California Scientific, for some reason located in Missouri, the Show Me State 🙂  https://www.calsci.com/  I guess Missouri Scientific just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

If you don’t know the site, and have a few minutes, you might take a look. I recommend it. The guy’s written about different sorts of biking issues, and he doesn’t come across uninformed…although sometimes his personal sensibilities might make you raise an eyebrow. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been updating much. Most of his information is now 10 or 15 years old. But much is still relevant. And he writes about oils and filters at some length. For oil in his own bikes he uses Rotella T6 synthetic. This stuff. Now I do too.

https://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oil.html

[image: IMG_2297a.jpg.f735ffaaf93137a47ec4f808848fc83c.jpg]

Since he published his own report, the oil has been JASO MA/MA2 approved so you can trust the Japanese Bureau of Standards if you are wary of the opinion of some random guy not from California.

[image: IMG_2298a.png.a221d7b74334a9b69b7fe19c95000ea3.png]

(It’s JASO DH-2 certified as well, so you are approved to use it in your diesel truck, if you have any left over from the bike)

The same guy dissected a bunch of oil filters. He recommended Bosch and Purolator Pure One. Sounds good to me. I got a Purolator this time around. I’ve since heard rumors that Purolator has slipped some after being bought out by another company. If my bike blows up, I’ll let you know.

I’m sure Honda is marketing and selling perfectly good synthetic oil and filters. But so is the automart.

Body work, part four…and counting

So, the bits are back on the bike. And I've been for a few shake downs. Since painting and cleaning, it runs smoother faster stronger quieter. Whoda thought? 😉

I never really posted any detailed pictures of the plastics from last year when I took the bike home. Here’s one side, with a few, not all, problem areas circled…

[image: IMG_0712a.thumb.jpg.a1bcd021b0f0445cdcf6a5cbfdabd2b9.jpg]

I don’t have a similar picture of the other side. You’ll have to imagine it. It was about the same.

As of now, the overall finish of the new paint is okay. So with a certain reservation, I can recommend the Krylon Fusion Metallic paint. It covered up my mistakes pretty good. It didn’t drip or run. It smoothed over small scratches. There’s no orange peel. It’s just a textured metallic matte finish now, but it should get glossier when I polish it up or clearcoat. My biggest gripe, my only gripe really, is that their metallic black isn’t black. I wanted black.

Here’s the full selection of Krylon Fusion Metallic paints.

[image: IMG_2263.jpg.98704980ffa76fe2c0fdbf30d2e32086.jpg]

The palette doesn’t easily lend itself to the average VFR. Rose Gold motorcycle anybody? But the silvers and grays are more typical. To be fair, the black stuff I got actually does come out about the color of the cap on the can. So maybe it was wishful thinking on my part to assume black meant…black. They have it on sale for $5 from time to time.

For real VFR colors, the Krylons may come closest to the sheen of the Honda factory sword silver color? Maybe? At least that's the idea I'm getting. I don't think I've ever actually seen a bike that color in real life. My paint is substantially darker I think. This picture is off the net...

[image: swordsilvervfr2.jpg.edcbae1456d42bafb65c6e2bf40f75aa.jpg]

Need I add that mine isn't looking any where near as good as that. But if you squint hard and wait until dark, from a distance...nah, mine still doesn't look like that. Never mind. 😁

I'll go through a couple problem areas for anybody interested.

Problem areas. 

Here’s the partial list. It’s a pretty long list.

Mid fairing

That right mid-fairing is still in rough shape. Besides the poor outer appearance, the structure had been reinforced in back with bondo. It won't even fit right.  I actually had problems slotting it back into place between the upper and lower fairings. I took a slightly...well let's say relaxed approach to that. I removed the upper bolts from the lower fairing and replaced those with zip ties. That allowed me some leeway in fitting in the mid fairing between the upper and lower ones.

[image: IMG_2331a.png.c110a121eb3c475af85c6f1af9454175.png][image: IMG_2332a.png.a6d7b28ced9af2afaa4c8c0578a934b6.png]

(These are pictures of the upper connections on the right side of the lower fairing. They're covered by the mid fairing when it is installed.)

You can see how the fairing can now hang just a little lower than it would with the bolt installed. I could've also bent the bracket down I think. That extra half centimeter gives me enough space. But why is that space even necessary? Dunno...

And are zip ties good enough? Nobody will see them under there, but I don’t know if they’ll work long term. My worry of course, is going out for a ride one of these days and coming home with several fairing pieces missing. Left behind somewhere on the road. So I’ll be monitoring everything carefully. Previous owners had also used more than a few zip ties in place of lost dzus bolts. (The front lower fairing is currently held in place only by zip ties. I really have to get a supply of those bolts soon. They're not the kind of thing you can find at Lowe's)

My take is that the ties should work okay so long as they are not pulled too tightly. None of the factory fairing bolts directly contact any plastic panels. They all have a fat head buffered by fat rubber washers. The body panels must need a little room to flex and absorb shock or else they'd crack. In places where a zip tie had been cinched tight on this bike, a crack always developed. Of course, the ties also look sloppy. That’s a different matter.

Still another right mid-fairing problem is that dodgy aft dzus bolt.

[image: IMG_2336a.png.7d78172ca88dcef15c8955b21394d3ed.png]

That was one great big hole that I simply glommed ABS glue into. There is no other reinforcement there at all. My guess is that somebody tried to remove the panel once, and forgot to remove that aft bolt, then ripped it right through the fairing. Nice. It then became one of the zip tie repairs. I let the glom of glue dry, smoothed it ...not enough... and drilled a hole through it. I’ll be keeping a close eye on that one too. You can see it's not recessed like it should be. 

The lower fairings had these rusty Phillips head screws. 

[image: IMG_2333a.jpg.0471cdc45ca5fdb7a6a64c648a472ab8.jpg]

JZH characterizes them as evil. Boy…and how! I barely managed to get them out and I’m not taking any chances putting them back. I replaced them with regular bolts along with a fat rubber washer. Yet another thing to watch. A little trick I picked up somewhere along the line is to put a tiny drop of rubber cement onto a bolt thread at installation, to essentially make a lock bolt. The cement isn’t anywhere near strong enough to hold against a wrench when you want to remove it, but it keeps the bolt from backing out on its own. The rubber cement always stays rubbery.

[image: IMG_2335a.jpg.c62561fec6bcd69ff7394480c26ab558.jpg]

(Lower fairing with a leftover bolt. I think that bolt belongs in the tail fairing. Oh, I hope not.)

Headlight valence

The headlight fairing valence thing is missing some kind of support structure. There are only two side screws, left and right, hidden underneath there. There were also two screw-in nylon rivets that were attached to nothing but air...

[image: IMG_2302a.png.30dded8dcea30a04f632d3366bbf7346.png]

...These nylon rivet things, attached to nothing at all...

So I removed those and ran thin zip ties up around the headlight fitting inside. You can't see the ties. They’re just acting as safety lanyards so I don’t lose the whole thing over a bump. I’m thinking I should make a simple ABS plastic support for inside there. It shouldn’t be hard to do. It doesn't have to be pretty because nobody will ever see it. But I’ll have to remove the whole assembly again. Maybe on a rainy day.

The upper tab is not great either. The whole thing is out of position because that lower support is missing...

[image: IMG_2306a.png.d5e63c37d18a7addb81046b260843ec2.png]

Annnnnd the tail fairing is a little jiggly too. I didn’t weld it. Just more zip ties. They worked before okay. Need I add, I'll keep an eye on it as well.

Whew. What else? I'll think of more...

JIS, not Philips....   And therein lies a root cause of mangled bolts....

Do you have part #10?

[image: Screenshot_20190829-114609.thumb.png.e9782103158e23d2d8bfd4cfe9cd0cc9.png]

[image: Screenshot_20190829-114805.thumb.png.e71871d2f8195efd1b77dda3630a9267.png]

Dutchy, 8/29/2019 at 5:42 AM

JIS, not Philips....   And therein lies a root cause of mangled bolts....

JIS? I never heard of it. This is good stuff Leon!

I also just discovered that Phillips heads are designed to "cam-out". Near as I can tell, that's engineering talk for strip... They're designed to strip?!

Phillips screws by design were created to cam-out; a process in which the driver is meant to jump out of the screw when a certain torque was reached. There are many theories to why, such as dangers of over tightening on airplanes, or tool longevity, but nevertheless at one time or another everyone will experience a Phillips round-out as a function of its cam-out design. 

http://rtstools.com/jis-vs-phillips-screwdrivers-and-where-to-buy-a-jis-screwdriver/

Thankyouverymuch for pointing this out. It's always fun to learn obscure new facts. Not that I'll be putting those mangled JIS screws back in. The bolts I have in there should work fine.

2 hours ago, Dutchy

Do you have part #10?

 .......annnnnd yes, I have no part number 10. For that matter, I don't see a part number 8 laying around. And it's not obvious to me how #8 even fits in there unless it's a substitute for #7? 

I'm also wondering if bolts number 52 are the ones I used for the lower fairing...replacing the JIS(!) screws. If they're the same thread, then that could be the case...

So thank you again. I'll try to scrounge a part #10 from somewhere, although I also think I could make something up pretty easily from scraps of my tv/vcr casing. 🙂

Next time you are in the Netherlands:

[image: IMG-20190829-WA0003.thumb.jpeg.5e17e44536172d06cbb62251a8d76dd5.jpeg]

4th gen, might fit yours

In some markets, rules require headlights hi and normal beam lenses to appear "separate". In Italy for instance it is not required, hence #8 is fitted as standard

Dutchy, 8/29/2019 at 9:36 AM

Next time you are in the Netherlands:

[image: IMG-20190829-WA0003.thumb.jpeg.5e17e44536172d06cbb62251a8d76dd5.jpeg]

4th gen, might fit yours

Oh boy! According to partzilla, it’s the same piece...although I’m afraid to ask how you may have come by a spare...

[image: CCC322C0-26FB-4EE6-B220-8C8B8121D9B7.thumb.png.b7425758070504e93d51277a75d5c4b0.png.30778f4381cb1b486c1b06adf05f9c79.png]

I’ll be back there in a few weeks. Please don’t lose it. Thanks!  

One of redslut's last remaining pieces....

[image: IMAG5005.thumb.jpg.deed89da70e49eb9f24bfe7e553c38c2.jpg.8cdda7b35a2bc245d3a8a6a4df6a7f61.jpg]

Yes, 8 is for Italy, 7 is for everywhere else.  The Italian headlight unit was a single-bulb design, actually.  (I have a #8 for my FP because I like the look of the dual bulbs without the #7 divider.)

The Air Guide is actually a more common part than you might expect.  Not only will RedSlut's part fit your bike, but you already have one!  Bizarrely, Honda used the same VFR part on the CBR1000FP...

Ciao,

JZH

17 hours ago, Dutchy

One of redslut's last remaining pieces...

Ouch. I was afraid of that. On the positive side, isn’t it reassuring that bits live on in new incarnations…and on new continents. We’ll have to dedicate the air guide to your old bike. Maybe etch the name in there, hidden from the world. 

I’ll be back there soon. We’ll work something out. 🙂

1 hour ago, JZH

The Air Guide is actually a more common part than you might expect.  Not only will RedSlut's part fit your bike, but you already have one!  Bizarrely, Honda used the same VFR part on the CBR1000FP...

How do you people know this stuff? You guys are like mystics. Motorcycle mystics. Motorcycle mystics with clairvoyance. I don't mind sayin I'm getting a little spooked here. 😁

I'm not sure it would be all that convenient to transfer the CBRs air guide to the VFR every time I slogged back and forth across the ocean. But it's good to know I could! 🙂 I'll try to get a second one...

Seat Cowl

Sorry everybody. I took a perfectly usable bright red seat cowl and turned it Krylon black. It didn’t take long and it didn’t even hurt much once I finished sanding. I am aware that there is somebody out there who could’ve used it just the way it was. Unfortunately, today that person wasn’t me. 

Here it is, or rather here it was...

[image: IMG_2409.jpg.4c1723511871c06eea590ae6b0990543.jpg]

And here it is again after maybe 2 minutes of wet sanding with 500 grit paper and a wipe with alcohol.

[image: IMG_2410.jpg.62af51bb56125ba48c53386e70bf0f5f.jpg]

It took more diligence to get that red covered up with krylon. It just didn't want to surrender. The rest of the bike, being blackish to begin with, covered up faster.

[image: IMG_2418.JPG.a7606c9d061113fcaa7de7b5fafe78ce.JPG]

Having done that, I now have the final piece of the first respray done. Just about three 12 ounce cans of paint. There is still polishing to do…one of these days. But knowing myself as I do, that day may be a ways off. The cowling will be my experimental piece for that next step.

And now that I have a matching dark grey seat cowl, I will almost never use it. Am I the only one who finds these things annoying? I keep hitting my butt on the bump pad. I mean, sure, it looks cool I guess, but is it making me a better rider? Is it supposed to train me to move my weight more smoothly? Am I having more fun? I don’t think so. Mostly it just bugs me. Plus it’s so fragile, I keep wondering when I’ll snap the tabs. We'll see.
 

Progress Report

I took a couple pictures of the bike. It’s not anywhere near finished, but it’s better than it was...

[image: IMG_0712a.thumb.jpg.0810d2ce42ce5826bb8917f4192d7892.jpg]

Before...

[image: IMG_2353xl.thumb.jpg.9c3b18b01f0829ac7e21bb3890498283.jpg]

...After

I'm giving myself a 6 out of 10 so far, on the Lorne scale. (where Lorne gets a 10) You cannot easily see flaws in the photograph, but they're there alright. Look closer. (I can point them out if any of you are all that interested) And what do I do next?

Well, I tried polishing and waxing the seat cowl. It didn't make much difference in the appearance. The next step will probably be to either try compounding or 0000 steel wool...and then polishing again. Let's see if that brings out the gloss. Not that I mind so much the metallic matte finish, but the job is just not finished finished. Besides that, I haven't tested the paint for resilience. Will it dissolve when exposed to a drop of gasoline? How about rain? I don't plan to put any decals on it yet. I don't even think they'd stick very well. I have a set of aftermarket decals already, the traditional blocky VFR style from the 90s. In silver/grey. I got them anticipating a black bike. Real black. I have to keep reminding myself that, yes, this is real black paint. 😒

But since it's just not black to anybody who isn't completely color blind, I'll probably send away for another set of non-traditional decals. I haven't decided on a color for those. I was leaning to neon to brighten things up, although well, black, yes again, real black, now comes to mind. No foolin. The paint scheme is similar to this understated Ducati, and it doesn't look so bad... Ooooo, I can get Ducati decals! That'll fool 'em. 😁

[image: 1556838565_ducwithblackdecal.thumb.jpg.7b638cd505ce75c84082986eb522838a.jpg]

Here is another current picture. Of the VFR, not the Ducati. Yeesh. It's never gonna be done, is it? There will always be at least one more task to do on this bike... 

[image: IMG_2358big.thumb.jpg.450ad4d1fe1c7a9c7ba93d691238d110.jpg]

2 hours ago, Gebruiker

. 😒oooo, I can get Ducati decals! That'll fool 'em. 

[image: asterix44.jpg.08b39dbd9a0f4e3150e0bdfa3749f15e.jpg]

Dutchy, 9/4/2019 at 12:50 PM

[image: asterix44.jpg.08b39dbd9a0f4e3150e0bdfa3749f15e.jpg]

Am I to interpret this as a minor disapproval of Ducati decals? 😛  I don’t suppose BMW decals would be better...  I’ll take it under advisement. 😉 

BMW?

:goofy:

[image: imageproxy.php?img=&key=7efb97be9d19f7a0737d0938b42b793bdaef][image: Knipsel.JPG.54fc178b3e6607e8b3d028353e643c9a.JPG]

Dutchy, 9/5/2019 at 1:55 AM

BMW?

Okay, fine...VFR it is. I might consider other possibilities, but not until after I get your air guide. 😉 

It's looking pretty good!  Well done.

Ciao,

JZH

21 hours ago, JZH

It's looking pretty good!

Well, it's better anyway. Nothing has fallen off or cracked this past week after several rides, but I'm sortof expecting stress cracks to appear where I've used zip ties and made fairing repairs. I'm keeping a close eye on things. I'll relax a bit as I get more miles on the repairs and once I scrounge the missing dzus bolts to replace my zip ties. No progress on polishing even the seat cowling. My expert friend says I'll have to use his electric polisher to get a gloss but others have commented it all looks fine in the current matte-like metallic finish. That's about all the encouragement I need to do nothing extra 😉

For the moment, I'm just enjoying the ride. 😁

Air Guide

I was advised I was missing something called an Air Guide (see post 29 August, above) for under the headlight valence. Happily, one was up for grabs! In Holland! I picked it up and brought it back to the States. Security didn't even question me at the airport... I guess it doesn't look very dangerous.

[image: IMG_3270.thumb.jpg.a8b47d86ca24d90a2bf30c1a4b44e0e8.jpg]

I labeled it properly, as you can see, and I'll patch it so that it will be a proud new part of the bike. However it being Christmas time here, and cold in the garage, I don't anticipate installing it just yet. Thankyouverymuch Leon. Your cosmic energy will continue to travel around New England now.

Leon also gave me a second bit...unlabeled in the picture. Mmmmmm. It looks like another air guide but I'm not exactly sure how or where to to install that one. There's no part number on it. I'll think about it. It might fit inside the instrument panel.

Tool kit

I also finally found a tool kit cheap. Yay. The bag is in rough shape. The screwdriver handle is missing. Otherwise it's just fine. All I really really wanted was the chain adjusting tool. I've hardly ever used these kits except for the specialty tools. But they're always good to have along of course. Now that I have it, I'm pretty sure I'll never need it at the side of the road. Knock on wood. 🙂

[image: IMG_2289.jpg.1fb63cd7201ca7f643dc378685ee0285.jpg]

Numba 8

[image: image.png.9e5550efc81df06ac404db733bc47342.png]

[image: image.png.53c82187a0cd380d42c25288e1ed1d6f.png]

Glad my cosmic energy gets around!

Dutchy, 12/5/2019 at 9:50 AM

Numba 8

Ohhhhhhhh. There it is. Um, I might find a use for it, but this isn't quite the same design on the earlier bikes....

[image: MjAyMjMyNQ-232ef457.png]

Disconcertingly, my bike does have a gap under the shield there, above the meters. Just one more thing. An apparent misalignment from before my time...Or maybe I'm missing number 27. It doesn't seem to pose any problems, but that's the way it is. Number 8 might fill the gap... When I'm in there installing the air guide, I'll take another look.

(Gap here... There doesn't seem to be a way to adjust that, so I'm thinking the support bracket might be squeezing the glare shield in a bit.)

[image: IMG_2329a.png.9578584967e994fbd184f3f3a41d70b6.png]

In any event, I sure won't throw anything away. I can bring the bit back to you, or hang on to it for that time when somebody in here needs just that piece.  🙂

If no fit, another 4th Gen owner Stateside may have a use for it.

Dutchy, 12/6/2019 at 10:16 AM

If no fit, another 4th Gen owner Stateside may have a use for it.

Check. I won't actually put it on the Classifieds page, this not being a high demand item. But I'll keep my eyes open for that desperate and hopeful gen4 owner in search of just this piece. 🙂

Voltage update

Fake RAM Mount Update

I'd been playing with a fake RAM mount since last summer. (re: 23 July, 6 August). My homemade Erlenmeyer flask stopper stem mount wasn't great. Now I've found another odd bit that fits perfectly and so should do the job right. It's a leftover leg adjustment from a kitchen cabinet. One of these things:

 [image: IMG_3367.JPG.6a100879e43eccd5f31736538f6c4d63.JPG]

Since I stumbled onto this one in a junk drawer, I don't know exactly who sold it. I'm guessing Ikea. Of course, they come with your cabinets. But I'm thinking they must be generally available. Either that or I have a wonky cabinet somewhere...

It attaches to the ball mount with just a bolt.

[image: IMG_3391.jpg.39312687c11f969946310ed5c08bcddc.jpg]

And this is it on the bike with my voltage meter. It's high enough to be out of the way of the key. Low enough not to block the gauges. I think I can also spin it 180 degrees so it sits just above the tank. I forgot to check that clearance.

[image: IMG_3375.jpg.39756ecddde033e1b00b4029d80232d9.jpg]

[image: IMG_3377.jpg]

Switch Pods

In another dangerous and weak moment I got something else from Ebay. A switch set. Less than $10, shipping included. From China. This is what they sent:

[image: IMG_3423a.jpg.dec9bf3161f4edefdc41bf56aadc5c82.jpg]

Back in the day, Honda apparently decided that the American VFR would have its own switch set. Maybe because the engineers decided Americans were too dumb to know how to turn on their own lights. So all our bikes run with lights on all the time. There’s no off switch. I never had a problem with that. I am not offended that I have no freedom of choice here. As a rider in Connecticut, I remain free not to wear my helmet if somebody from Honda still wants to call me dumb. 😛 

https://www.iihs.org/topics/motorcycles#helmet-laws

Anyway, those light switches are different in the USA than those for everybody else on the planet. In its wisdom, Honda also decided not to give us a passing switch. That’s the little spring trigger on the left switch pod that flashes the highbeams. This is a feature I like. I have it on the CBR and I’ve been missing it some on this bike. So it’s been in the back of my mind to snag a junk switch if I stumbled onto one in Holland. Up until now, I hadn’t. And then the Chinese put these on Ebay. Jeez Louise, $10 for both switch pods, left and right? How can you go wrong? Uh huh...

The set is of reasonable quality. Like in the picture. Definitely not OEM quality, but they feel solid enough. Switching itself feels um, robust? The wiring seems perfectly adequate. I have no plan to swap over both pods. I only wanted the flash-to-pass switch, so the starter/lights/kill switch pod will not be changed.

Since they are generic switch pods, I have to check the wiring. For once, I found the Haynes service manual better than my official Honda manual. Haynes gives both wiring diagrams, US and ROW, and in color. Lotsa wires.

[image: IMG_3574.jpg.c19f3ea235102ceb92a7b603867b9886.jpg]

[image: IMG_3575.jpg.6267f2acdf1eadb76845ba07ff7c2423.jpg]

For the new switch set, I also have 9 wires in a 9 pin spade connector. I think it’s 2.8 mm. I checked http://cycleterminal.com/ for comparison. I haven’t yet checked on the bike, so I don’t know what size plug-in I need. Is it 9 pin, 2.8mm? Boy, that’d be handy! If not, then I’ll have to find the proper connector someplace and plug the new generic wires into that. No way I’ll cannibalize my current OEM switch set, even if I didn’t have a plan to use it again. Neither service manual tells me what the connector specs are. 

Besides the 9 wires in the spade connector, my new switch pod came with an extra external yellow wire with a bullet terminal and twin black weatherproof double bullet connectors for…something.

[image: IMG_3577.png.0a78b480615c328c8610951a487da072.png]

 That gives me 12 wires total. Haynes shows 9 wires needed for ROW. I don’t see why the clutch switch would run through the pod. What would be the point? But I’ll check on that too. That’d bring me up to 11 wires. Ya know, all I want is the damn passing trigger. This is getting complicated. 

For the US spec wiring, Haynes shows 13 wires all together. So…more wires than ROW for fewer switches. Um, I only got 12 wires from China. Dang. Still with me?

I tried tracing out all the wires from the new Ebay switch. So far, I come up with this...

For the lights, it’s five wires: dark blue, white, black, yellow/white and yellow (bullet). The flash circuit is black and yellow/white.

And then there are all the others. Five wires for the turn signals and horn and maybe clutch switch: Orange, green, light blue, green/red and gray. 

Plus the two black weatherproof wires.

(As a random question: Why would the external bullet yellow wire be in there? No clue.)

As you can see above, according to Haynes, the US bike wires should be colored:
 
Highbeam: Dark blue, blue/white and white. (3 wires)
Horn: Green, green/white (2 wires)
Turn signal: Gray, light blue, orange, brown/white, light blue/white, orange/white. (6 wires)
And clutch: Black and black. (2 wires…maybe those external wires)

Bear in mind the Honda color code is probably not in any way associated with the Chinese one. Why make things easy?

Now wait. I’m not finished. If I go to the Haynes ROW wiring diagram, then I get this:

Highbeam: Blue/white, blue, white (3 wires)
Flash switch: Blue, white/green (2 wires)
Horn: Green, white/green (2 wires)
Turn signal: Gray, light blue, orange (3 wires)
Clutch: Green/orange, green/white* (2 wires)

(* not to be confused with the white/green wire of the flasher and horn)

If you’re counting, that adds up to 12 wires, but I said the ROW bike only has 9 or possibly 11. That’s because the blue and white/green wires seem to be sistered internally. 

That’s where I am so far. Of course, I haven’t actually done anything constructive. 

As I’ve yet to learn from any of my other experiences in here, or in life, things tend to turn out more complicated than I anticipate. I chalk this up to my eternal optimism. 🙂 But for now I will also continue to casually look for a junk $5 OEM ROW switch pod…with pass trigger.

Phew that's a lot to swallow!

The Yellow Bullet wire (male) most likely plugs into the other Yellow wire on the other switch set (Female). This may well be the Headlight relay feed power which kills the headlights when you push the start button, so check if this wire goes to the HL position of the Dimmer Switch.

The Pass Switch is simply just a momentary make and applies 12v to the HI line, wouldn't be too hard to wire this in if you don't currently have that function.

I would be sitting down with an Ohm meter and the correct wiring diagram for your bike, then buzz out where each wire goes and record it on paper then tabulate that with the corresponding wire on your bike.

The two Black insulated spade connectors are your Clutch Switch leads, simply do an ohm meter check to find which coloured wires they are at the main connector.

Hope this helps!  :blink:

Amazingly cheap deal on the switch sets. Good Luck.

Cheers. 

Grum, 1/10/2020 at 1:16 AM

The Yellow Bullet wire (male) most likely plugs into the other Yellow wire on the other switch set (Female). This may well be the Headlight relay feed power which kills the headlights when you push the start button, so check if this wire goes to the HL position of the Dimmer Switch.

The Pass Switch is simply just a momentary make and applies 12v to the HI line, wouldn't be too hard to wire this in if you don't currently have that function.

I would be sitting down with an Ohm meter and the correct wiring diagram for your bike, then buzz out where each wire goes and record it on paper then tabulate that with the corresponding wire on your bike.

The two Black insulated spade connectors are your Clutch Switch leads, simply do an ohm meter check to find which coloured wires they are at the main connector.

Grum,

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I’d been thinking the two clutch wires were only outputs…not something that passed the signal from the clutch through the switch pod wires and on down the line. Your explanation makes perfect sense.

And the yellow bullet does have a mate on the other Ebay switch pod. There will have to be something on the OEM pod too if it is the headlamp interrupt during starting. That makes sense too. Yup. Thanks. 

As you suggest, I’ll have to slug through the whole thing with my ohm meter. I’d made a couple passes already but I’m not finding obvious connections. No worries. It would be nice if the Ebay switch pods came with schematics…

I’d also vaguely hoped I could just scavange the upper section of that one EBay pod for mating with the lower OEM pod. The generic upper half has the light switch and the pass switch. Remember the pass switch is all I wanted in the first place. And I’d also thought the pass switch could be completely internal at the pod. I can't think of a reason for that circuit to travel out of the pod if it only jumps the highbeam. Easy. But it looks to me like it might get wired separately in the entire circuit. I’ll puzzle over it a while. 🙂

[image: IMG_3582.png.8b8493c5e638e4ab33cfc8ca9b32eb70.png]

 [image: IMG_3581.JPG.png.a5da0a5d79316f6a24292b8b45edfbf5.png]

(If I could cut the top half of the pod free, I might be able to wire just that part to the bottom half of the OEM pod I have on the bike. I wonder if that would be the easiest thing to do.)

Meanwhile, the switch deal is still on Ebay. Here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/223789555759  I’ll make an entry in the bargain finder section in case somebody else might like a set. I’m relatively sure they’d fit pretty much every VFR model and year.

[image: 1155229803_Screenshot(59).thumb.png.16a8bdd3142bafd14df366bfa1f83d26.png]

On more important matters, we here in the States are well aware of the catastrophic fires in your part of the world these days. There’s not a whole lot we can do right now except to send you positive vibes. But that much at least we’re doing. Keep your head down. 
 

22 minutes ago, Gebruiker

Grum,

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I’d been thinking the two clutch wires were only outputs…not something that passed the signal from the clutch through the switch pod wires and on down the line. Your explanation makes perfect sense.

And the yellow bullet does have a mate on the other Ebay switch pod. There will have to be something on the OEM pod too if it is the headlamp interrupt during starting. That makes sense too. Yup. Thanks. 

As you suggest, I’ll have to slug through the whole thing with my ohm meter. I’d made a couple passes already but I’m not finding obvious connections. No worries. It would be nice if the Ebay switch pods came with schematics…

I’d also vaguely hoped I could just scavange the upper section of that one EBay pod for mating with the lower OEM pod. The generic upper half has the light switch and the pass switch. Remember the pass switch is all I wanted in the first place. And I’d also thought the pass switch could be completely internal at the pod. I can't think of a reason for that circuit to travel out of the pod if it only jumps the highbeam. Easy. But it looks to me like it might get wired separately in the entire circuit. I’ll puzzle over it a while. 🙂

[image: IMG_3582.png.8b8493c5e638e4ab33cfc8ca9b32eb70.png]

 [image: IMG_3581.JPG.png.a5da0a5d79316f6a24292b8b45edfbf5.png]

Meanwhile, the switch deal is still on Ebay. Here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/223789555759  I’ll make an entry in the bargain finder section in case somebody else might like a set. I’m relatively sure they’d fit pretty much every VFR model and year.

[image: 1155229803_Screenshot(59).thumb.png.16a8bdd3142bafd14df366bfa1f83d26.png]

On more important matters, we here in the States are well aware of the catastrophic fires in your part of the world these days. There’s not a whole lot we can do right now except to send you positive vibes. But that much at least we’re doing. Keep your head down. 
 

Thanks for your concern, yes some lovely towns I enjoyed riding to have been devastated. My area is safe but these fires are so huge and widespread. It's nice to know we also have the help of our friends from America and Canada fire fighters, and the amount of international aid is heartwarming.

Cheers.

Switch Pod Update

Aw hell. I can't use the generic pod after all. I dug out the VFR from the back of the garage to have a look at the pod connector. But then I noticed the choke is integral to the Honda OEM pod. Bleah. Wish I'd realized that before springing the ten bucks. On the other hand, I also noticed that Honda made a pop out pass switch tab for us where the pass switch should go... 

[image: IMG_3608.jpg.8301b65ee16d82e2b5d00f7d1b3992d3.jpg]

So all is not necessarily lost.  It still might be possible to surgically remove the pass switch from my generic pod and transfer just that trigger to the oem pod. I know. Not very likely. But it might be worth a look inside. 

"I tinker, therefor I am"  :goofy:

-René Descartes

Dutchy, 1/12/2020 at 7:23 AM

"I tinker, therefor I am"  :goofy:

-René Descartes

Descartes? Descartes? I don’t recall seeing his user name in here. Did he even ride a VFR?  😉 

Mirror Extenders

Not to be discouraged Leon, I’ve already moved on to another task. I’d been wanting mirror extenders. That’s easy. I have a proper set on the CBR. These:

[image: IMG_2900.jpg.16f469ad8223ce8b5acec7612a179216.jpg]

They're plastic. The kind of bits that would be suitable for 3D printing. They make them in aluminum too. Back in the day, here on VFRd, Anik and Lobster made some acrylic extenders. Anik put LEDs in his.

https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/forums/topic/65080-acrylic-mirror-extenders-with-leds/&tab=comments#comment-763734

https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/gallery/album/3565-mirror-extenders/

The cheapest I’ve seen any for sale is about $30. You’d think Honda would’ve cottoned on to the market for these things. Maybe even made their mirror stalks an inch longer? Anyway, after reading Lobster and Anik, and having recently most likely thrown away $10 on my switch set, I was inspired to make my own extenders.

I didn’t have any acrylic laying around, but I found a scrap of meranti wood. That might work. I already have a saw and a sander and a drill… so I traced a template...

[image: IMG_3565.jpg.d3b653f5ded75cb2fee144b8b6ab743d.jpg]

The meranti was about 0.75 in. wide so I glued two bits together for 1.5 inch extensions.

[image: IMG_3583.jpg.cd3314169b58d2536cfe9d13af7762ce.jpg]

[image: IMG_3604.JPG.3da048b7d49c77d9043b46fdd9922127.JPG]

(I bolted them together just for the sanding process, so they'd be about the same size and shape)

A lick of black paint. This is them drying in my dedicated paint booth…

[image: IMG_3609.jpg.bc17d4f52761d1d5783fd4060313e460.jpg]

A better finish might be plastidip…of which I have none sitting around…or maybe a section of bicycle inner tube, stretched around the edges?

My extenders, being wood, may not have an indefinite life span. I don’t much ride in the rain or snow if I can help it, or even leave the bike for long stretches parked in the sun, so they should weather okay for a while, assuming they do the job in the first place. I can’t think of any reason they shouldn’t work. Splinter hazard? Termites?

I'll have to pick up some long bolts at the hardware store. Stay tuned.

Mirror extenders, part 2

Well, they work I guess. But they don’t blend in all that well. I’m thinking the proper extenders may be slightly concave on the sides for better fit. The windscreen mount itself is not molded flat. I’ll think some more.

[image: IMG_3625.JPG.883ea76f0d2bc1b397c31052a171aaf4.JPG]

Hugger

I’ve been thinking an inner mudguard might be a good idea for the back wheel too, to keep the swing arm and shock a little cleaner from road grime.

There are enough different raw materials I might use to make one up. A piece of rubber car mat or stair tread would probably do. But maybe also flexible plastic material of a certain grade…a bit of old trash bin or storage box. The four-year-old next door keeps leaving her sled out in the yard and I’ve got my eye on that too. I’m tempted to cut a hugger shaped chunk out of it when nobody’s lookin. That’d teach the little monster to leave her stuff layin around. 😛 I’d do it too, but the sled is pink. A pink hugger? Stupid kid.

[image: 1990703561_pinksled.jpg.e6b8c6dc077c4f24a2818dce86df3253.jpg]

A better idea might be an old section of motocross fender. The right sample could have the proper profile shape to begin with and even the right diameter curve. It would be tough and flexible too.

I’ve looked at the back wheel of my bike. There is no obvious way to bolt any sort of mudguard in there. If I was just to use a rubber flap, then I could drill a couple screws into the forward part of the inner fender and let it hang down. That would be functional but not very elegant. I’m not coming up with anything else just yet. The single sided swing arm isn’t a great design for random attachment points.

Most production designs appear to incorporate the chain guard in a hugger, probably necessary for mounting purposes. That seems a good idea and they look terrific. Reviews are usually less than terrific. Lots of folks have issues with their aftermarket huggers. Not just VFR folks. They don’t fit easily; reinforcement brackets are required; the material is too thin. I’ve found just one current source for ready made gen3 hugger. Nicecycle. I think they’re Powerbronze huggers.

https://www.nicecycle.com/Honda-Rear-Tire-Hugger-p/pb606.htm

I can’t even find a decent photograph of any hugger on a gen3 vfr. You can just barely spot one here on this white bike. I don’t have the source link:

[image: IMG_3546.jpg.e21c1e5deb621b27d81aa6f7c06fc196.jpg]

Puig has a few non-VFR huggers on Amazon for just $25...

[image: 1650474498_puig4409Jvstrom.jpg.705ca28f9b3c24a7c4cd0a8fbed80011.jpg]

[image: puig1436c.jpg.9f062f89e254f5e9295bedaaf5474bbb.jpg]

That seems a fair price for a gob of plastic designed for a bike I don’t own. I couldn’t predict if one of these would be in any way adaptable. In spite of my less-than-stellar track record for these kinds of money saving projects, I’m tempted to get one to play with. 

Another possibility would be to pick up a junk gen3 chain guard and then try to attach some kind of inner fender through some reinforcement and mods. Given the likelihood of making a mess, I wouldn’t want to start hacking away at my stock chain guard. I'll keep it all in the back of my head.

What was it again, the thing Descartes says? 🙂 

I used to have a black plastic hugger made by Pyramid Plastics on my '93 FP, but I don't know what happened to it.

It's tricky to mount a hugger on a SSSA, but it is certainly possible.  I've got a Harris one on my RC46 in California and a Durbahn one on my RC36 in London.  The latter is actually an RC30 hugger, because it's mounted on an RC30 swing arm.  The mounting holes would probably be different on an RC36 swing arm (and it was very expensive!)

[image: 20161124_202833x.thumb.jpg.c82f9f7c95040d667d52b3605dec2e71.jpg]

Ciao,

JZH

8 hours ago, JZH

(and it was very expensive!)

*THIS*.................... the spanner in the works....

Gebruiker is fully integrated in the Dutch frugal society  :goofy:

JZH, 1/16/2020 at 6:29 PM

I used to have a black plastic hugger made by Pyramid Plastics on my '93 FP, but I don't know what happened to it.

You don't know what happened to it? That's disconcerting... 😉 

Good picture of a similar hugger though. Thanks! I checked the Harris and Durbahn and Pyramid Plastics websites. Harris and Durbahn don’t seem to have anything so interesting for me these days. Pyramid still sells huggers for the 750s. https://pyramid-plastics.co.uk/ They appear to be about like the ones I'd found over here in the USA for about the same price.

Anyway, since you don’t know what happened to your own FP hugger, I’m guessing it may not have been a complete success. I have this idea that any not perfectly rigid mount could allow the hugger to flex at speed into the spinning tire which, you know, would be bad.

There are a few possibilities on Amazon. Not just the Puigs for $25. This one for a BMW caught my eye. $35.

[image: 581646993_Screenshot(69).thumb.png.9399273684fb0565ae47208ae50623a2.png]

It looks like the attachment frame is aluminum. I like that. Strong enough to hold the hugger in place without flexing or cracking. The mounting holes would not be in the right place for a VFR. I’d have to fashion a secondary aluminum adapter of some kind to mate with the swing arm.

The thing about any of these possibilities is I have to actually buy the hugger first, then try to adapt it. (re. comment by Dutchy, above) And I'm still smarting about that generic, and currently useless, switch pod set. 😉 I’ll keep thinking on it...

BTW, in your picture there’s a cool aluminum rod attached to the swing arm. Is that your own external reinforcement for the hugger mount? Brake rod? Something else? Also, tucked up under the rear fender you have some golden...things. Left and right. I don't have anything similarly tucked in there on my bike. Is that something I should be worried about?
 

The arm is a "torque recation arm". 

The golden bits are the rear shock's (external) gas reservoir and the preload adjustor knobbie 🙂

Dutchy, 1/18/2020 at 3:53 AM

The arm is a "torque recation arm". 

The golden bits are the rear shock's (external) gas reservoir and the preload adjustor knobbie 🙂

I had to look those up. High tech performance upgrades of dubious value. 😉 (...translation: still more stuff I can't afford...)

With all the cool modifications out there, I sometimes feel like I must be missing out. And yet, my bike hasn't let me down yet. It runs and stops and handles fine. One of these days I'll have to get a discerning VFR rider to take the thing around the block to see if there are any issues I'm completely oblivious to. 

I feel the same when I order a bottle of wine. If it doesn't make me cough, I figure it's good enough... I should take some classes. 

The horizontal brake torque arm is an OEM part from an RC30, but it was of somewhat dubious practical value even then, as the people who raced those bikes would almost invariably bin them.  But, the bling value is unquestionable!

If I knew what I'd done with that old hugger I'd give it to you, but I just haven't seen it in years--sorry!

Ciao,

JZH

2 minutes ago, JZH

If I knew what I'd done with that old hugger I'd give it to you, but I just haven't seen it in years--sorry!

Aaaah yes,  like me, you put stuff in a "very special place so I know where I put it".....

Still searching for my spare RC51 keys....  And I have called on Saint Anthony already.....  :ph34r:

JZH, 2/8/2020 at 7:21 AM

The horizontal brake torque arm is an OEM part from an RC30, but it was of somewhat dubious practical value even then, as the people who raced those bikes would almost invariably bin them.  But, the bling value is unquestionable!

If I knew what I'd done with that old hugger I'd give it to you, but I just haven't seen it in years--sorry!

So, what you're saying is there are zillions of extra brake torque arms just laying around for the taking? Hmmmmm. I wonder if one would bolt onto my standard gen3 swingarm? 🙂 

No worries on the hugger. But thanks for your good intentions! You can tell I'm making progress on the bike because my upgrades are getting more particular. And unnecessary. One of the guys here (BrianF) is selling off his neon yellow wheels with new tires. Wow. Those would brighten things up. But I just don't need them. Too bad my current tires are in fine condition just now...or I might be able to justify the expense. Nonono...  😉

[image: IMG_0832z.jpg.0fb667330ef903523749b012b346944e.jpg]

(BrianF wheels and tires, today for sale in Classifieds)

The rear would fit, but the front would not.  Unless you did a triple clamp swap...

Ciao,

JZH

15 minutes ago, JZH

The rear would fit, but the front would not.  Unless you did a triple clamp swap...

Yeah. That ain't gonna happen. Thanks. A good reason not to fret about the opportunity. 

Meanwhile, how about this thing? 🙂 For the swing arm bling...it wouldn't have to actually function.

[image: gallery_362_402_52929.jpg.1a51a0faedde2686aa83c57fb79dc961.jpg]

(JZH file image)

You'd have to drill some holes in your swing arm and weld in some bosses to accept the cross-over shaft.  Other than that, no problem!

Ciao,

JZH

9 hours ago, JZH

You'd have to drill some holes in your swing arm and weld in some bosses to accept the cross-over shaft.  Other than that, no problem!

I'm there! You can imagine how eager I'd be to drill random holes in my swingarm...  :))  Couldn't I just use zip ties? 

Sidestand Cover

I hadn't given a sidestand cover much thought until Auspanglish got me thinking on them last week. 

My bike sure didn't come with one of these and I'm not even sure what its purpose is. Is my kickstand so ugly it needs to be hidden? I'm guessing this cover is the first thing to break off any VFR. What was Honda thinking using ABS down there on the side stand? I've yet to actually even see one in the real world. 

Just the same when JZH and VFRCapn and others were good enough to upload a couple photographs, I was able to make up a crude facsimile...using my own CAD(!) ... cardboard aided design. 🙂

[image: IMG_3870.jpg.e3358e40ffabd9494c92d9ad0ad6a8f7.jpg]

The sidestand has two boltholes to attach the cover from the rear into ABS bosses...

[image: IMG_3872a.png.a8c79cf1a506d47989f584162d8666d8.png]

But plastic bosses are tough to make even for Honda! (...they seem to be the bits that break off...) so I just used a couple thru bolts from the front side. I'll clean them up if I make a workable piece.

[image: IMG_3875.jpg.08ee6a436446917b8bc6ddd22f364def.jpg]

I can't match the elegant lines of the originals but it is sortof okay. Is this what it's supposed to look like? The rest of the bike is so grotty down there it seems a waste to bother with it, but now it's in my head... I'd guess that 90% of the gen3 bikes I see in photographs are missing the sidestand cover.

[image: IMG_3879.jpg.64f57ec8b925331afc9d75be71c3b657.jpg]

My current idea would be to cut a 10 inch corner bit of PVC fence post, maybe. I'm thinking that would be sturdy enough stuff to hold up to a certain amount of abuse. It only comes in white, so if it works then owners of white VFRs will have an easy time of it. I'd have to paint. Always one more thing... I wonder if I can find a bit of black PVC fencing...

Sidestand Cover, continued

RC1237V added more pictures with additional dimensions at the site linked above. It's giving me more to consider. The angle between the two faces is greater than the 90 degrees I'd assumed it to be. And there's that dimple around the main kickstand swing bolt. I'm not sure there's much I can do about either of those things. If I find a happy scrap of material looking for repurposing I won't sweat the details. A friend has suggested a possible donor source would be a bit of plastic car bumper from the junkyard. Indeed. The material would be sturdy. A handy shape might be found. And they even come in colors. I'm not sure if they make bumpers from PVC or polypropylene. They're probably not ABS.

Here's a picture from RC1237V. 

[image: sidestandx.jpg.dc4af500c815d8336609e373ef1c4350.jpg]

I was thinking of accommodating the spacing and structure of the bosses with just a couple of rubber stoppers. They'd be sturdy enough, and flexible to absorb some shocks. I'd still thru-bolt from the face of the cover. For the moment though I'm stuck until I stumble onto something handy that wants to be the actual cover... I'm on it.

[image: IMG_3905.jpg.b41a33055c75f7a8a23dda2f2c88fb45.jpg]

(rubber stopper thru bolted from front. It'll serve as a spacer boss. I'd need a second one for the other bolt, obviously)

ABS sheet in various thickness is available from eBay and is easily moulded with heat .... ABS pipe cement is dirt cheap or Model X Pro if you want a quick set

Acetone will soften it and you can make a dimple impression or mould it in with ABS sludge ..... I’ve been rebuilding my RC24 fairing panels and it’s surprising what can be done with ABS 

18 hours ago, Thumbs

ABS sheet in various thickness is available from eBay and is easily moulded with heat .... ABS pipe cement is dirt cheap or Model X Pro if you want a quick set

Acetone will soften it and you can make a dimple impression or mould it in with ABS sludge ..... I’ve been rebuilding my RC24 fairing panels and it’s surprising what can be done with ABS 

Yes! ABS repairs have worked pretty good for me so far. The sludge forgiving and adaptable. But fashioning a complete piece in ABS is an extra challenge. The original sidestand cover is ABS and it breaks every time. The piece is just not strong enough...and we're talking about the genuine cover, the one with engineered reinforcement in the bosses and along the edges. Those refinements would be beyond me.

So I've been looking for a more durable solution. No matter what material I find, it's going to have to be relatively thick and much tougher than the ABS elsewhere on the bike. But I'll keep looking at the ABS possibilities too. It's all an experiment. Thanks for the encouragement 🙂

1 hour ago, Gebruiker

Yes! ABS repairs have worked pretty good for me so far. The sludge forgiving and adaptable. But fashioning a complete piece in ABS is an extra challenge. The original sidestand cover is ABS and it breaks every time. The piece is just not strong enough...and we're talking about the genuine cover, the one with engineered reinforcement in the bosses and along the edges. Those refinements would be beyond me.

So I've been looking for a more durable solution. No matter what material I find, it's going to have to be relatively thick and much tougher than the ABS elsewhere on the bike. But I'll keep looking at the ABS possibilities too. It's all an experiment. Thanks for the encouragement 🙂

If nothing else use the ABS as a mould and make it out of carbon fibre 

Thumbs, 2/23/2020 at 11:22 AM

If nothing else use the ABS as a mould and make it out of carbon fibre 

Carbon fibre? Who am I, rocketman? If I can’t make an ABS copy, then carbon fibre is way way beyond my skill set. 😉

To be clear, I don’t actually have possession of even a broken OEM sidestand cover. But as you mention it, I’m thinking that application of a carbon fibre blanket over an old ABS original would be a very good idea, adding strength to the right form. I’d have to read up on how to do that. I’m not trying to diss you.  🙂

This is the latest thing I was given to try to adapt. Yesterday. From a friend’s Subaru:

[image: IMG_3929.jpg.19c31af90ebc7aae649c71c8ebaeeb6d.jpg]

This is how far I am away to carbon fibre, kevlar or graphene. It is pretty good bumper material, PE, polyethylene, but the scrap is too narrow for me to cut down to the right dimensions. So I’ll keep looking…

Carbon fibre. I’d never have thought of that… I'll begin to roll it around in my head. Thanks again 🙂

SeaFoam

Since getting my bike 2 1/2 years ago I’ve been diligently following the unofficial Honda maintenance schedule as known by Honda riders the world over:

1 Add gasoline of choice every +/- 200 miles.
2 Glance at oil once in a while, just to see there’s some in there.

I'm pretty sure this is in the book, right after "Your new Honda will give you many years of trouble free riding pleasure if you follow these few simple steps...

Anyway, having done this, the bike has lived up to its promise. Always starts. Runs smooth. Thank you Honda.

But in spite of my attentions, on a ride just yesterday I noticed a new and slightly disconcerting sound. Normally on longish hill descents while letting the engine braking keep my speed down I hear a reassuring rumblemumblemumble with an occasional quiet cough (pop pop). Yesterday it was more like mumble pop mumble pop mumble ka-BANG!! pop mumble mumble. And while I happily envisioned the BANG!! part accompanied by muzzleflash that would do the space shuttle proud, I also thought that can’t good. 

So I went back to my garage training, decided the thing maybe had picked up something bad last time I was at the local Gas’nSip and whatever that was was messing with the jets. Then, always one to take the easiest, most hopeful decision, I dug out some SeaFoam.

[image: 852424726_seafoam.jpeg.27f81e0842addd8c5c3c31d3f967f712.jpeg]

What is SeaFoam?

SeaFoam is, well, I’m don't rightly know. It’s promoted and sold as some kind of miracle engine cleaning additive. Uh huh. Importantly it seems to make a difference, maybe especially on carbureted engines with bad gas. I'd used this before in the cbr and it worked a treat.

Apparently SeaFoam, while a secret formula, is really nothing more than diesel fuel (kerosene?) and naptha and isoHEET. And what exactly do those things do in my engine? Again, I dunno. But there’s a Swedish guy who's figured out the formula for us. Here's his link:

http://www.hildstrom.com/projects/seafoam/index.html

He analysed the stuff, tried some experiments, and came up with some qualified conclusions. You guys know I’m a sucker for quasi-scientific approaches to pretty much anything, so I liked the link. He even explains how you can make your own SeaFoam. Cheap. Not that I’ll be making my own any time soon, but nice to know I could make it, and you can too. Go Sweden!

Meanwhile, I’ll give a can of the expensive store bought stuff a chance to do its thing. As directed, about 1 oz/gallon in the gas tank. I'll use up the can, but hope for positive results before it's gone. And I might buy some real gasoline too. Let's see it that does the trick.

(Ed. One month later. Did it work? Well, it didn't hurt. I've returned to the same long downhills on a nearby route to see if I could coax more backfires from the bike. Mmmmnope. So that's good. For some reason I'm getting a vague idea I have a lazy cylinder. It's just a feeling. Under load, everything sounds great. When idling or decelerating I may be picking up some kind of hiss. Like there's a vacuum leak. It's just a feeling so I won't be following up. You know I don't look for trouble. Obviously if a problem develops...)

Following along, it looks like a lot of good information is being shared here so thank you everyone including the original poster Gebruiker.

Now I have 9 more pages to read to get caught up 😆

mtnpat, 11/17/2020 at 4:20 PM

Now I have 9 more pages to read to get caught up 😆

I might save you some reading by warning you that most all my entries are sortof experiments in bumbling. They contain a lot of information on what you don't want to do. It's the experts on VFRd that can save you time, money and misery.🙂

Gebruiker, 5/15/2020 at 3:08 PM

Nothing looked dodgy to me but the little hubcap thing wouldn't click in place. So I tried jiggling the nut. And it turned. By hand. It was loose. The nut. I could hand tighten the whole nut. By which I mean, I could hand tighten the whole damn wheel. 

Here’s the service manual. Nut number 1. 

[image: IMG_4546.jpg.37f492c6cbfa64ba88767e3defe7e290.jpg]

Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the forum!

You are correct, a properly staked nut will have a big dent in it.  Glad yours didn't cause a catastrophic failure.

I went out and checked mine and while the rear axle nut is not loose, no attempt has been made to stake the nut in place even though it is definitely designed to be.  I am wondering if it came from Honda this way?!

Thanks again.

18 hours ago, mtnpat

I am wondering if it came from Honda this way?!

Neither of us know the history of our bikes. Once I discovered the problem, I did notice what could have been a small staking dent maybe. But dent or not, it wasn't doing its job. Since it has never become a known unknown around here in 30 years, it seems unlikely to be a major issue. Unless of course, all non-stakers are now dead and therefore failing to report in...

 But now that you have doubled the sample size of unstaked axles, it might be a good thing for more gen3 owners to check into. 🙂

What about the unknown unknown?  :laugh: