Which mod's first?

[SJC]

Hi guys and gals,

I have a brand new 09 vfr that is as stock as a rock.......... So which mod's should I do first and lets start with the cheap ones first. I've not long brought the bike so the expensive one's will have to wait a little while.
I've heard things like the flapper and air box mod's but what do they do, I know the pipes will be the first large thing done but as of yet I'm not sure which ones I'll go for.

[steven113]

If you want to do cheap mods first popular ones are
1. pro grip 699 gell grips
2. 19mm tail rise plate from thurn motorsport
3. K&N air filter
4. If you are interested in quicker turn in after rising the tail raise your fork tubes 5mm
5. EBC brake pads

The best money spent would be Keith codes book "twist of the wrist 2" or even better yet go do an instructional track day or two.

[havcar]

That color scheme looks great, South Africa only or did the European market get that aswell? I was thinking white with black was the only color available outside the U.S.

Back to the topic at hand. Of all the mods I've done to my bike I think that going down a tooth on the front sprocket is the best money I ever spent. It does a great job of bringing some power back to the low and mid-range. It also does a nice job of smoothing out the VTEC transistion. Both of of those issues were a big problem for me. It seemed like the bike was running with the choke on under full throttle from about 4000rpm to 6000rpm. Most bang for the money at $40 parts and 1hr of labor. A half hour in the hands of a mechanic.

Your going to start noticing some surging at off idle speeds(parking lot), not as a result of doing the -1f mod, just bad stock fuel mapping. That can be dealt with using a power commander but don't do that one untill after you've completed everything else your going to do first.

[steven113]

I knew I was leaving something out... Thanks havcar!
gearing should be first on the list(either -1 on the front or +2 in the rear)

[mello dude]

Wow thats a beautiful bike....

-- Mods? I would say - crack off a couple thousand miles and see what tugs at you...

MD

[betarace]

I would upgrade the rider's skills. Go to California Superbike School (Kyalami) best money you will ever spend on a bike mod.

[SJC]

Originally Posted by betarace

I would upgrade the rider's skills. Go to California Superbike School (Kyalami) best money you will ever spend on a bike mod.

I do need to improve my riding skills, but that's just a little too far to go

I live in OZ.

[VFRBenny]

Bar risers and custom seat(for starters). And yes, EBC pads and some nice tires.

[havcar]

Originally Posted by SJC

I do need to improve my riding skills, but that's just a little too far to go

The book Twist of the Wrist that steven113 mentioned is a great source if you can take the time to practice all of the lessons.

Also I neglected to mention one other inexpensive mod. In terms of just sheer looks ( if it matters to you) is a CW fender eliminator. About $50 and easily installed.

[CandyRedRC46]

god those gold rims look awesome!!!
its amazing how much different the bikes can look with blacked out components and gold wheels, while still having exactly the same color plastics...
anyways, on with the mods:

plus 1 on the fender eliminator
if you dont ride with male passengers much, ditch the passenger grab handles and pick up the inserts from bikebandit.com they're only a couple bucks each...
pull out the snorkel and flapper ... free
pick up a bmc filter, like 50ish deppending how good of a deal you can find...
o2 eliminators... 330 ohm resistors from radio shack, almost free
you can gut the cans for cheap, or pick up any slip on you want...
i rode with gutted cans for a while and now have 2bros. dont listen to anyone with the, "this exhaust sounds the best" blahblahblah bullshit, you have a vee4 and any exhaust you put on it is gonna sound awesome!
after you get comfortable working on your bike pick up a 98-99 header or a motad header.
finally imho the best mod ever... a powercommander. either get a new pc5 and an auto tune module or get a pc3 with a custom tune... either way it is the best performance upgrade you can do for any vtec vfr!

[betarace]

Originally Posted by SJC

I do need to improve my riding skills, but that's just a little too far to go

I live in OZ.

my bad I saw S.A. in your profile ans assumed wrong....


good news
:: Welcome to Super Bike School ::

[TimRav]

Congrats on that beautiful VFR!

A few suggestions for fairly inexpensive appearance mods:
-Fenderectomy (trimming stock) or eliminator kit
-Remove fork's reflectors
-Remove passenger grab handles and insert cover tabs
-Have exhaust up pipe heat shield, clutch and front brake levers, rider and passenger footpeg assemblies powdercoated black
-Smoke or darker color windshield

[havcar]

Originally Posted by betarace

my bad I saw S.A. in your profile ans assumed wrong....

I did the same thing...knew that that was an Australian flag and then
let the S.A. trip me up. So I should ask, is that color set-up for the Australian market only?

Appoligies for my confusion.

[Alaskan]

aftermarket saddle (my very first mod!)

[SJC]

Don't worry about the confusion about country guys, have fixed up my profile so that should make it easier.

Now so of you have suggested 19mm tail rise plate from thurn motorsport, what does that do to the bike? I know, stupid newbie question.

And also to pull out the snorkel and flapper, now is there a "how to" do this or is it just pull the parts out?

Also CandyRedRC46 mentioned o2 eliminators... 330 ohm resistors from radio shack, almost free. Again what does this do and is there a "how to".


BTW this bike is a stock 2009 model so the colors and rims are standard for OZ.
Here's another pic for you........

[CandyRedRC46]

Originally Posted by SJC

Don't worry about the confusion about country guys, have fixed up my profile so that should make it easier.

Now so of you have suggested 19mm tail rise plate from thurn motorsport, what does that do to the bike? I know, stupid newbie question.

And also to pull out the snorkel and flapper, now is there a "how to" do this or is it just pull the parts out?

Also CandyRedRC46 mentioned o2 eliminators... 330 ohm resistors from radio shack, almost free. Again what does this do and is there a "how to".


BTW this bike is a stock 2009 model so the colors and rims are standard for OZ.
Here's another pic for you........

ok lets see if i can knock this out...

1st 19mm tail rise:
by raising the back of the bike you are changing the suspension geometry of the bike. as in the rake and trail etc. the fork itself will be more upright instead of kicked out. also this marginally shortens the wheelbase. this will make the bike steer quicker and feel easier to flick from side to side. theis is a good mod if you plan to take your bike to the track. also it will give you some more lean clearance. usually raising the back comes at the expense of some stability, but the vfrs are very stable bikes and i believe most here will tell you that bike is still rock solid after adding the tail riser...

2nd snorkel and flapper removal
this is done by lifting the tank to gain access to the airbox.
loosen the two front screws attaching the tank to the frame. leave the back two on as the tank will pivot on a hinge connected to those back two bolts. prop the tank open. the snorkel is as easy as pulling out... the flapper is a vaccuum actuated solinoid attached to a flap in the airbox by a hook.
unhook and disconnect the actuator, plugging up the remaining vaccuum line.

3rd 330 ohm radio shack resistors
basically most bad fueling tendancies of the newer vfrs can be traced back to the bikes going in and out of open and closed loop fuel injection. this can be remidied by simply eliminating the o2 sensors.
find the 2 o2 sensors pluged into your headers and trace them back to where they connect to the harness. diconect them and plufg a 330 ohm resistor in each of their places... there are a million how articles on this. just do a quick search so you can see the deatiled pix, as you have to be sure where to plug in the resistors or youll get an fi light. you can just purchase the eliminators from dynojet for like 20 bucks a peice if you want to...

[mello dude]

Damn I like them gold wheels!

Hey Candy - bike bandit have those seat insert for a 5th gen?

MD

[CandyRedRC46]

1998 Honda VFR800FI INTERCEPTOR OEM Parts, 1998 Honda VFR800FI INTERCEPTOR OEM Motorcycle Parts - BikeBandit.com

i was looking through it and didnt see anything...

[winaje]

Yay, I'm the first Aussie to welcome you with your new bike. Looks awesome BTW. First thing I would do is lift the forks through the triple clamps by about 5mm, this improves cornering handling etc, and changes the feel of the bike quite a bit FOR FREE.

[SJC]

Thanks for the welcome winaje

Just looking around for a "how to" on the flapper mod, have already looked into the resistors and they seem pretty easy. Also going to go to the web site to look into the tail raisers. Thanks guys

I'm guessing from the link above that the snorkel is part number 3 and the flapper is number 8. Once I have taken the flapper out does that leave a hole or do I just disconnect it and leave it in?

[CandyRedRC46]

i just left the hole there, where the vacuum actuated solenoid was... i also pulled out the vacuum reservoir that was a little further down the line and plugged it up from there and glued the flap down just incase...
you're gonna love the intake sounds the bike makes with the snorkel and flapper gone, really mean!

[CandyRedRC46]

with my bike the overall theme was:
all the noise and emissions regulations equipment that was on the bike was just dead weight. Honda will state excuses that this was for better fueling to promote higher intake velocity etc... but all these little quirks do is keep the vfr quiet at below 6000 rpms...
noise testing is done at exactly half the peak power rpms, say 11,000 x 1/2 = 5,500 rpms and under the bike needs to be under a certain noise decibel like say 95 db for instance...
also the fueling issues seem to fall right where testing would be done, at cruising speed, right in the middle. a little bit of the fueling can be fixed with o2 eliminators, but really it is in need of a power commander. after a good tune of the power commander the mid range really wakes up...

[SJC]

Ok guys, have just removed the snorkel and flapper. Now to take it for a test ride then off to work for a few days to see how it goes. Sunday I have a big ride on so I'm very interested to see the difference it makes.

Next is the 330 ohm resistors mod, might wait a couple of weeks for that one.

And the next thing I should mod is??????

[Cundalini]

Please dont mod the body. that is a smoking hot bike! Love the color scheme.

[CandyRedRC46]

Originally Posted by SJC

Ok guys, have just removed the snorkel and flapper. Now to take it for a test ride then off to work for a few days to see how it goes. Sunday I have a big ride on so I'm very interested to see the difference it makes.

Next is the 330 ohm resistors mod, might wait a couple of weeks for that one.

And the next thing I should mod is??????

start looking for a bmc filter.
and start saving up for the exhaust.
you can gut the cans in the mean time...

[CandyRedRC46]

Originally Posted by Cundalini

Please dont mod the body. that is a smoking hot bike! Love the color scheme.

+1 on the color scheme.
what do you mean on body mods? cuz everyone loves a good fender eliminator and tinted screen combo.

[havcar]

Originally Posted by CandyRedRC46

cuz everyone loves a good fender eliminator and tinted screen combo.

I agree, make that already good looking ride even sexier with a fender eliminator. Also keep that 15 tooth (-1 from OEM) front sprocket at the top of your list. I just bought my second, this time a JT light steel sprocket for $18 from motostrano.com. It's a mod that will actually make a noticeable difference in performance.

[Scubalong]

She look sexy.................That bike is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet :) Welcome to the forum. Seem like everyone is helping you with all the mod :)
HAve fun ride safe.

[SJC]

Ok guys, I had my first ride today with the airbox mod's done. Well it's a big it seems to have freed up the engine, it's smoother and has a nice little grrrrrrr happening Only one small problem, at low speed and almost no throttle there is a small pop sound. I think it's the flapper going up then down again cause I didn't stick it down as yet, so I think it's just moving. Will glue ( only a small drop in case I have to reverse it) it down tonight and see how that goes.

And no I'm not going to mod the body work, I think it looks cool just the way it is Also I'm looking for a db tinted screen at the moment. I have to check on local laws about fender eliminator as I'm not sure if we can do that here in OZ.

Thanks guys for your help so far

[SJC]

Here's a couple of pic's from a ride on the 15th Nov. Before the mod's

Also is this the tail riser that has been recommended, mmmm doesn't look like much. lol

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/VFR-800-V-Tec...item45ef2c68b0