It's Alive! My CBR600RR Tail Project Lives!

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by Oakley_burn, Jun 16, 2008.

  1. Oakley_burn

    Oakley_burn New Member

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    Hello all!

    Well it's been a year and the last time i posted i said i would be going through a CBR600RR tail end conversion.

    It is now finished and the outcome is really spectacular. Thanks go to SC33 for the initial framing of the idea.

    As the old posting describes, the idea was to put a CBR600RR tail cowl on a VFR. On further consultation with SC33 the VFR was found to be a '94 model.

    This posed a potential problem, my VFR is a '88! Would the modification work on an older model?

    After purchasing a CBR600RR 2003/2004 sub-frame off ebay for £75 (inc p+p, and all brackets attached!) and a cracked cowl that i plastic welded (£10 also on ebay) it came to the strip down of my VFR.

    I completely disassembled the rear end, even removing the old sub-frame as the CBR cowl was in no way going to fit. I offered up the CBR sub-frame to the bike and immediately knew that a something a bit special would be required.

    On the later versions of the VFR, the sub-frame attachment points are further up along the main frame. On my VFR, the sub-frame attaches at the first foot peg bolt and on the frame underneath the tank.

    I would have to design a new sub-frame attachment, and completely redesign the layout of the undertray.

    I used the top arms of the VFR sub-frame with some brackets made from steel and then welded them to the arms for the top CBR sub-frame attachment bolt hole.

    Top Bar 1.jpg

    Top Bar 2.jpg

    Top Bar 3.jpg

    I used washers to pack out the gap and some high tensile strength bolts to attach the CBR sub-frame.

    The bottom attachment point was going to be a bit tricky. I needed a way of bolting the sub-frame in place without compromising the geometric lock of the turning force about the top sub-frame bolt.

    So i made two full cross-members out of plate steel and welded each side together. Some paint and i was ready to fit the sub-frame.

    Crossmembers.jpg

    Sub-frame 1.jpg

    Sub-frame 2.jpg

    Sub-frame 3.jpg

    With the sub-frame now fitted and all bolted in, i set about the job of making the undertray of the CBR fit the VFR and all the VFR components (battery, flasher relay, r/r, radiator overflow, No 1+3 coils, fuel pump, main electrical loom, cdi) fit into the CBR undertray.

    With a bit of relocation of some components and some splicing of some wires, everything was now in it's new place.

    The last problem were the closing panels that sit underneath the fuel tank. The VFR ones would not fit completely and neither would the CBR ones. So i again used both and fabricated a closing panel from both.

    Final 1.jpg

    Final 2.jpg

    The project now complete, the bike fired up (eventually! It had been sat outside for 4 months) and all electrical connections tested. Amazingly, after all that i had been through, the only thing that was wrong was that the left and right rear indicators flashed the wrong way.

    It's Alive!!!

    Final 3.jpg
     
  2. drewl

    drewl Insider

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    Crazy, Baby. I'll bet it feels pretty good to have her up and running finally.
     
  3. fatso1277

    fatso1277 New Member

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    that looks wonderful....good job.
     
  4. Hotbrakes

    Hotbrakes New Member

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    Sweet, but you forgot the exhaust.
     
  5. Joey_Dude

    Joey_Dude Member

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    Wow good job! Unlike other mods I've seen this looks like it was meant to be like that instead of some brain fart afterthought. You should look at getting into the bodywork business!
     
  6. Oakley_burn

    Oakley_burn New Member

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    Thanks for the complements guys.

    As for the exhaust... i already have a pro-arm off a '94 which bolts straight onto the bike and once thats done then ill start fabrication for the underseat exhaust system.

    Ill be posting more pics tomorrow to show the tank rear mounting, wiring and lower crossmember.
     
  7. douglasthecook

    douglasthecook New Member

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    Nice work!!!!! I'm in the process of sourcing the required parts from an RC-51 SP-2 tail section to attempt grafting it on to my VFR. We'll see how it goes, I can only hope it looks close to yours, as yours looks really good!!!
     
  8. Oakley_burn

    Oakley_burn New Member

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    Well as promised here are the pictures of the crossmember in place and the rear tank mounting plate.

    I've also taken a pic of the bracket that i made to mount the exhaust to the rearset.

    Crossmember.jpg

    Crossmember 1.jpg

    Exhaust hanger.jpg

    Tank mount.jpg

    All the manufactured parts are either made from S527 Steel (rust free) or T60 Titanium.

    Note the mounting of the rear caliper reservoir on the r/h rearset in the pic of the r/h crossmember. There is a hole on the sub-frame that is threaded for a bolt and bracket arrangement but it requires moving the pipe feeding the oil to the master cylinder.
     
  9. Oakley_burn

    Oakley_burn New Member

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    You can also see the new mounting position for the regulator/rectifier in the top pic just above the chain guard, again another manufactured bracket.
     
  10. fatso1277

    fatso1277 New Member

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    dude thanks again man that really gives the vfr a new look. You are the man for this mod. any other mods you got planned.
     
  11. Oakley_burn

    Oakley_burn New Member

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    As i said earlier in the post, i've got a '94 single-sided swing arm to go onto my '88, and then an underseat exhaust.

    I've been looking through the posts, you are doing a F2 front end swap, i was thinking of doing a F3 front end conversion but haven't looked too much into it yet.

    What are your ideas?
     
  12. fatso1277

    fatso1277 New Member

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    Yeah i am doing the F2 swap. The F3 would be pretty much the same process. from the various post i have read on here and a few other sites, the 91-93 forks are dampening rod technology(old), 94 are cartridge technology(new), so they are better..but with racetech emulators they should be about the same. The speedo drive for 91-94 f2 will fit vfr directly, the f3 doesnt have a speedo drive but they have gizmos out there that u can use to clock speed.
     
  13. mpadgett88

    mpadgett88 New Member

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    would it be possible to use the cbr tail section and use the vfr subframe? cut n weld?
     
  14. mpadgett88

    mpadgett88 New Member

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    you should weld those brakets you made and send em to me haha
     
  15. fatso1277

    fatso1277 New Member

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    Yeah you could do that, you can just get a picture of the cbr600rr tail and cut and weld it to the original subframe to mimic the cbr600rr subframe. but it might be easier to just go the route Oakley_Burn did. The hard part is just finding places to relocate parts. i got the subframe and undertail for the cbr600rr and it is a lot easier to do mode. i would say just be REAL meticulous when it comes to setting up subframe so it looks for "professional", i wasnt and i have to do a lot of fiberglass work.
     
  16. mpadgett88

    mpadgett88 New Member

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    Im still trying to figure out where he bolted up the bottom of the subframe cant see it in the pics
     
  17. mikethaninefive

    mikethaninefive New Member

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    Looks great! Now you just gotta wash it :boink:
     
  18. fatso1277

    fatso1277 New Member

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  19. artee

    artee New Member

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  20. mpadgett88

    mpadgett88 New Member

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    So the sub frame does match up with the bottom holes?
     
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