2001 vfr800 project help...

So I am trying to make a rebuilt salvage bike into a decent looking and running bike. They say you can do things cheap, fast, or right but not all at once. Well this is going to be a slow project on a low budget, but I want it to be done right. The bike is in overall "good" condition, and I use this term loosely. It runs well and didn't look to bad at first glance, in fact the pictures I have probably make it look worse than it was before I stripped it apart this evening. It needs some work for sure, but most of it I can do if I just knew what I need and I understood the wiring of a bike better. I'll start by explaining what I would like to see in the end. Basically I want a bike that can be ridden street legal and can have a passenger. It doesn't have to look pretty... Already married... But I want it to look clean, no wiring harnesses hanging out. Im probably not going to put fairings on it because honestly I love naked bikes and tough streetfighter look, even if it winds up being kinda ratty. Black spray paint will be a good friend I'm thinking. My major problems are as follows:

No gauge cluster (I have an R1 cluster but have no idea how to wire it to harness) any tips on mounting a gauge cluster and still using the streetfighter mask or what other gauge cluster is smallish and would be easier to wire.
Needs a coolant reservoir (how many tubes go into it... One at bottom and one at top? I can't find the one that goes into the top where does it come from?) perhaps only one...
There are about 10 different things coming off of the main wiring harness (where can I find what each thing does?)
Also any ideas on how to tuck these unmounted wires away without getting in the way of steering, light mask, etc. (There was about 60 feet of black tape and wire ties keeping the harness in a ball... any other options?
It could use a new subframe pan and battery pan (mounts for battery are gone) I think that's one piece if I remember correctly. Anyone have one they want to sell?

Well that's a good start, most of the other stuff I have a pretty good idea of what to do, mostly just rewiring the redneck rigged (black tape and zip-ties) lighting system.

Other random questions you viffer geniuses might have an answer to:

Are there two vents coming from the top of the gas tank?
Are there two fuel pickups coming off the bottom? ( I haven't torn real deep yet so I don't know where the two tubes go exactly)
Why does one trade a perfectly good dirtbike for a project VFR?

 

Where was the bike damaged most....forks bent or hit on front wheel??

you're going to need the Honda service manual.

 

OMG. The easiest way to do this is to use a VFR guage cluster, utilizing the two plugs you're holding up and alter your streetfighter fairing to match. To dig into this harness you will need a schematic (that's easy) and know how to read it with confidence (?). The tach and speedo are electronic and the frequency that they run on may not be the same as the R1. If you stuck with Honda stuff you might get away with playing games with it. Bottom line is you need to hack it together and try it or find someone whos already done it successfully. If you stick with OEM cluster the rest is easy.

 

With this bike being Gen 5, the Honda shop manual is gonna be your friend for tracking wiring alone. I'm inclide to think you are in for more stress than it's worth with the R1 cluster, I'm in with Squamish on this one. As far as your plan of attack, LOVE IT. Street Fighters rock.

 

Yeah so I am realizing the r1 cluster is going to be a mess but I dont have a stock cluster and don't really want to spend 300 bones to get one. I might be SOL on this cluster for a bit I found a subframe pan, which should help the back and also a coolant tank which I finally figured out where my missing tube was... DUH its the vent tube. I am also needing to find fork mounts for my front signals. they already have the bolt just need a mount preferably on the forks. Thanks for the advice though. I don't suppose that honda happens to have a similar wiring harness for a smaller gauge cluster do they, I mean the stock one is huge. It is a 5th gen. by the way. I used to have a 6th gen. Sadly it is likely being turned into popcans.
The bike was damaged in the front but the forks have been replaced and all the major damage has been fixed, now I really just need to make it legal so I can get an odometer reading and then attempt to turn a salvage title into a real title and the guy that I traded handed me some papers that are legit, but I know i'll have problems when it comes to titling it... Been through Colorado legislature enough to know that. Oh and by the way I actually rode it this morning so I know it runs and won't need to much other than electrical and cosmetic stuff. Thanks for the help though. Feel free to keep the advice coming

 

p.s. I found the wiring schematic on vfrworld but it still doesn't tell me what's behind the rubber boots in all of these harness ends... I suppose it doesn't really matter because I know I can't cut any of them off so I'm just gonna have to tuck them away as best I can and deal with it.

 

i gotta say stay with stock its gona save you pain in your head and pocket

 

Can somebody take a pic of their subframe without the seat on it so I know where stuff should be. Like the seat latch and cable. Also a pic of the bottom of the seat would be nice as well so I can see where the stock seat should mount.

 

OK, you say the forks were replaced......but any hit that damaged forks also destroyed the headset bearings, so were they replaced too ?? Usually the steering stem and triple clamps are twisted and also need replacement.

Some hard front end hits can make the frame go pearshaped in the lower bearing area, resulting in a loose bearing fit.....and JBWeld won't help !!

If so, the frame and the whole project may be questionable.

 

Yeah the guy had replaced the whole front end.. to what extent I don't know but he had been riding it for a few summers the way it is and I rode it around the block last night before I tore into it and I didn't notice anything weird as far as handling goes. But thanks for the concern i'll see what damage may still exist on the front end. The frame however seems to look good. I totaled my 06vfr and it pulled the forks back to the engine and split the welds on the frame, so I understand what your talking about. I'll keep an eye on it when I dig a little deeper.

 

If this is going to be a slow going project on a budget, EBay and Craigslist are going to be your friends. Daily searches will be necessary to see what you can come up with and score used but cheap. If you have enough patience, you will come across a nice wreck that someone is parting out. Especially if you get lucky and find one with front end damage only you might find everything you need all at once and in good shape.

As far as wiring up another gauge cluster... I don't even know if it would be possible. If the VFR uses a CAN bus for all the data, you'll have to have something to interperate the data between the two and finding something oddball like that for the VFR will be next to impossible. I would imagine that it does since everything goes through the ECU and nothing is really direct from sensor to gauge.

Some split wire loom, spray paint, and creative routing are probably going to be your best friends in the area of cleaing things up for a tidy looking street fighter appearance.

Grab a service manual for it and you will find the answer to a lot of questions that you have and many more to come. I don't know if there is one available on here or VFRD for download but if not you can usually snag em for $20 or so on EBay. It will be probably the best $20 you can spend on your entire project.

 

Yeah I've already ordered a few things I need off of Ebay. Craigslist is tough around here not many VFR's in colorado and I'm not real fond of craigslist if I can't go get it in person. However ebay is always a goldmine for projects like these. I will try to pick up a service manual, in fact the guy I got it from said he has one he has to find for me I think. You guys have pretty much talked me out of using anything but the stock cluster which means I have to try to find one for cheap which is very hard I'm finding... but you can't have it all. Like I said FAST, RIGHT, or CHEAP, not all of them. I think what I want to do is get the cluster and the front fairing bracket, then fab up a nose piece and mount the streetfighter mask to it. Im thinking maybe a diamond plate nose piece to hide that god awful cluster. What do you think, Kinda unique right? Should go well with chrome grips, mirror, and pegs when its all finished.

 

KINDA unique.
Seriously, it's strong, light & easy to work cut and bend. Go for it.