New VFR Owner, Few Small Questions

Discussion in 'General VFR Discussions' started by JakeBoucher, Nov 23, 2014.

  1. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    Hi, I'm new to the forum. My name is Jake I'm 17 and from California. About 2 weeks ago I picked up a 1990 VFR750 with 37k on it. It is super clean and I absolutely love the bike, it had a Yoshi pipe and K&N filter on it. The farings are in good shape, but they have had a lot of work done to them. There is fiberglass work or epoxy on almost every piece. Of course it's on the inside where you can't see it. I guess the PO decided they were going to fix all the mounting tabs and cracks in them then bondo and paint them. Seems like after some riding hairline cracks and other issues have been popping up. So before they get worse I decided I'm going to take them off and street fighter the bike until I get the funds to buy a new 1 piece fairing kit. Anyway, I have removed my carbon can and air pumps, relocated the coils and hid some wiring.

    So the coils mount to a bracket then to the frame, I assumed they needed to be grounded through their mounting holes. Well after relocating them and mounting them to plastic the bike still runs strong. Is this acceptable or do I need to run ground wires?

    Every other VFR I have seen that has been converted to a street fighter has had its oil cooler removed. Once removing the cooler would I need to connect the lines together to keep the flow pattern correct? Or would I block off the lines instead?

    After I remove the front faring/dash/windscreen I plan on making up a headlight assembly and just mounting some led idiot lights in an aluminum bar then getting a small temp gauge for my dash. Not worried about a fuel gauge, speedo, or tach.

    Only problem is my current temp gauge doesn't work. I tried grounding out the sending unit, but nothing happened. So ill rewire with a new gauge and if it still doesn't work the sending unit would be the culprit. I want an led gauge that actually displays the temp in numbers. What would it take to convert to a gauge of that sort?

    I want to get rid of the stock coolant reservoir and use an aluminum or stainless bottle of some sort. Any ideas? I want to stay away from a coffee mug or sports bottle. From the looks of the stock reservoir I need to put a nipple on the bottom of the bottle where the fluid would be, then on the top of the bottle it needs a breather.

    Not sure what to do yet for a fuse box, haven't got that far.

    PO tried to paint the side covers on the motor and didn't do prep work or something. It is flaking and looks like garbage. So next oil change I need to pull the covers and get them painted all fancy.

    Thanks for any input, sorry about such a long post. 20141109_221341.jpg
     
  2. DaHose

    DaHose New Member

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    Converting to a new temp. gauge would require a complete kit with gauge and sensor. I would expect your fuses to all be under the seat somewhere.

    For a coolant reservoir, try looking on ebay for an aluminum coolant overflow tank.

    Jose
     
  3. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    Thanks, my fuses are in the dash area. I'm not sure where I'm going to put them yet.
     
  4. Scubalong

    Scubalong Official Greeter?

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    :welcome: to the madness Jake :wave:
     
  5. NormK

    NormK New Member

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    Take care Jake remember these are a big bit of bike for a young bloke, take it gentle with the right hand
     
  6. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    Thanks for the welcome, once I get some extra cash I will start posting pictures of the transformation.
     
  7. RotaryRocketeer

    RotaryRocketeer New Member

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    That bike is too pretty to wind up as a streetfighter "conversion." In my humble opinion of course. But enjoy the ride nonetheless!
     
  8. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    Well I'm not doing anything I can't reverse. So if I don't like the street fighter or want to go back to stock I always have an option.

    So today bike fired up no problem this morning and got to work without any issue. Fired her up again around noon and went to lunch without a problem. Left lunch and went back to work without a problem. About 2 hours later I went to head home and the bike turned over a few times slowly and then started buzzing with the starter button depressed. So I hooked it up to the bosses car and it fired up. Put a multimeter on the batt and it displayed little over 12 volts at idle. Revved her up and got a little over 13 volts without a problem. That was just blipping the throttle to 5k or so. I know these bikes are notorious for reg/recs going out, but if that was the case my voltage would always be the same no matter what rpm right? My ride home is about 10 min so It didn't have much time to charge the batt, but when I got home and shut it off I tried to restart it and again turned over a few times then started buzzing with the starter button pressed. Hooked my batt to a charger and it said it was at 52 percent. So I'm going to give it a good charge and see what I get. Maybe it's a bad battery. I looked for date markings and I did find an 07/08 stamped into a side. So if that's the case it's around 7 years old and wouldn't be surprising if it is bad.
     
  9. Scubalong

    Scubalong Official Greeter?

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    You need a new Battery Jake
     
  10. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    Don't eliminate the oil cooler or you could accelerate engine wear.
     
  11. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    Yeah I think I may hold off on removing the oil cooler. I might move it to a more convenient spot though. So I hooked my battery to a 2 amp charge until it was at 70 percent. Threw it back in the bike and she fired up and purred great. Took it for a spin, shut it off and it restarted no problem. Took it to get gas, shut off the bike and filled her up. Started back up without a problem, got home and checked the percentage again and she is at 90 percent. So it charged on the ride. I'm going to leave the charger hooked up tonight, and go get a battery tomorrow when I get paid. The corresponding battery is $54 at the local walmart, sound like the right price?
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2014
  12. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    Bought a new battery. It's on the trickle charge right now getting it's first charge. I'll let you guys know if that was the problem.

    I'm hearing a little valve tick so I think I need to adjust my valves. From what I have read it is shims and buckets, and I have never dealt with them before. Only nut and screw type on other bikes. Does anyone have a tutorial post or maybe a kind fellow could post some photos of what their service manual says. With school taking up work hours, insurance and registration for my motorcycle and car are coming up too. So I don't have much extra cash to buy a service manual.
     
  13. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    Dont remove oil cooler! There is no reason to do this and if you looked at other people that "street fightered" these bikes they left the oil cooler on, these bikes are bullet proof pretty much. You could remove the valve covers and check the lash without too much trouble, chances are the valves are in spec. Install a new fully charged battery and moniter the charging system with your trusty DMM, you should get between 13.6 or so to 14+volts at 5000 RPM. More pictures are appreciated btw, love third generation bikes
     
  14. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    Ok, so oil cooler is staying on. Does anyone know by chance the valve lash spec for intake and exhaust valves? Also, is the valve cover gasket a reusable rubber one or does in need replaced?

    If the weather permits I'll get some pictures tomorrow. She's a little dirty and most of the faring are currently removed.

    New battery fixed the problem. Thanks for the help!
     
  15. steve.edgett

    steve.edgett New Member

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    Jake - I'd like to echo another poster. Watch the right hand very carefully! These bikes are heavy and very fast. When I bought a CBR600 in 1993, a friend suggested I could learn to use it be attending a track school. Without a doubt, this saved me from dropping the bike at a minimum and in all likelihood, serious injury. You have entered the realm of expert machinery, even if it is not the latest liter-bike with 160 HP. Take the time to learn the bike's finer points on a track and it will make you a more skilled rider on the street. The VFR is a superb machine and I'm sure that everyone on this forum would love to see you still around to buy another. Learning to handle it on the track may help you to enjoy motorcycling for many years. I'm 66 and riding my fourth VFR; personally, if I hadn't started at 18 on an 80cc bike, I might not have seen 20.
     
  16. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    Just judging from the first post, sure sounds like he has experience with bikes already.

    Also, using your first post to lecture someone on track days is kind of tacky. Not even an introduction yet.
     
  17. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    When I first got the itch to get a motorcycle was 3 months go or so I found a 1977 Suzuki GS750 for super cheap. I bought it and brought her back to life. So that's the bike I started on. It was actually only street legal and a daily driver for about 3 weeks until I sold it and bought my VFR the day after. I'm still a new rider, but one thing that did help me a LOT was motorcycle training. 3rd gear on a 125 or 150 was about as fast as you could go, but it was a major help on turning technique. I hear a lot of people saying a track day helps more than any performance part. So maybe I will hit the track before I throw non California cams in her.
     
  18. JakeBoucher

    JakeBoucher New Member

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    I do have experience with bikes, working on them for 3 years. I've been riding for less than 45 days, sooooo riding tips are welcome just as much as mechanical.
     
  19. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    the VFR isn't crazy fast. Treat 6K like redline and shift under that, and it will be a perfectly manageable around town bike. Weight's really only an issue at low speeds, don't need a track day to figure that out. Just find an empty parking lot to practice if needed.
     
  20. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    The shim under bucket will require removal of camsafts to adjust if needed. I don't know the '90 valve clearances, and looks like the manual downloads over at vfr discussion for your bike are down. Removing camshafts isn't hard, but I would definitely get a copy of the service manual. Removing buckets and shim is done with a small telescoping magnet retrieval tool of some kind. Can be bought any auto parts store. The valve cover gasket is reusable, as long as it isn't dry rotted to hell. Simply clean surfaces and reseal with something that is easily removable in the future. I prefer permatex high tack gasket sealant, the can with brush version. Not the aerosol.

    Here's some vids to check out:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v2LtHlvcqI

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDx3zgOLShY

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kuCxg2cRvo

    Note: your vfr has a gear driven cams, so there is no chain and tensioner to remove. Just note the timing marks on the end of the cams as indicated in the service manual.
     
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