RC45 rear hub swap

If I remember corectly RVFRs bike was a total loss and given to the insurance company. No word yet if he has decided on a new steed yet...

 

How and where did you come across this??? I'm guessing roughly $550.00 Yen to U.S. dollar...

 

I cruise that site regulary looking for cool swag for my RVF400. I happened upon that item. best of all the local Upgarage is the one that carries it, so I got to look at it in person, good condition so far as I can tell......

oh, and the Yen is stronger than the dollar, so it would be approximately 550 USD.

I would love to swap out the axle on my vfr but just don't know if it's worth 550 bones- cause I don't even want the wheel....

 

Although the spindle may fit in the VFR800 eccentric's bearing journals, I doubt it will be long enough on the sprocket side as the RVF does not use a cush drive.

 

uhm I went a different avenue for this. (center rear) I'll keep everyone posted when it comes nearer to completion.
It will be a pic heavy posting when I do...

 

Cool, looking forward to it!!! I have a single nut Ducati Rear Wheel thanks to a friend of mine that was able to get a custom made axle for me(you know who you are)! I'm curious to see what you're coming up with!

 

There are a couple of different ways to do this depending on what model VFR you have.

'90-'97 VFR750
Both the Honda NC30/35 (VFR400) and Triumph Triple final drive components can be used with some modification. vfroem can give you the skinny on the NC parts mod. mrmatt did the final work to show how to adapt the Triumph parts after sa1713 and myself experimented with it.
You can modify the OEM spindle to fit Ducati wheels - this also works with RC45 wheels as they have the same drive pin circle radius.

'98+ VFR800
Carroziera makes a wheel and spindle adapter kit that allows you to retain the LBS and ABS systems.
You can modify an OEM spindle and use Dymag Sport Magnesium wheels that will clear the rear caliper and allow you to retain the LBS and ABS systems. There is no current source for this spindle modification that I know of.
You can modify the OEM spindle and use Ducati wheels, but you need to use a different rear caliper and perhaps rotor as Duc wheels will hit the caliper. Bye Bye LBS and ABS.
One member on vfrdiscussion.com claimed to have used a 748-998 series Ducati final drive assembly with a cylindrical spacer and some other (not specified) parts, but never posted completed pics so it's still vaporware.
It's also been rumored, as has been discussed here, that you can use RC45 parts - the question being "has anyone actually done it?" as it remains uncertain what parts you need given the various differences between the RVF750 and the VFR800.

 

Oh Wow talk about some history here, Crazy huh? Man been all over the place on what bike does what for the money. Then there's the tinker thing too making it that one of a kind for me.. LOL Have it when the weather cleans up ha-ha-ha to go test ride a Street fighter Duc, it has the numbers I like plus Ducati is making a mini faring for it, which is a big deal for me. I love the naked look, but when it comes to riding funny how taking a full blast ain't all what it's cracked up to be, another plus for the VFR as it slices through the air pretty good protecting one form the elements. So till I ride the Ducati I'm not making up my mind.
I do how ever have a 4th gen in the wings that could be just the ticket, so back to the original question, thought about buying a project 4th gen and do it up the way I'd like, which at this time is more a question do I really have the time. I did the $$ on such a project and it's no worse than buying a new bike, but since I'm not really finding one I like, Ducati off the side, it's still up for discussion. FWIW I do have it figured out where I can install a Ducati Hyper front end to a 4th gen I have the nice suspension bits. then work my way to the rear. So lots to go over. Good thing it's winter Oh BTW I'm up to about 80-90% healed depending on the weather, bones and joints still ache, knees don't like to bend in the morning either. still have a lot of scaring. But hell can't live in a box, so in the mean time I fly around in the R44.

 

RVFR, there aint no bike like you're bike. I say go ahead, get your project bike, and make t yours!!! I;ve done some serious modding to my 4th Gen, but I also can't leave good enough lone, and I really enjoy tinkering. When it's all said and done, I plan on having one if the most highly modified VFR's in the world!!! I'm not too far away from that, but there's still a little ways to go yet. Heal up, and get a bike you'll love!!! For me, even if I was to get a new bike, I'd still jettison the stock, restrictive exhaust, fiddle with the suspension, and do some minor engine mods. Yeah, I could have bought a brand new machine with what I've sunk into my VFR, but to me, she's worth it. The single nut axle that I was able to get through a friend on this forum is only one of a very few made, it was kinda spendy, but you gotta pay if yo wanna play!!!

 

I can confirm that the VFR800Fi's swingarm eccentric is the same size as the RC45's, but the crenalated adjuster is 5mm wide. The bearings in the eccentric are the same for RC45, NC35 (RVF400) & the VFR800Fi. Thus is would appear that the RC45/NC35 spindle will swap straight into the VFR hub, but you would need the RC/NC sprocket carrier as their spindle is not long enough to use the VFR cush drive carrier !

I'm seriously looking at this, but will be the new year before I can afford to test the theory !

Mohawk.

 

Someone told me in 2004 this could be done, at which time I priced out the various RC45 parts required. Expect to spend upwards of $1G, and special order them from Honda Japan.

A potentially cheaper route may be NC35 parts. Someone like VFROEM who used to be on this board and vfrD has some experience putting NC30 parts in a VFR750 swingarm, so he may or may not be able to be of some assistance in this regard. Mind you, the 800 is a more complex beasty than the 750, so no one may be able to confirm or deny much of anything in regards to using either RC45 or NC35 stuff.

http://www.bikepics.com/members/vfroem/91vfr750/

David Silver Spares in Britain may be a good source of NC35 stuff - they may even have a complete swingarm you can cannibalize for parts (probably the cheapest way to go).

 

Said it before, so I'll say it again:

"The 5.0" 4th gen VFR750 wheel is 12lbs. That's the same weight as my 5.5" five spoke Marchesini rear wheel."

 

Thanks Safe-T. As noted, I have already worked out that the NC35 parts would work. i have comapred the parts via fiche & these are the parts that should be required to do this;-

NC35 rear wheel stub axle & all fittings, i.e spacers, brake disc, caliper + hanger, sprocket carrier & inner wheel bolt.

The RC45 wheel fits straight on the NC35 stub axle, as noted by many people, but not straight into an NC35, as the wheel would be off centre !

The simplest thing for me to use as a test would be to by a seconhand swingarm with everything on it, which is what I'm planning to do !

More news when i have it.

 

Nice to be able to search the Honda parts fiche for that bike ~ do you have an online resource for that ?

 

Hmmm...I know someone that put a Ducati wheel straight on an RC30 ~ any chance this is an option ?

http://www.blackrhubarb.com/pages/images/rc30/duckwheel1.jpg

HRC ran an offset (hence, off-centre) rear wheel on the RC30 for several years at the Isle of Man TT. And I've been told you don't even want to know how off-centre the front and rear wheels on a V-Max are LOL.

 

Try here, many bikes to choose from, just select the first of each model if you want the fiche breakdown.

honda partsmanual fiche rvf750r rc45 usa rvf750 partslist

 

OK NC35 rear axle will NOT work in the 800, its to short, so apart from buying one & machining it & the original 800 axle to make a new one suitable for the job, its not possible.

The RC45 axle would appear to be a drop in replacement for the 800 one & second hand NC35 parts could be used for all the other parts required, more research required.

Checking an original 1998 Press Pack for the 800, it appears that the rear wheel centre line is level with the rear disc nuts left face & the wheel mounting face offset is 21mm. The RC45 offset is 19mm, according to info I have from BST.

More when I have it.

As a point of interest, I just finished fitting a BST Carbon RC45 front wheel to my Viffer tonight I'll post pics in a new thread when i get round to taking them !

 

OK, a tantalising update. I procured an NC30 axle (same as NC35 apart from the wheel/brake mount disc being a little narrower, so rear disc can be replaced without taking the axle out !) The plan was to use it to measure the mods I'd need to get the VFR800 axle modified for a single nut wheel. But when I took the first measurements, it looked like it would just drop in the 800 hub, but with the sprocket carrier reversed !

Now that i have stripped the hub & have made my decision to proceed with this, the final measurements showed up some issues. The 400 axle seating depth is 2mm to long, so I had the face turned down by 2mm to correct this. So the wheel offset is now identical to the 800's.

The next issue is that the NC30 wheel I bought (very cheap, 18") to test for spoke clearance to the 800 caliper, shows that its NOT possible to use the 800 hanger & caliper, so the CBS rear caliper & hanger will have to go. So I got an NC30 hanger that has the same fitting as the 800's to the torque arm, needs a nut, as it's not threaded. Then discovered that it will not fit with the circlip, as its too wide, so had 2mm machined off the face nearest the circlip, so it now fits.

So I will fit the 400's disc & caliper/brake system. I bought a new RC30 wheel nut, washer & cone mount, these are the same as the RC45's, basically the NC30/35 has a flat outer face to the wheel, the RC30/45 has a 45degree tapered cone face, hence the need for this part.

Incidently, the weight of the axle complete + 800 hub + sprocket carrier &/or cush drive, alloy 43 tooth sprocket (no brake disc) all nuts & washers are as follows.

VFR800 = 5.8Kg (530 sprocket)
NC30 = 4.8kg (525 sprocket)

Just waiting for the 400 caliper & disc so I will add more & some pics when i've got this sorted. The plan is to add a BST Carbon RC45 wheel to match the front one I already have. I expect to loose about 5Kg from the rear wheel/tyre/hub/axle combination ! 3.5 of that will be from the wheel alone !

Incidentally the vfr800 rear wheel weighs 6Kg, as does the Maxxis 108/55x17 rear tyre, so 12Kg combined !

Enjoy.

 

Incidentally, this is pretty much what VFROEM did to his '93 VFR750 a few years ago.

vfroem's Channel - YouTube

 

Yep, you are correct, but no one appears to have done it to an 800 ! The 750 & 400's share many common parts & dimensions, which makes it easier. The 800 being based but not the same as the RC45 & with the added complication of the CBS appeared to make it more difficult.

Hopefully this will allow others to follow my example & get that single nut rear end look.