1994 RVF400R Build Project

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by NorcalBoy, Nov 7, 2018.

  1. NobleHops

    NobleHops New Member

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    Holy smokes Ron, this thread is super epic, as is your bike. Thanks so much for having us on the team and all your kind shout-outs.

    Nils
     
  2. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Thanks, Nils!

    Yeah, the thread did kind of take on a life of it's own, as has the project. I couldn't have done it without all of you guys at Restocycle. I really appreciate all of the effort you folks put into what I was doing, you helped more than you could possibly know. I also want to thank you for turning me on to Robb Kerr at EFabEx, Mr. Tromble at Cycle Skins, and the boys at Evan Steele Performance. Was hanging out with Evan, Phil, and Robb this afternoon. Looking forward to having Evan and Phil work their mojo on the tuning. We had a great chat about it this afternoon.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2019
  3. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Well, things have really started moving and the end is in sight.

    Visited my paint man on Monday and took a look at the bodywork and tank so far. It is turning out pretty decent, if I do say so myself. They are just working on the final coats of clear and the polishing. Should have it all back day after tomorrow.

    Completed mid panels. The 750 side cover is for a custom bobber project he's also painting right now.

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    Tank with just the final clear coating to go. The matched yellow wing will make it just a little bit different from the RTII OEM paint scheme and should be a good match to the yellow RVF on the side cowls.

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    Single seat cowl, also ready for the final clear coating

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    The lower side cowls were in the paint booth drying, the final coats of clear were on and they were just needing the final sanding and polishing. Don told me that it took over 20 hours to place the graphics kit alone. The graphics are layered from the factory and have to be applied in steps, glad I wasn't the one trying to get it all to work.

    Also got a text pic from Tige at FastBike Industries this morning and the initial test fit of the custom cartridges and the assembly was completed this morning. They still needed some fine tuning today, but they told me they would go out today, or tomorrow at the latest. They turned out exactly as I was hoping they would. She is going to have some pretty decent gams, lol.

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    Looking towards the end of next week for everything to get here. and for the final bits of assembly. Going to be pretty decent to hear it finally run again.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2019
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  4. Gator

    Gator Insider

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    Nice paint!
     
  5. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    It's hard to really tell from just seeing it in bits and pieces. I'm interested to see what it looks like when it's installed and you can see it as a package. Forks shipped out this morning, so it won't be too long until I'll be able to see it. Gotta get this done, already started on the preliminary work to start building a rally/baja/dual sport machine. That one is going to take awhile.
     
  6. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    That 750 side cover had me going for a minute there.
     
  7. Gator

    Gator Insider

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    Did you miss the post where he bored the fuck out of the engine? lol

    Yeah when I saw the 750 it threw me off for a second.
     
  8. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    The tail section in that same pic is from a CBX that's getting a refresh at Restocycle
     
  9. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Spent a few hours hanging out with my machinist, 3D cad guru extraordinaire, Robb Kerr today. As mentioned before, we are brainstorming a rally tower configuration and mounting, and now, a new rally low exhaust that will allow a saddle tank aux fuel cell to be mounted for my next project. He had finished up the new clevis for the rear master out of Nitronix 50 stainless.

    I needed this special clevis to address the earlier problem I had come across with the rear brake pedal height being too low for where I typically like it, with no way to adjust it up any further. So took a few measurements and went to Robb and he milled one up for me.

    It turned out pretty decent, and even though it's stainless, it's a little lighter than the stock stamped piece. I added 1/4" into the overall length of the clevis and allowed a much better purchase on the master cylinder rod. After the test fit, he is going to also do one out of 7075 aluminum.

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    Spent about 15 minutes setting it up, also added a Woodcraft Racing return spring and seat. I prefer the feel of a brake lever with a spring kit, have always used them, on road, or off.

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    I'm feeling pretty good about the end result. The lever is now in my preferred location. Plus, I now have a range of adjustment, which I didn't have before. That was the last of the minute details, I'm positive I can finish up now, without having to go back to a punch list of items that I didn't address at the time. I will go back and install the aluminum version, once Robb gets around to milling it.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2019
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  10. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Very cool, looks great. I like the "lightening" ovals on the side.

    Brakes without spring kits can feel kinda "dead" to me, if that makes sense.
     
  11. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    You're catchin', what I'm throwin'. That is exactly what I try to eliminate, nothing worse than a limp noodle brake pedal. I'm pretty picky when it comes to how the controls feel and where they are located.
     
  12. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Things started moving again this week.

    The forks were completed and I received them on Wednesday. Proceeded to get busy, had been off for awhile and it took me a bit to get back into it, lol. Unboxed them and took a measurement of each frok leg to check the free length of each leg. Pumped them a few times and let them settle, then measured again, all was good within a millimeter of being exactly the same. A good start.

    Got the steering head bearings tensioned correctly, installed the forks and the bars, got the top triple mounted and the stem nut torqued

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    Installed the wheel and the calipers with the custom ti axle and spacers and did a test spin. It's amazing how well the wheel spins with ceramic bearings. Torqued the ti axle nut and moved on.

    Got all the controls mounted up and connected up the switchgear and cables. Had to do some goofing around to get everything located properly and to make sure everything worked good lock to lock and nothing was pinched. I was a little miffed to find out that the clutch lever was into the speedometer at full right lock.....eventually figured out that the Tyga triples come with adjustable steering stops, so I flipped them around and that solved the problem. The turning radius isn't as sharp, but everything clears and should be fine.

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    The forks were fabricated by FastBike Industries with anodizing done by a company out of SoCal. The cartridges are Andreani Misano Factory cartridges that have been machined to fit the Showa tubes, with custom caps. The stanchions are DLC coated and sourced from Brook Suspension in the UK. They have been setup for my weight and the shim stacks have been set to my preferences. Turned out really decent

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    The rotors are EBC Vee Rotors, with DLC coated ti mounting bolts. ProBolt DLC coated dual drive axle pinch and caliper mounting bolts.

    Ran into a pretty significant issue with the Brembo RCS17 master cylinder. The bars are very short and pretty steeply angled, so there was no way to attach the brake lines...couldn't even get the banjo bolt installed. The Brembo radial inlet is on the bottom of the master, where the stock axial has the fitting on the end, thus clearing the bar tube. It will need longer clip ons to be able to utilize the Brembo master. With longer bars comes another issue, will need all new custom cables to make them long enough, as well as longer brake lines. That is a $500 escapade, plus the amount of time it would take to get it all in hand, prolly 45 - 60 days. Wasn't willing to wait for that at this point. I may do it in the future, but not right now.

    Scrounged up the wasted stock axial master and got busy. It was a real mess, fittings badly corroded, rubber boot torn, lever gashed up, all hardware rusted and worthless. Finally got it apart after an hour of scraping and liberal doses of liquid wrench.

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    The plunger assembly was wasted

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    Got all the part numbers and went to see my guy Cass at Musselman's Honda Center in Tucson. I had a little impromptu meeting with them and they are cutting me some nice deals on parts and they are going to be helping out with my rally build parts next. No more shipping costs and waiting with no information. They were able to order all of the rebuild parts and other bits I would need. Ordered a new Powerstands Racing Click and Roll lever from Dennis Kirk and pirated the Brembo smoke reservoir from the Brembo master. Took the master cylinder casting and the clamp to Restocycle and had the boys vapor blast it for me and I added DLC coated ti hardware.

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    Now that's more like it. Went to my fab guy Robb yesterday and have him drawing up and milling a new mount for the reservoir out of 7075 aluminum which should be done next week. hoping to have all the rebuild parts and the lever in hand by next Friday. So that solved that issue.

    This morning I went to mount up the Tyga carbon front fender, but it fit like complete shit and I had a sneaking hunch it was slightly binding up the stanchions. You don't spend cubic dollars on the best suspension, then fuck it all up with a fender, took it off and dumped it in the trash bin. Grabbed my OEM fender and took it to my paint guy to get it fixed up and resprayed this morning. The fender has some idiotic clamps for the stock brake lines that are riveted to the fender, drilled out the rivets and popped them off. My painter is going to fill the holes I won't need and then he's going to shoot it white to match the bodywork paint. Stock, the fender is red, but I didn't want too much red, so I went with the white. I think it will look cleaner...he's also going to add a little touch to the front lip area, but I'll show that later, lol.

    Got back home and roughed in the HEL carbolook brake braided lines, just to confirm they were going to work, thankfully they fit great, so no problems there....don't think those would have worked with the Brembo master at all...so dodged that bullet. They should work well with the look I'm after.

    [​IMG]

    Then it was time.....I have had a little bit of anxiety over the startup procedure, I felt confident about my work, but it was a complete carb teardown, new charging system, and a new digital programmable ignition...so I had to see.

    Installed a new Anti-Gravity lithium battery

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    Turned the key.....and all of the right lights came on, that's a decent start, lol

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    So, I hooked up my aux fuel bottle and took a deep breath

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    Took one last deep breath, opened the petcock on the bottle and hit the starter...nothing...wtf?...oh...the 30 amp fuse needed to be installed, freaked the crap out of myself for a second, hahahahahahahahahaha, proceeded with take deux...

    Hit the key and, the rest is history



    Idle was kind of high, but that was to be expected on the initial start up, I let it run and heat up a little. Burned off the light oil residue from the pipes and the assembly. With the oversize rads, it takes awhile to get up to temp. Dialed in the idle to around 1300 or so



    It still had a little bit of a miss, and the throttle response was a little fat off the bottom...did some more looking around



    Found the issue....the vacuum line to the petcock was open, lol. Plugged that and checked it out....good now. Hooked up the carbtune and synched the carbs, they were very, very close from my bench synch with the super light guitar E string method. A couple slight touches on the screws and all was well.

    The hiss from the intake on the Tyga oversize airbox lid is pretty funny in the vid.



    The bodywork is in final polish and is pretty much done, looks amazing. Fingers crossed it clears the rads, but it should be OK...but as I have seen throughout this build, never assume. Just need the fender and to finish up the front brakes, torque the axle pinch bolts, double check the fluids, and that should wrap this up. Was trying to do a frame off restoration in 90 days...might just get there.
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2019
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  13. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    Love it !!!!
    That pesky vac hose always happens when you connect to a aux bottle ! lol
     
  14. scottbott

    scottbott Member

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    very very nice, no carbon wheels??, would love to have that in my garage even just to look at, I am sad that way!
     
  15. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    I can't tell you how many times I've looked at it previously, and told myself I should prolly stick a golf tee in that.....
     
  16. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    If I was going to spend another +/- $3,000 on it right now, carbon wheels wouldn't even make the list.
     
  17. GreginDenver

    GreginDenver New Member

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    Don't want to offend you but I was expecting more throttle response on the post-vacuum-line-fix video. There's still some more tuning to come on the bike? I don't have any experience with NC-35 behavior, but I do own two 5th Gen VFRs (one I keep here in Denver and the other at my brother's house in Alabama). When you rev-from-idle either of my 5th Gens the throttle response is astounding. Based on that experience with my 5th Gen bikes I was expecting the same from your RVF when I clicked on the video. Is this due to carbs vs. FI? Or is this just normal for the 400cc Honda V4 engine?
     
  18. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    It doesn't get much better than the last clip as far as an initial start up and synch. It hasn't even turned a wheel yet.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2019
  19. Gator

    Gator Insider

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    Congrats. The first start up is always cool.
     
  20. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Thanks. It was good to not have to fuss with it to get it fired up and running. I'm pretty happy with the effort, just need to get some clothes on the ol' girl and get it wrapped up. Not much left to do. Evan Steele is going to do the final dyno tuning. Nice to have a guys like Evan and Phil available to assist.

    http://evansteelperformance.com/
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2019
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