97 VFCBR Conversion - 929 Suspension / 600rr Fairings

True to the growing trend, I too have converted my aging VFR to a more modern setup.

I bought my 97 VFR in 2007 for $500 from a guy who bought it simply to swap the good fairing to his bike meaning I got some damaged ones. The bike didn't run when I picked it up but about 30 minutes after getting it home and cleaning the carbs, we were trading off taking test rides on it. Bone stock, the suspension geometry and exhaust note made it fun to ride although a little flat on power and the front brakes were less than desirable. The tail fairings had substantial damage and we all know how hard it is to come by plastics for these so I fab'd up a fiberglass alternative for the short term to make it street legal.





I scavenged an aftermarket performance exhaust with a left side exit from my 1990 VFR basket case and that began the road to more power/performance including Jet kit, airbox mod, sprocket changes, fork and brake rebuilds, raise the back, etc. At one point I had some popping out of gear so I dropped the engine, split the case, and rebuilt the transmission.The VFR was about as good as it was going to get in its current package and this was fine. It ran the mountain well just like any of my other sport bikes.






It's dated design would occasionally get me into trouble when chasing down more modern bikes. The front suspension would flex under all that weight quite a bit on hard braking corner entry and of course release and change geometry mid corner if coming in too hot, typical standard fork issues. The brakes were also less than adequate under hard use managing all that weight. Being aware of these issues, I just didn't push the bike too hard and never really realized the true potential except for brief moments. Since the VFR neck and CBR necks were identical for over a decade, I felt that a suspension upgrade down this path would be the easiest to direct bolt on. And while I'm at it, updating the bodywork would come easy as mounting points on Honda's are all relatively similar.

I chose to go with a complete 02 CBR 929RR front end for the Inverted forks, light wheel, and huge 330mm brakes. For bodywork, I wanted a clean adaption of guage cluster (retaining fuel level gauge) and fairings so I chose the 06 CBR 600RR body with electronics. This is the initial result:







NOTE: The wiring is relatively straight forward, but you will need a 900rr temp sender to normalize correct temps to the gauge(notice the 255F pictured when cold) and you will need a SpeedoHealer V4 to correct speed differences, everything else works perfectly.

I left the coil packs in place but cut the long protruding fairing mounts off the coil pack mounts. I clocked the coil pack mounts so that the radiator moves back just a little to provide clearance for the inverted forks at full turn. NOTE: turning radius is limited a little but only noticeable in a parking lot or when backing the bike into the garage at full clock. The lower mount tab was oval'd out a little to pull the bottom of the radiator in as well. I cut the hoses on my oil cooler and shortened them to mount directly under my radiator flush. The fairings then used the factory bolt hole location on the VFR to finish bolting up. The upper covers of the fairings needed to be clearanced for the coil packs, the side covers needed to be clearanced fro the radiator hoses. Thats all.


I used a factory 06 CBR 600RR fairing stay, cut the tab off the end, cross drilled the remainder, and mounted it directly to the stock VFR fairing stay frame tab using 2 aluminum plates and 4 bolts. I have a 12 ton press so I sandwiched the aluminum plates between some steel ones to give them the bends but thats not required to make this work.





NOTE: I sold my stock fairings and front forks/wheel to fund this whole project and pocketed extra cash.

The handling is substantially improved, braking is much better although using the stock master will require the usage of adjustable levers as the throw to engage is longer. The geometry is much tighter with a slightly shorter fork and loss of offset in the triples so the wheelbase is also shorter. All of this adds up to a more modern stance, ride, turn in, and better cornering. I still have more work to do on the fairings, including finishing the belly pan and possibly incorporating the rear fairings/subframe. I also am currently working on the CBR 929RR rear shock swap as the final compliment to making this system fully adjustable.

Things to Note:
929 forks are shorter, period. Use fork cap extenders to gain length and clearance at full compression and or a custom upper clamp that can accommodate mounting them down lower. Both of these approaches are semi costly.
Shorter forks also means less ground clearance, less rake, less trail, and less wheelbase. Understand these effects on handling and decide if this meets your riding style.
929 triple clamps have less offset. Understand this affect on handling. This brings the larger diameter forks closer to the headstock and thus closer to the frame which is why the forks hit the radiator/frame with less turning radius.
929 forks have progressive rate springs so typical sag settings do not apply, if you are going to be pushing the bike hard then I recommend replacing these with linear rate springs setup for your weight. RaceTech has them for $99 US. You will need a special tool and some basic knowledge of forks to change them yourself.
As eluded to, while the front brake master can be made to work initially, it is not an optimal long term solution, a modern Radial Master is recommended.


More to come later:

 

I had a hard time recognizing the VFR in the pictures as it looks so different with the CBR fairings. By the 4th hour of testing I finally had the compression/rebound where I like it, the bike was entering the corners with confidence, holding a line and exiting where I wanted it.




A few odd corners on the hill require getting on/off the brakes on corner entry due to bumps in the road or lane position due to oil,dirt, etc. Braking stayed consistent all day.




Where I notice the biggest difference is in transitioning from one direction to the other in the chicane. The bike flicks over easier and has lost its little bobble when setting it down on the other side.

 

Nice write up and pictures! :thumbsup: