Front End

Front End be gone! time for upgrades : )

Old riser handle bars/clipons... massively heavy... bin! (or ebay hah), new cnc billet aluminium clipons and alluminium bars to replace : )

Right the route im going down for the front end is a a 07 fireblade! nicely shortening the trail, the bike should end up turning like a beast... and if it ends up being too beastly then i'll add on a steering dampner to help out. Ground clearance is an unknown as yet, cbr1000rr fork are shorter then standard vfr800 forks, but a jack up kit on the rear shock should help out. 1000rr’s use the same steering stem bearings as the VFR, the steering stem length is also the same so it becomes an elementary job to fit. My vfr has had taper bearings fitted top and bottom so the new fork will need this type to be pressed on, should be an easy switcharoo.

Stock vfr yoke next to new Blade yoke. Again the blades is much lighter! drill out the safety bolts to get the ignition switch out and its a perfect match to fit it direct onto the blades! result!

So here we have the shiny CBR1000rr forks : ) against the depressing stock vfr800 forks, again theres a big weight difference here, ill add all weight saving measurements at a later date.

Blade front end on, decided in the end to buy a blade wheel to match as correct wheel bearing sizes to fit the vfr wheel over the blade spindal was too difficult to source and i didnt fancy buying an unknown brand of bearing :s so went with the safe option of just using a blade wheel. The benefit of this is that actually there is a considerable amount of weight saving from the 3 spoke design compared to the rediculously heavy 5 spoke vfr wheel.

DCBS delink/removal

I was out driving this morning when i saw a RAC van parked on the side of the road. The driver was sobbing uncontrollably and look really miserable. I thought to myself, "that guys heading for a breakdown."

Right then, i want to delink the dual combined braking system and remove it all, reason for this is because i want the rear to brake when i want it to! and not just because im using the front brake!! its so annoying when your mid corner and you just want to apply abit of rear brake but the cbs kicks in and the fronts come on, getting you into more trouble! Also just looking at the system there must be so much more extra weight! even just all the extra lines must add up to atleast a kilo or 2!

Time to rip her out! Starting by completely bleeding the whole system, because i dont want any of that nasty brake fluid drippin on the bike or on the garage floor. having to work both brakes at the same time to get the most fluid out at each end. gloves are a good choice!
With plenty of rags at the ready for any excess fluid, working front to back, the front calipers come off, the front brake and master cylinder and the lines upto where the weeny steel lines run round the frame of the bike.

Next removing the rear caliper for better access, disconecting the lines, and followin these back up to the rear master cylinder and rear brake proportioning valve.

The lines removed completely, its time for the proportioning valve, which was surprising easy to take out, just two unceased bolts, result! next i just worked the steel lines that follow the inside of the left hand side frame loose, and the bike is free from a cbs! horraaa!

this is a great mod to do to save weight, the thing weighs a ton (ill measure how much it weighs later)! with all its extra brackets and lines and obv fluid its easy to see why! DCBS deleted :)

Strip Tease

Sha Boy.... Sha Roy!!! haha carpark catchphrase makin an early mornin start and a cold garage more bareable! 2 brews laters and time to get crackin, so first things first lets strip the ol gal...

So, front and rear subframe taken off and straight away weight can be saved here, i believe most things on this bike has been made out of pig iron. So new custom subframes (lightweight) will be built accomodating new different fairings, lights, and for the future an underseat exhaust. Details to come...

My genius lifting system...

...1 bottle and 2 scissor jacks, beauuuuutiful!

 -Undertray and scottoiler removed, custom fiberglass one to replace this.

- Chain guard removed (fashion before function) as it it will no longer be needed to mount the rear brake lines onto, and as much of the expensive AFAM chain to be seen,  forget PPE, its all about weight saving!

The Project

So here we go....
2012 has arrived and before the world comes to an end, what better way to spend our last days then to play about with motorbikes, right?

This project is all about turning my 5th generation VFR800 into something different and individual, instead of the usual process of when you want a new bike you go on ebay sell ur bike and purchase a different bike generically the same of what many other might have.
The idea is to take my viffer, who lets be honest has become abit fat and heavy, and turn her into something abit lighter, more agressive and sporty looking, and improve/upgrade its components along the way.
Taking on this project is for many reasons: dont get me wrong i love the vfr800 as it is but it looks arent as sporty as i would like and the bike is far too heavy. I really like the idea of having bike thats going to be individual and the vfr as is has alot of features which i like as a starting point: these being the single sided swing arm, V4 grunt, large fuel capacity, the gear driven cams, honda reliabilty and also ive become really fond of the way it delivers its power. Another reason for taking on this project is because the bike needs a reconditioning/upgrade on its suspensension (front+rear). So lets get stuck in...

^ a last look of the bike before getting started