Custom Fighters - Custom Streetfighter Motorcycle Forum banner

JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz Discussion

22K views 176 replies 19 participants last post by  370steve 
#1 ·
JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

I'm sure I'll mess up along the way at some point so why not point it out and make me look like an idiot (this is my first custom bike afterall) :fu: :party-smiley:
 
#83 ·
:D

I remember trying to work out linkages and shock lengths on my SSSA, a real nightmare, it's really unintuitive on how changing one distance between holes on the plates will effect ride height / shock compression rate etc, almost the opposite of what you expect!

Sounds like you are hitting a few snags, so I don't want to add to your woes, but I don't think you should use those plates now, one of those bolt holes looks ovaled / like you had 2 goes at it. This part will be under constant movement, anything less than a perfectly round hole is going to take a beating and cause a weak spot.

I realise budgets are tight, but this is what I did: I used some OEM spates, I got some from VFRs and from triumphs, and saw what looked closest. I then had set points there, then I used a turnbuckle / rose joint (you might have to use 2 on your setup, replacing that OEM dogbone setup) and an adjustable length shock. MV's have them, but others too I'm sure, get trawling eBay. That way you can put the plates in and dial in ride height etc using just 2 variables. I know it's not the same as making your own plates and might be a little ££ but it might save a lot of time and effort.

Spacers I cut myself from alu tube I bought from eBay.
 
#85 ·
I can check the garage see what I've got. I definitely have some that i think you can have that I can't be arsed to eBay. Can you wait until Saturday for me to get to town and check and get them in the post on Monday? If so, pm me your address. :Thumbs up:
 
#86 ·
Sorry for the long delay, I finally managed to get into town to get to my garage. I actually can only find one set of plates, i think from a Triumph 675:



They are 70mm along the two long sides, 65mm on the short. They are 4mm thick steel. Think they'll be any good for you?
 
#88 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

Managed to get an m25 1.5 tap delivered, awfully expensive for cleaning up one thread but oh well.
Many many thanks to cookie for sending me his spare linkage triangles.
After more finessing with the swingarm spacers, I got the swingarm in and both bolts nipped.
Managed to get the triangles to work with a cbr125 rear shock for now.






Going to make a list of bolts and nuts I need tomorrow to get the rear triangles properly secured. Then I'll chuck on the subframe, tank and bodywork and roll her outside for some cleaning.
 
#89 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

Thanks to Steve for digging out the bolts for the rear suspension, I think my mockup using the wrong size bolts has bent and twisted the existing dog bones. Also found out that the different year subframe has more than one change excluding the footpegs, meaning the removable seat lock/rear cowl support/new exhaust mounting position isn't properly mounted.







After this I put on the standard rear undertray and the rear doesn't look as high, but still should be enough room for an exhaust pipe in there I hope.
 
#90 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

22 hours of wiring and she's finally good... ish.

Started out with this in december and promptly gave up


Then these last 3 days I've got everything working, chopped, soldered, heat shrinked, rewrapped,
wrapped again... re-routing, re-routing... hang on I'm not a satna...re-routing... bloody wires!!!

I've relocated the fusebox from the traditional front yoke/dash mounting :nuts: extended all the wiring from that to the switchgear plugs,
I managed to accidentally make two seperate ground circuits, one grounded and the other not - and I wondered why it didn't work. :doh:

So I've ended up chopping up the entire rear section of a cb400sf loom I had, to then make the front end of the wiring reach the headlights bowl and indicators,
and cutting up a cbr125 loom I also had for the connections between the switchgear connector block and other parts of the loom - as well as the ground from the isolated front ground circuit.

Tucked in nicely in front of the airbox thanks to Rex sausagety for that



BFT shirt because proper shed build ;)


She looks like a proper naked now =D

 
#94 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

Managed to make a bracket for the speedo pickup and find a place to mount it.


Also managed to decide a route for the cable.


Wanted to finally get the P clams done for holding the brake lines and the cable but the bolt hole is too small for the bolt I want to use.
Tried to drill it out and didn't end well for me, my thumb, or a twisted bit of metal that was once a p clamp so need to pick some of those up tomorrow with a larger OD hole.

Ordered SLOSH tank cleaner, and tank sealer today so that should be here tomorrow too!
Worryingly I'm starting to run out of things to do.
 
#95 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

I'm really on it at the moment, update 3 in as many days. (some reason I didn't post this here, even though I wrote it here, so copied back from another forum)

So onto the tank.
Emptied the molasses mix out of the tank after maybe 5 months?


Gave it a bloody good wash round with the hose, and a little bit of shaking and running the hose through the tank until I got all the flakes of rust and debris out.

Put the fuel gauge back in and added in Tank-Kleen, left it and rotated the tank every 10-15mins with vigorous shaking, then found some gravel to put in. You can vaguely see the bubbles of it working here.



Washed and rinsed. Then the fun game of 3 tiny stones which didn't want to come out.

Got em out then time to dry out the tank. Tried my airline and got bored as it wasn't doing the job well enough.
So into the kitchen, hair dryer!


Then I uhh... sloshed the slosh




Now it just needs to cure for 5 days and then I'll see if I've messed it up at all.
 
#96 ·
So I need to replace the o-ring on the bottom of the tank which honda specifies as 39.5x5.
So should equate to 39.5 x 49.5 x 5
How ever with postage for three of them comes to £22 which is too much for me.

I can find a 39 x 49 x 5, my question is should I order Viton or Nitrile.
The only difference between the two from what I can see is the suitability for petrol over 121C
 
#102 ·
Viton is advertised as resistant to ethanol in modern fuel.

This lot are good for that kind of thing.
https://www.litetek.co/ReplacementPartsHonda.html

If you didn't already hook up the indicators, grab Japanese bullet clips rather than the crap from Halfords. Better quality and more suited for outdoor use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 370steve
#97 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

Magnets for the speedo in.
Fuel tank sealed but my fuel tap o-rings leaked chucking petrol all down the side of the tank, so went back to the old perished looking orings.

Managed to get the bike running which is a massive relief but only via gravity feed from the tank but I fear that the fuel pump isn't working, which could be the relay or even the pump itself or my wiring but I don't think I've touched that circuit but who knows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxswAF7aLL0
There isn't a massive amount of flow coming out of the petrol tank so I think I may have slightly blocked the strainer when sealing the tank. Not too sure yet.


Managed to get the p-clips sorted for the front hoses and speedo pickup and the horn mounted up.

Made another list of things to do, which are really just odds and sods.. generally

Rear caliper/hose/mastercylinder
Mounting and hoses for the oil cooler.
Exhaust hangers - maybe use p-clips on the rail?
Indicator mounts
Seat lock mount
Offset sprocket
Footpeg mounting bolts
Bullet connectors for indicators
Drill holes for dzus nuts
Lockstops
Bolts for indicators mounting
Bolts for p-clamps
Osram headlight
Mount the reg/rec and wire it up
Exhaust system
Rear shock
Remove mainstand
Seat cover
 
#99 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

Nothing much to report yet, yesterday I visited zorstec and paid a visit to firefox racing.

Dropped in at Zorstec and spoke to Tom about what I wanted, and got a ballpark figure which was massively cheaper than I expected.
They couldn't give me an exact price as the bike wasn't there and I didn't have any photos of the bikes exhaust system. They were massively accommodating with what I was wanting.


No progress has being made within the last 3 weeks in regards to the rear shock.
I've spoken to them about delivery and they're willing to transport the bike to Zorstec for me once they've completed their work which helps me massively.
Whilst I was there I got a load of photos for Zorstec and emailed them across last night.
 
#101 ·
i have used zorstec a few times, very good quality and price <a href="http://www.customfighters.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" >:)</a>
Your recommendation is why I went there
 
#105 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

After a few and I mean a good few unresponded emails I finally got a reply saying that they've completed the work and the bike is ready for pick up... after 10 weeks of being there.

I hadn't even arranged pickup as it's due to be delivered to Zorstec BY THEM! I also haven't being told the price yet so we'll wait and see.
 
#107 ·
Re: JamesHambleton 87' VFR750 Liz

A new page, number 6, going to see the bike tomorrow.
Firefox have finally got the bike done and have dropped it off at zorstec for me yesterday.

I know that the bike won't be ready until 2/3 weeks time due to Zorstecs current workload, but I'll be happy to see her anyway.
I'll show off what my £670 bill for the rear suspension looks like, the bike that is.. not my face D:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top