Hello everyone
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 1:25 pm
Hi, this is my second VTR ('99) , the first one was a '97.
In between I had a 929Fireblade and I came to the conclusion that the VTR is more fun for me.
I am on the forum for some time now, reading those post related to the mechanics over and over again. Now that I think I have my machine sorted I dare to present what i've been doing all this time in the shadow
):
First,
1. Before being able to sleep tight at night I changed to CCT's (dropping covers front and back to avoid any jump over....the back CCT is moist because I should have used some silicone on the gasket...the moist on the bolt that tensions was solved with putting some silicone in front of the blocking torque).
2. Pipercros air filter (those from UK have the company in your yard): I chose this because of the huge air suction surface it has: . After some 500k I checked the air box and it was as clean as it was with the OEM air filter. The bike works as before or at least I am not so fast to judge the difference. Snap the throttle: it goes up and comes down with no hesitation. I rather have a filter I can clean every 1.000k then have it changed every 5.000.
3. Adjust the TPS to 500Ohm. I did that without taking of the tank even. I just lift the tank (unbolt the front two bolts). I found this to be an easy job: I had to remove the metal slot in order to get it right on 500ish (with snapping the throttle it went to 503 or 501 after everything was tightened).
4. Heat deflector tape (or whatever it is called) on the exhaust pipe (you can see in the first picture). I decided to do this after I've seen the problems that appear with the rear suspension jamming. Also the pipes go very close to the rear shock and maybe the oil it has inside doesn't like that to much (there are many reasons). Also the pipe goes very close to the engine in the area where the oil sits and once again many changes in temperature and high (over specs) temperatures don't go well with oil. I don't like this tape but I couldn't care less: I want my bike to be fine.
5. Rogered Fork:
I chose progressive spring as I spend most of the time on the road and from time to time I take my girlfriend for a ride. I recorded all this and hope to post it on youtube and bring it up to you. Fork raised 5mm more through the triple clamps. WHAT A DIFERANCE. I am looking into the damper as I sense sensitivity on the 20km of highway from my house to the twists. I could live with this though.
6. Fork brace. I got this one on AliExpres for less than 20Euro I think. There is no secret or magic about this: it is a piece of Al deep anodizes which helps protecting the threads so I don't see why not bying it from China. When you torque the bolts you will understand it is good quality. There is a trick though: there was no listing on AliExpress for VTR braces so I had to work with measures and figure out which one works for the VTR fork. At this point I pointed out to the seller that those I bought (I think they were for CB500) also work for the VTR1000F and should be listed as so. Therefore you should be able to find them with a simple search: if not I can give more information.
7. 4mm spacer on the rear end. I did this the same day I had the mod on the fork. I went with the 4mm one to see how it goes and if the case, dare for more (6mm). At this point I am absolutely fine on how the bike goes and there is no reason for further angles modification.
8. Braided brake lines.
It makes a lot of difference but I also found the fluid to be very dirty so if you don't go for braided brake lines, at least change the brake fluid (maybe once a year...it is a fast job). I have the braided line for the clutch but I didn't change it yet.
9. Stick Sparkplug: I used CBR 2003-2005? stick coils. I got some stick coils with their corresponding wires and found the cable that was common for all the plugs. Did the same thing on the VTR and that was the common wire (-). I didn't trust the black or blue rule for the negative and I was right.
If I forgot something I will add it later.
Thank you for all the good information that brought me here.
In between I had a 929Fireblade and I came to the conclusion that the VTR is more fun for me.
I am on the forum for some time now, reading those post related to the mechanics over and over again. Now that I think I have my machine sorted I dare to present what i've been doing all this time in the shadow
):First,
1. Before being able to sleep tight at night I changed to CCT's (dropping covers front and back to avoid any jump over....the back CCT is moist because I should have used some silicone on the gasket...the moist on the bolt that tensions was solved with putting some silicone in front of the blocking torque).
2. Pipercros air filter (those from UK have the company in your yard): I chose this because of the huge air suction surface it has: . After some 500k I checked the air box and it was as clean as it was with the OEM air filter. The bike works as before or at least I am not so fast to judge the difference. Snap the throttle: it goes up and comes down with no hesitation. I rather have a filter I can clean every 1.000k then have it changed every 5.000.
3. Adjust the TPS to 500Ohm. I did that without taking of the tank even. I just lift the tank (unbolt the front two bolts). I found this to be an easy job: I had to remove the metal slot in order to get it right on 500ish (with snapping the throttle it went to 503 or 501 after everything was tightened).
4. Heat deflector tape (or whatever it is called) on the exhaust pipe (you can see in the first picture). I decided to do this after I've seen the problems that appear with the rear suspension jamming. Also the pipes go very close to the rear shock and maybe the oil it has inside doesn't like that to much (there are many reasons). Also the pipe goes very close to the engine in the area where the oil sits and once again many changes in temperature and high (over specs) temperatures don't go well with oil. I don't like this tape but I couldn't care less: I want my bike to be fine.
5. Rogered Fork:
I chose progressive spring as I spend most of the time on the road and from time to time I take my girlfriend for a ride. I recorded all this and hope to post it on youtube and bring it up to you. Fork raised 5mm more through the triple clamps. WHAT A DIFERANCE. I am looking into the damper as I sense sensitivity on the 20km of highway from my house to the twists. I could live with this though.
6. Fork brace. I got this one on AliExpres for less than 20Euro I think. There is no secret or magic about this: it is a piece of Al deep anodizes which helps protecting the threads so I don't see why not bying it from China. When you torque the bolts you will understand it is good quality. There is a trick though: there was no listing on AliExpress for VTR braces so I had to work with measures and figure out which one works for the VTR fork. At this point I pointed out to the seller that those I bought (I think they were for CB500) also work for the VTR1000F and should be listed as so. Therefore you should be able to find them with a simple search: if not I can give more information.
7. 4mm spacer on the rear end. I did this the same day I had the mod on the fork. I went with the 4mm one to see how it goes and if the case, dare for more (6mm). At this point I am absolutely fine on how the bike goes and there is no reason for further angles modification.
8. Braided brake lines.
It makes a lot of difference but I also found the fluid to be very dirty so if you don't go for braided brake lines, at least change the brake fluid (maybe once a year...it is a fast job). I have the braided line for the clutch but I didn't change it yet.
9. Stick Sparkplug: I used CBR 2003-2005? stick coils. I got some stick coils with their corresponding wires and found the cable that was common for all the plugs. Did the same thing on the VTR and that was the common wire (-). I didn't trust the black or blue rule for the negative and I was right.
If I forgot something I will add it later.
Thank you for all the good information that brought me here.
