VFR Fettlement (very long, probably boring. I feel purged though)

Oh what jolly fun; a 20 year old NC30, a bunch on non-Honda replacement
parts and a range of jobs never previously undertaken.

Part 1:
Front discs replaced with blinging shark toothed jobbies replete with
lazer cut "H" logos and blue inner bits, all sourced from those
wonderful people at Stealth products. Ordered in November, arrived in
February, fantastic service :-(
All went okay with this bit, in fact the boy did most of it on his own
as I was elesewhere. The bit I was left to do was to torque up the
caliper bolts, as last time we dicked around with them the threads in
the fork legs stripped, and we had to helicoil them. Anyhoo, the
helicoils held and the whole shebang does look quite nice, as the blue
anodized bit matches the fairing. Oh, and new pads fitted too.
Luvverly

Part 2:
Chain, sprockets and rear disc.
Spent an hour watching a re-run of Garage Night where they do the C&S
on a KTM; extremely useful reference material. Angle grinded the old
chain off, no drama thus far. New DID chain and sprockets procured,
chain supplied with the requisite number of links too. Now here's the
odd bit: The new chain did have the same number of links, but was
about 4 inches longer than the old one, any ideas, cos I'm fucked if I
can work it out. Anyhoo, after much head scratching I resorted to
surgery with the angle grinder and all is now well. Nicely muchroomed
the soft link and torqued everything back up. For it's age, the VFR is
actually quite a dream to work on, good quality components and
fasteners, so not too much drama.

Then the rear disc, another item of bling, replacement of which
involved removing the rear wheel and hub. Having got it all apart the
immediate problem was that the bloody disk would not fit, holes wrong
diameter and at wrong centres. Bugger. After some telephone
converstions with Stealth Products, they agreed to send us the right
one on the understanding that we'd send the wrong one back at our
expense (of course we will, no problem ;-) cheeky buggers), so, having
reassembled using the old one (which was still just within tolerance)
we settle down for another 3 months wait. 3 days later the new one
arrives, it appears to be the right size but does not have the lazer
cut "H" logos in it which the boy specified and paid extra for.
Personally I would just fit the fucking thing, it's a bloody disk FFS,
but no, more dicking around with Stealth appears to be required.

Part 3: Carbs
Having had the carbs off once before I swore I'd never do it again.
However the boy had other ideas, as he recalled there were 4 washers
fitted last time, somewhere in the region of the inlet rubbers, which
really needed to be removed urgently, although I cannot work out why.
Anyhoo, plastics off, tank off airbox off, carbs off - no drama so far.
Then we enter the dark subject of main jet sizes. Due to the
monstrously loud can fitted, the sizing of the main jets came up, the
perceived belief being that they needed to be changed. Before blindly
getting hold of an "upjetted" set and fitting them I thought it best to
have a look first to see what was already fitted, as I had a feeling
some work had been done to the engine by previous owners. So there I
am, with a bank of V4 carbs on the floor and a screwdriver thinking "if
this ever goes back together again and actually runs I'll be very
surprised". So, 1 back and 1 front float bowl off, not too many
pingfuckits make a bit for freedom, 2 jets unscrewed. Result: they'd
already been upjetted in the past by around 3 sizes, so all is well and
the carbs get screwed back together, and the majic smoke coaxed back
into its lair. This is the point where Mr Haynes status as a lying
**** is confirmed, cos reassembly is not the reverse of disassembly;
reassembly is a bastard of a job. Trying to get 4 carbs to sit on 4
rubbers (sans washers) configured to suit a V4 engine layout is a
bastard of a job. Eventually, the best tool found for realigning this
precision piece of the finest Japanese engineering was... a ****-off
great lump of wood and a hammer.

So, all screwed back together (oh, and a new blinging all-in-one LED
rear light / indicator unit fitted for good measure), the boy announces
a test run would be in order.

Well, 633 squadron at full chat were prolly quieter than this fucking
thing, my god. He set off on a circular route of town, and one could
quite accurately follow his route by tuning into the pitch of the
banshee wail it made. I reckon it'll be a matter of weeks before plod
gets on his case, but there you are. Seems the red line is now visited
by the tacho needle far more readily than previously, and the top end
speed has been somewhat extended.

So, a couple of weeks of fettlement, new skills learned, quality time
spent in the garage up to my eyeballys in grease. Does it get much
better than this?

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/

2002 Triumph Sprint RS 955i (It's big, and it's black)
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr (Gone, but not forgotten)

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7/8)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Well I assume you've tried sex at least once.

 

Twice actually, but when there's no woman nearby I guess fixing bikes
is the next best thing.

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/

2002 Triumph Sprint RS 955i (It's big, and it's black)
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr (Gone, but not forgotten)

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7/8)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

<g> And to be fair, your lad is a bit of a chip off the old (bloke's)
block.

 

Welcome to the Dark Side. I think I'll avoid Stealth at all costs, to
judge from your experience.

 

Heh, he made me laugh yesterday, as you may know, he's now a qualified
electrical engineer with the water board. As we were figuring out how
to remove a truculent fastener without the correct tools he announced
that work was actually just like being at home in the garage, trying to
do stuff with neither the requisite tools or clues available.

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/

2002 Triumph Sprint RS 955i (It's big, and it's black)
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr (Gone, but not forgotten)

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7/8)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Tis a shame, the front disks really do look good and fitted perfectly.
Maybe we have just been unlucky.

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/

2002 Triumph Sprint RS 955i (It's big, and it's black)
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr (Gone, but not forgotten)

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7/8)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Dan L wrote:

ISTR I got the carbs back on my veefer by standing on them.

 

He'd be ok for a tap, then?

 

I'll try tapping him up

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/

2002 Triumph Sprint RS 955i (It's big, and it's black)
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr (Gone, but not forgotten)

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7/8)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11