jon haney

You're one of those "glass is half-empty" kind of guys, arn't you?

Tires cupped!

I use one of Brock Davidson's "clutch cushions" in my dragbike which means I was only running 6 fiber plates. This worked fine for the heavier springs that come with the cushion and using a stock motor. When I went to a slick and wheelie-bar set-up and a lock-up clutch, I needed a little more durability. MTC Engineering makes chrome-plated steel drive plates for the Hayabusa that fit my bird and because they are thinner I was able to get the 7th plate back in. These plates are the toughest things I have ever seen. You can turn the fiber plates into charcoal and these steels will not warp!! The guys running slider-type clutches swear by them. MTC's fiber plates also seem to have a lot more friction than stock. I've got my spring pressure set so light I can pull the clutch lever in very easily with my pinky finger and it still won't slip.

Hope everything works out for you, but if you really want to go for a ride, take the center-stand off. Make sure you have a tee-handled spring puller though. Pliers just don't work very well.

+1 If you visually check the stator and are not sure if it is "cooked", give it a sniff. If it's cooked, it will smell like................well, burnt. There really isn't anything to compare it to, but if you have a weak stomach, don't inhale too deeply.

Voltage Regulator/Rectifier

I love the Qualifiers for handling and grip, but the mileage for touring duty is terrible. I have a rear Roadsmart that I paired with a Qualifier front and it seemed to work very well for cornering and mileage, but I've only put about 600 miles on it. It's a little early to make a solid recommendation. I swapped it for a Qualifier when I went to a track day in September. The Roadsmart will be back on for touring duty this Spring and we'll see then how good it is.

Forget the Heli-bars! Order a set of stock bars for a VFR800 instead. They have a much better angle, look completely stock, and won't bend when using a bar-harness. They are also cheaper than Heli-bars. I'm sure someone on here has a picture of their install. I have never posted pictures before, so it might take a while before I could show you what my bars look like. Also, don't expect the mounting for the bar end weights to come out real easy. I used a slide-hammer on one of mine for a half hour and it wouldn't move at all. It was kind of a "blessing in disguise" cause I found some really cool-looking (they have the same pattern as the fairing bolts) weights that use the rubber expansion method.

No big deal BlackhawkXX. Glad to help. I just wired-up a data logger earlier this year on the drag-bike and tied into the tach wire about 3 inches out of the ECU. Did the same thing with the speedometer sensor wire for wheel speed measurement.

Isn't that the speedometer sensor? :icon_think: I'm pretty sure the tach signal comes directly from the ECU. At least that's how it is on my 99.

I had Race-Tech rebuild and put a bigger spring on my stock rear shock and it made a noticeable difference. If you weigh more than 180 lbs. it's well worth it. The stock compression damping is a little stiff so have them put in one of their gold valves also. They were supposed to put one in mine, but somehow didn't get the message. I would have sent it back, but I wanted to get back on the road. Another thing you could do is buy the after-market shock, enjoy it for a year and then when you want to get rid of the bike, you can put the stock shock back in and sell the after-market shock to someone (me) on this forum. :icon_shifty: BTW how much do you weight?

Did you use new Nissan brake pads? I put some cheap pads on my wife's Altima one time and got the same spongy feel you described, and I never touched the fluid. After 10K of fading, stinking, dusting, and squeaking, I replaced with Genuine Nissan pads and it was like a whole new car.

That's not a Hyper-Tourer type bike anymore! Go buy a CBR1000RR and have at it! What do you mean, "That's not a Hyper-Tourer anymore"?! The only thing I mentioned that even comes close to a CBR1000RR is the shorter reach to the bars and maybe the lighter weight, and that would be more like 100 lbs. lighter. I thought I would be somewhat realistic by only asking for 50 lbs. I guess I should have also asked for a factory hard luggage option. Would that be touring enough for ya?

Don't really care about engine size as long as it makes at least 90 lb-fts of peak torque and 70 or more anywhere above 4000 RPM. USD Forks and better shock with full adjustments. Un-linked brakes....Anti-lock is okay as long as I have a switch to turn it off in the dry. A shorter reach to the bars would be nice, or better yet, front to rear adjustable (like BMW). Let's just say adjustable everything! Now for the hard part: At least 50 lbs. lighter!!!!!!! P.S. More than one color choice in the same model year would be nice.

I'm impatient! Ok,,i'll get together a "how-to" for an LED tailight conversion. I'll do it over Christmas vacation. Is this write-up going to cover both types of tail lights for the BB?

They'll hold long enough to get everything aligned properly. I've done it. If that doesn't fix the problem, put the bike on the center stand and have someone sit on the rear seat to raise the front wheel off the ground and check the steering-head bearings. Turn the bars side to side. They should turn easily, but not be so loose that they just fall to one side. You might need to tighten the steering stem nut a little. If you feel any "notches", vibrations, or roughness, your bearings have gone bad.

After reading some other posts in here, I went back to the stock Honda 17T front and I think there is a HUGE difference in noise. Much quieter with the damper-type sprocket. If you want to gear down, order a stock front sprocket for an '02 VFR800. It is 16 teeth and has the damper.

I like gadgets and the colors just right.............it matches my pro oiler,the garmin, the radar detector, the air horn the wavy rotors, yadayada................ Why do anything manually when you can farkle it electronically?! Besides, the Tyre Dog will warn you to check your tire while you are on the road (should you pick up a nail) and lets you know your tire's temp (no hard charging corners till they warm up :icon_nono: ). FWIW, It will probably be factory mandated on future bike models, anyway. It's not going to replace a tire gauge or common pre-ride check procedures, it's just a little bit of extra insurance. I guessed I missed the part about temperature sensing. That would be kinda cool. :icon_think:

The '99 and later models have a different bulb socket that has the flat type connection. Maybe I should just convert to the old-style fender. I like the higher location of the seat-lock key. Probably won't work with the later model ECU though. Anybody tried a fender swap?

"A bit spendy?" Damn! I'd call that "out of the question." I could see the benefit if you had a truck and you did a lot pulling/hauling for long distances. If it prevented a couple of blown-out tires, it would pay for itself. On a motorcycle, you should be able to tell when your tires are low way before they get down to a dangerous level. If I'm under 30psi in the front on my BB, I can tell as soon as I pull out of my driveway. The rear has to be below 25 before I can tell and usually takes a couple of corners.

Well that settles it. I'm sticking with the stock bulbs. Thank you for those enlightening observations. I'm sure a lot of people reading this thread are going to be checking their LED tail lights to see if they are actually better than stock.

Nobody else? :icon_think: Judging from the lack of responses, I am going to assume there is no "plug-n-play" LED bulb. Crap! I don't need another project right now, so I guess I'll put a stock bulb back in.

I had a tail light bulb finally burn out on my 99 BB and thought, great, now I can get some of those LED bulbs. So I ordered one with the flat connector that has tail-light and brake-light capability. It fits in the slot, but won't lock in place because of the way it is made. Drag Specialties is the vendor. Are there any LED bulbs that will work in the stock tail-light?

Damn! Two more wheels and you'll have a fully loaded convertible. How do you keep your eyes on the road with all that stuff? Wait.............You have A.D.D. don't you?

Fuel pressure regulator could be going bad. That would cause a rich condition.