OZVFR

On 2/27/2024 at 8:41 PM, Paddy01 said:

FWIW- I wouldn’t buy another Shoei. I have an MRA Vario screen (excellent piece of kit) on my 2018 900 GT and the Neo 2 helmet venting is non-existent. Do I blame the screen or the helmet?  I blame the helmet because Shoei and others should take into account that 90% of bikes have screens. A second point is that it’s noisy compared to my previous HJC which was around half the price and just as well made (it’s no wonder it’s the biggest selling brand in the US). Thirdly, it’s heavy. And finally, this is my biggest gripe 😡, the visor is so soft and scratches so easily it might as well be made of cheese!  And would anyone care to guess how much a replacement costs?  Well I’ll tell you, £76.00 (US $96.00, CA $130, AU$147)!!! For a piece of moulded plastic. Rant over.  
On a positive note, after 40,000 very happy miles I’ll be trading my 2018 GT for a new 9GT+ 😁

 

Its fine to vent or rant, it's very therapeutic and good for your health.

I can also understand the use of a big screen in a country where it rains 380 days a year, and never gets above miserable 😆 (sorry, had to get that one in).

I built my own screen after trying a few options and not liking any of them. The problem here is that the weather is just too nice most of the time, when its not its bloody awesome. Only revving you, but it really doesn't get cold enough here to warrant a big screen and and if it rains more than a few days in a month we complain.

You need air flow for your helmet to get ventilated, so the helmet can't be blamed for a big screen stopping that. But some helmets are definitely better at moving air than others.

My old Shark Spartan Carbon had much better ventilation than my HJC RAPHA70, but it was also noisier.

The Shark screens however, were fantastic. Both the main screen and the sun visor are like new after 60,000km.

The HJC main screen is so far great (20,000km), but the sunvisor had very fine scratches after the very first clean which is very annoying. I keep meaning to get a new one and haven't checked prices.

I also find the small D rings on the HJC frustrating, as they're too small to fit my finger in when putting helmet on, hard to get rid of 47 years of muscle memory

I will be working on a version 2.0 of my screen soon, as the current one has worked so well regarding protection versus buffeting and noise, I want a bit more air flow on low setting to fix help the ventilation of my helmet without sacrificing a bit of protection in the winter or rain. I do prefer for my head to be out in the wind though.

3 hours ago, Yamajank said:

Shock serviceable or not?

No

^ + 1 for the Fuzeblock, great bit of gear that has been well designed.

TBH 2&3, I'm in the camp of not believing that these cables need lubrication.

My old VFR ended up with 146,000km when I sold it, never lubricated the cables, never noticed any changes.

I actually have never lubricated throttle cables on any bike I've ever owned (dirt bikes don't count), and when I was younger I use to do serious miles on all my bikes.

They're practically sealed at the top, and not much gets at the end as they are pretty well hidden.

There might be a reason why the lube aids don't work maybe.

I have this one with a Quadlock and an iPhone 12. 

I have no problems with it and often do long dirt roads. 

On 2/21/2024 at 3:10 PM, dazzler24 said:

EDIT: - Further developments in this thread.

Well, this recent thread was an omen as it turns out.  I kitted up to go for an outing this morning, turned the key, waited for all the dancing lights to finish on the dash then hit the starter - nothing, nada, not even a buzz!

Checked my battery voltage and it was reading 11.8V with only the ignition on.   AKA - not enough.

This Yuasa OEM YTZ10S replaced my original battery in mid 2019 so just over 4 and a half years and it has been on my 'smart' tender when not being ridden. i.e. looked after.

When I look back on some recent rides, I have had a couple of instances of when being stopped at roadworks and I've shut the bike down, it has failed to turn over and has taken a couple of hits of the starter button to crank into life and no, I wasn't looking at the voltage monitor on my USB outlet as I was more interested in not being run over from behind.

I'm wondering (now) if the battery has been slowly dying unnoticed as I usually put it back on my tender soon after every ride and doing that has been masking a sick battery?

This time it had been sitting without the tender for about 2 weeks which should be nothing in the scheme of things.

Anyway, I'm biting the bullet to renew and will now seriously consider one of these flash lithium options as my new fire starter.  Cold weather is not an issue where I'm from.

@OZVFR - what size/specs SSB do you have?  You're obviously happy with its performance.

@piotrek - might be early days for you yet but any further comments on your NOCO?

 

EDIT: - Just found this one for AU$150 delivered! Which seems like great value as I paid AU$210 for my last YUASA and it's made here!  Unheard of - sadly. 

Direct replacement for the OEM - dimensions are exactly the same.

Sorry Dazz, just saw this. 
yes I have the this exact one. LFP14H-BS. 
4 years now and still great. 
Last started the bike in December as I’ve been flat out with work. 
Left for SBK at Phillip Island last Wednesday, started instantly. 

I can vouch for the RPHA 70, around 18,000km on it now.

It's very well made, fit and finish is excellent and internals are quality feel.

The visor is great, the ventilation is not as good as my old Shark Spartan carbon but it's acceptable, it is quieter than the Shark.

The sun visor on the other hand has a very soft finish and had very fine swirl marks after my first clean which was a disappointment. Not terminal but annoying just the same. The old Shark sun visor had around 70,000km on it and was still unmarked.

AMX were having a clearance sale and they priced matched AU$490 from Chromeburner (which is my go to for gear), the new RPHA71 is a lot more expensive now.

Everything is a lot more expensive now.

Check that your thermostat is opening properly. 
And never use water on most modern bikes. They need 50/50 coolant only as it will boil out easily with just water or a weak mix. 

Not sure on the later models, but my 15 turned out to be very sensitive to tyre choice more than pressure. 

I bought it with the original tyres (bike only had 7000km on it) and absolutely hated them. 

Replaced them with my favourite tyre which I had been using for a few years, the Rosso III’s. it was still crap even though I’ve loved these tyres on my past 2 bikes (VFR800 and 1050 Sprint).

Decided to replace all the suspension as stock was dreadful thinking that was the cause, but they still felt crap on the Tracer. 

After 2 sets of Rosso’s and 1 set of 01 SE’s (better but not great) I swapped to Road 6. What a difference. 

The feed back from the front is now good (not perfect as I think the Tracer doesn’t place enough weight on the front), turn in and corner hold is excellent, they’re heavier to direction change but in a good way. As a bonus they’re also not bad on dirt roads  

I will be sticking with these for a while I think. 

4 hours ago, betoney said:

 

I understand and appreciate the desire for "smaller and lighter" and was a little apprehensive when I first bought my VFR1200X - the DCT model is 630lbs wet.  I have to say I very much enjoy the larger bike on the highway during road trips, very planted feeling, doesn't get blown around by wind gusts and turbulence from large vehicles and it is shockingly agile on twisty canyon or mountain roads.  Of course the weight is evident when pushing it around the garage but seems to disappear the second its in gear and rolling, riding it back to back with my FJ makes the FJ feel like a toy, a comparatively small bike. 

I have owned the VFR for 2 seasons and while sharing equal riding time with the FJ, I have put 15k miles on it.  Several trips to California; Mt Shasta, Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Mountain, Inyo, Death Valley, Yosemite, Golden Chain Hwy/Priest Grade, PCH, Monterey and several of the Sierra Passes, PLENTY of very steep and twisty highways and never felt that the large bike was a hindrance or a burden and I never felt fatigued riding it all day long for a week at a time.  As a bonus, that 1,237cc V4 pulls like a freight train and cruises effortlessly 70-75mph at 4k rpm while getting 42mpg.

Never quite understood why the VFR1200 didn’t get a huge following. 
It is an outright awesome machine built to the legendary Honda V4 standards, absolute weapon on the highway or the canyons, while still able to cover long distances. 
Sad to say but no comparison to the FJ, even though the Tracer is an awesome bike in its own right. 
I guess it could be compared to the VFR being 007, and the Tracer Axle Rose. 

All Tracers have springs in both sides, early ones only have one cartridge. 
If you have one cartridge, oil levels are different, otherwise the same level on twin cartridges. 

Agree with Betoney, no Japanese bike has anything but metric bolts.

Bloody hell, I complain here if a winters day gets below 15*C. 

I think the 520 to 525 chain wear might have more to do with the 520 sprockets as they have a lot less surface area to work with.

So maybe wear on the sprockets even though they look good, might be stuffing the chain.

Again, I had no problem going to a 520 on my VFR which had comparable HP with more weight.

Or it might just be a 2and3 thing, wearing out due to extreme maintenance 😆

Anyway, we have hijacked this thread I think.

2 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I do use quality Japanese change like like the DID ZMX or whatever. And still i'm disappointed

Again, I'm using a 520. But I don't think it should make that big of a difference. Considering race bikes with a lot more horsepower use five twenty chains

Last time around, I didn't replace the sprockets. As they look good, they are the super light steel front and rear. So I don't know what's going on

Did you string line the bike to check alignment or did you use swingarm markers

Only ask because I found my one was half a marking out.

A straight edge on the rear sprocket would also show if your sprockets are out of alignment as opposed to the wheels.

I also had a 520 on my VFR with no ill effect.

1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Other than my 72 BMW R75/5 Toaster Tank, all of my bikes have been chain drive. So I've personally changed a lot of chains and sprockets over the last 50 years and likely 500,000+ miles.

And while from day 1 I've ignored the ridiculously tight Yamahaha chain tension spec (and inversely, IMO, have gone 15% lower than the insanely high rear axle nut "torque "), it seems no matter how loose or tight I set it, I can't get much more than 14~15k miles out of one (even exclusive of the OEM chain).

On all my other bikes going back 20 years, 20 to even 25k miles was the norm.  Even on big V twins.  And I'm OCD about chain tension and sprocket alignment.

Is it just me, my right wrist and the CP3?

That's called experience my friend, nobody who knows anything about bikes would have followed the stock chain tension.

I ditched the stock chain when I bought the bike with 7,000km on it, replaced it with an RK heavy duty X ring one and kept the sprockets, now has 29,000km and I've only had to adjust it once after around 1,500km after installation.

I do ride the bike pretty hard and sometimes carrying lots of weight on long trips. I'm not one who you could consider a fastidious chain maintenance person either. I have often (better get a paper bag ready 2and3) done 2,000km trips without lubricating.

I've used the same chain on the last three bikes with good results, My VFR I sold with 36,000km on the chain which was still perfect and only adjusted twice in that time.

Good quality chains are worth it.

5 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

But do they help

Every little bit helps, I’m used to traditional sport tourers and full fairings, so the Tracer was a bit of a shock on how bad the original screen was and how little protection there is available. 
Since then I’ve made my own screen which is much much better as it splits the air sideways and has a lot less buffeting. 

I might shorten it a bit as I don’t like having no wind on my face as it gets too hot here. On all my other bikes I always installed double bubble screens which worked well for me as I like to ride with my visor open (sun visor down) until around 100kmh. 
The Tracer originally was atrocious, It’s manageable now but not perfect 

Last year I swapped to a HJC Raphta 70 helmet which has a lot less ventilation than my old Shark Spartan Carbon  

The real problem is that too much protection means no airflow, you can’t have that here in Oz. 
 

The idea is to deflect the air a bit but not cut all airflow. 

I made a cardboard template, than cut some Perspex a bit bigger and used a grinder for the final shape. 
A heat gun to give it a slight bend. 
Auto double sided tape to stick it on. 

Many years ago I bought a Racetech kit for my VFR and installed it.

After that I did my own adjusting of the shim stacks until I found what I liked. I redid them 4 times on the VFR including the last time when I swapped out the original forks and installed ones with external rebound adjustment.

Did it again on my Sprint ST with better results as it had a better set up and I knew what I was doing by this stage.

The Tracer however threw the challenge of only one working cartridge, I wasn't sure how to adjust the shim stacks to suit this so I sent it to the Racetech local representative here for a full rebuild and gold valves installation.

The idea was to pull it apart at some later stage to check out what they did and adjust it accordingly to fine-tune it, but it hasn't happened yet (17000km on it since install).

If I keep the bike I think I'll go the way of separate function on each leg, or just get an Andreani kit.

I’ve got the Oxfords and wired through the stock cables. 
work well and controllable through the screen, including adjusting intensity. 
Half the price of Yamaha ones and pretty easy to adapt. 
Yamaha ones are a bit easier to install. 

On 12/9/2023 at 9:53 AM, Ride365 said:

 the Japanese spring rates for most they make are too light for bigger American bodies.

I’m 74kg and found the stock Tracer suspension way too soft, can’t imagine how a 220lb rider could possibly think that it’s ok. 
The point is that even if you have to respring and revalve the Yam ESA, it will still be cheaper than a whole new quality set on a non ESA bike, and will be much better. 

I can only vouch for ESA bikes I’ve ridden, and have to say BMW and Triumph ESA are bloody awesome. 
Both had superb control and plenty of adjustments via screen. 
BMW in active mode or whatever they call it is outstanding. Go easy and it’s incredibly smooth, crank the throttle and start learning heavily and it’s a track bike. 
No matter what you replace your suspension with, it will be a one trick pony until you manually adjust it. Not the ESA. You can’t beat suspension that adjusts itself every 1000’s of a second. It even self levels when you load it up. 
This is higher end I admit but by far the best thing since sliced bread. 
I think a lot of people comment on this without actually riding one. 
Yamaha ESA might be too soft just like all the other stock Tracers. 
And you can upgrade ESA just as easily as stock. 

I haven’t read the entire thread, but it could have been caused by incorrectly adjusted intake valves from the factory, or got too tight before adjustment time. 
I definitely don’t buy the bad fuel story. 

I doubt it would be lowered 1.5-2” unless they’re non Yamaha parts.
That much lowering will have you scraping the stand and pegs at most corners unless you’re a very conservative rider. 
The factory Yamaha lowering links bring the rear down 15mm, you usually do the front by the same amount to keep the steering geometry the same. 
I have a 29” inseam and have lowered mine 15mm all round, but I also have shorter feelers and raised the stand by around 10mm. 
Can’t stand flat footed but the bike is so light that it doesn’t worry me. Rough dirt roads can sometimes be a pain, but still manage. 
Make sure the seat is in the low position. 
 

Ha, I just realised that it's not a top box but a fuel cell.

I can't afford to give up that much space.

I reminds me of touring with my mate on his Tuono, we had to stop at every fuel station to make sure he made it. Bloody annoying. The record was fuelling up 10 times over 2 days on our way to Phillip Island which is a 1200km trip.