The VFR750 has always been one on Honda's
best sport touring bikes - perfectly at home piling on the miles on
the interstate or swooping around sweepers on the coast.
Better
yet - do both! We can help out in making the VFR a bit more "sporty" - add some snap
to throttle response and improve the shifting to near-perfect action.
Transmission
Shift Improvement - Cure the Lazy Shift. Shift quicker and
cleaner than new
The Full Evo Shift STAR Kit
SHFT-EVO-HON-42
$199.95
EVO Shift STAR, microbearing Detent arm, HD spring,
gasket
Following is a professional's version of gearbox blueprinting
As a professional engine builder, I've done most everything you can do to a set of gears, and
shafts.
A great (read as 5 to 10
hours of labor) gearbox job generally
includes:
Shimming to minimize lateral
play on the gears. (to builder's judgment)
Shimming to move each fixed
gear closer to it's sliding mate (but not too close) (to
builder's judgment)
Shimming shafts to move the
assembly closer to an optimum position. (to builder's
judgment)
Using a surface grinder to
make your own custom thickness shims.
Making sure that you place
the "rounded" side of the circlips against any shim or gear
That puts the "sharp"
edge of the circlip nicely in the circlip retaining
groove on the transmission shaft so
it doesn't "ramp out" under side loading..
Checking and adjusting shift
mechanism "fingers" on the shift star "pins". (to builder's
judgment)
Checking, replacing gears
with worn engagement dogs and slots - or undercutting worn
engagement dogs.
I tend to try to use as
little angle on the undercut, as the more undercut
angle, the more you have to let off the power to get the
gears to separate - important when not using a "quickshifter"
or "air shifter".
Deburring of most gears, most
shafts, the shift drum and the shift forks
A commercial facility,
such as Supertech, owned by the iconic Dennis Zickrick,
in Colorado, does metal finishing and low friction
coatings.
I don't recommend
cryogenically treating powdered metal gears, like
most Japanese type gears are - I don't feel it's a good use
of the process. I know that I'll get some flack on that. I'm
not saying that "cryo" is bad, as I do use it at times for
pistons, springs, knives, unfinished gun barrels...
just not powdered metal gears or large
finished machined castings.
Additionally, separate from
the gears and shafts, there's the shift mechanism (shift
shaft, selector device, shift fingers,
detent arm and spring, detent star)
Checking straightness of
shift shaft (sometimes they get bent on the left, shift
linkage / rear set side)
Polishing sliding parts in
the shift mechanism (to decrease friction of shift drum
rotation - and "quicker is better")
Reducing friction of the
detent arm (arm needs a bearing - which we make
as a model requires and "quicker
is better")
optimizing detent arm spring
pressure (if the spring pressure should be changed, we make
- and "quicker is better")
optimizing detent ramps (if
the ramps aren't right, we make replacement "stars" - making
it "quicker")
Adding
an EVO Shift STAR kit - In general, if the gearbox is setup "alright" (I would say
that most stock, original, undamaged
transmissiona are "alright"), that
just adding the EVO Shift STAR kit is going
to be 80% to 90%
of what is theoretically possible in improving shifting
quickness, reducing missed shifts, decreasing rider effort and
protecting the shift forks and gear
engagement dogs from damage caused by missed shifts.
How do you know that a
transmission is shifting quicker and more reliably?
You can feel it when
riding.
Even when hand
shifting on the bench, it's easier to get out of gear
and "snicks" into gear, rather than "clunks" into gear
(yes, most Kaws won't shift into 2nd unless the output
shaft is spinning :-)
You notice that you only
have time to slightly "twitch" the throttle off a teeny bit
between shifts and hardly have time to pull the clutch lever
even a little before the bike's already in the next gear.
You "try" to miss a shift
on bench or riding and almost can't.
Your "quickshifter"
equipped bike shifts clunkily after an EVO Shift STAR kit
install and you have to decrease "shift kill time" by 15 to
20ms to accommodate the EVO STAR's quicker shifting.
That 15 to 20ms is
now converted to "engine power" time, rather than
"engine kill" time. That will improve power delivery
time on a racetrack and at the drags.
Funny story - an AMA
team called up and said the bike's shifted awfully
clunky after the Shift STAR - I was mystified and in
talking, we couldn't figure out why the riders claimed
the clunkiness - as in the pits, it was def. quicker -
and didn't even think to ask about whether they were
using a quickshifter.
They called up later and said that they figured out that
the "quickshifter" was now killing the power too long
and it was perfect when they decreased the shift kill
time.
BTW - for
roadracing, a perfect QS system will have several
factors to program. Should still be pretty easy to
sort out - and there's nothing commercially
available as or Feb 2009, and that includes the guy
who supposedly built his own Suzuki ecu, (well, he
did make the box at least - the ECU seemed to be a
repackaged EFI Technologies ECU according to the
software) on the market that's "right" for
roadracing, though most all are are fine for drag
racing and "alright" for roadracing.
Factory Pro Shift Kit install
1993 VFR750F
This project is a collaboration
between Brandon Monnig and I. Brandon installed a Factory Shift kit
in his '93 VFR and photographed his install. I volunteered to write-up
this article based on my install.
Adds more low-end
/ midrange, if the proper main jet is selected, more top-end power.
Celmat30 needle material. Easy to install and tune - no slide
drilling.
Works better than any other carb kit, even slightly better than the
venerable HRC kit.
CRB-H42-1.1-TI $159.95
Ti ProKit carb kit
Titanium needles
for lifetime use. Adds more low-end / midrange, if the proper main jet
is selected, more top-end power. Easy to install and tune - no slide
drilling.
Tools
TL-HONDA "D" WRENCH $19.95
HONDA
Fuel Screw / Mixture Screw Wrench,
"D" type
(as used on most modern Honda Keihin
CV carbs)
Lost yours? Didn't get one en your
"off brand" carb kit? (should have bought a Factory Pro carb kit in
the first place - they are included free)
TL-float height gauge $59.95
The only way to
accurately measure float heights. Works on nearly every carburetor.
Accurately and easily set your floats to adjust the lower end of the
carburetion.
Notes
Filter Airflow facts:
If you take the stock air filter and remove the stock perforated screen, it will
improve flow.
How much? To where the stock filter w/o the screen produces .1 to .2 true
hp (when properly jetted) more than either the BMC or K&N filters (They both produce
identical power).
The BMC (available direct from Factory Pro) and K&N filters, do have the advantage
of being cleanable, unlike the stock filter. Marc
This Tuning Site has been visited by
people. www.gigits.com - the oldest
counting service on the web
San Rafael and San Francisco
LINKS
The below links are people and companies that are consistently
impressive with their continual uniqueness and dedication to providing
traditionally valued, quality products and services.
Marc
The Harringtons
own American
Flyers,
one of the most
established
flight training
facilities in
the USA - 8
locations -
800-362-0808
Flight Training - train with AMA race
winner Todd Harrington.
We use a variety of proven drills
and training techniques.
Practicing these techniques with our Yamaha dirt track trainers will
enhance your abilities both on the track or the street.
It doesn't matter what you ride or race, the Rich Oliver Mystery School
improves everyone's skill level and mindset!
Factory Pro 2012
Winter
FLYING Special
Book a sightseeing flight
over the Wine Country or a Kamikaze aerobatic flight or a biplane flight
over Infineon Raceway, the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco
Bay for one or two during the spring and get a free souvenir t shirt!
(NEW! Ask about the P-40 and P-51 flights!)
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Just tell them that you saw this on the
Factory Pro website!
Marc
Northern California's most unforgettable flying experience. No
experience required. Open weekends!
Make your next tour Unforgettable, Affordable and Exotic.
Superbike Tours Thailand - See you there.
The extension of the laboratory
for engines of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology was completed
in about 1935. Its architect was Rudolf Otto Salvisberg (1882-1940).
He had a successful career in Berlin but returned to Switzerland after
the advent of the Nazis. His architectural style was somewhat similar
to that of Erich Mendelsohn. The staircase of the laboratory is in normal
use but well preserved.
Edited to the tunes of Chemical Residue by Herbie Hancock.
Artisan Crafted Fine Cheeses – Since 1865
- Specializing in
Handmade Brie & Camembert
Marin French Cheese Co., also known as The
Cheese Factory and Rouge et Noir is not just the oldest
cheese manufacturer in the country, but a vacationers and
day trippers destination as well as a unique part of American
History. Located north of San Francisco, east of Napa County,
west of Pt. Reyes and Olema and south of Sonoma County,
Marin French has produced hand crafted Artisan soft ripened
cheese since 1865. Rouge et Noir cheeses are similar to
French and European varieties but reflect the characteristics
of Northern California, producing it's own regional style.
