VFR fairings mod

[vifferman]

The fan thing is an interesting one huh?

Yeah.
Actually, compared to the VTR1000, the radiators/fan aren't too bad. Having a smaller fairing and more space around the engine, the heat thrown off when the VTR's fan kicks in is worse for the rider, and it seems to get hot much more quickly.

The pannier-mounted radiators are sub-optimal in terms of vulnerablity and performance, particularly at low speeds, but the benefits of the shorter wheelbase and better weight distribution they allow are worth it.

Anyway, having had three V4s and a V2 now, I'd have to say the VFR800 isn't any worse for heat than the other V4s, and better than the VTR. Crawling through traffic on a hot day the heat off the rear headers is the most annoying thing, and it's tempting to fit some header wrap to the rear headers (or maybe to my right leg?) to reduce that.

[notme]

Stolen from:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/vf-vfr-ma...direction.html


"Since the side-mount radiators were introduced in 1998 on the
5th-generation, this has been the case.

The fan, mounted inboard of the left radiator, pulls air in through the
radiator, exhausting it into the area in front of the engine. While this
is somewhat counter-intuitive, it was at one point explained that this
was to avoid dumping very hot air on the riders knee / leg while moving
slowly or stopped.

Most of the time this is not a real issue but it does impact how quickly
the bike comes back to normal operating temps once you get out of
traffic and moving again as the airflow into the front of the bike as a
result of your forward motion is somewhat counter-acted by the fan
working against it -and- dumping hot air into the right radiator. My
experience (probably 60,000 miles on two different '98 VFRs) is that
it's worst between 30 and 45 MPh.

I have played around with this a bit on my first '98 and put a temporary
switch in to disable the fan when in that zone of the bike running hot
but not moving fast enough and it did make a big difference. However, I
decided the risk of losing cooling by forgetting to turn it back on or
through failure wasn't worth it.

Yet (and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), I don't recall
having ever heard of a 5th or 6th generation VFR overheating as a result
of design reasons. I've heard of air in the system, failed cooling fans,
some sort of animal getting lodged in front of a radiator, a stick in
the cooling fan, etc.."

I have been having a wee think about reversing the fan direction, manual switches, etc, and think that your idea about a speed operated fan is the best - no chance of forgetting to enable the fan, the direction is as Honda engineered it, and it should be relatively easy. I'm going to go away and look at wiring diagrams now

[vifferman]

I have been having a wee think about reversing the fan direction, manual switches, etc, and think that your idea about a speed operated fan is the best - no chance of forgetting to enable the fan, the direction is as Honda engineered it, and it should be relatively easy. I'm going to go away and look at wiring diagrams now

One thing I did think of was having a relay set up so that if the neutral light is on, OR the clutch is engaged, the fan is free to operate. This would be the case if the bike is running unattended, or you're sitting in traffic with the bike either in neutral or in gear with the clutch in.

[Qkchk:Me]

Have you done any of the 'Basic VFR' mods to it yet?

Eg: Snorkel Removal and the vacuum mod?

[notme]

One thing I did think of was having a relay set up so that if the neutral light is on, OR the clutch is engaged, the fan is free to operate. This would be the case if the bike is running unattended, or you're sitting in traffic with the bike either in neutral or in gear with the clutch in.

I'm thinking a step further , and simpler (as in only needing one signal).

If the speedo signal at the ECU is above some level, disable the fan. If not, leave it alone. I would design the circuit such that the relay that disables the fan falls back to the "fan enabled" state in case of any problems!

This way it works at low speed as well as stationary....would need to experiment to find the speed at which the air coming in is starting to overpower the fan and create stagnant air.

[notme]

Have you done any of the 'Basic VFR' mods to it yet?

Eg: Snorkel Removal and the vacuum mod?

Yup, I have done:

- Radar detector wiring
- LED lights for tail
- chopped down the rear spade
- exhausts have one baffle removed
- oxygen sensors disabled
- snorkel removed (LOVE the intake noise under VTEC!)
- Grills as in this thread
- crash bungs
- PAIR (vacuum) mod
- added a battery/electrical system warning light
- added VTEC indicator

ummm.... I think that's it until i get onto this fan mod!

[vifferman]

Have you done any of the 'Basic VFR' mods to it yet?

Eg: Snorkel Removal and the vacuum mod?

I guess you're talking to allun (seeing as my bike is 'old' and crappy)?
But I'll answer anyway.
I tried the snorkel removal, and the flapper valve disabling mod, and it made the performance worse, in my opinion.
I had the PAIR valves disabled/plugged for quite a long time, and didn't notice any improvement in performance, but I read that this could ferk the catcon, so recently I re-enabled them. Interestingly (or perhaps not), it made the idle speed increase 300rpm, and the performance when snapping open the throttle was somewhat less 'snappy'. It also made the exhaust louder.
Weird...

The thing that made the biggest difference to performance was unplugging the oxygen sensors, and putting resistors across the plugs. It made the ECU stop using 'closed loop mode' which cut out the lean surging at constant throttle, and eliminated the hesitation when opening the throttle at low revs.

Other mods: aftermarket airfilter (Uni); Factory Pro Evo Star shifter kit; lowered gearing (down one tooth on countershaft); electronic speedo corrector (speedo is now correct, but odometer under-reads by ~12%); Power Commander (with advanced ignition and fueling at high revs/big throttle); stiffer fork springs and heavier weight oil (new valving to come); Elka rear shock; a whole bunch of electrical, cosmetic and other mods (horns, accessory fusebox, brighter bulbs, etc etc).

[notme]

I guess you're talking to alun?
But I'll answer anyway.
I tried the snorkel removal, and the flapper valve disabling mod, and it made the performance worse, in my opinion.
I had the PAIR valves disabled/plugged for quite a long time, and didn't notice any improvement in performance, but I read that this could ferk the catcon, so recently I re-enabled them. Interestingly (or perhaps not), it made the idle speed increase 300rpm, and the performance when snapping open the throttle was somewhat less 'snappy'. It also made the exhaust louder.
Weird...

The thing that made the biggest difference to performance was the unplugging the oxygen sensors, and putting resistors across the plugs. It made the ECU stop using 'closed loop mode' which cut out the lean surging at constant throttle, and eliminated the hesitation when opening the throttle at low revs.

Other mods: aftermarket airfilter (Uni); Factory Pro Evo Star shifter kit; lowered gearing (down one tooth on countershaft); elecxtronic speedo corrector (speedo is now correct, but odometer under-reads by ~12%); Power Commander (with advanced ignition and fueling at high revs/big throttle);, stiffer front springs and fork oil; Elka rear shock; a whole bunch of electrical and cosmetic mods.

Let's start a thread of Viffer mods....

[Qkchk:Me]

Yup, I have done:

- Radar detector wiring
- LED lights for tail
- chopped down the rear spade
- exhausts have one baffle removed
- oxygen sensors disabled
- snorkel removed (LOVE the intake noise under VTEC!)
- Grills as in this thread
- crash bungs
- PAIR (vacuum) mod
- added a battery/electrical system warning light
- added VTEC indicator

ummm.... I think that's it until i get onto this fan mod!

OOOOOOOOOOOooooo how does it sound with 1 baffle removed? Im thinking about getting mine done........ but removing all 3 internal pipes.

[notme]

OOOOOOOOOOOooooo how does it sound with 1 baffle removed? Im thinking about getting mine done........ but removing all 3 internal pipes.

One baffle out is easy and cheap (i.e. free) - of course everyone is entitled to thier opinion but I have yet to come across anyone, biker or non biker, who says that mine doesn't sound great.

Apparently the one (or more!) baffle out trick gives the best sound unless you go for very high end and expensive aftermarkets, because the OEM muffler is quite big. Lots of volume (as in size of mufflers) gives a deep throaty roar when the mufflers are derestricted, wheras most aftermarkets are smaller than OEM in order to save weight - but they sound a bit tinny on the Viffer.

There are heeeeeeeps of vids with sound on youtube, or if you are in the area anytime we could do a side by side comparison (is yours still totally stock?)

Note there is no real performance gain as there would be with a proper aftermarket, but I'm not worried at this stage - and as Vifferman says, the O2 sensor mod etc gives a slight boost and is also free!

[vifferman]

OOOOOOOOOOOooooo how does it sound with 1 baffle removed? Im thinking about getting mine done........ but removing all 3 internal pipes.

It's funny - the Satantune got quite a bit louder after I re-enabled the PAIR valves, so much so that I thought I'd blown something. Trouble is, it's so loud I couldn't hear if there was noise coming from joints, the catcon/collector, etc etc. So, this morning, I cranked it up, and stuffed a rag over the end.

Nup - it's all coming out the exhaust tip. I'm thinking I may have to go to the quieter of my two restrictors.

[notme]

Don't ya just looooove that V4 sound? It makes me happy in my pants.

[vifferman]

Lots of volume (as in size of mufflers) gives a deep throaty roar when the mufflers are derestricted, wheras most aftermarkets are smaller than OEM in order to save weight - but they sound a bit tinny on the Viffer.

True.
Although I love the look of the Satantune, it's one of the smaller of the aftermarket mufflers, and despite being less resonant than some (thicker stainless), it's a wee bit raspy. At >8k rpm, it really howls.

There are heeeeeeeps of vids with sound on youtube,

There was a comparison page of sounds on VFRDiscussion, but unfortunately Miguel removes anything older than 45 days, so it's gone. There is a useful exhaust mods section though.

Note there is no real performance gain as there would be with a proper aftermarket, but I'm not worried at this stage - and as Vifferman says, the O2 sensor mod etc gives a slight boost and is also free!

There are no huge gains to be had anyway. Even the full systems that used to be available only netted around 3-5 hp. Your average aftermarket slipons will give about 2 or 3.

[Qkchk:Me]

One baffle out is easy and cheap (i.e. free) ............................we could do a side by side comparison (is yours still totally stock?)

I like the look of the factory pipes and Ive been told that Im not allowed any pipes in the near future 'cause I keep buying new bikes!

Mine is still stock becides the snorkel and flapperbox mods. How did you do the 1 baffle extraction? Did you have any issues with the re-welding of the pipes?

Cant beat the sound of the V4 specially when all 4valves per head open up!

[vifferman]

I like the look of the factory pipes

Yeah, me too.

Cant beat the sound of the V4 specially when all 4valves per head open up!