Awww martin, you dont like my GOLDEN brown KFC chicken nugget calipers… I am wounded matey :’( 
Arhhhh that’s what they are. Well a little Ketchup on them should transform their appearance.
Anybody see that FE/FF for sale on UK Ebay for £500 recently in Suffolk ? Did it go and who’s was it ?
Martin
hi martin,
if its the red and black ff/fe your talking about it belonged to a member, kfrogzxr, he offered it on here to the members at about £600, there was no takers, to be honest it was a absolute steel at that price, if i hadn’t been in the middle of doing the project bike i would have had it myself, i think it made about a £900 on ebay
Yep the guy who sold the bike lived near Ipswich the bike was clean and well looked after I bought 2 complete 1000 fe bikes off him in bits and a 1000 ff in bits and a complete fe that had been stored for 10 years which I am now riding and the best part of this story was he only wanted £200 for the lot he offered the other to me for £500 but I told him to put it on ebay as it would make more money plus my transit van was already full to the ceiling with the others so I now have log books for 8 vf 1000 but only one on the road at present and to be honest that could do with some tlc, one thing for sure it will be put to shame at Hulme will have to hide it in a corner or behind Petes wonderful creation
paul, it doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as it gets there,
At least the bike is better looking than me and will probably outlast me as well lol
A few pictures of my latest mechanical puzzle, Fitting a VTR1000F front end onto the vf, i bought a complete front end off ebay about 6 months ago and have been pondering how to fit it ever since, I’m probably about 90% there now… got to sort some shorter brake lines and a longer speedo cable.
Side view with forks slid all way through the NTV650 yokes
Forks fully compressed, leaves about 25mm clearence between tyre and radiator, the mudguard just rests against the radiator when fitted but that will be too close when the forks flex under braking so will have to sort something for that
Altering the harness to relocate the CDI unit to the left hand side fairing
I will probably bag the cdi up just in case any water gets behind the fairing
CBR600F fuse box, extended the original lead, just fits in between the FE coolant bottle and the FF regulator.
Renthal low road bars are pretty close to the original clip on possition.
Looks good Pete,the CBR fusebox is a particularly neat touch.
You’re looking for a longer speedo cable,are you going for a drive from the gearbox output?
I’m also using Firestorm forks on my R and although the handlebar clamps are going under the top yoke I was still around 30mm short on the stantions.
I had some modified oil lock pieces made to make the length up
Regards Bif
hi bif,
yes i’m going to be taking the speedo drive off the gearbox, i picked up a drive from a NC29 CBR400RR, I’m hoping the final drive ratios are simmilar, bearing in mind that my vf is running an 18 tooth front sprocket but a lower profile rear tyre than standard…
I came across this speedo extension, [ebay]131660842314[/ebay] I think this coupled to a late model cbr1000f cable should give me the right length.
Earls Performance have just made me a set of brake hoses up, they have a “brake hose calculator” on there site, you just fill in what length, colour, and banjo type… two days later they were delivered, Fantastic service.
The longer oil locks for the VTR forks look interesting, I’m assuming they lengthen the forks by 30mm when fully extended, but are the forks the same length as standard when fully compressed, (i.e is the travel increased by 30mm ?)
The travel remains the same,as you are lifting the cartridge by 30mm everything else remains the same.
The cbr cable should do the job, but the ratio on the 400 drive may be a bit out.The sprockets are 15/44 and the rear tyre 130/70-18.
Regards Bif
Pete, I’m intrigued as to what part the dinner plate plays ? I’ve hunted high and low but can’t seem to find one on mine. Perhaps you’ve got the top of the range model ? Looks nice though - worthy of the Antiques Roadshow.
tut tut tut martin,
you should always carry a plate around to collect the oil from the front sprocket oil seal, its just a sad fact though that some of us needs bigger plates than others… not mentioning any names …martin
oooooooo, that hurt…
managed to get the speedo all up and running, the cbr1000f cable and extension piece is just the right length. With the bike on the center stand the speedo is saying 42mph at 3000revs and about 68mph at 5000revs, the mph seems a little low to me, but i suppose the big test will be its actual speed on the road,
There is still a few things to sort out and a few things that i may try to improve on, but all in all its ready for a short test drive…if we ever get any decent weather…
cbr1000f speedo cable and extension
body work back on, mud guard to alter
Neat install Pete,maybe the internals from a CBR1000 drive would fit the VFR400 unit.
The CBR used the same final gearing as the VF as well as either a 170/60 or 180/55 tyre.
Regards Bif
cheers bif,
I’m hoping to head out with the sat nav on so i can see exactly where i am with the speedo, im hoping that it may just be a case of dropping a few teeth on the rear sprocket to fetch things back into line.
one day i will have a plan and stick to it… ive now decided i cant live with the bar riser set up and need to get back to clip on’s… so ive had a set of vtr1000f fork tubes made up 60mm longer than standard, this will allow me to raise the front end a little so the front mudguard dosent touch the radiator, and refit the ff yokes and clip on’s.
Just got to put the final touches to the damper rods and needles which also need extending 60mm, spray the sliders and front mudguard and the jobs a good un…
Neat solution to the problem Pete.
Who if you don’t mind me asking made the tubes up for you and what was the cost?
Regards Bif
hi bif,
yes i whish i had found this firm earlier, having the longer fork tubes solves all the problems associated with the yokes, steering lock, fuse box and handle bars…
the tubes cost £150 each which sounds expensive but a standard aftermarket vtr1000 tube is about £110, i probably spent another £20 on bits and bobs to extend the damper rods and needle’s.
All Bike Engineering did the work for me, the machineing is spot on, other than the chrome looking a little less shiney you would be hard pressed to to tell the difference between these and standard ones… http://www.allbikeengineering.co.uk/
Thought i would take advantage of the sunny weather over the last few days to put a few miles on the vf and test the recent modifications,
the VTR1000 forks are all assembled and in using the new longer tubes, vf yokes and clip on’s. the original springs were way too soft so i opted for some K-Teck 1.1kg springs to compensate for the extra weight of the vf… My first thoughts on the front end is that its a little too hard and may need slightly less powerful springs but ill give it a few good runs before i change anything, The brakes are powerfull and progresive with loads of feel…the riding position feels slightly more forward due to the new forks being aproximatly 25mm shorter than the stock vf ones, but its not uncomfortable
The NC29 speedo drive was a big supprise, its actually spot on with my set up 18/43 sprockets and 160x60x17 tyre, 39mph on sat nav and 40mph on speedo…
The downside is… the dreaded rust has reapeared in the tank and made its way into the carbs, ive cleaned the carbs and its now running fine but i think its only a matter of time before rust gets past the fuel filter again, so i think im going to have to try some tank sealer…