I was fairly happy with it in general but there was a few majour things that just niggled me. It handled like a bag o shite as the susspension was worn out and knackered and it juddered badly under heavy breaking. Not to mention the front tyre was hitting the V piece when braking. It had Chinesse fairings on it that were ok from a few feet away but not great up close. It also had no air scoops either and just looked a bit rough round the edges.
It had obviously done a few trackdays as the guys I bought it off had a shed full of racebikes and used bodywork. The exhaust was a bit bashed and it had a Fireblade end can on it instead of a standard can.
Well I rode it for a few months and then decided I'd take it off the road and just resotre it over the winter ready for the start of the following year. Well as is normally the way life got in the way. I started my own business and got busy throwing myself into that. Well the RVF got a little neglected so I moved it into my workshop at work and decided to spend a couple of hours each evening doing little bits and bobs to it. I removed the scabby end can and exhaust and through a contact through here got a new set refurbed as good as new (thanks Lyndon).
They went from this
To this
Bolted them on with new clamps gaskets, studs and bolts. Bought a set of the early Chinesse radiators for about 5 times what they cost these days, got some samco hoses and clips and it was starting to look quite nice again.
Decided I was going to get a set of original body panels and Speedy came to the rescue with a full set of original RR panels. Unfortunately these got damaged on the way back to my house in the van when the bike fell over. Gutted didn't even come close. Once the bike was back home and up on the work bench I discovered that the lower fairing panels wouldn't fit round the new radiators so they had to go.
About this time I split with the wife so found I had a lot more time on my hands so decided I wanted another 400 I could actually use while the RVF was being restored. So along came Kris's VFR
This really invigorated me to get my RVF finished once and for all. It was at this time that I got to know Tony (Drunkn Munky) whose help in the last couple on months has been invaluble (thanks mate). At present the bike looks like this with loads of parts going off to be blasted and zinc'd, painted or powdered.
However the RVF story isn't finsihed yet as it's going to be a bit different colour wise to any other RVF you've seen. Here's a small glimpse
I'll be updating this thread in the coming days and weeks as the build is actually not that far from being finished.
