vfr 400z

[Neosophist]

Yep front wheel is an NC24 wheel, although NC21 brake discs (no matter apart from spoke design the both run 100/90/16 tyres.

Probably been crashed hence the rattle can job.



Still as long as it runs ok I wouldn't complain :-)

And yep, typical handling of an 80's bike... :)

If you love the 24 you should have a go on a 30... they feel a little more cramped but are a much better 'racing' bike.

I'd keep the 21 seat though as duncan said their comfortable.. the NC24 rear seat is terrible if you ever take a pillion, the front seat isn't so bad though.

[clearblu]

Thanks Neosophist and Duncan, I've got the original front wheel plus a seven spoke 17" with a 140 tyre (possibly Marvic) I thought it had been binned or t-boned but hpi clear and the forks/yokes are spot on, tracks perfect. The engine still has the original jap stickers on the crank cases with no wear on them,likewise the rear shock,I found some receipts under the seat from 1988 from a jap dealership-real timewarp stuff.The paitwork is a lot better than the photos and a hell of a lot better than when it was discovered after years of been sat unloved at the importers the red decals had faded to a garish pinky white! The only thing that needs doing is a gear linkage as its been shortened and a full size clutch lever,the girl who had it before had polio and modified the left side to help her disability and now she has a modified Fireblade! Just goes to show if you want to ride you'll find a way.
The seat is really comfortable but I'm a backward two stroke fanatic and find my brain has problems with positioning if I don't have something to push my arse back into (that sounds so wrong!) I move around too much.
I have plans to make this the nicest 400z in the country as the base I've got to start with is 100%.
One question is the front forks. Real 80's stuff air assisted, what is the best route to take?
A full Maxton rebuild
Retrofitting a front end
I have loads of szr parts here including a front end that was destined for my lc250 time for some maths methinks
@ Duncan I find the riding position suits me (5'9") and not as radical as any of my previous two strokes with enough feedback (for an 80's bike) over the front end to enjoy some b road fun.Before now I never saw the benefit of a 400 and quite wrongly assumed they were a waste of time as larger bikes do the job but with more speed when really a 400 suits real roads.I'm using engine braking on my favorite roads instead of on off brakes (backward two stroke addict).
@ Neosophist I love the nc30 and after my wife has the baby (3 weeks off) I will be looking for one but it would have to be a tricolour rc30 rep as I'm definately a 80's 90's kid!

[duncan]

Re Forks
I would not put any air through those fork-top schrader valves because it would be very easy to blow the fork seals.The best mod I made to mine was to fit Maxton springs and a Hagon rear shock

[clearblu]

Cheers Duncan, I thought the Maxton route would be the way to go. Air assists were a craze in the 80's with loads of Kwacks having them, A trip to Maxton is on the cards I think.
Do you run fully Synthetic oil? I dont want to open the can of worms on friction additives etc. I'm tempted too.What should I look at besides the usual reg/rect problems and would a gel battery upgrade be a benefit?
cheers

[clearblu]

Just had a proper shakedown run on an airport runway (lucky git are'nt I)
0-60 timing (off my Vaypor clocks) 3.07
top speed 114.6mph@15470 rpm (still had a bit left to go but my neck would'nt take much more!) plus I'm quite sympathetic mechanically and don't enjoy screaming the t*ts off.
Neosophist you are spot on about the gearing/top speed. I can't see Honda having this as standard gearing as it's quite ferocious.
Going to check sprockets today and do a count. The front end whipps up in 1st and 2nd which really surprised me (and I won't be doing that on the road) and scared me sh*tless especially when changing up to third and the front went uber light. All in all I'm starting to love this little Honda nearly as much as my little dirty two strokes!
Think an nc 30 might cure me completly.

[duncan]

Glad you like it.The VFR400 has been called the four-stroke lc.However,unless you let it run out of oil or coolant or never get it serviced,you are unlikely to have to rebuild the engine every 20 thousand miles

[Neosophist]

Yep that gearing souds wrong.. i'm guessing a 14T on the front.

You shouldn't be lifting the front without using the clutch.

15/45 is standard.

This gives circa 140mph at 14500rpm (if you can get it up that high in standard gearing) :-)

[clearblu]

Thanks Duncan and Neosophist, I'd be knackered without the advice,found some small issues with the paintwork and have found a well repaired dent in the tank so a rolling resto is going to be done over the winter as I love the look of the old girl.I'm weighing up if it'll be better to make it completley standard and faithfull to when it left the factory or do a period 80's naked fighter.Either way it's staying black!
Duncan you are spot on about it been a four stroke LC as it's quite similar in a lot of ways but does'nt squirm as much in the bends (or periodically seize!)
Duncan:
What mpg do you get?
Top speed?
Neosophist:
Finding the current gearing quite tiresome now as I have to go up the box far too quickly and the launch from traffic lights quite scary if I open it up.I have grown out of picking the front end at every opportunity I find this happened when I turned 40! :)

[duncan]

Mpg depends a lot on riding style.If you rev it hard in the gears [and it sounds like your gearing issue is making this inevitable in your case] then you will not get as good mpg as a smoother and more sympathetic rider.I have recently been using mine for the 6 miles there and 6 milkes back run to work through London and yesterday I filled up at 200 kilometers and put 12 litres in which works out at 45mpg.On a longer open road run it would easily do 55mpg or even 60mpg if I kept the speed down to 60mph.I have no idea what the top speed is as I have never attempted to find out although I once saw 150k on the kilometer speedo

[Neosophist]

150k is only about 92mph.

With standard gearing it shoudl do about 220km/h (the cloks only go upto 180 so ti goes off the clocks) (circa 135)