Looking for a bit of Guidance.

[USAFRVF400]

Hello fellow V4 owners/operators,
As stated in my post under the new members introduction section I am a brand new rider/motorcycle owner and I am in need of a little help. I am US military stationed in Japan at the moment so the majority of my riding to this point has been <60 kph, but I am greatly interested in eventually getting some track time in while I am here which means I am interested in giving the bike a bit more juice.

I have already read that suspension is one of the first things I should sort out so I purchased some new springs and a gold valve kit from racetech.com, just waiting on the arrival. I figure the second thing I want to work on is getting the bike a complete exhaust replacement and then get it dyno/tuned as I do not believe it has ever been done on this bike.

I figure the next thing I should work on after that is keeping the engine cooler because my a$$ burns like mad while I am riding lol, not sure if that is normal as this is my first bike or if that is an exhaust issue or the fact that the bike's temp runs around 65% in stop n go traffic. I read somewhere about someone putting a radiator type deal onto their bike but after some googling I didn't find any hardware like that so if anyone could provide me with some direction that would be great. Stickshift said that the bike overheating in stop-n-go driving was normal but I would still like to reduce that if possible.

One other thing that interested me was a post I read about converting the analog dials to a digital system, is this something that is fairly inexpensive and/or easily accomplished?(weren't a lot of directions just photos of the final product)

I know this bike is a Japanese original and that it has been exported to just about everywhere since '94 but I have been having a lot of issues finding an English site that sells quality aftermarket hardware for them so if anyone has a link or 2 please hook me up.

I have seen several posts about Ram-Air on these RVF400 bikes and to be honest I am quite interested in that process, has anyone done any type of guide or write-ups? I would also need a link to where I could buy the actual hardware. Being in Japan there are HRC shops all over the place but due to the language barrier I have not been to one yet. Also what does it cost to get a Ram-Air and have it installed or maybe I can install it?

I am far from loaded so I am trying to get as much bang for my buck as I can. I do not have any experience working on motorcycles but from what I can tell I should be able to manage working on them as I have a pretty good knowledge of engines from cars. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Cammo]

Hey mate, getting a bit more poke out of these bikes is pretty easy, getting a significant amount more is difficult and costs big bucks.

Check out Rick Oliver's (= Guru, member on here) tuning guide below, pretty old now but all of the info (except prices) is still very relevant, and very true.

Ram air is generally only used on race bikes, it won't really work to advantage on the road.

Handling is what these bikes are all about, upgrade both ends and you'll soon forget about the lack of power!!


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