Let us know how you go. I thought they made it longer for 2012, but it looks like I was wrong, they made it shorter. I don't know to what length though.

In case you didnt know theres a whole thread about fitting the BMW shocks to nc30's.

Lots of good info, well worth a read
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=37826

The gist of it is for track use the bmw shock would want the rick oliver HRC linkages to go with it

mattUKNC wrote:Cool, I have one of those shocks on route too, but it's the 2013 version...so fingers crossed.

Could you please measure the length when you get it?

krisztian_andre wrote:

mattUKNC wrote:Cool, I have one of those shocks on route too, but it's the 2013 version...so fingers crossed.

Could you please measure the length when you get it?

Sure thing, will do.

Thanks for that, been trying to find it this morning!

Timon wrote:In case you didnt know theres a whole thread about fitting the BMW shocks to nc30's.

Lots of good info, well worth a read
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=37826

The gist of it is for track use the bmw shock would want the rick oliver HRC linkages to go with it

Thanks Timon, yes I have been through that thread. I was following it when you started it.

I just went through it all again. I missed the bit about 2012 units being 4mm shorter though.

Actually, like I said, I went for the GSXR unit first because I had good advice it would be a better unit, and also there was more expertise in setting them up.

I put the BMW unit in last night and guess what, on full extension there is still fouling on the swing arm .. and this is with the HRC linkage.



With the 2012 onwards unit being 4mm shorter it is possible that unit would not foul.

With my fat butt on it, it will not foul, but that is the same case as with the GSXR. I'll be doing a sag setup today with the BMW just to see how it goes.

So .. they are both he same length and both have fouling issues on full extension (albiet the BMW less so I think). So, the bottom line is, I'll take them both to the track and give them a run, and in the mean time, I'll figure out how to make and adjustable pull arm ....

My ohlins is set at 315mm and ive noticed no contact between the shock and swingarm, what diameter is the bmw shock?

Surprised at the clearance issue

FYI from memory I think stock nc30 is 309mm

BMW outer diameter is about 79mm. (Timon, stock NC30 shock is 305mm in length I believe).

Also re BMW shock, doing a quick sag check, I have had to use almost all the preload adjustment. It is obviously sprung a fair bit softer than the GSXR.

While frustration about all this rear-shock stuff settles down, it is the weekend, so time to disturb the neighbours and get the carbs balanced.

I've not done this before with the VFR, but I do have a Morgan Carbtune (great piece of kit, get one if you haven't already) that I used to great effect on a Ducati Monster some time ago.

I read the guide at the top of this forum and the Haynes manual and, along with mate Norm we set about it. I took the guide author's advice and removed the carbs to get the vacuum adapters on - no big deal. Here it is all set up. Note the fan to help keep things cool.



It took almost three quarters of an hour just to figure out how we could adjust the damn things! It is pretty hot and cramped under those carbs and no amount of taping together ratchets and sockets and piping and 90 degree screwdrivers etc would quite get it.

So, armed with the mechanics gloves and a socket, it was "get your hands into the furnace":



It worked well actually, with the fan on the engine temp rose very slowly. When it got up to around 80 celcius then it was take a break time.

Carbs 2/4 were easy to sync, however, 1 to 3 and 3 to 2/4 just would not happen. It was all over the place and no amount of screwing and fiddling about under hot carbs would seem to get it anywhere near. At this point, I will let in on Norm's incredible carb-sync hint (he used to work on army tanks a long time ago and now races an NC30, start the jokes now ...).

I've not heard of this before at all, but it is the "feeler guage" method of getting a carb-sync starting point without even having the carbs in the engine. Remember that these 'new' carbs are in from Japan and you may recall from previous posts that they didn't even have all NC30 float valves in them, so who f**king *knows* what has been done to them. Time to go back to basics.

Here is the method, it is simple: get the carbs out and on the bench. Then, using the thinnest feeler gauge you have, test the 'feel' of pulling the gauge past each of the closed butterflys:





Feel the drag of the gauge past the butterflys between 2 and 4 (everything is based of carb 2 on a VFR - it is the 'master') and then make 1 and 3 feel the same. Simple. Do it on the same place on each carb. Even though the pic here shows me doing it at the side of the butterfly, I ended up doing directly in the front-middle of each.

You'd be surprised how accurate you can get just by the feel of the drag. Using that method alone, then getting the carbs back in the engine, this is what it looked like. Amazing:



1/3 not too far off each other, and those two together not too far of 2/4. A few minutes later:



Some more tweaking and blipping the throttle and they were perfect. Nice one Norm. Beer.