Honda Vfr400Rr Nc30 Project Bike

[floridaguy]

It has been awhile, so thought I would update.

I replaced a few things on the bike and solved my overheating problem. New red seats for 250 baht installed in 30 minutes. So I thought I would take a ride down to Rayong and hang out at the beaches down there for a weekend. On the way back last Sunday, I drove up through Pattaya and was reminded why I hate driving in Pattaya, by motorcyle or truck. Some idiot turned in front of me with no indicator lights. I slammed on my brakes, stopped just as I hit his tire, and the bike fell over. Broke my clutch lever, rear foot rest/brake, right side mirror, and scuffed the paint up on all the fairings and the engine cover. Luckily, I was not hurt. He of course denied fault.

Anyway, long story short I ended up fixing the bike myself and here are the photos of the damage.

After removing all the fairings. I almost like the street fighter look.

So I loaded up the bike and headed out to my brother's house in Kanchanaburi so that I could use his garage. I decided that since I needed to paint all the fairings, I might as well paint the frame. I never liked the shiny silver color of the fame with the black of the bike. So I completely removed all the fairings, filled in all the small dings and dents and cracks and scuffs with body filler, then scuffed all the paint to promote paint adhesion, sanded the filler smooth, and wiped all down with alcohol. I also scuffed up the engine cover and frame, front lower forks, some various small parts such as the gas tank breather cover, front fork brackets, bike stand, and gear selector connecting rod.

Here is my home made paint shop. I was careful to wipe and sweep all dust away. I sealed all windows and doors to keep airflow to a minimum to reduce dust. I wore a mask to keep paint out of my eyes and from breathing the fumes. All sanded, prepped, taped, and hung and ready for paint.

After painting and before assembly. I like the black shiny frame and forks contrasting with the matte black of the rest of the bike.

Completed bike with new side mirrors with built in indicators.

I tore down the bike on Friday night about 1 hour.

Prep on Saturday along with building the paint booth took approximately 6 hours. As they say, the devil is in the details. I was very careful on sanding to make it smoth and blemish free. Also, the taping took a couple of hours, as I did not want any overspray.

I applied 4 coats of paint Saturday night, completing about 4AM. Approximately 2 hours.

Sunday morning I applied 4 more coats of paint, 2 hours.

Assembly Sunday afternoon took about 2 hours, being careful with the new paint. Also, I lost a few screws (actual, not in my head!). Where do those little buggers go?

Test drive took 1 hour. Scared the heck out of the villagers zipping through the rice fields. I wanted to get the bike up to operating temperature and check the hi-temp paint I used on the engine housing to make sure it stayed on.

The bike looks great, really some subtle differences from when I bought it make a huge impression on me. Now I think I will change the rear sets, and the clutch/brake levers to something fold able and maybe shorties. Also, frame sliders are high on my list, along with a new tank protector.

[macknife]

You did a really good job, looks good.

[karlos]

Yes, looking good mate

[RED21]

Nice!

[mania]

Good Job!

Sure is nice having a garage to use.

I like your temporary paint booth set-up too!

[loserlazer]

really good job. keep going man and please inform us more as well on what you are doing.

cheers!

[BirdsandBooze]

Nice bike. Those engines are built like a Swiss watch.

[floridaguy]

Thanks for all the kind words. What do you think of the colors? I really like black and red, and I really like matte black, but I am thinking that it looks a little boring. What are some ideas to change things up a little? Just subtle changes really. I was thinking of a red tank breather tube, red rim tape (I usually hate rim tape, but I thought I might try it), and possibly experimenting with glossy black graphics on the tank and/or fairings. What do you think?

[BirdsandBooze]

I`ve always thought a few small chrome parts sets off the matte black without detracting from the stealth look.

[karlos]

Not too sure about that blue pilion seat mounted exhaust in the very last picture you posted.... 555

[floridaguy]

Not too sure about that blue pilion seat mounted exhaust in the very last picture you posted.... 555

Just getting ready for the floods!

[karlos]

Not too sure about that blue pilion seat mounted exhaust in the very last picture you posted.... 555

Just getting ready for the floods!

LOL

[macknife]

Perhaps some Honda wing sticker in silver for the tank. Silver model(VFR or NC30) stickers for the sides maybe. Give it a name... Vera?

[KRS1]

nice work ! I hope to work on a similar project when i get back to LOS.

[floridaguy]

nice work ! I hope to work on a similar project when i get back to LOS.

This might become my new hobby. I have my eye on 2 or 3 more of these bikes for sale.

[KRS1]

I use to restore NSR 150's in my spare time,but the pickings are getting slim these days. I love painting bikes and bringing them back from the dead, although some just refuse to be fully resurrected !

[mania]

Here is a photo of the NC30 I missed out on a couple of weeks ago. I love the clean lines of the underseat exhaust on the CBR600RR seat fairing. He was asking less than what I paid for mine! Arghh

Having read this thread it would seem these are very good deals.

Even compared to say a ninja 250 the price versus performance would

suggest these are good values.

Are they pretty comfortable for average height 5'8" folks or

are they a bit cramped?

[floridaguy]

Here is a photo of the NC30 I missed out on a couple of weeks ago. I love the clean lines of the underseat exhaust on the CBR600RR seat fairing. He was asking less than what I paid for mine! Arghh

Having read this thread it would seem these are very good deals.

Even compared to say a ninja 250 the price versus performance would

suggest these are good values.

Are they pretty comfortable for average height 5'8" folks or

are they a bit cramped?

The 250's don't compare for performance in terms of speed and handling. And they are almost 2 times the price. But, the 250's are a more comfortable ride, as they are set up more for touring.

I am 5'6" and can put both feet down flat, so you may want to raise it up a bit for you. Also, the rearsets are a bit low for me, so they would give plenty of room for someone your height. I plan on replacing the rearsets and bringing them up and maybe forward, as I am so short. The ride height is good for me, and I like being able to put both feet down flat at these long Bangkok lights.

[floridaguy]

I use to restore NSR 150's in my spare time,but the pickings are getting slim these days. I love painting bikes and bringing them back from the dead, although some just refuse to be fully resurrected !

I also love to restore things and pass them on to someone who may never even have considered the item before restoration. I used to refurb old beat up houses in the US, and most of my buyers told me they would never have bought the house when looking at the before pictures, even at the bargain price. You just have to have vision. I can take an old beat up motorcycle, refurb the parts and replace some small items, then put updated fairings on and repaint the whole deal and make it look like a brand new bike. Thai people really like new things, and when they look at some of the bikes I have redone, they can't believe how old the bike is and that it can look so new. They also say they would never have considered buying the bike as it was, but are buying the bike after the refurb. Feels good to put old things back to good use.

[floridaguy]

Anyone know what kind of fuel economy I should be getting? I am only getting about 170-190 kilometers per tank before I have to switch to the reserve. I only use 91 benzine. I know I am pretty heavy on the throttle, and normally cruising speed on the motorway is 140-160 depending on conditions, but I should be getting more than that shouldn't I?

New spark plugs just arrived from Japan yesterday, so I will be changing those out tomorrow, so that may help, but it won't make that much of a difference.

Edited August 19, 2012 by floridaguy

[RED21]

Thanks for all the kind words. What do you think of the colors? I really like black and red, and I really like matte black, but I am thinking that it looks a little boring. What are some ideas to change things up a little? Just subtle changes really. I was thinking of a red tank breather tube, red rim tape (I usually hate rim tape, but I thought I might try it), and possibly experimenting with glossy black graphics on the tank and/or fairings. What do you think?

Silver graphics would look good on matte black, just don't go overboard.

[deadman]

Lookin good.

Have you seen vikrams (red baron) vfr400 trackbike, its well set up

[karlos]

Lookin good.

Have you seen vikrams (red baron) vfr400 trackbike, its well set up

You're right about that, and i thought it was a RVF400 (NC35), but it was over a year ago i last saw it

A friend of mine asked if he wanted to sell it around 2 years back... 140,000Baht was the price at the time, and if you ask me that's a fair price considering all the work that's gone into it and the mods.

[KRS1]

Anyone know what kind of fuel economy I should be getting? I am only getting about 170-190 kilometers per tank before I have to switch to the reserve. I only use 91 benzine. I know I am pretty heavy on the throttle, and normally cruising speed on the motorway is 140-160 depending on conditions, but I should be getting more than that shouldn't I?

New spark plugs just arrived from Japan yesterday, so I will be changing those out tomorrow, so that may help, but it won't make that much of a difference.

My SV 650 (2cyl/v-twin) gets 225 kilometers @ 13.25 liters.......193 kilometers if the chain is dry...

sounds about right for your bike, according to wiki your tank holds 15 liters and 3 liters reserve, maybe you can check the jetting, thais have a bad habit of thinking bigger jets make you go faster.

Edited August 19, 2012 by KRS1

[floridaguy]

Well I took apart the speedometer and removed the small metal plate to derestrict the bike. I have hit the limit at 200 kph a few times now, so I decided to take it apart tonight while watching a movie. I almost flubbed it. I first tried bending it back upon itself to keep it from traveling through the pickups as the needle reaches 180, but the needle wouldn't spin freely and it was hitting the really fragile spring inside. I thought I ruined it. But, I noticed that the plate is only held down by small metal tabs, so I just pried up on it and it popped right off! So, tomorrow I will pop the unit back on the bike and verify all works as intended.

Here is the small plate that I removed. I left the PCB board in so that the bike wouldn't enter into limp home mode.

[floridaguy]

Well I can confirm that the speed restriction is gone. Also, before it would pull very slowly from 180 up to hitting the wall at 200, then the restriction would fully kick in and it would buck like a preacher's daughter. Now, it pulls hard all the way past 200, screaming up to red line. I hit 200 in 5th gear without realizing I still had another gear to go! I had to back off after that, so didn't hit top speed. Also, the speedo stops at 200, so I will have to use the GPS on my phone or Dynolicious to check top speed. OK, bad boy, no more of that!

[karlos]

Well I can confirm that the speed restriction is gone. Also, before it would pull very slowly from 180 up to hitting the wall at 200, then the restriction would fully kick in and it would buck like a preacher's daughter. Now, it pulls hard all the way past 200, screaming up to red line. I hit 200 in 5th gear without realizing I still had another gear to go! I had to back off after that, so didn't hit top speed. Also, the speedo stops at 200, so I will have to use the GPS on my phone or Dynolicious to check top speed. OK, bad boy, no more of that!

That's strange, i could swear that my NC30's speedo maxed out at 180kmh, are you sure your speedo is from a NC30??

200kmh with ease and with another gear to go seems very impressive indeed, mine would clear the 180kmh notch on the speedo but i haven't seen an NC30 with 200 on the tacho, unless it's had a new face/sticker laid on it??

[floridaguy]

Well I can confirm that the speed restriction is gone. Also, before it would pull very slowly from 180 up to hitting the wall at 200, then the restriction would fully kick in and it would buck like a preacher's daughter. Now, it pulls hard all the way past 200, screaming up to red line. I hit 200 in 5th gear without realizing I still had another gear to go! I had to back off after that, so didn't hit top speed. Also, the speedo stops at 200, so I will have to use the GPS on my phone or Dynolicious to check top speed. OK, bad boy, no more of that!

That's strange, i could swear that my NC30's speedo maxed out at 180kmh, are you sure your speedo is from a NC30??

200kmh with ease and with another gear to go seems very impressive indeed, mine would clear the 180kmh notch on the speedo but i haven't seen an NC30 with 200 on the tacho, unless it's had a new face/sticker laid on it??

Yeah, you are right, it stops at 190. Here is a photo. Definitely an NC30 speedo. If you look, there is another line indicating 190, and then 200 is somewhere just after "km/h" mark. I was beyond that in 5th gear. I wouldn't have thought that was possible either. Tomorrow I will be able to test it out with my phone GPS.

Edited August 23, 2012 by floridaguy

[Jobo]

Lookin good.

Have you seen vikrams (red baron) vfr400 trackbike, its well set up

You're right about that, and i thought it was a RVF400 (NC35), but it was over a year ago i last saw it

A friend of mine asked if he wanted to sell it around 2 years back... 140,000Baht was the price at the time, and if you ask me that's a fair price considering all the work that's gone into it and the mods.

I have a NC35 set up as a track bike. Done only a few track days. Many modifications plus all the original fittings too. Green book and all. I've owned it over 10 years .

For sale. if anyone interested can PM me or post here.

[montereyjp]

I apologize if this has been addressed in this thread already but I need a recommendation for a mechanic/ shop in Pattaya that can sync and tune the carburetors on my Yamaha Diversion 400 inline 4... It runs just a little rough up until 6000 rpms then all is well... I also have to keep the revs up coming off a dead stop to or it wants to bog down. If I had to guess I would say it is running rich... Two mechanics back the guy changed the jet or maybe jets... It just says jet on the receipt but this guy screwed it up so bad after taking it back several times I just gave up and hauled it to Bangkok where they got it running pretty good but not good enough. I am about ready to take it to the Road Machine Shop on 3rd road as it seems it is one of the better big bike shops in town after reading through many threads... I have had this motorbike for 5 years and it did run great before the change the jet mechanic got a hold of it.... Any recommendations or feedback welcomed...