Some of you may know that I bought a 1995 VFR750 in the summer. It's a decent, tidy bike with 35k miles and only two previous owners. It is however approaching 19 years old and as such is starting to look a little dull around the edges.
Up until now I've been riding it as I bought it and looking at the less than perfect bits through squinted eyes!
Well the inevitable happened and I finally cleared myself a bit of time to make a start!
Originally my plan was to give her a full paint job but looking at the bike I've decided that I will just give her a good machine polish and focus on the 'spinning bits' at either end. The forks have been poorly painted black, the front discs have a little overspray on them and the rear end could do with brightening up.
So, up on the bench she went ........
I forgot to take a fully assembled 'before' photo which is very unlike me but I'll let the rest of the photo's do the talking. I will update further as and when they're finished
Fortunately all the hardware in the rear end is absolutely spot on mechanically, the bearings are perfect as are all the seals, it was just the cosmetics that were suffering.
It appears that this gravel has made it's way through here over the years via the pinch gap at the rear of the swing arm
I'm a big fan of wire cups and find them particularly good at cleaning tarnished drive chains, this one has served me well for a while now but I have been asking a lot of it when using it in my die grinder at 16,000 rpm! It was only a matter of time before it'd had enough (I think I fairly comprehensively exceeded it's rated maximum RPM - whatever that is 
)
I pressed the rear wheel studs out and had all the fixings and a few other components either zinc or passive plated.
In the mean time I painted the various brackets and mounts in 2k satin silver. Once the plated parts were ready I started reassembly
I used all of the original fixings with the exception of the sprocket nuts which I replaced with Stainless items.
When stripping the bike down the main rear hub nut was unbelievably tight, so much so that I actually snapped my big breaker bar trying to undo it. Paul Rochdale of this parish was present at the time, it was a good job too, I got him to sit on the bike, in gear, both brakes applied. Alas it wasn't to be so back on the bench she went.
The following day I persisted with the windy gun and finally managed to persuade it off!
This was a quick dry run assembly ....... why? I don't know
The calliper was in already in great condition but none the less I prepped it and treated it to a coat of 2k satin black. Pointless not doing that one thing after all!
The calliper pin rubbers had seen their best so I replaced them along with the tiny screw cap that protects the end of the brake pad pin, these always seem to get a hard life.
The original pads are really new and just required a bit of a clean.
Next up is to paint the hugger brackets and fit them in preparation for the hugger.
I've decided to paint the hugger in the same anthracite colour as the lower fairings (which I am also going to paint as they're a little knocked about)
I am going to carry out the same level of refresh on the front end which is already disassembled but i won't start that until the rear is finished and I can strap the back of the bike down tight on the ramp. Currently being perched on it's centre stand and strapped at the back just 'floating' is less than ideal
From the moment I picked the bike up it was my intention to do this work over the winter. I'll be honest, I'm writing this thread with a tinge of sadness as I was looking forward to having a bit of back and forth with the late MScotts who I know would have enjoyed seeing this work
Hope you appreciate it up there fella. This one's for you 
More to follow .........
Up until now I've been riding it as I bought it and looking at the less than perfect bits through squinted eyes!
Well the inevitable happened and I finally cleared myself a bit of time to make a start!
Originally my plan was to give her a full paint job but looking at the bike I've decided that I will just give her a good machine polish and focus on the 'spinning bits' at either end. The forks have been poorly painted black, the front discs have a little overspray on them and the rear end could do with brightening up.
So, up on the bench she went ........
I forgot to take a fully assembled 'before' photo which is very unlike me but I'll let the rest of the photo's do the talking. I will update further as and when they're finished
Fortunately all the hardware in the rear end is absolutely spot on mechanically, the bearings are perfect as are all the seals, it was just the cosmetics that were suffering.
It appears that this gravel has made it's way through here over the years via the pinch gap at the rear of the swing arm
I'm a big fan of wire cups and find them particularly good at cleaning tarnished drive chains, this one has served me well for a while now but I have been asking a lot of it when using it in my die grinder at 16,000 rpm! It was only a matter of time before it'd had enough
(I think I fairly comprehensively exceeded it's rated maximum RPM - whatever that is )I pressed the rear wheel studs out and had all the fixings and a few other components either zinc or passive plated.
In the mean time I painted the various brackets and mounts in 2k satin silver. Once the plated parts were ready I started reassembly
I used all of the original fixings with the exception of the sprocket nuts which I replaced with Stainless items.
When stripping the bike down the main rear hub nut was unbelievably tight, so much so that I actually snapped my big breaker bar trying to undo it. Paul Rochdale of this parish was present at the time, it was a good job too, I got him to sit on the bike, in gear, both brakes applied. Alas it wasn't to be so back on the bench she went.
The following day I persisted with the windy gun and finally managed to persuade it off!
This was a quick dry run assembly ....... why? I don't know
The calliper was in already in great condition but none the less I prepped it and treated it to a coat of 2k satin black. Pointless not doing that one thing after all!
The calliper pin rubbers had seen their best so I replaced them along with the tiny screw cap that protects the end of the brake pad pin, these always seem to get a hard life.
The original pads are really new and just required a bit of a clean.
Next up is to paint the hugger brackets and fit them in preparation for the hugger.
I've decided to paint the hugger in the same anthracite colour as the lower fairings (which I am also going to paint as they're a little knocked about)
I am going to carry out the same level of refresh on the front end which is already disassembled but i won't start that until the rear is finished and I can strap the back of the bike down tight on the ramp. Currently being perched on it's centre stand and strapped at the back just 'floating' is less than ideal
From the moment I picked the bike up it was my intention to do this work over the winter. I'll be honest, I'm writing this thread with a tinge of sadness as I was looking forward to having a bit of back and forth with the late MScotts who I know would have enjoyed seeing this work
Hope you appreciate it up there fella. This one's for you More to follow .........
