This is neither a review, nor an endorsement. I was sent some info about this company's products for 86-87 VFRs. Contact the company for more information on their products (lots o' stuff from plastic to ram air, to engine bits, to trickracegofaststuff. Check out some pictures of Cobalt modified bikes in the Pictures page under 86/87. Cobalt Racing, PO Box 241, Ashville ,OH 43103 (614) 983-3358

I own a 1991 VFR750F and had noticed that sometimes the shifting feel was not as good as I expected for a Japanese-made sport bike. My prior experience with several Honda M/C's was that the trans were mostly very smooth & usually missed shifts or lousy engagement was due to operator error. I still own a close cousin ( 87 VF700C ) that also has a six-speed trans but I have never noticed any shifting flaws. However, I didn't like the way my VFR shifted & figured I would do something about it. The Factory Pro Shift Kit contains a stronger detent spring and more importantly a modified drum stopper arm. The Honda OEM arm has a roller that is not much more than a washer on a pivot shaft, & if you take it out & roll it the action is rough. The Factory modified arm has an actual mini ball bearing on it, which rolls super smooth. What essentially happens is when you shift gears the foot lever moves an internal ratchet mechanism in the shift drum, causing it to rotate. The drum stopper arm is what finishes the drum rotation & stops it, resulting in gear engagement. Missed shifts come from the drum not quite rotating quick enough to fully engage the gears & resulting in the false neutral. Of course, this is usually from hard, heavy acceleration shifts. Installing the kit is not extremely difficult but if small, precision moving parts make you nervous then get a professional to do it. I did the entire job myself in about 3 hours, but I recommend that you at least get a Honda OEM service book & read the shifting section first, because you need to know how the parts work & go together BEFORE you open it up. A few short-cuts are: ** Drain the oil first! ** You can pull the water pump out of the way with out disconneting hoses & loosing coolant. ** The frame is somewhat in the way of removing the shift housing so make sure there's a clean pan under it when you remove it, because the shift drum ratchet guts will fall out as you do, unless you're very lucky. If you didn't read the book DO IT NOW or you risk trashing an expensive trans if you screw up the reassembly. ** Swapping the arms & detent spring are easy, but when the ratchet plate it reinstalled make sure that the washer goes back on between the detent spring & plate, & that its in the exact position on the shoulder before you TORQUE the bolt down. Be patient & careful here, and use a good light. ** When putting the shift housing back on, take note of the collar that is on the end of the shift ratchet assy & the washer on the inside end of the shift shaft. A little heavy grease on the collar will keep it from dropping off while you juggle the housing to line everything up. The end result is that the feel of the shift lever is now just a bit heavier but smoother, & the shifts are much more positive, due to the stronger spring & better roller. It may take a few shifts to get used to it & to finding neutral, but there is much more feedback from the shift lever to your foot & you probably won't miss the occaisional gear that happens when you go out on hard runs. The kit was $69.95 + $5.50 for 3-day shipping direct from Factory, or can be ordered from numerous other distributors (Lockhart,White Bros,Two Bros.,etc). The number to get it from Factory is: 1-415-721-4964 . The guys there were very helpful when I called, & didn't seem to be in a hurry to get me off of the phone. Hope this wasn't too longwinded & technical, but I hope it helped the mechanic types save some time & scared the fiddler types into getting a pro to do it, since there is not one cheap part that I know of on this motorcycle & trashing the trans will seriously curb your riding season! Good luck & stay just vertical enough to keep the peg damage minimal! memnoch@cris.com (Allen Dozier)

Background: "Factory" in this context is Factory Professional Tuning Components (415-721-4694, http://www.factorypro.com), the same people that make the jet kits. Factory sells shift kits for several modern sportbikes, including recent VFRs. They sell two versions of the kit. The regular kit ($30) consists of a stiffer-than-stock drum stopper arm spring and a replacement shift linkage cover gasket. The "Pro" kit ($70) consists of spring, gasket, and a new drum stopper arm that has a roller with a ball bearing, in contrast to the stock stopper arm, which has a roller that just spins on an "axle" with no bearing. The kit contains no instructions, so I STRONGLY recommend that you use the Honda service manual if installing this yourself. One's reaction when UPS delivers the shift kit: "I paid seventy hard-earned bucks for this?!?!?! It's just a spring and a gasket and a little arm gizmo!! What a rip!!" Oh, and by the time you throw in shipping and CA sales tax (for CA residents) you've paid $80+ dollars. I think it's safe to assume that Factory has built a comfortable profit margin into their pricing. Oh well. First, a word from our sponsor: The following paragraph is taken directly from the Factory web page: ELIMINATE FRICTION. A transmission can only shift quickly and consistantly when the shift drum can rotate and precisely index with a minimum of friction and a maximum of control. The PRO SHIFT KIT replaces the stock shift detent arm with its riveted disc with a new arm with a low friction Microbearing assembly. Rotational friction is reduced, index precision is improved and the result is quicker, more sure, more consistant shifting. Used by Fritz Kling, one of the AMA's premier Top Experts. Most missed shifts can be traced to a weak shift detent spring and excess friction in the shift mechanism assembly. Your foot initiates the shift, then the spring loaded detent arm and detent "star" must complete the rotation of the shift drum to fully engage the transmission gears. If the clutch is disengeged and the throttle is opened too quickly, as in racing conditions, the gears will not be fully engaged and may be wedged apart, bending a shift fork, rounding the gear engagement dogs and missing the shift. FACTORY's Shift Kits virtually eliminate these problems. Estimated install time: 1 to 2.5 hours. What it does: To understand what the kit does it helps to understand a bit about how your gear shift works. The shift lever that you operate with your foot bolts onto a shaft called the "gearshift spindle". Operating the shift lever rotates the gearshift spindle, which in turn induces a rotation of the "shift drum". The shift drum is the thing inside the transmission that moves the shift forks to change gears. At the shift lever end of the shift drum is the "shift drum center" (Honda's term), a.k.a. "detent star" (Factory's term). The detent star is attached to and rotates with the shift drum. Looking at it from the left side of the bike, the detent star is, well, star-shaped, with a few large, rounded "teeth". Next to the detent star is the "stopper arm" (Honda) or "detent arm" (Factory). The stopper arm is spring-loaded with a pivot at one end and a roller at the other end. At rest (when in a particular gear), the roller sits in one of the detents ("valleys") of the detent star. When you shift, the detent star rotates and the stopper arm pivots as the stopper arm roller rolls up out of of its former detent, over a "peak" (star "point") and then down into the next detent. The stopper arm spring holds the arm against the detent star. Whew! More information than you cared for?: The Factory kit contains a stiffer stopper arm spring. This means that the stopper arm roller is held against the detent star with more force. Hence a bit more effort is needed to overcome the spring when rolling out of a detent, but then there is more spring assistance as the roller clicks into the next detent. Hence, the "snappier, more positive" shift feel. In addition, with the Pro kit you also get a new stopper arm. The Factory stopper arm roller has a ball bearing instead of the plain bearing (i.e., no bearing) of the stock roller. The ball bearing roller allegedly makes this whole process smoother. How well does it work?: On my '94 VFR it works quite well. Before installing the kit I occasionally missed shifts, especially upshifting into 2nd or downshifting into 1st (but also sometimes in higher gears). Since installing the kit about two months ago, I have yet to miss a shift. There is slightly more resistance in the shift lever than before, but overall the action of shift linkage is more crisp and positive now, more "snappy", but not clunky or jerky. The shift is definitely smooth, I assume the ball bearing roller helps there. A friend of mine that rode my bike raved about the gear shift, describing it's action as "snick-snick-snick". One potential downside of the kit is that there is a small decrease in your ability to "tap" shift, that is, you can't as easily shift using only very light, quick pressure on the shifter. That's because there's more spring force to overcome in the shift linkage than before and so a quick tap on the lever is less likely to cause a shift to happen. On the other hand, if you preload the shift lever (which is my normal style) rather than tapping, you might never miss another shift. DIY?: No instructions came with my kit, which confirmed what the Factory rep told me on the phone. On the other hand, if you have the Honda service manual, it's not hard to figure out what to do. I'd say that anyone that isn't afraid of unbolting a few parts on their pride-n-joy can accomplish this job without much problem. Hope this helps. doug_wiebe@next.com (Doug Wiebe)

I purchased the TBR rearset peg kit for my 94 VFR after destroying the feelers on the original-position pegs. The TBR kit is the same as for the CBR 900RR, but for the lack of the shift linkage extension. Cost was about $80. The kit includes two F-shaped milled aluminum plates and some allen-head screws. The "F" fits upside down, with the two fingers facing forward on the bike. You unscrew the two "V" shaped peg mountings on the bike, screw the "F" shaped plates into the two original mounting points on the frame. The backbone of the "F" plate then creates two new mounting points for the "V" mounting, approximately one inch rearward and 1 inch up from the original placement. The only modification needed is a trim of the exhaust heat shield on the right side, which won't clear the new "F" spacer unit. After mounting, I felt no significant change in comfort on the bike, even though I am 6'3" tall. It shifted my weight slightly forward, and gives what feels like unlimited cornering clearance, at least to the exhaust pipe (a TBR pipe solves this, I'm sure). I would think the change is worthwhile for anyone who rides alone most of the time--it does cramp the clearance to the rear pegs a bit, but has been worth it to me not to drag the feelers around all the time. A thought: since the TBR kit is the same as for the 900RR, this leads me to think that other rearsets designed for the "'Blade" would also work on the VFR, and from what I have seen some of the CNC milled complete units such as RAASK, etc., would be a more elegant solution than the spacer concept used by TBR, albeit at great additional cost. dafeller@aloha.com (David Allan Feller)

I recently purchased my new 1996 VFR and decided to clean it up abit one fine day a few weeks ago. I noticed that the shop had not removed all of the naileen(sp) from the bike (this is a sticky film sprayed on the bike before shipping to protect it from salt air on the ships). I decided to try and use Armoralls alu. cleaner on some of the exposed surfaces....big misstake. The cleaner REMOVED the anodized coating and caused severe spotting. Fortunately I tried this on only 1 passenger foot peg and instantly stopped. This cleaner contains Citric Acid, and while it might work well on unprotected alu. it will destroy the anodizing on protected VFR parts. My advise, never use the stuff.

sa1@bobo.ca.boeing.com (Jason Simpkins)

I fitted my 94 VFR750 with a Scottoiler auto lube system comprising of a plastic cylinder about 5" long which acts as a reservoir for a specially formulated "stringy" (CSB1000 mineral oil blended with REOFOS TRIARYL PHOSPHATE, AMINE 'O', SARKOSYL 'O' and a SPIDER WEB additive) lube. The reservoir can be fitted anywhere between horizontal and vertical. A flexible tube delivers a metered flow of oil (50cc lasts a quoted 8 hrs continuous riding) to the chain just before it hits the rear sprocket, where centrifugal (OK, anti-centrepetal) force, er, forces it between the side plates, teeth etc. Oil flow is manually determined by means of a dial, and is swithced on by a valve actuated by vacuum in the inlet manifold (a very thin tube attaches to the ballance spigot). No aditional air flows into the manifold so it does not weaken the mixture. Does it work? I have never relpaced, and rarely adjusted a chain on my FJ1200, ZZR1100, VFR750 or my wife's Diversion or CBR600. A pal of mine traded his Fireblade with 35K miles with the original chain still within adjustment. Expensive? - about 50 (from MPS, M&P, almost any bike shop in the UK) plus running cost of the oil 500cc for 4.20 from M&P. Don't forget that you can remove the unit when you trade your bike. Note also CHAINTEC auto lube system - similar but uses inertial valve instead of the vacuum sysetem so easier to install.This is newer to the UK market so I haven't tried it. Andi_Picker@reading.sterling.com (Andi Picker)

I ordered a rear hugger (inner fender/chain guard combination) from Bladerunners in the UK. Total price shipped to Honolulu was $210, with about $40 fo that shipping. The hugger is made of carbon fiber and the quality is friggin' outstanding--the finish is very glossy, and the layup of the CF very even and well done. A hugger protects the underside of the bike, especially the shock, from road grime. There are reported aerodynamic benefits of the piece, but probably only at speeds seldom traveled by me. Anyway, installation was a snap: there is a steel bracket that attaches at the two mounting points of the old chain guard, with a third point wrapping around the tire to the front right of the tire, which tab is located to the Pro-Arm by zip tie. The hugger bolts to the steel bracket, and the brake line is routed through the hugger very neatly and secured to the mounting bracket with another zip tie. The total of hugger and bracket save no weight over the stock chain guard, but the whole rear of the bike looks immeasurably neater (see photo in archive), especially if you can delete the left side passenger peg. With the hugger in place, I think it is safe to delete the bulky inner rear fender should you want that space for something else (underseat exhaust, anyone?). The total effect is very GP, especially in combination with a CF front fender. Elimination of the ugly black plastic chain guard is a good thing. dafeller@aloha.com (David Allan Feller)

The chaingaurd is made of brushed/blasted aluminium, giving its pearly appearance. Nothing much to say about fitting, 'cause it is dead easy. As you can see from the pictures, the guard allows a much better view of the rear shock and swingarm itself.

Price: FL122 equiv $50 Payment by banktransfer, I hope their Canadian Agent do take credit cards....(Leon Dickhoff - Leon.Dickhoff@compaq.com)

Priced at the equivalent of us$70+shipping. Take of the rear wheel, place bolt through the center hole, placing a metal ring behind it to prevent sliding back when refitting the wheel (use the opportunity the give the swingarm a good cleaning!). With the wheel fitted again (use a torque wrench), place the black metal cover, screw on the nut and secure with pin (all included in the kit). Stand back and enjoy!(Leon Dickhoff - Leon.Dickhoff@compaq.com)

After scanning through many different catalogs searching for an ignition advancer for my '91 VFR, i came up with nothing. Well, I called Factory and found out that an advancer is available from them. It consists of the following: 1) You must remove your ignition rotor, 2) send Factory your stock rotor 3) They regrind the rotor to a 5 degree advance, 4) You get your old rotor back from them and install. I am unsure what the price is but I am sure it's worth the cash to squeeze some quicker revs out of the old V-4 750. jeanne@accessus.net (Tony L. Skinner)

I recently picked up a pair of the Quick Release fasteners from Sergeant Seats to replace the screws that hold the solo cover on.   Installation had me worried as they require ¼ inch holes and so I had to drill out the threads in my frame.  I did that last week, took about 25 minutes.  It then took me another ½ hour to get the fit just right.  You have to adjust the length of these fasteners to insure a tight fit.  They work as promised and not it takes less the 1 minute to get into my seat.  Also since the washer is built into this fastener so there is one lest part to loose then you remove the solo.  I have not tried using bungee cords to attach luggage to my rear seat yet and I do question the integrity of these fasteners under that type of load.  Given this potential limitation some may not want to uses these things as insulation is of a permanent nature.  (Geoffrey M. Bolton - Gmbolt@aol.com)

My 2000 model VFR 800 Honda bike has been happily running another brand of Catalyst for many thousands of Kms and I was interested in trying one of the new generation PerformaFuel Catalysts out of curiosity. I'm so glad I did as the improvement has been incredible. I am involved in Quality Control in the Aircraft Industry & it's suppliers, and have always been on the lookout for products that live up to advertised claims, but PerformaFuel has exceeded my greatest expectations, and I will be recommending it to everyone I know in the future. (Brian Ward - bward@qantas.com.au)