and had a chance to sample my new brakes (added RC51 front calipers with EBC HH pads to go along with my Galfer line and RC master cylinder)...OMG!!!!! Brakes!!! The pads aren't even seated yet and the braking is out of this world. Highly recommend the upgrade to everyone and anyone, you won't be disappointed.

I will now be able to start the puttering process (install Speedohealer, bar-end mirrors, begin airbox experiments, repack the Microns, ....).

BTW, I LOVE my VTR!!!!!!

 

That's awesome to hear! That's really what I have highest hopes for with my front end swap (that I've finally resorted to taking some time off of work in the next month to finish) is improved brakes. I personally was never disappointed with the stock handling but the stock brakes never did much for me, especially if you've ridden something else with exceptional brakes.

 

I've not yet had the pleasure of trying a new sportbike with top-notch brakes (radial MC and calipers) butI can assure you that you'll be happy with the RC set-up! Hard to believe it will get better yet once the pads are well seated...bring it on!!!!

 

AWESOME...I'd love to hear more about it once you've ridden it. I did the SS lines and HH pads, nothing else, and the braking is more than enough for me.... I'm real curious about the front-end mods....I'm far from hitting the limit of the front end as I'm an amateur trying to learn to corner on a bike....but I notice a lot of front-end dive during braking, some fairly substantial bar-shake on cross-overs, and a general sluggishness to lay over.....curious if it's just me or if that's the reason for your front-end swap! Lol

 

Brooks,

I looks like you've done a lot of mods to the bike but you're really forgetting about probably the most important upgrade/mod of all - the suspension. Yes, a shock is pretty expensive and forks moderately so, but it really transforms the bike. With the right setup the bike will corner telepathically and handle bumps with ease. It'll make it so you don't have to think about it at all, just think about riding and picking your line. All those things that you just described will be gone.

I might also suggest checking your tire pressures for sluggish turn-in. It's probably the #1 cause of this. NOT to start a tire pressure battle, I generally run 32/32 no less on the street. Higher pressures result in increased warm up time, slightly less overall grip, but higher mileage from the tire.

 

No doubt, I was running 32/34 all last year....when I got the new tires 500 miles ago, they filled them to 35/35 and I was supprised how great they felt. since I dropped them to 34/34 and wow, I can't belevie with 1 lb of air makes...They stick like glue and warm up pretty fast....

 

Update: I performed the shifter linkage mod (moving lever up by one spline on shifter shaft). I also "shimmed" the foot lever pivot (using thin aluminum from a beer can) and managed to get most of the slop out this way. The end result is quite good, shifting seems more positive now. I also installed my SpeedoHealer today. Sure is nice to be able to read the speedo instead of calculating my speed in my head (based on tach).

Finally, I had a preliminary look at the airbox and it seems there's isn't much room for expanding it as it is quite close to the tank. I took out the snorkel and modded it (took out center divider and foam lining, I then used silicone to build up a "ramp" at the ends of the foam recesses to smooth out the airflow) then re-installed it (hoping that this opened the airflow into the box a bit). I went for a ride this evening and it ran well (gave it an extra half-turn on the Flo-Commander to make it slightly richer, mind you it was quite chilly too). The bike ran well although the seat of the pants can be a bit tricky unless you're doing back to back testing (and even then). I will try something else tomorrow, will report back afterwards with details.

cheers