Hwy 178 - Near NC/SC Border
Latest trips - Deals Gap and the Tail of the Dragon
Track Days:
Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC w/ NESBA (Sept 05)
Turn 1 Pictures 
Current Modifications:
Frame Sliders (Updated w/ Crash Performance)
Frame Sliders (Updated w/ Crash Performance)
ZeroGravity Double Bubble Wind Screen
Philips Headlight Bulbs - H7 Vision Plus
Pazzo Racing Adjustable Brake/Clutch Levers
Gregg's Custom Flushmounts w/ VFX Running Light Kit & Flash Equalizer Pro
Competition Werkes Fender Eliminator
Michelin Pilot Powers
Galfer Brake Lines, Fluid, Pads
Woodcraft Rear Sets
Traxxion Dynamics Fork Springs
Micron Standard & Highmount Exhausts (Carbon Can - Oval - Race version)
Future Mods & Updates:
Michelin Pilot Powers - Tire footprint results & images based on various tire pressures & loads.
Pictures & Video
Area Roads - Western NC/SC (to be updated regularly)
Deals Gap - Excellent photos shot by killboy.com
Be sure to check the pictures on their website after your visit to the Gap.
A few shots of my own from that day:
If you ever need any type of service for your bike, check out Ken Wheeler's shop off of Hwy 129 on the way to
the Dragon. Dyno, welding, parts, tires - he has it all.
A bad day on the Cherohala Skyway for someone from GA...ouch.
Hwy 178
(to be added)
Hwy 276 - Caesar's Head
(to be added)
Other Bikes:
Undertail - Mark from CBRworld.net
04 CBR F4i Rear Brake Light Wiring.jpg
04 CBR F4i Wiring Diagram Scaled Image.jpg
Update - I'm not sure if I can fully recommend these frame sliders for track usage. They held up well in a 25 mph lowside on the street due to gravel. But, they didn't work well in a recent 45-50 mph crash at Carolina Motorsports Park in Sept. 05. Both frame sliders did protect the frame, but they both broke off at the mounting base as well. A set of Woodcraft sliders are installed now to hopefully avoid any further complete failures.
Original frame slider installation:
I purchased a set of Pro-tek frame sliders from DennisKirk.com and two furniture grommets from Lowes.
I drilled the fairing with a 2 3/8" (60mm) Blue-mol hole saw ordered online from MSC Industrial. The Pro-tek
instructions recommended a 2" hole saw, but I wanted to use the desk/furniture grommets to give the hole around
the frame slider a more "finished" look.
Furniture Grommets from Lowes:
Install Notes:
As for marking the center hole on the fairing. I learned a lot by several
mistakes... Measure 3 times, cut once should be my rule now.
I referenced several webpages for instructions, run a search on each site
sportbikes.net,
cbrworld.net, and
others found with google.
First, take your time! Have several hours to check, and recheck things. Go
slow and methodically in marking things.
I started by swapping the bolts with the frame slider bolts and leaving them
sticking out of the frame location a bit. From there, I put the fairing back on
to make an impression in the foam on the back of the fairing. Here's my first
mistake - the foam isn't the best locator, it deforms and flexes back a little
before you can get the fairing pulled off and the impression marked. Remove the
foam around the approximate frame slider location - it just pulls off.
Use the playdoh method to find the bolt center, it should give you very good
results. Once you find the bolt center, drill your center hole with a small
drill bit. To verify that everything is lined up, I would mark the original
engine/frame bolt in the center with a sharpie pen - reinstall the bolt, and put
the fairing back on. You should be able look through your center hole in the
fairing and see the frame bolt mark. If it isn't exactly lined up, make your
adjustments to the center hole now, you could use a dremmel to open the center
hole a little bit on one side for alignment if needed, then redrill with a
slightly bigger drill bit. The accuracy of the center hole is what determines
the whole job. Using the hole-saw for the big hole in the fairing is easy, just
take your time.
I purchased a heated grip kit from another vendor, but this one is virtually the same:
http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Rider/heated_grip_kit1.htm
Be sure to pick up a heavy duty 30A relay (HR30B) available at any Auto Zone, etc in the electrical section. This keeps you from draining your battery if you leave the grips on.
Has a high & low heat setting using this switch.
F4i Rear Brake Light Wiring Diagram:
I used the Bl/Br (Black/Brown) wire to connect my relay to a switched power wire.
Here's the wiring instructions that came with my kit:
Wasn't too bad to install. I spent a lot of time with routing the wires
& wrapping with plastic split loom and black electrical tape. You can't
tell the difference between the stock bike wiring and my added wiring. I
picked up a fused power lead from radio shack. For the relay, I tapped a
lead off one of the running lights in the rear brake light, but you can use many
others. The relay prevents the grips from killing your battery if you
leave them on when the bike isn't running - well worth the insurance IMO.
I have the relay wrapped in black electrical tape and tucked into the left side
of the tail.
It was definitely worth the time, and a pretty cheap mod. They have been
great riding in the SC/NC mtns the last several weeks.
Notes:
I picked up additional insulated male/female disconnect crimp style connectors to make the connections a little better.
I created a front and rear wiring harness for the heated grips. That way I can remove parts of the system and reinstall if one section ever has a short or worn area.
For the front:
I ran the heated grip wires from the handlebars along the throttle cable that runs up under the front edge of the gas tank. Then the wires ran over to the left side of the bike beside of the main wiring harness. I then added crimp connectors to the end of the heated grip wires. All of this wiring was then wrapped in split plastic loom and black electrical tape, then secured with zip ties.
For the rear:
From there, I started another set of wiring with crimp connectors to connect to the heated grip line already finished. The second set of wiring ran to the back of the bike to where I setup the relay. Everything was routed carefully once again and wrapped just as before. The relay is tucked into the left side of the trunk (see partial image below for part of the rear harness) The relay rests in the left corner of the rear of the bike tucked out of the way.
Portion of rear Heated Grip Wiring Harness (wrapped in black tape):
On/Off Switch
I drilled the 13/16" hole for the round switch using an Irwin Unibit purchased at Lowe's ($35-$40). These bits are stepped for a range of hole sizes, this one goes from 3/16" to 7/8".
ZeroGravity Double Bubble Windscreen - Smoke Color
Mirror Extenders - Purchased from the site below:
http://www.rrmotorsport.com/mirror.htm
I ordered this windscreen from Zerogravity on Ebay. $60 with shipping. Works much better than the stock windscreen at deflecting air.
The following pictures highlight the raised flat that is included on the rrmotorsports mirror extenders.
Pazzo Racing Adjustable Brake/Clutch Levers
These levers are worth every penny in my mind. Not only do they look smooth as hell, they feel so much better than the stock levers. The adjustment levers work very well and give a very precise high-quality feel when being indexed.
They fit 3 fingers perfectly. Fit and finish are excellent.
These are the shorty levers with gold adjusters:
Gregg's Custom Flushmounts w/ VFX Running Light Kit
Installed the flushmounts without the running light kit since I am waiting for them to arrive.
Some 5-6sec files of the flushmounts blinking. Will add some at night soon...
In order to keep the running lights working with the flushmounts, I purchased the following LED running light kit:
VFX Running Light Kit Install Instructions
Front wiring diagram for 04 F4i:
Notes on wiring to an 04 F4i:
Left front signal:
Connect the Yellow running kit wire to the solid orange wire on the signal.
Connect the blue running kit wire to the orange wire with the white stripe.
Connect the black running light wire to the green wire.
Right front signal:
The Gregg's flushmounts change the load on the circuits of the bike, so I also ordered this product for full adjustability of the circuit loading. I plan to add an undertail later, so I can simply remove a jumper on the flash equalizer and keep the new additional LED's in the tail from affecting the flash rate again. The nice compact package and adjustability of this product for later LED additions are what help make this a slick install.
The instructions are very well written. Diagrams and pictures are in color. You get what you pay for with many products. VFX has some very well thought out products and their customer service is top notch. Other suppliers of aftermarket products for bikes don't even offer half the level of service this company has. I plan to purchase other products from them in the future based on my experiences with them.
Flash Equalizer Pro attached to side of subframe:
Finished product:
Undertail & Flushmounts on 04 F4i - Submitted by Mark from CBRWorld.net
Thanks for the pictures!
Undertail was purchased from seller on Ebay. Install instructions to follow soon...
Competition Werkes Fender Eliminator
The instructions that came with the kit sucked! For $135, I would expect to get better instructions than one page made on a worn out copier where the text is barely legible and the handful of images are completely invisible!
You be the judge on the instructions:
My 5 year-old yellow lab could have written out better instructions. So, for better instructions for your money, click on the image to email my dog. He will gladly send you some info for a dog bone.
I will write up some guidelines and more helpful instructions than the company provided to help out with the general procedure of where and how I went out about installing the fender eliminator. When I am required to cut anything off of my bike, I strongly prefer some detailed, concise steps that show images and placements. Competition Werkes provided neither initially, nor does their website list any updated instructions or diagrams/pictures.
The fender eliminator is made of stainless steel. I primed & painted the stainless with flat black paint.
For now, here's a few images of the install.
Original Fender:
Removing rear grab bar with a few light taps from a rubber mallet to loosen the bolts:
Rear plastic removed:
Lock Assembly and being disassembled:
The first pictures shows the small clip that I removed from the base of the lock assembly. This clip holds the lock itself in place against the surface of the fender. The second shot shows the clip pulled up out of place just slightly.
Wiring Details - Rear Signals shown as placed on rear of bike (left signal on left & right signal on right).
(Note wiring & connector color differences)
Mark your fender, I used a piece of tape to highlight one of the areas to be cut. You want to cut approximately 1/4" down from a radiused edge:
Take your time. I cut sections off at a time, working my way to the maximum point of plastic to be removed. I felt better working this way to ensure that I didn't remove too much material. A couple of my final cuts took off a little too much material due to the impressive instructions I was working with. Follow the 1/4" guideline I mentioned above and you can figure out how the cuts should line up with the pictures.
So now the cutting is complete. I recommend a step here that will help in lining up the holes to be drilled to hold the fender eliminator in place. Go ahead and connect the funky kind-of "L" shaped brackets to the fender eliminator plate (FE plate)and the rear subframe bolts. The pictures below outline what I am talking about:
Once you have those two brackets bolted to the subframe and connected to the FE plate, look to see where the FE plate lines up with the plastic trunk/toolbox area. There are two holes on the leading edge of the FE plate, mark those holes with a sharpie on the bottom of the plastic fender and drill them out. Look at the two bolts sticking up out of the plastic fender for more details on where I am talking about:
Since you have already bolted the FE plate into place, now you have accurate holes drilled into the trunk for securing the other side of the FE plate...
Check the images below for alignment and placement from several different angles. I re-routed the lock cable just slightly to help with correcting the extreme bend it had in it once connected to the new lock location. The whole piece of cable is now below the rear seat bar instead of having one end come out the top through a recess.
Be sure to secure the lock cable with a couple zip ties on each end to make sure that the cable doesn't work loose and leave you with a permanently locked seat! If this does happen, just remove the rear grab bar and use a couple screwdrivers to get the lock cable back in place, pain in the ass - but it worked.
Once the lock is installed, then loosen the bolts connected to the rear edge of the subframe and install the license plate bracket and turn signal brackets onto the FE plate.
Finished product:
Galfer Brake Lines, Fluid, Pads
This was one of the best mods that I have done to the bike yet. The brakes finally have the bite that I was looking for. Immediately after the install, I did small stoppies for the first time all over my neighborhood as I was bedding the pads in. I also added Goodridge Speed Bleeders to ease bleeding the front& rear brakes. Easy mod and great results. I also installed an inline rear brake light pressure switch since the Woodcraft rearsets do not accomodate the stock switch.
The stock cam chain tensioner lifter started making all kinds of racket after about 5000 miles. I normally wear ear plugs due to a 25 mile ride on interstate & hwys heading to/from the mountains. Once I rode the bike without ear plugs once, it sounded like the motor was something off a cheap pushmower! Nothing like pulling up to a light with some hot chicks in the lane beside you and your bike clanking like a Model-T.
I replaced the stock unit with the APE manual cam chain unit. Installation was a total pain in the ass. There's virtually no room between the right side of the engine and the frame to get your hands in there and start / finger-tighten the allen bolts. I actually wondered if it would have been easier to pull the motor and install it that way... It probably took me 2.5 hours to do the install since I worked very slowly and methodically trying to puzzle out the best access methods and how to be sure the tank was propped up and supported well.
Here's the APE model vs the shitty stock Honda part:
I disconnected the clutch cable to get a little more room under the edge of the frame. Second picture is the CCT removed and the mounting flange. The third shot is how I got my arm/hand worked down far enough to start threading the bolts.
Adjustment wasn't bad, I simply started the bike and slowly threaded the bolt in until the metallic clicking sound stopped, then backed it out 1/4 turn and tightened the lock nut. I also found some instructions for a similar bike at the following link:
http://www.morrowmarsh.ca/concours/techpages/camchaintensioner-manual.htm
Traxxion Dynamics Fork Springs
Yet another great mod that really made a difference in the handling of the bike. The stock fork springs are way too soft for even me at 145 lbs without gear. During my first trackday at Barber in Alabama, I was bottoming the front forks during heavy braking. The front tire was actually chirping as my speeds increased throughout the day. Nothing like a little pucker factor on the track to encourage spending some money and correcting issues with the handling of the bike.
I upgraded the springs with a 0.90 & .95 spring for an average spring rate of 0.925 as recommended by Traxxion.
They sent me everything I needed to swap the springs: new springs, correct spacers, fork fluid gage & fluid height.
Basic wrenches and a vise with padded jaws were all that was needed. Overall a very easy mod, and I've never worked on any motorcycle forks before. I did everything in about 2 hours which included: removing the upper cowl & fairing, front wheel and calipers, clipons, & removing the forks from the triple clamps.
Since the forks were off the bike and apart for the spring install, I drained the stock fork fluid and replaced it with Maxima 125-150 Racing Formula fork fluid (7WT. SUS-VI). The front end feels far more planted now and good sag numbers for street or track are easy to attain.
I plan to upgrade the valving or go with the complete cartridges offered by Traxxion Dynamics sometime in 06. I will most likely go with the cartridge upgrade since they can be fitted to any bike, so my investment will continue to be useful even after swapping bikes in 2-3 years.
Power Commander - PC3r
I picked up a used power commander in order to smooth out the throttle response and to aid in handling the new Micron exhaust that I added. For now I am using one of the maps downloaded from the dynojet.com website, but I plan to have a custom map & dyno completed prior to March.
I hooked up the PC3r and simply put the unit on top of the battery cover. It stays in place nicely and is easy to reach.
This is just a list of the various fluids and lubricants that I am using on my bike. I'm constantly trying new oils, etc to see what makes the bike feel and run better.
Water Wetter
Water Wetter and distilled water made a difference in the rate that the bike temp drops once moving. The temp drops quite a bit faster once traffic is moving vs standard antifreeze mixtures. I still hit the upper 220's at stoplights & in slow traffic, but the quicker cooling at low speed is always welcome.
Moto Pro Chain Lube - Available at Cycle Gear $6
I've tried probably 5-6 brands of chain lube and been disgusted with them all. Even after following the directions for each and making sure the chain is some what warm prior to application, I still get fling off all over the rear of the bike and rear rim. I try to be very meticulous about the maintenance on my bike, but I'd rather ride than clean a mess off the bike after every chain cleaning & lube application.
The best that I have used thus far is the Moto Pro chain lube at Cycle Gear. It isn't the wax based type chain lube, it sprays on and dries leaving a thin film on the chain. No fling off whatsoever! Best stuff that I have found of all the major brands.
Red Line Synthetic 10W40 Motor Oil
I've tried Repsol, standard Honda oil from the dealer, and Motul so far. The synthetic Red Line seems to make the bike run smoother - at least to me. Shifting feels great. I will be sticking with the full synthetic from now on even though it's $9.50 per quart.
K & N Oil Filters - easiest filter to tighten and remove thanks to the nut on the filter. Even comes with a hole pre-drilled for wiring the filter.
Webpage Last Updated: 1/2/06
Questions - Email me: gwyow@yahoo.com
For a whitewater fix, I have a few videos posted:
Play Aliens vs. Predator? I normally play under the name 36DD's fan.
