Thanks for the advice Dad. I have 37kms on it and got the valve cover off most clearances are .004. Number 3 exhausts both were at .006 so I brought them back down to match the rest of them at .004.
I will leave the cam chain alone for now, I guess.

 

88Redblack:

Since every body has some thing to say here is My 2 cents worth, First I have an 1988 CBR 1000F, since I could not find and was having wx cracking problems while in one of the hottest places in the world , I changed my bike to a newer swingarm and forks, I found on Ebay a whole wrecked US model 93 CBR 1000F and a bunch of 96 and 99 model CBR 1000F Euro/Middle East spares, for my bike. The bikes are not that different so as all the stuff Red Baron was talking about is probally very accurate concerning putting Radial ply tires on other than wheels made for them, I decided to not take that risk and changed to the newer
wider 5.5x17 rear wheel and the 3.5x17 front and went to the speedo mount on the drive chain cover from the new bikes with linked brakes. I also changed to the newer body work which was a huge deal and rode my bike for weeks without any body work till I could make the right mounts. The seat and rear cowl were time consuming during this conversion but I like the way it looks. I have a 180 rear and a 120 Front Metzler M1 tires and get fair to good miles from them now that I live in NC USA, 2-3000 rear 4-5000 front before I replace them. I never got that amount of miles from the bias plys before I converted to the radial wheels tires. and it never handled as good as it does now. The cost of the wheel/tire conversion has paid for itself in tire savings alone as well as a way better ride quality and tire selection.

It was pretty easy to do as long as you get the 90 or newer swingarm, brake mounts, brakes, (both f/r matching Calipers and discs), forks, wheels and drive chain cover/sprocket drive (to eliminate the front wheel speedo drive off the older wheels)and front fender from the same year groups 90-92 or 93-00 depending on where you live. A 93-00 is the same bike minus colors of the body work, the body work change is probally not worth it and as the prices of the newer ones keep rising I would not do it again for the time it took lining it all up.

I have owned all 3 body types 87-89, 90-92, and 93-00 and they have alot of the same parts (engine minus head) and many very different, (mostly body/fairing) , there is a definite improvement evolution as they get newer for a sport tour type rider. but not for a sport only rider.

I really have enjoyed the CBR 1000F as a daily rider, a sport tour bike, and a drag bike. they seem to last well and parts can be cheap if you are willing to wait for the right deal, but performance parts can be really hard to find. Many other Honda parts can be substituted from VFRs and other CBR models to improve your bike, that will work with little or no mods.

Thats all I have to say. There is other ways to modernize your bike many Euro riders and most Middle Eastern riders mod the crap out of the bike they ride. since they are not all legal warped like many Americans can be.

Good luck and enjoy a really fun to ride bike safely....

 

I know the front brake pads on my 90 1000F are the same as the 97 VFR, but what else will swap? Front suspension?

 

Precisely. That's the reason they came out with them. Striving for that improved performance. They generate less internal heat, too. That's why they can run stickier compounds without overheating and wearing rapidly as with the equivelent compound on a bias construction. There's a main source of the improved performance.

Aside from social skills? Apparently a lot of knowledge and experience. With those limitations, you are very correct. Don't change anything until you're sure it's OK or understand what's going on.

Not on some, at least. Tread patterns are optimized for wear and water displacement but other than that, the only safety issue is those where the carcass construction is load designed. To verify that, you'll need to talk to a manufacturer's people and even then, to someone who is willing or knowledgeable enough to tell you. Many don't know and many won't tell just anybody for all of the right reasons. That's typically not done on the phone or with your average salesman, even factory. You might get it at a trade show booth and you'll definitely get it when the engineers put on a seminar on a tire for a group like a track club. You might have to get one aside at the break, but you can get it out of them.

Many of the best track vendors will know which ones can be swapped, too. And the main reason isn't even water displacement but the way the tread blocks meet the road, shredding the edges, sometimes causing cupping, too. Some are worse than others that way. It may also be a slight difference in grip but it will be small, miniscule. You'll get WAY more change in grip with a pound of tire pressure, wear, and heat cycles than you will the way a tread block's meeting the road.

There are a lot of tires that are structurally fine to run either way even though they ALL have directional arrows. I do it all of the time at the track to optimize wear. It should be verified with the manufacturer first to be sure the carcass isn't direction specific. As far as rain? Your front tire is WAY more important than the rear and NOT because of traction issues but because of the way the front clears the water for the rear. The front has to be able to handle the virgin pavement and handle displacing the laying water. The rear has dramatically less water to displace and can actually be in fairly poor shape and still work fine. Yup, it's surprising until you think about it and see it demonstrated in a factory technical video.

Same as factory because it's load rated, not tire specific. Look them up. The 1988's have the same tire pressure recommended as the later years even though the tire sizes are dramatically different and one's bias and the other's radial. These aren't car tires where the width actually DOES meet the road all of the way across. They have to support the weight of the vehicle on a radiused tire and that dictates the pressure as much as anything.

In reality, the recommended pressures are VERY averaged for wear and grip. If you don't mind a little extra wear, you can run 32 front and 36 rear all day long on a radial. On the highway, you'll unecessarily wear flat spots on the rear but it won't be dangerous to the tire construction at all. In extreme cornering, the traction will be better. You can optimize them for wear and conditions if you know what you're doing and don't mind changin

 

WOW!!!![sm=funnypostabove.gif]
Why are you so upset/worked up for???!!![sm=dontgetit.gif]
Do you feel you have to blow your own horn for attention and respect???
Do you believe, that with posting that long soap opera, you know what you are talking about and people will listen to you???.
You might not be a "chump that fell off a turnip truck", but you sure sound and look like one to me.[sm=smiley2.gif]
You have missed the point again.
I will continue to do what I believe is right(follow Honda and the tire manufacturers) and you can continue to give out irresponsible advise.[sm=badidea.gif]
So this matter is closed for me.[sm=closed.gif]
PS. Boy, you sure can crank out some crap
I put in alot of smilies for you, so you can lighten up.

My talk, has always been about tires for the STREET bike on the road, not the track.
The TRACK, as I have mentioned before, is a different environment.
Last questions: Have you been a "CHUMP" for 37 years or are you 37 yo.????
Because, if you have been a Chump for 37 years, how old are you now???
When did you started on motorcycles????
Or, have you been a Chump since birth???
LOL[8D]

 

If you take the time to educate yourself, you too will know what I'm talking about. Then you wouldn't find the advise to be at all... how do you say it?... "and you can continue to give out irresponsible advise". That was, as so much of your posts were, tactful, inciteful, and a very valuable contribution to the topic. Feel free to use my post as an outline for a few things to bone up on so you don't feel the need to lace into the next guy who comes along who has happened to learn a few things along the way that he's happy to share.

I hope the posts I made were helpful to somebody. That's why I do this. Share the experience and passion with others. Many miles, books, and individuals have helped me along the way in my many (37 to be exact) years of riding and wrenching, and I'm happy to give back, share and help where I can. Happy Motoring. You too, Mr. Baron.

 

To All who replied,

I really appreicate everyones input on this topic. I really didn't want to create an upsetting topic just looking for advice from all the knowledge thats out there.

Again thanks

Ed
88 Red & Black

 

No problem at all. Hope it was helpful.

 

I would install bias-ply tires, if that's what the factory designed for it. For 2005, BMW switched their K1200LT from radial tires to bias-ply and the handling improved. Read the handling section in this test by Motorcycle Consumer News http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/model_eval/GLvsLT10-1.pdf

 

Don't you love it when somethings get dimystified????

Thanks Slowpoke for the link to the article.
...and we all know, BMW knows nothing about suspensions, right???
LOL[8D]