The Bumble Bee Project (2020)

[Hppants]

I've got this thought in my head:

I'm at deals gap. It's early in the morning. I run up the hellbender from Stecoah, where I've camped last night. The bumble bee is warming up nicely as I gently lean back and forth on the (relatively) mild sweepers. The sun just peeked over the tree line and in a rarity, there is no fog this morning. The road is clean and its dry.

I get to the Dragon store and the parking lot is mostly empty, except a couple of pirates belching around. It's too early for the squids, they drank too much last night (as in every night). I look down at the dash, coolant good. Fuel good. Didn't forget to cancel my blinker - good. OK - let's do this.

For the next 312 curves, the big gage in the middle stays between 7 and 10 instinctively. I can't prove it, mind you. I'm way too busy watching the vanishing point of the next curve. But I know this because I can HEAR it. That pipe is singing to me a song of euphoria. Those cams are harmonizing the sweet sound of the well oiled machine. Ray's got her just perfect. I don't have to worry about nothing. Just release the front brake 10 feet from the apex, push the inside bar a little more, twist the right wrist as much as I want, and listen to the "V4 music".

Yeah - some thought .... indeed.

OK - I'm back now. Please continue, Ray......

Ray, I think you could sell the yellow beauty if you have a mind too!!!

Quite astute, my PA friend. I've always lusted after a gear driven cam'd Viffer. But Ray, I'll save you the trouble. For now, my stable is full and the highest expansion priorities are a dual sport.

[raYzerman]

This is what I need, a new one...... old one is compressed on the inner oval and won't seal properly........



All along I keep thinking about the eventual graphics theme......... ranging from real bees, the bee from the transformer movie, Honda wings, stripes of carbon fiber/honeycombs..... lots to think about the whole time, something will speak to me eventually.




And being a Mopar kinda guy........



While I had made my own rear plate all in yellow, Madmudder put me on to this laser-cut one that ain't a whole lotta money at all.... I can see a potential bee in there... hmmmm. Yeah, I can work with that.....

[tidrick]

Are you on the ST-Owner's forum? Tons of good help there.... ST1100's are awesome. I'd offer but..... and not sure who is in your area, but bound to be somebody... ask up...

I was pickin' at you - you are doing an awesome job on this Viffer...

I am present (a bit quiet but present) in the ST Riders and ST Owners forums (along with a few others). Carried the handle "TNST_Rider" and "TXST_Rider" for years, recently dropped to just "tidrick". Hopefully that won't change for a while. Ha!

Actually, the ST1100 met an untimely demise recently and was just replaced with an '07 FJR1300, hence my engagement on this forum.

It's my CBR1100XX Super Blackbird that is sadly in need of skillz, confidence and time beyond what I current have. Economic impacts of COVID are causing some work slowdown that may force more unrequested time off from work, but we were deemed "essential" so didn't stay home through the quarantine.

Continuing to follow this thread with interest.

- kbt

[raYzerman]

The Blackbird was just another classic... would have liked one of those too, my buddy sold his last year fer cheap, I shoulda grabbed it maybe. Another sport tourer wannabe bike, but fast. Lemme see, I could borrow it from down south for a few months, LOL, next fall..... might be a good project.
Hope the ST1100 demise wasn't too bad for you..... you need an Ivan flash for that '07 and it will fix you right up with the fueling issues. Gen2 adopters have been very pleased with it.

[ionbeam]

The Blackbird was just another classic...

NERDS rider Gina has a Blackbird XX with the rare and coveted Corbin Beetle Bags.

[raYzerman]

The Blackbird was just another classic...

NERDS rider Gina has a Blackbird XX with the rare and coveted Corbin Beetle Bags.

Oh my..... so now I have to go Beetlejuice with the next project to compliment Bumble Bee?

[raYzerman]

Now that we have this..... and the new gasket finally arrived..........



...... I really just wanted to say, Tanks A Lot, EH! Tank you for following along, Tank you for everything, Tanks........
Old one on the left, new one on the right, and you know darn well what's in the red one..........



As I had been shopping for tanks, found a few used ones in various conditions and dented/scratched up states, almost went for one in the US that MAYBE could have been polished up, but I suspected would need repaint... U$250 plus a paint job, hmmm... plus not being able to match the pearl yellow...... Meanwhile stumbled on a brand new old stock tank that had never had fuel in it or a bolt to hold it down, at a Honda dealer near Edmonton, Alberta. It had a teeny ding and if I didn't tell you where it was...... C$450 including shipping to my door..... these things are unobtanium now, even so, would cost a handsome G-note even if it were.
This one (and a red one just like it) were bought as replacements, and since the tiny ding existed the customers simply said, no, get me another... musta been a few years ago. The guy I talked to at the dealership was a real nice down home western guy, bent over backwards to help me.



Got a new fuel filter, attached it to fuel pump assembly, sending unit looking good, new O-ring and gasket, what's not to like?



Got it all assembled, carefully ensuring the four hoses under it are routed properly, clipped and taped to prevent any chance of a kinked vent line in future. I love this new tank too much.... I had purchased a few different sizes of blue silicone hoses to match the originals. The rear tank mount and seat bracket are all one and hinged... just remove two screws at the front mount and lift that tank up over 18"... you can work pretty well under there, tested it up and down, tweaked hose routing....... took the red can and poured 10 liters into it (exactly half a tank). Let tank down, turned key on, fuel pump runs and primes, fuel gauge shows exactly half a tank (like you were expecting anything else)......

I hit the Start button..... it maybe turned over once and.... Vrooom! Bumble Bee's brain was indeed not fried! So I let it warm up until the thermostat opened fully (~85C), blipped the throttle a couple of times to purge air out of the coolant, checked reservoir level and marked it, time to quit and leave it overnight. I had checked everything for leaks, nary a one found anywhere.

Next morning, removed rad cap and checked coolant level, it needed a cupful, level in the reservoir had dropped a little as expected, but it did not replace all the air. It may have on the next cycle, but cap's off, just top it off. With that fixed, fired it up again for another coolant cycle, shut it down and left it. Weather was a little damp, so worked on other stuff and planned to go for a shakedown ride in a day or two. I put the two side fairings on now since I shouldn't have to go in there again for a while.
Just so you know, all those fancy pricey blue coolant hoses are all covered up and can't be seen. But I know she's got the blue blood of royalty in her veins.

[escapefjrtist]

NOS tank...score!! Looking great Ray, ready for the unveiling soon?

~G

[raYzerman]

That tank was a score and a half. I would have spent more than that fixing up/repainting some of the other tanks I saw.... Anyway, it was a coupla days of rain then I went down the road a mile or two with the intent of programming the shift indicator... was not successful, but I also had a SpeedoDRD in series with it, which shouldn't be any problem, but it would not go past blinking "1"... wouldn't even learn 1st gear. So, I switched the series around by swapping the connections. Another spin, no go. Started raining again...

This pic to show none of my blue hoses are to be seen anywhere........ one thing to note, the part immediately right of the clutch slave cylinder is the speed sensor, with wires leading up behind the frame, tight access.... this is where the SpeedoDRD and the Shift Indicator connect to the main harness.. fun, need small hands, or creative use of some tools.



A day or two later, some guy on his new-to-him Blueberry VFR wanted to go ride, so off we went for about 100 miles. Bike ran flawlessly, brakes worked well, everything except that flashing "1". FI light was constantly on the whole time as well, had to dig into that. It wasn't like that the day I brought it home. Could access FI codes, had 3, two were for MAP sensor, one for intake air temperature. Had to re-read the manual, apparently you need to start the bike while on the side stand to access and clear the codes... could not clear the codes. Basically you do it with a jumper into the two wire diagnostic port, which I had wired up a connector and switch to simulate the jumper (much like the ABS test harness).

Swapped ECU's, interesting the replacement ECU showed only one MAP sensor code, nothing else. Couldn't clear it, WTF? Checked/tested the MAP sensor, vacuum line also... I think it is sensing the MAP on the engine because the manual points you there... AND to make it interesting, there is a second MAP sensor (open to atmosphere) on the frame hiding under the rear cowl. I played enough, decided to get another MAP sensor (new ones are U$365!!!), found a sensor/air temp/hoses/wire bundle on ebay for $35, ordered it, don't have it yet. Today found another in Quebec for $12, ordered it and it will get here sooner. All I can do is try it.

As the bike is sitting on the side stand, came out the next morning to see a wee Harley type oil puddle on the lift. When on the side stand, the oil will now partly fill the stator cover, leak was at the bottom. Long ago, I had that cover off to inspect, chose to re-use the existing gasket and had lightly coated it with RTV before reassembly..... saving my new one for another day. So, off with the fairing, coolant reservoir and stator cover, cleaned it all up nicely, had the new gasket (a paper thing unlike the good OEM one) greased and installed it. Leaky gone.

Next day, after swapping speed sensor/shift indicator connectors, decided for another go at programming it. As I'm backing out of the shop, turned wheel to the right heard this little scraping noise at right caliper, like a draggy brake pad. Couldn't see anything wrong, pads were new, as was the clip that holds them. Went for a one mile spin, no joy again with the shift thing, onto the lift, jacked up the front wheel, flashlight out......

[raYzerman]

When I first had the brakes apart, I noticed the clip that holds the tab end of the pads was only half there, couldn't figure out how it stayed there as both halves are needed... maybe PO didn't notice? One pad had clip, the other was loose in the adapter bracket. I installed a new clip and thought all was good, apparently my inspection eyes weren't good enough that day. The scraping noise what the OD of the rotor rubbing on the new clip and it was mislocated, wouldn't take that long to saw it in half too. Off with the caliper, get that adapter bracket out of there.... it was well worn where pads had vibrated over miles and miles, clip would not stay in its proper place, no way to fix it... need new bracket... heck, only U$106!!





The ugly bracket had to be replaced, so off shopping... score, there's a set of calipers, hoses, pads, pins, everything.... in Quebec so I don't have to do any cross-border shopping or shipping..... C$60, lucky me. Note all the complexity of a Honda linked brake system....



So here is the old and replacement bracket with nice square corners.....



OK, so all fixed and buttoned back up, waiting for a good excuse for a longer riding day again..... wonder if Blueberry will call.....
Meanwhile, helping my good buddy (who bought my Root Beer FJR) building a new deck... we had been riding last Sunday all day long... carpentry tools are loaded up ready to go.......

[wheatonFJR]

Good stuff Ray. Thanks for the picture reminding me that there are still areas in the world where the earth is flat.

[BruinFJRguy]

Yellow bikes are just about my favorite bikes to look at. Never had one, oddly enough. But I had a certain lust for an early 90s (93? maybe?) Honda Magna. Also desperately wanted a 2016 Tenere 60th anniv edition, but the stars didn't allign.

This VFR is looking oh, so sexy! (The glimpses of it, anyhow.) Looking forward to seeing more of it!

[raYzerman]

When you first look at it, the yellow is..... well.... yellow. But a closer look to see the subtle pearl is needed to appreciate that yellow.

Yes, Wheatie, that particular area is definitely flat. Tobacco and ginseng country. The ride along the Grand River and Lake Erie however has lots of curves.

[raYzerman]

Back to my shift indicator issue, I might have a bad unit, I've swapped wires for the tach signal feed, it is prompting to learn, and swapping with the SpeedoDRD to change the series of signal feeds, or even eliminating the SpeedoDRD has had no effect. Before I get another one, my thought was somebody put the male and female connectors on the wrong set of wires (there are two sets of white, red, black)... so I am going to take the terminals out of the connectors and swap connectors in case the signal is being fed in the wrong direction.... Trying to avoid taking the whole windshield/mirrors/nose fairing off again.... bit of a job, even though I might be able to feed the wires from a new unit in without doing that.... stay tuned.

Also a replacement MAP sensor is on the way from Quebec....

[raYzerman]

Played again with my shift indicator connectors, investigated swapping the connectors... well as soon as I found the female terminals won't fit into the male connector and vice versa, just abandoned that idea. Verified the wire colours matched up to what the vendors are selling, all checked out. They also match the same protocol the 12 O'clock Labs folks are using for the SpeedoDRD, so I'm going to call the wiring good. Re-checked my tach feed wire to ensure it had continuity, then took yet another source of signal... the ignition coil. Skip to the end, no joy. I will just get a replacement unit. I've been into these connections 3 or 4 times, enough already. There's a song by Tom Cochrane, "The Secret is to Know When to Stop".......



UPS is to deliver a package Monday that will contain a replacement MAP sensor...... but I am off to help a good friend build a new deck, so that's gonna take up the next couple of days...... yes, we're distancing, all kool.

[Hack]

but I am off to help a good friend build a new deck, so that's gonna take up the next couple of days...... yes, we're distancing, all kool.

'Stay at least one hammer length apart...

For more than one good reason..!

[fontanaman]

Amazing work Ray. I enjoyed the post very much only dreaming I had these kinda of troubleshooting skills, especially with electronics. The VFR looks fantastic.

Today I managed to troubleshoot my FireTV Stick. The YouTube app would go to screen saver every 5 minutes. So I turned off the FireTV Stick screen saver to fix the problem. I was thrilled! Maybe this is why I bought a '17 FJR - don't have to mess with stuff I can't fix.

[raYzerman]

Replacement MAP sensor installed and...... got the FI code cleared!! Need shakedown ride (Saturday gonna be nice) to prove it out. Ordered replacement shift indicator... rechecked wiring again, all is good so...... we wait. Postal service is experiencing overload these days and running with short staff, so this could be a while.
Long weekend here so we took a break from the deck building project until later next week... no rush and glad to take a break.
Meanwhile, my friend with the Blueberry VFR ordered us a coupla rear rack plates...... I'm thinkin' there is a Bumble Bee in those shapes if I get a little creative. They've arrived so we'll be taking a look at that tomorrow too.

[Blister_1]

Any updates to this build? It is looking awesome!

[raYzerman]

There are some.... somewhat stalled a wee bit by some packages stuck on the wrong side of the border..... and had some other projects on the go. Currently riding it frequently, discovered a new throttle sync method (FSM may be wrong or misinterpreted), and it's running way better. New shift indicator arrived, and got it all wired in, works perfect, the first one couldn't be programmed. Awaiting new larger windshield deflector, but my friends at Canada Post are swamped and as Elmer Fudd might say, one has to be vewy vewy patient...
Stay tuned for more.