Living in the Midwest, winter certainly puts a damper on a rider's time out on the road. I've read the virtues of heated grips several times, and decided I would add them to my VFR. Rather than adding wiring directly to the battery posts I elected to install an auxiliary fuse panel.
Blue Sea Systems 5025 Fuse Block
The Blue Sea Systems 5025 Screw Terminal Blade Fuse Block (6 Circuit ATO/ATC w/ Negative Bus)was highly recommended in several articles that I've read, so I ordered one online. I wanted it to switch on with the ignition, so I stopped at Radio Shack and picked up an automotive relay, wire, shrink tubing, and connectors.
I mounted the fuse panel under the seat, and it really fits there well. Access is as easy as removing the seat with the key.
I removed all bodywork to make access as easy as possible, and to perform some other maintenance at the same time.
Here is what a naked VFR looks like.
Here you can see the fuse panel completely wired in, with the bodywork all re-installed.
Symtec Grip Heaters
Now that the fuse panel is in place and working as intended, I wired up a set of Symtec grip heaters. These $25 heating elements install under almost any grip and are controlled with a hi/lo/off rocker switch.
After running a fused circuit from the fuse panel, I installed the elements on the bars, slipped the grips over them, and pulled the wiring through the front cowl to be connected.
I combined the necessary wires and put terminals on them so they would easily attach to the rocker switch.
I drilled a hole for the rocker switch in the plastic trim piece that covers the windshield mounting bolts.
I installed the trim piece, pulled the wires through, and readied them for the switch.
With the switch installed, it almost looks like a factory option.
With everything buttoned up, one would hardly notice it's there.
Stebel Nautilus Air Horn
I had a Stebel Nautilus compact air horn on my previous bike and was very impressed by how loud it was while being fairly compact. After installing my Blue Sea fuse panel under my seat, it was time to install the Stebel.
I did a lot of online research, and then spent about an hour scoping out my bike, and could not come up with a good location to mount the horn. There just is not much space under the skin of the VFR.
The horn is made up of a compressor and a horn, and they can be separated fairly easily. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of this process, but it obvious where the tab is that holds them together. I just snapped them apart, and was left with two much less bulky components to find room for.
My plan at this point was to find mounting space for each component, and then connect the compressor to the horn using plastic tubing.
The plastic horn component has a circular section that wraps around the compressor, so I cut that off with a hacksaw. It cut extremely easily - I was through in just a few strokes of the saw. I now had a much more compact horn section.
To connect the plastic tubing I picked up a barbed brass tubing fitting to be epoxied in the air inlet hole of the horn.
I mixed up some 5 minute epoxy, smeared it over one end of the fitting, and set it in the hole (it was a fairly tight fit). Once cured, I slipped on the tubing an used a hose clamp to be sure it was really on there.
The left side of the fairing, in front of the left radiator, had just enough room for the horn. I used some good quality Velcro and zip ties to install the horn to the inner fairing. The horn weighs almost nothing and I am sure it will hold up.
For the compressor, I found space on the right side of the fairing - also in front of the radiator. There is a hole in the inner fairing for a clip that holds the wires to the air temp sensor.
I removed the clip, and used a machine screw, a washer, and a nut to secure a hose clamp that will wrap around the compressor. To prevent rattling, I used more of the high quality Velcro that I bought.
Now that the horn and the compressor were installed, I ran the tubing from the horn through the front cowl and connected it to the compressor.
For the electrical portion of the installation, you need to use a relay - the OEM horn wires are not big enough to handle the power that the compressor draws. I simply connected the stock horn connectors to the relay, ran a wire to the positive terminal of the horn, and another wire to my auxiliary fuse panel. If you are not familiar with electronics, it can sound confusing but it's really not too bad if you read up on how relays work.
I secured the relay to a bundle of wiring up in the front cowl.
To ground the compressor, you could just run a wire from the negative terminal to any ground on the bike. I chose to run a ground wire to my auxiliary fuse panel.
The horn is now installed. I switched on the ignition and pressed the horn button, and was greeted with a sickly blowing sound. Oops.... I had the positive and negative connections on the compressor reversed! After swapping them, I tried again and was pleased to hear all 130 DB of dual tone Stebel sound.
This installation took quite a while but I am happy with the results. I am really happy that I did not have to modify the bike at all by drilling or cutting anything on it. I removed the OEM horn, and removed the one clip for the thermometer wire, and that was all. The horn is MUCH louder than stock, and has a very unique sound to it as well.
Sound Off Safety Priority Lights - Taillight Modulator
I am a firm believer in the added safety provided by using a tail light modulator. I have experience with only one type, and after using it for 10 years on my previous motorcycle, I have been completely happy with it.
The Priority Plus unit from Sound Off Recreational turns your stock rear turn signals into additional running lights and flashing stop lights without effecting turn signal function.
Installation is pretty straightforward provided you are comfortable with cutting and soldering wiring on your bike. The kit comes with various connectors, but I am a firm believer in having strong soldered connections on my bike. Installation on a 5th gen VFR required only removing the seat.
The unit itself is fairly small and has 7 wires coming from it.
And it fits with plenty of room to spare in the very rear of the tail section, below the lights.
I started out by identifying which wires I needed to tie into. The instructions that are provided with the unit are very short - however they are extremely concise and there was really no confusion.
You will cut the positive wires going to the right and left turn signal bulbs. Each bulb has 2 wires going to it, and in the case of my bike, all green wires were ground, so it was very simple. The right signal had a blue and a green wire, so I cut the blue. The left signal had an orange and a green wire, so I cut the orange.
After slipping some shrink tubing on the wires, I cut the blue wire from the unit to length and soldered it to the harness end of the blue wire for the right signal. The brown wire from the unit was then cut to length and soldered to the fixture end of the blue wire. The right signal is now done.
Repeat this procedure for the left signal. The yellow wire from the unit goes to the harness end of the orange wire for the left signal. The green wire from the unit goes to the fixture end of the orange wire for the left signal.
(Because they were buried inside the rear of the bike, clear pictures were difficult to get at this point.)
Next, I needed to identify which wires going to the tail light bulbs were for the brake light (on when braking), and for the running/tail light (always on). With my multimeter it was easy to tell that the green/yellow wire was for the brake light, and the brown wire was for the running light. The remaining green wire is of course ground.
The instructions said to use T-Taps to tap into these wires, but I am paranoid about vibration causing an issue and losing my lighting. So I opted to strip a small section of insulation on each wire, and solder my connections.
I cut the white wire from the unit to length and soldered it to the green/yellow wire (brake light). I cut the red wire to length and soldered it to the brown wire. And finally I cut the black wire to length and soldered it to the green (ground) wire.
The unit is now all wired up. I wrapped the last three solder joints in eletrical tape (I didn't want to cut the wires to slip shrink tubing on them). Then I peeled off the backing on the foam tape on the unit and stuck it to the bike in the small well under the tail lights. Lastly I used a zip tie to bundle the extra wiring in place.
When turning the ignition on, you will first see that the turn signals are now doing running light duty.
When you apply the brakes, the turn signals will flash for 1.5 seconds and then go solid bright. With this unit installed, it would be tough for a driver to miss the fact that you are braking. The following video clips in my opinion, don't fully illustrate the effect, however it at least gives you an idea.
Polished Wheels
I was never a huge fan of the black wheels that came on the VFR. After reading about a straightforward process to strip and polish the wheels myself (on ) I figured I would give it a shot since I was pulling the wheels to have new tires mounted anyway.
I did not take pictures during the process, however the admin of VFRD did a great job of photographing his process. You can find those photo's here:
I used a Mothers Power Ball on a drill with some polishing compound to really bring a shine to my wheels. I'm extremely happy with how they turned out!
Here is the before shot.
And here is the after shot.
RAM GPS Mount
I wanted to have the ability to use my Garmin Nuvi 200 on my bike. Many riders online raved about RAM Mounts, so after some research I ordered up a kit that mounts to the gas tank mounting bolts.
Two bolts were all that are required attach the base of the mount to the bike. An adjustable arm attaches to the base, and the other end attaches to a bracket specific to the Nuvi 200.
I later wired a cheap cigarette lighter socket to the fuse panel, and this enables me to run the power cord for the GPS from the outlet, under the tank, and up to the GPS. So far it has worked flawlessly.
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