Installed the Factory Pro Shift Star Kit Today... WOW!
12-26-2009, 08:12 PM
#1
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Installed the Factory Pro Shift Star Kit Today... WOW!
I finally got around to installing the Factory Pro shift star kit today and wow, what a difference. The throw seems to of been shortened and the over all feel is amazing. It is a little bit harder to get it into neutral, however 1st to 2nd change is much improved. Installation was cake. Should of taken some photo's and done a write-up, but, I'm lazy. 
At $200 it's a little pricey, but it definitely brings the VTR's shifting up to par. Highly recommended! http://www.factorypro.com/
At $200 it's a little pricey, but it definitely brings the VTR's shifting up to par. Highly recommended! http://www.factorypro.com/
12-27-2009, 03:25 AM
#3
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Hard to believe just those few little pieces can make that much of a difference.. Now Add Jamie's shifter, and some good fresh oil,, and the SH shifting is right where it should have been from the factory,... Perfect. The shifter and the Factory Pro shift kit are some of the best mods I’ve made to my SH.
12-27-2009, 06:02 AM
#4
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Maybe I'm the only one who does this, but I'll roll up to a light or stop sign in a high gear and then pull the clutch and try to shift down to nuetral or 1st as I sit there. It's a real pain to down shift several gears while standing.
Does the star kit help here?
Or perhaps I should be down shifting as I come to a stop
Also just ordered the +4 rotor yesterday and was set to order the shift kit too, but it seems the newer (and pricier) star kit is all Factory is selling. The standard shift kit is pictured but no way to put it in the cart.
Figured I would wait till I heard some good things.
Does the star kit help here?
Or perhaps I should be down shifting as I come to a stop
Also just ordered the +4 rotor yesterday and was set to order the shift kit too, but it seems the newer (and pricier) star kit is all Factory is selling. The standard shift kit is pictured but no way to put it in the cart.
Figured I would wait till I heard some good things.
12-27-2009, 06:07 AM
#5
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I thought of trying the shift star but thought the price was somewhat steep. Of course, I may yet cave in... My current set-up in a Jamie D shifter with pressed-in needle bearing (NO play at all), Heim joints to replace the stock sloppy joints, and FP detent arm. I also readjusted the arm position coming off the shifter shaft to get it right at 90 degrees (2 splines) to the rod to maximize mechanical advantage. Shifting is extremely positive and crisp.
12-27-2009, 07:51 AM
#7
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good to hear, this may be a next winter mod for me as i sometimes have a hard time getting into sectond. seems like if i dont clutch in all the way or if i dont give it a firm enough shift itll catch neutral and then grind going into second. how long did it take you to put it in?
12-27-2009, 09:04 AM
#8
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Maybe I'm the only one who does this, but I'll roll up to a light or stop sign in a high gear and then pull the clutch and try to shift down to nuetral or 1st as I sit there. It's a real pain to down shift several gears while standing.
Does the star kit help here?
Or perhaps I should be down shifting as I come to a stop
Also just ordered the +4 rotor yesterday and was set to order the shift kit too, but it seems the newer (and pricier) star kit is all Factory is selling. The standard shift kit is pictured but no way to put it in the cart.
Figured I would wait till I heard some good things.
Does the star kit help here?
Or perhaps I should be down shifting as I come to a stop
Also just ordered the +4 rotor yesterday and was set to order the shift kit too, but it seems the newer (and pricier) star kit is all Factory is selling. The standard shift kit is pictured but no way to put it in the cart.
Figured I would wait till I heard some good things.
12-30-2009, 02:36 PM
#13
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I installed a shift pedal rod from a '98 today... which IMHO improved the feel even further. Highly recommended to all of you guys owning '01 & up VTR's.
Last edited by inderocker; 12-30-2009 at 03:08 PM.
12-30-2009, 03:49 PM
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12-30-2009, 03:54 PM
#16
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Inde your file type didn't work.
I've had one of these kits on the shelf for 6 months. I was in a position to get the FP Jet Kit, Shifter Kit and Ign Advancer for $300 for my '98. No brainer. I'm just having too much fun (57f and sunny this pm some roads shady wet spots) to tear her down like I did in the winter of '06 but she needs a good cleaning.
I've just been collecting parts like I did last time. If you're going to tear it apart, take pictures, do everything you can possibly afford to do. Button it up and ride your *** off for a couple years - no worries.
I've had one of these kits on the shelf for 6 months. I was in a position to get the FP Jet Kit, Shifter Kit and Ign Advancer for $300 for my '98. No brainer. I'm just having too much fun (57f and sunny this pm some roads shady wet spots) to tear her down like I did in the winter of '06 but she needs a good cleaning.
I've just been collecting parts like I did last time. If you're going to tear it apart, take pictures, do everything you can possibly afford to do. Button it up and ride your *** off for a couple years - no worries.
12-30-2009, 04:10 PM
#17
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#3500
On the list for this winter is:
The FP equipment
Speedohealer
New Undertail
Repainted Gas Tank
520 Chain Conversion - Have Rear Sprockets 41 & 43
New Tires - Probly Powers again
New Horse in the Stable: gixxer750
The FP equipment
Speedohealer
New Undertail
Repainted Gas Tank
520 Chain Conversion - Have Rear Sprockets 41 & 43
New Tires - Probly Powers again
New Horse in the Stable: gixxer750
01-01-2010, 05:05 AM
#23
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01-01-2010, 06:24 AM
#24
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Hey old man,, give me a week to get the shop set up.. ride that think over and spend the day bolting parts on. Everything but the tank is an easy sunday worth of work.
01-01-2010, 06:52 AM
#25
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Location: Austin, Tx
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Hehehehe! You're late! Send me pix of the new ranch. We had a Yamaha 225 in here last week. I really wanted to see how it fit but it went away before I got a chance. It had Marquez Race Park written all over it. Glad you're back - Happy New Year.
01-02-2010, 03:41 AM
#26
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Or I'm late getting home? LOL
Pics will have to wait a few days..The house, garage, is a mess at this point. Kaye and Cody did an outstanding job moving by them selfs.. But now we got a lot of unpacking and set up to do..
So it'll be a week or so till the basics are ready, then not till a bit later before I'm ready to really start working in the new garage......
enjoy the weekend..... I am.. LOL
01-02-2010, 10:43 AM
#27
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Yup, the project is underway. The list got a little more lengthy once I started pulling all the parts out. I've owned some of these parts for two years so I'm really looking forward to this.
About the time you get everything organized it will be ready for you to shake down. Damn glad to have you back on Texas soil. Have a great weekend! BTW Nick (had lunch with us) will leave for the AF on Monday.
About the time you get everything organized it will be ready for you to shake down. Damn glad to have you back on Texas soil. Have a great weekend! BTW Nick (had lunch with us) will leave for the AF on Monday.
02-12-2010, 07:10 PM
#28
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Join Date: Jul 2004
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I bought the 98 shaft from one of the online parts places...but it has no threaded ends to mount to the rod ends....WTF?
Mine looks like the shaft with no ends....from post #13 above.
Inde, I know you "deal in parts"...is this normal? Was mine missing something, the parts baggie was sealed.
I'm confused?!?
Mine looks like the shaft with no ends....from post #13 above.
Inde, I know you "deal in parts"...is this normal? Was mine missing something, the parts baggie was sealed.
I'm confused?!?
02-12-2010, 07:29 PM
#29
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Nope, Honda lies on the microfiche. When I wrote that post I had originally installed a 98-00 complete shifter assembly and ordered a shift rod to install on my '05 shifter assembly. When the rod finally came in I was surprised to see it was different than shown on the fiche. Finding a reverse stud for the shaft is impossible.
02-12-2010, 08:24 PM
#30
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I hope I have read this correctly. I am assuming that the shift rod is threaded on later models, whereas the early model shift rod is tapped. Hope that is right.
Ok, so here is what I reckon you should do. One of my favourite mods.
Because it was my idea.
Ok, sorry about that.
You ditch the standard shift rod end joints and install heim joints. Waaaay better than the factory joints, and they can be bought with left and right hand threads on them to fit straight into the shift rod. Here is my write up on how to do it.
This is a mod I did 3 or 4 years ago, but have never written it up properly. I have just realised this now, when I went to pass the info on to someone.
The VTR gearshift leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. It has a few shortcomings, all of which can be fixed. The first mod is to improve the throw of the shifter by moving the spline position, and this is detailed in the "Archive" already so I will not repeat it here. Another mod is to change the shift star to a Factory Pro unit which is far superior to the Honda part. This does necessitate the removal of the clutch to fit it, and it is also reasonably expensive.
The third mod to do is to improve the actual linkage itself. This is a two part job, the first part is to improve the tolerance between the shifter bolt shaft and the shifter body. There is a lot of play in this even on a new bike. I got a machine shop to install a brass bush in the shifter body to match the bolt shaft size better. Hard to do this mod at home without the proper equipment, but the next step you can do easily, and will give a nice improvement to the shifter feel. The reason I re-bushed the shifter rather than installing a bearing, was simply because I could not get a suitable size bearing to fit the bolt and shifter body.
The shift rod has a ball and cup joint on each end which has a lot of play in it. If you have a look at CBR you will see Honda have used heim joints on this part. We can use similar parts to improve the VTR. Here is a pic of a heim joint.
These can be bought from your local engineering or bearing supplier. Last time I looked they were $17.50 each. You will need one with a right hand thread and one with a left hand thread.
Honda use riveted joints on their shift rods, so you cannot use a Honda part (on the bikes I have seen anyway), you will need an aftermarket heim joint. This also means you will need to get the grinder out to remove the old joints. Grind the rivet flat and knock it out with a punch. This will leave the shift rod with a hole in the end that will take a 6mm bolt to locate the heim joint. In the picture above you can see bolts to locate them.
Before you remove the old joints, it is a good idea to measure your shift rod length, to enable you to easily get your lever position right after the new joints are fitted.
As a finishing touch you can fit rubber boots to cover the heim joints. This will keep dirt out of them. I applied grease to mine and then put the boots over them to keep them working nicely. Last time I looked Honda didn't fit boots over their shift rod heim joints on the CBR, but Yamaha do on their bikes, and the joints are the same size.
Yamaha spare parts will sell you a set for about $10 from memory.
This mod takes a lot of play out the standard VTR shift mechanism, and for the small cost and little time to do the job, is well worth doing.
Ok, so here is what I reckon you should do. One of my favourite mods.
Because it was my idea.
Ok, sorry about that.
You ditch the standard shift rod end joints and install heim joints. Waaaay better than the factory joints, and they can be bought with left and right hand threads on them to fit straight into the shift rod. Here is my write up on how to do it.
This is a mod I did 3 or 4 years ago, but have never written it up properly. I have just realised this now, when I went to pass the info on to someone.
The VTR gearshift leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. It has a few shortcomings, all of which can be fixed. The first mod is to improve the throw of the shifter by moving the spline position, and this is detailed in the "Archive" already so I will not repeat it here. Another mod is to change the shift star to a Factory Pro unit which is far superior to the Honda part. This does necessitate the removal of the clutch to fit it, and it is also reasonably expensive.
The third mod to do is to improve the actual linkage itself. This is a two part job, the first part is to improve the tolerance between the shifter bolt shaft and the shifter body. There is a lot of play in this even on a new bike. I got a machine shop to install a brass bush in the shifter body to match the bolt shaft size better. Hard to do this mod at home without the proper equipment, but the next step you can do easily, and will give a nice improvement to the shifter feel. The reason I re-bushed the shifter rather than installing a bearing, was simply because I could not get a suitable size bearing to fit the bolt and shifter body.
The shift rod has a ball and cup joint on each end which has a lot of play in it. If you have a look at CBR you will see Honda have used heim joints on this part. We can use similar parts to improve the VTR. Here is a pic of a heim joint.
These can be bought from your local engineering or bearing supplier. Last time I looked they were $17.50 each. You will need one with a right hand thread and one with a left hand thread.
Honda use riveted joints on their shift rods, so you cannot use a Honda part (on the bikes I have seen anyway), you will need an aftermarket heim joint. This also means you will need to get the grinder out to remove the old joints. Grind the rivet flat and knock it out with a punch. This will leave the shift rod with a hole in the end that will take a 6mm bolt to locate the heim joint. In the picture above you can see bolts to locate them.
Before you remove the old joints, it is a good idea to measure your shift rod length, to enable you to easily get your lever position right after the new joints are fitted.
As a finishing touch you can fit rubber boots to cover the heim joints. This will keep dirt out of them. I applied grease to mine and then put the boots over them to keep them working nicely. Last time I looked Honda didn't fit boots over their shift rod heim joints on the CBR, but Yamaha do on their bikes, and the joints are the same size.
Yamaha spare parts will sell you a set for about $10 from memory.This mod takes a lot of play out the standard VTR shift mechanism, and for the small cost and little time to do the job, is well worth doing.
