crazynaclh20

Hello all,
I'm a motorcycle enthusiast from Texas.
Currently I am deployed to Djibouti Africa . A few of us have started a club call the Gear Heads of Djibouti.
I ran across a good deal locally on a Honda XL1000 Varadero.
After doing a bunch of research I bought it. Now I want to build a VTR1000F as it is based off the same platform.
This will be quite the task as I will locate every part piece by piece until it is complete. So far I'm finding my first road block, the front head.
I have found plenty of rear ones, I've read where folks are trying to convert them. I'f anyone has a bead on a useable front head please let me know.
The way our USPS mail goes out here is between 4-6 weeks. My first batch of purchase has been 99% of the engine parts then the frame and sub frame.
All advice on these bikes will be welcome.

Thanks.

VTR1000F

They do come up on eBay. Looks like a few sold in March. I would say the pricing is usually sub $200, or should be at least. As you've recognized, rears are more common than fronts as the front fails at a higher rate.

Do I understand correctly that you are building a Superhawk completely from scratch? Is there a reason you didn't buy a complete, working motor rather than piecing one together, or, is that too easy?

Welcome to the forum.

crazynaclh20

Our military base in located in a 3rd world country in Africa, There is not another bike in this country like it. The largest bike they sell in this country is a 175cc.
Looking at FedEx or DHL a complete running motor would cost $1800 in just shipping alone.
The only other option would be to get a complete bike and ship it here in a container like I did with a CBR 1000RR, but that option tacs on $4K to the price of the bike +clearance fees.
Building it from scratch allows me to clean and paint ever part and ensure I have all new gaskets and bearings along the way. I picked up a pair of JE pistons that will be a great mod.
I took this approach when I built my Suzuki DR 350, that bike came out great. I figured I'd try it with a bit bigger bike.

crazynaclh20

As of today I have received most everything for the engine, frame, body and electrical.
I'm missing a bunch of small parts like spacers for the rear sets and such. I did get the RC51 lower shell and the high rise midpipes which will git it the look I was going for.
As far as the engine, I went with the high compression pistons. Is there any carb jetting tips that anyone can offer to help get it going without pulling the carbs on and off a bunch of times?

xeris

Flo Commander would be useful, although I don't think they are for sale anymore. The web site is still up, mostly, but that's about it.
Take a look here.
https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...-set-up-24769/