Hi everyone. I picked up 98 SH yesterday. Excellent condition, 9k miles, lots of maintenance and it’s set up nicely. I’ve always loved the look of these bikes and I’m a sucker for late 90s/early 2000s bikes. I’ve put around 80 miles on it so far and I spent most of that time with a big grin on my face. I’ve already been poking around the forum. Hopefully I can contribute as well. Thanks.

 

Hi Rip. Welcome to the forum. Not a lot of activity around here these days, but maybe you can change that. Looks like you picked up a clean example. How do those V&H pipes sound? I have a set, but have never had them mounted. In all of that maintenance you mention, were the Automatic Cam Chain Tensioners (ACCT) ever changed? You have stock tensioners and they can be prone to failing, especially the front cylinder, ending in piston crown to valve contact which wipes that big grin off your face. If yours are original, don't count on low mileage saving you. My front failed at about 13k when it was 14 years old. Look into it and act accordingly. Some people replace with stock ACCT's periodically, some install manual tensioners, and some perform other mods to deal with the issue. Don't mean to be a downer, just want to keep that grin in place.

 

Welcome aboard!

Can I ask how much you paid for it?

For starter mods:




+1 on APS MCCT
Stainless brake & clutch lines (maybe already installed?)
HH+ front brake pads
90° aluminum valve stems
mild carb jetting (178K/180R-48 pilots, don't fill the lift holes, 2.25 turns out & .020 needle shims, stock air filter)
GL1200 3/8" fuel filters
Penske eq shock
Fork recalibration & .95 springs
too bad the rear fender was bobbed
Cyclops LED headlight conversion
LED TS/RL bulbs & low-load relay

BTW, I have two 98s + 2 spare engines & parts enough for a 3rd bike + a 5.25 gallon tank (all for sale except for my 111k mile unit and 1 engine)

 

Here’s a list mods/maintenance from PO:9,085 original miles;

Original paint;

Rebuilt shock and forks, RaceTech springs, set for for 220# rider;

New steering head bearings;

Serviced swingarm bearings;

New Wheel bearings;

New chain and sprockets (DID x-ring - JT);

Powdercoated wheels, lower forks and fuel cap;

Weld-on bungs for front and rear stands (included);

New tires;

Fresh oil, brake fluid and coolant;

Galfer stainless steel braided brake and clutch lines;

New brake pads front and rear (EBC HH Sintered);

Upgraded regulator/rectifier (Shindengen SH775 with Furukawa connectors);

Upgraded LED sequential turn signals, LED tail light and front running light;

Tank coated with Caswell epoxy system;

K&N Air filter;

Vance & Hines slip-ons, jet kit

The V&H silencers are loud. They sound sweet but are a little loud for in town. I’m considering if I might want to find a quieter option, but I’m not sure right now. The originals didn’t come with it. Any suggestions for quieter options?

I paid $3950 for it. Many might consider that high but for its condition I thought it was reasonable. Plus, I’ve always wanted one.

This winter I want to remove and clean the carbs. I want to see what jets and settings were used. I think it could be smoother at low throttle and the idle is erratic. It seemed to peter out around 6k rpms. He said he barely rode this summer so it might just need a good cleaning. PO said it had a K&N filter which I want to replace with OEM or maybe Hi Flo.

I'll consider replacing the CCTs at that time, not sure if I want to replace with OEM or go with manual.

I’ve about 150 miles on it this weekend. It’s a great bike.

 

Why the heck did he replace the steering head wheel and swing arm bearings with that low of miles?!

Usually you just clean and re grease.The steering head Bearings unless he did a lot of wheelies and damaged the races

Is cleaning and greasing the swing arm bearing is usually adequate for 75k miles.

Whenever I have the wheels off, I clean under or even pop off the dust seals on the wheel bearings and regrease them. I’ve only had to replace one bearing in the rear in over a 100000 miles; says something for Honda quality.

A carb cleaning and finding out what you have for jetting is definitely something you should do; as far as the air filter goes, stick with the stock one.

Try repacking the cans. On the Perforated core wrap it with stainless steel wool, then over that with a good quality high temperature Fiberglass or ceramic batt.

I would recommend installing an APE MCCT And forget about it. You can check and adjust a MCCT with the endine warmed up by ear. Back off the bolt until it just rattles, then turn it in until the rattle just subsides. The front is difficult to access with the tank down but doable with heat resistant gloves on.More comfortable bars and slightly lowered and forwad Pegs, and a custom saddle are great for guys who are older
For what you got the price was more than fair.

 

Welcome!
Where ya from @gripnripper

 

Welcome.
Beautiful example with good upgrades.
Put a stock air filter in and see how it runs. You may not need to do any thing to the carbs. Though it would be nice to know if the PO had altered the jetting. A lot of misinformation on the web about jetting for this bike. Thirds on the CCTs.

 

Sorry for the slow reply. Thanks everyone for the feedback.

On my first couple of rides I noticed it would sometimes (80% of the time) die when I came to a stop and adjusting the idle didn't help. So I dug into things. Here's what I found:

K&N filter. Carb setup was 45, 180/185, front needle no shims, back needle one washer/shim, 2nd hole filled on front slide, mixture screws were set at 1.5 turns. TPS at 900 or so.

I cleaned everything and went with 48, 178/180, shimmed front needle 0.03" and back 0.04", front mixture screw to 2.25 out and rear to 2.5 out. I left the hole filled on the front slide and replaced the K&N filter with a HiFlo. I set the TPS to 500. After reading through the forum, this seemed like a good starting point for carb setup. I buttoned her back up, warmed it up, and synced the carbs and went for a ride. It ran great. When I got home I noticed a strong fuel smell. Upon investigation, both float bowls were leaking! New gaskets are on the way.

The Vance & Hines pipes sound great but are louder than I like. I found a used set of cans on eBay and installed those. Much quieter, perhaps too much so. Down the road I might look from something in the middle, but that's not pressing.

CCTs have not been replaced. I ordered ACCT from APE last week. Seems a like a good project over the holidays!

Oh, I'm located in southwest Indiana, U.S.

 

Are you selling the vance and Hines?

 

Yeah, I’d be willing to let them go. Make me an offer.

 

2 bits.

 

Using them as garage art?

 

LOL!

 

No, no, they're in the queue to be mounted up with all the rest of the mods that will carry me to the grave.

My generous bid is because I'm just wrapping up a garage clean out, and my garage abhors a vacuum.

 

Also new to the VTR, have a 2001 model here in NZ.

For anyone interested, I have just received 2 x 14520-MBB-013 tensioners for about $49 USD each delivered to NZ, pinky / flesh coloured paint dot on them, should be the latest incarnation of the dreaded auto cct.
Company is partsouq.com
And as an adder to the email I have dam well pulled the thin spring set key out of one of them...hopefully I can re-set this unit to closed piston position.... I should learn not to f--k with things.