I went for a quick ride tonight through the city to test my new modification.
The de-restricted exhaust sounds much different... At idle it makes some rude noises; burps, coughs, rattles, etc. In motion the difference is very noticeable. In the stock setting, the VFR sounded like a Jetson car under 5500RPM... bbbbbbwwweeeeeee... Now it sounds like more substantial and satisfying, like a V4 sportbike ought to. It isn't obnoxious... still relatively subdued but with a throaty growl that can be felt in the bones. I like it. I'll keep it this way until I feel saucy enough to drop 5 or 6 bills on the Akrapovic pipe.
It felt a tiny bit stronger and smoother at lower speeds as well, but the lag still exists in 1st and 2nd gear. I'm 100% certain that this is due to the mapping of the ride by wire. The Honda engineers must have decided that the VFR1200 motor hit too hard at low speed and they dialed things back to soften the blow. Maybe they found that the tire spun too much? Maybe the main drivetrain damper in the side gear case wound up too tight and unloaded like a rubber band. Without knowing what the mapping looks like, I'd guess that the throttles will only open 55-65% (with the accellerator in the fully open position) in the restricted zone. (evidently first and second gear below 5500RPM) I'm sure they spent a lot of time getting it right, but I'd really like to experience the raw unfettered power of this motor. I'm sure smart people somewhere are working on a crack.
I need to plug the hole where the flapper cable went into the top of the muffler. Exhaust gasses puff out like a little chimney. I need a thick bolt with fine threads. My junk drawer had no such component.
I cut the muffler and took off the tiny pipe just weld a little piece of pipe into the opening and you have an open exhaust that sound like a flowmaster for bike by the way I only took the cable off the actuator and I plan on hook it up again
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