Honda vfr..advice please.
Discussion
Bought this for 570 quid about 3 years ago. I've stripped and rebuilt most of it, more for reliability than anything else, it's the bike i use in all weathers so my blade stays clean.
Just took this pic today after uprating fork seals and before ripping the back end apart to fit the zzr1400 shock upgrade.
It's a brilliant, friendly bike. Very easy to ride, very capable and rewarding and actually starting to get a little thin on the ground now.
Just took this pic today after uprating fork seals and before ripping the back end apart to fit the zzr1400 shock upgrade.
It's a brilliant, friendly bike. Very easy to ride, very capable and rewarding and actually starting to get a little thin on the ground now.
I have owned a VFR750FJ and an FV.
Very similar but the FV looked better. The VFR isn't a sportsbike so shouldn't be compared to one, but they are very easy to ride at 8/10ths all the time. When I went on an MCI tour to the Pyrenees in 2003 I took the FV rather than my R1 because I just couldn't face the discomfort on the R1. There was another guy on a new Vtec 800 there who had previously had a non-Vtec and he preferred the non Vtec. I have never ridden an 800 of either sort, although a friend that was a Honda mechanic had the non Vtec 800 and reckoned it was the best of the bunch. He was probably right, if you can get past the ugliness of the 800 non-Vtec. I couldn't, so the small benefit in handling and performance over the 750 isn't worth the ugliness in my opinion, as neither are sportsbikes so it is of minor consequence anyway.
Very similar but the FV looked better. The VFR isn't a sportsbike so shouldn't be compared to one, but they are very easy to ride at 8/10ths all the time. When I went on an MCI tour to the Pyrenees in 2003 I took the FV rather than my R1 because I just couldn't face the discomfort on the R1. There was another guy on a new Vtec 800 there who had previously had a non-Vtec and he preferred the non Vtec. I have never ridden an 800 of either sort, although a friend that was a Honda mechanic had the non Vtec 800 and reckoned it was the best of the bunch. He was probably right, if you can get past the ugliness of the 800 non-Vtec. I couldn't, so the small benefit in handling and performance over the 750 isn't worth the ugliness in my opinion, as neither are sportsbikes so it is of minor consequence anyway.
Fastdruid said:
Main issues with the VTEC are *very* expensive services every 16k (IIRC they were subsidised at £500 by Honda) and the feeling of the VTEC itself isn't to everyones taste. I took a test ride on one of the early 800 VTEC's (considering buying one coming from a VFR750F-J) and personally I hated the way the VTEC was kicking in and out mid corner. The later ones allegedly feel better as they widened the range between it kicking in and out but I've not ridden one to see.
I ran a 1st release VTEC VFR to over 100K and had the valves checked at 32K, 64K and 100K. They were STILL in spec at 100K.Cost? Around £300 for the normal service included. Honda dealer too.
Like any engine, keeping the oil changed is the key.
The VTEC 'problem' was because of people using the wrong details when syncing them, mine never suffered from this.
I enjoyed the VTEC, but missed the torque of a flat boxer and went back.
cmaguire said:
I forgot to say, having ridden it in anger in the Pyrennees, as soon as I got back I changed the fork springs for some stiffer progressive springs and put some thicker fork oil in. This improved it no end. Goodbye rocking horse.
Agreed. Standard forks on mine aren't very tweakable, but thicker oil, slight overfill and uprated seals help.
Off topic, but Kwaks baby tourer the ZZR600 is a great bike and would make your budget go a bit further?
E.g. something like these?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-ZZR-600-E11-/17...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-ZZR-600-ZX-600-... with huge topbox
E.g. something like these?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-ZZR-600-E11-/17...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-ZZR-600-ZX-600-... with huge topbox
Edited by Momentofmadness on Sunday 1st May 08:17
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