Discussion
Janluke said:
I follow all of your "ownership" threads and that pic sums you up nicely, attention to detail, whether its the beard on your helmet or sorting a minor mechanical issue
That’s very kind of you to say. Thank you for ‘unlurking’ yourself to comment. I do like maintaining vehicles and despite its age, the VFR is an absolutely superb bike when all of the little things that I’ve done are put together. Mainly the ECU map and the suspension. Whilst I didn’t really ‘ride’ the bike yesterday, I did notice that the suspension was fresh, compliant and predictable in the wet conditions on some greasy and gritty roads.
The replacement saddle is fantastic, too. I forgot to wear my customary padded pants and it was perfectly comfortable.
Hugo Stiglitz said:
Interms of the bike weight do you "feel" it?
As others have said, you feel the difference when manhandling smaller bikes and comparing them, but if I've only been riding the VFR for a while I don't tend to notice it. What I will say is that the combination of the suspension upgrades and Roadsmart 4 tyres make it feel even better on naddgery backroads than my CBF500 - which is significantly lighter and also has a fair bit spent on suspension upgrades. I haven't ridden mine in a few weeks due to the weather and road salt (I want to keep it clean at the moment) so have chosen the CBF and the CZ (which almost killed me yesterday) but I may have to drag it back out again, it really is my favourite out of all the bikes I've owned.
I can't comment specifically on the VFR1200 but having owned a number of "heavy" sports tourers I'd say that, for most people, the "thought" of the weight is way worse than the reality. Yes, they are heavy but compared to the likes of a 1000cc sports bike, they're less than 30% heavier and are generally comparable with adventure bikes of the same capacity.
Unless you need to push your bike uphill into/out of the garage, or want to ride a tight go-cart track, then the weight is pretty irrelevant.
Unless you need to push your bike uphill into/out of the garage, or want to ride a tight go-cart track, then the weight is pretty irrelevant.
A new surface outside my garage means that there’s a need to spread the weight across a greater surface area of my side stand.
As anyone tried the R&G item or can suggest another product?
As anyone tried the R&G item or can suggest another product?
bolidemichael said:
A new surface outside my garage means that there’s a need to spread the weight across a greater surface area of my side stand.
As anyone tried the R&G item or can suggest another product?
As anyone tried the R&G item or can suggest another product?
I managed a ride on Sunday and not a small one, at that. As part of WVAM’s fortieth anniversary, myself and a mate have volunteered to oversee the ‘event’ which, thanks to my grandiose plans has evolved into a calendar of events over a period of forty-ish days.
The first of which is a tour of Ariel motors and an overnighter at Haselbury Mill hotel. It was planned quite late in the day as was the decision to take the bikes as opposed to car. So, I had a browse on Calimoto but in the end decided to go for the Beeline ‘fun’ route on google maps. That basically meant that we waded through speed limited roads for two hours until we arrived at Dorset, then Wiltshire and Somerset where there were some faster roads. We even had a stint on the A303 and managed to glimpse Stonehenge, which is always magnificently evocative.
An observation — too many of our nationals are now either 40mph (surrey), 50mph (Hampshire) and/or solid white lines that are utterly and completely discriminatory against the attributes inherent to motorcycles. So we get more risk and less ability to accelerate and overtake other road users and onto a clear road. How can our roads have changed so much over twenty years?!
We fuelled just before our stop and fuel in Wiltshire is 12p cheaper than in London and that was at BP!
Ariel Motor Co is almost completely anonymous from the main road and we took at least one round to locate it…
I hadn’t actually realised that the hotel is next door to the factory, which is nice.
We also tucked into a lovely full £15 plate from the carvery
It was delicious… the topside is slow cooked overnight at 50°C, yet rare and succulent.
The ride back… we had an hour and a bit before darkness fell, so opted to ride back on the A roads until Shaftesbury and head north on the A350 to the A303 which is a faster dual carriageway.
Instead, I took the wrong turn and we ended up heading south on the A350 and through magnificent villages named Compton Abbas, Fontmell Magna, Sutton Waldron, Iwerne Minster and Iwerne Courtney. We then took the A354 Salisbury Road towards Pimperne, Salisbury and the A303 eastbound. However, in Salisbury, my mate who’d gone ahead with his visual sat nav as opposed to my minimal beeline, said that my dipped beam was out and all that was lit were my wing mirror leds!
From there, it was either no lights or full beam! We took the A30 to Andover — it’s essentially a Roman road in design and really, really fast. There were clear sight lines and hedges on either side so that it was unlikely large wildlife would run onto the road — opening the throttle on the big motor from 70/80 is just magnificent with the powerful V4 — one is propelled towards the horizon in a linear and relentless manner.
A word on the suspension… I can’t say that a distinct improvement leaped out at me on the day, but now that I’m typing, I recall that actually, the bike was just very composed on all surfaces and seemed to glide over rough surfaces — and some of the surfaces in the western counties were absolutely shocking considering that they’re A roads. I still have an issue with low speed turn in, so I’ll double check the setting of the rear shock. Tyre pressures were good, 36F and 42R. However, with a temperature of around 5°C in the morning, I did feel as though the Michelin did take a while to warm up, which impacted road feel on turn in. I did notice the rear squirming on acceleration too, a couple of times, but there was no traction light and no drama. I cannot discount the fact, either, that I haven’t ridden properly for a few months, so there is a little finesse to be gained, but overall I was in good shape and feel as though I’m a decent rider, which is nice.
The A303 and M3 was basically akin to Moses parting the Red Sea — a cabin full of VFR high beam must’ve been very annoying but a good lesson in how to clear the outside lane of dawdlers. We hit the M3 and it slowed to a standstill at the junction with the A331 at Frimley towards Farnborough. Exactly the same thing happened on the Sunday night ride back from the Isle of Man — and I know that this road will lead to the A31 Hog’s Back and onto the A3 at Guildford. We negotiated that — taking note of the new 50mph limit in place on a fast section of dual carriageway somewhere along the way (ridiculous!). After we hit the nationals on the A3, we took a rest at the Wisley Services — our first break in almost three hours of continuous riding! Testament to the new saddle that I bought, but I think that my ‘Moto Skiveez’ need replacing, as I’m pretty certain they don’t cushion as effectively as 5/6000 miles (or more) ago.
When I arrived home, it wasn’t too cold so I bit the bullet and decided to change the H7 bulb with the original that I’d kept under the saddle as a back up — the powerful Osram also advertised that its life would be shortest so it isn’t so much of a surprise and why I’d keep a spare in case of such an event.
Replacing it is a horrible process in which one would benefit from a ‘Beadle’ hand in order to access the right gap. In the end, I found a method which worked for me — kneel in front of the bike staring at the headlight lens and reach round to the back — there is a better angle for greater movement of digits and the necessary dexterity required to spin the H7 into place and re-secure the cover.
Blown osram
Old Philips
Dipped beam
High beam
What a day. Invigorating.
One thing that continues to irritate me is the inability of waze to emit audio via bluetooth into my Sena 50s speakers.
The first of which is a tour of Ariel motors and an overnighter at Haselbury Mill hotel. It was planned quite late in the day as was the decision to take the bikes as opposed to car. So, I had a browse on Calimoto but in the end decided to go for the Beeline ‘fun’ route on google maps. That basically meant that we waded through speed limited roads for two hours until we arrived at Dorset, then Wiltshire and Somerset where there were some faster roads. We even had a stint on the A303 and managed to glimpse Stonehenge, which is always magnificently evocative.
An observation — too many of our nationals are now either 40mph (surrey), 50mph (Hampshire) and/or solid white lines that are utterly and completely discriminatory against the attributes inherent to motorcycles. So we get more risk and less ability to accelerate and overtake other road users and onto a clear road. How can our roads have changed so much over twenty years?!
We fuelled just before our stop and fuel in Wiltshire is 12p cheaper than in London and that was at BP!
Ariel Motor Co is almost completely anonymous from the main road and we took at least one round to locate it…
I hadn’t actually realised that the hotel is next door to the factory, which is nice.
We also tucked into a lovely full £15 plate from the carvery
It was delicious… the topside is slow cooked overnight at 50°C, yet rare and succulent.
The ride back… we had an hour and a bit before darkness fell, so opted to ride back on the A roads until Shaftesbury and head north on the A350 to the A303 which is a faster dual carriageway.
Instead, I took the wrong turn and we ended up heading south on the A350 and through magnificent villages named Compton Abbas, Fontmell Magna, Sutton Waldron, Iwerne Minster and Iwerne Courtney. We then took the A354 Salisbury Road towards Pimperne, Salisbury and the A303 eastbound. However, in Salisbury, my mate who’d gone ahead with his visual sat nav as opposed to my minimal beeline, said that my dipped beam was out and all that was lit were my wing mirror leds!
From there, it was either no lights or full beam! We took the A30 to Andover — it’s essentially a Roman road in design and really, really fast. There were clear sight lines and hedges on either side so that it was unlikely large wildlife would run onto the road — opening the throttle on the big motor from 70/80 is just magnificent with the powerful V4 — one is propelled towards the horizon in a linear and relentless manner.
A word on the suspension… I can’t say that a distinct improvement leaped out at me on the day, but now that I’m typing, I recall that actually, the bike was just very composed on all surfaces and seemed to glide over rough surfaces — and some of the surfaces in the western counties were absolutely shocking considering that they’re A roads. I still have an issue with low speed turn in, so I’ll double check the setting of the rear shock. Tyre pressures were good, 36F and 42R. However, with a temperature of around 5°C in the morning, I did feel as though the Michelin did take a while to warm up, which impacted road feel on turn in. I did notice the rear squirming on acceleration too, a couple of times, but there was no traction light and no drama. I cannot discount the fact, either, that I haven’t ridden properly for a few months, so there is a little finesse to be gained, but overall I was in good shape and feel as though I’m a decent rider, which is nice.
The A303 and M3 was basically akin to Moses parting the Red Sea — a cabin full of VFR high beam must’ve been very annoying but a good lesson in how to clear the outside lane of dawdlers. We hit the M3 and it slowed to a standstill at the junction with the A331 at Frimley towards Farnborough. Exactly the same thing happened on the Sunday night ride back from the Isle of Man — and I know that this road will lead to the A31 Hog’s Back and onto the A3 at Guildford. We negotiated that — taking note of the new 50mph limit in place on a fast section of dual carriageway somewhere along the way (ridiculous!). After we hit the nationals on the A3, we took a rest at the Wisley Services — our first break in almost three hours of continuous riding! Testament to the new saddle that I bought, but I think that my ‘Moto Skiveez’ need replacing, as I’m pretty certain they don’t cushion as effectively as 5/6000 miles (or more) ago.
When I arrived home, it wasn’t too cold so I bit the bullet and decided to change the H7 bulb with the original that I’d kept under the saddle as a back up — the powerful Osram also advertised that its life would be shortest so it isn’t so much of a surprise and why I’d keep a spare in case of such an event.
Replacing it is a horrible process in which one would benefit from a ‘Beadle’ hand in order to access the right gap. In the end, I found a method which worked for me — kneel in front of the bike staring at the headlight lens and reach round to the back — there is a better angle for greater movement of digits and the necessary dexterity required to spin the H7 into place and re-secure the cover.
Blown osram
Old Philips
Dipped beam
High beam
What a day. Invigorating.
One thing that continues to irritate me is the inability of waze to emit audio via bluetooth into my Sena 50s speakers.
Edited by bolidemichael on Tuesday 30th January 22:10
I decided to follow your lead and sent my own vfr1200 shock and forks off to DCT for an overhaul.
Darren was distinctly unimpressed that I had done over 30000 miles before getting them serviced.
Still at least they are sorted and back on the bike. Haven't had a chance to try them yet though.
Darren was distinctly unimpressed that I had done over 30000 miles before getting them serviced.
Still at least they are sorted and back on the bike. Haven't had a chance to try them yet though.
Some nice pictures and well done on the trip. It's still a little too cold and unpredictable, with dirty roads, for my liking.
Good to hear the suspension work is doing what it should. Like you, when I had mine set up by MCT, I couldn't really say there was a huge improvement as everything "just worked", regardless of the road conditions or how I was riding.
For your lights, is there space to fit an HID in the dip beam position. Doing that made a huge difference to my K1300Ss and it's cheap and easy to do if there is space for the ballasts. I just bought a cheap eBay car kit.
As for Waze, there is an option of "play sound to phone speaker" in the settings/voice and sound options. I think that needs to be off to get Waze instructions through your headset.
Good to hear the suspension work is doing what it should. Like you, when I had mine set up by MCT, I couldn't really say there was a huge improvement as everything "just worked", regardless of the road conditions or how I was riding.
For your lights, is there space to fit an HID in the dip beam position. Doing that made a huge difference to my K1300Ss and it's cheap and easy to do if there is space for the ballasts. I just bought a cheap eBay car kit.
As for Waze, there is an option of "play sound to phone speaker" in the settings/voice and sound options. I think that needs to be off to get Waze instructions through your headset.
With respect to the ride, I had my doubts until the last minute but you know how it is, a friend’s enthusiasm is infectious and at the end of the day, it wasn’t too cold or wet. In fact, I wore my riding jeans (over merino underlayers — thanks Aldi!).
HID lights, I haven’t come across this from any other owners, but there really isn’t a great deal of room between the top cowling and the headstock.
I’ll check out what you mean on waze and see if it is a setting that can help. As it is, it streams to sena bluetooth and has worked in the past on the same settings, intermittently, which is what makes it frustrating.
HID lights, I haven’t come across this from any other owners, but there really isn’t a great deal of room between the top cowling and the headstock.
I’ll check out what you mean on waze and see if it is a setting that can help. As it is, it streams to sena bluetooth and has worked in the past on the same settings, intermittently, which is what makes it frustrating.
black-k1 said:
As for Waze, there is an option of "play sound to phone speaker" in the settings/voice and sound options. I think that needs to be off to get Waze instructions through your headset.
This was such a good tip. 
It now consistently works, though I’ll have to use shortcuts feature on ios to create an automation, as the max volume is too loud for the car’s audio!
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