What a pants day
Discussion
Had to have a day off work yesterday to follow our eldest around with a bucket and mop as she expels the contents of her stomach (from both ends, sometimes simultaneously) around the house 
so got up early today to try and catch up. The weather forecast said rain so I was relieved by the time I got to the M11 for it still to be dry. It’s going to be a good day 
I normally end up filtering through lane 2 and 3 on the motorway, but as the traffic was so light from leaving early, I was barrelling along in lane 1, again thinking what a great day it was
Then it all went tits up
The bike suddenly lost power, then sounded like a bucket of nails, so I pulled in the clutch, killed the engine and stopped on the hard shoulder. If I’d have been doing my normal high-speed filtering it would have been very scary, so I should be grateful for small mercies.
After an hour at the side of the M11 I finally got picked up by the AA and 30 minutes later I was home assessing the damage. Alas it’s terminal. Probably a failed big-end bearing judging by the bottom end cacophony
This then left me the weekend to get a replacement bike because commuting from the Essex countryside to South West London by car or public transport [spit] is not an option. After a couple of hours of scouring Auto Trader, MCN and eBay I finally found one of the dullest bikes on the planet and am now the not very proud owner of a Honda VFR800
That should trash any further expenditure on the car for the next 6 months
And with a few commuter additions
What a pants day.
so got up early today to try and catch up. The weather forecast said rain so I was relieved by the time I got to the M11 for it still to be dry. It’s going to be a good day I normally end up filtering through lane 2 and 3 on the motorway, but as the traffic was so light from leaving early, I was barrelling along in lane 1, again thinking what a great day it was
Then it all went tits up
The bike suddenly lost power, then sounded like a bucket of nails, so I pulled in the clutch, killed the engine and stopped on the hard shoulder. If I’d have been doing my normal high-speed filtering it would have been very scary, so I should be grateful for small mercies.
After an hour at the side of the M11 I finally got picked up by the AA and 30 minutes later I was home assessing the damage. Alas it’s terminal. Probably a failed big-end bearing judging by the bottom end cacophony
This then left me the weekend to get a replacement bike because commuting from the Essex countryside to South West London by car or public transport [spit] is not an option. After a couple of hours of scouring Auto Trader, MCN and eBay I finally found one of the dullest bikes on the planet and am now the not very proud owner of a Honda VFR800
That should trash any further expenditure on the car for the next 6 months
And with a few commuter additions
What a pants day.
Taita said:
VFR800 (pre VTEC) are cracking bikes!
I know. I've resisted for years though as associate them with clear visors (which I now have), hi-viz (which I now have), Volvo's and cliffy bags because of their legendary reliability.Tata said:
Very powerful! Heavy though. Those 'docking ports for your hands' are a bit 
The docking ports help me stay on over 50 Edited by m3psm on Monday 21st April 08:05
Unexpected expenses are always a pain in the arse on this scale... the wife's mondeo was written off last year meaning we had to buy a replacement at short notice and the engine is the scoob died a fortnight ago too... still, the vfr looks pretty good for a commuter
What's the plan for the TDM? Is it worth sticking a 2nd hand engine in it so you can at least get some money back for it?
What's the plan for the TDM? Is it worth sticking a 2nd hand engine in it so you can at least get some money back for it?
The best VFR, very nice indeed. 
Did you run out of oil? They do like a drink, I came very close to running my TRX dry. It used to go through a litre every 500 miles.
Don't let the TDM die. They are such lovely bikes. Is it the 180 or 270 degree engine? You could stick a later 270 engine in pretty cheaply I should think.
Did you run out of oil? They do like a drink, I came very close to running my TRX dry. It used to go through a litre every 500 miles.
Don't let the TDM die. They are such lovely bikes. Is it the 180 or 270 degree engine? You could stick a later 270 engine in pretty cheaply I should think.
dern said:
What's the plan for the TDM? Is it worth sticking a 2nd hand engine in it so you can at least get some money back for it?
Te TDM is up for sale as-is on the TDM forum for a week, then it goes on eBay.If it doesn't make a decent price though I'll probably have to break it, which would be a shame.
supersingle said:
The best VFR, very nice indeed.
Did you run out of oil? They do like a drink, I came very close to running my TRX dry. It used to go through a litre every 500 miles.
Don't let the TDM die. They are such lovely bikes. Is it the 180 or 270 degree engine? You could stick a later 270 engine in pretty cheaply I should think.
I've been looking at this model for ages due to their legendary reliability, but never quite bought one until now.Did you run out of oil? They do like a drink, I came very close to running my TRX dry. It used to go through a litre every 500 miles.
Don't let the TDM die. They are such lovely bikes. Is it the 180 or 270 degree engine? You could stick a later 270 engine in pretty cheaply I should think.
I did run the TDM out of oil I think because I forgot to check it last weekend and the symptom seem to indicate the same
Alas it also needs a new rear tyre and te MOT is up in two weeks so I recon it'll costr a bit to get back to tip-top condition so it has to go. Shame because it's my favourite bike I've evr riden for everyday use. I need Honda reliability for my mileage though.
I rode the VFR for the first time tonight and it's very different to the TDM as expected, but it'll take a while to get used to.
The suspension is rock hard and the bars are too low, but I think it can all be adjusted.
The only fault is the exhaust. The downpipes blew after about 2 miles meaning it sounds terrible and doesn't run right. I can't complain because I knocked a big chunk off the price as they looked on their last legs. Inow have to buy a new system though, which is a good excuse for an Akraprovik
I can't find a full system though so I may need a pattern system with Akra can. Time for more Googling me thinks supersingle said:
That's a bloody good deal. I thought they were about £400. 
They're cheaper because they're in mild steel like the oem ones, but as the last one lasted 10 years in mild steel, it should do me I thought they were about £400. The stainless on the others is 304 which is pretty pants. It needs to be in 316 and not be magnetic to resist rust for any period of time.
I've just repaired the hole as a temp fix with Gun Gum, repair foil and Red Bull cans
so that should last until the weekend . . . I hope.Heh, just replied to your post on BO 
(Welcome there BTW, but can't BELIEVE you are calling it dull coming from a TeDiuM!)
Nice bike, You'll want to keep an eye on the Reg/Reg, Rear Shock and Downpipes as they were only upgraded from the 2000 FiY Model
Delkevic do better replacement downpipes than Motad, failing that, There's a company called Gazelle that custom build them onto your bike for about £600.
If it helps, I'm 23 and I've owned a VFR for a year, sports bikes just don't do it for me, they seem like mere toys when you realised you can do 300 miles in one go on a VFR and still want more afterwards, afterall, just /how/ boring can a 105bhp v4 be?
Drop the forks 5mm through the yokes for a massive improvement in handling too, I bought mine with the mod already done and did wonder why people kept calling the bike a boat!
How much did you pay by the way? I love the black bikes, but they don't make 2000+ models in black, and I wanted the HISS and other upgrades
Enjoy!
T
(Welcome there BTW, but can't BELIEVE you are calling it dull coming from a TeDiuM!)Nice bike, You'll want to keep an eye on the Reg/Reg, Rear Shock and Downpipes as they were only upgraded from the 2000 FiY Model
Delkevic do better replacement downpipes than Motad, failing that, There's a company called Gazelle that custom build them onto your bike for about £600.
If it helps, I'm 23 and I've owned a VFR for a year, sports bikes just don't do it for me, they seem like mere toys when you realised you can do 300 miles in one go on a VFR and still want more afterwards, afterall, just /how/ boring can a 105bhp v4 be?
Drop the forks 5mm through the yokes for a massive improvement in handling too, I bought mine with the mod already done and did wonder why people kept calling the bike a boat!
How much did you pay by the way? I love the black bikes, but they don't make 2000+ models in black, and I wanted the HISS and other upgrades
Enjoy!
T
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