"Life with an old VFR" thread in "Motorbike Chat"
I should warn you now that this is a fuddy duddy thread, so do not read on if your thing is sportsbike and hooning, as ...

I should warn you now that this is a fuddy duddy thread, so do not read on if your thing is sportsbike and hooning, as you will no doubt be comatose by the end of it.

Well I've had my VFR750ft for four years now, bought it with 6,000 miles on the clock and it now has 33,000, although that does include about 9 months with no speedo, oops

In the last 6 months I have replaced the rear shock and fitted a new rear hugger with the help of a mate. Then Hunts of Manchester fitted new head bearings for me, and Mr Pigs have just sorted out all the wiring (I now have a working speedo again) and replaced the exhaust system which was getting particuarly holed with a new Motad system. Which I have to say is pretty wonderful. It actually sounds like a VFR again!

So what do I have? A 12 year old bike, which is actually as good as new in mechanical terms. I clean him reguarly, the engine sounds like a dream, the brakes have steel hoses fitted, the oil is changed reguarly and life is good.

In riding terms then, what does it do? Well it does nothing badly really; from swapping bikes with mates, I have seen that it can actually be ridden quite spiritedly on the road. Unfortunately I do not do fast riding, not least because I now have 9 points to guard on my licence.

The throttle response is lovely and smooth all the way to the redline, I would never bother to get a bike that old dyno'd, but there are certainly no noticeable blips and it will give a steady, quick surge of power if vigorous acceleration is called for.

One of the worst things on a VFR traditionally is the brakes. Now having ridden more modern bikes, then yes, the brakes are not as good. The steel hoses help, but you do lose a bit of feel, so they take some getting used to. I just practice on them constantly, so I can brake fairly hard without worrying.

Handling and grip is a difficult one for me to describe, as I do ride it quite slowly, all I would say is that it never catches me out, and if I ever do mis judge a corner it never complains with a bit more steering input. As for grip, well again, I dont really know, I ride it all year round in all weathers and the 021s from Bridgestone do seem to do a decent job, I would not know how they cope if you were really pushing it though.

Comfort wise it is not quite as good as my previous VFR (1988 - fj) for pillion comfort, and that applies to both the rider and pillion. I dont know why, as in theory it should be a lot better than the old one; it is alright for a couple of hours, but I dont think all day rides are really the order of the day. By myself I have done 8 hour days or more riding to Devon via the 'very scenic route' and yes I am knackered by the end of it, but still fairly comfy as I have more room to move around than when with a pillion.

Economy wise, it is not that good around town. Depending on how I ride I get between 30-35 MPG on the commute. In the open country it gets a lot better, certainly round the 40MPG range, and better if riding conservatively.

My old boy unfortunately has a couple of knocks to the body work now, one on the left fairing, where it interacted with a pedestrian, and the back end is held together with tape due to the previous owner bodging some pillion grab handles on very badly.

So why write this now? Well I have just been out for a ciggie at work, and I saw him standing there gleaming in the sun, and then I thought about all the work I have had done to it, and it really is in mint condition for its age. So I am not sure if this is a review, or a continuing love affair. But it got me thinking, in all honesty, if I was not a bit of a pauper I would definately have a newer bike, but the money spent on it in the last twelve months has certainly been more than worth it. All the major bits have now been replaced, so hopefully no major jobs to do, beyond replacing the bodywork, if I can be bothered.

If I ever do get the money to get a newer bike I know one thing, trusty old Henry will still be sticking around

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TALK TO ME OR THE BUNNY GETS IT!

If you desperately want to improve the brakes, firestorm fork bottoms and calipers fit the VFR fork tubes and are cheaply available - I paid 37 quid for a bent set of forks and another 60 or so for calipers.

HTH,
Al

Nice write up The Honda's seem to last pretty well, my old NC30 took some stick, with limited attention from a mechanical numpty like me. I still miss it a little bit, the V4s have got something about them.

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PB Round The World Guinea Pig Blog

Good write up that, cheers.

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"Its easier to make a fast bike reliable than a reliable bike fast" Soichiro Honda.

I want pics.


<grumbles>


Nice write-up though.



[EDIT]Seen the pics. Luverly. [/EDIT]

you have just made me realise, I need to take some newer piccies of me bike

A couple of old ones in my album:

Community @ The Rev Counter - Bonners's Album: Bonners first album - Picture

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TALK TO ME OR THE BUNNY GETS IT!

I had an '87 FG between May 85 and Mar 87.
A very good bike, so good in fact it's easier to list the bad points because there aren't many. So here goes:
1/ The engine has very little below 3000rpm, meaning clutch slipping at every start (can be a pain round town)
2/ Fuel economy is pretty poor (I got 38mpg) but seems constant no matter how you ride.

That's it, everything else about the bike is either good, very good or exceptional.

Yup, mine is the same, forgot to mention it as four years of commuting on it mean that I have just got used to slipping the clutch as part of my riding.

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TALK TO ME OR THE BUNNY GETS IT!

I had a VFR750FS a few years ago. I bought it with 16k and kept it for 3 1/2 years and 24000 miles. I know that the bike press called it the best real world bike and I'd have to agree. I used it for commuting 40 miles a day, sunny sunday blasts, two up touring, in fact pretty much everything except green laning. It would do 40-45mpg no matter how I rode it, and the large tank gave it a 160+ mile range. Fortunately the seat also had a 160+ mile range, in fact it's probably the most comfortable bike I've ridden.

The exhaust headers also rusted through on mine and I replaced them with stainless steel Motad ones which cost over £300 and were a real pita to fit.

Electrical problems were confined to the reg/rec failure. I replaced it with an aftermarket finned model and added a PC cooling fan and had no more problems.

I replaced the rear shock at 30k miles, using a WP remote reservoir model, along with new front springs it made a huge difference to the bike.

As you said the brakes are somewhat lacking, I made up some adapter plates and fitted 4 piston Nissins off a Fireblade, along with a larger m/c - I did a writeup on the VFR Club website, though the pics are long gone.

Despite being kept outside and used in all weathers it still looked in pretty good condition. The fork sliders get pitted but a rub with wet & dry and a coat of paint sorts them out. Unfortunately I threw it down the M5 in January 2004 and it was written off. The insurance paid out £400 less than I paid for it which wasn't a bad result I thought.



I'd buy another one except that they're getting a bit old now, the last ones were made in 1997. Prices are rather high too, it's hard to find a decent one for less than £2k. The VFR800 is a bit softer, with jerky FI and linked brakes that I just don't like

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A biker is someone who rides through choice. Not because it is the most comfortable way to transport a body but because it can be the most magical way to carry a soul - Dave Gurman

Its even been ridden properly once or twice as well...

Well thanks for the information on yer todger Bonners.

The early VFR is one of the few Homdas I like,could even see myself on one when I'm as old as yow.

Had an FL for about 6 months and never got on with it. Was reliable and engine was great, as was wind protection. However was heavy, mirrors poor without extenders, turning circle of a bus and drank petrol. Personally found it uncomfortable - despite very good seat the reach to bars is long and they're quite low, though I'm not good with low bars. If you read up on helibars and the likes they're very commonly used on Viffers used as tourers in the states. Didn't find the roadholding too great either - poor brakes and iffy wet roadholding - perhaps down to the tyres that it came with: Conti Road attacks?

That really made me laugh.

Thankyou

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GP

Nice write up Bonners, even if there are traces of emotions in places. We just can't have that on a bikers' website.You're welcome to try mine whenever we meet again, and I suspect you'll be pleasantly surprised. I had that impression when the bike was new, and I was new and hamfisted. But either I've got used to it or it has mellowed with age.

Worst case, it is actually jerky, but that's just a negative way of putting it: they just "fixed" the low-rev torque that Dexter & Bonners mentionned

That said, I haven't ridden a carbed bike in ages, so I don't really have a good point of comparison.

You calling me new and hamfisted?



I've only ridden a couple of 800s and I found it really difficult to roll the throttle on smoothly, esp when trying to wind it on coming out of corners. I believe it can be minimized by careful setting up, but the ones I rode were both jerky.

If you can get rid of the linked brakes I'd be happy to try yours though

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A biker is someone who rides through choice. Not because it is the most comfortable way to transport a body but because it can be the most magical way to carry a soul - Dave Gurman