KTolz Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Intro I've been the proud owner of a 1991 VFR750F for about a year now, and I finally decided to join a couple of the VFR forums! First, a little about myself. I am in my mid-20s and have been riding for about 6 years now, and have owned four different bikes now during my riding career. Around the end of last summer I decided I wanted a little more than my 1983 KZ550 had to offer. While it was a solid bike to ride around Milwaukee, and it carried me on many adventures during my two years owning it (see Pikes Peak pic below), the sketchy handling and the pedestrian power left me itching for something more. I have a couple friends from college who simply rave about VFRs. Personally, I had no experience with the bikes, but their praise of the performance and reliability of the VFR piqued my interest and I decided to browse Craigslist to see if anything interesting was out there. Immediately, I was drawn to an ad for an Italian Red '91 VFR750F 30 minutes South of Milwaukee. There were only three pictures, but the bike looked very complete so I decided to take a trip down to take a look in person. When I arrived, I was immediately impressed with the condition of this 26 year-old bike. The fairings were complete and the paint betrayed no signs of the bike having been dropped. While talking to the owner I discovered that the original owner sold the bike only 4 years ago, and has swapped hands only once since then. Who knows if that story is true, but I could care less given the condition of the bike. The current owner showed me receipts of $1200 worth of work being done to in July 2015, including new fork seals, new chain and sprockets, and new front and rear Dunlop Q3 tires. He was forced to sell it to pay for medical bills after having shoulder surgery. After hearing this and inspecting the bike in person, I decided I needed to take a test ride. The bike immediately started up and after warming for a couple minutes I took off down the road and headed to the nearest freeway on-ramp to test the bike at speed. Now, prior to this point I had never heard a V4 exhaust note in person. Needless to say, the second I twisted that throttle on the on-ramp I knew there was no way I wasn't buying this bike. That exhaust note through the Yoshimura muffler was simply intoxicating. I had never heard an engine sing, growl, and roar all in conjunction. Everything on the test ride checked out, and I brought it back to the seller. We negotiated down to $2600, and I had my first truly eye-catching motorcycle in a condition I could be proud of. I may have paid too much, but I felt the condition of the bike along with the recent maintenance done to it justified the price. Mileage read just shy of 25k. My VFR hasn't missed a beat over my first year of ownership. Without complaint it will satisfy both on-ramp heroics and day road trips through rural WI. It really is a do-anything motorcycle with a hell of an engine (that exhaust note!). It's tucked away for winter now, but I am already looking forward to the adventures it will take me on next year. Bike modifications: Corbin seat (torn seam right where my butt sits, seems to be a problem due to the pressure put on here from the rider and the lack of padding under the area) Yoshimura muffler Bar ends with cruise control Maintenance/repairs I have performed: Oil and filter change (Castrol 20W-50 part synthetic oil, Honda filter) Air filter replacement (OEM) Replaced miscellaneous/incorrect screws and fasteners ($8 for a quarter turn screw? Better not lose any) Antifreeze replaced (with Honda blue antifreeze) Removed non-functional 90's security alarm kit and cleaned up the wiring Replaced stripped out gear that drives the cable to the speedometer Replaced missing seat locking mechanism Wash/clay/wax (some knucklehead hit the bike with an egg while I was parked outside of Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee. Couldn't believe it. Scratched the paint, but not in a very visible spot. I was finding egg yolk amongst the wiring around the triple tree months later) Plans: Replace voltage regulator with R1 unit I had from my old FZR600 (the wires going to the OEM unit on the bike are already crispy) Replace rubber brake and clutch lines with stainless steel lines Qustions: Hard luggage. I would really like to set this bike up for touring, and I see that at one point there were many hard luggage options. Do any luggage manufacturers still produce hard luggage for the third gen VFRs? Everyplace I look seems to be out of stock. Speedometer accuracy. The speedometer and odometer tend to read about 15% fast compared to mile markers on the freeway. Do these speedos tend to read fast? I don't want to rack up a ton of illegitimate mileage. Once I get the bike out of storage next season I will count the teeth on the sprockets to see if the gearing has been changed. I hope the sprockets are correct, because I really enjoy the acceleration the bike currently has. Valve clearance. The bike reads approximately 26k miles now, and I have no idea if a valve adjustment has ever been performed. Should I be worried if the bike runs great? I have performed valve clearance adjustments before on inline 4 engines, but I hear it is a real pain in the ass on the V4. Lastly, this thread would be worthless without pics! Some were taken by a GoPro, in case you were wondering about the distortion. (And yes, I always wear gear. Except for that photo :)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted November 15, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted November 15, 2017 Looking good! I haven't really looked for some time, but I think you're right that there aren't any new hard luggage systems available for that model anymore. Search for a used GiVi rack--that's a solid brand and they still make new boxes that will fit the old racks. The three-position Wingrack is heavy, but functional. I did the same wheel powdercoating as your PO did, but OEM colour was light gold in '91. You're also missing the "VFR" stickers on the side fairings. It would be unusual to remove them from undamaged panels, but you never know... My '93 FP will be going back to Italian red once the mechanical mods are done. I have had a full set squirreled away for at least ten years! Check for a 45T rear sprocket (OEM is 43T). Your speedo sounds way off. Ciao, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted November 15, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted November 15, 2017 Welcome to VFRD from across the pond! For my redslut (4th gen) I too found panniers/racks hard to find or just plain fugly... So when I could lay my hands on a set for the 6th gen I got creative and fabricated a few bits and bobs to make it work/fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTolz Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 9 hours ago, Dutchy said: Welcome to VFRD from across the pond! For my redslut (4th gen) I too found panniers/racks hard to find or just plain fugly... So when I could lay my hands on a set for the 6th gen I got creative and fabricated a few bits and bobs to make it work/fit Great looking 4th gen! Those hard cases look great on back. How do you like the double bubble windscreen? I actually just bought an old Givi set on Ebay for a 4th gen and plan on modifying it to work on my 3rd gen, with the help of a buddy who has become quite good at fabrication. I figure the luggage systems have to be fairly similar between the two models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTolz Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 12 hours ago, JZH said: I did the same wheel powdercoating as your PO did, but OEM colour was light gold in '91. You're also missing the "VFR" stickers on the side fairings. It would be unusual to remove them from undamaged panels, but you never know... My '93 FP will be going back to Italian red once the mechanical mods are done. I have had a full set squirreled away for at least ten years! Thanks for the information, I did not know the original wheel color for a '91. I have had the side fairings off and there is some evidence that there may have been a repair made at some point. All the paint seems to be matched and the mounting points all line up, however, so I can't complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mikey Posted November 16, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted November 16, 2017 Welcome to the “D”, nice pictures and a nice 3rd Gen. Good luck on the luggage, patience will be needed to get the racks and hard side cases. They do pop up for sale now and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted November 16, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted November 16, 2017 Great find. This is what your 3rd gen would have looked like from the factory (except for the bobbed rear fender). The wheel color is "Summer Blond Metallic". Some time ago I contacted Colorite about that color but got no reply, so I'm not sure they're reproducing it. 1990 models had white wheels, which is also a popular combination with the red. Luggage is likely going to be something to find used. If you have (or know someone) with fabrication skills, hardcases from a 6th gen (2002 -2009) as above could be a nice match. Another source could be the UK ebay site. https://www.ebay.co.uk/ The bike culture there is very strong and breakers often have parts that are harder to find here. A quick search will turn up a new Givi top case with a mount for a 3rd gen VFR. If you do import hard cases, do not describe them to customs as "luggage". Luggage for travel is subject to an import tariff. If they hear that word they'll likely classify them as that as they did mine. Describe the parts as "motorcycle bodywork", or similar, which carries no duty. Best of luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTolz Posted November 18, 2017 Author Share Posted November 18, 2017 On 11/15/2017 at 9:56 PM, Cogswell said: Great find. This is what your 3rd gen would have looked like from the factory (except for the bobbed rear fender). The wheel color is "Summer Blond Metallic". Some time ago I contacted Colorite about that color but got no reply, so I'm not sure they're reproducing it. 1990 models had white wheels, which is also a popular combination with the red. Luggage is likely going to be something to find used. If you have (or know someone) with fabrication skills, hardcases from a 6th gen (2002 -2009) as above could be a nice match. Another source could be the UK ebay site. https://www.ebay.co.uk/ The bike culture there is very strong and breakers often have parts that are harder to find here. A quick search will turn up a new Givi top case with a mount for a 3rd gen VFR. If you do import hard cases, do not describe them to customs as "luggage". Luggage for travel is subject to an import tariff. If they hear that word they'll likely classify them as that as they did mine. Describe the parts as "motorcycle bodywork", or similar, which carries no duty. Best of luck with it. I actually just purchased a full Givi set for a 4th gen that a buddy and I will modify to work on my bike. I figure the hardware must be similar between the two bikes. I'll post updates when the project is done, likely not until next spring some time. Is that your bike? Is that an OEM rear cowl? Did you have to modify it to fit over the Corbin seat? It looks really nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted November 18, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted November 18, 2017 1 hour ago, KTolz said: I actually just purchased a full Givi set for a 4th gen that a buddy and I will modify to work on my bike. I figure the hardware must be similar between the two bikes. I'll post updates when the project is done, likely not until next spring some time. Is that your bike? Is that an OEM rear cowl? Did you have to modify it to fit over the Corbin seat? It looks really nice. Not my bike unfortunately. Third gens did come with a rear cowl - they can be difficult to find. Airtech is reproducing them or save a search on ebay (including the UK version). Looks like your bike has the rarer than hens' teeth side stand fairing. Those are also very hard to locate. I believe they are being reproduced in fiberglass - I can't recall who is doing that. You might check out Thurn - they have some things for earlier VFR's. You may need to use Google to translate the page. http://www.thurn-motorsport.de/html/vfr.html http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/hondaz/VFR7501990-93.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.