Sirbike Posted October 29 Author Posted October 29 It’s a 98 in stock silver bodywork. previous owner bought it this way and doesn’t know how this happened. It is in pretty decent turn key shape with 54,300 miles. Funny thing is that I saw mellow dude posted about riding his vfr on st forum. That sounded good. I went to cycletrader and there it was. This replaces the chartreuse 2000 with Yamaha stripes in 2018. Looking forward to more curves. 3
mello dude Posted October 29 Posted October 29 Welcome! Hang out awhile.. not only are we VFR junkies, we like all motorcycles in general... Lot of moto geeks here! (I'm guilty) Still waaaayyy curious on how the bike is silver... Cheerz 1
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted October 29 Member Contributer Posted October 29 Nice bike, Canadian import? 2
Member Contributer FromMaine Posted October 29 Member Contributer Posted October 29 I believe vfrcapn is probably correct. If memory serves, the US only got red in 98-99. A quick look at the speedo is in order, if it reads in kph, its most likely a Canadian import. If that's the case the 54,300 on the odometer would actually be 33,740 miles. I imported a 1990 vfr750 a couple of years back from Canada. Importing it myself was fairly easy as it was over 25 years old so DOT and EPA requirements did not apply. I did have to have a quiet talk with the Maine BMV about the difference between kms and miles, and they kindly made the adjustment on my registration. Looking at the photo, I see an aftermarket seat, aftermarket exhaust, looks like a DB windscreen, 00-01 mirrors instead of the condoms that were oem, and nice SS bar ends, which might be Throttlemeister? All in all someone who owned it looked after the details, and you benefited from it. Good find. 3
Member Contributer Lorne Posted October 30 Member Contributer Posted October 30 On 10/28/2025 at 5:26 PM, Sirbike said: It’s a 98 in stock silver bodywork. If it's a Canadian import the speedo & odo will read in kilometres, and the temp gauges will read Celsius. (6th gen let you swap the displays between metric and imperial) The colour code label is under the seat, as shown in the service manual. If still attached it'll tell you if silver is the original colour. Fyi, we got yellow a year before the US, as well as green and blue. Around the turn of the century several guys on the VFR list bought complete bodywork sets from Canadian Honda dealers. One fellow in California bought a yellow set for >US$1400, including the fuel tank and shipping from my local dealer. I think they sold maybe half a dozen sets to Americans over the years. Back then the US:Canada currency exchange was very favourable to a US buyer. Here's a scan of the colour label locations, and a 2001 price list from Brian Law of Dynamo Hum. Old timers will remember that he put together an 837cc kit for the 3rd & 4th gens, and a piston kit for the 5th gens(?). 1
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted October 30 Member Contributer Posted October 30 Looks like Canada had one silver in '98 and a different silver in '01. Either way, it would be stated right on the VIN tag. I changed the speedo face out on my import for mph, easy swap. There is a place in Colorado that will reprogram a used LCD to match the mileage of your original LCD if you want to swap that out also. Supply them a mph odo and they'll set it to match the mileage from a KM odo. They provide a cert and say it's all legal. I never did dig in far enough to see if the F and C temp senders were the same part.
Sirbike Posted October 31 Author Posted October 31 VIN tag doesn’t have any French. Here is the color code and something special. It has Throttlemeister bar ends but the throttle side uses a plastic extension that has collapsed under the end of the grip. If I remember right an st1300 throttle tube is longer and will contact the friction thingy.
mello dude Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Head scratching....pretty sure R-157 is red. The same tag is on my bike. Only thing I can figure is a previous owner paid the bucks for the silver body and tank.....???
Member Contributer Lorne Posted October 31 Member Contributer Posted October 31 R157 is definitely code for Honda’s ubiquitous red. So your VFR almost certainly had a bodywork swap.
Member Contributer Hingley Posted October 31 Member Contributer Posted October 31 Just for reference check this site , it may help determine the body work. For what it is worth ( not much ) but I have never saw a 1998 VFR in silver/gray here https://www.bike-parts-honda.com/honda-motorcycle/800-MOTO/VFR/1998
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted October 31 Member Contributer Posted October 31 Definitely US red bike originally. Looks like it has a Penske shock too!
mello dude Posted October 31 Posted October 31 @Sirbike ... You probably have the rarest 5th gen in the US.... Take care of that one! There's zero chance of replacing any of the bodywerke...
Member Contributer Hingley Posted October 31 Member Contributer Posted October 31 Man I would like to know the history on that VFR The serial number label makes me think it is a Canadian bike The image of the EPA label makes me think it is a US bike If the body panels are not a respray than my guess is that they are Panels from Europe, how they got on that bike is the story of the week, maybe an accident and original panels ( red ) were not available anymore in Canada?, the previous owner had more money than god, really liked the silver and ordered a set from Europe?, maybe a serviceman stationed in Europe sent them home?, who knows Now to find that box of old Honda sales brochures. 1
mello dude Posted October 31 Posted October 31 5 minutes ago, Hingley said: Man I would like to know the history on that VFR No kidding!!!
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted November 1 Member Contributer Posted November 1 2 hours ago, Hingley said: Man I would like to know the history on that VFR The serial number label makes me think it is a Canadian bike The image of the EPA label makes me think it is a US bike If the body panels are not a respray than my guess is that they are Panels from Europe, how they got on that bike is the story of the week, maybe an accident and original panels ( red ) were not available anymore in Canada?, the previous owner had more money than god, really liked the silver and ordered a set from Europe?, maybe a serviceman stationed in Europe sent them home?, who knows Now to find that box of old Honda sales brochures. The VIN tag was my Canadian bike, not @Sirbike. CMSNL lists silver as a Canadian color for '98. https://www.cmsnl.com/honda-vfr800fi-1998-w-canada_model5742/settype31_64320mbg000ze/ Probably just a US bike that put on some Canadian/EU silver bodywork. Either way nice bike with some nice upgrades.
Member Contributer JZH Posted November 4 Member Contributer Posted November 4 The VIN would contain "RC462" if it had been a Canadian-spec bike; RC460 or RC461 if 49-state or CA-spec. R-157 is the colour code for Italian Red, but the rear fender it's stuck to could be the non-original swapped part! As for the silver panels, there were two/four styles of VFR fairing sticker. US-spec bikes had "Interceptor" below the VFR letters, but EU-spec (and probably Canadian-spec) bikes had "PGM-FI & DCBS" instead. In addition, '98-'00 stickers included a "fade" effect, whilst '01 stickers were a solid colour. I don't have my RC46 Parts Catalogue here, but according to www.bike-parts.fr, Canada did not get silver as an option until 2001, but in any case your stickers look correct, but do not appear to have the "fade", so I would suspect that your bike is a US-spec bike sporting '01 Canadian bodywork--which had possibly been supplied to a US-based "VF-VFR Lister" via Brian @ Dynamo Humm back in the day! (FYI, the color code for 2001 silver VFR bodywork is NH-146M (Accurate Silver Metallic). And a corresponding color code sticker, LABEL,COLO*TYPE3* Part number: 87565-MBG-D10ZC, costs about $3, if you wanted to order it...) Ciao, JZH 1
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