Which VFR's are the hardest to work on?

[VFR750]

Over the years I have heard from different sources complaints that VFR's are hard to work on.  I have had a 1995 vfr750 for 7 years.  I do my own maintenance as I have done for many years and have found the following things.

 

1)  It only takes me 5 (if I rush) to 10 minutes (if I take my time) to get the tail piece, and side panels, plus lower cowl off.  I remove the tail piece as a complete unit.  Takes considerably longer to take pieces off my sport bike.

2)  Getting at the rear bank of cylinders to change spark plugs or check valves or reshim is simple.

3)  Getting at the front bank of cylinders is a pain, and definately not easy to change plugs, check valves and replace shims.  Next time I do a valve check I'll consider removing the front forks and doing fork oil at the same time.

4)  Removing the cams to replace shims is simple, because of the gear driven cams.  I mark the cams with white marker, and put them back in the exact same position.  No chance that way of screwing up.  Much more finicky to replace shims on a bike with cams and chains.

5)  Removing the rear wheel with the stock exhaust is easy.  Much easier than working on regular bike rear ends.

6)  Front forks are easy to work on when pulling apart and you don't need special tools.  They are not super sensitive to differences in fork oil amounts as a full out sport bike is.  I know this from experience with my sport bike which is a finely tooled machine and behaves as such needing special tools.

7)  Front brakes are easy enough to work on, no harder than other bikes.  I clean and regrease sliders every spring.

8)  Clutch fluid change is easy enough.  I put a speed bleeder on the clutch slave cylinder, which makes changing the fluid a 10 minute job.

9)  Oil changes are simple enough.

10) Changing the rectifier.  Simple.  Remove tail piece.

 

I could go on, but I believe I've covered the main points.  The 4th gen. in my opinion, apart from a couple of things is an easy bike to work on, and without doubt of all the bikes I've bought with full fairings, the easiest.

 

I'm interested to know how hard it is to work on the other generations, particularly when it comes to removing the bodywork so that you can get at parts.

[Terry]

I just went through a fluids and shim check on my 5G last week. The fuel tank has to be removed and that is slightly harder due to the high pressure fitting for the FI system. The lower fairing has 7 bolts either side, plus 2 to separate one side of the inner cowl and a couple of plastic clips. Front head access requires the oil cooler (2 bolts) and both radiators (2 bolts) to be dropped clear but no coolant loss occurs. The rear head has no access issues at this point. 

 

I also have a VTR1000 and ST1100, none of them are particularly hard to work on until you need to get into the V of the engine. At that point the 5G loses points for the thermostat location which is unpleasant to access under the throttle bodies.

[mello dude]

I think its just a matter of familiarity... I can strip the body off in roughly 20 minutes, tail in 5 with a beer buzz.  Anything else, its a matter of just do it... I guess I can say that since I have been wrenching on cars/bikes a long time. 

[MaxSwell]

I have no experience with anything but a fifth gen. Being sort of poor, out of necessity, I've done most of my own maintenance and repair (more of the later than I'd like to admit). With patience, practice, attention to detail and the factory service manual I've been able to do most things that don't involve getting into the engine. My ignorance of electricity (it's FM to me, F'n majik) makes some of that tough. Relays especially. I think having a decent set of tools is important.

[Terry]

35 minutes ago, MaxSwell said:

I think having a decent set of tools is important.

 

Couldn't agree more. The right tools makes tasks a lot easier. Case in point would be my handy, dandy mains-powered impact driver, which can worry a seized fastener loose without torn knuckles or rounded off heads. And frequent use of anti-seize and a a torque wrench for reassembly.

[marriedman]

I've owned a 5th, 6th, and now a 7th gen. I hate the 7th gen fairings with a passion. Give me fairing bolts any day.

[MaxSwell]

On 3/12/2018 at 9:06 AM, marriedman said:

I've owned a 5th, 6th, and now a 7th gen. I hate the 7th gen fairings with a passion. Give me fairing bolts any day.

One of my most used tools is a Ryobe small pistol-grip rechargable "screw driver". With the proper bit, it can remove all the fairing screws (screw, pan (5X20) 90103-MBG-000, in just a few minutes. It fits under the pillion seat stuffed (towel-wrapped) up ahead of the tail light. $30.