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New 7th gen owner!


Chromedome

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Hey guys, just wanted to say a quick hello before I go post for some help. I started riding again in 2013 after many years off and bought a low mile Blackbird. I won't bore you with the various bikes and stories but just yesterday bought a used, very clean 2010 VFR1200F. Has factory heated grips, factory saddle bags, the Z-Bomb and a Corbin seat (which I hate, I'll get into that later). 

 

Here are my other two bikes, Blackbird will be up for sale soon and I sold the RC to get the VFR1200F. 

 

 

VFR_Side_Only.jpg

new bird.png

new_right_side_cropped.jpg

IMG_20190210_173236.jpg

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Interesting! If you had prompted me with:

 

   1. RC51

   2. ZX9R

   3. Blackbird

 

...I don't think I would have completed the sequence with:

 

   4. VFR1200

 

These are all great bikes. The biggest knock against the 1200 is probably the tank range. If that's not an issue for you (and the RC51 suggests maybe it isn't), then the 1200 could be a big win for you. I have never ridden one, but my sense is that they are a seriously under-rated value, which means that there are some fantastic bargains to be had.

 

I'll be curious to hear your impressions of the bike after you've spent some time with it.

 

Welcome to the forum.You will not find a group of peers with deeper expertise than those here.

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Hey. Yeah, I suppose but I don't have the room in the garage to keep bikes that are too similar. The ZX-9R fulfills the sportbike ride and aesthetic (and the original owner put about $11,000 into the engine and exhaust to greatly increase the power), hauls major butt and is quite a comfy sport tourer. My general plan is to keep it for a long time and generally the 2nd bike I'll have and ride will be just to fulfill curiosity, dreambike etc. Like, I'm very glad to have finally ridden and owned the RC51 (for about six months) but we never bonded. So, next. I have this fairly silly idea in my head in which I say, "I'm not going to die not having ridden/owned {insert bike here}". On the list still is a ZX-12R and somewhere along the way a ZX-14R (but they're so ugly!). I like to keep my eye out for older (cheaper) bikes that I've always loved but that are super well kept. I think I'm done with V-twins since I like the hard top end hit inline fours.

 

I'll say this, after having owned so many older bikes it's a trip to ride a more modern bike. I love the bigger horn button, ABS, bespoke mirrors (so many older bikes had so many part bin parts) etc.  And while my Ninja has more horsepower and pulls like warp drive this VFR is damned fast. I'm impressed so far and am also excited to have factory hard bags for the longer trips. Lastly, FWIW, the first bike I ever owned was an '86 VFR500 bought in '91. Long time ago!

 

Sorry for the novel! It's so easy to blather on about motorcycles. 🙂

 

And the tank range.. such a strange complaint to me. Where do these people live? On the moon? I mean, yeah, there's probably not a lot of gas stations between the moon and earth. But here in Arizona? FFS, I WANT to stop and take a break every 90 minutes or so. It's not like I'm in a hurry to get across the country. Isn't riding a bike more about the ride than the destination anyway? 

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Hi Chromedome.

A very warm Welcome to the forum, what lovely sets of wheels you have. I'm sure you'll find a wealth good info from this site and from the experienced 1200 owners. Be interested to hear your thoughts on Blackbird v VFR1200 comparisons. 

Hope you enjoy many great miles of travel on the VFR1200.

Cheers.:beer:

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Congrats and welcome.

The vfr1200 can be a great base to build a very nice ride.  If it fits your needs it is a lotta bike for the money.

With the suspension sorted and an ecu flash it is a hoot.

Enjoy!

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😄 

 

I am in a Facebook group for the RC51 and when I told people I was selling it, so many people kept saying, "don't sell it! You'll regret it like everyone else has!" They really don't seem to understand they have a biased sample group. They're hearing from people who have joined the group to come looking for another RC51. What about the people that didn't regret selling it? They're not hearing from them. I don't regret selling it at all and am damn glad I did since I bought this bike with the money. It wasn't even really about that, just that I had promised my wife I wouldn't add another bike without selling one. I can only fit two bikes in the garage anyway.

 

Anyway, my point is. I have only about 40 miles on it and I'm loving it. On my ride home from work yesterday, I finally started getting used to the differences. The torque is insane. Poking along at 3500 RPM in traffic, about 4th gear or so... Need to speed up? Bam, it just goes. 

 

I've been thinking long and hard about the Guhl flash but the fueling/mapping on this bike feels perfect to me. Yeppers, really loving this bike! Also, I looked it over super carefully again and I don't think there's one nick in the paint. Bike is like new. Lucky me. 🙂

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3 hours ago, gloryracing said:

Congrats and welcome.

The vfr1200 can be a great base to build a very nice ride.  If it fits your needs it is a lotta bike for the money.

With the suspension sorted and an ecu flash it is a hoot.

Enjoy!

 

Hey, is your windscreen the same shape as stock? I thought I saw a Zero Gravity shield that looks like it has less of a bubble.

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Quote

 

It is not a double bubble but similar shape as stock... but taller.  Zero Gravity has several different styles/heights for the vfr1200.  Give em a look to see if any appeal to ya.  Also they can show up on ebay at discounts

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Welcome to the forum.

 

A great looking bike there, hopefully you'll enjoy your miles together.

 

If you are looking at upgrading things, you should consider suspension imo. I've had mine done by a specialist overt here and there are plenty of owners over there who have used Jamie Dougherty (and others) and I don't recall reading any negative responses, only glowingly positive ones. Mine now feels more like an 800, which considering the weight of the 1200 is a good thing.

 

Anyway, all the best with your new ride, please keep us posted with your progress.

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16 hours ago, Skids said:

Welcome to the forum.

 

A great looking bike there, hopefully you'll enjoy your miles together.

 

If you are looking at upgrading things, you should consider suspension imo. I've had mine done by a specialist overt here and there are plenty of owners over there who have used Jamie Dougherty (and others) and I don't recall reading any negative responses, only glowingly positive ones. Mine now feels more like an 800, which considering the weight of the 1200 is a good thing.

 

Anyway, all the best with your new ride, please keep us posted with your progress.

Thanks, I bought a set of fork cartridge kits for my Blackbird from him as well as had him rebuild/upgrade my ZX-9R shock. So far I'm finding this suspension is fine. I have a bad habit of dropping many thousands of dollars in a bike before I really know if I'm keeping it. I'm going to try to take my time, though I did already buy a DAM exhaust and am ready to buy the cruise control. 🙂

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