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Used VFR 800 question


Norcorider

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Hi all,

I am looking at a used 2008 VFR800. I saw the bike in person , except for overly oily chain, it looked clean.

Seller didn't let me ride it but it started fine and made all the right noises. However one thing has been bothering me, the bike has stripes all over the body work , he said the previous owner had installed stickers. To me it looks like an aftermarket fairing.

What do you think?

IMG-20200826-WA0003.jpg

IMG-20200826-WA0002.jpg

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  • Member Contributer

It's quite possible that they are aftermarket - someone would have had to go through a lot of effort to remove the VFR logos on the side as well as the ABS stickers on the front fender.

There appears to be some aftermarket mesh installed into the Rad openings as well.

 

You can tell Chinese fairings by how they fit together. Generally the cheaper Chinese ones will usually have a poor fitment especially around the painted panel beside the gauge cluster. Good from a far, but far from good type deal.

 

Might be good to have another look, really examining for road rash

 

The guy def spent a lot of time on the pinstripes though!

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Thanks, the fairing do fit pretty well actually. I couldn't believe someone would spend so much time putting all those stripes , they line up perfectly. 

I am going to have another closer look before closing the deal. 

If someone did put all the effort, it's a shame because I am going to take them off and being it back to the stock cleaner look. 😬

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Certainly will look much cleaner without the stripes!

The pics really do make it look like a super clean bike and well taken care of.

 

One other thing I noticed is he put what looks like black sheet metal riveted to the heat shields on the mufflers- maybe hiding drop scuffs? (just spit ballin ideas, might help with the price negotiations)

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

For the bikes I've looked at so far the best tells if it was on it's side for me were:
mirrors (these seem repainted at the mirror back part)
rear brake pedal (usually gets bent in, can't tell from this picture for this bike)
the pillon handles (these seem scuffed on the second picture)

Fairings might be original, just repainted. Usually you can see this on the inside when you remove them as they wouldn't be fully painted there and can check for repaired cracks form a fall.
If the bike was repainted the lacquer finish should be inconsistent and might have a sort of orange peel look at the small and curvy parts which are hard to reach, like under the seat edge of the rear fairing. If it was painted professionally enough so that you can't find anything wrong with it you shouldn't worry, as someone paid good money to have it done right. If it was wrecked usually no one would have bothered to go into such detail.

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I think the silver center piece in the upper cowl is the giveaway.  Unless there's a model I'm unfamiliar with, in OEM Honda plastic it's black and shiny.  In the Chinese fairing kits it's painted the same as the rest of the body color (i.e., painted as one piece).  If that's not some kind of cosmetic add on or specifically painted to match the rest of the body work, then likely Chinese fairings.  But otherwise, it "looks" good in pictures and you'd have to check all the usual crash stuff to see if it's been wrecked.  One other thing since I am going through this with my "old" recently retrieved bike...sometimes you just replace plastic because it's faded and ugly 😄 It's possible the previous owner replaced it all for non-crash reasons and there's nothing wrong with the bike.  I am going the OEM route and it's waaaaay expensive compared to a $500 or so kit from eBay.

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If it looks good and runs well, and the fairings are all attached securely and line up nicely, I would still consider buying.  The feedback above is valid and I would suspect fairings are aftermarket (or at least repainted which seems less likely), and the bike may have sustained tip-over or gentle crash damage (is that a scuff on the leading edge of clutch case on the middle 'fin'/'ridge'?)

 

Just use those points to work down the price a bit and ride away happy!  Nothing I can see in the pics that says run for the hills... if the engine pulls strong, brakes are smooth, bike tracks straight, I'd negotiate and if the price is right make the deal

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