Hello From a New 5th Gen Owner near Boston

[Sparky]

Well I did it -- snagged a 2001 a couple of weeks ago after months of searching. Here it is after riding it home from the seller's house in CT (~100 mi).

 

My restomod 1978 CB550 under the cover there has been my main ride. I love it but it is not very powerful and I don't fully trust it to hold up to long trips and I'm still searching for mods to get more powerful front braking without changing the vintage look.

 

After recently having the "joy" of rebuilding the 550's carbs I decided it's long-distance mate would have to be fuel-injected, and the 5th Gen VFR ticked all the boxes. I like older machines (and they are cheaper too) and I have been keen on the VFRs for a while. To get this VFR to be that reliable do-it-all bike it needs some overdue maintenance and repairs. I'm reading a lot here and I am getting started with some of the more urgent things so I can ride it a bit this season before bringing it into the basement shop for the winter for deeper work. I did an oil+filter change, set the idle speed, got that paint transfer line off the windscreen (Flitz to the rescue again), and today I reverted the triangle flip lowering hack. Tomorrow is coolant flush day (yipee!) and then it is on to the rear brake (have to stomp on it to get any braking) and air filter and fuel filter and some other odds and ends.

 

Beyond the brake issues it has a Power Commander with some generic map and a Delkevic exhaust and that combination plus the state of tune is giving occasional stalling when not at full operating temp and some mild surging while cruising. I'm going to run some Seafoam and Techron through it over the next few tankfuls and over the winter I'll clean the injectors and throttle bodies, do the starter valve sync, put in new plugs, and probably pull the PC and put back the original muffler to see if it runs well as a stock setup. There are also some parts in a bag and I was told the flapper mod was done so I have to figure all that out.

 

If there are any VFR folks in the Boston MA area who are willing to help get me oriented to all of this bike's wonderful quirks that would be super nice. I can offer food, beer, a ride on a vintage CB, friendship, and gratitude as incentives ;-). Of course remote help (esp. these days) is great too. I'll probably set up a project page for this work once I dig in further.

 

Anyway, glad to join VFRD and start soaking up some collective wisdom!

 

 

[mello dude]

Welcome - Looks like you got a 5th gen in great shape! The charging system is the Achilles heel of the bike, check that soon. 

That 550 looks sweet too. 

[Dutchy]

Welcome to VFRD from across the pond 

 

 

 

 

"VFR?    More Than A Feeling!" 

[TimC]

Congrats on that great looking (if not yet great running) 5th gen, and welcome to VFRD!  🙂 

 

As you're already seeing, this forum is a terrific source of information - and people.  Good luck fully sorting the bike out and ride safe!

[MaxSwell]

Welcome to the V4 asylum Sparky from The Land Of Interesting Weather. That's a real beauty you've recently bought. Best gen in the fastest color. You obviously have great taste in mc's.

 

15 hours ago, Sparky said:

and then it is on to the rear brake (have to stomp on it to get any braking)

 

Regarding rear brake perfirmance: One thing that is important to get the most out of the linked-brakes system is to use both front and rear brakes together, all the time. That gets all the caliper pistons in the system working together at the same time. And that makes the front and rear brake pads to wear more evenly for replacement timing.

 

Motorcycle Consumer News (no longer being published - a crying shame😪) used to publish a couple of times a year a table of use bike values followed by a series of "best-of" lists. For braking distance from 60 to 0 mph, fifth gen's tied for sixth place at 108.6 feet. Most motorcycle reviews consider 120 feet to be great. And I've experienced several "Wow!" stopping events over the years. 

[FromMaine]

Good to see another New Englander on the Board, welcome!

 

 

[Sparky]

Thanks for all the greetings! I know VFRD will be a great resource as I get mine back into good running order.

 

Thanks for the tips, mello dude. I will probably do the R/R upgrade over the winter. At the moment the charging seems OK and the thermostat (another common trouble area) is working.

 

Dutchy, thanks for the greeting. Have you met Itchy Boots (Noraly) yet?

 

I'm pretty sure something is farked up with the rear brakes but I appreciate the advice about using both of them in this linked system MaxSwell. I'm going to rebuild the caliper and MC for starters and see if that sorts it before delving deeper into the link system. I was sad to see that OEM MC rebuild kits are NA but I'll either just get new rubber or use a K&L kit I guess. I'll rebuild the rest of it over the winter with SS lines if my time and funds allow. My 550 front brake was completely locked up when I got it so I've been down this road before.

 

Hey, FromMaine. Cool that we both have CB550s and VFRs -- yours are even older (and more plentiful). If you need "help" riding them all I'm available ;-).

[Samedward]

On 9/9/2020 at 6:15 AM, TimC said:

Congrats on that great looking (if not yet great running) 5th gen, and welcome to VFRD!  🙂 

 

As you're already seeing, this forum is a terrific source of information - and people.  Good luck fully sorting the bike out and ride safe!

Good to see the environment here. I'm glad to be a part here. 

[Khibbs]

Congrats on the purchase and a great looking VFR btw!  I love the face of the 5th gens and you look to have snagged a great example.  

 

I've just become a VFR owner myself in the past week with a 4th gen that will get a full resto and I'm also in the Boston area (Acton) I'm looking forward to learning and sharing with this group.