Leaderboard

I have been a little unhappy with the power of the front brakes and decided to replace the pads with my favourites, EBC HH. When I bought this bike last year I gave the pistons a decent clean (and a thorough fluid flush) which helped a lot and I thought I had done a decent job of giving the system a decent once-over. Turns out, not so much, as I missed a fairly important part of the right calliper, specifically the sliding pins. It took me about 5 minutes to replace the pads in the left calliper including cleaning the pistons, but as soon as I had the right calliper off, it was obvious that the main slide pin was corroded solidly in the alloy hanger. After trying various methods to free it while still plumbed in, I had to admit defeat and break the banjo fittings loose and pull the calliper right off the bike. Some strategically aimed whacks with a drift got the offending parts apart, and the both pins were dry and crusty and a bit corroded. I cleaned them up, cleaned all the rubbery bits, slathered on some silicone grease and then went through the process of reassembly and bleeding. Should have taken less than 30 minutes but ended up being a good couple of hours. And at the end of all that I now wonder whether I really needed new pads or if the lacklustre power was mainly due to the lack of calliper movement. Check your calliper slide pins people!

I'll start it off with my storm trooper beauty resting by the side of the road last weekend.

Take the gauges back out. That way you can slide a bar into the frame work of the upper cowl stay and manipulate it around. Also pay attention to the mirror mounts (independent of the cowl stay itself), they like to move when crashed and can play a big part in locating the upper cowl. Also, how does your frame look where the stops on the lower triple hit it? If impressed on one side more than the other, they will allow the steering lock to travel farther and can make it seem like the upper cowl stay is off. When you're all done, then reinstall the gauges.

You'll get it! Major progress so far.

Yeah, that's pretty. Congratulations.

Looks great

Welcome! There is a ton of info here. Do some searches before posting questions. You'll likely find what you need.

Thanks. I have a lead on spare cilinders.. Failing that, in 2,5 weeks I'll be in Milan, Italy on a large mc fair. I know there'll be an Italian gentleman with parts..... In the mean time, my commuter is a Honda again... And after work I "put put" around on a wee 150cc 4-stroke. 1953 registration '40's engine design '30's suspension design....

I'm quite pleased how this arrangement worked out, as it was a last minute setup before riding cross country. In the past I've strapped all manner of dry bags to the pillion with varying results. Last trip in April was a roll top duffel that worked, but I ended up fighting with it moving around and it made getting into the panniers annoying. Another reason for this change was taking heated gear with me. Heated gear can be a bit fragile and isn't particularly fond of being wadded up under compression. I've had wiring joints internal to the fabric come apart. Folding them up nicely in a self supported tote fixed this potential problem. I was also able to put some heavier spares (stator) in the bottom before putting the gear above. This is a 5 gal, $10 Craftsman tote from Lowes that is held firmly in place by Rok straps in a X arrangement on either side. The cutouts in the tote where the straps are looped were already there, I didn't need to modify anything. Now having a flat surface to work with, I was able to Bungie net some camping gear on top of the bin. I didn't have to fight with this setup moving about and getting into the panniers wasn't a problem.

Welcome to the forum! You're right -- this is the absolute best place for all things VFR. It's an absolute wealth of information on maintenance, mods, repairs, and great people. 🙂

Objectively the VFR800 is more than quick enough to get in trouble with, but it might feel underwhelming in its power delivery to a Blackbird enthusiast. Definitely see if you can find someone with a VFR willing to let you take it for a ride so you know what to expect.

A little over a week since rolling the odometer, and 0 miles no more. After hanging out around LA for a week the old VFR successfully returned me back east. Enjoyed a bit more local back roads before landing.

I thought that squidbilly was chasing the raised “Interceptor” badges from the US 800F model, to replace the front “VFR” badges on the UK or Oz versions. Not decals. I have done it, just to personalise my bike, and got the new badges from a US supplier, via fleabay!

I understood that he wanted a decal that said 'Interceptor', not one that was 'factory correct'. The one I posted is from a 6th gen but is going on an RC51 tail on a 5th gen VFR. The glue doesn't care 😉.

I almost like that better...,

I ordered mine directly through Honda (ie. dealer parts counter).

I ordered this from Honda last year, still available; https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/2008/vfr800-a-interceptor/mark-06-08 Silver letters with a black outline and dark gray shadow. Overall length 230mm.

To add to JZH's comments, if you mean the Interceptor script on the sides of the upper cowl this could be the part you seek: EMBLEM (TYPE1) (INTERCEPTOR) 86641-MJM-A00ZA happy hunting

OEM Honda parts are available everywhere, if you know the part number... The regular dealer network might only be "plugged in" to the local distributor, but secondary market OEM parts dealers like CMS in NL can often obtain parts directly from Japan or from the US distribution network. And some US dealer also ship internationally. Finding part numbers is a matter of finding the correct part catalogue/microfiche for the model you're looking to buy parts for. So for US-market parts, find the online parts catalogue at a US Honda dealer. Should be on the fairings page. Then pop the part number into the online catalogues for CMS, bike-parts.fr and maybe David Silver Spares (are they still around?) Ciao, JZH

If it makes you feel better, I'm a lightweight too. The highest mileage 5th gen I've personally encountered is in fact not mine. That accolade belongs to a 2001 VFR owner from Canada who I met purely by chance over this summer at a popular motorcycle stop in WV. His odometer was about to be at 0... for the 3rd time. 390,000 KM, which I'm sure is well over 400K by now.

Hey matey, welcome to VFRD from a little bit West of you in Herts. The electrics on your bike have been extremely well sorted from earlier generations and no one to my knowledge has reported any serious problems other than needing to replace a knackered battery. If you find the suspension hard, don't be afraid to wind out the rebound. For solo riding I'm finding at least 2 full turns out from hard on the rear shock and at least 1.5 turns out from hard on the forks. It's worth getting the static sag sorted for your weight; there's lots of articles on the net and some good videos on MCN on you tube if you don't want to pay a professional. I don't know what mileage you've got but if it's over 15k miles a fork oil refresh would be highly recommended ( many will say do it at least at 8k but I'm just trying to be realistic for you). Just be careful with oil weight; if the person doing the work doesn't use the Honda fluid and says 'it's 10w fork oil mate'. For example, Silkolene 10w Pro RSF oil is much heavier than the Honda SS8 or ultra cushion 10w oil. If you do use Silkolene Pro RSF the 7.5w is much closer to the Honda OEM stuff. Other than that, keep her clean and enjoy riding!

Thanks for the advice champs! Took her out for a test ride and loved it! I'm only used to 65 singles (Tenere, Dakar) so it was a world of difference, people were not exaggerating when the described it as buttery smooth! She was surprisingly agile at low speed compared to what I was expecting, which is good as that was one of my main worries and the seat was comfortable. Suspension was a lot harder to what I'm used to and the riding position was a far cry from the sitting up looking over traffic that I'm accustomed to. I paid asking price (I'm useless at at haggling, but I think the dealer knew he was in for an easy time when I came back from the ride grinning form ear to ear), but following Grum's advice (Cheers matey) got them to include: Seat cowl, blanking plates, tool kit, seat collars. The manual and log book are present, with receipts for servicing every year (inc. oil and brakes), having only had one owner from new. It hasn't had the valve clearances checked yet by the looks of things, but the dealer (also a VRF owner) said he'd just wait until I can hear a problem, but I'll cross that bridge a little further down the line once I've picked some brains on the forums a bit more. I also forgot to see if the clutch fluid had been flushed but assuming it's a similar process to flushing brakes(?), then that's something i'd be comfortable doing. Yeah, he probably had those bits sitting outback anyway and just pretended to add them as a sweetener, but like I said, as soon as I walked back in to the dealership he knew my wallet was going to be opening! They're also going to touch up the cosmetics and deliver it tomorrow (60 miles) for free, so all in all I think I did OK, what do you chaps reckon? Thanks again for the advice, I'll pop some snaps up on here in a day or two. Cheers, Billy

The final 1,000. This will probably be resetting to 0 Sunday.

I agree with Grum, that damage looks like just the polarizing film to me. The factory applied film is just stuck down with adhesive over the glass LCD screen, which I bet is fine under there. When I modified mine I was able to remove the film fairly easily, then cleaned the glass with glass cleaner/goo gone/etc., and then installed the new film at 90deg rotation. It seemed daunting at first (sensitive electronics don't agree wth my gorilla fingers and smash-all tendencies), but once I got going it was all pretty easy and straightforward. It doesn't look like I took any pics of the process, but here is the end result: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5pl76rhgm9vg5ux/dash.jpg?dl=0

I was do it last year(replace LCD Polarizing Film), first time is replace the front film, but the results are not very good. Because the film behind it has melted. So, replace the film behind the LCD.... After replacing the film, I realized that I could only see it at night because the maintenance was done outdoors in the evening. Later, I had to replace it again, but this time I applied it at a 90-degree angle so that it can be seen during both daytime and nighttime. However, my LCD has other issues.... The left hand side of photo is behind the LCD, right hand side is front of LCD. Buy from taobao.

Almost there.

Near Therfield, UK between Baldock and Royston. Looking ENE.

So it rains... So what?

It will be a little while before you can do that again. I'm into the final 10K before I get a brand new gen 5.

A photo from a year or two ago on the Hertfordshire/ Cambridgeshire border in eastern England.

I looked into that. that might just be my issue! hell of a job if it goes wrong. i might just squint so i can see my gauges

Stayin' alive.... Just into year 6.

My last mileage entry for 2023.... Only 10,500 mi of riding this year....too much work and a health issue conspired to keep it low.... Can't wait for spring of 2023 !

My car is a 2003 Honda Element, which I bought new 19 years ago. This past winter at about 159,000 miles all the gauges went dark, couldn't drive it at night. My shop found a used instrument cluster, which fixed the problem. But I got the donor car's odometer also! Now it only has 133,000 miles. I'm kinda pissed. edit: I like this photo because it's my 2003 Honda towing my 2003 Honda. 😎

Getting closer to the 100k goal....

here's what I got

Final Odometer Reading for 2021... Keep the good times and the VFR miles rolling !

the 888888 triggered the speedo cable to break shortly after......

88888 Mi Today....

Here are my stats month by month . Purchased my 2014 VFR800D off the show room with less than 10 mi on the odometer. Here are my stats for each year. 2017,2018,2019,2020. The left column is miles. Enjoy.

I sold my 6th gen. two weeks ago. Ending odometer reading was 101,012. 🙂

Hit this a couple weeks ago on my '04. Bought the bike from its first owner with 4,225 miles on it in August 2006. My goal for 2020 was to see this number on my VFR.

Had it since 1995, bought it with 4500 miles for $4500.

I bought mine new April 2020, lockdown and weather has her at 700 odd miles still. First service done and waiting to tour

Bought my 02 wrecked with 200 miles on it, rebuilt it and rode the crap out of it until 2016.

21,208 km may seem quite low to most. However, the odometer, on the 6th gen at leas., only has room for 5 digits. It reached 99,999 km or miles, which ever you have it set at, then it rolls to zero and starts over again. Add a 2 to the left side of mine. Yes. It has rolled twice. 221,208 km. This thing, regardless of some pretty severe abuse, runs like a timex watch. I have replaced the stator twice, and had a hell of a time trying to find out what was causing some problems with starting in first gear a while back. That turned out to be a severely won clutch. After the clutch rebuild, the thing ran almost like new again. The Honda tech who worked on it told me I should easily roll that odometer once again. I crashed this thing on some god forsaken road in Baja in October 2018. We just picked it up off the road, well mountain goat trail really, then I just rode it away.