FJ12Ryder

Just curious why you would make your turn signals even harder to see. Kind of like the guys around here who put smoke/tint on their headlights or tailights.

Your reference to 1/6 turn, 1/9 turn, 1/4 turn is slightly confusing since a 1/9 turn is 40°, 1/6 turn is 60", and 1/4 turn is 90°. So figuring that, the 1/9 turn would be the quickest, with 1/4 turn the slowest. I think your numbers are not quite correct. A quarter-turn throttle, should be much shorter twist than a stock VFR twist. And I was wondering how the trimmed throttle tube still fit in the housing since it is still much larger in diameter at the high point.

It's not uncommon on many bikes for shifts from 1st to 2nd to not be as smooth as any other gear shifts.

With that many years, and that few of miles, it's possible the clutch plates are gunked up and sticking together at initial startup. If you start it in gear with the clutch pulled in first time of the day, does the bike try to lurch forward?

I bought a Micron shortly after I bought my '99 in 2000 and sold it immediately because it was too loud. Nice throaty sound, but obnoxiously loud.

Hmm, that color doesn't match the description: "5th gen in the best color ". 😀 Don't forget red is the fastest too.

Leave it alone?

Personally I don't clean the chain. I don't trust that a good penetrating cleaner won't seep through slightly worn O-rings and clean out the grease that is supposed to be there. JMO of course.

I have seen a time or two, not with my VFR, when a bike will appear to be in neutral, but will slip into gear when the rear wheel is turned a bit. Not very common, but it can happen due to the design of the transmission on most bikes. It also sounds like, since you park your bike on a slope, that once the bike is in gear the pressure of the rear wheel trying to turn will keep the shift lever from being able to move the dogs to shift to neutral. What you did by accident, pushing the bike, caused the pressure to be released from the gears and the shift lever can now move the dogs, and thus shift the gears. It's not unusual to have to roll the bike a little to "unlock" the gear shift lever. If you're parking on a slope, I would put the bike in gear and then let it roll backward so the transmission is holding the bike, rather than the sidestand. Safer that way. Then just roll the bike forward a bit to allow the gear shift lever to move. Good luck.

As long as you can try them on before you buy them. My experience with Sidi footwear is that they tend to run on the narrow side. I couldn't wear any Sidi footgear as they are too narrow for my feet. Pain after a half-hour or so. They are definitely not something I would wear, but if you like them, that's all that matters.

Bought a new battery. When I checked the old one which had been on a Battery Tender, it showed 12.4 V. Put it in, turned the key and nothing. Checked the battery, 12.4 V. Hmmm, checked the battery when I turned the key 0 V. Apparently a bad cell. It woudn't even light a tail light bulb on the bench. So off to Wally World for a new battery. $65 later and I'm back in business. Not sure exactly how old the battery is but got to be 5+ years old. It goes on the Battery Tender in the winter so that probably helps. New front tire is next on the list. Already have it, just need to get it mounted and balanced.

Yep.

Well, not to be too contrary, but an engine is only going to flow so much air. A bigger filter doesn't automatically mean it will flow more air, it just means that there is a larger opening that could let in more air if the engine could take advantage of that. Bigger isn't necessarily better, sometimes bigger is just bigger.

Any kind of aftermarket tuner, like a Power Commander? How many miles on it? After market air filter, like a K&N?

The vacuum bleeders work okay as long as you get a good seal with the bleeders, but that rarely happens. I've tried it a few times and just decided, like you did, that the hassle wasn't worth the payoff. Speedbleeders work a treat.