St. Stephen

Terry, so cool to read your eval of the 7th gen coming from your very VFR experienced background. It's different, but it is just incredible. I bought it the 1st year and the following seven were great. Looking forward to more reports from you in NZ.

edit: should have mentioned Maine's theme...a thorn amongst the roses. TC's Tenere amongst the 5th and 7th gens. They all moved away from the Yamaha... 😎

Great news. Time to ride Terry.

Honestly, I don't recall the fans being annoying or coming on constantly. I did commute to work on the 1200 when I lived in the midwest U.S., but no issues. Mine was a 2010.

"Sneaky fast," and "super steady." Yes, exactly. What is your impression of the brakes--on your limited riding experience so far? My 2010 had the best brakes I've owned, the Nissins better than my two current bikes with Brembos. Keep the updates coming please, fun stuff.

Already looks better than 90% of the 1200's on the road--not that I see many on the road. Nice work Terry.

Reading the last paragraph Lorne attached I found myself laughing hard as I recalled a friend who, yes, would have plugged in a blow dryer from the bathroom to heat and smooth the floor tiles in his garage. I can be pretty OCD at times but please shoot me before I descend to that level of form over function. Anyway, I would go for simple cement, although it is obviously JZH's money spent not mine.

OK, my list, which will be much easier than those above since there are only, I'm pretty sure, 11. -Mini bike--manufacturer long forgotten. Pull start, centrifugal clutch, curved steel plate that rubbed the rear tire, which the manufacturer called a "brake." The most incredible thing I had ever owned in my life up to that point. -Bonanza mini bike, photo in previous post. 10hp! An inch of front suspension! My introduction to two-stokes. -Suzuki TS250. Eight months working the fryers at KFC got me a NEW street legal bike at 15. Put 42 miles on it in my dad's parking lot until I turned 16 and got my permit. -Honda 350 Scrambler. Since I was both young and dumb I was its final owner. Sort of ran for six months. -Suzuki GS400. Still young and dumb I didn't notice that the forks did.not.move. until I got it home. But I got that resolved and had four great years until the kid that stole it crashed it beyond repair. -1985 VF700 tariff bike, purchased new in 1986. My one and only bike for 16 years. Kids, mortgage, job...but some incredible trips through New England and the mid-Atlantic. -2002 6th gen. When you go 16 years between VFR's the new one seems like a revelation! -2010 7th gen. So different but just a great motorcycle. That motor! Those brakes! -2003 RC-51 SP-2. I own two bikes at the same time. Whee! Many great track days as well as a memorable 1000 mile weekend in the Sierra with fellow VFRD members. -2017 Ducati Multistrada S. Still in the garage, sport touring perfection for what I do. A great travel bike that can also really charge. -2026 Aprilia Tuono 660 Factory. 400lbs! So far it's the perfect replacement for the RC-51--lighter, 100hp, rational seating position. I may change my mind tomorrow, and I've never owned a 5th gen, but I think my favorite is the 2002 VFR800. Despite a pretty disastrous R/R failure in 2009 (I wasn't so young then, but was still dumb) it's at the top of my list.

OK, kinda off topic, but...even if you're familiar with terms like PABATCO or Super Rat you might not recognize the bike below. Believe it or not I raced it as a 12-year-old on Friday nights at a 1/4 mile short track in Alstead NH.

Very cool. Since you acknowledge this is a V4 forum you have to post photos.

Kinda tough when this thread leads off with Keny and the Captain! I can get to a dozen, but only if the rules allow my two mini-bikes. One powered by a Tecumseh lawn mower engine, the next a Hodaka 100!

homeboy?

There is no 50 state version. I so rarely get to show some expertise on VFRD that I had to jump in quickly. 😎

I think we agree. I used "cheat" because they are an aid to the next person who removes and then re-tightens that bolt. Most of the Ducati ones line up with a specific spot or same color mark indicating, to me anyway, that this is where you should stop tightening. The Aprilia ones? Yes, inspection and quality control.

Haha, maybe you're Italian. My Ducati has a bunch of small colored marks on bolt heads that I assume are "torque cheats," i.e., shows the point where the spec'd torque value is when tightening small bolts. But little color coded dots are all over my Aprilia. Everywhere! From the factory.