enzed_viffer

I didn't know you could buy foam+cover like this. A couple of years ago, I bought a cheap vinyl cover off the local equivalent of ebay, and a cheap hand stapler, and my wife and I put it on. It's OKish, but the stapler wasn't the best. I *do* have a pneumatic stapler, but it's designed for stapling packing cases, and it and the staples are too big for a job like this. What can I say? It's better than the old, worn-out cover, and I added some foam to make the seat thicker, so it's an improvement. Some day I may take the seat to a motorcyle seat specialist, if I keep the VFR, but at the moment it's not really a priority.

So, I wimped out: took the Vifferarri to the Evil BikeMunterer for its Warrant of Fitness, but didn't say anything about his past indiscretions, partly because of it being Christmas. Yeah, I *know*, but it saved me lots of time. I can't say he did a great job testing it, as unbeknown to me, the left-hand headlight low beam filament was blown, and he didn't even pick it up! Turned out my sons had observed it weeks before: "Oh yeah; we saw that and were going to tell you..." I noticed it on the way home, when behind a car and seeing only one headlight's reflection. Changed it on my birthday... Two days ago my parts finally turned up, so yesterday I went all the way to the south end of town to pick them up. Four fairing flange bolts, two small fairing brackets (the ones on the lower middle of the side cowls), six plastic trim clips, and I'm $106 (UnZud) poorer. I noticed that despite the exorbitant prices, parts now seem to all be sourced (cheaply?) from Thailand. All fixed now (new wellnuts that I forgot to order notwithstanding...)

I would also suggest some Shinko's for commuting as they will last longer but I have not experienced them in the rain. Nup. Not Shinkos, nor Avons. Both priced well, but for a reason.

I hope you replace the Merrells with some proper bike boots. I've got some Merrells, and there's no way I'd ride any distance wearing them. When my VFR750 was totaled, I was wearing proper knee-high, armoured bike boots (StylMartin), and 15 years later my left foot still hurts (I think my heel was broken). I replaced those with better StylMartins, and those with better (and more armoured) Forma CapeHorn adventure boots.

I love my VFR, but it's not perfect. In addition to the initial specs, the 'dream' VFR would need to have a lighter swingarm than the current / previous models, and a less ugly hub. If possible, a conventional radiator, rather than the pannier ones. Although, y'know, having said that, both the VF500 and VFR750 were hot to ride, so maybe (apart from being simpler), it's not a big deal. Other than that, I don't care.

I replaced the R/R (and the battery) on my 90 VFR750, but didn't touch the stator. Same on my '97 VTR1000. The VFR800 has its original stator and R/R at 64k miles, and the Motobatt battery has been in the bike for years now, still all good.

I'm on my second set of Oxford heated grips. The first pair were on the bike when I bought it, and were the best, with a rotary analog controller, so I could choose whatever temperature I wanted. Current ones have been on for a few years, were easy to install and are push button, with four heat settings, each with a different colour LED (blue, green, orange, red). It's a little tricky to consistently get the switch to work, especially with gloves on - the rotary knob was easier. Also, lately the left grip looks somewhat munted, like it's melted a bit. I think what's actually happened is the rubber has softened, and using the clutch lever has smooshed the rubber around a little. No biggie, but not that great. Another minus is the grips are fatter than the original ones, but I got used to them quickly. As with all my electrical doodads, the grips are wired to my BlueSeas5025 fusebox under the seat.

I ran some chromed Honda Civic lug nuts for quite a while with no problems, then I painted the OEM ones gold to match the front brake disk carriers (originally silver). Looks really good with the silver wheels.

I'm rather horrified at the price of screws, clips, etc. I doubt it's because they're rare, or whatever, because had no problem ordering some. Maybe they're "New Old Stock"? It cost me over 100 UnZud ShekelDollarz for four bolts, 6 plastic clips, and two small fairing brackets. Today was the first time in a few years I've done my own routine maintenance. There's a bike workshop about 100 metres up the road from my workplace, and it was really easy to just drop the bike in there in the morning, have it serviced, then pick it up at the end of the day. But... a few things have soured this for me. The first was when I bought my Thurn LED taillight and indicators after I broke my taillight lens, and the owner of the shop mocked them, solely because if you bend down you can see two wires going to the board the LEDs are mounted on. I thought a cardinal rule of the motorcycling fraternity was you don't mock someone else's ride, unless invited to, or you want to pick a fight. The next thing was the last time I took it for a service and annual Warrant of Fitness check. When I went to pick it up, he said, "You're lucky it wasn't raining today, or I would have failed the front tyre!" I've been running a Pilot Road rear, and a Pilot Power front, as it quickens the steering. My regular route to work has one long, sweeping right-hand bend, that I always hammer the bike round. As a result, the soft front tyre has a lot more wear on the right shoulder than the left, and the tread is a bit low in places. I think his commment was directed at that. However, over the past 11 months, I've commuted every day with that same worn tyre, wet or dry, and had no problems, as tread or not, the tyre is sticky. I *was* going to keep riding on it until the next WOF check in a few weeks, just so I could have him up about these things, but after finding the muntered fittings on the bike (courtesy of Mr Rude or his workers), and talking about his attitude with my SpousalUnit, she said, "Well, vote with your feet - go somewhere else!" So, I've ordered some parts from another dealer, and this morning I bought some oil and a filter (now fitted) and had a new Pilot Road2 fitted to the bare wheel (no charge for fitting). All done now, and the bike rides well. I've another bloke (provided he's still in business) that I can go to for the WOF; not as convenient, but he's consistent, fair, and not a dick. Plus (BONUS!!) it's a 20 minute ride each way. :D

Whelp, seeing as I'd already washed the two dubbies, and had nothing else to do (the doggies were out being walked somewhere), I was BORED. So, I washed the VFR. Yes, yes - I *know* that's pretty shocking. I can't for the life of me recall when it last went near water that wasn't splashing up off the road, or falling out of the air, so it must've been several eons ago (even allowing for my degenerating mental state). Nope - I'm not going to post pictures, as even with most some of the grime and road spooge removed, it's still not a pretty sight. Although, I must admit that the blue paint was really rather pretty in the sunlight. But (however...) given the tahrrrz are all smeary and nearly bald on the right, no doubt the next adventure will entail some asphalt surfing, and the usual crashing, dying, bursting into a hot oxidative process, and more deceasing. You know how it is... AND! The final of the MotoGP is imminent! I just hope my wife encouraging me to renew my subscription wasn't rash. Or road rash... Subscript: Went out to the garage to marvel, and discovered one of the tail-light lens screwbolts was absent without ... something. being a weird flaged bolt with a large head, I don't have a spare, so I stuck some random boltscrew I found in the drawer in in in in its place. I sorrreeeee....

LOL! Dorked by the ABs.

If it looks anything like the RC213V-S then no thanks.

Is a TPMS really necessary? I've got one on my car (came with it), but on my bike I can feel a 1 or 2 PSI drop in pressure pretty readily. Over 42-odd (and sometimes VERY odd) years of motorcycling, I've had only 4 punctures, all in the back tyre, and 3 of them in newish tyres. Luckily (?) they were all screws or nails, and plugged OK, so I still got the full life from the tyres. Had none for years (ever since I stopped riding in places I shouldn't, like the edges or middle of roads, where all the crap gets swished by traffic.

Something no-one's mentioned is that from Rossi's rant before the race about Marc Marc Marc (Marc) Marquez, he's obviously feeling very frustrated about his hopes of getting a 10th world title slipping away. Despite both Marc Marc Marc (Marc) Marquez and Lorenzo on fire this season (and the rebuilt Pedrosa!), he could see he was very close to getting the title, but for Marc Marc Marc (Marc) Marquez being on his case all the time. I think that he knows if he doesn't win it this season, it's unlikely to happen. But... apart from all that, his rant to the cameras before the race about Marc Marc Marc (Marc) Marquez setting out to ruin things for him was very ugly, (and VERY uncharacteristic of someone who's normally very positive and light!), as was the incident itself. I must admit that despite being a Rossi fan since he started in the 125s, I've lost some respect for the man. I guess this behaviour is just a measure of the pressure he feels. As for Lorenzo, his statements and attitude were very much 'sour grapes'. I suspect that he is envious of Rossi and the huge fandom he has, and his antics earlier in his career when he tried to "do a Rossi" with 'Lorenzo Land' and whatnot were an attempt to be as 'big' as Rossi. All of this would be moot, if Rossi hadn't gone to Ducati; he'd have had 10 titles by now. I think maybe it was a misguided repeat of when he went from Honda to Yamaha to prove to the naysayers that it was him that won the races, not the bike. Let's hope things are better from here on out. Oh yeah; I forgot to say, "At least no-one crashed, died, burst into flames and died all over again." That would have REALLY sukt.

Hi, Terry. It's nice that you want to support local businesses, but the big spanner in the works is Blue Wing Honda, who have the monopoly on Honda parts AND don't carry any stock. It's not only quicker to buy parts over teh interwebs, but also considerably cheaper, even with freight.

My front tyre valve sometimes leaks, and I can tell if it's under about 34psi because it behaves exactly as you described. The VFR has a definite front-end bias (especially if you have the front raised in the triple clamps, and the back end cranked up like I do, to speed up the steering a bit), so doesn't tolerate low tyre pressure particularly well.

I bought some crappy hugger from an ex-member on here; (can't remember the brand), and in order to make it fit properly and not flap around, I did something similar to what you've proposed. I made up a simple bracket from aluminum bar, about 1/8" thick by ~1" wide, and about 8" long. Bent an angle in it, and a curve to match the hugger, then tapped a hole in the swingarm (Shock! Horror!!) and bolted to to that with a s/steel bolt and loctite, and riveted it to the hugger. It's been on now for years, and works well. Like all huggers (?), occasionally a stone or bit of debris will be picked up by the tyre and rattles around before being ejected, but it's no big deal.

That's the point: a relay is like a switch that can handle higher currents, and is operated by another switch that can't - in this case, the horn button. when you press the horn button, it closes a circuit in the relay, activating a heavy duty electromagnetic switch, allowing current to flow from the battery, through the heavy gauge wires, through the relay, and to the horn. The horn button now only handles very low current flow.

Congratulations on losing weight! That is one of the most difficult things to do, a major success story. >> Weellll, yes and no. I'm (probably) bipolar, and for a couple of years, my GP had me on mirtazipine, which is also used to treat anorexia. It gives you a serious appetite, especially for carbs and CHOCOLATE! (Mmmmm... chocolate....) When I decided to chuck all meds (again), my appetite went back to normal, and in conjunction with an exercise schedule for my wrecked shoulder (free gift when I had open-heart surgery in 2010), and a more recent one for my wrecked back (some collapsed disks) I started losing weight pretty quickly. Especially when combined with walking /playing with my mental dogs (retriever/poodle crosses.) Now my wife says I'm TOO thin (down to about 70kg). Is your shock OEM? Despite not being particularly heavy springs, the valve rate is such that all response from the stock shock is harsh. My mechanic says he has never seen a Honda shock fail. Knowing Honda, they built the shock to be bullet proof. Unfortunately reliability is usually at odds with performance. >> No, it's not. Front forks have been professionally rebuilt with Ohlins and Racetech parts (twice! because the original Sonic Springs were too harsh), and the rear shock was an Elka (VFRD group buy), which coincidentally has the same internal dimensions as a VFR-specific Ohlins, whose parts now reside inside it. Look out! To the man with a sabre saw in his hand every problem looks like a block of wood. >> And apparently a man with a sabre saw in his hand looks like a crazed and crazy fool to his wife. (Thank goodness she never saw me trying to remove the peened link from my VTR's chain, using a 24,000RPM laminate trimmer and low-speed grinder bit. Now I've had some pretty dumb ideas, but THAT was definitely the dumbest one EVER!

I have to say that of all the 'cans' I've heard, the carbon fibre ones sound the best, and high-mount mufflers look much better'n low mount.

I finally got around to backing off all the settings on my bike. I lost a lot of weight (about 14 or 15 kg) and hadn't bothered adjusting anything. It now feels SO plush and compliant. There's one thing that always gets me about the VFR though, and that's how much unsprung weight there is in the rear. Doesn't matter how good your shock is, and how well it's set up, it's still going to bang and clatter over bumps. Handling's fine - it's just never going to be a magic carpet ride. Mebbe I should just get the drill out and start lightening.... Or the sabre saw: my SpousalUnit's favourite tool. NOT!! Recently did some renovation on the house, and there were a couple of jobs where it was really the only tool for the job. Man, talk about getting wound up! Now if I want some entertainment, I just say something like, "Hmmmm.... I think the sabre saw would the perfect tool for this job!"

No-one will ever buy my bike, after all the crashing, dying, exploding into flames and other assorted disasters it's been subjected to. Plus it's more than likely haunted (several ghosts in the machinery). On the other hand... maybe if I wash it that will make a difference? Hasn't been near water (apart from rain and watered-down road spooge) for as long as I can remember. On the other other hand, maybe I'll just keep it. It's well trained now, and well aware of the drill when it comes to crashing, dying, etc. Saves me having to train a new one on the correct procedures.

I think it was LuvtoLeanit who stated that many with ABS who don't practice real emergency stopping procedures can be unnerved by the feedback/pulsing of the ABS taking over and actually extend their stopping distances. That's also true of car drivers; if you've never experienced the feeling, it's easy to be freaked out by it and let up on the brakes.

Yes, it might well be a bit tight; mine was the same last week and better after I loosened it a bit. You will notice the dampers in the hub only if they are very worn, and then only when getting on/off the throttle, as there is more slop between the sprocket and hub. The cush rubbers should only need replacing every 5 or 6 years or so, unless you are hard on/off the throttle.

Maybe my experience is somewhat anomalous, but (apart from the extra weight) I like the DCBS. I've found it really great on gravel roads or slippery tarmac, where you can stomp pretty hard on the brake pedal with little fear of lockup at either end. One thing I've read about vehicles equipped with ABS is that people almost never practice panic stops, so in an emergency they underestimate just how hard they need to stomp on the brake to come to a stop quickly, or else they tend to let off the brakes. It's actually alarmingly violent, but not as violent as hitting something.