sed8r

Beautiful machine, if I someday can find a good condition '00 in Yellow.. I'll buy it so dang fast it'll make my wife's head spin 🙂 Glad your brakes are up to your expectations now!

Is the brake reservoir dropping? That'd be a telltale sign of something going wrong with the brakes. I'd recommend buying a caliper seal kit and cleaning/rebuilding both calipers. Did mine 2 years ago on a '99 that I'm pretty sure had never been serviced (bike is a 20K mile garage queen that was new to me at the time). The sludge in the caliper was all the confirmation that I needed that I did the right thing. It wasn't a tough job, and now I know that my bike is in tip top condition. If you like wrenching, which I do, it was enjoyable. If you don't you may need to find a mechanic. But I'd try to get the owner to cover the costs, which aren't exceptionally high. My seal kit from eBay was $37.55 USD 2 years ago. Had everything I needed. I have the shop manual and followed that for disassembly/reassembly/flushing etc. As an aside, around that time I also sent of my forks off to Jamie Daugherty for springs and valving appropriate for my build (most Japanese bikes are sprung for a 140 lb rider - I'm close to double that). That wasn't cheap, but was money well spent. It was winter and I wasn't riding it, so I went through and freshened everything up and made it mine. Even ordered a Staintune high mount exhaust from Australia. Delicious sounds from that thing. Wow! I recently rebuilt the forks on my 1997 Valkyrie, it's not an impossible job if you have to do it. I ended up buying a few special tools, but I plan to keep these bikes forever, so it was worth it. If your fork seal is bad, that's a pretty easy job, and there are plenty of resources to walk you through it. But I'd look into the brakes first.

I have a few bikes in the stable currently, and will only be able to take one with me, but I plan to ride it a LOT while over there. All three are very dependable bikes with relatively low miles, so I'm not concerned about parts availability, I guess, I'm just having a devil of a time figuring which to bring with me. 2016 R1200GSA 1997 GL1500C (Valkyrie) 1999 VFR800FI I'm leaning toward bringing the GS, because of the range, the comfort, reliability and luggage (I've got a nice full set of GIVI luggage I picked up when living in Italy a few years ago). I rode all over Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia on that bike with my kids or my wife and never had any problems and loved every minute of it. And the range on the Adventure model is awesome. But then... The Valkyrie is such an awesome machine! It is powerful, huge, comfortable, it barely has 10K miles (picked it up last year, have gone through it completely, desmog, full carb rebuild/sync etc) has a custom seat that matches the paint, is SUCH a looker (Bumblebee yellow and black) and is also very fun to ride. Fuel economy isn't great, (100-120 miles/tank) but I assume there are sufficient gas stations about, since there are villages and towns almost everywhere. Bonus that it is a pretty rare machine over there, and if offered the right price, I'd sell it and pick up another in the states when I got back. It took a while to find this one, but I'm patient and could find another, I'm sure. Maybe an Interstate model next time. The VFR is probably 3rd, probably because it's special to me. It was my first road-motorcycle (ok - not the exact machine, but same year and outfitted the same as when I had to sell mine to pay for IVF for my oldest son). I'll never sell this one, it's in perfect condition, has about 20K miles, runs beautifully, has a brand new Staintune exhaust that looks and sounds incredible, has the SebSpeed clutch cover that looks so dang good, and it's still pretty comfortable to ride as I get older (45). I think VFR's are pretty well represented in the UK, like the GS is (and the Valkyrie isn't). I ride each bike once or twice a week where I live currently, maybe 80 miles that week, maybe 400 - though not nearly that much in the summer (Las Vegas is too hot!!). I'd put the other two in storage with a family member who takes white-glove care of motorcycles and has lots of space to watch after mine... What would you do in my situation? I wouldn't get rid of my GS - I probably never will. I'm inclined to move and get a bigger shop before I sell off toys The other alternative is leave all three and buy a new Triumph or something there to add to what I have now, or buy something else here that is hard to get there and sell it when it's time to come back to the states. Interested if you have any insights, if you live in the UK, or if you just love the GS more than any other machine and can't imagine riding anything else across Europe (I have plans to take it to the continent after I've ridden it all through the Scottish highlands, Wales and England). Thanks for reading.

Perfect! I just shot them an email with my full contact info (you saved me that step!). Nothing but the best for my 'ol gal (and I am not patient enough to wait for another to pop up on ebay). Thanks for the info! A word on Sebspeed - he does OUTSTANDING work. Love the clutch cover he made for me, absolutely trick looking!

bikebandit has most everything I need - shipping is dear if you're only buying a few parts, none of my local dealers (Las Vegas) are worth dealing with... Front Fender is in stock and $191 through them.

How'd you get Staintune to make one for the 5th Gen VFR? I've been to their website and they make them for the 1200's and the 800 ('14 and newer) it looks like. I'm interested!

It's fuel injected. If it has sat for a long time, check the air filter to make sure it's breathing clearly and no mouse have made homes above the filter and blocked the air flow. If no nastyness is there, it may need the injectors cleaned, try a fuel treatment first and dump a bunch in for a tank or two (cheapest fixes first!). Spark plugs should be tested to make sure all are sparking up, and they may need replaced (next item on cheapest fix list). If that doesn't clear it up, you may need to pull the injectors to have them cleaned. There isn't a dearth of low end power on these bikes, the torque curve is pretty flat. If all that doesn't cure the problems, it's helpful to find a local VFR owner and compare the bikes - if you're used to a Hayabusa, the VFR will feel underpowered at low RPM's, but it's no slouch. (I've owned lots of bikes and the VFR is a good performer when in proper tune). My guess is the fuel has varnished in the injectors and a big bottle of Techron or seafoam or whatever you prefer will clear it out - barring an issue with air or spark. Best of luck tracking it down - and let us know what you find out!

You're in the 5th gen forum - look in a 4th gen forum probably for more responses. There are folks in this forum who know plenty about the 4th gen, so you may get some info, but you're one model year too early for the forum you're looking in (this is '98-'01). ebay is a good place to search too! 🙂 I've gotten lots of parts there over the years to fit my cars/trucks/bikes!