moroseduck

No one got any clues for me on these bits? I'm sure it's something pretty damn obvious, but my brain is letting me down at the moment.

Been putting all the bodywork back on my bike over the last couple of days. Has any other motorbike got a more faffy, piecemeal and easily broken set of plastics than a 90-93 VFR? Because if there is I don't want to buy it. Despite broken tabs and connectors, some of which I was able to fix, some I just had to ignore, and awkward wrangling to get some parts into place without snapping others I had it almost all back together. Then I came to the final panel, the right hand middle fairing, and it just doesn't line up with the lower panel. The right hand side is the one that hit the deck, so the upper fairing is from one place, the middle and lower fairings from another, and all are new to my bike. I tried loosening everything off and making use of all the wriggle room available, but it isn't happening, and I have no desire to split any of these pieces through with handling - the upper fairing already has a crack in it. Going to try and get it to a garage that can sort it, and if needed adjust the mounts. A lot of faff for being 5mm out. Just thought I'd share this bag of fun with you guys, it was all going so well... Here's a pic of the left hand side in all its new black glory

Can I hijack this thread with another similar question - got as far as I can putting my bike back together and I have these left over - what have I forgotten 😬

Had a go at vacuuming it out today, and did a lot of turning it upside down and shaking. Quite a lot came out but still sounds like there's quite a lot left in - I began to feel like the shaking and vacuuming was making more 😂 Might try taking it to my local garage and seeing if they will have a go with an air compressor. Could definitely give diesel a go, it's just making sure it's completely drained and avoiding sludge which concerns me.

Thanks gents, glad I thought to ask here before blundering on and making the situation worse! With any luck I'll have the bike together by the end of the week, once I've worked out the fairings jigsaw puzzle, complicated by a few broken bits and missing screws and bolts😂😬

Hey folks, Well, I'm so nearly there, after months of waiting I've finally got my bodywork (most of it...) back from the paint shop and have started putting the Veef back together. One holdup thought is the fuel tank. For one thing, sometime since I last saw it it's lost one of the rubber cushions from the front mounting. Luckily I've been able to source a replacement online for that. The other issue is it seems to have a fair amount of loose debris inside it - I don't know if this is pre existing junk, or crud from the paint shop, but I obviously need to get it out. Is water ok to use to rinse it, and given that it can't be fully drained even by tipping it upside down, any advice on how to get water and crud out? So near, yet still so far 😂😭

Brilliant, thank you, I'd planned on doing an oil change once I get the fuel tank back, I'll hold off painting till then.

With the return of my resprayed fairing and tank imminent it's time to get the scuffed and flaking paint on clutch and alternator cover painted, but I've never sprayed anything before. I've bought some TechCote high temp paint, any advice on how best to proceed much appreciated - I'm tempted to mask off and spray in situ as Ive not taken the respective covers off before and have no idea what to expect, is this dumb? Thanks in advance

Well, I made it back in one soggy piece and am now the proud owner of this very scruffy NX650. Having never owned an upright bike like this the first few corners and roundabouts were a bit alarming as I had to relearn how to ride, but I got there in the end. Had a really fun ride home despite the pouring rain, certainly a very different riding experience from my VFR which is just what I wanted. Now I just need to attend to, well, pretty much everything on it 😂 Should be a good place to learn some spannering skills on a machine that's less likely to kill me if I get it wrong! Grabbed this picture whilst lost in rural Wales

Quick update on this (because I'm still waiting on my fairing and fuel tank to come back from the paint shop so I've got no VFR adventures/misadventures to amuse me). After too much time looking at stuff on the internet I've pulled the trigger on a rough and ready 1998 Honda NX650 Dominator. It's a runner not a looker, but is only costing me £1500 which is about as good as it's going to get in the UK for this sort of thing, and seemed like an appropriate amount to spend on a bike which may not get a ton of use. Looking forwards to collecting it on Sunday - a 3 hour ride back from Swansea on nobbly tyres that haven't yet been broken in, in what promises to be utterly atrocious weather 👌 Now I REALLY need to sell the XJR

That definitely looks worth checking out - my boys live down in North Devon so I've even got a place to stay. Thanks for the headsup!

There's nothing quite like getting smacked in the head by a large bug at speed to really wake you up 😂

The above questions about realistic opportunities to go off road locally are totally fair, this is definitely not the best place to be for it. There is a local group that meets (or at least met) up to go on rides and trips out, and we do have the Ridgeway nearby, but if definitely want to explore that option in the company of someone with experience. I really like the idea of being able to visit family in Devon, or go back to where I grew up in Wales and having some fun, but I know this might be a pipe dream. As much as anything I'm after trying out a different riding experience, and dual sports offer at least the potential of that. The VFR and the XJR are both brilliant bikes, but they're also both fairly sensible bikes, and nobody needs two sensible bikes. I don't want to go down the sports bike route because the VFR is as much in that department as I want/can handle, and the XJR is definitely a far down the more cruiser path as I'm willing to go (admittedly not very far). Hence dual sports/adventure. I've looked at bikes like the transalp, FG650, Tiger etc, but feel like I might end up with too much of a sensible, middle of the road bike with those. For a second bike I'd rather get something that has the potential to be great new fun and/or an utter pain in the arse than something which is just quietly capable. Thanks very much everyone for your advice and experiences with these bikes, I've now thrown the Honda Dominator into the mix as well as they seem to be a bit cheaper - I really don't want to spend too much money on what might turn out to be a terrible idea. Posted with appreciation of a space where I can air the thoughts spinning round my head without annoying those around me who don't give a crap - at least on here it can be easily ignored 😂

You know that thing when you're spending a lot of time on ebay/Autotrader/Craigslist looking at bikes you probably shouldn't buy, but really want to buy? Thought I'd ask for a quick reality check from folks who've ridden more... Quick catchup to where I'm currently at bike wise - bought my gen 3 VFR in 2012, but never really clicked with it and didn't ride much between then and last year. In 2019 I bought an XJR1300 to replace it, but didn't get around to getting the Veef on the market till March 2020 and then, well, you know. Over the summer I decided to roll the dice on getting the seat reshaped and recovered to see if that would help my enjoyment of using the bike - biggest problem I've had with it is my knees smack hard into the fairings. Got seat done by a dude called Ross, looks great and more importantly transformed my riding experience, so the VFR is now going nowhere (apart form sliding down the road, but that's another issue. I love the XJR, it's great fun, made of torque, a proper beefy boy naked riding experience and a real blast on a sunny day, but for a while now I've had a hankering for a rough and ready dual sport thumper for all year round play time and markedly different riding experience from my VFR. I've been eyeing up DR650's in particular, as well as KLR 650 and to a lesser extent the Honda Dominator, but there aren't many of them in this country and so the prices are far from a bargain, and the XJR would have to go to fund this purchase. So my question is, do any of you guys have experience of these dual sports bikes, any advice on models, and thoughts as to whether or not this would be a dumb path to pursue? For visual reference, attached is a picture of a cat attempting to steal my XJR, thanks in advance

What an awesome adventure this has been to read about. The bike looks brilliant and I'm super impressed with everything you've done to it. As my '93 is sitting naked and tankless at the moment this is really inspiring me to try and get as much care and repair done as possible. Sadly my lack of any ability, knowledge, a garage to work in or much in the way of tools is going to limit it to plugs, filters and rubber hoses as much as I can. This is still a big step up from adding petrol, my previous best effort at bike maintenance 🙂