The mailman

The Zero Gravity Sport Touring shield put the wind directly (but evenly) on my helmet. I no longer had the wind on my chest and buffeting around under the chin bar of my helmet. My Shoei RF-1100 was MUCH quieter in an even flow of air with the ZG - ST shield. A simple test is to use your hand/glove placed horizontally across the bottom of your helmet while riding at highway speed to see the difference in buffeting beneath your chin bar and smoother/quieter times.

The Givi Sport Touring screen pictured worked wonders for me and was incredibly helpful on extended rides. Rain, bugs, and wind all seemed much better and installation is a snap. I'm right at 6'-0" tall.

According to my profile, I joined the circus here in January 2003! Tonight I watched my 3rd VFR ride out of our cul-de-sac and into history. It found a new home here locally in the south Denver metro area with a guy named Steve that I obligingly directed to the circle of knowledge here. He got a fantastic motorcycle with a load of extras that filled the trunk of his car that might weigh as much as the bike itself. I've had an amazing run here and can't thank you enough for the quick answers to many questions, the ride reports, and photos. My main mantra is there is no such thing as too many pictures! I'll stop back by from time to time I'm certain. For now, my fun-runs will be on four wheels rather than two. I'm staying Japanese and sticking with a six speed however it is no where near as fast as the VFR but it will keep up in the twisties! Cheers to everyone here. Thanks for keeping this an adult place free from flaming everyone not exactly like you. This is a very unusual place and I've enjoyed the ride immensely.

I realize you have a newer VFR but this is my solution for my 6th gen. You could reduce the size of the top block to accommodate access to the header area. Note: all blocks are screwed together with 3" deck screws.

I'm with joneill ....Buy yourself a something made with GoreTex and forget about everything else. I bought a separate rain set and I got mine in a XL so it goes over my regular gear. I just don't understand the recent manufacturing idea of making your inner most layer waterproof. Then you're riding in heavy wet outer layers and your gear looks like you dragged it down the highway in the rain. Yes - it is something extra to pack but after riding consecutive days of heavy rain the the PNW as well as the midwest during tornado season, only riding inside a car would have kept me drier. Some manufacturers require you to remove your jacket/pants and then zip in the waterproof inner liner. I don't like the idea of totally dis-robing as the rain starts to pour. I keep my rain gear in my tank bag and can have it out and on over my regular gear in under a minute. GORTEX

Our last local Honda shop here in the south Denver area (Britt Honda) went belly up because their customer service just plain sucked and that's the nicest way I can put it. No appointments for service, no calls to keep you up to date if you decided you did want to leave it for 2 - 3 weeks, no attempt at price matching anyone (I told them I don't mind paying a LITTLE more than an on-line shop as I like to support the locals but they wouldn't even blink), they damaged my last VFR >TWICE< and I had to threaten showroom destruction to get anything out of them, and then the last straw was when they mounted my tires on the wheels backward and said they couldn't tell which way was right/wrong - was I sure they were backward? LOOK AT THE FRICKIN ARROWS ON THE WHEELS DUDE!!! Not more than two weeks later, they were gone. I think the corporate shops have too many sheep that will just do whatever the shop suggests. My bucks go to a local mom n pop shop.

DOUBLE WOOT WITH A BACK FLIP ----- I found the "Since my last visit" tab!

I've seen a few bike racks on motorcycles but never one mounted laterally across the motorcycle. I guess being mounted on this cruiser, side-leaning clearance probably is not as much of an issue as it would be on a sport bike.

STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM 18 WHEELERS! Two times now, I have been in the position of being behind an 18 wheeler w/o enough distance to pass him prior to an upcoming exit that I needed to take. Fortunately, I was in my car as I slowed and just tucked in behind them to exit safely. I took a LARGE cooler to the windshield that was kicked up from under the rear wheels of the truck. I have no idea where it came from and I'm certain the big rig driver had no intention of swerving for it any way. The weight, size, and speed of that cooler would have taken me clean off my VFR. In an eerily similar situation, I also had three pieces of plywood spew out from under a truck ahead of me just prior to an exit. Two of them missed my car and the third crashed into the passenger side A pillar - again, I'm certain that I would have been removed from my VFR in the blink of an eye as both items hit ABOVE the hood line on my car. Not being able to see what lies ahead is a huge risk, not to mention the fact that an 18 wheeler CANNOT STOP ON A DIME. I'm not sure who told you that but they deserve a nice Hawaiian punch. Some simple Mass X Speed equations will solve that in a hurry. Often times it isn't the truck that is the danger but rather what you can't see because of the truck and/or the collateral damage caused by their surroundings. STAY AWAY!!!

Thanks Cogswell - I just stumbled across the "WE'RE BACK - WOOT!" thread so I moved my comments over there. Amazing how much can change in 6 weeks! I will throw in that the neurosurgeon said he wasn't sure who/what would come out of the surgery but she should be about 90% after 6 months recovery. BIG THUMBS UP!

I've been down for a month+ as my wife had some very unexpected major brain surgery and I just got the chance to fire VFRD back up....Lots of things different now (or maybe just FOR NOW). New web designs are always a challenge for the user as well as the webmaster. I panicked when I hit my regular favorites on my home page and it said NOT AVAILABLE. Knowing we go through big changes every couple of years, I went at it the old fashioned way and typed it in my Google bar and presto - something similar at least! Now I feel like my wife re-learning everything! Like many others, I thought it might have gone under as I have been very occupied lately haven't had much "ME" time. I guess the only thing I'm missing for now is my favorite "Since my last visit" tab. Thanks HS for all you do.

VFRs have just about the easiest rear tires of any motorcycle to remove. Just loosen the lug nuts prior to putting it up on the center stand. Remove/Replace and be on your way. I've actually R/R'ed both wheels after riding to work, taken them in a company vehicle to the local shop for new rubber and picked them up at the end of the day, remounted and ridden home. EASY AS PIE! No AAA or trailer required. I just have a simple 2X4 pyramid placed under the headers when both wheels come off. You'll save quite a bit by just bringing in the wheels!

I have had some soft luggage that performed about as well as a burlap sack in the rain. However, I grown to love my "soft" saddle bags from Nelson-Rigg. I have always kept a hard style trunk for lockable dry storage but these saddle bags work flawlessly and I have been caught in a couple of day-long downpours on long rides. While you can't submerge them in a lake and stay dry, they did keep things remarkably dry inside. WaterPROOF is a strong claim and I question that label on anything I buy but I would call them 99.9% waterproof. So dry in fact that the top right side is where I keep my camera for quick, easy access, even during wet rides. One of the things I also like is that they are a rigid type construction so even when they're empty (as in the photos below) they retain their maximum capacity shape. It is also nice that they have a very wide double zipper configuration that opens on the top rather than a side opening bag that dumps everything out when you open the lid. Looking at the cash lay-out for a full OEM hard bag system vs. the under $100 range for these, I simply couldn't justify the difference.