TimC

The only large car ferry I've been on was the one from South Baymouth to Tobermory, Ontario. I was doing my tour around Lake Huron and decided to take the ferry instead of riding around Georgian Bay. Between getting to the terminal early to assure I'd have a spot, waiting for the ferry, the 2-hour trip, and disembarking, I probably didn't save that much time. But it was nice to relax on the boat, get some rest during a long day of riding, and get a hot meal onboard. This boat had a full kitchen and even a gift shop. The day was overcast and the trip across the water was cool and misty. Really neat experience. I included a few photos below. This was the first time I ever had to tie my VFR down, and all they had was some twine rope. I was a little worried but it was fine. The water was fairly calm and the boat was very steady. But after that episode I bought a set of decent tie-downs in case I ever need to take a ferry like that again on a tour. Two other car ferries I've been on (sorry, no photos): There's a small ferry that crosses the Ohio River between Fly, OH, and Sistersville, WV. It fits several cars. I've been on it once or twice. It's a very short ride, is pretty cheap, and does save some time traveling further to one of the bridges that cross the river. But mostly it's just kind of cool to be sitting on or standing next to your motorcycle on a floating platform in the middle of a large river. I almost took the ferry just for the fun of it during my last SE Ohio ride, but decided to skip it. Maybe next spring. Kanadian Ken and I took a very small ferry from Ontario to NY state during a tour around Lake Ontario. It was tiny. I can't remember where it was exactly, but it was on the NE side of the lake and saved us a bunch of time vs. riding east to the next bridge to cross over. It's a very short ride. When you get to the other side, as soon as you roll off the boat you're basically at the border patrol shack. What made this crossing more memorable for me was how much of a prick the US Border was, the first and last time that's happened to me.

How did this devolve into an oil thread?! Not that I'm innocent here.

My riding season ended a few weeks ago, a little earlier than hoped for, unfortunately. There is a rattle in my BMW's front end, and it took me a few tries before I diagnosed it as bad front wheel bearings (probably). This should be covered under warranty, so I have an appointment at the local dealer shop in a couple weeks. Around the same time I figured out the problem the weather got cold and wet. Then a couple weeks ago when the weather was very nice for November, I had a medical issue that kept me off the bike, and now the weather has turned very cold again. So I guess it's just as well the bike is out of commission for now, otherwise I'd be tempted to keep riding it. I'm sad my season is over but I'm not too disappointed. It was a good year. I got one decent trip in this year, one epic overnighter, and a several long days, including a few SE Ohio rides. As for winterizing the bike, I used to do spring oil changes on the VFR instead of end-of-season. I never noticed any ill effects, but going forward I'm changing the oil and filter as part of my winterization routine before I store my bike in the garage.

Welcome to the forum! 🙂 That's an impressive fleet. Thanks for sharing the photos!

Good point. I don't figure half a tank or so of lower octane once in a while is going to do much harm, but I at least like having the choice. My current bike takes premium, as does my car. 😞

I mostly agree with the mileage thing, but I think any bike sold as a sport-tourer should have at least a 200-mile range, especially if it takes premium fuel (though I have no idea whether those new bikes do). I've run into a situation once or twice where the small town I stopped in for fuel had one gas station, and it was 87 octane only. As for the 'Busa, if I wanted a hyper-tourer, I'd go for a Concours 14, with its OEM hard bags and more agreeable ergonomics. 😉

For me and my aging body, it wasn't the upper body that gave me problems on my VFR; it was the lower body, specifically my knees (and especially the right one for some reason). If I'd kept my 6th gen. I'd have to have lowered the footpegs. Any ride over 2-3 hours had me popping my right knee very often, and sometimes during longer rides just dangling my legs once in a while during straight sections of road or on the freeway/interstate. I should also mention that while my back was very rarely a problem, my neck would get very stiff during long rides, too, I think from "looking up" constantly in the crouched riding position. The bike I bought to replace my VFR has similar ergonomics to the VFR, but somewhat relaxed compared to the VFR. But even with those ergos, some owners install bar risers and a few lower footpegs, too. I'm fine with both. All this leads me to believe something like the new NT1100 would work great for me for long days and tours, which is what it's built for in the first place. Also, I agree with the others -- this thing needs a centerstand. Why on earth would you build a chain-driven ST machine and not include a centerstand on it?!

I was thinking of attending the motorcycle show up in Cleveland to see this and some other new models, but it looks like there are no indoor shows scheduled for this winter. I guess I'll have to wait until they show up at the local Big 4 dealer shop, which is anyone's guess if and when they'll get those models. Not only due to the pandemic, chip shortage, and supply chain situations, but because since I know these new ST bikes won't sell in big numbers, I bet most dealers will stock very few of them, if they can even get any in the first place. 😕

Can you not park one of the cars outside? I realize some people live in condominium or other communities with strict rules about parking cars and motorcycles outside, but if it's possible to park one car outside, I'd do that rather than sell a perfectly good motorcycle. Even if you had to keep the bike outside most of the time, there are some decent solutions for that to keep it out of the weather. If you're going to have to buy a second car anyway, maybe shop for a subcompact that is short enough that you can fit the motorcycle in front of the car when it's parked in the garage. I did just that for a couple years. I had a small 2-door hatchback, and in the winter we were able to fit our two cars in the garage, with my VFR parked in front and just off to the side of my car. It worked great. Now, if you've lost your mojo, like @gmtech94 said, that's a different story. Maybe it is time to sell the bike, and maybe come back to riding one day, perhaps on a different kind of motorcycle altogether. Or if your wife expresses an interest in riding with you, whatever kind of bike she's comfortable riding pillion. Or even having her own bike! I kind of lost my joy for riding for a couple years. Those two years I think I only averaged about 1,500 miles annually. Thankfully I got it back and have ridden quite a lot over the last couple years. I'd say if you don't absolutely have to sell your bike, don't. But there's no shame in getting out for now, or even permanently. Just don't rush into that decision is what I'd say.

I would guess we never saw many aftermarket seat options from companies other than Sargent and Corbin, at least for 6th gens, because VFRs didn't sell in great numbers. In my mind it's not the padding and cover that's the hard part - it's the seat pan that has to be engineered to fit the bike. If a company doesn't think they're going to sell very many seats, they probably just skip that bike. I didn't have the stock seat on my 2004 for very long. Soon after I bought the bike and joined VFRD, there was a group buy with Sargent, and I jumped on it. I also didn't want or need to seat cowl attached, so I didn't care if it did or didn't work with the new seat. In addition to the shaping of the seat that @ducnut mentioned above, Sargent's seats are often narrower at the front compared to OEM seats, allowing for an easier reach to the ground, which is beneficial to those of us with shorter legs. I loved the Sargent on my 6th gen. Held up extremely well, too. I bought a Sargent for my current bike, too, but it's not quite as comfortable as the one I had on the VFR. It's still a huge improvement on the OEM seat though.

When I was just getting into riding, I was really drawn to the 599 and 919, and I still like them. But the exhaust placement looked like it would prevent being able to strap anything down to the rear seat, which is a deal-breaker for me. I've always thought the 599 would be a terrific commuter bike, as long as you could get away with just using a backpack.

I said it before and I'll say it again: Soooo jealous of you folks who made the ride. Looks like a great time was had by all, both riding and just hanging out. I only did a couple trips this year, and one of them was pretty quick. There were some good twisties mixed in there, including a few SE Ohio days, but nothing like the roads you all covered during the fall ride. Really hoping to make one of the annual events next year! 🙂

Is is just me or do the hard bags look a little small for a sport-tourer? Nice looking bike overall, and it seems like a good design for its intended purpose. And that TFT screen looks bigger and nicer than the touchscreen in my car! While I applaud Honda for making a bike like this, I doubt they'll sell a ton of these. Same with Suzuki and its latest ST offering. It's funny...when I started riding in 2006, the vast majority of the popular bikes being sold were either cruisers or supersports. Times have changed and I think things are a bit more spread out among cruisers, supersports, beginner bikes, adventure bikes, naked sportbikes, sport-tourers, and full-on tourers (like the Goldwing). But though things have evened out some across different types of bikes, I would guess ST is still the smallest segment.

Some places still have the RF1200 in stock, and many are discounted since the newer RF1300 has been on sale for a while. I've seen them as low as $400, but I'm sure if you search you can find them cheaper than that, though you might not have a lot of choices for colors or graphics.

Congrats on that beauty!! 🙂 I'm amazed examples like this are still out there. It gives me hope I might buy one myself someday.