TimC

Congrats on the new/old Honda and welcome to VFRD from Ohio, USA! 🙂

I bought a BMW R nineT Pure (basically the base model) to replace my VFR a couple years ago. I really dig the boxer twin. It reminds me of my 6th gen's V4 a little, but with more torque and engine braking. Much lower redline though. Of course, my air/oil-cooled boxer is old compared to the liquid-cooled 1250 mill in the new R bikes, but I love mine for its character. You should test ride a boxer just to see how you'd like it. It's not for everyone, and yes, BMWs are expensive. Mine wasn't super spendy, but did cost more than if I'd found a leftover new 8th gen. to buy a couple years ago, even a Deluxe. One nice thing about the boxers though is they're pretty easy to wrench on for the DIY mechanic.

That's just insane. And it's not even a race start, just practice. Besides the crazy speed (the sides are almost a blur in the village), what's remarkable to me about this is how bumpy the course is. You see the rider's upper body jostling around, and the front fork working overtime to handle the inputs. Also, the one-fingered braking. Wow.

I had no idea you could buy motorcycle tires from Walmart online. I usually get tires from Iron Pony in Columbus, OH, or online elsewhere, but now I'll have to remember this option. Thank for the tip! 👍

Welcome to the forum from Ohio! 🙂

Despite a few mishaps - nothing terrible as far as I know - the weekend was great. I think maybe about half the bikes were VFRs? At least a third anyway. One of the things I love about this forum is no one really cares what you ride, just that you ride. 😉 Unfortunately, my weekend was cut short when I hit a 2' long 4x4 board at about 60 mph on Route 64 heading back to Franklin on Friday afternoon. It was laying in the middle of the road and I just didn't see it in time. Thankfully I was able to keep the bike upright and nurse it to the shoulder quickly. The front wheel's rim is bent badly and the tire was popped. The rear wheel's rim was slightly bent, too, but was holding air. Scary moment for sure, so I'm very thankful I didn't crash. I am also very, very thankful Seb's friend Travis offered to give me and my broken bike a lift home in his Sprinter van on Saturday. Travis was leaving that day for a track day in Iowa on Sunday on his way home to Wisconsin, and offered to go out of his way to help me get home. We pulled into my driveway around 6:30 pm Saturday evening. To say I am grateful for Travis' kindness is a huge understatement. So while my trip ended in a rather unfortunate manner, it was great to hang out in Franklin with everyone for a couple evenings. I got to see a few old friends and make some new ones. I hope everyone else made it home safe and sound!

No, I never listen to music while riding, but I did try it with earbuds a couple times years ago. I don't have anything against it; it's just not for me. Instead I sing tunes inside my helmet during the longer, boring sections of road during long days. Thankfully I know a lot of songs! 🙂

I'm planning to arrive by early evening on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing a few old friends and making some new ones. Oh, and riding. A lot. 😉

Congrats on your 8th gen. and welcome back to VFRD! 🙂

And to get back to the hotel unscathed each day! 😉 I haven't attended the spring ride for several years. But if I remember correctly, just talking with various folks the night before will give you an idea who's going where, what roads they want to hit, about how many miles they're planning to ride (or number of hours out that day), and - most importantly - what kind of pace they're planning to run. The groups tend to form around those parameters. I think most groups back then were 4-6 people, maybe a few more with the more leisurely pace group. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Like I said, it's been a while since I did this ride.

I agree with @tbzep for the most part. My 6th gen. was okay cruising down a rural road in 6th at 45 mph, but the rpms are too low to get any decent acceleration in top gear at that speed. Drop down a gear or two like tbzep said. The bike will be happier and you'll have more fun! 😉

*NOW* it's a party!

Most years I averaged 8-10k miles on my VFR, so I cleaned and recharged the K&N air filter annually. There were a couple years I only did about 1,500 miles, so the following pre-season maintenance I just re-oiled the filter instead of seriously cleaning it. Also, that's in NE Ohio, so not a dusty environment.

Congratulations on your 6th gen. and welcome to the forum from Ohio, USA! 🙂 That air filter, wow!! The last several years I had my 6th gen. I would open up the airbox to check it for critters and nests before firing up the bike for the first time each spring. I had to clean and recharge the K&N air filter anyway, so it was best to check it out before starting the bike after it had sat in my garage all winter.

Sounds like a great start to the season, and those white wheels look terrific on your 8th gen! 👍 I rarely get to enjoy having both front and rear new tires at the same time, but it is a great feeling when it happens. I'm getting a later start for 2022 than I'd hoped. Between the crappy NE Ohio weather and my busy schedule, I've only had my bike out for a couple short rides this month. But the forecast for this Sunday looks amazing. I'm hoping to get out for at least 2-3 hours!

Very sorry to hear about the fire and damage. Good luck getting her sorted again!

I can understand honest mistakes by people who aren't mechanically inclined and maybe tried something no rational person would, but some of those really made me shake my head. I'm sure fixing the mistake is much more expensive than if they'd just taken the car/truck to the shop in the first place.

Congrats on the new acquisition! Looks to be in decent shape cosmetically. I hope the same is true for what we can't see. 🙂

Thanks for sharing your terrific introduction and photos! Nice work you've done yourself there, too! 🙂 Removing the side fairings starts to feel more routine and less worrisome after the first several times. It's still a pain in the neck, but you won't feel as anxious once you have more experience with them. One tip: after you've removed all the bolts and just as you start to pull the fairing off to the side, rotate the rear of the fairing upward slightly. This will help dislodge the connecting and overlapping tabs from the upper (middle) cowl. Of course be careful doing this. Do it slowly and with minimum force, and the front edge of the side fairing should pull out easier. By the way, wrestling with my old VFR's fairings 2-3 times a year (or more) had me promising myself my next bike would be a naked, and indeed it is. I miss the wind protection some, but not messing with those fairings!

Just made my hotel reservation for Thu-Sun! 🙂

Another vote for Dunlop Roadsmarts here. I have a set of the 2's on my Beemer now and love them. I got a great deal on them last summer since they were discontinued. If you can find a set, you might see a deal on the 3's since the company is now making the 4's.

Awesome. Thanks for sharing your write-up and photos! 👍

Welcome to the forum from Ohio, USA! 🙂

No, high gas prices won't keep me from the trips I have planned for this year. Nor from riding in general, including SE Ohio days and other long days on the bike. If that means I need to reduce spending in other areas of everyday life to keep enjoying one of my few passions, so be it. I'd also be willing to sell a couple small items of value to finance my trips this year. But hopefully it won't come to that.

Congrats on your new 8th gen, and welcome back! 🙂