vanion2

Nice color you got there, btw. Wonder how the plastic dip will hold up...

It's as permanent as you want it to be. Any time a part gets scratched you can pull that section of plastidip off and reapply. Go to youtube.com and search for plastidip. You will see some videos of an audi getting the beat down in winter weather to prove how durable it is. Total weight of plastidip on the average car is under 2 lbs (just in case you were wondering).

Of course it will always look matte because even with the glossifier it doesn't go on like a clear coat and you can't clear coat plastidip because the chemicals are not compatible. That doesn't mean it isn't a great product as you can tell by the pics of that VFR. He did a great job.

Now there's no excuse for "I didn't see her" when cruising around on that ride. Excellent skills to whomever painted it. Nice mod list too. You got most of the good stuff already set up for miles of fun. Welcome aboard.

Yep. I just recently had to order a part for a Goldwing that I damaged when my bike tipped over. Saved me about the same for the part and the Goldwing owner was completely satisfied with his new OEM Honda part that matched the paint perfectly. This was after doing some comparison shopping around a few of the websites that usually offer good prices.

As long as Keith keeps offering those competitive prices I will keep shopping there at Mason City.

Welcome aboard.

For that nice looking 6th Gen you have there your first farkle should be a VFRness made by the member here Tightwad at wiremybike.com (no affiliation). It will almost completely eliminate all the electrical gremlins our bikes suffer from and get you off to a good start. After that it's all up to you but since you are not new to the sport I am sure you already have ideas on what you plan next.

Hi cupcake and welcome.

Silver is fast yes, but not as fast as red VFRs. You cannot get faster than black though.

Then I guess I truly have the fastest 6th gen out there? (Black and red, with silver striping).

Funny you guys should bring up Harley's too. Just yesterday I was heading into a Walmart (car was at the dealership so I had time to kill) when the usual knuckle head perched in the pilot's seat was riding yet another bland looking Harley with open pipes. He rattled off his single digit IQ by gunning it while still in the parking lot (a place I refuse to drive my bike any more because of the crowd these places attract and their single minded determination to extinguish life with their cages). What was most entertaining was the two girls he was trying to entertain both covered their ears and once he was gone one turned to the other and said "I f#$@ing hate how Harley's sound. The sound like sh!*!".

That being said I don't care what you ride. It's how you ride it that matters. Again, welcome to the site and have fun falling into the world of the VFR.

I had the same problem when I switched from my Yamaha R6 to the VFR. It took me better part of a year before I could honestly decide which bike I would keep. Eventually the VFR won out. Why? Let me point out the pros and cons.

Pros:

• I found myself exiting corners with higher speeds on the VFR. It was just more smooth and planted compared to the finicky suspension on the R6 for me.
• I could two up without feeling like someone was trying to rip my neck and shoulder muscles from my back for hours on end.
• I could ride all day long in greater comfort.
• The power the 800 offers was excellent for two up. I could feel my R6 struggline with 270 lbs for the 2 of us going.
• The ability to add hard cases, bar risers, heated grips, a Stebel Nautilus air horn, etc and not kill my battery was a huge plus.
• Mine is ABS and let me tell you not locking up the rear wheel and fish tailing on hard stops is awesome.
• Most enthusiasts hate linked brakes but I have come to appreciate the lack of hard nose dive on hard braking.

Cons:

• The VFR definitely weighs more and you feel it when going slow.
• The VFR gear box is clunkier so more of a struggle to shift through the gears.
• The R6 could out accelerate the VFR all day long.
• The R6 was great for a city commuter and got better gas mileage.

I didn't want a liter bike because the more power you have to more you will abuse it. I can count on one hand the number of times I hit triple digits on a bike (ok...maybe two hands) and have never done a wheely but I am not about how fast I can go in a straight line but having fun through the twisties. The VFR won me over with being able to do multiday rides with enough room to not have to wear the same clothes every day (but I always made sure I had clean undies). The suspension feels so much smoother compared to the R6 and the seat easier on the ass. I still miss my R6 from time to time but in the end I am 100% happy with the decision I made on the VFR.

Get well soon. Sorry to hear about the complications. Hopefully you'll get everything cleared up quickly.

ZG shield shattering??.... Why am I not surprised?..... They are like potato chip crispy when it comes to shatter resistance......

Just last week a sudden burst of wind as I had just starting rolling forward hit me hard enough to drop the bike on the front fender of a Goldwing parked right next to me shattering my zero gravity windshield and cracking the Goldwing's fender. Needless to say I was shocked, dismayed, and pissed off all in the same moment.

Fortunately I have R&G frame sliders and Givi racks that kept the fairings from touching the ground and the original windshield to replace my double bubble for now. That and I was able to slow down the drop. It's still costing me $219 to replaced the Goldwing's fender right now though.

Needless to say it's not a matter of if but when. At least I don't live in a house with a steep driveway any more. It seemed I was dropping the VFR at least once a month when living there.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

WERA 910, who do you get insurance from? I'd like to get a quote.

I pay $180 a year from USAA/Progressive for full coverage on VFR. They wanted close to $2,000 a year for full-coverage on the ZX-14R. Geico would do it for about $1,400 a year. If I could get insurance closer to $1,000 a year I may just make the jump.

There are also lots of other determining factors such as number of vehicles, age, years of riding experience, the level of coverage, even what state you live in so anyone can say "I only pay this much a month" for insurance and it means nothing because you are comparing apples to oranges. For example my insurance dropped 50% when I moved of Louisiana to New Mexico for the same coverage.

I had the same issue when I first bought my VFR and it turned out the fan itself had been unplugged. You probably have already checked that though...

I started using this product about 8 years ago and it extended my riding to year-round.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Classic-Accessories8482-QuadGear8482-ATV-Mitts/716428.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Datv%2Bmittens%26WTz_l%3DHeader&Ntt=atv+mittens&WTz_l=Header

I tried this once and found them too confining for my winter gloves and being able to work the brake/clutch as these were designed for snow mobiles.

To think...you could have saved $50 on a bulb if you had load tested your battery first....

Damn near went deaf listening to that. Was that a turbine engine?

I would have to see one in person. Things I immediately consider perks from what I have read so far:

• standard ABS
• traction control
• adjustable seat height
• standard heated grips
• no more side mounted radiators
• narrower
• supposedly 10kg lighter
• LED technology
• larger fuel tank
• 10 spoke rims
• SSA - still easier maintenance

Not really cons but not really improvements:

• VTEC - means still expensive valve adjustments
• side mounted exhaust - that beautiful wheel gets wasted by that can
• still going to be heavy but I am already used to my VFR so one that is 22 lbs lighter is still an improvement

As far as cosmetics go I can already see where I would change the paint up a bit and seriously consider a modified exhaust setup. Strip off all the unnecessary CA emissions junk, move over as many of the accessories I have on my current VFR, and add the Givi brackets when they come out and call it a day. My biggest question is seating position. Other than that I would put this on the short list if my 6th gen ever needs to be replaced (assuming it makes it to the US).

If you need a bike to attract women then just leave your helmet on to buy you some time.

I found it adds to your appeal but have never used a bike a bait. There have been a couple of times when drunk girls have asked for a ride but I tell them both me and my bike have standards and it's invite only.

The question/thread title was some tongue in cheek humor and never meant as a serious question. Now that I think about it, of all my bikes, only the VFR and Vespa are capable of carrying a passenger anyways, and the only time the seat cowl comes off the VFR is for maintenance. Even if I wasn't an old married guy, I'd never use a bike for bait. Wifey used to ride in her youth when she was in Hungary, but I don't think she even knew that I rode until well after we were dating.

Lol...sorry if you misinterpreted my answer as a serious one. I thought the emoticons gave it away.

When I was single I used to primarily drive my bike under all but the worst extremes of weather conditions (pretty much when there was snow on the ground) and there was never and end to the "volunteers" wanting a ride. If only I had taken pics of the few that made the cut....

If you need a bike to attract women then just leave your helmet on to buy you some time.

I found it adds to your appeal but have never used a bike a bait. There have been a couple of times when drunk girls have asked for a ride but I tell them both me and my bike have standards and it's invite only.

Actually the price isn't really out of line to previous Zumos. I picked up my 450 new for under $400 but only after Garmin discontinued it. Then I received the life time map updates which was an additional $100 as a gift. It is included with the 390LM for free along with all the new bells and whistles. Add a couple of TPM's to your tires and no more having to spend time messing with valve stems to do a preride check on the tires, pair it up with your Bluetooth phone and helmet and only answer the calls you need to, select the curviest roads you can find with the latest updated maps, plus all the while not having to worry about weather, vibrations, or even taking your gloves off.

I still use my Zumo 450 on every long ride I do and the maps are getting better all the time. Now they are using Basecamp instead of the old clunky setup the old Zumos came with (though I don't know how much of an improvement that is). Yes, $700 is a lot of money but when the 550's were $600 new way back when you are only looking at $100 more for a more complete product package. And if you don't want to pay that price then just wait a year when the next Cadillac model comes out and they price these more competitively or buy a slightly used one. Just like I plan to do while happily rolling along with my rather competent 450 until that day comes.

Every time I ride through Colorado I am constantly on high alert. Those buggers are vicious.

I honestly believe there is a deer population explosion going on as I have run into more deer lately than not. I hike quite a bit on the foot hills around ABQ and they seem to be every where. Driving through Colorado I have yet to have to not have seen a deer or three running around. In Salida a week ago there was one brazen hoofer just eating the lawn right in the middle of town off the main street from the down town area. Every time I plan a motorcycle trip through remote areas I double check my Stebel Nautilus and try to time my rides away from sun rise and sun sets to give me a better chance.

Maybe some of those "deer whistlers"?

Fortunately my short commute the worst I have to worry about is other drivers and and an occasional coyote.

Been busy so here's my late rebuttal...

10k for a chain seems to be about average for any bike I have owned and most people that I know who own chain driven bikes are in the same category. Even most bike shop techs I have talked to see this as the norm. I guess we're all just doing it wrong (yes, I replace my own chains, check tension regularly, and clean and lube as needed). No, I don't ride in the rain regularly. I live in a desert and the sand here is probably the critical factor.

As for your statement that WD-40 is probably the reason behind this well...what ever makes you happy. I apply the WD-40 to a cloth and wipe the chain off so any minute amount that does come in contact with the o/x-rings is probably not a factor. BLS, whom I respect as a source of information when it comes most things motorcycle related because he actually goes above and beyond in his research, claims it is typically the grease that breaks down on the rings packed from the factory that causes most ring failures.

As I said before WD-40 is a tool and like any tool, knowing when and how to use it is the critical factor. Again, I have nothing against the OP's product suggestion. I merely pointed out that WD-40 is conductive so using it to seal electrical connections is the wrong way to do it. Wrong tool for the job. Dielectric grease is the way to go.

And latex gloves are always a poor example. I worked quite extensively with chemicals for deprocessing and latex gloves are always worn under other PPE as a last ditch effort. Even IPA or Acetone will break down latex. In fact, the only thing we really used latex gloves for was ESD and keeping the chemicals of our fingers off the parts I worked with. If you are going to justify your stance on a particular product I would choose a better example as proof. That's just a recommendation of course.

If you don't know better than to spray WD-40 on electrical connections then you get what you deserve. WD-40 is a water displacement treatment that is conductive. To properly protect electrical connections you should be using a dielectric grease and most people here are aware of that. The dielectric grease will always be more effective than anything you can spray out of a can whether it's aviation rated or not.

And as far as I know WD-40 doesn't eat rubber. I use it when I clean my chain to remove the gunk before lubing and regularly get about 10K miles out of a chain before it needs to be replaced indicating the rubber o-rings are not being destroyed. Sounds to me there may have been other mitigating factors involved with your particular problem.

This doesn't mean the product you are advertizing doesn't work. It just means that with any tool you need to know how and when to use it properly.

That gives me the jitters just looking at it. All that weight on that small receiver bar. Too many engineering physics classes and bumpy roads in my life I guess. I have my fingers crossed that you are looking at many happy miles of no issues.

I needed something better suited for 2 up riding and longer distances because my R6 was killing me after 5 hour rides with my wife (then girlfriend) on the back. The VFR quickly popped to the top because it was the smallest sport bike with touring capabilities I could find. Did a bunch of research (where I found this site) and the rest quickly became history. One day I may move up to a full sport touring bike because my family has gotten bigger but until that day comes the only place my VFR is going is where ever I can ride her and make it back in one piece.

I say do it and be sure to include dyno graphs and costs once your project is complete.

I always love seeing someone boldly going where all the nay sayers have never gone before. Your bike. Your rules.