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Hello folks, I'm new to the Honda and VFR world! At the start of March of this year I purchased my first Honda, she's a 2014 VFR800F and when I got her she only had 1700 miles. Now she has 1800(to much rain here in the northern states to ride.) So far I'm loving every minute of riding her and just sitting there starring at her after a good wash&wax job. Unfortunately a few weeks ago I had my first lay over with gravel while trying to make a low speed turn on a crappy farm back road. Needless to say the bike is fine except for road rash on the fairings and a bruised calf(and pride) But none the less she kept kicking and the small lay over hasn't effected the ride or performance. I look forward to making new friends on here!

I recently modded my stock vfr800 exhaust! Check out this viseo to see how I did it! Let me know if you have any questions!

Hello all! So I did this mod a couple years ago and I've absolutely loved it! I originally did it to my first vfr800 which was a silver 2003 non-abs model. I put about 17,000 miles on that bike with about 8,000 - 10,000 of those miles after I did this mod. Unfortunately I was in an accident and the bike got totaled. I skipped between a couple other bikes but eventually bought myself another vfr! My lovely white 2006 abs viffer I currently ride. I swapped the aftermarket rear wheel from my old bike onto the new one right away and I've put 3,000 miles on it since then! If done right this mod works amazingly! I trust my bike any distance on any road, from the city to highway, and even the mountains to the canyons! Rain or shine! When it comes down to performance, I've never noticed any less after the mod was done as compared to stock. With the new rim I went with and the wider tire, the rear wheel for me weighs about 3 pounds or so more than the stock one did, sure That may make an incremental difference to a very experienced track rider but these bikes aren't designed for track only use and they are far from the fastest bikes out there, so to me, the extra weight is well worth the look! And again all that being said I've never noticed any kind of performance loss, I've burned trough my chicken strips with easy and the bike seems to have all of the get up and go that it did before. So I definitely recommend this mod! Before doing this mod I referred to many of the other forums where people have discussed this. And I took a little bit from each of them to get it done. I still recommend reading through all of those as well as this one to get as much of an understanding of it as possible. The biggest problem for most people was finding a good rim that worked well with a motorcycle tire. I don't remember exactly what brands, but there are some brands that you definitely want to avoid and others that are very safe to use. I found that out from reading those other forums and hearing how some people struggled while others did not. This issue comes from the fact that you are using a car rim with a motorcycle tire and they aren't exactly designed for one another. That being said each rim manufacturer varies somewhat from one another so some rim work great while other not at all to mount the tire to. The rim brand I went with is NinjaWheels, and the exact rim I bought was the Ninja NJ11. My tire guy had to use a little extra elbow grease to get that tire on there but it went on without any problems and hasn't caused me a single issue since! Now the rim I bought was a 17"x7" rim with a 40mm offset. This offset was too large to fit center when mounted to the hub. So in order to correct the offset, a spacer was necessary. I took a spacer I already had and had it machined to fit my application. I drew up some specs for it in the picture below. Its a 20mm spacer with the 4x100mm holes drilled for the studs to go through and the center cut out in a way to maintain strength and cut weight. (This particular spacer also had 4x114.3mm holes drilled in it that are unnecessary). It may be worth noting that this 20mm spacer was required since the rim used was a 40mm offset. If you choose a different rim with a different offset, the spacer and stud length will need to be adjusted accordingly. With the VFR, I wanted a good sport touring tire, and with the rim being a 7 inch wide rim, my options were limited. That being said I found an amazing tire (that I've bought again for the rear and the front) which is surprisingly, the Shinko Verge 011. Now yes, you dont got to tell me twice about the general perception of shinko's, I know that alot of them are just trash, BUT NOT THE 011 VERGE!!! Haha Since I was searching for a 200/50r17 tire, the Verge kept popping up as one of the few sport touring tires offered in this size, and after reading countless reviews almost entirely 5 star rating, I was sold enough to give it a shot. Now I've used dunlop Q3's and Pilot Road 4's before and they are both amazing tires, but the Verge is honestly just as good! It's a dual compound tire so it's center offers incredible longevity while the sides are very soft and sticky allowing for excellent cornering in the twisties! Plus it does absolutely amazing in the rain! And on top of all that, you just cannot beat its price point of ~$140! Lastly, since you are using a spacer for the rear rim you will need longer wheel studs to account for that. I went with ARP Extended Wheel Studs. Now I used 12.5*1.5 wheel studs that were 2.5 inches long but I ended up having the cut just a little bit off of the tips so that my lug nuts could secure all the way tight. If you can find 2 inch long wheel studs those would probably work, but for the peace of mind that you have as much threads in there making contact with the lug nuts, you can do what I did and just remove any extra as necessary with a hack saw. Also, With this specific rim, there was not enough space for normal lug nuts to fit so i bought a 4 pack of splined lug nuts with the special splined socket that came with it. These are slimmer in profile and fit into the lugnut holes into the rim perfectly. This may or may not be a problem for you depending if you bought the same brand rim as me. One thing worth noting here is that the rear wheel studs are pressed in and will require you to take the hub (once its removed from the bike) to a shop where they can then use a hydraulic press to press out the old studs and press in the new ones. There are ways to do this at home but with this sort of thing I didn't want to risk messing up anything or damaging my hub, so I had a friend at a shop do it for me. After all of that the final thing you need is to slightly modify you chain guard by cutting off on small part of it so it will not rub on your rear wheel. The wheel will have about 1/4 inch of clearance between it and your swing arm when its all done and tight. The slight modification done to the chain guard can be seen in the picture below. Summary List of Parts Used: Ninja NJ11 Rim, 17"x7" size, 40mm Offset, 4*100mm bolt pattern 200/50r17 rear tire, Shinko Verge 011 Custom made, 20mm thick, aluminum wheel spacer (as seen in pictures above) Extend ARP Wheel Studs, 12.5*1.5, 2.5 inches long (with some of the tip of the bolts removed for secure fit) Slight modification to the chain guard (to eliminate any wheel rubbing) The exact process of doing this mod consists of: 1) With the bike on its center stand and in first gear (and possibly with the help of a friend holding the rear brake) brake loose the large hub nut on the left hand side of the swing arm 2) Remove the rear wheel and real break caliper 3) Remove the large hub nut on the left hand side of the bike 4) Loosen the chain bolt and then put all of the slack in the chain 5) Pull the chain off of the rear sprocket and let it hang down onto the ground 6) Pull off the left hand side of the rear hub assembly (the big bowl like piece the sprocket is bolted to) 7) Slide out the rear axle/hub out the right side of the swing arm 😎 Replace the wheel studs as described above 9) Reassemble in reverse order of the steps described above with the new wheel And here's Just a bunch of pics of the bike with the wheel! Please wheel free to ask any questions or comment below! 

Potential Re-release of Two Brothers Racing (TBR) 5th Gen Full Exhaust System!!! I requested information from TBR about the possibility of re-releasing the 5th gen headers. I received a response today from Greg at TBR forwarding information from the CEO... Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2014 6:37 AM "We can re-produce the VFR800 headers 1998-2001 with 100 pre-paid orders. The 1998-2001 header has not been tested by us on the 02-09 or the new 2014 model. Each system will cost $899.98 for CF muffler and $799.98 for Aluminum. 12 weeks for delivery after all orders are complete. Thanks, Jeff Whitten Two Brothers Racing, Inc | CEO" I know 100 orders is a lot, but we have 26 already... As a company they haven't tested the headers on a 6th gen, but we know they work; using these headers on a 6th gen requires a custom mid-pipe that currently the buyer would be responsible for having fabricated. And we have reports of our European friends fitting 5th gen exhausts to the 2014 with zero modifications... I've also requested info on pricing and availability of just the headers instead of the full system EDIT: TBR response for the headers only: " Header & Midpipe & Hardware set cannot be split. They are $599.98 for that package" Note: The discharge from the header collector is not in the same location and angle as the stock header, this is a performance exhaust system. If you purchase the header and use your existing slip-on a custom mid-pipe will need to be fabricated. I'll commit, c'mon let's make this happen! Rush2112 - Full w/ CF muffler please! JDMBird83 - Headers mspence82 - Headers CornerCarver - Full w/ CF muffler CornerCarver - Full w/ Aluminum muffler CornerCarver - Headers CornerCarver - Headers aokman - Full jim v Wera803 - Full w/ CF muffler FJ12Ryder - Headers MBrane MBrane vfrcapn RoadToed - Headers F1Fan - Headers dgordon - Headers AWP34 - Headers Beesting - Headers Mello Dude - Headers + (1 maybe) jnyquist - Full artpongs - Full Switchblade - Headers WackenSS RazorWing Kenn

I’m contemplating using H4 headlight bulbs in my 1998 VFR800. I see from reading the forums that some have fitted H4 bulbs by trimming the tabs of the standard H4 bulb to fit Honda’s oddball headlight bulb socket. My concern is for the wires, connectors, and switches in the headlight circuit. A standard H4 is rated at 60W/55W, while Honda’s VFR bulb is rated at 45W/45W. A standard H4 will pull 33% or 22% more current, depending on whether it’s in high beam or low beam. For those that fitted standard H4 bulbs, especially in hot climates, have you had any issue with melting harnesses? Thanks. - Walt

Almost exactly 20 years ago I traded my VTR1000F for a spanking new VFR800. Both were first year models, and the first ones to arrive at my local shop. Over the years I've gone back and forth between VFRs and VTRs. It may be heresy to say so but my perfect bike would be a 5th/6th gen VFR with a VTR1000 motor. First pic is trade-in day, second is atop Sonora Pass, Cal., en route to the 1998 WSB races at Laguna Seca.

Quite a number of years ago, I wrote up an install thread for a shock I purchased from Jamie at Daugherty Motorsports. Unfortunately, when the site went down and was subsequently rebuilt, this thread had disappeared. I know a few people have asked me in the past if I could re-enter the thread and re-post the photos. Since I had suffered a computer crash of my own and upgraded to a new machine, I had to first locate the photos and then copy them to my new machine, but as usual, LIFE got in the way. For those who have asked me to re-post the thread, "Here ya GO." I know it took a while and I apologize. When I originally posted this thread I did so as a "GUIDE" to those, like me, who had never done anything like this before and as a result, I HAVE done a few things that were likely NOT required during the install procedure, but I did so to make MY life easier. I've had numerous people in the past say things like, "You didn't have to remove _________", or "Do not remove this part as its totally not required". I was also attempting to chase down an electrical gremlin when I performed this install so as an example I was looking for any tell tale signs of harness tampering and also wanted to check the condition of said harness, connections, and I was thoroughly cleaning the entire area as best as possible. Hence I removed the fender tray and this seems to have been the largest point of contention. I'm sure not everyone will agree with the way I did the install, and I'm sure there are other ways, but at the time, there were no other install threads for me to follow and the photos and instructions on the Factory Service manual were helpful, but mentioned nothing about the fact that, lets face it, you're not putting a stock shock back in and it was physically a different size and shape. Hence I documented the install, and took some photos along the way, and MOST IMPORTANTLY I had the time spent with my son, which above all else, was the best THING about the whole procedure. The absolute best part of this whole process was to spend some quality time with my son, and that, to me was worth taking the WHOLE back of the bike apart if necessary. Though there were a LOT of questions and the time spent doing this job was far greater than if I had done it on my own, I would NEVER, EVER have considered not letting him watch and ask as many questions as necessary to satiate his curiosity. HERE WE GO First, a bit of background might be in order. Having sold my beloved 97 VFR750 about 5 years ago, just before my son was born, I had wanted to some day replace the bike when he got older. I knew with a new baby in the house that the poor old girl would spend many a lonely day covered up in the garage unable to see the sun. No way to treat a motorcycle in my opinion. Since one of the guys that I worked with wanted to purchase the bike, I signed the papers and let her go to a new owner. Thankfully I got to see the old bike regularly, and the itch to get a new one was always lurking. About three years ago, I found a 2000 VFR800 sitting in the showroom of one of the car dealerships I do work for (I do Paintless Dent Repair for a living) and my wife said I should buy the bike. The paint was pitted, the wheels had numerous scratches from a disc lock, the fairings were scratched from a couple of garage mishaps (vertical scratches in the lower cowls which indicated to me that the bike had tipped over on both sides at some point) but the price was too high for the condition of the motorcycle. The general manager of the dealership had seen my 97 VFR and had said that I would regret giving her up (he was a fellow biker) and knowing I would lust after the 2000 VFR he started asking me when I would take it home. Every time I walked in to the dealer he would ask if I wanted the VFR and with a price near $6000 at first the cost was too rich for my blood. Finally, after sitting in the showroom for a little more than a year the manager said, “Bill, make me an offer on the bike, I gotta get her out of here.” Over time the price had dropped to $3950 and not even thinking he would say yes, I looked at the manager and said “All I can afford to give you is $2000.” To my amazement, he told me to get her out his showroom and that he was glad the VFR had found a good home. I signed the papers, handed over the cash, donned my helmet and rode the bike two blocks to my shop. Since it was in November and likely to snow any day, the first ride would have to wait. For what seemed like an eternity of cleaning, I spent the winter taking care of the cosmetic issues. I had the wheels stripped and powder coated, painted the lower cowls to get rid of the scratches and spent about 8 hours wet sanding and polishing the rest of the paint to get rid of what was years of neglect. The previous owner had left a copy of all the maintenance receipts for the bike with the dealer and after looking through them all, I found that the bike had been very well maintained and all the suggested services had been completed by various Honda Motorcycle dealers, including the valve adjusts. When the previous owner had traded the bike on a car, he had told the dealer that even though he had kept up on the mechanical work, he was not one to clean the bike. He neither had the time or inclination to keep her spotless (he did spray her off once in a while he admitted) and nor did he have the skills. After 61,000 km’s (35,000 miles) of use the bike was showing its age, but it ran like brand new. When spring finally dawned and the street sweepers had been out I decided to take the old girl (now gleaming like a new motorcycle) for a ride. With some new rubber, some cosmetic work and a lot of blood, sweat and wax, she was ready for the road. At least that is what I thought. To my dismay, I discovered that the back end was sadly in need of some attention. My first season with the 2000 VFR was good but the riding was rare because of family and the new toddler in the house, and the revelation that I was going to be a dad once again. I spent a lot of time the next winter trying to decide what to do about the rear shock. The rear shock on my 97 had been re-built but it never really felt that much better in my opinion and I was not sure if I wanted to go through that process again. After spending about three months unable to ride my 97 while the shock was missing, and then not noticing a huge difference once I got it back, well, I was not impressed. A friend told me check out VFR World and I came across the name Jamie Daugherty. After reading several posts and articles about his suspension tuning abilities, I decided that I would again try getting a shock rebuilt. The difference was, this time, Jamie, unlike the last guy I used, was going to build me a donor shock from a CBR929 so that I could ride my bike until the new one showed up. I was so amazed with the difference the shock made to the rideability of the bike that I wanted to do a “HOW TO” write up on the installation. I know a number of people on this site are aware of Jamie Daugherty and probably equally aware of how to take their bikes completely apart and put them back together. This article is for the average person like me, who has never attempted a project of this kind and therefore I have included a lot of pictures and a lot of, shall we say, instructions. My hope is that it will prove useful to at least one other person. The overall process is not that hard, but it does take some time. I think the whole process for me took about six hours from start to finish, over a span of two days. I am quite used to taking things apart when doing my day job, but that is usually limited to door panels and other parts of car interiors. Having owned about 10 different motorcycles (including an 85 VF1000F, a 97 VFR750F and my current 2000 VFR800) I am also no stranger to regular maintenance like oil and coolant changes. Generally I leave major mechanical work up to the pros, but I decided to tackle this project on my own since, heh, let’s face it, there are only four bolts to undo RIGHT???? WELL YOU HAVE KEPT WITH ME THIS LONG SO HERE WE GO, BACK TO THE TOPIC OF THE CBR929 SHOCK UPGRADE. First, I have to say thanks to Joey_Dude for his write up on how to do this upgrade, since it was after reading his HOW To that I decided to give this whole project a try. Not wanting to disconnect the fuel injection hoses from the tank, I decided to see if it could be done without removing the tank. After clearing some space around the bike and putting the bike on the center stand, the first things to come off are the seat, passenger grab handles, and the rear cowl. Next off is the muffler and the right side foot peg bracket. I chose to remove the muffler and foot peg bracket at one time in order to make it easier to re-assemble later. Loosen the muffler strap connector, undo the bolts on the foot peg bracket and twist the whole assembly out and back to remove. You could probably do it the same way with the stock exhaust but it might be easier to do each separately if you have the stock exhaust. Now it is time to remove the rear tire and the chain guard. Don't forget the two plastic screw clips on the back side of the chain guard The top bolt for the rear shock assembly is under the two rubber flaps at the rear of the fuel tank. I removed the two bolts at the front of the tank and the two bolts that secure the tank to the pivot clamp at the rear of the tank. I then placed a couple of 2x4 pieces on edge under the rear of the tank to support it while I removed the pivot clamp. This allows you to move the two rubber flaps. The top one you can push forward and tuck it under the tank edge, and the big lower one that stretches over the battery box area can be removed and set aside. You should now be able to see the nut that secures the top of the shock bracket to the frame spar, and the bolt that goes through the bracket and the top of the shock assembly. Since the CBR929 shock has a larger spring and a remote reservoir I thought that removing the fender tray would make the installation of the new shock a lot easier because it gives you a LOT more room to work with and it also allows a better view of the whole swing arm area. Removing the fender tray was certainly a bit of a pain to manoeuvre out of the frame but the ease with which the new rear shock went in certainly made it worth the extra effort. It also gave me the chance to take a closer look at the wiring harness, connectors, fuse blocks, and other areas around the rear suspension that were hard to see before. To remove the rear fender tray, disconnect and remove the battery. Next, to remove the battery box cover lid there are a couple of fuse blocks attached to the lid. They are easily removed by inserting a flat head screwdriver underneath and gently twisting to release the push clip underneath. With the clip released, slide the fuse blocks up toward the top of the lid. By gently squeezing the sides of the lid you can release the plastic pins that hold the lid in place and you can remove it. Once the lid is removed you can also undo the 5mm allen head screw that secures the rear brake lines to the under side of the fender tray. Moving to the rear of the fender tray, remove the lid covering the CDI box. This should give you enough room to gently remove the CDI box and manoeuvre it out and then place it on top of the seat frame latch. This is where I left the box until I was finished and it rested there quite securely. Remove the two bolts at the rear of the fender tray that attach it to the seat frame and allow it to drop down a bit. The fender will probably move down about an inch or so but not much. You will also need to remove the bolt that secures the rear brake fluid reservoir to the fender tray as well. The reservoir will just sit there and not move, so not to worry. The front of the fender tray has a couple of tabs on it that the main fuse block (left side) and another fuse block on the right side slide on. By pulling them up they should both come off. Once all the bolts and screws are removed, gently push up on the front of the fender under the battery box to release the plastic clips that go around the round metal frame tube. Now gently squeeze the middle of the fender tray at the bottom and lower it down out of the seat frame. You will have to pivot the back down a bit while pushing the front up to clear the frame spar under the battery box. Having an extra pair of hands to help you manoeuvre wires, connectors, and the fender tray out would be a definite asset. Pay close attention to where and how the wiring harness and connectors are routed around the clips and on the front of the fender tray. It helps to have a camera for this since a picture will help you get everything back together the right way later. Getting the fender over the spar at the front of the battery will require a little bit of bending of tabs and some work to get the harness out but with a little perseverance (and possibly some colourful language) the fender tray will come out. BE CAREFUL OF YOUR LANGUAGE DURING THIS STAGE AS IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, THE SWEAR JAR WAS ENSURING MY SON'S FUTURE EDUCATION WOULD BE FULLY FUNDED BY HIS NEXT BIRTHDAY. NOW to remove the old rear shock. Remove the bolt that goes through the top of the shock assembly. You may have to push down a bit on the wiring harness in order to pull the bolt out all the way since it is a pretty tight fit. Time for the lower shock mount. Remove the bolts from the lower shock arm plates. Note the orientation of the plates when you remove them so that they go back on the same way. With the shock assembly now completely loose, you should be able to pull the top of the shock back toward the rear of the bike, to the side, and out of the swingarm over the chain. You can see the difference in the size and shape of the old shock (red) and the CBR929 (blue) upgrade shock from Jamie Daugherty. This is where removing the fender tray becomes perfectly clear. Drop the CBR929 shock down in to the hole in the swing arm. Rotate the shock assembly clockwise about 90 degrees and push the top of the shock forward, behind and in front of the upper shock mounting bracket. The shock should now be sitting with the reservoir on the front side of the shock toward the front of the bike. Now pull the shock back and in to the upper shock mount bracket and re-insert the bolt through the bracket and the upper shock mounting hole. Another good reason to remove the fender tray is so that you can see if you have any clearance issues with the new shock assembly. When I went to install the shock in the upper shock bracket I discovered that my wiring harness on the left side of the bike was being pinched by the edge of the reservoir on the new shock. If I had not removed the fender tray I would not have been able to see how badly the harness was being pinched. A friend of mine who works at a local auto body shop looked at the shock for me and suggested that I cut a notch in the lip of the reservoir so that it would not interfere with the wiring harness. I also wrapped a couple extra layers around the harness where it passes the shock reservoir lip, just to be sure. I was also careful to make sure that the edge of the lip where I cut the notch was filed smooth with no sharp edges. Though this may not be a problem with every bike (my bike is a 2000 VFR by the way), but I thought that the clearance issue I discovered was worth mentioning, just in case someone else runs in to the same problem. My friend at the body shop used to race motorcycles professionally and I wanted to check with him first before we notched the lip on the reservoir and he assured me that the notch would not affect the shock reservoir. Now just reverse the whole procedure and put the bike back together and go for a ride. And Don't forget to check the factory torque specs in the manual when you put the whole thing back together. THERE ARE A FEW THINGS I LEARNED ALONG THE WAY DURING THIS PARTICULAR BIKE MODIFICATION. 1. When performing ANY task with your 5 year old watching, BE PREPARED for a HUGE barage of questions that request you to explain absolutely EVERYTHING you are doing, WHY, and HOW it will effect the ENTIRE process. 2. When performing ANY task with your 5 year old watching, BE PREPARED to spend a LOT more time completing said task. 3, When performing ANY task with your 5 year old watching, ENJOY the time spent as it may be your last, as these times will never come again, and you owe it to yourself to spend that quality time with them. 4. In the grand scheme of things, I did not NEED to remove the fender tray but IMHO it provided extra room for my hands, increased the ability to see what I was doing, and it generally made my life EASIER. Also, I didn't have to notch the edge of the remote reservoir on the CBR929 shock, but the amount of clearance I had between the two made me nervous about possible chafing so I notched it to make ME feel better. Did it NEED to be done, "No", but did it put my mind at ease, "YES". Hence the notch. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW SHOCK My initial impression of the shock upgrade was that it made a world of difference. I took the bike for about a 50 mile ride after I out the bike back together and could not believe how much better the bike felt. The handling is now much more precise and the bike feels far more stable. Even just sitting on the bike feels better since the bike does not sag as much under my weight. I would highly recommend this upgrade and certainly recommend Jamie Daugherty’s services to anyone that would like a suspension upgrade for their VFR. You can get in touch with Jamie on this site by sending him a Private Message or you can email him at jamie@daughertymotorsports.com

Hello, Been lurking on the site for a few months and appreciate everyone’s input on our machines. I dropped my bike in my driveway and need to replace the left lower cowl (white) but can’t seem to fine replacement parts online. Any help? TIA

I have always wanted to ride Beartooth Pass/hwy, Going to the Sun road, Independence Pass and many other roads along and around those area. I was going to go last year but my 4th gen gotten written off and my replacement VFR (My current 5th gen) was untested. Good thing I didn't attempt a long trip with it as I had to replace the Stator and R/R eventually. After some planning and some modifications to the bike (helibars, windscreen, Sargent seat, luggage racks) I embarked on this quite distant journey from my home in Toronto, Ontario. The plan was about 14 days but due to some Forest fires would end up being 11 days and just under 8,000kms/5,000miles. DAY 1: Toronto, Ontario to Ottawa, Illinois I left "bright" and early at 6am. I packed the VFR the night before. Luggage was a Givi 46L top box and 2x 22L side hard-bags. I strapped a tank bag to the pillion seat with emergency tools, tire repair kit etc etc. Regular Tank bag infront of me with miscellaneous stuff. Fully loaded the bike would rock backwards onto the rear tire when on the centerstand. I had to remove the top box whenever I wanted to lube the chain. lol First couple hours the Bike felt a bit "off", laden down with all that luggage but I got used to it. I encountered some light rain when it was time for my first fill up so I put on a rain jacket. I made it to my crossing into the U.S. without delay and without getting very wet. I decided to take a tiny ferry across to the States from Walpole Island, Ontario to Algonac, Michigan. It was an odd little ferry but real quick and easy. Cost me $5. The deck was wet and I just sat on the bike and held the brake during the crossing. On the American side there's a tiny little guard house for the US border. They asked a couple standard questions and I was on my way. It was on and off rain showers and I changed my route westward to get around the worst of it, but the rain gear stayed on until west of Ann Arbor, MI. The old PR3's did their job too. I made some stops here and there but I knew (and planned) that Day 1 was gonna be hard slabbing so I kept on. Some of the last legs of I-80 was a parking lot and I couldn't figure out how to use the Detour function on my new-to-me GPS. I eventually got to my stay for the night. An AirBnB in Ottawa, Il. Day 1 aprox 978kms (608 miles)