All Activity

I generally can't stand in-ear solutions for very long. Foam plugs on their own are a necessary, but after enough hours even they can become irritating. I tried out a $30 set of earplugs 🙃 that supposedly filter frequencies for better music listening. That was a huge mistake. The plastic core with silicone tips was murder on my ears, especially my right for some reason. It probably didn't help the plastic ends of the plug sticking out were being pushed on by the helmet speakers. The pain was such that even pulling my helmet off gave me pause, it felt like someone was stabbing me in the side of the head. The inside edge of my ear canal was sensitive for a few days after tossing the "HIGH DEF" plugs in the bin.

Thanks vfrgiving. That does sound like a lot of trouble and expense to go to which is why I just don't understand why Sena have gone the way they have and are phasing out in-ear speaker compatibility kits. I use Westone UM10 in-ear speakers. They give me broadcast-quality sound direct into my ear and are surrounded by foam buds which cut down outside noise and holds them in place. There's no sound deadening foam between the speaker and my ears. Why is this not the most logical and best engineering way to go? I just don't understand and am very frustrated by it. I have emailed Sena Europe and they are very sorry at my disappointment and will pass on my thoughts upwards but I don't think they will be changing anything.

Running music in my helmet evolved in a few steps but I finally settled on the following. I don't have any experience with Sena, but I found Cardo's volume output lacking for music especially trying to overcome wind noise (I ride with foam earplugs). First thing I tried was the 45mm JBL upgrade. That didn't do anything for volume and just made the sound a little richer. I then found a company called IASUS that makes a small amplifier you stick between the comms unit and the speakers. It drives the speakers harder. The 45mm JBLs tolerated being a little louder but quickly got blown-out in a crackling overdrive mess. I swapped out the 45mm JBLs for IASUS XSound 4 that can tolerate being driven much louder before distortion. They come with a little leather paddle to help tuck your ears around that flex seal on the speakers. That works but is obnoxious in practice. I found wearing a cheap, thin helmet liner cap that covers my ears to be the solution. So now when I put my helmet on my ears slip past the XSound 4. The Cardo lasts 12+ hours on a charge, but the tiny IASUS amp lasts 5-6.. and I tour. So I purchased a 2nd amp. I keep a small battery bank in a cheap soft shell electronics case in luggage. The 2nd amps lives there on charge. When the one on helmet duty inevitably dies on a long day, I can quickly swap it out with a charged one and the outgoing one starts charging up on the battery bank. The amp battery is super tiny so they just take little sippy-sips from the 10000mAh battery bank. I'll pull the battery bank every few weeks and charge it, but it handles a ton of amp swaps.

I find that the black wheels on my '99 are BLAH! I'm thinking white, or bronze, But I'm lazy and not a paint guy.

Well, if you're going to jump into the 3-cylinder pool, a V-3 is a nice Honda twist with a homage to the V-4s

Given a choice I would go with black to keep with the red/black/silver combo.

Yes I did. Moved to STO eventually, but then kinda lost interest in most of the group after a while. My girl is still in touch with some of those folks on Fakebook. I don't do the mass social media thing. The "Before The Snow Flies" rides are some fond memories. Haven't heard anything from GTS Rider in a long time. Last ride we did was Portuguese Pass in 2013. There were 4 of us.

😎

Last night I decided to switch out the worn Road 5 front tyre for a tasty new Bridgestone T33; I've got T33s on my 6th gen and they seem to be a great wear/grip/feel compromise, and they are a little cheaper than the Road 6. I will give Michelin credit for making a tyre that is easy to mount/dismount, it took only a couple of minutes to get it off, the T33 usues a stiffer carcass that wants to hang onto the beads, but was not too challenging; I use a couple of nice levers and some hard plastic rim protectors, plus soapy water and a bit of perspiration. I use a garden spade as my bead breaker, just pretend you are digging into the sidewall and jump on, this has been successful on all but the toughest tyre so far, which was a T32GT on my ST1300; I had to devise a different method for that one. I was expecting to be able to remove the ugly line of steel balance weights with the new tyre, but I (wisely) left them in place until the new tyre was mounted, and based on the very slow speed on the balance stand, the wheel is near enough to perfect, so the rim itself must be a source of inbalance. Earl is now ready for another decent test ride this weekend but unfortunately the weather gods may have other ideas.

White '93 VFRs really do stand out. I like the look of my '09 a lot, but the '93 is even nicer.

Some updates Bought a more off-road capable rear tire for the Transalp, was on great sale, -45% of list price The Zephyr Cafe.... I have geathered a few bites A rear fender whit light from a Yamaha XSR 700, turn signals, a loop for the frame The support for the seat is ready. Next to cut the tail to fit the loop, but rain prevents as I like to do the grinding outside... So what to do Started cleaning the carbs Just to notice they are not Zephyr 550 carbs, but 32mm CKVs off a ZX600C5-10........ Jets seems stock but needles rised quit a bit..... Should have known better factor is high again... Well we have to see, they (carbs) are ultrasonic cleaned now.. And tube between carbs not in good shape... Hmmm

Because if I go with white, I'm going to spend too much money on a 8 spoke rear. 😁 Plus a friend has white wheels on his 07 Anniversary. He did paint the front fender the same red as the accent stripe which looks good IMO.

Seeing this has become the subject at hand.... About wheels. I'm torn between Black and Bronze wheels. The bike will be painted Italian red. Is there a shade of bronze or maybe any shade will look good with the red paint? I would like to get the opinion of everyone in the class. I want the bike to stand out a little but not be abomination or I can just stay with the black.

It's no use, Lorne. White wheels on a VFR is a Marmite/Vegemite question. I had my '90's wheels powdercoated black at the first opportunity! However, black wheels on a '93 "fridge" model would be an abomination... Ciao, JZH

Yes, but too bad about the exhaust sound... Ciao, JZH

I hope this will be the basis of a new VFR…

Did you used to hang out on sport-touring.net back in the day? Your avatar looks really familiar. Back when the site was any good I used to live in the LA area and would hang out in the SoCal regional forum. That was back when I had my GSXR-750 and Daytona 955i (sold the former to get the latter).

Reminds me of the south Sierra rides we used to do.

I used paint stripper to remove the black from my 5th gen wheels. It practically fell off unlike the white primer on the 4th gen. That stuff was really stuck! I just give 'em a good polish when I swap new rubber on.

I bought a set of race-stands when I had the VTR1000, and have kept using them with the MT-10, very handy bits of gear but no real use if you want to do any work on the rear suspension. You can get a really good "decent from 3 feet away" finish on all of the black bits on the VFR (e.g. sidestand, centrestand, front subframe, lower triple clamp) using a small brush and a pot of semigloss enamel. Just degrease and scrub away as much surface crud as you can first. Follow me for more handy tips.

Mmmm...6th gen bodywork, 5th gen engine and 8th gen wheels is a pretty sweet combo. That back wheel (which is also on my 7th gen 1200) is a work of art. We have a member (Highside) local to me that has/had a burgundy 6th gen with tuned 5th gen engine, R1 forks, trick shock and some sexy (Marchesini?)wheels. Actually he sold me the the gold wheels that are now on my 6th gen. I also have a nice 8-spoke rear wheel in black in my Mancave that was too nice to leave sitting in a breakers yard; that one also originally came from the same source. I had the rims on my '86 powder-coated in white and being the OEM colour they looked fab, but you either need to be anal about cleaning after each ride or just give up. At least the powdercoating had a nice gloss which helped. When I had a previous '86, I used oven-cleaner on the rims; I'm sure one could abuse that and corrode the rims but it worked really well if you were careful and quick.

Ok ok, I can see your point on white wheels with a tri color bike. Not on a red,or yellow VFR. I had thought of the bronze color on a red bike. For sure it's all smiles when I'm riding this amazing bike. There is definitely no profit I'm looking for. My VFR is a keeper when I get done with it.

Its been quite awhile, but the father/son riders -- The "Carvers" used to post quite a lot on this forum... and they built that RWB bike in the last photo with 8th gen wheels and brakes, PLUS installed a 5th gen engine in it, I think headers too..... I drooled so much over it that I offered to buy it!

I love having a centre stand on my VFRs, and wished Honda equipped the VTR1000 with 'em. However my stand has gotten scabby after 100K km and 16 years of riding. But it sure looks like the rear exhaust pipes block access to the bolts. I suppose I'll have to refinish it in place - but not till next spring and warmer temps.