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Current 3rd and 4th owner. The 4th is the pinnacle of a carb 750. The smoothest, most linear power delivery of any bike I have ridden. Absolute heaven sounding with a nice slip on muffler. My high mount Staintune is bliss. 5.5 gallon tank is nice compared to my 3rd gen 5.0. The 3rd gen is the thirstiest bike I have ever owned. It has 4th gen headers and a custom Sudco slip on with stock main jets. Runs perfect, guzzles gas. It does have bigger carbs than the 4th gen. I would eventually like to F around with a 5th. Goodbye DCBS. But if it meant getting rid of my 3 or 4, forget it. No deal.

I had a 4th gen for 7 years and went to a 5th gen... both bikes are awesome... I should have kept both...

You won't go wrong with either, and as you live in California carbs sitting idle for long periods is not an issue for you. Buy the bike that is is the best condition and preferably with a good documented service history. If the bike has been regularly ridden and not a Garage Queen, it is often in better shape than one with low mileage that has not been carefully stored. It doesn't have to be a Dealer service history. Enthusiasts who care about their bikes often keep detailed records. The Owner reviews at MCN are very useful. https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/honda/vfr750/1995/#ownersReviews https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/honda/vfr800/1998/

I bought the 5th gen because of the very short riding season due to harsh and long in Calgary which is not very kind to carbs, but I do prefer the look of the 4th Gen, especially in Honda's Red,White and Blue Racing colours. Judging by Owner reviews I have a feeling that it more fun and generally easier to maintain. My '99 has never failed to start in Spring.

Our Viffers are not really heavy. It's the top heaviness due to the high fuel tank and the narrow and low clip ons that make it seem heavy. Sit on a vintage UJM bike of similar or more weight like the Suzuki GS 1000E or 1100E (not the cruisers) with a low flat tank and 'sensible' handlebars and footpegs and you don't feel any heaviness.

ST is much heavier than the VFR800 but with a low Centre of Gravity due to the low fuel storage, and very easy to handle once it gets moving, just like a Goldwing. ST's are selling for very low prices here in Calgary. Very underappreciated.

Good to know this and be prepared in advance. I am planning to give my Viffer a very thorough going over this Summer from top to bottom, and install Convertibars At about $200/hour shop charges I do not balk at buying most tools. Also, the job that you do yourself is often better than a rushed shop service Ross (Fellow Canuck in Calgary)

I have three 5th gens at the moment. I have not really riden any of them other than riding them home. I just had to have them. I wonder about myself sometimes. Any how, during the winterization/storage I found the blue 2000 would not start. I checked for spark and found spark though I should have been more thorough in retrospect. I looked for fuel on the plugs and they looked dry. My plan is to get the blue running and only replace what is needed. I am not going to "you are there anyways, you might as well, or best practices are". Tools that I do buy will serve me in the future (my treat for not paying someone else) or will be "rentals" to be sold when I am finished. I bought a fuel pressure tester and found a peak of 40 psi and settled when off at 36psi (for how long I don't know). The test in the manual states to do the test while running but I obviously could not do that. I then did a flow test which was way over the spec in the manual. Tests seem okay. I then removed the throttle body and injectors. Tested and cleaned the injectors, all good. I then cleaned and blew out the throttle body and hoses. I could have gone all out with o-ring/injector replacement, dipping the bodies in chemical cleaner and then give them the ultra sonic treament but decided not to at this time. I can always come back to that if needed. I am now waiting on a flex screwdriver attachement to secure the throttle bodies rubber boots. It does not mention the need in the manual but I see not ohter way to secure them properly and/or not damage the screws. The rubber boots have deteriated little other than some shrinkage. You can find replacements but the originals should do. If the plugs are still dry when I try to start up again I will switch tanks with a running bike to see if the pump is the problem even though it tested okay. Once I get the blue one running I plan on painting the blue and then the black myself. That should be interesting. I have always wanted to paint. Again I wonder about myself sometimes.

To me the 4th and 5th gen are the pick of the bunch. I have had one 4th and four 5th gens. I prefer the 5th for touring and the 4th for fun but they are close. IMO the carbs on the 4th are easier to work on if you are mechanical but the injection on the 5th has many advantages and rarely need work. NOS OEM parts are hard to find. There seems to be enough used parts and some aftermarket. Take your time to find one that been looked after with low milage. If it has been looked after most of the few problems inherent to the VFR's would have been fixed by now. ie rectifier/fregulators. If there is rust in the tank you will surley need to take fueling components apart to clean sooner or later. You generally get what you pay for. I do love the pre v-tec VFR's and in no way am I tring to dissuade you from finding a nice classic but there are other newer bikes that are almost as good mechanicaly, almost as good looking and have better handling. Everything with motorcycles is a compromise and as I see it you can't go wrong with a gear driven VFR. Here these bikes have collector status due to being 25 years old or older which means cheap insurance with a few restrictions.

I'm ok thanks, hope you're good and Happy New Year to you too!

Yeah man. Really like that mod. Hope you are well and Happy New Year!

Yes, i know. But it's not a great problem, if you think at all work i did 'til now (and all the remaining...).

This project sure was fun shit Captain...

Thanks boOZZIE, I took a punt and purchased the exhaust system off eBay, as it seemed very similar to the 2 Brothers Exhaust. Just have some minor repairs to do on the exhaust, as the bike they came off must have been in an accident. I also have managed to find a High rise Staintune slip on. Appreciate your feedback mate, really happy knowing its a Motad system.

I've traveled many miles on 5th gens and ridden them from one side of the USA to the other. They are definitely "freeway compatible". Stators and Rectifiers are available on the aftermarket if needed. There are full coolant hose kits. All Balls has affordable kits for repairs on: fork seals, clutch/brake masters, slave/brake calipers etc. Stainless headers available from Delkevic and Black Widow. You can slap Helibars on it for a slight rise in seating position, same with Spiegler/Hurricane superbike style bars or even go full upright standard with a police handlebar kit from Hurricane (what I've done). There is a Givi rack system for the 5th gen for side and top case. My recent topic about heavy weight was really just me musing as I have a VTX1800C and GL1800C in the garage. If all you've ever ridden is a MB5, then sure the VFR will feel heavy. 5th gen weight has never been a problem for me. I've even ran with and pop started them in 2nd on rare occasion when a battery decided to quit. I spend 0 days at the gym. I have a no probem with 5th gen style, but best looking off all is probably a 3rd Gen 1993 VFR750 in Pearl White. However, 5th gens are the best sounding VFR IMO. They are the last of the cam gears and grand finale of sorts they have the loudest whine. Honda moved the gear train from center of the block of previous 750's to the right side of the engine case (5th gen is based on the RC45). In doing this they made the gear whistle really prominent, it's bonkers really. Hold a 5th gen around 4300RPM and you'll know what I'm talking about. You can run a 5th with open headers and you will still hear the cam gear whistle.

Having owned both it's pretty close. They are both getting long in the tooth as far as parts go, but still doable. If the bike will sit for extended periods the 5th gen may be the better choice due to the EFI. The 5th gen also has much better brakes if you don't mind the complexity of the CBS. Once you have it set up maintenance bleeding is not a problem IMHO. Many here don't like the CBS. I do. My Play Girl™️ 5th gen weighs in at 475 lbs. Some here have shaved even more off, but it gets complicated. I claim victory at this point. Never had the chance to actually weigh the 4th gen "Grandma", but I would guess she was in that ballpark if a bit more. If I had more garage space I would have kept "Grandma" with 136K on the clock. She was a great bike, but I needed to thin the herd, and chose the 2 5th gens. It was a tough decision. I don't like having to sell bikes, trucks, guitars, audio gear or tools.

So the story is that the previous owner damaged some bodywork. Right? It is always the previous owner. Really I think this bike had a couple good previous owners. The owner at the time lived near the Canadian border. That made it easy for him to order and pick up silver. Looking to finish getting the sporting oriented silver ST1300 together this week. Tidying up the 17” CBR front wheel install that worked so well last season. Then the comfort touring oriented ST1300 gets oil change, new hoses and thermostat. Then I can get the VFR into the motorcycle spa.

Really nice install!. Thanks for the info and pics.

I also bought the AS3 clamps... I decided that there was too many clamps to just piecemeal to buy separately. It made it simple.

Hi, does anyone have the Honda factory bar risers installed on a 2015 Deluxe? What is your opinion of them do they make a difference on touring? Do they occasionally show up on here for sale?

I have recently freed up some room in the garage and my interest has been piqued by the vfr. However, before I made any purchases I figured I'd come here and ask for advice. My main intention for a vfr will be freeway compatibility, but also not too unwieldy for going around town. This leads me to the 4th and 5th generations. The 5th Gen is fuel injected and to me has seemed more renowned for touring than the 4th. It's also heavier, but I hear weight concerns can be assuaged with a little effort. I personally prefer the look of the 4th Gen, but I'm concerned about the size of the market. One of the reasons I loved my sv is because of how plentiful the market is for parts and upgrades, and I fear a 4th Gen might not provide such liberties (although I hear 5th gens are in a better situation). The purpose of this post is for owners to correct me on anything I got wrong and also tell me about any issues they've found with their respective bikes that I can take into account before buying any bike.

I agree. My FJ1200 was fine. The VFR was much lighter, but hardly heavy to move around, and I'm a lightweight.

So funny to hear people complain about the weight of the vfr, it’s the lightest of my three bikes. Went for a ride yesterday and enjoyed the nimble nature of the vfr. Love those Japanese riders, they have the skills to handle their machines.

Your man in the video used Norma clamps, also consider ABA clamps. Norma (German) and ABA (Swedish) merged in '06 to form the Norma Group. ABA is what you'll find in Volvo's like my 855 T5 M56. In '19 when I installed AS3 silicon hoses on my 5th Gen, I used AS3 Radiator Hose Clips. Made in England by JCS , these Hi-Grip 304 stainless (A2) grips are also used in the difficult to source Samco CK HON-94 kit. A few years ago I bought the Samco CK HON-94 kit from MotoCard in Spain for an ongoing 5th Gen project that's getting Samco silicon hoses . It was only after I got the Samco kit that I learned JCS made the grips for both kits.