Gots me a VFR

2004, 35K miles. Sergeant seat, shorty shift levers, double bubble screen. Otherwise stock. Owned by a mechanic at the local Yamaha shop. He said, "I treat my bike like I treat my children" although I rather suspect he meant, "better than my children." Bike is absolutely flawless. Valves were within spec at 24K but he adjusted them anyway because he wanted them perfect. "I only ever ran premium through it. And only Shell gas. This bike has only had Shell gas." It was always warmed up - always on the center stand - to precisely 115 degrees before driving off. The guys at the shop were laughing at him. "You're taking his baby." No one was even allowed to push the bike other than him, even after he traded it in. It was sad, watching him wash the bike one last time. Well, not that sad. $3900.

I have been shopping for a 98 or 99 for a couple of years now, finally decided I could get more bike for the money if I went with a 6th gen. Better suspension, better lights. Love the under seat exhaust. I generally "get" the theory behind VTEC and think it's nifty. Weight doesn't bother me, I'll be using this way more for touring than sport, otherwise I would have bought an F4i.

Menu for the coming months is a cross country trip in Jan. Jacksonville to San Diego, then w/e. Death Valley maybe. Gonna keep bike in Colorado over the summer, gonna take a few days every month to go tear-assing around the mountains.

PO and I weigh about the same (granted, he's about 14 feet taller than me, but still) and I thought the suspension would be OK, but it isn't. Definitely to much sag in the rear, gonna get that resprung. I don't think the front is compressing quite enough, front tire isn't always glued to the pavement. Will back off on preload for now and see what happens. Could use a tad more rebound damping, just a tad.

Also gonna rewire it. Get a MOSFET r/r, wire in a voltmeter and an accessory fuse holder.

Also I think I need to complete the "old man" package with some helibars.

I think step one will be to do the handlebars and electrical work to get ready for the cross country; and work on the suspension, starting with the rear, in the spring.

My impressions so far:

Below 7K RPM, reminds me a lot of my old BMW R1200R. Weight and balance are very similar. Brakes aren't quite as grabby.

Shifter doesn't like to be pre-loaded. Relax. Click-click-click. Easy as pie.

Very well balanced. Weight disappears underway. Definitely feel it during parking lot maneuvers. Needs open highway but not bad around town.

It has a fuel gauge, which seems to work. Heh! At least it doesn't have a shift position indicator.

I've always been a fan of big twins, only multi I've ever owned was a BMW K100RS. This... is different. It's has the torque of a Harley or a big BMW twin down low. I'm kind of used to those engines giving out above 7K RPM. Not this one. Holy ****. Hunter Thompson said, "I'd rather be shot out of a cannon that squeezed out of a tube." He shoulda rode THIS bike. Granted, I don't think there's a road a thousand miles from here where I'm gonna use those 8 extra valves. But I know a road just west of Seligman, on the way to Peach Springs, that winds its way through the mesas and rocky hills on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The train runs alongside the road, and it will race you, and blow its horn angrily when you pull ahead. Yeeeeeeeeh. That's the ticket.

 

don't be afraid to run regular 87. That's all the VFR calls for, if the guy was running premium he was just pouring cash down the toilet.

 

Nice. Get her out and enjoy ...

ACE

 

My 07 says 91 octane...Hmmm....

 

Enjoy TD.....Pretty....
first thing I did was Heli bars and a Steble horn....huge difference on both .... good luck mang

 

I live in st pete. Keeping my rv in montrose colorado and we are planning to keep the bikes out there for the summer. Riding around here is kind of a pia, too much traffic. Can't get outa second gear. The run up to apalachicola is ok.

Might go for an iron butt quest to San Diego in January and then work my way back to vegas. Wife thinks the iron butt thing is nuts. Which just makes me want to do it even more.

Eta: that joke just when zing right over my head sbt

 

The owners manual refers to the RON number of 91. Which is not the same as the yellow stickers at the pump. Those numbers are AKI (anti knock index) which is always a few points lower than the RON. 87 aki = 91 ron. The more you know..

 

Nice ride! and is the fastest color too........behind asphalt black I mean.

 

:welcome: to the madness from Sun Shine State :wave:
Glad to have you, ride safe and ATGATT

 

Here's my stock suspension tek:
Step 1: tighten everything down as far as it will go
Step 2: Enjoy!

VTEC + onramp = fun

I've had the bike for 24 hours now and haven't gotten a ticket yet. What am I, nothing?