Added a 95 750 to the stable and have questions

I saw the ad while I was away, gave the guy a call from the airport on the left coast and picked it up on the way home from the airport in Mississauga. Will post a photo as soon as I can. Red with 43k km on the clock. Certainly not a showroom bike but it is all there. There is evidence on the right cover and brake lever that it was down at one point but the plastics are all pretty good. The odd crack here and there and the color is a bit off from one panel to the next. The inside of the tank looks very clean with just a few bits of particulate in the bottom. No rust. I rode it home 100km to Kitchener and like it so far. Nice linear power with a normal punch in the mid range. PO has had the bike 3 years. Has receipts for head bearings, fork seals and oil last year from his local dealer. He also indicated he changed the coolant. No brake of clutch fluid changes but the clutch feels great. I will do the clutch and brake fluid as this is an easy job. Have a D&D slip on lined up as well for $100. I like a louder pipe! The shift lever is loose and looks like it has been for a while. Might try it down one notch as I have big feet. Bike shifts lighter and easier than my 06.

I paid $1850 Cdn for the bike. I like my 6th Gen but wanted to try something a little different. Still really want a 5th Gen but need to have some patience at getting to know these bikes. Brought a set of Heli bars back from my US trip for the 6th Gen and want to do a bit of light touring with it. The Gen 4 seems more a fun and sporty bike. I have been telling myself to ride both for the summer and then decide. Lots of nice 5th gen examples for sale around here as well. Still not fully loving my 6th gen but need to try some more maps in the power commander and see if I can get it to run a bit better.

On to the questions:

Are there different colors of red for these? The Code under the seat is R-158P or E. I am looking at adding a seat cowl.

The temperature of the bike never goes more than just above the lower line on the white C on the temperature gauge. It was cool coming home, probably close to 10°C or so and it was all highway. Normal or possible thermostat/temperature sender issue? As I idled up into the garage the temperature didn't move which I thought was odd but it was a cool night.

The throttle is different than the 6th gen and other bikes I have ridden. Too much of a dead spot from roll off to back on. Just a cable adjustment or lube?

There are warning stickers still on the top of the tank! I usually take these off but after 20 years I fear the paint will be lighter under them, so I think I will leave them on?

I think there are a few lights out behind the tach. Common? Pick up from dealer? Difficult to do?

The bike appears to have a full tool kit, which I found after figuring out how to release the seat. Barely all fits in the little bag! There is a 0.7 feeler gauge in the kit. Is this normal or a sign that someone may have adjusted the valves at some point? I need to look up the valve adjustment interval. PO felt it was coming up soon.

The R/R looks factory and had warmed up the side cover by the time I got home. Suggestions? I did a full Roadster Mosfet on the 06 and found melted connectors. But that was a $200+ investment with shipping and all the extras. Probably worth it but this is more of a project bike to work on and have a bit of fun with ( I always like to have a project to keep me sane). I don't want to break the bank on it but will do what I need to do to make it right.

Needs new tires. There is lots of tread but they are date coded late 06! Decent but reasonable suggestions for replacements?


Needs a spare key. Dealer, or eBay maybe or China for a cheapy non factory one? Wait a minute I think I just answered that myself. Will compare dealer to eBay, but will probably buy local to try and support my local shop. Even if it is $15-20.

Suggestions on things to do and check are welcome.

 

Welcome to the 4th gen world.

I've had my 95 since new but bought in 96. Now with 170K km.

The red is the same for all 4th gen as far as I know. It was silver in 96 in Canada though.

My bike runs hot to the touch especially on the frames, but that hasn't translated to a high reading on the gauge in my experience. So I'd say that what you are seeing is normal. Only time it reads high is during stop&go traffic. And since I moved out of the city that's not an issue

I haven't noticed any issues with the throttle on my bike. Check the slack. Or maybe it's the difference between a carbed and fuel injected bike? I haven't ridden anything other than the VFR for a long time except for short demo rides. I did ride my friend's 5th gen last year and its handling was sharper and quicker than mine. To be fair though the front tire is worm and I had my stock rear shock in while getting my Ohlins serviced. I reinstalled it this year and it was much better but still not as sharp as his. I'm putting on a new front tire this weekend.

The Achilles heel is the electrics as with most VFRs. I've replaced my r/r twice and installed the VFRness. Stator has been good but I bought one last time just in case. At least both r/r failures were close to home and didn't leave me stranded.

The feeler gauge in the tool kit is not for valve checks. It's to check brake caliper clearance or something when you remove front wheel. I have to admit that I've never used it.

I've not lost a dashlight in 20 years but to replace them you need to remove the front fairing, which means removing the lower fairings, mirrors, windscreen, headlight assembly first. The lower fairing can be tricky at first but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straight forward. The plastic clips on the inside of the lower fairing are of the "push the centre pin" to remove variety.

Headlight bulbs are kinda H4. You just need to bend the two lower tabs back to fit the Honda socket.

As for tires, what's good for the 6th gen is good for the 4th except that the rear tire is a 170 not 180. It might not be as readily available as the 180 but will be a few dollars cheaper.

I'm down to one factory key. Unfortunately the copy I had cut at the local hardware store doesn't work very well. Maybe time to get a new one from Honda.

I did valve checks on my bike every 25K km until 100K. I skipped doing them until I hit 165K last year. There were 4 or 5 tight valves. Non-VTEC engine & gear driven cams.... Yes! Access to the front cylinders are a pain so I stripped it all down (now would be the time to change those dashboard lights) and drained the coolant and removed the radiator.

One thing to check and keep a eye on is the rear tail section, as it has a way of shaking itself apart and cracking. I'm in the midst of putting it together as a single unit with Plastifix. It will look ugly and scarred until I can get it painted (Plastidip?) but it will be better than the duct tape I was using to hold it together.

 

Put Pilot Road 4 tyres on. You will never regret it.
I have a PR4 on the front but in backwater WA here I had to go with PR3 rear as the 170 was unavailable and importer could not say when or if it would be brought in.

I am in middle of major service on my 94. One of the things I replaced while I had the front fairing off was most of the dash lights. For the few bucks involved it means I wont have to touch that part again in maybe 10 years. One of mine was blown - the lower half of the speedo was hard to read at night.

 

Thanks for all the replies and information. I have started to do a few little things on the bike. Will give it a good going over, get it certified and hopefully just ride it. Certainly need some tires and will get those on as well.

 

If you have access to an IR temperature meter you can check the running temp of the outside of the radiator. If the thermostat fails they usually jam 'open' which means slower warm up and poor control of running temp in cold conditions. You'll be able to tell if it's jammed open by starting from cold, the radiator should not get warm for a couple of minutes, then should get too hot to touch almost immediately once the tstat opens. If the radiator starts to warm almost immediately the tstat is jammed.


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