Finally Getting Used To It: New to the VFR World

Greetings all!

I just wanted to thank everyone for this resource. I just bought my 2009 VFR late last August and have been reading up here. A lot of you have been a big help and don't even realize it, so I thought it was time I changed that--Thanks!

A little about me: I've been riding since college (or just under 20 years now) and in that time I've only ever ridden a Honda NightHawk (first an '83, which was short lived, then an '85, which I have had for 16 years now.) I loved the fifth and sixth gen VFRs when they were new, but wasn't really in the market at the time.



A little about my bike: I found what I thought was a decent deal on a 2009 VFR800 non-ABS back in August of last year. It was $5K with only 1819 on the clock and good condition. It was all stock except for for god-awful green rattle can painted wheels. Since then I've added a Sargent seat, saddlebags, heated grips, Throttle Tamer, and refinished the wheels in translucent black powder coat when I changed to Michelin Pilot Road 4 GTs at the end of December.

Now, the rest of the story... I have a 141 mile round trip commute. The NightHawk was performing admirably for a 30-year old bike, but I knew it wouldn't be long for this world if I kept using it as a daily driver. I had just sold my beater car and it was time for something newer that could take that kind of daily use without blinking. Enter the VFR.

After having put just shy of 10K miles on the Interceptor in five months, I can finally say that I'm really starting to build a growing appreciation for this bike. Even halfway considering selling the NightHawk... although I probably won't.

Thanks again for this resource, everyone! I'm hoping to have a seriously high-mileage VFR after a while with your help!

 

Nice, you're welcome for all the advice you may have received too. 141 a day huh. yea you'll be in VFR heaven for sure.

 

Congrats! I too was able to grab an 09 for a steal (back in Aug 2011), not quite as good a deal as you got but with only 347 miles on the clock it was essentially a new bike for me. I use mine for commuting too, although I don't have a specific route, as I go to other places of business to do my work, but I do quite a bit of miles on the freeways here in So Cal! Lane splitting is your friend!

A word of advice, don't go selling any bike unless you absolutely have to. You never know when you might have to resort back to one of the others in a pinch. There's also sellers remorse. I know several riders who regret selling their previous "trusty steed"!

Anyway nice ride, if I do say so myself and Welcome to The World!

 

Thanks much!

Yeah, I've been getting some strange looks at work when I roll up on the bike on below freezing mornings, but it's really not a bad ride with the gear I have, and I'm not even running heated clothing yet. I still enjoy it. Truth be told, I hate the commute, but I love the ride, if you catch my meaning.

I appreciate the advise about the NightHawk. I actually still ride it to work on mild days, and it's my go-to in town bike. I don't know what I could get for it, but it's doubtful that it would be worth giving up a perfectly good running bike for whatever they go for these days.

As far as the VFR goes, I've got some Helibars and a Vista Cruise throttle lock on the way, and I'm looking at getting a Zero Gravity Sport Touring windscreen. Any thoughts on this setup from anyone else that has it?

Oh, and here's a quick look at what I did about the rattle-can job on my wheels when I got new tires:

The starting point:


Factory finished was damaged, so bead blasted it off:


Once bead blasted clean, spent a lot of time with abrasive discs, buffs, and polish to get a mirror finish:


And the final result, with two coats of Eastwood translucent black powder coat:


It isn't my best work, but it will do. To be honest, my VFR is my daily driver, so I wasn't about to go crazy with show quality on this project. Besides, I own the equipment, so I can always do it again and do it better if I really feel like it later. I like it being close to factory, but not quite--the sort of thing that only someone who knows these bikes would notice. Also, I'm debating on powder coating the other silver aluminum bits on my bike the same color. Thoughts?

BTW, if anyone is curious, I have some more transitional pictures in my gallery.

 

Very nice! If you have the time and patience, I say do the color matching, it would set your VFR apart from the other stock machines. As far as the heli-bars, the three things I did to my bike which I found invaluable, 1) Upgraded the stock suspension (revamped would be a better term). 2) Heli-bars. This helped on the longer rides I have to make. 3) Sargent Seat. Again better for the longer rides I take. With all three of these combined, I am even more happy than I was when I did my test ride!

I cannot comment on the wind screen specifically, as I have a GIVI touring screen so I do not know how it compares to the ZG screen. I can say that I like my GIVI but do not have a memory of the stock screen to say how it compares.

In regards to the suspension though, I have 3 bikes and all 3 have had their suspension revamped by fellow forum member Jamie Daugherty (http://www.daughertymotorsports.com/). The first bike was my '09, where I had him rebuild an OEM ABS model shock and send me the components for the forks. The second bike was my 5 Gen, where I had him rebuild the stock front and add in rebound adjusters and a update a Penske rear shock and just more recently rebuild my Ducati's suspension (front/rear). So far I am very happy with what he did for the VFRs but I have not test ridden the Ducati yet as I just today I was able to setup the sag (Special thanks to forum member Scubalong for his assistance) but have not had a chance to ride it. Most likely I'll be taking her for a maiden voyage next weekend.

Another reason why I mentioned not getting rid of your Nighthawk, be very cognizant of the stator and RR on your bike. Although these two have plagued the earlier VFRs more, the issue is still relevant on the later era VFRs. Essentially the stator will get "cooked" and/or the connectors between the stator and RR will overheat and melt. As seen here on my '09 recently. It's something that should be part of your maintenance schedule, inspect and clean these connections or as some have done, eliminate them entirely and solder the leads together. Your call on that. Otherwise these bikes seem top be pretty bullet proof!

 

Many thanks for the info on the stator. I had read briefly about it in passing, but I didn't know the specifics. That makes sense now. I think that I'll solder the connection when take the VFR down to do the valve adjustment. I estimate that with my current mileage and use that will be around March. I may do the color matching at the same time, too. Definitely looks like the Nighthawk is going to have some work to do in the spring!

Speaking of the Nighthawk, as I'm leaning more towards keeping it, I think that perhaps the suspension work might be in its future before the VFR, although I'll definitely take that into consideration for the VFR in the future. If you don't mind my asking, what specific benefit did you get from the suspension work? Is it comfort? High speed stability? Track performance?

As far as the windscreen, I'm not dead set on the ZG, it's just the cheapest of the taller options I've seen. My factory windscreen is moderately scratched and I'd like something that directs the air a bit higher than factory, so I figure upgrading the screen is in order.

 

Felipe, to answer the suspension question, all of the above! When I had the 09 done, I had Jamie tailor the damping towards commuting/touring so the ride is more comfy, however the spring rate was bumped just a tad as I usually carry more weight than just myself. I.e Work gear, camping gear, pillion. So in this regard the comfort was improved as well as Corning stability.

For my 5 Gen and Duc I had him tailor it to just me and sport/track riding. Considering I use both of these bikes for fun, this is the way I wanted to go. As I have yet to test ride the Duc I cannot speak for how that bike will do, but I can say that the 5 Gen works very well, even on the track! I did a track day last Sunday and it performed as well as I could have expected/hoped. I am looking forward to getting some time in on the Duc as its been almost since I bought it that the suspension has been touched!