heya.. just wanted to drop by and say howdy. I've become a 'new' VFR owner; been eyeballing bikes to start playing with more distance-based touring and I found an '08 grey before the 1100 multistrada i was pondering. It's a nice bike.. a tiny bit rough but only ~3800 miles, has some mods that were done to it (Two Bros exhaust, PowerCommander, some other things like GPS mount/power, some 3rd party fuse box thing & HID lighting/tail-flasher stuff). Overall, it seems pretty clean. I finally got the oil chaned in it last weekend and tracked down a practically brand-new set of the factory hard-bags via ebay. What else should I look over on this thing? any concern points? one thing I know i want to address are the tires; i think they are the factory/original set and plan to replace them with a set of michelin pilot-roads (have Road2s on my Hawk and saw 4s are just released). Battery seems okay but I think its also original so I'll likely change it next year. Chain isn't notchy but does seem a little tight in spots so I'll also likely change it next year (w/sprockets). Don't have a service guide but I am shopping. What else do I need to be thinking about? my history - been riding since i was 4 (around 45 now), have 4 other bikes (5 if you count the li'l ct70 i need to rehab): 2 CBRs ( '99 F4, '07 6ooRR.. got into trackdays a few years ago), 1 '89 HawkGT (taken out to 688 thx to hordpower + other mods; i'm raptorfan on the hawklist) & a drz400. i'm comfy doing my own maintenance up to tearing the engine itself apart. I had a friend with a '99/00 vfr i rode once (that was still the gear-driven cams?) and i remember thinking "this is heavy" when sitting.. and being amazed as how it felt at speed. my '08 hasn't let me down in that regard. my first mini-trip will likely be next weekend. any suggestions on things i should do/investigate/etc.. i'd appreciate it. i'll be wading thru here looking at the default threads but figured some input from the old hands would be good as well. thx! -r
Congrats on the bike and welcome to VFRWorld. For starters, hurry up and get a picture posted before you get the flogging of your life! I'd say new tires foremost and if the battery seems old I'd just drop alittle cash and get a new one. I'm not sure how the charging system on the 07 and newer are but I think most of the bad rectifier fears of prior years is not much of an issue. I have the road 4's on my bike, pretty happy so far. Other than that, for 3800 miles, I wouldn't think there'd be much to do with the bike except ride the wheels off of it. PM me about the service manual/common service manual and stop shopping for one. But for now, waist no more time do this ONLY AFTER you've posted a pic of your ride.
pics.. ok, will attach the easiest two or so.. plus one of the vfr with it's li'l brother because its a whore when it comes to rc-based photos.. also forgot.. the prev. owner found something online about using suzuki mirrors with embedded signal lights.. so he did that (and they work) but they're coated in epoxy (i think b/c they would vibrate loose), so i'm thinking about what to do there. i like the flasher-mirror idea but these look kinda.. rough. -r (ok, it's me.. i LOVE my li'l hawk to death and show it off whenever i can)
:welcome: to the madness :wave: Congratulation on your new ride, you will like the VFR. Your wife and your wallet will thank you for not getting the multistrata ound: Kudo for posting pictures, she is prutty :love: Might want to update your profile with location info