New rider 98 VFR

Discussion in 'New Riders' started by usafs14, Sep 2, 2018.

  1. usafs14

    usafs14 New Member

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    Hello everyone. I'm pretty new to riding but not completely new to motorcycles. I grew up around car and motorcycle racers (I chose cars lol) but never had a desire to ride until now. I'm actually get a 98 VFR from my step father soon so I'm glad I found this site to get started with my research. The bike hasn't been on the road much in the last few years because he lives out of state and stores the bike here. I know up front it will need an oil change, tires, and maybe battery. Obviously I wont be riding until I determine its condition, but is there anything specific to this bike or motorcycles in general that I should look for to determine if there are issues. I'm pretty mechanically inclined so I plan to do most things myself unless I feel completely out of my element.
     
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  2. OOTV

    OOTV Insider

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    Welcome to The World usafs14! You’re plan sounds solid and about the only thing that I would add is to flush/fill all of the fluids, that includes oil, coolant and clutch/brake lines.

    The one known issue with these bikes is the poor Stator/RR paring, or more specifically the connections between then and that the RR should be replaced with a newer type of regulator (MOSFET). There are more than too many post about this weakness and there’s are countless post on how to fix the issue. Do a search for “the drill” and you should be able to find the topic I’m talking about.

    Now, about those brakes. If you’re not aware, the U.S. 98-09 VFRs have a linked braking system and the bleeding process is somewhat of task. It’s not anymore difficult than bleeding other brakes but it has a lot more bleed points to deal with. If you have not already found the Honda Service Manual, go check out the downloads section of VFRDiscussion.com, its posted up over there.

    Anyway, congratulations on acquiring the VFR, ride safe and make sure you ATGATT.
     
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  3. usafs14

    usafs14 New Member

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    Thanks OOTV definitely the information I needed that service manual is going to come in handy real soon.
     
  4. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    Congrats. That's one of the VFRs I had. The best year IMO. Mine is still on the road somewhere and had over 90k mi when last I saw her.

    I came back to edit this post because I wanted to give you a heads up. The VFR is a smooth bike so pay attention to your speed. Quite often a newer rider can get in over their head with the bike because it's so smooth IMO. It's a bit of a sleeper in that most people don't consider it that sporty, but it goes fast enough to scare the piss out of you if you aren't paying attention.
     
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  5. usafs14

    usafs14 New Member

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    Great advice Reg71. Funny thing is when the bike was purchased about 14-15 years ago my uncle raced it on his bike (kawasaki zx-11 slightly modified) and was pretty surprised the Honda kept up lol. For me this will be just going back and forth to work with the occasional Sunday scenic ride.
     
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  6. Cycleman1

    Cycleman1 New Member

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    You can check out with R/R you have and the SH6890A are the newer or at least better ones. These bikes where no worse than many others out there when it comes to R/R

    The biggest issue with any of these stators is the 3 yellow wires and their related connector, just under the left side panel, to the left of the seat. If you take the seat off you can look down and see the part number. Loosen the side panel enough so that you can pull apart the yellow connector and check for any discoloration or burning of the plug. If the plug is fine then put some dielectric grease on it so that when you push it together it seals out the elements. There is another plug with that goes to the R/R, give it the same treatment.

    There is no guarantee even with a new R/R you won't have problems. The stator & R/R issue is not unique to the VFR and a multitude of different bike makes have had problems with this part of the electrical system.

    My two cents for what there are worth is that the batteries play a really big role in the health and life of the electrical system. If you put in a new battery make sure it is fully charged before you start using the bike. The stator is not capable of fully charging the battery. It in real life just acts as a maintainer. A R/R works by shorting any excessive electrical voltage from the stator to ground so always make sure the grounds are good.

    You'll want to change the antifreeze in the bike. Easy enough to do but you have to remove both side panels to do that.
     
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