Thinking of swapping my CBR for a 2014 DLX- valve adjust question

Discussion in 'General VFR Discussions' started by jpvfr, Dec 30, 2020.

  1. jpvfr

    jpvfr New Member

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    I'm new to this forum and thought I'd ask quick about the VFR. I have an 08 CBR600RR that is nearly perfect, only 1500 miles on it. I love it but I'm interested in something a little more practical for luggage etc. There is a 2014 VFR800 DLX locally with 14K miles on it and I'm considering trading for it.

    My main preliminary questions are:

    the owner isn't sure when the last owner performed a valve adjust. I've seen that this is an 8 hour job but some people seem to suggest I could go without for some time? When would I realistically need to do one?

    I would want to find some hard cases as well. How much would these run me? are they decently easy to find.

    How about passenger comfort? My partner is not real comfortable on the CBR- she's used to BMW 1200GS and other similar bikes. While I imagine it's not quite as comfy as one of those, how is it in general for a passenger- she's somewhat tall at 5'8".

    thanks for any and all help.
     
  2. VFRIRL

    VFRIRL New Member

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    Luggage should be easy to find, I'd go for Givi or Kappa myself, I wouldn't worry about valve adjustments personally, never had it done on any bike and I'm riding bikes a long time, it's an expensive service unless you can do it yourself and if you don't do it yourself how can you be sure it was done at all?
    Passenger comfort is fine in the 5th gen anyway, I'd imagine the 8th would be much the same.
    The 8th gen Vfr is a much more practical bike than a Cbr600rr, but vtec would put me off buying one
     
  3. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    Having had a 07 CBR600rr I defy anyone to say they are comfortable for a passenger. A house brick is more comfortable..
    The 8th gen VFR is lovely but you really want to get hard cases with it. They are ridiculously priced.
     
  4. jpvfr

    jpvfr New Member

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    Yeah, VTEC seems to be a concern. Seems like interesting tech. Care to explain why it would put you off of it?

    Thanks.
     
  5. VFRIRL

    VFRIRL New Member

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    I think if you rode a 5th gen with gear driven cams and then rode a vtec you'd know exactly why I wouldn't buy one, the vtec transition is annoying and you've also got cam chain tensioners to deal with, another thing to replace.
    On the 8th gen the vtec is probably very smoothed out by now, the led lighting is nice and I'm sure a lot of people love it, get yourself a 98/99 model year Vfr is my advice, if I was going to buy a 'modern' bike I'd probably go for a Tracer GT or wait for the new Honda sports tourer that's reportedly being developed with the Africa twins new 1100 cc engine.
     
  6. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    Hi jpVFR and welcome to the MadHouse:Welcome:

    Others have flagged up most of the considerations.

    In short an 8th Gen is probably going to be far more comfortable for your pillion, and if trips with luggage is what you are looking to do more than once in a while, then the 8th Gen VFR has a whole lot going for it compared with earlier VFR generations simply because Mr H finally sorted out the hopeless charging system which has left thousands of 5th and 6th gen models stranded. Whilst 5th Gen models are well liked they are not getting any younger and sadly people are now having trouble getting some parts, at least 6th gen models were still on sale in Europe in 2013, so most service parts are still easy and cheap to find.

    When it comes to specifying service schedules Mr H obviously is looking at this from a very different perspective to any owner. Going OTT garantees their dealership service people with loads of extra billable work and costs them nothing to specfiy a vtec valve check frequency which has been designed to protect their "reliability" reputation and ensure any issues with the valves are spotted before even a track day mule ridden flat out every day will not suffer a failure despite the bike spending most of the time bouncing off the rev limiter.

    Hopefully a few questions to the seller will allow you to assess whether the bike has really has been battered by previous owners and really needs a valve check.

    My 6th Gen has done well over 200,000 km and over the years has had several very expensive valve checks and on EVERY occasion the dealer has reported everything that was still in spec and that no shims needed changing/adjustment.

    Assuming you are not planning on riding your 8th Gen like to total madman, then many owners have found their vtec bikes remain perfect despite skipping every other vtec valve check - with hindsight skipping 2 out of 3 is more than ample.

    But in my case my bike has done the majority of those miles on high speed long haul trips around Europe and apart from suffering the unavoidaable charging system issue it has been brilliant (fixed by installing a Shindegen RR from Roadstercycle.com).

    The 8th Gen models has the latest iteration of vtec which apart from a change in engine noise the transition to vtec mode is barely perceptible - the downside being you can be well into three digit speeds without even knowing it!

    If you can afford the OEM panniers and top box set they look better than aftermarket and every 8th Gen already has all the OEM pannier mounts which provide heaps of space for long haul two up tours. If you find an OEM pannier set for a 7th Gen (the 1200 VFR) the luggage is exactly the same and will fit straight onto an 8th Gen.

    If you do decide to snag an 8th Gen please let us know and post up a photo or two (follow prompts on the upload a file link below).

    Take care ATGATT



    SkiMad
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2020
  7. fink

    fink Member

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    It’s such a shame you have never tried an 8th gen so only have outdated info to go by.

    The new bike the transition is seamless compared the the original vtec and it’s upgrade a few years later. Just like a rocket.




    To op the valve check is now at 24k miles. So no need to worry.
     
  8. VFRIRL

    VFRIRL New Member

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    Yeah I must get a spin on one sometime, I'd like to try the vfr800x with the same engine, it would make more sense for me anyway at my age, I'll never sell my current 5th gen though,
    They done away with the linked brakes on the 8th gen which I like also, the linked brakes work well but they are harder to bleed,
    I'd like to ride a vfr800x back to back with the new Yamaha Tracer 9 GT and see which one I'd prefer.
     
  9. QtrLitre

    QtrLitre New Member

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    I think your partner will be happy with the pillion accommodations on the VFR. The seat is a very good size, much larger than most on modern middleweights these days.
     
  10. ceptorman

    ceptorman New Member

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    There are many differences between a CBR600rr and a VFR. Riding position is probably the biggest difference, that CBR is a blast on the track or on the twisties, but isn't much fun racking up miles. The VFR will make you comfortable, not many bikes do that.
     
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