Thinking of getting a 5th Gen VFR

Am new here and let's point out right away that I am older being retired and returned to riding just over 2 years ago on a Ducati Monster 620ie after just over 35 years of no bikes and not riding. Finding the Monster uncomfortable for anything over about a hour or so put it up for sale and bought a 97 Triumph Trophy 900 that I only got to ride for a few months before suffering a nasty accident on the Ducati near the end of September which am still not fully recovered from now after the surgeon cleared me to ride again I have recently began riding the Triumph.

I do not have a VFR ............ yet .............. currently trying to arrange the viewing trip and have been browsing the listings for wile now and sort of fell for a 2008 VFR V-tec which I believe is a Gen 6th. However have been advised that the V-Tec servicing is rather costly and that I should rather consider a 5th Gen bike and to that end have found a couple that look like they should fit the bill. Needing something lower and lighter then the Trophy a Shadow VT600 was bought in February and it's a great bike to ride locally but it seriously lacks performance and someone has badgered me to sell it to them and a deal has been agreed now we wait to see if they actually come up with the money.

After riding the Trophy again which is a sports tourer with full fairing this has made me realise just how much nicer it is lacking the constant wind buffeting so my search for a replacement for the Shadow switched to concentrating on bikes so equipped and in turn eventually lead me to the VFR as yet I have not even sat on one the closest one in the sales listings that have found is 90km away and it seems to have been a track bike at some point. The two 5th Gen ones that have found are a 4 hour drive away in towns close to one another a Silver 98 with 32,000km showing and a Blue 2000 with 37,000km showing.

Comment and advice is very welcome. Plezier

 

Hi Plezier, I own both a 5th gen and 6th gen, and have done the full valve service on both; I can confirm that the VTEC takes maybe 3x more time and may involve more expense in parts if the VTEC valves need to be adjusted. VTECs also need new camchain tensioners occasionally, which the 5th doesn't, so if maintenance cost is an issue, the decision is easy. Performance-wise they are very similar, the 6th gen I think is quieter and even smoother, but the ride positions are very similar, the 5th gen feels like it carries its weight lower. The 6th gen has better brakes. Parts availability is much better for the 6th as that was sold from 02 to 12, where the 5th gen was only sold for 4 years 98-01. The 98 and 99 5th gens are simpler, the 00 and 01 have the auto fast idle, O2 sensors and a cat. There is an ergonomics webpage that will help you understand the different ride position to your current bikes. https://cycle-ergo.com/
Let us know what you decide to do.

 

That mileage on both those bikes is absolutely nothing as long the owners kept up with basic oil changes and didn't keep the bikes outside in a swamp or something. 350,000+ km and still kicking isn't unheard of for these engines.

The 5th gen offers a wide range of seating posture changes Stock, more upright with Helibars/superbike style, or complete upright with Hurricane Police kit.

Be prepared for rectifier upgrade if not done, but based on that use I'm guessing some sort of charging system upgrades have been done.

Mainly be prepared for antique rubber bits to be aging out. This goes for any motorcycle of this vintage. Fork seals, master cylinder soft parts, water gooseneck o-rings at the cylinder heads, coolant hoses (there's 16 or so of these. Silicone kits are available).

camshaft gear scream combined with V4 180 crank exhaust note is a whole unique sound you won't find on any motorcycle made in the past 25 years.

 

Thank you already owning and riding a 97 vintage Triumph which only had 39,600km on the clock when I bought it May 2025 am aware about aging bits on the 2002 Ducati the clutch master packed up on my over 200km from home but I got it home with o clutch that was an interesting experience then the slave failed. The 98 Shadow had to rebuild the front brake master as it started to weep that only showed 19.005km when I picked it up. Low mileage and lack of use it not always such a good thing as when put into use things often start to fail the Ducati had less than 8,000 miles on it.

Servicing is some what of an issue here as bike shops are not exactly thick on the ground so have to do most myself though I did pay the small time dealer whom I bought the Triumph off the service it, oil, oil filter, air filter, new front pads and new Bridgestone tyres once got it home I drained then flushed the coolant system and filled it with new coolant and greased the nipples that I cold find then balanced the carbs.

The Shadow had to strip and clean the carb replace the mounting rubber and inlet manifold O'Rings fit new front wheel bearings get and fit new fuel tap due to it not fully turning off and due to the crud in the float bowl this allowed the fuel to get into the sump so had to drain that flush it and fit new filter and refill with fresh oil. Now I only know of one of the bike dealers shops in the city of Veliko Tarnovo must find the others and have no idea where the nearest Honda dealer is bearing this in mind a 5th Gen will probably be my best bet prices for auto parts here are just stupidly high am waiting on delivery of a regulator/rectifier for the Shadow from the UK as even with delivery to Bulgaria it was 1/3 the cost that the local factors quoted and they wanted a week for delivery as well the Shadows air filter came from the UK as locally they quoted 125 euros for one I paid less than half of that from a UK Honda dealer that has an ebay.uk account. This is one of the biggest drawback to living here the other is the greed shown since they adopte the Euro many places have just switch the currency symbols on their pricing which means prices have doubled.

Now on condition well in the photos both look in very good condition but photos can be deceiving which is why am going to make the trip down to view them a test ride would be great but neither of them are registered here being imports so unless the dealers have dealer plates no chances of a test ride. The nearest Honda dealer that deals with motorcycles is over 3 hours away it seems.

Plezier

 

Thank you for that.

Actually getting any motorcycle parts is not that easy here and the prices are stupidly high down to plan ole greed it seems I often end up ordering online from elsewhere in Europe or the UK and waiting my home is in a small village there is a city about 30km away where I know of one bike dealer there are other there but so far have not found them.

Now I am no street racer and doing a little research on the web and youtube have seen that I would likely need risers for the bars that is no problem have changed bars on bikes for comfort on several bikes before. I find the seating position on the Trophy good and its standard in that respect. Also do not know any other riders here finding some would probably make things easier if we can get past the language barrier ................... Bulgarian is a nightmare! Now as for quiet running bikes you obviously have not been around any Hinkley Triumph triples then as the engines are not quiet at all many refer to them as sounding like tractors. Be interesting to compare the VFR with my Trophy especially if a get a 98 vintage one seeing as how the Triumph is a 97.

Am resigned to having to get parts from Europe except for common service stuff like oil filters and plugs air filter will probably require importing unless I really want to be ripped off as I found with the Honda VT600 one paid less than half what they wanted locally by buying from a dealer in the UK and paying the shipping like the regulator for the Shadow that was just under 5 euro with shipping against the quoted 125 euro locally driving to Romania and getting one from a Honda dealer there would have been cheaper than the locals quoted.

Let's hope can arrange a viewing and possibly a test ride in the near future with the distances involved it's going to take a little arranging.

Plezier

 

I also suffer from local rip-offs for parts, we have a dedicated Honda powersports importer but they almost never carry parts and want you to pay up front before they will order, then I get to wait for the slow boat from Japan, and pay a premium price. I now order genuine parts from Webike in Japan, pricing is very sharp and freight costs are tolerable. My government only adds an import duty for items over about 500 euro, so most shipments tax-free. For pattern parts, Wemoto is pretty good. To find OEM part numbers I particularly like Partzilla.com in the US, very easy to navigate

The 800's, and especially the 5th gen, are very quiet running engines. I also have a Yamaha MT-10, and that does sound like a bag of nails by comparison (but goes like a rocket).

I've got raised bars on all of my VFRs, we have a local manufacturer who knocks these out for 200 euro that are a direct bolt-up and keep the original cables.

 

Thank you for that information now as for risers I had a little look on Ebay.uk and found these :-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/188365120255

Keenly priced so if it works out with one of the dealers and I really do like them like I think I might then will buy the risers. In the mean time had sent a message through a listings site to a private seller in Ruse which is about 90km from me with a 2000 VFR listed asking if I can look at it will have to see if we get a response not holding my breather as have very little luck in getting a response from these sales sites in the past but if we do and it's positive then i'll take a ride over on the Triumph to take a look am unsure as the actual colour as he says he has another set of plastics the ones in the phots have V-Tec on the fairing and covered in what I assume are race graphics "Movistar" the man colour is Blue.

https://www.cars.bg/offer/69a1d2143ff3be5d3b0b8732

Now we just wait and see Plezier

 

Exhaust on both is quiet with factory cans, but the 5th gen is not quiet overall. The camshaft gear whistle volume level is loud enough to be heard over a 98-99 running no muffler. There's a resonance around 4300RPM where the pitch isn't the highest from the gear train, but it gets stupid loud. This isn't a complaint BTW.

My gen 5 Goldwing GL1800C makes a similar sort of whistle, I think from the alternator drive gear. However, the volume level of that whistle is way down and matched by the overall low hum of the flat6. Wearing a full face with earplugs sitting at a stoplight it's hard to tell that thing is even idling.

 

Hmmm ear plugs then only time I used them when I had to at a work and when shooting at the range I really detest them and it's too late to stop tinitus as have suffered with it for several decades now and oddly enough I do not recall my old Centurion Firebird glass fibre full face being as noisy as these new ones first used when got back on the bikes was a LS2 Rapid 111 that needed replacing after the accident now have a Nolan N60-5 that is quieter than the LS2 but not really quiet..

Anyway driving back from town and shopping the choices were going over in my head, yes got it bad, just like it was when deciding on a new rifle! Well got to thinking about that 6th Gen 2008 in Rothmans colours:-

https://www.mobile.bg/obiava-51761058579634669-honda-vfr-800-v-tec-lizing

This really ................................ really appeals to me visually it grabbed my attention it was only the advice and warning about the servicing costs that made me look at the 5th gens. This is even a bit closer only 3 hours drive and I may be able to wangle a friend down there to come and look at it with me he is Bulagrian but speaks very good English which would make things easier at least for getting questions answered and even in haggling if it got to that stage. My thinking while driving was that at 59,000 km (36,661 miles) on the clock it should have has the valves serviced at 51,499km if it did the next service is at 77,249km which is 18,000km away and seeing as how the mileage I cover a year is about 5,000km that is nearly 4 years to the next required valve service so 4 years to squirrel away money for just this. You see thinking is very dangerous!!! Plus with my advancing age we do not know how long riding I have left am coming up for 67 as it is. Still not sure about Silver as a colour for a VTR and the 98 5th gen is Silver.

Plezier

 

FYI, I'm sure you know this, but these bikes were only available in a few colours each model year. There were only two 5th gen colors ever available in the USA: red and yellow. Europe had a handful of additional choices over the four model years, but a "race rep" was not one of them (unless you count the 50th Anniversary silver/red in 1999). Consequently, any unusual colors usually mean "crashed bike" underneath. Might not be a big deal, but it makes things more challenging with respect to spare parts, etc.

There were many more 6th gen colours over the years.

Ciao,

JZH

 

The one in the Rothmans colours is a 6th gen from 2007/8 listing says 2008 but that was probably when it was registered it's also dearer than the two 5th gen ones and has higher mileage at 59,000 km. the 5th gens are Silver and the 2000 year one is Blue just checked weather forecast and it's rain for the next few days Saturday looks good though so will see if nephew can look after the dogs for the day.

Plezier

 

The riding position on my 5th gen is upright standard. I have the Hurricane Police version handlebar kit. https://japan.webike.net/products/2076729.html

and lower footpegs that drop feet down 1-3/8".