Greetings, O learned Denizens, I humbly prostrate myself before your collective wisdom. I first bought this bike in 1992 at 20,000 miles, a one owner gem. In 2012 after some very poor maintenance by me, the chain let go and knocked a corner off the engine case, causing it to exsanguinate at the roadside. It was showing about 74k miles at this point, but it broke my heart even though I found a 36k mile engine on eBay. I sold it to a friend for £100 complete with the spare engine. He swapped in the eBay engine without too much drama and rode it happily, even inviting me to take it for a spin. I moved to Minnesota in the US, but lingering affection caused me to find a hideously overpriced local bike, pictured here with a VFR1200 competitor evaluation bike at Polaris, where I worked at the time. My friend rode "my" bike for a bit, but it developed electrical gremlins and he told me he would sell it for parts. Still quietly grieving over the whole episode and by this time living in California, I did something even less rational - I bought it back also for £100 and had it shipped to me in California. Don't ask how much that cost. Once I stripped the harness it was obvious that it was just corrosion in connectors causing the gremlins. I went to Vintage Connections and bought what they sold, patiently working my way through everything. The bike came right back to life, strong as an ox electrically speaking. Using the tactic of smiling and speaking in a British accent, I managed to charm DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles for non-American readers) into registering the white bike in California - I'm still convinced that's not really possible, but I pulled it off anyway. (My fallback plan was to use it as a spares bike for the red/white/blue bike.) I put plenty of miles on it over there, and enjoyed every single one - commuting, toddling down the Pacific Coast Highway on a Sunday, going to the pharmacy, you name it. It was pure joy. In September 2020, we moved back to Staffordshire in the UK and, you guessed it, I paid to have it shipped back again. Life has been complex and busy and I haven't got round to re-registering it, but I am getting close again and am looking forward to some of that joy again before the summer is out - but first some fork seals and new front brake hose.
FJ, thanks for asking! Red/White/Blue bike was an FG with an aftermarket exhaust that had a comically bad fit and may as well not have been fitted at all. It also had CBR600FM wheels to make it 17s at both ends like the FJ/K. There were a lot of comedy moments maintaining that bike...
Welcome to VFRW DamianH! I love the story, and your photos. This is quite the love affair you have with your viffer.
