My VFR has a new roommate

I rode it back from the Charlotte area--approximately 200 miles from point A to B. Got lucky with the weather until I was about 50 miles from home. It started raining but I dealt with it. Then came a downpour and I had to run like that for a couple miles before seeking shelter (with some cars!) under a bridge. Made it home safe and sound though!

Needless to say, the VFR is most certainly going to be my only choice for long trips like that. The RC is exceptionally uncomfortable over the long haul

 

Nice! Sharp! Looks like they are getting together well! Glad you made it home safe. I got caught in a sudden downpour today too and soaked my leathers.

 

CONGRATS! She's so sexy almost as sexy as the vfr's:drool:

 

Hehe yah I don't know anything about the RC51, but I am guessing it a serious sports bike just based on the handlebar position compared to the viffer next to her!

 

Hokey Smokes!! That IS sexy.

 

Nice! I have wanted one of those for years

 

:ncb:That is the perfect bike to have next to the viffer! :ncb:

I am jealous!!

 

Nice Bike! I had my buddies for 6 months while he was deployed. What a blast, I just couldn't stand to be on it for more that about an hour. Should be a great combo with the VFR.

Action

 

Nice 51!

My boss has been commuting about 600 miles/week on his, somehow... In fact he's used it for touring all around California. Not sure how, but he says it's comfy.

 

Looks like the same bike I thougt about,located in Concord with new PP tires.
Congrats would like one,someday.
Mike from charlotte

 

A little update...

It was an extraordinarily harsh ride home, but later I found the compression and rebound were close to 100% hard in the back. The front compression setting on the forks was mismatched and set very "hard" to boot. The rebound adjustment on the front right fork only has a few clicks available (should have close to 30), which is likely caused by someone a botched rebuild job (not following Honda's strict procedure).

At any rate, I tried my best to adjust the suspension down to what Sportrider recommends, and so far it has worked out quite well. Not only does the bike have something resembling suspension now, but it feels incredibly stable in a turn. I love it!

I also noticed that it feels like the bearing in the steering stem is worn too much--there is a bit of free play that I'm not cool with. The bearing really shouldn't be worn out with so few miles, so the theory is that either the excessively non-compliant suspension settings hammered the bearing, or someone wheelie'd the bike and let is hit the ground too hard a number of times. It could be a combination of both. Oh well...

The dealer is going to just rebuild the front end for me so there is no doubt (already priced it out and everything). I know they'll do it right, and this bike deserves to be the way Honda intended it. I would tear into it but sadly I just don't have the time, and it's something that needs to be done ASAP.

I'm kind of a snob when it comes to keeping bikes as mechanically unmolested as possible, and this bike is surprisingly unmolested for a 2001 model. The flapper valve still works as do the limited emission control parts (PAIR valve and PCV system). It isn't a Cali model so it has no evaporative emission system unfortunately.

The previous owner installed braided brake lines which is awesome, though the fluid seems a bit dark. Not sure if it's dirty or if it's some kind of fluid that is naturally dark (probably the former unfortunately).

I like the Jardine high mount exhaust--it is loud but produces an addictive snarl. It does away with the rear pegs, but what passenger would enjoy themselves back there anyway?

The flush mount turn signals look great but have already required a little wiring TLC due to a broken ground wire. Soon I'm going to probably redo all of the custom wiring for the lighting (there isn't much thankfully) and solder/heat-shrink the connections just to be sure.

The quantity of lighting from the Hotbodies undertail is atrocious during the day. I'm not sure what to do about that but I'll think of something hopefully. At any rate, it at least looks better than the OEM rear lighting, and it looks like it was thoughtfully installed.

There is no license plate lighting with that undertail, thus the bike will not pass NC state inspection (which expired in 2003!). However I have some license plate screws that have little LED lights in them from eBay which will at least satisfy that requirement (even though they may not light up the plate much).

I used to be a factory-trained automotive technician (Audi), so having to do a few little projects to make the bike 100% perfect don't bother me at all. It's kind of a nice break from software work all day.

So far it has been fun to ride and is a totally different beast than the VFR. I rode the VFR today for the first time in a week. It's all about sophistication and smoothness, whereas the RC is wild. Don't get me wrong though, the RC is still intuitive and somewhat forgiving. But it seems to be built for one thing only

 

Hahaha... Nope, I like evaporative emission systems because it's better for the environment and reduces the fuel vapor odor when parked in the sun.

Most importantly, it makes a largely unmeasurable improvement in fuel economy too, and these days every little bit helps.

 

Nahhhh... The addition of those emission parts do nothing to affect the fun factor, especially on something like an RC... and I doubt the extra two pounds are noticeable. So I get my fun and the satisfaction of knowing I'm not needlessly blowing maximum pollution into the fresh air that's blowing through my helmet.

 

Coincidentally my '06 VFR has a evap system and I thought they were only on CA models... Maybe they all have them or maybe I also got a CA model?

 

Many states other than California require vehicles sold in their state to meet California emissions. This makes it fun sometimes repairing cars and such where the 'calif' emissions model requires a different timing belt, etc., than the 'federal' version.