Looking for any long distance creature comforts for a 6th gen VFR

Using this site early this year it helped me to learn about and narrow my search for the perfect VFR, for me of course. So thanks one and all for a great web site!
I finally found an 07 RWB Anniversary edition in AZ with factory bags, a Sargent seat, Heli bars/peg lowers, and a Double Bubble windscreen.
In June I'll be headed south to SD from Vancouver and then east to FL. The Vancouver SD leg will be two-up. In the meantime I found an OEM topbox in the UK (eBay UK) for less than $350 US. I'm looking for advise on highway pegs if there is such a thing, any feedback on HID or PIAA installations (preferred brands), VFRarness wiring, Stebel installs, MRA X-Creen experiences, and anything anyone else wants to share with me especially in the long distance comfort areas. I know I'm trying to make an ST out of my VFR, but only until I get it home to where the ST lives currently alone. Then she goes back to SPORT/tourer
Cheers,
Mike

 

I would highly recommend looking into a throttle lock or cruise control. That being said, I would hint at Throttle Meister throttle lock. I have a set and I love it. It is a life saver when you’re putting on 600 miles in one day. I will be the first to admit it is expensive (I paid $150 shipped to my door), but being able to take your hand of the gas, and shake it when it goes numb is worth it. I haven’t had any problems with it slipping at 30mph or 100mph, it’s a solid system. I only have had it for one riding season, but I haven’t had an issue with it nor had my friend who has had his for several years (3+).

As far as lighting goes, ( I.M.O. ) you get what you pay for. I personally run the mid grade Piaa’s ($45 per bulb) on all of my vehicles and am very happy with the upgrade. They are brighter and have a whiter light than stock. You could spring for the high end Piaa’s, they are supposed to be brighter, but having never owned them I can’t say.

 

LD Creature comforts

Thanks Guj,
There is a Throttlemeister in the mail already. It should be waiting for me when I finish the next hitch. I have one on my ST and love it. Been using the Crampbuster as a quickfix for my fall riding around lower BC and actually got to like that as well. Thanks for the light opinion as well. I could go with mid grade PIAAs like you mentioned. But don't want to load up the electrical system too much until I probably install a VFarness down the line a bit.
Mike

 

Stop by SD I will put in HID for you...............as no charge.

 

Thanks long, I might be able to do that. So far late June to early July is when I would be passing through SoCal if my cunning plans stay together of course? From what I can pick up here I should probably upgrade to the VFharness first? Have you guys done that also?
Do you have a particular model of light/ballast that you recommend based on what you guys are already running?
If I got all the kit delivered to my folks place in LA beforehand it just might work. Then when I get back to the east coast I would already know how to ad the HID's to my ST!
Cheers,
Mike

 

Captmikejd@aol.com

Hi Reg,
Thanks for your reply also. I should have a week or 10 days in LA after the two-up ride down from Vancouver to add Farkles. I'm not really planning on lots of extra electrical stuff. but it would be good to know I could keep a phone charged, run a GPS or maybe some tunes (XM) without stressing the electrical system. I have already had the experience of the dead battery while waiting to cross the border into Canada, and then waiting for a BC ferry. Could have been me idling in line with high beams on. could have been that I set the idle lower than 1K RPM, more like 750 and it does not charge. Or it could even have been the original battery was just at the end of its useful life when I bought the bike?
whatever, I have learned some great stuff here and am looking forward to more.
Thanks again,
Mike

 

HMonkey butt powder. Not kidding either. It's like $8 at ACE hardware. You can also find it at some online shops.

A better seat than OEM. Sargent is reasonably priced widely available and just about the best you can get. About $300.
I do have a link for custom seats but I have no feed back on long distance performance. I do have personal experience with the Sargent. It makes a big difference.

Custom seat link >> http://www.motorbike-seats.co.uk/HORNET & CBF & VFR.htm

An after market wind screen will keep the wind blast to a minimum slowing rider fatigue. Plenty of good ones on the market. I personally like the PUIG racing (double bubble) about $80 +-. There are others.

I don't ride with bar risers. Never felt I needed them.

There is a bar weight replacement called a vibranator (thread on this site). About $110. Lots of feed back on these. The reduction in vibration should reduce arm fatigue making trips more comfortable.

All relatively inexpensive and easy to add options. Most can be added in 15mins or less.

Now I realize you have most if this but other people read these threads. So I thought I'd post anyway.

For the ride you are taking get the powder (just trust me). Also, Look into the vibranator.
Vibranator.com

My 2c

 

ditch the pillion or passenger or wife or gf or what ever you wana call em! they just slow your arse down ; ) 75 mph is too slow for da Viffer...

 

I have the HID's on mine and like Reggie says, everyone knowsyou are there. I bought the NOVA lights from Richmond BC which have a lifetime warranty on the whole set. But the ballast seems to be a bit of a problem. Have replaced one ballast on my bike and one on my truck in a year. The warranty is fine but you don't want to be changing things out and shipping byy mail too often.

A word of caution though. If you have your high beams on as well as your low beams while you fire up, you are going to blow the fuse. Make sure you have "ONLY" the low beams on when you start the bike. Once the low beams have warmed up for 15 - 20 seconds, it is fine to turn on the high beams. The HID lights run with far less current than incandecent lights but they draw one shit pile of current until they warm up. So I am told anyways. Follow my warm up advise and you won't blow fuses.

I got a throttle paddle daown at Reggies a couple years back. It sure saved the hand on the freeway but be careful with those. The throttle lock is probably a better choice. And give yourself a bit of time to get used to it. I have that too, but haven't put it on yet. Hell, it has only been two years.

 

I have this kit form ddm in my first gen. no problems with the factory wiring at all. I also have a ddm kit in my car and love it. very reasonably priced to.

DDM Tuning : Motorcycle HID Kits & Lighting

 

Thanks Reg.

 

Thanks Scubalong.
Ran out of time this trip and the 2nd half of the trip had to be postponed. but that isn't such a bad thing. Now I have a bike on both coasts. I'll be back to the best coast in November. Might be a wee bit chilly for the ride east by then, so maybe the Viffer can live out west for another winter?

 

I bought her her own bike to get her off of the back of mine. Works sometimes?

 

So where are you now captmikejd? Where is the trip report...? We are still waiting for you to pass by:chaingun:

 

Trip Report, yeah I know, delayed trip report!

Hi Scubalong,
First, sorry about the tardy trip report, hopefully I will still remember enough to make it interesting.
Second, I'm still crap at this web site and only now bumped into your question. Maybe you can edit the report and post it for me as I still don't have a clue?
Christmas day here in the Seychelles is a bit before you are up to see if Santa came last night! Anyway, it is quiet for me aboard and I have finally had time to get back to the web site for another peruse. The guy that gave me the directions for the top box install was very helpful, thanks again Reg.
Trip Report sans photos here, but there are photos!
The actual trip started in the planning phase when I had to leave the brand new to me RWB Anniversary Edition in Vancouver at the end of October 11 as I sailed south with my latest charge. My plan was to return and ride her south to have Scubalong help me with a headlight upgrade. My schedule finally opened up for that to happen the following June, late June at that.
I flew in from the Middle East and met my wife at home in Florida. She had flown in from the UK a day or two before me with the top box and bracket I found and bought on Ebay in the UK. I also had found Pannier (Saddlebag) liners on line in the US on Amazon and had them mailed home. We were there two days only, packed our liners for carry-on luggage, took one expendable bag with the frame and riding gear, and flew off to Vancouver. We arrived late, made later by Canadian Customs who had to lecture me about not being allowed to leave a US registered vehicle in Canada that long. He asked how long we would be in Canada and I told him less than 12 hours hopefully and he wanted to know how we were leaving etc. Told him the truth and got the 3rd degree. A totally useless conversation as we were there to take it home, not to sell it as he accused me. He was just a dick!
Day I.
Next morning we met my mate who had cold stored the bike for me all winter after breakfast . We had convinced him to go with us on his BMW something or other. I have never been good with their nomenclature. It was an in line four from the early 2000's. Ran well but used a lot of oil.
He took us to his house and we rolled the bikes out and started the assembly/packing around 10:00 AM. This is where the instructions from Reg came in so handy as it made quick work of the whole thing. By noon my top box was mounted, the Throttlemeister installed, and the wife had re-packed all the kit we would need in the saddlebags and top box. I made a few weight adjustments as she didn't quite get the keep the heavy items in the saddlebags and not the top box mantra.
By 1300 or 1:00 Pm we were down the road from his house topping of fuel and tire pressures.
Did I mention that the Viffer fired off on the first touch of the starter button after re-connecting the battery??!!
So we were off on one of the first beautiful days Vancouver had seen so far last summer. Crossed the border with a few laughs from US Customs agents who wanted to be sure we had enough cash for the trip. We had decided early on the mission would be to ride as much of the coast as possible and this then included the Puget Sound. So off we went down I-5 looking for the Chukanuk Trail turnoff as I had crossed the border and ridden it once the year before. If you are ever up there it is a must ride, although best when it is not raining!
After that the Whidbey Island turnoff took us out to the coast again and south to a ferry across back into the northern end of Seattle late that day. We had dinner with a friend of my wife's father who served with him in the RAF during WWI in Burma and had just retired from a career at Boeing. We had run a little long on the first day and so missed dinner with one of my old Americas Cup sailing team mates.
Day II
We had a leisurely morning to miss Seattle's commuter traffic and spent it with my mate we missed from the night before by having breakfast with him near our hotel. We headed downtown by mid morning to catch a ferry across the Bremerton where I had spent some time in the USN way back in another lifetime. The place only remotely looked familiar so we just kept on going and had an awesome countryside ride down along the Hood Canal south shore. Out to the coast to West Bay on Gray's Harbor and then south, finally, along the good old Pacific Coast. Try to picture a low 70's afternoon, warm dry empty roads, and two teenagers on rice rockets that have not seen a cop all day. OK, I'm 58 and David on the Beemer is 62 but we felt like teenagers and it was just as silly some of the speeds we got up to on those long sweeping turns where you could see the road for 3 or 4 miles ahead!
Fortunately we had slowed down to double digit speeds when the Washington State highway trooper cam over the hill coming the other way in his big SUV. I think he was just as startled as we both were because we had actually zipped passed him by the time he hit his brakes and did a four wheel slide off the pavement to turn around. We both had seen it in the rear views and pulled over to wait for him. He was pretty pissed off until he saw the gray hair when the helmets came off and that phased him a bit? He asked us each separately if we knew how fast we had been going and of course we both said no. No one looks down at their speedo when you are absolutely caning it like that! We didn't say that to him of course and we both got off with a very stern warning about deer and keeping the speed sub light. As it turned out we were only a few miles from the border with Oregon and could probably have outrun him across the Columbia River bridge had we given it even a little effort. Better that we didn't start the trip as fugitives though I suspect.
That cooled our jets a bit as if it was going to cost us $150 each, extra per day, for speeding tickets, it was going to be a very expensive trip indeed.
We spent that night in Anacortes laughing about how to pay the tickets.
Day III
We had started the trip off leisurely and decided that was the way to keep it. Not to mention it was cold in the early mornings up that far north. We headed south again and caught some rain on day two, but not really bad rain, just freaking cold. Especially as there were several mountain passes to cross that day. I had come in from the Middle East and it was well over 110*F there. So anything less than 80* or 90* was cold to me. Every town we went through we looked for a Goodwill or thrift store and layered up a bit more with each store. Sue was wearing grocery bags on her boots to keep them dry which actually worked quite well should you ever get in that situation! It was typical Oregon coastal weather almost all the way through the state. We spent that night at Coos Bay, OR., as our previously planned stop in Reedsport was disappointing when we stopped for gas. It seemed just too deserted of a town and we had dried out and warmed up enough to be adventurous and keep going. Along with the leisurely starts we had also decided to stop by the cocktail hour each day which was a very civilized idea as well.
Day IV& V.
The ride south got warmer by the day and this was probably one of the biggest changes from northern OR. We had kept to the loose plan of 300 or so miles per day with any photo stops or points of interest being fair game. I had made this same trip over 100 times before, and in both directions, but always offshore looking towards shore. So for me it was extremely interesting to see what it was I had looked at all those years through binoculars even going back to my periscope days. We planned to end up at my brother's house in Eureka that evening with a day off to spend with him and his family who I rarely get to see. It was a great day off of cleaning bikes and catching up with them. We even managed a side trip up to Redwood creek to their cabin in the mountains. It was a day of solo riding for me as Sue rode along with my brother's family and took a few photos of Dave and me fooling around without the luggage and passenger. We had a second great night with his family and then boogied on down the road to warmer climes again the next day.
Day VI.
Neither Sue or Dave had ever seen the Redwoods up close and personal so we made lots of stops that day in Redwoods National Park. Drove through the tree and did all the silly thing tourists do in the park. You do need to pay attention though as some of those trees encroach into the roadway and if you get off line in a corner they are as good as hitting a freeway bridge abutment!
It is still an amazing place and it seems they are looking after it better now than they used to. After we had seen the trees we headed west to the coast again at the first opportunity which was US 1 again at Leggett. That is a lovely ride down to the coast that is not to be missed also. Being back at the coast was awesome as it was even warmer than it had been in the trees and it was a stellar day for that neck of the woods with plenty of sunshine to arrive in Eureka with. It had been a while since I had been to his house, like his wedding maybe 15 years or so before and even Eureka had changed, at least a little. Sue did the close in navigation with her iPhone, but otherwise we stuck to paper maps which were provided by AAA after having joined as motorcycle members for the trip. You can't beat their towing service, unless of course you ride a Honda, and a VFR , and then will likely never need it anyway! Fort Bragg and it's cozy little harbor offered up another awesome seafood dinner and it was only a short walk from our hotel, but down about 200' worth of steps. It was way more interesting coming back up those same steps in the dark after a few libations and dinner.
Day VII & VII.
This would be a fairly short day mileage wise and so we could fiddle with the route. We went coastal all the way to the Pt. Reyes Seashore with lunch at Bodega Bay, then inland down through Mill Valley and across to Marin City for the ride down to Golden Gate National Recreation Area on Hwy101 for mandatory bridge photos and a break. Then back north through Sausalito as it was another of my old home ports at Schoonermaker Marina in the 90's. From there we went north again almost to Novato to pick up the Hwy 37 turnoff for Napa. Our planned stay was Benicia across the bay at another mate of mines place. And what better way to get there than from the north across the bay instead of in commuter freeway traffic coming out of the city. Besides, the ride across Hwy 37 past Sears Pt. is much nicer scenery wise too. We all had to resist the urge to actually head into Napa that night and kept on for a Benicia sunset across the bridge from my mates place as it sits on the Carquinez Straights with an awesome view.
The next day was a very easy light load bike tour of San Francisco for us with lunch in Sausalito. Dave had decided to ship his bike back to Vancouver after spending another day or two in San Francisco to watch the Giants play instead of riding north without us. We split up after lunch in Sausalito at my old haunt Sushi Ran. Dave went back to the city to drop his bike off and check into a hotel there. Sue and I rode back north and across 37, this time into Napa to visit my old house on the Napa River. The guy I sold it to, Captain Don of the Napa Hot Air Balloon rides wasn't home, but his wife was and we have to thank her again for showing the two anonymous bike riders through her house that day! It was nice to see the place and how they had improved it too.
We headed for Benicia again that afternoon to meet up with my mate Rick at his house where we stayed the night before. He got home in time for cocktails and dinner out with us in Benicia. Then it was home to re-pack as Rick was going to ride the second leg of the trip south with us the next day. So we had effectively swapped out one Beemer for another as Rick had a well kitted out GS1200 complete with a Go camera on his helmet.
Day IX.
We stuck to the plan and left after the morning traffic the next morning. We had an awesome ride across both the San Rafael Bridge where I showed him how his 1200 BMW one up couldn't get away from my Viffer two up! We got off the highway just off the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge and then rode through the park and down the coast to Pacifica by which time it had warmed up considerably. To save a little time for the twisties we cut over to Hwy 280 from there for the ride down to Hwy 92 which then took us up the hill and onto Skyline Blvd for the ride south to Santa Cruz. This is another ride not to be missed. We stopped for tea and coffee and met other riders who had taken the day off work mid week just to do the same ride as it was such a nice day that day. Guess we timed it just right.
Santa Cruz has sure grown up since the last time I rode a motorcycle on this section of The Coast Highway! Of course that was probably the 1970's so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised after all? From there south was cruisey and warm with the road in pretty good nick. There are a few bridges being rebuilt, and a few slips and slides of course, but overall the road was clean and in nice shape. Even the traffic didn't seem all that bad most of the time with a lot less bikes on the road than I expected and a few more motor homes than I had expected also. But they are easy to pass and not that much of an issue. Lunch was in Big Sur, but brief as the riding was sooo good. We finished that day up just as the fog started in at San Simeon. I had my first chance to eat Mexican food in several months which was great.
Day X.
Today would be another short one even though we took the longest route down the coast to Vanderburgh AFB, Lompoc, and then out through Solvang (bizarre traffic), Santa Ynez, the Chumash Hwy and into Santa Barbara the back way. We did of course make the mandatory stop at the Cold Spring Tavern on our way down the mountain. No back road Santa Barabara County ride would be complete without it! A friend of Rick's from SB met us there with his tricked out BMW GS and finished the ride down the hill with us to Rick's parents house where we spent the last night on the road. Complete with a large night out in SB where I hadn't been for years either.
Day XI, and the last road day.
This was the only day we gave into the urge to leave early. But it was the weekend; we planned to finish the Coast Highway all the way into Marina Del Rey and so to avoid the weekend beach traffic we got while the getting was good. I showed Sue through Ventura while everyone was still having their coffee. We were stopped at the gate to Port Hueneme Harbor where I worked out of in my "oil patch" days by the new Homeland Security checkpoint. That was a bit disappointing as it had been my home port harbor for several great years of sea going antics. So we carried on down every last bit of coastline we had left. Leaving early had paid off and by mid day we were eastbound on the I-10 for Whittier and my parent’s house where we would finish the trip. We arrived just after noon and were still stood in the driveway next to the bike, helmets in hand, trying to decide if we should just get back on and do the last few miles to the Mexican border to say we went border to border when my parents drove up. That ended the trip and so too my visit with Scubalong would have to wait for another day.
Cheers,
Mike

PS. Since then I have been back to see my parents (and the Viffer) a couple of times on my way out into the Pacific. The Anniversary Edition will live there as long as they do. But we have since purchased another 07 Viffer, this one for Sue's very own back in Florida. It is keeping my ST 1300 company until we both get back to the US sometime early next year.

PSS. I still want to do my headlight upgrade one day with your instruction Scubalong?!

 

Stebel horns...check out bikerhiway.com. they have wire harness and horns. think I paid thirty five for the horns and twenty for the harness. took the left fairing top bolt about knee hi and used plumbers tape and zip ties then re.insalled the fairing

 

Thanks for the late report Captainmike
No apology needed
If you want to install HID I would be glad to help
There are several options depend on your budget
PM me so I can give you all the details
Merry Christmas to you and family

 

Btw
Great ride report :thumbsup:
Look like you two have a great trip and cover lot of miles.
Next time if you in So Cal look me up there are room for you to rest and garage for your bike
And cold beers of course........