I finally let go of my dear 4th gen and got me a a 6th gen. Time for upgrades, any ideas?

My '97 was getting up there in miles and decided it was time for an upgrade. Of course, the only choice was a newer VFR... an '03 came on the market at a reasonable price so out went the '97. Now, I've decided to make a few upgrades, and would appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance.

These is what I've replaced so far:
1. Sargent seat with silver highlights
2. Matching seat cowel
3. RK chain and sprocket kit
4. Nachi bearings for the front wheel
5. K&N high flow Air and Oil Filter
6. Dunlop Q2 Qualifier tires

Any ideas on
1. brakes
2. suspension
3. tires
4. other
...

 

Congrats on the 03.
The first thing I would do is the pair valve mod It made a hell of a difference on my bike. The mid range surging almost caused me to put a For Sale sign on it before this mod.

Link----> PAIR and Flapper mod, with bonus snorkel mod for VFR

 

'scuse me, i'm confused: VFRs do not suffer from high-mileage woes, and your newer bike has about 187 more sensors, wires, computers, plugs, pumps, connections, etc. that could go wrong at any time. Certainly, the gen 4s, with far fewer parts to fail, have proved to be the most RELIABLE of the series.

Gear-driven cams is/are the very signature of the VFR, no matter what the Honda factory believes, and anything less is de-evolution.

 

so don't buy a gen 1 or a gen 5 (or newer) 2, 3, 4 are where it is at gear driven cams all the way!!!!!

 

Hahahaha Crusty is out of touch........he need to do more home work. Poor guy

 

You will have to do the proverbial comparo once you get acquainted with the new one. Pros and cons of each now that you have had both, etc.

Btw, I cant beleive no one else has asked, but...

 

I came across dogman's comments on another post, "I have fitted a VTR fan with overide switch, powercommander, catless headers and aftermarket mufflers, and it generally runs at 170 (77C) on the open road and 185 (85C) in traffic. If it gets to 195 (90C) I switch the fan on and it keeps the temp down." My fourth Gen never ran into overheating issues, but my '03...constantly!!! Based on comments here and on the web, it seems to be a common issue, but not a real concern. In either case, dogman seems to have a potential solution. Are there any simpler solutions to this issue? I'm not ready to get this involved...

By the way, ReefDiver thanks for the PAIR link...

 

Hahahaha you are right......how do we know you have a 6th gen..? Are you sure it's not a yamahaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

gut the exhaust, pcIII with proper dyno tune, windscreen....the list goes on. its all about what you want to change tho.

 

Compadres, counselling proverbio against trading for a 6th Gen is not helpful. He already made the trade! And I say, welcome to the VTEC Batallion, 6th Generation Militia!

proverbio, adding a Power Commander and a custom map was the best mod I made. What you want is a custom map that eliminates the flat spot just below 6800 RPM and smo0ths throttle response at parking-lot speeds.

Other great mods:

Saddle (you already did that);
Shock (if you weigh more than Kate Moss);
Re-springing and re-valving the fork.

There are lots of other fun mods (exhaust/cans, fender eliminator, new windscreen, SS brake lines, new calipers and rotors, yadda-yadda-yadda), but IMO the only "essential" ones are fixing the fueling, replacing the saddle, and upgrading the suspension.




















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I'm personally biased towards brakes. Whenever I buy a used bike that either has some miles or is a bit older, I always completely over haul the brakes. I really value stopping alot. 9 out of 10 times, I am likely doing needless work and in some opinions, overkill. But it always seems brakes are pretty much neglected from a maintanence stand point.

I replace all brake lines and hydro clutch lines with steel braided. Rebuild all of the master cylinders and the clutch slave. I throw on some speed bleeders too. The K&L rebuild kits aren't cheap but not expensive either.

Once that's done, I feel better and take my time. Usually give the carbs (if so equiped) a complete inspection and clean out. Replace all of the fuel lines/filter. Thats more a fear issue from a previous old bike catching on fire. Probably not an issue with the 6th gen since it's fuel injected.

I then move to the forks for a rebuild and repack the rear shock linkage needle bearings (+ or - rear shock). Then, depending on mileage, spark plugs with chain/sprockets/tires.

From there, move to the cooling system with a flush, possible new hoses and a new radiator cap. If easy, new thermostat, definitely not easy on the 6th gen.

And it seems, according to the various forums, every bike I've ever owned has a charging system issues. But I usually just install a Kuryakin charge monitor for that.

After that, I work on the other details such as any "luxury items" like exhaust, etc.

Obviously, I can't do all of this at once but I definitely get the brakes done and out of the way.

Take the above with a grain of salt as I've been told I have an affliction of paranoia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. And having been stranded in the middle of no where at night twice in the last 20 years, I have issues.