Finally.... my new bike

This weekend saw lots of driving, not much sleep, but I finally took possession of my new toy… Gracie II. We set off Friday night, for the 12 hour drive down to inspect and test ride the bike. After handing over the money, we loaded her up on the trailer and drive half way back before stopping for the night to get some sleep. Up at 4am next morning for the remaining 6 hour drive back home. So in 36 hours, we drove for 24 of them and went nearly 40 hours with no sleep. But it was all worth it.

Now more about the bike. 1998 VFR800, in pretty good nick. Staintune high-mounted exhaust, which is very loud, and everything else is original and in good nick. I do have a few plans to personalise her, including ;

- Honda Tank Pad (off ST1300)
- New Custom seat, maybe a 2 piece like the Sargent
- Set of Helibars to raise the bar height
- Try and rework rear cowl to fit the grab bars/rails at the same time
- New mirrors, probably more down the track, to get rid of those rubber condom covers
- Full review and replace whatever needs of the electrics system such as R/R
- Install a Honda Marine Voltmeter gauge to monitor above problem
- Then detail and polish, ready for riding in just over 2 months

Anyway, here are some pictures…
At the bike shop


On the trailer










What was watching me for the next 12 hours…


And finally home. It is sooo much bigger than the GPX when you look at them side by side. The picturs doesn’t quite show it, but it is funny what the difference in size is.


So now the fun starts in trying to source a the parts and gear that I need !!
Very excited and can't wait to get started.

 

Congrats. That is very good looking bike!!

 

Very nice!

 

Nice looking bike. Congrats and enjoy.

 

Awesome....its funny you even took that picture in your rear view...had to look at that for all those miles...torture. ENJOY

 

Damn........she is clean :hss:
:welcome: to the madness
Enjoy your new ride, she will keep you happy for many years to come. :thumb:

 

Well, here are the pics of the almost finished mini-project.


So what was done was;

- removed all fairings and cleaned entire bike and washed inside and out of fairings. This included scrubbing and cleaning of wheel arches, front and rear, headers, pipes... everything.

- fluids and oil filter changed

- went to replace air filter with a K&M one that I bought, but it already had one ! So cleaned and olied the exisiting one

- R/R and Stat thoroughly checked

- Foot peg rubbers changed

- Missing fairing bolts and those damned plastic "xmas" type clips replaced

- remove old crappy tank pad and fit new "Honda" tank pad

- seat sent off to upholsterer and customised

- staintune baffle inserted

- remove front windscreen and polished

- helibars installed

- voltmeter installed

- bike put back together, polished and waxed

- safety certificate done and bike registered

- only bits to do are awaiting new mirrors, as those that arrived were wrong, and modify a second rear seat cowl which I sourced to see if the grab handles can be incorporated


And here are the pics.....





























And my two "girls" ...





Sorry about all the pics, but I am absolutely stoked at how the bike has turned out. Now can't wait to ride her !!

 

Have you not rode it yet?? Very nice. Looks like it was well worth the 12 hour drive.

 

Yes, have to wait 6 weeks to gain the appropriate licence.

 

Congrats on the bike Sam and WOW she does look nice. First time you saw her was 12 hours from home, THEN you had to drive home with the bike staring at you in the mirror for half a day, and NOW you have to wait 6 weeks to get the proper license. MAN that must be like torture. At least if you feel the need to ride you can always throw a leg over the old GPX and go for a ride. Or wait, is that one no longer insured??? Hope all goes well and you are carving corners all over the continent in no time.

You WILL love that machine. Not that I'm at all partial, NOOOO................. LOL

 

I think i would have to at least sneak a quick ride in. I really wish the states had a stricter licensing. Maybe we could stop some of these horrific accidents where people buy bikes with their egos rather than actual skills they have.

 

The wait is killing me !!! I am spending too much time just whiping her over and starting her up just to get my weekly "fix".

I still can ride the GPX, which is a good thing, however I have started advertising her to try and sell her. Hopefully I sell her just before I can get my new licence.

And yes, it is very tempting to go for a quick ride, but should anything happen I would be riiding unlicenced and uninsured which is just not worth it.

 

Nice clean machine, enjoy.
Just curious, what is the purpose of the six week wait? Or does it just take that long for the paperwork to go through?

:vtr2:

 

The way it works in my state, is that you cannot jump to a full motorcycle licence and ride whatever you like. Depending on your class of car drivers licence, you must see out either 12 or 24 months on what is called an 'RE' or restricted licence. Whilst on this RE licence, you can only ride a LAMS (learner approved motorcycle scheme) bike, which is most 250's and some bikes upto 650cc that are under a certain power to weight ratio. Then after the minimum 12 or 24 month period, you take the same test again but on a bigger 600cc bike. Upon passing that test you have your 'R' licence which is open and you can ride anything you like. Also, whilst on LAMS you cannot have a pillion passenger.

I have 6 weeks until my 12 month period is up and can then take the test to get my opens.

 

The tank pad you have on there now, is that the ST1300 pad you were wanting? That is damn nice. How much was it and where did you find it?

 

Yep, St1300 tank pad. I wanted to get it off amazon.com, as it was cheaper but they wouldn't ship to Australia. So I had to go to my honda dealer. Paid a little more at $77. I think amazon had them at around $50 to $60.

 

Wow Sam, what a great story. The wait must be torture! When the time is finally up, stop, just for few seconds and fully enjoy the moment. At that very moment life will be just about as good as it gets! Enjoy and keep us posted.

Good luck with that beautiful bike!

 

I sure like that process of getting your license. I wish they would at least do something here besides letting anyone buy and legally register and insure a 160hp+ bike. Sometimes as their first bike. I use to live in san diego area and would always here of some military kid coming back fro somewhere and then either killing himself or close to it. And of course it was always those damn motorcycles are killers when the kid should never have been on such a powerful bike to begin with. I have seen it firsthand is why i take it so personal. How hard is it to get your first beginner license?

 

First beginner license... well if you have been driving for a few years and have your "Opens" licence for a car, the process is a theory test to gain a Learners Permit. This only entitles you to ride a LAMS bike whilst accompanied by someone else, and I think you are speed limited to 80 km/hr. Then I did a two day coourse where you basically learn to ride. After two days, if you are deemed to be competent at the tasks they give you (cone weaves, figure 8's, emergenecy stop, a small road ride etc) then you can get your RE's which you must hold for minimum 12 months.

So it's not that hard to get your licence. Then you sit the same competency test again but on a bigger bike and that is only 1 day.

 

It is still a lot better than here. I think if the us would at least limit that first bike to a learner bike there wouldnt be no where near the fatalitys we have. Anyways this is another thread altogether. Enjoy that vfr. I have had my 98 for six years and have yet to come up with another bike to replace it with. I think when i do it will probably just be a 6th gen.