Thinking of buying a 2008 VFR

Hey guys! My first post. I've been riding for two years. I'm in my early 50's and I presently have a 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 650. It has been a very good first bike. I'm glad I selected it. I'm ready for bike number two. Something with ABS.
I have a friend who has ridden VFR's since 1983. He had an 86 for 13 years and 80,000 miles, now he rides a 1998 which he has 90,000 miles on! He has gotten me on a VFR kick!
We recently bought an 86 vfr700 for $500, you know the type-doesn't run, needs to be put back together, needs carburetors cleaned, well we restored it into a pretty good running bike. In fact we sold it today for $1500! Well..I got to ride it before we sold it... and it's a better bike in many ways than my 2009 ninja! Here's a picture of it.
So now I'm looking and I found a 2008 Silver VFR with ABS brakes and only 2600 miles on it, for $5900. What do you think? What should I look out for? It's for sale at this huge used bike dealership, they made no mention of it having ABS brakes, but I can see the sensor ring on the front wheel. I'm hoping to get there this Wednesday and check it out. What do you guys think?

 

The 2008 silver is a beautiful bike and yes ABS has been an option in that 6th generation lineup. You cannot go wrong with that bike.

These bikes had a wiring harness recall. Have the dealer look that up. I presume these dealers offer some sort of short term guarantee? When you get the chance before or even after a purchase, you may do a standard inspection. Get the factory service manual and check out the charging system resistances and voltages, inspect the connector between the stator and rectifier, check the brakes for binding. Now would be a good time to open the switches and wipe out the now hardened petroleum oil on them and spray with a good cleaner like DeoIT. At 10-12 years the switches begin to fail due to this. The bike may have enough miles of break in where it would be good to tune the starter valves (the idle control circuit.)

Some of us are big fans of the 5th generation which still has the gear-driven cam whine, no VTEC, and some with no catalytic converter. But you very well may exceed the price of that like-new bike in doing a refresh on an older bike.

 

Opinions on thirty years issuance of Honda four stroke V4s is going to vary from post to post. Some will come from very experienced "hands" to unquoted sources copied from a books or some other internet source as in one post here..

Hang in and keep checking this thread for some specific answers to your specific questions from specific owners with real experience.

 

2008 Silver and ABS :love:
$5900 is a bit on the high IMO
If you have the cash you have better chance....Check out the Classifieds here

This one would be my pick
http://vfrworld.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=6423&title=reduced-2006-honda-vfr-abs&cat=1

 

Man if that one you linked is up for less than 6 grand Scuba, it's a damn steal. That being said, I don't think 5900 is too much for a 6th gen with less than 3k miles on it, I think that's just East Coast prices being slightly higher in general. I'd go cash in hand and try to get it for less though.

 

I wonder why the sale? He bought the bike and joined us only recently:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/49937-Just-bought-a-2006-VFR?highlight=davidgerrit93

 

Everything looks great except for the price. Price is higher because it's a dealership I guess. If it were sold directly, it would have been more around 5K. Saying this because I bought a mint condition 2005 for 4K last year with <8k miles. And this was in Pittsburgh. My neighbor has a pretty good 2009 Concours that he is selling for 6K. So I'd say you can bargain a bit there.

 

Asking price was under 4K :jaw:
I said a bit on the high....:laugh: I guess depend on how much people willing to pay :thumb:

 

Thanks guys, since I was really looking for a model with ABS (which are much harder to find) I guess they're somewhat more expensive. I did get in touch with the guy who had the VFR for sale on this site, he said he has a guy looking at it Friday and he'll let me know. He's about 320 miles from me. Thanks for the tips on what to look for. The wiring problems I can research after I buy one. The fixes and such sound straight forward ( I'm an ex electronics tech, now an electrician ). I'll keep you posted. Great forum by the way!

 

I bought a 2008 (in Silver) with ABS about 3 weeks ago & I'm in my late 40's - lol

Mines cheaper (a lot) but then again it has 36,000m on it...

It's a great choice... - & as Silvers go, the Sword Silver is lovely..

 

. I picked one up!....... a 2006 with ABS. It's official, I'm a member of the VFR owners club. View attachment 36058 View attachment 36059

 

Congratulations!

See if your picture links work for you. They don't work for me.

I'm in my 40's and bought this as my first bike in 2014. It is very exciting, a great ride. I am sure you will have lots of fun.

 

my pictures are upside down for some reason that eludes me!

 

Try holding camera 180 degrees

 

In your gallery, select the picture, edit it, and select rotate.

Using a cell phone? They have a distinct orientation for holding the phone to get the right side up pic.

Oh you got that nice black. That one is awesome.

 

I think you're just being inadvertently kind to the aussies we have on the site, so good on ya, but most of us are in the norther hemisphere, ya know! :thumb:

 

Thanks, I like it very much. Which Gallery are you referring to? On my computer? The pictures are upright there. I found my photos on VFRworld but no option to edit them.

 

Are you on your phone? Others have said they don't see this option on a phone, so try the PC.

TO ROTATE PHOTOS ON THIS FORUM:

*MY PROFILE
*GALLERY
*select the number by number of photos
*select the photo
*lower right under USER OPTIONS, EDIT PHOTO
*under the small version of the photo ROTATE CW/CCW

 

Yes the picture looks fine viewed from here. Maybe your phone/camera is set for Southern Hemisphere shooting?