How many older guys ride VFR?

When I started reading this back in 2009 I thought "Wow, what a bunch of Old C***s".
I don't think that anymore...

 

Here's a complimentary pic of my Stupid Vision I bought new in 1982, proving I too am an Old Bastard

 

^^ive never heard anything good about the vision and alot bad.

 

Awesome, but my first bike in 1970 was a used 1958 Norton 600 imported from England by my high school buddy.

 

There is nothing like the feel when those other valves kick in on my VFR 800 and I'm 77.

 

Haha! Try it in a wet corner. Linear power delivery for me on everything I own...

 

Even on the Dragon staying in second gear and ratcheting on and off the Vtec, should it be wet you still have traction control to fall back on

 

In fairness, I've ridden only the early one. And truly, it was one of the worst bikes I'd ever ridden. Really dumb to put a Vmax like power delivery in a gentleman's express. I hear that the later ones were much better. But again...why? Why build a giant lip of power variation and then add more tech to smooth it out. We had smooth without Vtec. "Solution without a problem." Just one guys $.02, certainly worth less.

 

I personally don't want a Vtec, seems the vast majority complained when it came out and ..... I like more linear power curves without on/off switches....

 

That and the roar that the intake makes under the fuel tank

 

My guess as to why Honda did the V-Tec thing always was that they thought it would be a solution to tightening emissions regulations.
Yet, the contemporaneous CBR1100XX passed muster with no such contraption as did many another model.
Having had both 5th and 6th gens (still have the 5th), my conclusion was that the V-Tec was the worst thing on the 6th. Quite a shame, since the 6th had some significant advantages for my riding: superior suspension that gave a better ride on the longer hauls, a bit better weather protection, more seating room as a result of the lengthening, easier to deal with fairings, and a couple of other things I forget.
When a life-change situation came about a few months ago and I needed to sell a bike, the 6th gen was the one to go on the block. I really hated to give up that smooth ride and roomy seat, but I'd come into a Blackbird, same size and weight as the 6th gen but with a whole helluva lot more motor, so off it went.
The Bird's one disappointment is the less-friendly ride quality; on our terrible Illinois roads, in particular the main road out of town to the east, heavy truck traffic had turned the pavement into near-rubble. Sometimes on the Bird it's hard to hold a steady throttle setting against the banging and clashing.
I do miss the 6th gen at times like those.
One of the most interesting VFRs I ever became aware of was a 6th gen Anniversary edition, the red, white, and blue scheme that I find surprisingly attractive, into which the very clever owner had installed a 5th gen engine! I practically begged him to sell me the bike but no dice on that.
The better engine along with the better cycle parts. Mmmm.
Would have been pretty good for this septugenarian.

 

That R/W/B is lovely to look at, and I really like the idea of the 5th gen engine in it! Oh well. I have enough VFRs...

 

"Enough".
Not sure what that word means in this context.

 

Here's the 5-6 in question, a photo the gentleman sent me to provoke lust.

 

Spend a little money on your Blackbird's suspension. There's nothing fundamentally different between the 6th and the XX in terms of componentry, so maybe the VFR's gear was just in better order? A set of fork springs and a Gold Valve in the compression position will make a major difference at the front.

 

Yeah, well, the Bird's got me spending money well enough correcting the factory defects- charging system and fuel pressure regulator failure (that could have destroyed the engine).
The 6th gen had an adjustable front fork, the Bird doesn't. I did change the fluid from 10 to 5; that helped a little.
But the difference surprised me. I did expect something similar.
Once the day gets past about 300 miles, I sure do miss that 6th gen.

 

Someone here TinkerinWstuff I think his handle. married a 5th gen front and motor onto a 6th gen tail. Looked so cool and he had everyone at the BBQ piddling their pants over it. He did a nice job.

Anyway, back on topic. I have been riding since the juvenile age of 51. That was 17 years ago. In case you are a young one today and use your cell phone for your math and the battery is dead, that makes me 68. I expect to ride one of my bikes for years yet, and hope to drop dead riding it.

 

It'll be interesting to hear what you choose to do and how it works out for you. I rode a friends XX back in the day. I wanted one so badly until I rode it. I kept my FJ1200 for years after...

 

You will find that cartridge damper in the XX is the same as the 6G and indeed in the 5G. They all respond to the same improvements to take the joltiness out.

 

Terry, I find that but mildly surprising.
With a few more miles, the fork oil change/weight reduction seems to have been a good step in that direction. I will need to go after the rear shock settings as now that seems pretty bouncy.
I just keep remembering how my attitude towards my '03 6th gen changed during the long ride home from Florida last spring, how much I enjoyed the ride quality.
The danged thing has a terrible fuel consumption, though, which is discouraging because it reduces the travel range: averaging barely 30mpg, against the 38-39mpg my much larger, much heavier, larger-engined FJR does.
This has taken the thread a ways off track, my apologies, but at least I'm still qualified as an "old guy" and I ride.