3rd Gen Advice Needed

I currently own a 07 Anniversary Edition and now have the chance to purchase a White '93 with 40,000 miles. Cosmetically the bike is about a 7 out of 10. Overall it's in good condition with no major body damage. There are a couple of areas on the bike that had cracks in the fairing that were repaired by the owner using some type of epoxy and fiberglass tape and Colorite touch up paint. The job he did isn't terrible but it definately is not professional quality and the damage is not noticeable unless you really are inspecting the bike up close. The first crack is just above the left side passenger peg where the Honda Wing sticker was placed. The second crack is on the left side as well on the thin plastic frame that holds the windscreen in place. Both repairs seem solid although some sanding and new paint would make them look better. OK now to the mechanics. The engine looked pretty clean and the bike does not appear to be leaking. The bike started ok and sounded pretty good with the Yosh pipe but seems to bog a little when revving below 6000 rpm. I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that the bike was cold and hadn't properly warmed up? Now the thing that worries me is the front tire (Bridgestone BT20.) The front tire is in pretty bad shape. As you can see from the picture below the left side of the tire is worn down badly with very little tread while the right side has much less wear. In addition to this the side with the majority of tread also numerous areas with raised bumps. The best way I can describe it is that it is like a swollen mosquito bites on a persons skin but they seem formed in a straight vertical line around the circumerance of the tire. Despite the tire condition I took the bike for a quick spin around the neighborhood. Now I've been riding bikes off and on since I was 10 years old (25 years total) and immediately knew something didn't feel right with the steering. The steering response was terrible and I was really battling to get the bike to follow the line I picked out. It felt almost like the front tire was flat but it had good pressure. Because of this I did not take the bike over 20mph since I did not feel safe at all. I'm sure the tire condition contributed to this but I have never ridden on bad tires before so I don't know the degree of impact on the ride due to poor tire. I"m also worried about what causing the tire to wear so unevenly to begin with. Any thought or ideas on this? KBB Motorcycle value for this model in excellent condition is just over $3000. This guy is the second owner and has put 17000 miles since he purchased it. He is asking $2700 but I think I can get this bike for $2500 but am worried about the tire problem. He claims that the existing K&N air filter was cleaned, spark plugs checked, brake and clutch reservoirs cleaned out, coolant fluid has been flushed and replaced, oil and filter done regular basis, The chain was replaced about 5,000 miles ago, new brake pads, Michelin Pilot Road rear (1,500 miles on it), and regulator/rectifier and battery were replaced in September '08.







Regards,
Rollin

 

Dang, if you can get it for $2400 I'd jump on it. That's nutz with the front tire. only way to know whats going on is to get the front off the ground and spin it, then also do a line check with the rear wheel, needs to be on the center stand to do this, reason for the front wheel spin is to see how if there is any issues with free spin resistant, could be a miss aligned axle? then doing a string line with the rear will tell you if it's off too. could be the triple clamps have worked a tweak in it, if it fell over, that would do it if the owner didn't know what to look for, that's some what an easy fix, but only thing that has me somewhat puzzled is the axle should be strong enough to have kept a miss alignment that size from happening in the first place to make that tire wear like that. Yea a test ride with that tire won't give you any good feed back, but there is a reason it wore that way unless he only rode in left handed circles. it could just be a tire issue too, so I'd put a matching set of new skins on it asap, so deduct that from the $2700 unless he did all ready, but other than that from what you say sounds like a good machine with a minor hic-up, 40K is nothing for these machines. Wheres this at?

 

As with RVFR, I'd add it could be the wheel bearings are shot, tweaked forks and/ or triple clamp.

Or its was a crap tire that wore faster due to low pressure.

Worn out fork springs and oil cold smoke a front tire too.

Its is a 93 with 40,000 miles so its due for new springs and oil anyway.

2400 ain't a bad price for such a classic. My first VFR was white 93.

BZ

 

Thanks for the input guys. Like I said before, I've been riding for a long time and I've never felt as unsafe on a bike as I did on this one. I really was fighting to get the bike to lean into the turns and even had a difficult time going in a straight line down his driveway. I know tire condition will affect the handling of the bike but could the poor condition affect it to a degree where it feels flat and is very difficult to turn even at low speeds? I'm worried about purchasing the bike and putting new tires on it to only find out that the problem is more serious. I believe the bike either fell over or was laid down on the left side at some point due to the repaired cracks in the fairing and scratch on the left side mirror but I don't think the damage was very bad since the fairings look original and the damage repair appears to be relatively minor. Any other thoughts?

Regards,
Rollin

 

i had a similar prob

on my 92, I had a similar issue with weird tire wear, turned out to be headstock bearings ($35 from allballs racing) and old tires (sat in a barn for 5 years)


either way, not a biggie to fix or get fixed, the honda dealer put the bearings in for $65..

 

Did your bike feel stiff and hard to turn like I described?

Regards,
Rollin

 

One more thing I want to ask about is the front fork. Does this look normal for a 3rd GEN? As you can see there is a hole that goes straight through at the end of the axle. Is this hole used to insert a tool such as a screwdriver to rotate it or is there a missing pin or other part?




Regards,
Rollin

 

Yes that hole is supposed to be there; I use it to remove the axle.

 

not at all...

no, mine was loose and causing a vibration. that being said, OEM headstock bearings are somewhat prone to loosening (they are ball bearings) and someone could have overtightened them which is causing the binding you describe (and poorly affecting handling). If that is the case, a loosening may be in order and a simple fix. If they were way overtightened or overtightened due to the balls wearing out (common) I would replace them. The all balls racing bearings are tapered rollers and not as subject to deformation as ball bearings would be.

All Balls Racing Home

 

re-reading...

in rereading your original post, I am almost convinced the bad handling is due to:

1. crappy front tire... the cupping/wear on one side is very disturbing and almost exactly what i found on my bike - replacing the tire cured the symptoms

2. headstock bearings too tight/loose or otherwise blown out - replace immediately with tapered rollers from All Balls - should cure the problem

3. double and triple check the forks for straightness (laser level could provide you an adhoc reference) - check the defection from the front and both sides of the bike - doubtful this is the issue, but peace of mind counts.

'93 is the most desirable of all VFRs - best of luck!

 

The most common cause for the handling you've experienced is due to the front tire wear. I've seen this very thing on many bikes and more often than not it's from underinflated tires and the crown in the road itself. Most roads are sligthly crowned to aid in water disperson. This very issue was discussed in an issue of Motorcyclist or Cycle World not too long ago. Put some new rubber on that puppy and roll on! (KISS.. keep it simple silly). The bike looks good!

 

true... but something is driving that bad wear... it's not even... fix the problem, not the symptom

 

I've experienced this sort of wear as well - the left side of the front tire wears out quicker because of the crown in the road.

In the UK and other "wrong side of the road" places, the wear is more prevalent on the right side of the front tire.

Checking the head bearings is pretty simple, if you know what to "feel" for. Pretty easy to replace, too.

But as stated above, it's most likely an ancient tire ready to give up the ghost.

 

neglect

Yes, that tire is SHOT! The uneven wear is called "cupping". It's caused by low tire pressure. The tire's worn more on the left than right is a combination of both the road and underinflation. But tire pressure is the major cause. We've seen countless bikes come into the shop with the exact same issue or issues. Usually we see more cruiser guys than sportbike guys with heavily cupped tires like that. Too busy bolting on more chrome to check their tires. I feel a vibration....the bike wont steer..etc. I cant even get them into the the shop they're so bad. Take the bike to a reputable shop and let them check it over. That bike is gonna need tires no matter what.

 

DID you follow or ignore RULE #1 before test riding any bike, that is: check both tire pressures with YOUR gauge??

a front tire without proper air pressure can make the front seem stiff and unresponsive.

steering bearings usually need replacment at about 40k, but(IMO) use the original setup , ball bearings instead of the tapered rollers because they provide lighter streering with better feedback feel.

in any case stay away from cheaply made Chinese bearings like
"allballs"

 

S-man, you really recommend ball bearing instead of the tapered? Interesting...

I had tapered put in the 97, not allballs, they came from Germany and I really like the feel and feedback.

BZ

 

well,....... i was hanging out in the Honda garage at an AMA race and saw ball bearings being installed in Miguel's race bikes, asked his mechanic, Merlyn Pumlee, and he gave me an interesting lecture about the increased feel and feedback of bearings with minimal drag and minimal friction. he said all the teams use balls on racebikes, as far as he knew...

of course those bearings are changed every race weekend!

HONDA still fits balls on new VFRs i believe.....