Observations on a my first VFR ride ever.

So I finally picked my new bike up this weekend. I've posted pics here if you want to see it.

Because of the distance of the seller, I've managed to rack up about 200 miles on my first weekend through various riding types, a great way to test the bike out and get used to it a bit. The bike is in seemingly perfect condition, aside from the downpipes which are in poor condition. I'm going to get stainless steel ones on there asap. I'm also going to get it serviced asap as it didn't have any history and my mechanical knowledge is somewhat lacking.


I'll put these into good and bad points, some are general to VFR and some are specific to my bike.

GOOD POINTS:

- I love that sound! It has a stock pipe on it, but I love the grunt from the engine. He gave me a Viper end can too but I don't think I'll be fitting it any time soon.
- Instant power from anywhere in the rev range. I didn't push it at all either, I don't think I went over 7500rpm the whole weekend.
- All the usual VFRness of it, comfort, good wind protection (it's not the stock screen I don't think).

BAD POINTS:

- The exhaust is knocking at low revs. As I said I haven't really got a clue with the mechanics, what could cause this?
- As I mentioned the downpipes are rusted, easy enough to change AFAIK.
- I have never owned a full faired bike before and the crosswind when riding on the motorways was a little bit of a surprise, it really seems to get pushed around, making it not a very enjoyable experience. To be honest I think a lot of this is my ability, hopefully as I get more comfortable with I'll relax into it a bit (as I mentioned in my other post I've been out of riding a while).
- This thing is heavy! I'm not used to it and cornering seemed a bit lardy. I'm certain that this is down to my ability though and as with above I'll be fine once I get used to it.

Overall I'm very happy with the bike. I love just being able to pull away quickly at any speed in any gear. I think this weekend has shown a lot of flaws in my riding ability but those should iron out as I get back into the habit of riding often.

One question, the temperature gauge was hovering about 100 degrees. That seems high to me but I really have no idea, is that a problem??

 

I have done the conversion and that's fine, 220F is about where mine runs to in city riding. Thanks.

After riding for a couple of days in central London, I don't think the knocking is coming from the exhaust (unless it's the downpipes). It sounds like it's coming from directly beneath me, and it's only at low revs. It's strange, it feels like the gearing isn't low enough for slow rolling through traffic. Even in first it feels like it wants to be faster than 15-20 mph.....