New to VFR world and new VFR owner

Hello all. I just signed up this morning. I bought a 2006 VFR yesterday. It only has 84 miles on it!!! The only problem is the guy I bought it from never drained the old fuel out of it so I noticed a little rust in the tank, hopefully it won't cause much of an issue. I drained out the old fuel and filled it up with new fuel. Drove it on the interstate for about 10 miles, no problems and man is it a smooth ride. I ordered handlebar risers this morning, looking forward to years of fun. One quick question, any suggestions on keeping or changing the factory break in oil, its 4 years old but only has 80 miles on it and I know the factory likes to run it for around 500 miles. Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks Jim

 

welcome to the site, and welcome to what may become your favorite bike ever! and 84 miles?! thats the best damned garage find ive heard of in a WHILE!

first off, I have to express a little concern over the fact that you found rust in your tank. any rust is bad, and it can easily come off the metal and cause hell with your fuel system. it only costs around a hundred bucks to have a radiator shop clean up and coat the inside of your tank. thats FAR less money than youd spend ir rust got into your fuel system. Better safe than sorry.

second....dude...seriously...change that oil. your motor isnt even broken in yet, and oil's shelf life is FAR less than 4 yrs. id go ahead and treat that motor as if it were new. use basic conventional oil, put new oil in it ASAP, change it @ 500 miles, 1500 miles, and 3000 miles on the odometer. dont rip on the motor until after 3000 miles. after you get that 3000 on your odometer, you have the option to change to synthetic or whatever the heck you wanna do, but for the love of the bike man, get that 4 yr old outta that poor bike! (and you might check the coolant too, as its obviously been sitting ambient for 4 yrs too)

good luck, and welcome to the site!!

 

3000 miles before I get into it? That might take me years to get to 3000 miles. As far as the rust, thanks for the suggestion, I am going to call a radiator shop tomorrow to see what they will charge, I am also going to check with my local Honda dealer to see what he will charge.

 

Nah, VFR's are addictive, you won't be able to take years to get to 3K, the bike will call your name in the middle of the nite. :welcome:

 

hahahahahaha, dont worry, 3000 miles isnt nearly as many miles as it sounds like. you basically have to be chill with any motor in the beginning of its life to allow the piston rings to seat correctly. this period of an engines life is crucial, cause if you treat it right, itll last you a lot longer than it would otherwise.

good luck with your new favorite toy, and i hope you end up with MANY years of happy, safe riding!

 

Okay guys, I'm gonna throw in my $.02 on the break-in thing.

I haven't looked at an owner's manual for a new bike in quite a long time, so bear with me...

Absolutely agree on getting that old oil outta there - change the filter too, and as Chris said use any good 'conventional' oil for the break-in. Now here's where our recommendations diverge...

I would say no full throttle and nothing above about 5K rpm for the first 150-200 miles, then slowly begin to work the engine harder. Maybe go to 6k and 3/4 throttle until you get to 500 miles. Change oil and filter to whatever you plan to run. There are a lot of options, and plenty of info around to help you choose.

Once you're beyond 500 miles I wouldn't go easy on the engine. She'll tell you when you're squeezin' too hard. Work it, or it'll never be broken in. As Chris said, change oil and filter at 1500 and 3000, and by then you should be seeing that redline and be WFO on a regular basis.

Why do I say this? The only way to properly seat the rings and valves is to put 'normal' pressure on them by working the engine as it was designed to work.

Let the flaming begin (but I won't participate, thanks.)

 

actually FoothillRyder, your procedure doesnt sound too insane. ,my experience breaking in engines has always been with cages, which are a totally different animal from bikes (less power per liter, nowhere hear as high revving, etc). as far as flaming, f*** the flamers. as long as the results are that jimmy's engine gets broken in right, the piston rings seat like they should, and the motor lasts, the ends certainly justify the means.

 

Welcome and one more thing.

 

Yeah, no flaming here, there's at least two schools on engine break in, super baby, and flog it like you're trying to break it. I think somewhere in between the two usually works out for the better as well.

 

Welcome to the site. SOunds like you got yourself quite the steal there. I would change the oil, the brake fluid and have the tank flushed. Why risk the great find you got for the sake of a few short bucks on oils? And I agree. You should not find it difficult to put 3,000 miles on that babe. If you do, then your really don't want the bike and you are obligated to crate it up and ship it north to this guy who lives in CHilliwack. He is knows to ride his wild and hard like a cheap hooker from Hastings Street in Vancouver then put it away wet.

I have 3,000 miles on mine. I did that about 30 times for that matter. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the forum and stick around.

 

I took it to my local Honda dealer and had the oil changed. They said they wouldn't touch the tank, they only replace them when they get rusty. I also downloaded the VFR owners manual and it said to keep out of the throttle for 300 miles. I am trying to upload some pictures, but either my computer or the site is not agreeing with me, but I will try to get some pictures up soon.

 

This is a good thread for me. What exactly do you folks suppose the shelf life of engine oil is? I bought a brand spanking new 2008 VFR two weeks ago yesterday and in the back of my mind, I've been wondering how that engine oil is doing. I'm scheduled to go to the dealer for the first service (checking the chain's tightness etc.) at 600 miles-- which could come by the end of the day-- and I'm wondering of an oil change is part of the deal. Should it be?

 

Oil change is definitely a part of the first (600 mile) service. Check and make sure they've actually done it!

 

I would and did on mine when it hit 600 miles.I am pretty sure with most dealers it is part of the service.

 

Congrats on your new ride, any reason for the low mileage? Did the guy have too many bikes to ride or something lol.

You might want to check your tire date codes. When I picked up my 06 in Dec 09 the tire production date codes were from mid 2005. It's your ride, but there's no way I'd feel comfortable riding on 5 or 6 years old tires. Like a lot of things they age, and tires harden over time, you want tires that stick to the road not slide around like a hockey puck.

 

I finally got the rust issue taken care of. I bought some metal rescue, that stuff really does work, the tank was nasty lots of rust, it soaked in the metal rescue for 24 hours and it was amazing, bright silver inside the tank!!! Cleaned out the fuel filter, which was very dirty, got it all back together and it has a whole lot more power. Gotta love that, I thought it had decent power but now after repairs, it is a running machine.

 

I'll second that!! ANd Welcome to the World.

 

I thought I found a gem with the 2009 I bought with 337 miles on it. I agree with reaching the 3K mark sooner than you think. Within the first two weeks I had the bike, I doubled what the previous owner had put on it. I did the 600 mile service and now have 1100 miles on it.

Regarding the fluids, I had my Duc sitting for quite a few years and I had all of the fluids flushed and the gas tank "reconditioned" before I took it back on the road. It took a few $ to have this all done but better than blowing the engine up or loosing the brakes coming to an intersection!

Good luck with the new ride!

 

good job on rescuing that gas tank jimmy. now youll see the real potential of that bike. i think that if you keep those 6th gen bikes (ok, really, ANY bike) well maintained, youll enjoy the hell out of it and youll do so for a very long time!

 

Wow... For a min I thought this was gonna turn into another engine oil argument!

Nice score! Just curious- should you reseal your tank after using that metal rescue?