I've wanted a VFR750F for about 10 years, and finally took the plunge a few weeks ago. It's in very nice condition with about 28,000 miles. Some bumps and bruises to the plastics, but the only significant shortcoming was the lack of grab handles, which I bought straight away. It ran fine on my short test drive, but stopped dead less than 10 miles after purchase - bad rectifier, which the dealer replaced without issue. This is the 15th bike I've owned starting with a CT90 (Trail 90) in 1969. Its stable mates are a 1982 Suzuki GS1000SZ Katana which will probably be put on the block after I get it back together, and a 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200S Touring. I always loved the look of the VFR's bare, subframeless engine and chassis, so I set out to strip it down to that level just to see it that way in person. Sweet. It's now spread all over my garage floor because I wanted to remove the exhaust and swingarm - the former to check its condition, and the latter because, well, just because. I figured I'd have to replace the exhaust with a Delkevic or the like, but the original is in remarkably solid condition so I decided to strip the paint and redo it with VHT black. After disassembly I realized it wasn't nearly as clean as it appeared while all together, so I've embarked on a pretty thorough cleaning. The bike sure didn't lack for chain lube, as the countershaft area and front of the swingarm were well crudded with the stuff; I spent several hours cleaning the gunk off with kerosene and now that area's nice and sparkly. I wanted to remove, clean and re-pack all the suspension bearings, but that may be a bit much unless I get creative or decide to invest in a bunch of specialized removal tools. I did buy the OEM swingarm/engine mount castellated socket tool and have no regrets as it works a treat. I'd love to hear from anyone with experience removing the suspension bearings, and the hub carrier bearings as well. It seems a shame to have it stripped to this level and not ensure they're in good nick. I just don't see a way to drive them out without the special tools, as it seems the way they're mounted I can only drive against the inner races; maybe I have to accept that they'll be destroyed in removal and bite the bullet and buy new ones. Great site for a great bike, but I can't seem to find a definitive thread on replacing the forks with CBR600Fi ones, which seems a cost-effective mod. I'd also like to replace the shock with a Penske 8981 that was installed on my Kwacker Z1000 until I sold it, but it's quite a bit longer than the stocker and the linkage ratio on the VFR is much higher than the Kawi's was. I got it from Lindemann and need to see if they can rebuild it to suit the VFR. Right, then, that'll be all, except to say that I'm not the least bit British; it seems I've adopted some of their language quirks from the Brit-bike mags I read and much prefer to the lame-ass, PC 'mercan ones. Motorcyclist and Cycle World have plenty of good info, but far too few wheelies and too little coarse language! We DO get Kevin Cameron, though, so there's that...
Congrats on your new bike! I cant answer most that because I just bought mine recently aswell. Ride Safe!
