New Member in Houston TX

Hey guys, new owner of a 2002 VFR with 7500 miles as of this afternoon. My previous bike was a 2002 919 that I had for about a year, and put around 12k miles on. I loved that bike, but I sold it before we moved down here from NC. I had been looking to either buy another 919 or a VFR, came across this one and couldn't turn it down. She's in really good shape, and the previous owner threw in the Honda side cases as well.

Look forward to learning all I can about the VFR, loving it so far!

She was idling around 1k RPM when I got her, and was kind of hard to start, I bumped it up to about 1300 and now it seems perfect, what would you guys recommend?

 

First of all congratulations and welcome to The World! As far as recommendations, where do we begin? Depending on your primary use, there are countless mods and add-ons that could be done, just name your poison!

 

Thanks!

She's going to be my commuter machine to and from work, but I wanna find some twisties to play in too. I would love to plan a road trip up to Colorado or something.

 

Thats the role I put my 09 in. So here's what I did, mostly for comfort...
GIVI Touring wind screen, Heli-bars, and Sargent seat.

In the motor department...
When I bought it (used) it had a Two-Bros exhaust so I added a Dyno-Jet Power commander and a K&N air filter.

For motion control...
I put on HEL steel braided clutch/brake lines, EBC HH brake pads and Michelin Pilot Road2 tires.

For her legs...
I went to Jamie Daugherty of Daugherty Motorsports and had him rebuild me a rear shock from an ABS. Model (has remote pre-load adjuster) and update the front forks with new valving and springs.

Now she's comfortable for daily commutes and can still rail in the corners, stops on a dime and gives 5 cents change!

 

Gotta be several type "bike" night things going on in or near Houston.. Twisties? Try around Austin or if ya don't like the too twisty stuff, Loop 610 at about 3AM. then ya got the parking garages in the high rises.

 

Oh yeah I've been meaning to ask this.....what kind of oil do you use

Juuuust kidding, but seriously how the hell do you get this bike up on the center stand? I can't do it to save my life.

 

It should just pop up with a little lift under the left passenger foot peg bracket while rolling the bike backward. Of course you have to keep your foot on the center stand lever. Mine just pops up real easy like.

 

Haha dude use the passenger peg and roll the bike back while use your foot press on the center stand
BTW :welcome: to the madness

 

Puting bike on center stand - YouTube

Make sure you have your side stand down when you do this as a precaution. You are for the most part, just guiding the bike with your hands and stepping down on the centre stand to put the bike up. Practice a bit. You will get the hang of it.

 

Welcome Brett. How does the VFR compare to your 929? Are you let down by a bit less power or does the over all experience make up for it, or is it just different? I was looking at your bike and I can't tell if your bars are stock or after market. It looks like there is some fork tube showing above the bars like there is some room for you to raise your bars a bit. Why I was looking was because you said it was difficult to get onto the center stand and I was thinking that perhaps the PO had lowered the bike. Just a thought.
John

 

centerstand honda vfr - Bing Videos

 

centerstand honda vfr - Bing Videos[/url

 

I loved my 919, and I wish I never would have sold it, but I have always been interested in the VFR as well. That V4 sound really lured me. I've only had the VFR a couple of days and I'm really enjoying it, the only thing I miss from the 919 is the naked look and the low end torque it had. The suspension on the VFR is waaaay better and I like the wind protection. Oh, and that single sided swing arm is the business!

The bars I believe are aftermarket, I was looking at them early and they are definitely adjustable.

I finally got her up on the centerstand tonight after reading the advice, guess I'll get it with practice.

 

Wow, either your VFR has an updated suspension or the 919 has an even more terrible suspension than the VFR. Most VFR owners want to change the suspension right away!:smile:

 

I just got my 07 back on the road on Easter from having Jamie rework the forks and shock, WOW! What a nice improvement! Real nice guy too. He even gave me a Daugherty Motorsports tee shirt (very nice) for free! I would put this mod near the top of the list.
John

 

Yeah the 919 stock suspension is one of the first mods people do as well. From what I've experienced so far the VFR suspension is better, I'm pretty sure mine is not upgraded.

The 919 forks are waaaaay mushy.