200k

Spent the last week on the road, ended up in West Lebanon, NH for the VFR based, We Don't Give A Hoot rally.

In the hotel parking lot Friday night:


On the way home today, with 201k on the clock:

 

Awesome :thumbsup:

 

nice! about how many stators and rr's is that? lol

 

Amazing....

 

Amazing, hope mine lasts that long!

 

Congrats! That is some serious seat time.

 

Congrats! :thumbsup: that is a whole lotta stories to be told over a beer...

 

Thanks, though the stories just might take more than a beer.:drinkers:

 

Superb another 50k & you have driven to the moon

 

Engine and transmission are untouched except for valve shims and a clutch replacement at 100K. No slipping on this one at all yet, so no plans on doing anything with it for now.
The only regular delivery is to euphoria.

 

Sweet! How many regulator-rectifiers and stators did you go through?

 

^^Take a guess, Warren..........

 

that..is seriously a lot of seat time..and a serious care of tired butt! Keep it going!

 

D*mn piece of crap stator shorted out a set of windings on me at 160k :wink:
r/rs are a wear item, the first one lasted 80k, the second died after 10k, 70k on the next one which was still functioning when I replaced in conjunction with the new stator, the replacement was taken out by corroded connectors within a year, so the prior one went back on. It's up to about 100k now and still going strong.

 

Well I'm tracking my moon trip based on total miles on all bikes, so I'm well into the return flight.

 

Unbelievable!!Care to share your past maintenance schedule ?

 

The schedule part of the maintenance is easy.
(Except for a leaking set of front fork seals replaced under warranty, I did all of the work described below except for some tire changes and the shock rebuild.)

Since I average around 11,000 miles a year and I don't like doing major work during the riding season if I can avoid it, most every winter I do a valve check/carb sync, plug replacement and good chain cleaning.
In conjunction with that, all the body work comes off and the radiator coolant drained/replaced, so the bike gets a thorough going over and I'll address anything that I find (pads & such).
Brake/clutch fluid is flushed every two years usually.
Front wheel bearings are checked every tire change. These are wear items, 23k low and 70ishK for a high, most around 40k.
Steering-stem bearings have been replaced when evidence of wear presents itself by affecting the handling. Twice so far (at 60k and around 110k I think), the original oems were replaced with a tapered set from All Balls, and I used the same again. With the second set I torqued the stem nut a little more firmly, don't know if that accounts for it lasting longer, or if it's from a bit less rutted gravel road abuse.

Suspension work has been more dependent on feel than a regular schedule. Not necessarily the best approach when I realized the front fork oil had gone from 100 to 180k without being replaced.
I won't be accused of being a slow rider, but I'm no Ricky Racer either, so I never felt that the original suspension needed upgraded. But use/abuse/wear did manifest itself over time.
Front springs replaced at 60k with a set from Progressive Suspension (brand) progressive wound springs (type). This was probably the biggest mistake I've made in the bike's history, because they felt fine initially, but within 15-20k they were gone. The problem was that I couldn't trace the poor handling I was experiencing to the front springs - it felt like I was riding on an under inflated rear and it took another 15k and two seasons to finally sort things out.
Original rear shock was replaced at 75k with another oem unit. It was well past due. The limitations with the Progressive front springs started to manifest shortly after the shock was replaced. So in trying to cure the problem, I replaced the rear with a lightly used Fox shock. Ultimately I replaced the Progressive progressive springs with a set .9kg (or .95?) rated springs from Race Tech that were also lightly used. Magic!

When the Fox unit started going after about 30k, I put the second oem unit back in since it hadn't been used that much. I had it rebuilt two winters ago (should have done it two years sooner, but like I said, I don't push the bike to limits that would have really made it an issue.

At 100K, I did the clutch as mentioned before, it was slipping. Hindsight told me I could have just replaced the springs rather than all of the plates and springs. I ordered everything in advance, but when I pulled it, the plates were fine. I put the new ones in anyway.
Also at 100k (in 2005/6):
I replaced all the rear plastics. A 2 and 1/2 month trip to Alaska in 2000 with Ortlieb dry saddle bags was not kind to them and repeated patching was no longer an option. The second set is still fine.
I removed the swingarm to check it's bearings - they were fine, fresh grease and good to go.
In that process, I had to replace the rear wheel bearing assembly. This was a consequence of a maintenance check of them after the Alaska trip as well. The bearings were fine at that time, but I did not use enough grease or anti-sieze on the splines when I did the reassembly then, so corrosion on the axle splines made removal in 05 a difficult process and after all the banging and swearing and banging was done, I didn't want to use that assembly any longer.
I replaced the front fork bushings. They didn't really need to be done then, but they were a bit worn.

The front rotors were done at this time as well because they had worn to minimum spec.
I bought a set of Galfer wave rotors. They worked very well and lasted 80k and were replaced this past winter with a set from EBC, they were about half the price. I'm not happy with the EBC rotors for two reasons. Allowable wear is one, the oems could go 1mm. The Galfers .8mm, the EBCs - only .5mm. Also the EBCs eat pads. They have some larger slots that are perpendicular to the rotation, and I feel a bit of grinding from them as I come to a stop. I did an 11.5k trip out west this year, and the pads that were new with the rotors this winter, were gone. They do brake very well, but the Galfers were truer.
The rear rotor needed replaced earlier in the bike's career because I screwed up and let the pads completely wear out, gouging it pretty bad. I just replaced it again this winter because it was at min spec for wear.

The water pump needed replaced around 100k and at 170k (seal leakage)

I replaced the brake caliper seals 3 or 4 years ago (this is all recorded, but I'm too lazy to look up the precise mileage and dates for this summation). This was done as a preventative measure - there isn't a recommended frequency and I was having no issues, but figured it wouldn't hurt to freshen them up.

I put ss front brake lines on very early in it's career and they've been fine.

The ignition coils and wires are still original and I still have the oem rear brake line - might look in to replacing these items soon from an age perspective if I'm going to keep campaigning this one.

You may be asking yourself:
"WAIT, WHAT!?? Did he just say IF! WTFIUPT!" (wtf is up with that).

This years trip out west was not without it's issues. A ride report is in progress on ADV, here's the link:
For Whom the (Wedding) Bells Toll - ADVrider

Standing under the overhang of a vacant store front in Bakersfield, CA next to a gas station (thank dog for the shade!) with a leaking radiator led to the discovery that new ones are no longer available, fortunately some radiator stop leak cured the ailment. I already knew that new water pumps are not available, and replacements for them off of ebay are problematic, because after being used, the seals are most likely dried out.
All of this led me to decide to at least semi-retire the VFR after hitting the 200k mark this year. I don't want to use it for any more longish trips because the chances of being stuck somewhere with no readily available spares are becoming too great. So I need another bike in the stable, and as I'm only half-way to filthy-rich status (the filthy half) I don't have a garage-mahal to set up a shrine and place this veteran on display (as it so richly deserves). So at best, it will get some local weekend trips, which begs the question of whether or not it will be worth the effort to maintain it just for that use. I still haven't made up my mind on the issue.

 

I love bikes that are taken care of and used as they were intended. I have never liked the "planned obsolescence" built into metric bikes but MapMaster's VFR is witness to best of this philosophy. Often you will hear Harley dudes sneer that their bikes can be rebuilt indefinably but to what end? And what economy is had if the bike needs to be refreshed every 40,000? Everything wears out. I would say the a bike with over 200,000, with (mostly) regular maintenance is an awesome example of money well spent. Your bike is deserved of a good retirement.

To give you some perspective, back in the days when Triumphs ruled, a 750 Triumph twin, if you did all the maintenance and changed oil religiously could get around 32,000 miles on it if you were very lucky and rode with a light touch. That's just the bottom end mind you. You would have rebuilt the top end at least once by then. Modern bikes are fantastic even if parts availability does dries up after 20 years.

It would be nice if, instead of retiring the bike to obsolescence in the garage, you could just flip a switch and it would turn itself into a red coffee table, full of memories of the road.