2007 VFR first bike, any advice?

Greetings!

I recently bought my first bike, a really wonderful 2007 VFR800 red. I really fell in love with the VFR800 and got it for a fantastic price. Though i knew i would have to do some work to it. Day one the battery died as soon as i got home, was the original and couldn't hold a charge. I replaced it with a new good OEM. Once i got under the hood i found the air filter was also the original, replaced with a K&N. I checked the cooling fluid and it looks like the right color and is at a good level. I've done some simple maintenance to: tighten and replace screws, fixed the lights on the license plate (no fender), oil and inspect the chain and sprocket, even replaced the rear tire (front is at 30%). I upgraded the brake light to a high intensity LED with a Backoff flash. I have the bike winterized right now and plan to do an oil and filter change in the spring.

I want to upgrade the headlight to HIDs, replacing the windshield (some scratches on it) and probably add some turn signal mirrors. But being new to Hondas and the VRF line i am really trying to reach out and learn more about the bike, what upgrades are good for it, and what quarks it has. If you have any info you could throw a new owner it would really help.

Here's a pic of my bike

And yes for some reason the body panels are slightly dark than the rest of the bike, both sides are like this. No idea why.

Thanks,

Drakien

 

Welcome to the site. Some here will think you bought too big of a bike for your first ride. I am not one of them. y 06 is the first bike I have ridden ever and I haven't has any issues attributed to the bike.

I put HID lights both high and low beams on mine. If I was to do it over again, I would go with Pias rather than HID. I like the brightness of mine right now but the pias are also very bright. With our 6th Gen bikes and their four light systems, if you have your high beams on when you start your bike, these HID draw so much power while the lamps are warming up, that you will blow the fuse. All four lights are on the same fuse. The HID draw far less power than the others once they warm up, but during the initial start up, cold, they draw too much power for all four to warm up without blowing the fuse.

What you can do if you insist on the HID, is get the schematic for the electrical. Tie into the high beams only and separate them from the low beams and put them on their own fuse. As far as I am concerned, all these bikes should have the high beams on a separate fuse from the low beams. As it is, if you blow a fuse, you are without all light. Not good.

 

So here is my two cents, depending on what the intended role for your bikers, there are several options that you can go with. My '09, same generation as yours, primary role is commuting with touring with light sport riding in that order, so I put on a GIVI touring windscreen, Heli-bars, Sargent seat, and a GIVI top case and tank bag setup. These add-ons were done for comfort and storage when commuting/touring.

That being said, when I bought the bike, it had the 2Bros exhaust cans on it so I ended up replacing the stock filter with a K&N and added a Power Commander V to give the bike a smoother throttle response throughout the RPM range, stock it did have a low speed "stutter" but with the PCV, that's gone.

Now, to address your bike and what to look out for, these bikes are known for R/R failures, burnt out staters, and wiring harness issues, so your battery issue may be a sign of one of those issues. Do a search on the forum for RR/Stator or combination thereof to read up on that subject and there will also likely be links in those post on the wiring concerns as well. Some years had a recall on the wiring harness, but I think it was prior to the '07 and later models.

In regards to your fairings, it could be that the previous owner dropped the bike, or worse, laid it down at speed and had the fairings replaced, so you may want to check under neath those side fairings for signs of a drop/crash. I wouldn't worry too much as these beast are heavy and just about everyone of us has dropped them at one time or another without any major issues. It could be that the PO either tried to color match, without luck, or just bought a set off of another model 6 Gen.

All you really need to do with these bikes is keep up with the maintenance, oil changes, clean air filter, inspect wiring and the usual stuff and she should keep running for a long time. Oh, and Randy forgot to mention that his '06 has more than 100k miles on it, and that he's dropped his numerous times!

BTW, Welcome to the World and good job on posting pictures in your introduction post!

Cheers!

 

Hi and Welcome to the MadHouse:welcome:

Thumbs up for including photos with your first post :thumbsup:

As you will quickly discover, everyone on here knows that red VFRs are the fastestotstir:! :vtr2:

As for possible mods - its always difficult to offer advise - especially when we don't know much about you apart from this is your first bike. If you are 6 foot 6 inches you may not really notice the weight. If you are smaller and lighter you may quickly discover they are very heavy indeed and inclined to adopt horizontal parking mode with virtually no warning. So if I have money to spare I would probably suggest investing in some R&G frame sliders to help protect your new bike - if/when it does tip over. (Which just may explain the colour differences between panels.)

As for lights, personally I find the light output from the stock headlights amongst the best ever fitted to a motorbike. If fashion is your bag they carry on - but don't overlook the potential downside impact on your RR. The charging system on these bikes is known to be its main weak spot and whilst saving energy is normally a good thing, perversely because motorbikes have stators not alternators, the last thing you want to do is fit things like LED lights which reduce the bikes electrical demand - as that will force the RR to dump even more excess energy as heat - which is why so many eventually fail and will leave you stranded at the side of the road.

Personally I would just get out and enjoy the bike whilst you can. I guess it won't be long before winter reaches you - as you can see - this side of the pond it's here already. :smow::smow: :smow::smow::smow::smow:


Take care



SkiMad

 

It has only been about 9 times. I stopped counting!

 

My VFR is my 2nd bike and the weight is my only complaint. At speed it's great, but at low speeds, like in parking lots it can go down easy. I'm a smaller guy, 5'11 145lbs so it was definitely something to get used to. I've only dropped mine once so far, avoiding an accident, layed it down gently, bent brake levers and minor scratches was all it suffered. Wlecome to the forum, you're going to grow to love that bike!

 

:welcome: to the madness :wave:
Glad to have you and congratulation on your new ride :thumb:
Take your time enjoy your new ride, get to know her and start your mod as you go.
The VFR is one of the world best all around machine. She will bring you many years of happiness.
Kudo for posting pictures arty2:

 

Skimad that picture is Beautiful, love to be back in the Alps
Will be looking for you in the near future :wink:

 

Stop your nagging. j/k
I have a 28" inseam, I'm 5'4" and are 134 lbs. of solid beauty. I agree with you on the weight of the bike.

 

Since the weight is a real consideration, i believe it's best to learn the ropes on a smaller, lighter bike first. Kinda like graduating from high school to university, you need the basics nailed down before graduating.:eagerness:

 

You already got great advice. The only thing I can add is that if you are using the bike for long rides, consider changing the stock handlebars to helibars for more comfort.

 

I liken that to being a virgin teenaged boy having sex with a cheap two bit hooker before going on your first overnighter with your hottie

 

Would that be like throwing a wiener through a hallway? Or having sex with the Grand Canyon, great wide open?

 

Sheat! If you stood sideways in the wind, you would whistle! I can see your difficulty with the weight of this bike. When I was a teen, I was 5'11 and weighed in at a grand 128#. Used to buy a pair of jeans, sew a seam up each leg and turn one pair into two.

Seems I don't have that lack of weight issue anymore though/ Found a cure to that. Burgers and beer!

 

When you were a teen you were so skinny I'm surprised you didn't fall through your asshole and hang yourself.

I haven't used that one in years......thanks for the opportunity!

 

I like that one. Can I use it?

 

Yeah, I'm pretty thin. Don't know why though. I eat plenty and, although I don't drink beer much anymore I do enjoy an alcoholic beverage or 3 from time to time. I'm 32yrs old and healthy as can be, just skinny.

 

Wouldn't it make alot of sense to weigh Randy's approval of a VFR as a first bike (like he did) with the number of times he admitted to dropping it ??

VFR was my third bike, and if i hadn't had the earlier experience of riding smaller bikes, i believe the extra height and weight would have put me off and made me overly-hesitant, possibly intimidated.

 

Welcome! I hope you enjoy your new ride. I love my '07. No problems so far. Always maintained. I believe good tires are worth the money. It is a bit heavy, but that may be the trade off for (what I believe is the most) user friendly, comfortable, and sporting ride. Had mine for only four years and just now looking at exhaust. Ride safe. If you are new to riding all together, look into a class. Usually taught by riders who desire to bring people into the fold.

 

Thank you for the warm welcome! Hmmm from the sounds of it and reading some of the posts below it sounds like these HIDs are a bit more trouble than they are worth. I'm going to do some research on the pias, thanks for the advice!