New rider with 99 VFR800

Yeah I saw this bike on CL. Price was right, that's for sure.

I' actually in Gravel Ridge, up by the base.

Don't worry about frame sliders, just try not to drop it

 

Buy some Obama care sliders they are 100% surely fall!nthego:

 

Don't worry about dropping the bike just fill up the gas tank to full put 36,42 pounds of air in the tires and go for a spin!:tyrannosaurus:

 

Nice mod, do you have the write up
How long it take you and where do you get your projector?

 

A few items of note:

1. There are plenty of options for protective gear without necessarily being leather pants. Google closeout motorcycle gear or similar and look around. I like www.motorcyclegear.com and they have a closeout section. Let me be blunt: If you think that jeans (unless kevlar) are going to save your skin in the event of a crash, you're terribly mistaken. For some sarcasm, try this. Put all your gear on. Run as fast as you can, and then slide on the road. Let us know how your legs do. Then consider having a potential 500#s on top your legs and sliding at 35mph instead of 10.

2. Same thing goes for boots. Big clunky, steel toe Timberlands are certainly an improvement over sneakers, but they can get in the way or shifting. Once again, there are many options on true motorcycle boots that should not interfere with your ability to shift.

3. Your bike already has LBS - linked braking system. Its kind of a poor-mans ABS. In short, when you apply your front brakes, part of the rear brakes are being actuated, and vice versa.

I ain't trying to be the safety police here. I'm trying to give suggestions to a new guy. Ultimately, its your call. But for those of us that have been down, we know jeans and no boots ain't cutting it. (You can also Google motorcycle crashes if you're feeling a bit morbid. Notice how almost every time a guy wearing sneakers crashes, that he seems to pop right out of them?)

 

My zero speed dump would have broke my foot if I didn't have heavy motorcycle boots and I also had thick leather pants on. I only a sore foot. But if I had R+G sliders on, I wouldn't even have a sore foot. What happened, I was taking a sharp curve that had a blind spot in it and went too slow and I was in the wrong gear-maybe third instead of first. I shouldn't have let the clutch all the way out and stall the bike. If I had a full tank of gas-I might have broke my foot too! I think sliders are a must on any top heavy bike! By the way I am instyalling the R+G sliders right now -got about half done!

 

I have all the pictures (step by step) on that retrofit headlights, just haven't had time to start it due to school. Hopefully soon and I'll still be able to remember what I was doing. They're the Morimoto D2S Stage 3 kit, I was able to get it at discount price of $235 shipped for the set. It was a little more expensive due to our bikes have dual headlights.

And about the protective gears, I understand completely. I don't plan on wearing jeans forever, it's just temporarily right now. I don't see myself riding much for the next 4-5 months, probably more when Spring hits. Planning on getting better gears and upgrading gloves, pants, and shoes. I have the boots, but need to look for some motorcycle boots that don't get in the way of shifting.

I plan on stopping by few local motorcycle shops to look and try on some stuff soon.

 

JUst reading this for the first time............. nice first bike !!
My advice is to ride, ride, ride as much as you can and learn what the bike can do and how it will react in different situations.
Always wear proper gear......... a good helmet, jacket, gloves and boots. I always wear Kevlar reinforced jeans when riding. I have never dropped a bike in the many years I have been riding, but always dress prepared to lay it down .
The bike is capable of high speeds and its fun to get on the throttle and ride hard.............. but baby steps and have fun learning!
Riding a vfr is a wonderful thing

 

Welcome bud. first and formost..learn in a parking lot..empty of course how to stop that bike.....practice makes perfect...remember that at least 90% or so of stopping is your front brake. I rarely ever touch my rear only when stoppin. thats how I learned on my first street bike...new 84 Interceptor. ATGATT...get some real riding pants and boots...try cycle gear...jmo
Good luck

 

For my commuting rides, I wear 'Sliders' Kevlar lined pants available at compacc.com for @$80-$90. I have a pair Jeans, Khakis and Cargo pants, but I wear armor underneath just in case. Of course it's not quite the protection of a leather suit, which I wear when sport riding, but I feel pretty protected and I can walk around comfortably. This is mostly so I can ride to job sites and not have to worry where to store a leather suit while I work. For my upper protection, I wear a textile armored jacket and most times a Knox back protector too. Boots vary as well, but most of the time I wear low cut boots that look more like street shoes but sometimes my full length boots if it's a little colder out.

Regarding your light swap out, if you can post pics and maybe a "how-to" that would be awesome. If I do go the HID route, I'm going for the Xeon projectors.

Cheers!

 

www.revzilla.com and cycle gear is where I get all my gear. Nice bike. Ride often and ATGATT for sure.

 

I am a novice and a 1999 VFR800 is my first bike.

I have been driving a stick car for 20 years or so. Given how long it took to get good at driving, I say it must be very difficult to be a novice motorcycle rider and learning the ins and outs of manual shifting. There is just too much to learn when learning to shift and learning to countersteer. I might suggest you practice in a car as well as your VFR. In the car you do not have to worry about people running you over, about counter-steering, etc. You may very well be able to relax more and just concentrate on improving your shifting.

There are a lot of techniques to use. Going up hill, get the RPMs slightly higher before shifting. Going downhill you can have the RPMs slightly lower as gravity assists with accelerating in the next gear. Then there is rev matching. Pull in the clutch, up shift, twist the throttle to match the engine speed with the real wheel speed. If you get it dead on, you would not feel the shift at all.

 

Old posts resurrected. All kinds of advice including current fashion and where to ride. What comes to mind is that everyone is not geared to ride motorcycles. Case in point. MSF instructors have the option to fail attendees. This includes harleydoods who have "been riding" for 473 years.