New to the forum! New VF1000R owner too...

Hi guys! Just registered here a few days ago. Just now getting around to posting and thought i'd introduce myself....

Name is Mark Sitton, live in West Texas. I just picked up a 1985 VF1000R. Bought it off Ebay. It has'nt been cranked in 14years. Needs some bodywork, but nothing major. Found out after i bought it that it has a Yosh 4-2 full system in excellent condition. Also has a Fox rear shock with remote rezzi, braided ss(non-coated) brake lines front and rear, as well as braided ss plug wires(i think they are just covers). The motor is supposed to only have 1600mi(it was replaced when the bike had 29,000mi). The bike has a Rad-induction air system(jet kit with individual filters and plastic adapters that replaces the stk rubber velocity stacks). Only problem is that its missing all 4 filters and 3 of the velocity stack/adapters.
My first "real" bike was a 81 GS1100E when i was in highschool back around 1987. Went to the dragstrip a few times and found that i had alittle potential, but needed maturity/patience and alot of practice. Never got it. After the GS was gone, i traded a Bradley GT kit car i had aquired for a wrecked 85 VF1000R. I've wanted another VF1000R ever since. Must have had a hole in my head to drive the Bradley GT to the guy and have to haul off the VF?!?!
I got rid of the VF when my dad spanked me on my VF with a ragged out ZX900 that we picked up. i bought the ZX and had it for 8 years. Never getting it road worthy. Got interested in other things, got married and was too poor to finish it. Got into cars in the late 90's and did a very bad thing in 01. I rode a friends Hayabusa. Had to have one so i parted out my 11sec 86 Thunderbird and picked up a 00 hayabusa. Had friends that dragraced and i made it to the track a few times. Sold it in 02 and wanted another in 04 so i picked up a 04 LE Busa. Decided to get serious about trying to ride the Busa well at the dragstrip and i think i did ok. Wanted more power so i added a dry shot of Nitrous. That was ok for a bit, then i added a turbo. Had it up and running for a week or so and my wife and i found a house. Well, you know what happened then...
I picked up a 01 Bandit 1200S and played around with it for a little over a year. Sold it last year and have been basically bikeless since. I've always wanted another VF, and finally ran across one when the funds permitted.
I've riden many bikes, mostly at the dragstrip(the majority of which were at stk wheelbase). Mostly newer big bore bikes and have really enjoyed them, but i'm getting alittle older and wanted a bike with more "meaning" and style. Make any sense? I have big plans for this bike. For once, i don't plan to dragrace this one. I plan to ride it on the street. Of course, its gotta have more hp and a little modernized to boot.
Sorry if this post is boring, just thought i'd share the main points of me and my bike history.
Anyway, Hi!

 

Cool, welcome to the fold and good luck with the new bike.

 

Great story Mark. My first bike was an 85 Suzuki GS550E, and my cousin had a VFR500 which were pretty once I got above 6Krpms...

My cousin earned the nickname "Bradley" for our group of buddies after talking about what he was going to do with the ladies at the bar one night, but never moving off his bar stool to take action. He did not know what a Bradley GT was until a few weeks later when we described a Bradley GT as ""All show and no go". The name stuck like glue, now it sounds like your trade as well.

(nozzle's note - a Bradley GT was a sparkly fiberglass body kit that you could put overa VW Beetle chassis and engine. It was low, light, and usually very loud, but often "underpowered" as the VW's flat four had half the cylinders of the muscle car's v8 back in the day.)

 

Thanks guys. There are much more details, especially where dragracing is concerend but i did'nt wanna write a book!
Nozzle, i rode a friends VF500 back in 87. That was a neat bike. I actually winced listening to it scream when i got the rpms above 11000! At the time, i had never seen a bike that would rev that high.
Your right about the all show and no go Bradley's. Mine was on a 68 Bug chassis. 1500cc, single port heads and a monsterous 50hp. Was still fun since the car only weighed just over 1700lbs.

 

Bradleys could corner, and didn't they have sweet gullwing doors?

 

Yessir, indeed! The car rode very well, was super stable and cornered wonderfully. Mine had 14X7 polished "slots". I put a "monza" exhaust system(single muffler with dual outlets that had dual slash cut tips). Sounded like a Porshe everywhere except at idle. Sounded like a VW then...
The gullwing doors were solid plexiglass. They were a "cut to fit" type of deal. Was a major pain to do with a jigsaw. Kept melting the plastic and resealing itself right behind the cut. Took me hours to get done. Was really a cool car for a highschool student though! Swapped between the Bradley GT and the 70 Dodge Challenger RT/SE i had my junior/senior years in HS. Basicaly gave away the Challenger. Typical teenager, had NO IDEA what i had...

 

We need PICS!!!!

 

5891Jonathan,

Ya know, i think there is only one pic of the Challenger and Bradley GT. I have not seen it in years. I'll look around and see what i can find.
I think i have a few pic's here and there of some of the bikes i've owned as well as a few from me racing. Maybe a pic or two of some of the bikes i've played around with for friends(neatest of which was a 99 ZX-9 that i added a Mr. Turbo kit with fuel injection. Did'nt like the fi setup so i mocked up a set of GSXR750 throttlebodies and designed an alum intake plenum. Ended up MUCH better than the Mr. Turbo setup. Very fun bike).
I might can find some links to pic's of me racing at the PMRA(Professional Motorcycle Racers Association) last year if anyone would be interested?

 

Here are a couple of pic's from the first PMRA race of 06. I actually won the Street ET class. I was riding a guys bike that i put a motor in for him. I told him what the bike should run and he could'nt even get close, so he wanted me to take it to a 1/4mi track and make some passes. I was concentrating on getting the most i could from the bike and i did'nt even realize that i'd won the class. A friend said, "thats it, your done". I said "great, i'll make some nitrous passes now!". He said "nope, you've gotta go to the awards ceremony". I said "why? i wanna make some more passes". He chuckled and said" do you realize that you won"? "Huh?" i replied...


http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf45512fa503&idx=16
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf4551283072&idx=3

 

Bird... you realize the VFR goes around corners ("turns") really well? both left and right? :wink: I'm guessing your 1K will soon sport Vmax style ram air on the side and be known as VFRmax. Send pictures when you're building. You gotta add them to your gallery, I just have my dog sitting next to my bike...

That is a huge trophy. :first: Sweet!

 

Ha! Yeah, i like curves too. I got this VFR to enjoy on the street. Most everything else i've had has been slammed and race ready. I really enjoyed running bikes at stk wheelbase. Ran some suprising times on a short bike.
That was the first Street ET race i won last year. Also won the 3rd race up in Witchita(sp?), Kansas. Ended up 2nd for the year, and that one came down to the very last pass of the event. I missed one race(of the 6) and that blew it for me. Not bad for a rookie that had never been to a big event. I'm more of a test-n-tuner. I build/tweek the bikes, then i work and work trying to get the potential of what that bikes capable of. I'm no light weight at 200# suited, so i have to work my butt off trying to ride the bike just to keep up with the lightweight jockeys.
I'll see if i can find some more pic's...

 

Here are a few more from some of the PMRA races...
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf45ddd030cc&idx=1
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf45ddd030cc&idx=58
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf45e01d7aa4&idx=4
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf45e01d7aa4&idx=58

 

Here are a few at the last PMRA race when i was on my 01 Bandit 1200S. Called it the "Hybrid". Had GSXR1000 USD forks/brakes, Busa tripples and clip-ons, GSXR1100 ported head, GS1150 cams re-ground cams, 1277cc JE's, FCR41mm flat slides, Busa rear shock, Busa rear wheel, GSXR1000 rear disc/caliper and i'm sure some other stuff that i can't remember.
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf46f6f4ca6d&idx=49
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf46f6f4ca6d&idx=94
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf46f6f4ca6d&idx=96
http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf46f6f4ca6d&idx=98

 

Actually made it on Dragbike.com twice. I ran in the 9.5sec. class when they first started it the last race of the year. I was the #1 qualifier with a 9.51. In the Dragbike.com article below, you'll see the first pic where Joe Bird has a akward launch. What the pic does not show is that i was in the other lane. Cut a .005 light on a Pro-tree(not easy on a no-bar street bike with a hand clutch). Actually i got lucky...! It was alot of fun.
http://www.dragbike.com/dbnews/anmviewer.asp?a=2690&z=14

Here is the dragbike.com news from the first PMRA race last year...
http://www.dragbike.com/dbnews/anmviewer.asp?a=1993&z=14

 

That is SO cool! My brother used to build up cars and motorcycles and drag race them, too He is 64 years old now, so that was a couple of years ago (!). His most successful rides were a 1968 Camaro and a XLCH. Fun stuff.

Bird, you might be interested to know that my brother is also a proud owner of a . . . V1000R! I have ridden it, too. I thought it would handle like a big draft horse (pig?), but it is quite a tossable bike given its enormous weight! Nice power delivery, too. WAY more fun to ride than my old VF750F.

Thanks for the pics!

 

5891Jonathan,

I think i'm a very old 38 years of age! Funny, i had a 67 Camaro w/ a 427. Actually it was a 454 block w/ a 427 crank. TRW pistons that made up for the lack of stroke. Bought it that way, but did'nt drive it much. Every time i took it for a spin, i spun rod and crank bearings. Prolly had to do with my 8500rpm shift points! Yeah, i was 16 or so at the time and was'nt too bright. The 68 Camaro's were and still are my favorites. Loved the retangular blinkers in the grill.
I'll get on my other computer and dig around for more pic's. I think i have a couple of my 86 T-bird as well as a few pic's of a friends 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC that i built for him. Both were had supercharged 5.0L's. The Bird i converted to a Tremec 5spd, the Lincoln had a built AOD. Also built a 70 Coronet convertable for the same friend. That was a neat car. .030 over 440, Indy alum heads, 2" Jet-hot coated hooker headers, 3" custom X pipe and 3" all the way over the axles, solid lift cam, M-1 single plane intake, 850 Holley, Crane 1.6 ratio Roller Rockers, JE 10.25:1 pistons, file fit rings, Steel crank, fluidamper, March serpentine underdrive pully setup, A833 4spd w/ Lakewood steel scattershield, Verti-gate inline shifter, 8 3/4" rear w/ 3.91 gears. 575 hp on pump gas. VERY fun car to drive!

 

Ok, found some pic's. Not in any paticular order. I'll try to give some type of description with each...

This is of my 04 LE Busa with me and my son taking a "spin"...

 

Ok, that one worked. Here is another couple. One of which was at Abilene Dragstrip back in 04. Ran a 6.17 @ 115mph on that pass in the 1/8. 1.54 60' at stk wheelbase. Totally stk motor, stk exhaust(cans removed), -1 on the front sprocket, stk rear, strapped up front/lowered out back, stk ecu(no PCIII), Stk unmodified airbox. Track was at 2000ft altitude and the DA was right at 4000ft!

 

Pic's of my Bro-n-laws 99 ZX-9 turbo. This was before i redid(is that even a word???) the fuel injection setup. Also repainted it Escalade pearl white, which looked MUCH better....

 

Yeow! Sorry about the size. I'm not sure if i can resize pics. I'll see if i can find a few more pic's. If they show up this big, i'll see if i can figure out how to resize...