New to me 98

I'm back in the VFR world (again). I've owned a couple 84s, an 86, a 94 (bought it brand new back in the day) and ridden my buddy's 03 pretty extensively, but I've never ridden a Gen 5. Always wanted to, then this example showed up on Craigslist.. I picked it up on Saturday morning.

I put about 300 miles on it so far, and it's brought back a lot of great memories from my 86 and 94. It hits all the same buttons as that 94 did, but it really feels much improved in some ways. Its been a long time since I've ridden that 94 (maybe 98 or so when I sold it), but the 98 feels much stronger engine wise. I love the gear whine and it sounds stellar (mean but not loud) with a two brothers slip on.

Long story short, I love it. I've had a ton of bikes over the years, but this one definitely is in the top 3 list. I also like the engine much better than the Vtec of my buddy's, and I think the ergos are better, but I'll need to ride them back to back to be sure.

Overall its pretty clean. 33K miles. Needs fork seals, brake pads, and the tires are close to toast. The bodywork is pretty good for an 18 year old bike, with a couple minor scrapes and one scuff on the left from what looks like a zero speed drop. The price was definitely right.

 

Nice looking ride. Is that you're black bird in your pic?

 

Yeah it WAS my bird.. a 97 with all kinds of mods. It was a great bike too, but after owning VFRs and 2 different birds (97 and 03), I'm partial to VFRs.

 

Get EBC HH brake pads.

Welcome!

 

Sweet! did I say Nice? :biggrin-new: yea what is it about these VFRs that get under your skin . I knew my 4th gen I bought new in 96 was good ,being I traded in a 84 vf1000 for it, but man o man then fast forward a few years, and two 4th gens later, I too have landed on a 5th gen. other than a couple quirks compared to the 4th I prefer. it's damn sweet. Congrats on the score.

 

Nice one. Enjoy!

 

I had 2 sets of new Vesrah pads left over from the bird, so I'll put them on the front. Have a set of EBC HH on order for the back. Also got a service manual and fork seals ordered. The tires will probably make it another 500 miles.

This winter I'll give it a complete tuneup and flush all the fluids. Brake fluid is looking pretty gross.

 

Hi Hank! I see you joined in 2011 so I will not say "welcome." I'm the noob actually.

Unlike you mine is my very first bike. Being ignorant but trying to make a good decision for myself, I bought into the strange and severe love that people have for this bike. A year later I have zero regrets.

Since that brake fluid darkness in the reservoir is most certainly reflected in the caliper, you may have to dive into the calipers. I just wanted to plant that seed so you would think about it before you started the maintenance. You might dive in and inspect the calipers first thing, or alternatively flush the fluid and then check for any binding and hope for the best. It may be a flip of the coin if there is any hardened fluid on the seals or resulting piston damage.

Maybe you did this already but if not I encourage you to read the steady state battery voltage and the charging voltage in order to avoid any surprises during the current riding season.

 

The fluid isn't really too bad (I've seen worse anyway), but I will flush new fluid through the whole system and check that the pistons aren't corroded up.

I'm tempted to de-link. I don't mind how the system works linked, but I hate the unnecessary complexity. I actually have a set of RC-51 forks and triples laying around from another project that I may never get to, which would be the way to go if I did that.

I will also be looking at the R/R and will upgrade that if it hasn't been done yet.