Checking the real mileage

Hi guys.

I am trying to find out how to check if my bike wasn't clocked in the past. Bike runs alright, have some cosmetic work to do(someone just did not care, not washed it for long time etc), fully serviced and all, kinda low mileage 30k miles for 00 bike, and last owner had it for 99months. Price was ok, the only thing I would like to check for my own sake / peace of mind is the mileage.

Does ecu store mileage independently to odometer? Or odometer reads it from ecu which could be clocked?
Is ecu under the seat?
Is it worth to buy obd tool?

Thanks for help

 

There is no OBD tool for these; this is a first gen EFI system, and faults are indicated by coded flashes of the FI light in the dash when in dianostoc mode, sort of like Morse code.

ECU is in the tail. AFAIK mileage is only stored in the odometer.

To check mileage I would look at condition of the brake discs and rims; a bike that has done very high mileage would be on replaced discs and the rims would show signs of lots of tyre changes. If 30K miles is for real (and it sound perfectly plausible for a 5G bike) then you'd be on original discs and would only have had 2-3 tyre changes.

Do you not have access to online records of mileage? Our MOT system tracks mileage at the time of inspection so you can see the pattern over the inspections.

 

You are very informative! Thank you! I had no idea that year 00 was the first EFI system(?!). I thought previous generations were EFI'ed too, sorry meant previous years/edited... I did moto check in UK(it is UK import to Ireland) and Ire, everything is correct, however there is no mileage at all in that check and I was first to enter the mileage. I did other moto checks too and no mileage either. It happens sometimes, as I checked other bikes I wanted to buy and most of them had no mileage recorded/entered. Maybe because it was an import and in Ireland we have no MOT for bikes. I will sound like a noob but what does 5G bike means? ;-)5G = 5th generation right...?;-) Rims are in very good condition, brake discs little worn, maybe 0.5mm grove. Reason I might be doubting mileage is that the seat has been covered with new leather and at the bottom of the tank, where the seat touches the tank on the sides, it is worn.Like paint is worn nearly to the bone and colour/marks of the paint is on the exactly seat edge where it touches, it was basically rubbing it. Maybe previous owner had hemorrhoids XD. I will check if I have original vfr 5th gen brake discs too, would you have any pictures of original disc please?

 

The Vifferati refer to VF's by their generation number, 1983 1st gen was the original steel framed bike, 1986 2nd gen introduced the alloy frame and gear drive cams, 1990 3rd gen added the single-side swingarm, 1994 4th gen has the NR750-like bodywork; all were carb'ed. The 1998 5th gen was a major redesign, used the RC45 motor as a base with EFI, side radiators, pivot-less frame, linked brakes. 2002 6th gen went back to camchains, has the VTEC 8V/16V operation and has undertail exhausts. Not to start a fight but most refer to the VFR1200 as a 7th gen (they're wrong, the gens only refers to 700/750/800s IMO!) and 2014 saw the launch of the 8th gen, which reverted to conventional muffler placement and front mounted radiators and drops the linked brakes.

My 99 VFR has the same pattern of wear where the seat touches the tank; it is worn to shiny metal there. A recovered seat could be due to sun or other damage (e.g. a rip or tear from a careless boot) so I wouldn't be concerned about that.

Standard discs look like this (non-standard forks and brakes however):

 

Now I am less worried. That tank pattern is odd, must say, will probably respray it and maybe protect it with some tape or other things. Your discs look exactly like mine, and it looks like the bolts were "never" touched. I will be redoing my seat anyway, with gel padding and nice leather, so I will remove the new layer and will see what is underneath it, because old layer is there, just covered with new one. Thank you again for all the information.

 

Here you go. https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

Mileage should be recorded for last 5 years as far as I know.

 

I check via that website, but my uk reg is not found, vehicle not found at all. I sent them an email, because other wheelchecks etc finds vehicle, dates, imports, owners etc. Everything but mileage.

 

It should be there. My transporter was written off in 2015 and it still shows up.

When was it imported?

 

This is the one of the unique selling features of a VFR.

In that the milage really doesn't matter....

They will all fairly easily get to 6 digits with only oil changes & basic servicing so it short you have asked the one question that is a almost superflous when it comes to a VFR.

 

A good place to look is the wear (shininess) on the handlebar grips, the wear on the foot pegs and a few other lotions. Brake rotors would not necessarily be new on a bike with that low of mileage. Mine has over 200,000 km and I am still running the original rotors. The bolts securing them show removal wear only because the wheels got re-painted a few years ago. 30,000 miles on a 2000 is not unheard of. Some [people are fair weather and weekend riders only.

 

30,000mi on a 2000 VFR is rather low.

The "Gen" thing is a Yank thing and makes no logical sense whatsoever (it's based on the V4s that were sold in the USA, which ain't all of them...), but you can't get away from it on VFRW and VFRD.

Without a document history, it wouldn't be possible to reliably determine that a bike had been clocked (more likely, the speedo replaced simply because the old one died) or not. But, they're bulletproof anyway, so it's not that important.

Ciao,

 

Is one reason that I snagged mine in May, with 10.5K miles, with an "old guy" having been in the saddle.
NVM that he is a couple of decades younger than myself, LOL!

 

It was imported in 2013, so it should be there, I sent them an email, as soon as I get something I will let you know.

 

Handlebar grips are in really good condition, wanted to buy new ones but I realized it would be waste of money and I think(99%) they are original, have to get proper close up pictures of original ones to compare. 200 000 miles?! OMG! Thank you for your help.

 

My 1995 vfr750 has 60,000 kilometres on it (38,000 miles). I'm the 3rd owner. It had 22,000 miles on it when I bought it when it was 16 years old. It doesn't look any more worn out now than when I bought it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that build quality is so good on vfr's it's difficult to determine the actual mileage of a well looked after bike, apart from the speedo. I wouldn't worry about the mileage. Just change all the fluids, spark plugs, check the valves.

 

That's 200,000 kilometers. About 130,000 miles give or take. But regardless, you got the idea. O think you have a good set of wheels on your hands that you need not worry about. Take it out on the road and rape it.