New RC36 owner from Finland says hello!

Hey all! New RC36 owner from Finland checking in. Great to be a part of this community. I picked up this green beauty from 1992 yesterday, and I'm looking forward to keeping her for the foreseeable future.

Some background info on myself: I'm a 40-year old family guy with 3 kids, and I've had a few bikes on and off during the last 15 or so years. I don't have much time to ride - maybe a short stint once a week - but that's all I need, really. Just a relaxed and easy ride up the twisties now and then to clear the mind.

I also went through an adv bike phase a couple of years ago (I had an Aprilia Pegaso for a very short while, an old yammie XT350 which I liked very much, and a Zuk Freewind for a short while, too). It was nice to ride on gravel roads, but I really wanted the smooth and comfy ride of a sport touring bike. I'd never ridden a VFR, but it always seemed like something I might like, and I instantly fell in love on the test drive yesterday. Such a well-natured and forgiving bike with great sounds and ample midrange torque.

Here are some quick snaps I took. The bike came with a full pannier set, too. The mileage is ~3200 km, so I'm assuming it's done 103 200 km (64k miles). It hasn't seen the road a lot during the last ten years, as the front tire is an 09 and the rear tire an 07, so I really need to treat it to a new set of tires before any spirited riding.

 

Welcome to The World Yawk-oh! The bike looks very clean, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, even at a once a week ride pace. Always nice to see the other colors Honda offered the rest of the world, as we only had red or white here in the states, at least I don’t recall ever seeing a green colored one on the show room floor.

 

Thanks, OOTV! That's interesting about this color scheme never being offered in the US. Some might think it a bit bland, but I quite like the understated look myself.

Thanks also for the compliments. Bike is indeed very clean, and I just took a peek in the airbox to find a practically unused air filter in there, so it's looking good on that front, too. However, I am experiencing some sputtering on partial throttle below 5k rpm's, so I might need to open up the carbs and change the fuel filter. It idles well and pulls cleanly all the way up to the redline, so I'm quite confident it's a fuel side issue.

Valve clearances will need to be checked too, but that's something for a cold winter's night.

 

Nice bike

It doesn’t look like it’s done 103,000 so maybe you have a very low mileage one

 

Thanks, Thumbs, for the kind compliment! There are some tell-tale signs that the bike has seen use - the starter button has a shiny glean to it, the seat contact points on the subframe are well worn, and so on. But on the other hand, the engine sounds and feels healthy, transmission has a very crisp feel to it, steering is light and smooth, rear wheel bearing has zero play, paintwork is excellent and no scratches or dings anywhere. It's like a time machine, and a testament to the high build quality.

I don't know why older bikes are so cheap here in Finland, but the bike only set me back 1100 eur (so that's, what.. 1250 USD?).

I think it was a steal, really.

 

Welcome to the "Viffer" club! And what a beautiful bike! It looks a lot cleaner than my ride..

I'm from Finland too, Tampere, to be excact, and there's another 3rd gen bike just around the corner.. Time to start a Finnish 3rd gen club?

Btw, I also have a slight stutter around 5krpm, mine has the stock piping with a devil slip-on. I just assume it is down to the slip-on exhaust and the 98e5 we're forced to use.

Happy travels!

Riding on the storm

 

Thanks, man! Looks like we could start a Finnish 3rd gen club, as I've seen at least one around my neck of the woods, too. I'm across the country in Savonlinna, though.

I'm liking the bike a lot, and looking into what service items need to be done. I think the rubber drive dampers in the rear wheel have hardened up, as the shifting isn't as smooth as it should be. I guess I need to peek in there at some point. But first I'm getting the carbs sorted - I actually have a synch gauge kit and a digital RPM gauge on order along with a carb service kit.

Happy travels to you, too! Lot's of nice twisty bits to explore in this beautiful country of ours!

 

Welcome to the MadHouse

It is good to see 3rd Gens looking so good and doubtless still bringing lots of smiles.

I hope you can quickly sort out the Carbs and get the bike running well.

As for mileage the simple test is to look at the state of the paint right at the bottom of the fairing by where rocks picked up by the front wheel will leave impact damage.

But the different dates on the tyres show it has done enough distance to wear them out, so it seems highly unlikely the bike has only done 3000 miles since it left the factory.

Your guess of 100k+ seems more likely, although there are plenty of bikes on here with over 200k which are still running well.

If the previous owner did not give you any service information, it might be worth calling a dealer to see if they have any servicing records for the bike? Whilst that filter looks almost new, for peace of mind, it is probably worth giving the bike a decent check over before planning any major trips.

Ride Safe - ATGATT



SkiMad

 

Thanks, skimad4x4!

Presently I have the carbs off of the bike, and I ordered a viton seal kit from LiteTek as recommended elsewhere in the forums. It doesn't really look like the carbs have been apart for a long time, so might as well treat them to a new set of seals. I've also ordered a synchronizer kit for synching the carbs once I get them back on the bike.

I'm also thinking whether I should do the carb boots as well, while I have the carb assembly off, but I'm on the fence about that one still... old boots are still pliable, and I'm not sure whether the aftermarket ones are any better.

Looking to get her back together and on the road!

 

Welcome to the club!

Congratulations on your purchase! Another VFR rider from Finland here, Hyvinkää to be exact. My flavor is the 5th gen. The VFR is just the perfect all-around bike, I've been on track with mine and also just did 500km on the road the other day with no problems whatsoever. Relaxed but sporty when needed, sporty enough for me anyway.