new member, new to me 2015 vfr800. inspection advice?

Discussion in 'Introductions' started by razedinabarn, Oct 24, 2019.

  1. razedinabarn

    razedinabarn New Member

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    greetings! been lurking for a few weeks, and finally snagged a 2015. remote purchase, shipping soon.
    would appreciate any 8th gen inspection tips/known weaknesses. my understanding is that it was crated until spring 2019, and only had a few miles on it when it was sold back to the dealer. photo of gas tank interior looked clear of corrosion, and dealer sent a video of a crisp startup. should have half a year left of warranty. prob need to change out the tires, pushing 5 years on the shelf. other than that, in theory, it should be good to go right? any other components besides rubber that degrade on the shelf?

    Any and all thoughts/concerns appreciated. rookie here. service manual is coming in the mail, owners manual in hand as a pdf. lost of fun reading ahead.

    the problem with a forum this good is that there is soooo much information it takes a while to sort through it all. I'll get there eventually, but please feel free to re-splain or link a relevant post here if you don't mind helping me get started. tyvm in advance!
    make it a great day
     
  2. fink

    fink Member

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    I would advise a new battery being fitted as the old one will prob be on its last legs due to lack of use. Deffo new rubber and oil and brake fluid change.


    Make sure you get toolkit ,owners manual, rear seat, cowl, grab handles and the little infills.

    Apart from that enjoy your new steed.
     
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  3. Thumbs

    Thumbs Member

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    + coolant change
     
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  4. RllwJoe

    RllwJoe Insider

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    If it has a lead/acid batt, it should have been dry until it was "prepped" in the spring. At that point the dealership would have added the acid to the battery. In that case it would be fine. You could check with the dealership to confirm whether or not the battery was prepped at the same time as the bike.
     
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  5. Bubba Utah

    Bubba Utah Member

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    Change the rubber bits "Like The Thermostat". Mine failed after a year on my 2014- bought in 2016 and failed in 2016+ 6months and almost cost me the motor on a spirited ride up a canyon at 12,500ft it bleed out quickly after not paying attention nor should I have being a new honda. "photo of gas tank interior looked clear of corrosion, and dealer sent a video of a crisp startup. should have half a year left of warranty." if out of the crate just months ago the tank be great due to being empty and recently assembled. The previous owner had the dealer put fuel in it. The battery is a self contained unit or "Maintenance free" meaning it does not have a option of filling it by the dealer or otherwise other than the manufacture. As far as I know and it should be fine unless you find fault. I only have my own experience and that is my battery was put in in 2014 and I have never had an issue being 2019. I would say have your local dealer do a test on it if concerned. As far as tires, mine where at least 2yrs old and I bet that they where manufactured a year or 2yrs prior. The OEM tires suck no matter which ones you got. I don't remember the models but I do believe that some got crappy Dunlop's and others got Bridgestone's as I remember. Bottom-line from me and I am not a wrencher is that you check out everything before that warranty goes. Replace the brake fluid front and back, Clutch fluid, AND AGAIN the Thermostat!;-) Good luck, and welcome to the chaos!
     
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  6. razedinabarn

    razedinabarn New Member

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    Thanks very much for the feedback, gentlemen! The fluids may be viable owing to their youth and lack of use, but I'll give them a look all the same. any tips on how to visually detect if they are degraded when not used, or are you suggesting that sitting idle for those few months was enough to degrade them no matter what? I'll check the battery as well, and do some more research on it. I was also under the impression that it was a sealed unit, and don't know yet if it could still have a long life if properly charged after being stored for so long, or if its internals break down over time no matter what. Buying a stored bike is certainly a new twist on everything, and the symptoms of degradation appear to be generally quite discreet. I'll search the threads for some good sport touring tires (I'll be riding straight lines for a few weeks until I get a good feel for her, working my way up to the swervies by spring), also grateful for links or direct advice if you have the bandwidth to write it here.

    I am pretty wet behind the ears, but the reading i've done about maintenance constantly refers to usage indications like discoloration and increased particulate content. I haven't found much literature on shelf life/degradation from long term storage, and how to figure out what is a threat....it seems like a fairly unique issue with the Gen 8 and it's confounded American marketshare. If anyone has any recommendations on sources, other threads, good books on the topic, I'd really appreciate it. I am not a gearhead by nature, but I'd really like to know my bike inside and out this time around so I'm not so reliant on the mechanic of whatever town I happen to be passing through.

    BubbUtah- especially thanks for the tip on the thermosat- that's one I would have missed for sure, the type of problem from long term storage that doesn't pop up on a typical buyer inspection list. I am not familiar at all with the affiliated systems yet- Is the stat a single replaceable unit, or did you need to replace other lines and "rubber bits" as well? fingers crossed that is a rookie grade task and not another shop expense.

    Thanks again all and thanks for the forum. this is a wealth of wisdom waiting to be found.
    ride safe and make it a great day!
     
  7. Bubba Utah

    Bubba Utah Member

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    razedinabarn- the thermostat is an easy fix. I did not replace the hoses. When I replaced mine-keep in mind that I had no coolant due to the boil out. You can get an OEM but I found one at a local Car parts store that worked. I think it was one that the Honda civic use. I am not sure because it was 2 years ago. If you change it just have some coolant on hand. I did have the dealer check it out after I replaced it on a sevice that was unrelated and they said it was fine and half the cost. They did a coolant check and said that the system was good. If you have a service manual you can see what is needed to change it. I think that I had to remove the upper cowl but again so long ago and my memory being poor. I remember it took me only about 30 mins to maybe an hour. If you want to be really safe I guess you could change the hoses but that is an extra cost that I did not see the need but only time will tell. Oh, the reason that I did not go OEM was the dealers where closed on sunday so I just coasted it down the canyon to my parents house and fixed it that day. Luckily the live at the mouth of the canyon I was riding in and I used their car to get the part, fix and go home. Good Luck. Have fun and be safe.

    Mike D
     
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