Next stages for new (useless mechanic) owner

Ok, I'm sure this one will have been done to death but I thought I'd ask as there is almost too much valuable information on here and I've got five tabs open going down various entertaining rabbit holes. Apologies in advance for the long winded post.

I've had my 9,000 mile 5th gen for a couple of weeks now, and settling into the bike. I followed the valuable advice raYzerman gave and had the bike serviced with all fluids changed. Also ordered the mosfet thingy me bob (guy who serviced it checked the electrics with a voltmeter and said it's fine at the minute) and a friend is going to do the starter valve sync for me when he comes over next but that won't be for a couple of months (did I mention I know bugger all about mechanics).

I've also set the preload sag (front and rear) to the specifications I found on here somewhere (a sheet that had loads of different bikes setups) and it all feels pretty good so far.

The same friend (ex thundersport, manx gp racer and coach) is going to take me on a couple of tracks this summer with an instructor to film and begin to teach me all things I don't even know that I don't know. I'll use the VFR this year but likely to buy a track bike next year if I enjoy it. Otherwise I'll use the bike for dry days only, either a 50 mile round trip mostly country road commute, or a blast into the Peak or Yorkshire countryside at weekends.

Now to the questions:
1. I'll purchase new tyres next month (currently on a metzeler sportec front and roadtec rear), what current tyres do people generally recommend for mostly road with the odd track day?
2. If you had around £1500 - 2000 to spend but little mechanical knowledge would you improve the suspension, brakes or both? The suspension does feel a little bit soft (I'm 72kg) but the brakes feel pretty good on the road to me. Is there anything else you'd improve? I'm based in the UK but I have been looking at DMr stuff - Is there any UK equivalent?
3. Finally, due to previous injuries (mostly from other sports) I strangely find the position a bit too upright for me. Is there any obvious choices for slightly lower clip-ons that work without hitting the tank at full lock.

Again, apologies if the questions are the same tired tropes. Thanks in advance.

 

9000 miles is pretty young by Gen5 standards, awesome even. My old girl has over 65k miles on it.
While there is no subtitute for aftermarket suspension, depends on your preferences, but the stock suspension can be decent with a spring upgrade in the forks. This is one of the best bangs for the buck. I'd try that first and see what you think before opting for new cartridges.
As for the rear, I find the stock shock not too bad surprisingly enough. I had a Penske shock on there, but recently removed it because it needed servicing. I haven't yet changed it back.... the Penske though has tweakable damping both compression and rebound.

 

Thanks for the info raYzerman. I understand how lucky I am to get such a low mileage, well kept bike. I've always wanted one and it will be the bike I don't think I'll ever sell on. From what I've read 65k is just running in As a comparison my Honda ep3 TypeR is on 180,000 and feels as good as when I bought it 10 years ago. Honda really knew what they were doing in that era it seems.

I'll try the fork spring upgrade first and see how that feels. I'll also get the tyres changed as I think the rear looks a little bit squared off. Good info on the rear shock, thanks.

 

I stuck progressive springs in the forks and a shock factory rear shock on my 5th gen and it transformed my ride. I also shimmed the rear shock with a homemade 4mm shim and its even better. Only cost me £450 or so and made the world of difference.
Not sure on the clip ons though .

 

Looking for lower clip-ons on the VFR is unusual, most of us want to go higher. You could look for a set of VTR1000F bars, they will certainly fit the forks (there may be a locator tab on the underside that will need to be cut off) but I can't comment on tank/fairing interference. Putting VFR bars onto VTRs is a common swap so they can't be too far out. You might even be able to swap with a VTR owner who wants to go higher.

The better sport-touring tyres would be perfectly OK for a novice or even advanced track day e.g. Michelin Pilot Road 5 or 6, Bridgestone BT32, Metzeler Roadtec 01. They will also be better as a road tyre than a supersports tyre.

I find the brakes are very decent provided they get maintained; if you have sticky pistons, unlubed sliding pins or grotty pads you won't be impressed. I personally favour EBC HH pads for a bit of extra bite. It is practical to swap the fork lower legs (for VTR1000F again) which will enable use of Honda 4-piston opposed callipers e.g. from CBR954 or 600 which are good upgrade, but not a must-have.

I agree the front end is where big gains can be had; new springs, compression valves and rebound valves can be installed into the stock forks, and will get rid of some of the dive, jolting and bounciness of the stock parts. These can be DIY, no special tools needed, or you can ship your forks to a specialist. Plenty of those in the UK I'm sure. Ask Mr Google.

 

Thanks for the info both.

Taking that onboard, I think I'll get the forks sorted, and put new rubber on, likely Metzelers as I've had no issues with the ones I've got on at present. The brakes feel ok to me so I'll do the pad change when it's serviced for winter.

I'll see how I go with the current bar set-up for a bit longer if there's so few options to change. It kind of suggests to me it's probably not the right thing to do. I'll have a search around to see if many have carried out the vtr100f bar swap and try that out if it doesn't affect the steering lock. I won't bother with it if it does though as I like my fingers as they are.

I may do one track day on the VFR but I think I'm just going to buy a dedicated track bike at this rate, one where all the hard work has already been done to it. I want to keep the VFR as the awesome bike it is without me crashing it. I'm selling the type r to fund the track bike adventure instead and buying the cheapest tax, highest mpg car I can to offset the crazy bike fuel and tyres bill