Buyer's guide

Greetings,
Duarte, 34, Portuguese national living in Switzerland, past owner of a CBR500 and a 750SS Ducati, and current owner of a Ténéré hoping to sell it on in order to enter the "VFR world".

Being not mechanically gifted nor having enough free time for any wrenching (full time career, father to a 15 month old and expecting a new kid within the next 2 months), I decided to go for an 8th gen.

However I am struggling to find a decent buyer's guide, so that my 2nd hand choice purchase can be a good one. Any recommendations?

Thank you and much appreciated for all the collective knowledge I am sure to find here throughout my ownership experience,
Duarte.

 

Hi and Welcome to the Madhouse

Any 8th Gen supplied to the European market is a great choice as by the time Honda got to designing the 8th Gen almost all weaknesses of earlier VFRs have been eliminated.

(In Europe Honda only sold the equivalent of the "deluxe" model sold in North America, where they also offered a cheaper - budget model which missed out on a heap of useful stuff like the main-stand - hence watch out for North American market imports.)

It is worth stressing that the earliest 8th Gen's are now 10 years old, so you really want to focus on finding a VFR which has been regularly serviced and used. Servicing is the key to these VFRs being good for well over 100,000km. The 8th Gen engine is an evolution of the 6th Gen engine, and when I sold my old 6th Gen it was running fine when I sold it with well over 200,000km.

Just realise that focusing too much on low mileage may not be a good choice. Remember a very low mileage could suggest that it was problematic and sidelined by the owner(s) in favour of other motorbikes. If a look through the service history indicates it has typically covered 4-6,000 miles per year (10,000km) then it suggests it has proved to be a reliable "go to" motorbike which has served the owner well.

But there is no substitute for seeing the motorbike in the flesh and checking the basics - Brakes and all gears working and no warning lights on the dash. Check the tyres anything over 5 years old even if the tread looks OK is running on borrowed time. Also look at the state of the drive chain - if the chain is way too loose then it suggests it has not been properly cared for.

If you plan doing any longer tours, especially two up, then you really want to track down a VFR being sold with the full factory(OEM) luggage set - Top box and panniers. Sadly if a VFR does not come with them as part of the deal, you will discover that these are not only painfully expensive they are also rapidly becoming unobtainium.

There are of course after-market options but these invariably entail adding mounting frames which can make the bike uncomfortably wide if you ever need to thread through a traffic jam.

If you need advice on a specific advert you can always post a link here.

Good luck with the search and let us know what you end up with - and if its a VFR don't forget to add a photo or two here.

SkiMad

 

Woah, so firstly, thank you for the "long" warm welcome !
Was expecting one or two suggestions to some online/book-style buying guides, this was way more elaborate, so cheers.

So regarding the reliability, that is, unashamedly, what I was expecting from Honda and it's extremely pleasant to have a first hand account confirming it.

I figured a buying guide might help in regards to having a of all the previous (or similar) minor niggles, such as the regulator rectifier, but if those seem to be worked out, my non-mechanically gifted upper limps will be very thankful to be spared some wrenching.

As to the specific version (check the link below) it seems to be the US deluxe equivalent from the pictures, from 2017 with 32K km, i.e. roughly 5K km/year.
https://www.motoscout24.ch/fr/d/honda-vfr-800-f-abs-1167734

Full service papers, side OEM paniers, tasteful aftermarket slipon and fairing protectors, what seems to be OEM center stand, the only thing I haven't discerned is it there are heated grips (20 year old me is laughing right now but he used to live in Portugal whereas I am freezing my body parts in Swiss winters on 2 wheels).

Any thoughts regarding the price ? I confess I haven't checked around too much, but this seems like a pretty good deal.
Got a test ride arranged with the seller for the 6th of August.

As soon as I pull the trigger the "Madhouse", as you put it, will be first to know.

Duarte.

 

You should be aware that the ergonomics of the 8th gen is quite a bit different than the 6th gen. I just love the aesthetics of the 8th gen. I get a tooth ach every time I look at that sweet thing. I was ready to trade in my 6th gen for a used 8th gen...until...I took the 8th gen for a test ride of about 1 hour. On the 8th gen, your legs are folded far more than the 6th gen, enough to make a difference. Because of that, and a back issue for me, I backed out and kept my 6th gen. I was so disappointed about that difference. I had it in my mind that I was going to come home with that 8th gen.

BTW. I bought my 6th gen brand new in 2006. I have over 228,000 km on it. I have replaced the stator and rectifier a couple times now but hey, 228,000 km. I consider that maintenance. The only other issue with my 6th gen is that about 10,000 km ago, when I was looking at that 8th gen, I had to have the clutch rebuilt. Other than those two issues, the thing just refuses to give me any problems. And so you know, I am not a wrencher by any stretch of even an idiot's mind. I'm just saying that bearing in mind what skimad said about the 8th being very similar to the 6th gen mechanically, and I would give anything he says serious consideration, test ride both, but don't discount a good deal on a 6th gen.

And like suggested. When you buy your VFR, post up photos in the introduction thread. If you decide to get something else, just drop skimad or myself a private message with your address. We have friends named Luigi and Vinny who would love to come over offer you our sense of regret that you did not join the rest of us.

 

Thank you for your comment, Randy.
I admit I hadn't given the 6th gen much thought : mileage and age of even the youngest models scared me a bit, but if so much of the componentry of both bikes is shared... Well then your 228k km "suggestion" starts to make a lot more sense.

Therefore I will definitely ask for a longer test ride, seeing as the riding position is something that made me go from the 750SS to the Ténéré...
Again : thanks for the tip.

Finally, I will definitely inform you of my decision once I've made it... Especially seeing as that part of your post regarding Vinny and Luigi read a little bit like mafia henchmen coming to break my kneecaps

 

Nah! Those guys are OK. I don't think they are mafia. But I do believe they live somewhere in Sicily.

They won't hurt your knees. At first anyway They are more into slow things and will start with toes and knuckles, then elbows and arms. Shoulders next and finally work their way down to the knees after many chances of correcting errant behavior are expended.

 

Good day. New to this site and not sure how to go about getting the best response to this note which I'll paste below. Can you help?

Hey Guys, I'm new to the forum. And looking forward to learning about these beautiful machines.
About 13 years ago I owned a 2003 Interceptor. Had it only 5 months and moved overseas so I sold it. I'm now looking to buy another, possibly an '03 that is for sale in Florida where I now live. I'm looking for some advice. I like the look of the older VFR'S vs the newer generations. I know I'm giving up some improvements, but I don't need traction control, heated grips etc.....ABS would be nice but the bike I'm considering doesn't have it. Ok.....gotta admit...I'm basing my decision on looks first. Maybe not the smartest thing!

The '03 I'm looking at has had 4 owners, the last owner is deceased and the family is selling it on consignment thru a dealership. Has about 4700 miles on it. Dealership recently put on new tires, flushed cooling system and brakes. Oil filter and oil change.
Title History Florida 03/01/2024 000004488 Miles
Title History Florida 10/31/2022 000004357 Miles
Title History Florida 01/27/2022 000003645 Miles
Title History Florida 12/08/2021 000002985 Miles
Title History Florida 07/02/2021 000002905 Miles
Title History Florida 12/17/2012 000002863 Miles
Title History Colorado 11/05/2003 000000002 Mile
As you can see from the history and low mileage, it sat a lot. So my question is what things specifically should I be looking for? Hopefully the dealership is trustworthy about their assessment of the bike but I don't know them and so when I travel to go see the bike, I need to ask the right questions and have a good lookover myself.

Any advice is much appreciated, in the way of buying this older model vs a newer one, and what to look for in a bike that is this old and has obviously sat a lot. THANKS!

 

By the time you’ve stripped and cleaned everything you’re probably not far from the price of an 8th, they’re totally sorted

 

Stevie - Have no doubt the 6th gen models were great to ride and could indeed cover huge mileages but they had one serious flaw - the charging system. This huge thread may give you an idea of just how many riders got let down by the charging system over the years - I know I was one.

https://vfrworld.com/threads/how-to-fix-common-regulator-stator-failures.39277/

So when I got the chance I had no hesitation to sell the 6th gen and bag an 8th Gen - as by then Honda had finally shot the bean counters who had cheaped out on the charging system and at last equipped the 8th Gen VFR models with decent charging systems.

As long as an 8th Gen has had regular oil and filter services these bikes are good for well over 250,000km (or half way to the moon!). Provided it has not been used a regular track day mule do not get overly stressed by Vtec valve checks - the engine is basically a Honda race engine shoe-horned into a touring bike frame. The (mega expensive) vtec valve check frequency is actually set to cover extreme race abuse - so bouncing off the redline almost every time it is fired up.

However if the previous owner(s) have only used it for a bit of touring then it is unlikely the vtec valve clearances will ever need adjustment. I only did every second vtec valve check and yet when I sold my 6th Gen which had basically the same engine with over 250,000 km I paid for the 4th major dealer service check and suffice to say they confirmed everything was still in tollerance, indeed my 6th gen never needed a single shim being replaced from the day it left the factory.

Personally save your pennies and buy an 8th Gen.


SkiMad - Meantime in the Alps my 8th Gen is parked up for winter as it is