Hello All, I've been a fan of this site, Texas VFR Garage and the VFR Homepage USA for years. Let me tell you a little about myself and my different bikes. I've been riding sport bikes since 1996, so it's fairly short compared to some of you. My first bike was a 1993 Kawasaki ZX-6. This was a good little bike. Kind of heavy but it fit me like a glove. I'm your average height (5'9", 180 lbs) this was a good starter bike, but after a month or so after buying it, it started to develop transmission and electrical problems. I lucked out and someone stole the bike from in front of my apartment before I had to sink a whole lot of money into getting those problems fixed. Well I took the insurance money and purchased a 1993 Honda CBR 600F2. This was buy fair a better bike. Honda makes a great product. This bike was a very forgiving bike for a first time rider. The ride was great. The ergonomics were terrific. The power was fantastic. I had that bike for six years. (I really miss that bike. Everyone should have a F2/F3 in their garage) Well I got deployed to Iraq and when I returned I got married. We all know what happened after the marriage. Yes, the wife wanted to ride with me. That little 600 was just a little under powered for me and my wife (She's 5'7", 160 lbs. For Gods sake don't tell her I put her weight on the internet.) So a buddy of mine had a 1993 Suzuki GSX-R 750 that he was selling for $500.00. The bike had been in storage for about 9 years, so you can imagine what shape those carbs were in. After having the bike painted, the carbs cleaned, chrome wheels put on and a new exhaust the bike was ready to go. That bike was the most troublesome bike I have ever seen, owned and riden. The carbs were a pain in the keester. The riding position was horrible for me and my wife. I thought since it was a bigger bike it would be a little bit more comfortable. WRONG. After about 30-40 minutes of riding my hips, knees and back were killing me. The engine was pretty strong though, but then again it should be it's a 750. It sucked gas like an old Cadillac. Well I had to move several time due to being in the military and everytime I moved I had to have the carbs re-adjusted. What a pain in the keester that was. Well I finally had enough and was in a position to purchase my dream bike, the VFR. You're probably asking what happened to the Honda F2? Well, the wife said I couldn't have two bikes so I sold it. What happened a month later? She wanted to learn how to ride. Go *&^% figure. I had the best starter bike any person could want and after I get rid of it she wants to learn how to ride. LOL. The VFR. I feel in love with this bike the very first time I saw one back in 1996. Why didn't I buy one then. They were way out of my price range. I loved the fact they were 1 Hondas, 2 V-4, 3 Styling, 4 usable power, 5 Styling. I started to read everything I could about this wonderful machine and I found nothing bad about it. Occansionally there was some article from some dope who would state it wasn't as good as a "True Sport Bike", "didn't have the power of a inline-4", :blah: . Well, no (*&^ Sherlock. It is what it is. A sport tourer with usable power, great ride, good looks. So after reading and waiting I was finally in a position to get one. Now I'm still not in a position to buy a new one 2007-08 but I was able to locate and afford a great condition, good priced older one. A 1999 VFR 800Fi. I'm waiting to pick it up as we speak. After I get a chance to ride it I'll post more and of course take some pics of it. I look forward to gathering some more advice from this site and others about this bike. I'm even looking forward to the 09 1000 VFR, maybe after a deployment or 2 I'll purchase that one. Thanks everyone and take care.
Welcome to the site! Thank you very much for your service to our country, while a lot of Americans may not show it, we're indebted to service men and women like you. Congrats on getting a VFR! Can't wait to see the photos of it.
Welcome Gryphon! You the same gen as I, which must mean you are a pretty cool cat....either that, or you are plum :crazy: like me! Thank you for your service for our country as well.
welcome to the site. that's a great intro. we are glad to have you here. we have a message thread about teaching the significant other to ride that got pretty heated a a while back. my wife is still in the "I want to learn phase". She is gonna take the class where they provide the little bike soon, I think. Then she's gonna ride an old ninja 250 until she gets her bike legs.
Awsome ntro... I rode an F3 for a friend of mine.. I always thought that would be an awsome second bike for me... But my wife is not about to let me get a second bike...Grrrrrrr Welcome to the site and hope to hear from you a lot... Oh yeah. I salute your sir for serving our country! I'm a back ground server. I support those that build the hardware you may be using.. We all server were we can...
Thanks for the warm welcome Thanks for the warm welcome. I hear the 5th Gen VFR is one of the best. I hope I can still get parts and items for it. I'm past my sport riding days but not past my sport looking days. Seen one too many deaths, ER visits in my time. Thank you for supporting those in the DoD who are just doing our job. I was on a plane recently with this ignorant woman who was )*&^%$#@ about service men/women. I told her that if she didn't like what we were doing, vote the SOB's who are sending us overseas. We are doing our job just as she is doing her's.
I'll second both main points here: Welcome to the site Thanks for doing your part! Enjoy the ride...be safe! And yes, well-written intro you have there! You used your words real purdy!
howdy from NZ. nice story, had to laugh about the 'publish the wifes wieght on the internet' LOL! hearing you on the GSXR too, i had one many years ago, and it was exciting to ride but i swapped it for a much more real world bike (GPz 900R) after about 12 months of ownership. couldnt hack the sore wrists at low speed, back ache and she preferred to run high in the rev range(tacho didnt start till 3000 RPM). im an ex serviceman also (signal corp) and salute you on your duty to your country, it takes guts to do it. NZ has a fairly steady commitment to Afghanistan and i have a few friends who are serving there at the mo. so welcome to our world, awesome to have you here. enjoy your new ride and stay safe too. :fencing:
