Hey, my name is Nikolay and I'm about to get 1987 VFR700, I don't know anything about bikes yet, since it's my first bike, but with time it should change. I'm getting a bike from my friend's dad, it has 8500 miles, looks pretty clean, so i would love to accept any information about the bike and the firs things that I should do to it. Thank you, Nikolay
Welcome you crazy russian! ha! Welcome Nikolay! If you are really new to riding bikes, it is a GREAT idea to at an MSF (motorcycle safety foundations) course near you. Learn to ride the right way, and it probably will end up saving your life one day. Discount on insurance as well. Wow, 8500 miles is very low for an 87. Lots of things to look at on a bike. Somethings I would look at are: Do a visual once over of the bike taking note of any crash marks, scrapes, cracks, bends, dents, and so on on the fairing, frame, engine, swingarm, blinkers, brake calipers, and rims. Condition of tires. Do they have dry-rot on the sidewalls, have any nails/patches in them, worn down bald in the middle? Forks. See if the forks are leaking around the fork seals. Also would be good to sit on the bike, and make sure the forks are not bent and point straight. Chain and sprockets. Do they look rusty/very corroded and dirty? Is the chain past the adjustment mark on the swingarm? Are the teeth on the sprockets broken/rounded over? Is the chain adjusted to the correct tension? Look around the engine for oil leaks/cracks/scrapes. Check the fairing for missing screws/bolts. If you can take it for a ride, shift thru all the gears up and back down making sure they are all there and working, and listening for obvious bad grinding/rattling noises. Does the engine make odd rattling or knocking sounds? Check the blinkers, headlight, taillight, and try and find out when the battery was last changed. Some of these things might be harder to deciphor with out a trained eye/ear.
One thing to keep in mind, as I am finding out w/ my 86' these bikes have reached the 20 year mark. Mother Honda no longer has to support the product; parts can be hard to come by. I've been collecting pieces & parts that are reasonable on ebay as they come up for mine. It is a pretty bullet proof bike in general, I'm nearing the 40,000 mile mark & have not had any significant problems to date & it wasn't exactly babied by the former owners. In addition to the afore mentioned items to check do a good shake down inspection(checking all fasteners for tightness) before riding it any length of time.
