about to purchase 2007 vfr,what am i getting into?

Good day all! as the title mentions, i am nearing the purchase of an 07 vfr. I read some reviews, and looked for as much info as i could find. I would like to know from those that have the bike, what your thoughts about it. this will be my 3rd bike, my first 2 were cruisers. after my last cruiser (900 vulcan), I realized that i'm not the type that wishes to travel cross country and wanted something that would get me from a to b. something that was fun to ride and that put me in a more upright position as opposed to other sportbikes. I also wanted something that was easier to handle and was more "flickable" than a cruiser would be. not to mention in order to get a cruiser with enough power, I would need to purchase a 1300 or greater, and with that comes a heaftier pricetag and a bunch more weight. I was looking for something considered a "jack of all trades", and i've seen the vfr labeled that a few times, plus i love the looks.
Anything that you have to contribute would be great, but i am looking for cost of ownership details, and the price of regular maintenance. I am also looking to find out the good and the bad as far as speed and handling. whats the best aspect of the bike and what is the worst.

I appreciate any and all feedback.

 

I have often wondered ,after riding some of the larger cruiser style bikes I have worked on, how people can ride such large bikes with such heavy steering and weight and have fun. Not throwing stones, just my thoughts when on bikes of that style. Most if not all of the owners of those bikes would never give a thought to taking a spin on my VFR but I have to believe if you enjoy a bike of that style and you are young enough , by age or heart, you would have to love what a bike like the VFR has to offer. My two pennies. Hope you love it. Ride safely.

 

I feel u, that's why I stick with more mid weight cruisers, but the severely lack in power. I have a buddy that owns a 1800, it's great on the highway, but not very fun riding around. I'm not trying to knee drag, but I want something that's capable, and I Haye scraping pegs/boards on every 90 degree corner or exiting a circle. Cruisers serve their purpose and offer a comfortable ride on long country roads, but after 2 of them it's save to say that they aren't for me.

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Hey Jay, I have an 07 RWB model. Great bike, and one of the best sounding exhaust ever. IMO. But about a year ago I picked up a 2013 Ducati Multistrada and really prefer the more upright riding position compared to the Interceptor. I know, to each their own. Another worthy bike, again, IMO, is the Yamaha FJ9. More up right, and that triple cross plane engine has a lot of character as does our v4 engine. Food for thought.

 

Jaydlaw, welcome to the forum! Like you I do not do more than about 60 miles out and love my bike for around town. This group is quite varied, from the cross country tourers who post awesome stories to, shall I call it streetfighters?

You asked about pricing. If you are paying a stealer or independent mechanic then prices vary and you should check them out in your area. The bike tends to be on the time intensive side. Fairing removal and airbox removal for just about anything .

Valve inspection and possible adjustment can be an all day affair. Check with your dealer on pricing as it varies. Due to the extremely high cost there are two religious camps regarding the valve adjustment.

1) Do at least one adjustment early in life. The first one in the manual is at 16,000 miles. Many people have found tight valves once the engine is broken in. There is no way alternate method of discovering the condition other than maybe comparative dynos throughout the bike's life. The effect of valves out of tolerance would be some sort of reduction in power, but unless the valves are far out of spec, and idle is bad or such, one otherwise would not know. If you do the work yourself, your time is free so it can be a much easier decision.

2) Skip the valve check. You will find posts on the Internet from certified Honda mechanics who have worked decades and have never seen a Honda valve train fail. I think we would find this with the VFR owners as well: Never a catastrophic failure. The cost of a single valve check can be a major upgrade to the bike.

Performance sport bikes, including this one, have harsh suspensions. They're not overly sprung but they have slow valving which does not allow movement of the fluid, so the suspension cannot compress quickly. The result is minor road bumps send you flying off the bike. Google Jamie Daugherty vfr800 and you will find one highly recommended vendor, having a package around $600 for re-spring and valving of fork and shock to completely solve this issue, or high performance replacement parts for more money.

Depending on your fitness, as a cruiser rider you might have to concentrate on building some leg strength. The position is slightly forward and puts pressure on the hands and back but it can also be altered in the way you talked about with bar risers. As a habit squeeze the tank with your legs which completely takes pressure off of your arms. If you put pressure on your arms then steering will be like a rock, you will incorrectly blame the bike for it, and also your hands will hurt. As you lean, put pressure on the opposite foot peg. On these bikes, to steer sharply and enjoy them, you want to get your center of gravity down to the peg during maneuvers and take it off of your seat. I have the stock suspension and on extremely bumpy roads I get right up on the pegs and let my legs absorb the shock. Incidentally, putting pressure on the pegs, aka almost but not quite getting off of the seat, during your routine ride, is a way to help build the leg strength faster.

You will find the seat to peg distance is a bit squashed. I'm 6' and feel a little squashed but that is the sport experience and I have come to love the cockpit feel. You search the forums for peg lowering and there may be options. Personally I like to trust the manufacturer's setup as being the most balanced.

Charging systems can have problems but in many cases hey arise due to running the system on a dead battery. During your purchase you should test idle and 5000 rpm charging. If you purchase the bike you should inspect fuse boxes and high power connectors for melted plastic and burnt wiring. It might be good to proactively pull the stator and examine it for burnt wiring. You may only catch a single phase coil dying only from its look. Considering the number of motorcyclists stranded with dead charging systems on second hand bikes (ask me how I know) I think this may be a reasonable measure for your piece of mind.

The engine may be the best motorcycle engine ever built. There I said it.

The starter valves are an idle control circuit which affects off-on throttle response, starting, and light throttle performance. If they have not been tuned in a couple years, have this procedure done. It requires a 4-column manometer or 4 separate gauges to set the vacuum for 3 of the 4 cylinders. One is factory set. This procedure is on the easier side.

I google procedures for this bike. This forum and vfrdiscussion.com will almost always come up with something.

The brakes are linked. I think this provides great balance in preventing the bike from diving or raising up. Note this means proportioning valves. Someone mentioned recently that these get gummed up over times, so they are a good place to run extra fluid through during fluid replacement.

The VTEC bike you are looking at may or may not have a noticeable VTEC transition. I think that was ironed out for your year, but a fuel controller like a Power Commander can also smooth out a rough transition.

The stock muffler is heavy and tends to be the first thing to be replaced with a lighter and better-sounding aftermarket one.

Controls are good and shifting is buttery smooth except the occasional extra effort from 1st to 2nd. Be firm on the shift and you will never have a complaint with this bike.

Riding around stoplights the bike is hot from two side radiators and a fan that blows hot air right up your skirt. This crowd here, be forewarned, tends to be pushy about wearing all the gear all the time. For those of us who armor ourselves well, it means even crispier baked legs.

Check your manual I think your fuel requirement is like mine at 87 octane. I use high octane due to the perception of better ingredients however, most report no performance difference, so you may save money with this bike vs. many that require high octane. Separately, if you are aware of the ethanol content of your local gases, just use the lowest that you know of in the interest of preserving hoses and seals for a long time.

Windshields: Many do touring so a lot of used bikes have large aftermarket screens. A large screen can create or shift the buffeting of your head. I am going back to a stock screen this year as mine came with a GIVI touring screen. Also, riding around town, the large screen prevents more cooling air from hitting me, another reason for my change other than the pure unadulterated ugliness of the GIVI.

Tire pressure can be a wide range by manufacturer and will affect the feel of the turns. Play with that a bit until you find settings that make you happy. Also have a friend help you adjust the preload for your weight pronto.

Not much space under the seat. There are lots of aftermarket storage options, given this is a tourer.

Well there is your 4 AM brain dump, if you can call it that.

 

Said the dude with next to 0 time on a bike to the dude who really wants another dog of a cruiser. LOL

 

I bought my '06 in April. I love it. But, for me, it doesn't quite "flick" from corner to corner. At 520 lbs it requires a certain amount of weight shifting and counter steering, something I didn't have to do to on smaller bikes. And I wouldn't call it an upright position even with Helibars although it's better than a sport bike. I get tired after 100 miles and need to take more breaks but I'm in my 50's so younger riders probably don't have that problem. That said, it doesn't seem to bother our sexagenarian friend in Canada.

 

Blame all that on corroded terminals and bad starter valves..

 

07 is just like my 06 and is a very good bike

 

Wow Knight, I knew you were into writing, but Wow. Good points in all of that, good job on the home work. VFRs are a true do it all machine , but they are man made machines, in that they will fail you at one time or another, but that being said VFRs are the best at doing a lot. So depending on your preference in riding, to know for sure you need to throw a leg over one and try it out for size. If you are any where close to being as they say into what the engine can do and can appreciate the build quality and how it's package, you'd be hard pressed to do better. As far as price, hey, they're a motorcycle, so you will find good deals and not so good, with that you'll have to let your gut tell you if it feels right. I will say VFRs hold there own, one with 80k on the clock ain't really nothing, one with 30K is still new, but in that they are machines that need taken care of, so one with 20k can be a POS or a 60k one can be a gem. You are on a good track here. Just chime in here and the fellows maybe a gal or two will come to the rescue with your concerns.

 

Kind of a motorcycle version of ontogeny recapitulating phylogeny straight oot of a book, Google, and from a dude that has all the experience of one bike.

Kind of like a noob who just popped 20K for a Harley..

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone, keep it going. When I sat on one at the dealership, it didn't feel too cramped. I'm 5'11". I wouldn't want to ride one for 10 hours straight, but I believe that I could manage riding for a good length of time provided I get to stop every couple of hours. As far as flick ability, I am not worried about that as anything within this class of bike is going to be better than a cruiser. I mainly want a sporty ride without sacrificing too much comfort. If I have one drawback it's the looks, it beautiful, but a bit on the flashy side. That being said, I'll personalize, and that flashiness should make me easier to see. My concern is cosy of ownership, but honda has a reputation for durability and being trouble free.

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Well, it is a good motorcycle. It is cheap to own and maintain because it is a Honda.

What specific questions do you have?

 

I sat on a Harley once. I didn't want to ride it at all. Lots of harleydoods are flashy and fleshy.

 

Comfort: Aftermarket seats will also do you well for long rides. You may sometimes find common accessories cheap in the classified section here!

Being easier to see: Maybe. I think that cars run over motorcyclists because they enjoy it. So just keep assuming that.

Cost of ownership: That is kind of a fuzzy thing I think. In the short term scheduled maintenance will probably cost more than your cruisers. See if you can find a good independent mechanic and that can make a big difference. The dealers are just plain notorious for nickel and diming everything. All they see are dollar signs and nothing else. However, if you own the VFR for a long-term and put on high miles, I think this bike would shatter many cost of ownership records. It can do the mileage of many Honda cars, it is that good. You are right, the build quality is exemplary.

 

I take delivery this weekend, wish me luck!

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Congrats, jaydlaw! I think you'll find it to be a very satisfying bike. I'm not gonna rehash a lot that was mentioned before, but I will add that I've had multiple 800's, both 5th and 6th gen, and I only had 1 electrical issue with one of them. I had a starter solenoid go bad on one of mine and had to replace it. That's it. Never did a valve check on the vtec, and after talking to one of the best techs on the east coast that said that every one he checked had been in spec and he wouldn't worry about it, I decided to leave it be. Never an issue. Good luck!

 

Good advice, thanks. Helibars will probably be my first upgrade, Followed by the seat if I find issues.

 

Congrats and make sure ta post pictures when you bring that puppy home.