And yet another victim...

I've had a love affair with the Honda V-4 ever since an '84 V65 Magna busted my knuckles to smithereens and taught me how to do oil routing plumbing.

Bought a 2010 VFR 1200F yesterday, I pick it up this afternoon and am pretty jazzed.

Here's my question from other owners that have owned their bikes for a decent period of time.

Perusing the forums here, there's a few little snafu's with the bike (Power, some ergonomics etc...). This bike is going to be a commuter bike for me. I'm 6'0" and 250, 33 inch inseam. What should be the first ergo mod I do? I'm not a fan of being cramped up.

Should I go ahead and start looking at ECM re-mapping?

Thanks in advance guys, look forward to sharing some ideas..

 

Lose about 70 lbs., and you'll be fine.

 

lmao, Billy...you really know how to welcome a fellow.

 

Welcome, I am ignorant aboot the 1200 but someone should be along to help oot soon.

 

Lots of people do the first and second gear position sensor. I don't know what its like but you can read up on it It doesn't seem that hard. I been looking for the Connectors as I don't want to cut the wiring. Plus it changes your gear out put sensor. Basically it Fools the ECU to load the Second of the 2 maps. HONDA made two maps (first and second gear) and third-sixth gear. It caused the bike ECU to load the 3-6 map gear which will unlock power in first and second. If you do a proper 600mile break in you won't really find out that 1-2 gear is robbed of power.

Exhaust can's are not as expensive on as it is on the 6th gen because we get a kinda standard slip on.



Before you do anything we need to know if you bought the Manual or Auto. (would assume manual)


I never needed a new set of handle/clip-on bars but some people rave about them. Say it takes weight off the wrists. I'm 5'10" and 150 with a 30" inch inseam. I use the bike for commuting and I commute 50 miles one way per day. I get about 38-39mpg so its not the best commuter for fuel mileage.

 

Would you feel better if I said 60lbs?

The record is ol Gummy at 5' 9" and 290. Now that is coronary country.


Inseam unknown..

 

Wow. That must mean there are a bunch of 1200 owners out there who didn't properly take care of their bikes at break in!.....

Anyway. Do what you like to your 1200 and don't worry about what everyone does to theirs. Have fun too...

 

First impression:

Best damn cycle I've ever ridden.

Think I'm going to hold off a bit on the seat/bars... think they'll be just fine as I get used to the differing positions. Going to have to do some research on the 1-2 gear fuel mapping issue thing...

Thanks all for the welcome, and encouragement to diet.

 

One of the things that is little known about the 1200s is the built in Jo-jo radar. No need IMO for you to activate this subsystem on your bike as yet.


Gotta say that the Heli-bars are a good thing. Got em on my 750 and my 1200. Quality stuff and great for us 6 footers..

 

Yeah most people don't keep the RPM's down below 5k for the first 600 miles. But every one of the service techs have told me that on every new bike I have ever owned. To each his own, it is really up to the owner how he wants to treat his bike as the owners manual doesn't really cover shit on break in of the engine. Kawasaki's covered break in recommendations and I know Triumphs do too. Guess Honda figures its a 1 year warranty if the engine was build wrong or broke in wrong it will show up in the first year.

Oh and by the way if you didn't catch the notation on Page 10 of the owners Manual yeah it kinda says it there too.... Honda calls it there Running-in Period. You shouldn't know that the bike is deficient in power in the first two gears tell at least the 300 mile mark.


Most people treat owners manuals like IKEA directions. Flip threw a couple of pages and just ride the bike. I will tell you I didn't read the whole thing tell I got home. But I did read the section on Fuel before I left the dealership.

 

In regards to the 1/2 gear de-restrict.

If you do some research and find that you would like to try this mod then my suggestion to you would be to do it on the shift indicator harness right off the engine. the whole harness and assembly can be bought for like 65 bucks if you want to go back to stock so its really not as big of a deal to replace than the main harness off the ecu. plus you dont have to remove any body panels or tank to do it down at the shift indicator harness so its like a 5 minute job and can be put back to stock or repaired pretty easily if you are on the road and something comes loose.

 

You seem like a pretty good shit, Yokes...sorry I can't bring any further "useful" insight.

 

I think a 70lb shit would be one for the Guiness dudes. We could be the first MC forum to go viral.

 

We've all released 4 day back-ups but that'd likely only be about 10% of the requirement...

 

IMO we should establish a few groundrules here. We should be talking the real thing and not the more etherial and much lighter BS.

 

Good buy!.... and good bye!

It is a great buy for the purpose of commuting and you will be very, very happy. I have often complained about 1st and 2cnd gear power and overall weight and have come to find out that what I really needed was a BMW s1000rr....holy shizzle that thing moves!!! Test rode one and its downright scary....and I fell in love. I am having my VFR picked up tomorrow to be traded in and should get my new bmw in a week or so with full akrapovic exhaust, carbon fiber blah, blah blah. Back to you...if I needed a bike for commuting mainly, I would never get anything but the VFR 1200...but alas, I just need a bike for backroad blasting. The people on this site are very helpful and have a great sense of humor if you have thick skin (no weight joke here). Who knows, I may end up with a Viffer again. Have fun and keep the wheels spinnin' and the girlies grinin'!

 

S1000RR is an awesome bike. I've been looking for a solo bike to put in the garage and have been really up in the air between that and a ZX10R-ABS.

 

good second option!

Tin-tin. I'm a fan of the new green machine as well but the reason I went with BMW is that it consistently drops 30-40 more horsepower to the rear wheel here in the US and is signficantly roomier....not to mention that it keeps winning every shootout. I am 6'2" and they made the new zx10 SIGNIFICANTLY more compact this year. Last years zx10 fit me like a glove but now my knees are almost over the tank! The BM aslo has a quickshifter as an option so you do not have to let off the throttle as well as ABS and traction control. The Kawi needs aftermarket for the quick shifter. I think the looks of the BM are more unique too....which was why I had the VFR...I don't want everyone to have exactly what I have or something really similar. Just wanted to put it out there on why I'm headed in the direction of the Bavarian Badass .

 

Yea i do like the bmw for several reasons performance wise. I like the kawi because its a more than ample bike for road and the dash and controls are really cool. I just love that rpm gauge. I think the bmw is just a better bike in many ways though. You are right the quickshifter is a really good thing to have. you really cant go wrong with either in my humble opinion. Either one will put a dumbfounded look on the token Busa guy's face as you pass him.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how that new Ducati 1199 stacks up to the bmw. The initial numbers are impressive. 195hp 98.1ft/lbs torque and 361lbs dry. It just looks impractical for the street.