Any regrets?

I have no issue with it at all. I like that even with my gutted exhaust, it is not drawing unwanted attention or having to put up with a constant drone at highway speeds that inline 4's or a Vtwin produces. on the other end referring to the sound level it is great hearing the sound transition over to 4 valves/cylinder in tunnels and under bridges too

I am not extremely critical with the twisties. If I was I would be riding a different bike and on the track but I do like to hang off the seat and really throw my weight distribution around to make turns as smooth and fluid as possible and to keep from getting too stiff and ridged on the long rides. I like to have the RPM's right below the engagement point and slowly roll into vtec slightly after the apex of the turn and as the motorcycle starts to become more upright continue to roll on the throttle. I still have about 1/2 inch chicken strips left on my Pirelli Stradas and coming out of that lean I never felt the vtec engagement made the bike unstable.

The throttle is a little touchy at first due to the fuel injection over carburetors but it is not an issue anymore for me.

With this 2 valve to 4 valve vtec system, it is not designed to deliver more peak power over a non vtec 800 which operates on 4 valves constantly. If Honda employed the automotive vtec system which switches from one cam lobe profile over to another you would see more peak HP (high RPM cam profile) as well as a more robust lower rpm torque curve (low/mid RPM cam profile)

I have no regrets at all. Could the bike be better? Of course it can as well as any other bike ever produced but while I'm riding or seeing it sitting in the garage with 2 feet of snow outside with memories of warmer days, the bike puts a smile on my face.

 

Succinctly put, even though I thought my previous '03 Gen 6 was incremently better than my currrent '99 Gen 5 bought in '05 I found the Gen 5s engine an absolute gem whose unaltered charateristics suit me better through my favourite Alpine twisties. On the VTech used to try and stay above 7.2K to 11k where'as the Gen 5 suits my style naturally between 5 to 9k, then again I much prefer my Gen 5s sublimely linear delivery to my riding buddies GSXRs or R1s too. :smile:

 

I'd like to know if anyone has ridden the '02 - '05 bikes (before the VTEC changes were made in '06) and then compared that to the '06 and newer bikes (after the VTEC changes were made). I've said this before, but the VTEC transition on my '07 is a non-issue. I've heard others say the same thing about that for the newer bikes, but I can't compare it to anything since I haven't ridden the earlier bikes. Were those changes made in '06 really that drastic?

 

This is my final post on this thread - unless it isn't! ;-)

Perhaps I have already made this point here, but the flat spot - to be more accurate, the annoying drop in HP/torque - at VTEC transition can be eliminated completely. As in, none. If you already have a Power Commander it will cost roughly another $250 U.S. to have this done by a DynoJet tuner who knows what he is trying to do. I was astonished at the results! Once the air/fuel ratio is levelled throughout, you will not experience any hitch or lurch at transition. Zero. Cool!

A map won't change the basic power curve, though, so things liven up in a hurry above 6800 for sure. But I can ride from 5000 to 9000 like John451 prefers without any issues. To be honest, that would have been somewhat annoying - for me but maybe not for someone else - with the stock ECU. It was even worse with the PCIII and aftermarket exhaust without the custom map.

EDIT: I dunno stewart. I have never ridden another 6th gen so I can't compare the 2006+ stock setup with mine (2004).

 

Have heard others locally report the same positive results although the exercise over here with PC3 and good dyno tune can be around $800+AUS still it's good to know when/if I'm in the market for a newer ride.

 

Wow! That is an incredible $$$ difference between the U.S. and the Antipodes. What is the Australian word for "rip-off"?

BTW, if you are a football fan, too bad about the German buzz-saw today. I can only imagine what the German side will do to the Americans - if we get that far. The German side's passing was incredibly precise and their strikers were fantastic.

EDIT: And I haven't abandoned the plan to fly to Australia for a ride. Soon, very soon . . . .

 

USA has a very good chance making it through with England, sadly I woke up 04:30am to watch the game, I'm not sure what was up with Australia they had a more co-herent team '06 world cup under previous coach Guus Hiddink but hats off to Germany they totally controlled the game from begining to end even without their star midfielder Ballack.

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Yes, read my post #16 in this thread...

 

I just bought an 04 and have ridden my dad's 07 a few times. My bike came with a Power Commander and I can honestly say that my VTEC transition is smoother than his. I think the differences in the 02-05 and 06+ models stated on these forums are extremely exaggerated. I hardly even notice the transition.

 

BIG +1 on that..!

 

Owned both '02 & '07. The rush was more pronounced on Angela than it is with Knight Saber IMHO. Knight Saber's transitions are more subtle - less kick-in-your-pants but that's just fine for me.

 

Thanks. That's the type of comparison I was looking for.

 

Have you compared your '04 to the '07 without the PC?