Kiwi member here. Have admired the Gen 5's for many years. A bumble-bee yellow one came up for sale a few years back and while I was stupidly umming'n'ahhh-ing about it, someone snapped it up and, yep, I instantly felt that sense of regret for my procrastination. 2 days later I was around at a mate's house (he was machining a new rear axle for my Buell) and it turned out it was him that bought it, damni-it! So 5 years later when a faster model (i.e. red one) came up for sale, I snaffled it! (In fairness, I did nothing for 2 weeks and then had a word with myself about not repeating history ) It came with a good service history: 2 previous owners and the seller had it for the last 18 of its 22 year-life. Valve-spacing was checked 12,000 kms ago at the 108k (first 60k) check and was still perfectly in-spec with no modification required. Mechanic said he's only ever seen 2 bikes like that so I think that's a good reflection of careful maintenance and not thrashing the damned thing. First bike with a Scott Oiler too and that seems to work really nicely. Just loving how this handles. For the past 8 years I've been hooning around (ahem ... responsibly driving like a GrandDad ... no, really, I'm beyond 24-year-old maniacal racing around) on a Buell XB12S and Ducati Monster S4R. I love those bikes but both need to be cave-manned and man-handled like an Only Fans "content creator." The Viffer on the other hand is so easy to ride and responds to the slightest input but isn't twitchy. I don't know if it's the change in riding position / style or the model of bike or a bit of both - but I find myself feeling in so much more control of the bike and wayyyyy happier taking corners at speeds I wouldn't dare on the Monster or Buell. (Not that I'm selling the other bikes ... no, nooo ... we don't do that ... we just extend the garage ) (Actually, I was just telling a mate that I actually COULD happily sell the other bikes and settle on the VFR. But I know I won't ... the Monster's twin Termignoni pipes sound insane and the Buell's short wheel-base, forgiving low-compression Harley engine that will get up and go from any rev-rage and the Adrenalin R exhaust are just so much fun). So now starting to find out the finer details about Viffers. So far the only niggle seems to be that if I let out the clutch too quickly then there's a grinding / snagging sound and vibration I can feel in the clutch lever and (I think) running up the fork). If I feather it it's fine. To be fair, you don't even need to feather it much, just not be a lunatic. But I suspect I have some work coming up soon. Anywho - loving the new addition to the family. And, as is always the case, loving how the internerd brings together complete strangers who will happily share knowledge about a common passion
Hopefully this weekend Hopefully tomorrow morning - it's Saturday so for at least 3 hours of the day, my schedule will be MINE! And the sun will be out
