Here’s my V Four story: Original owner of an 86 VF500 and 09 VFR. Other than the first few of years with the 500, my riding has been very sporadic over the years. Currently, 19K on the 500 and 12K on the 800. After the first couple of years with the 500 I moved overseas and the bike sat garaged for the next year or so. I then had it shipped and rode it for another couple of years. I moved back and forth a couple of times and the bike stayed ‘across the pond’ until 2004, when I brought it back to the states. It then sat in my garage for the next 6 years at which time I decided that I should sell it since I was no longer riding. Of course, prior to selling it, I needed to “fix it up” and get it road worthy again. This consisted mainly of cleaning years of dirt and grime in places I had rarely cleaned, as well as dealing with the results of fluid neglect: Old gasoline – carbs, Brake fluid – master cylinders & slave cylinder, also fork oil. Oh, and new tires, of course. Naturally, after the first test ride following the “restoration”, there was no way I was selling it. However, I did convince myself that I needed something more “modern, safe and road worthy” – hence the VFR. Needless to say, the convincing was quite easy. I mainly rode the VFR for the next 10 years, although not as much as I would have liked (I know, about 11k in 10 years is not what many would call riding it). In any case, I’ve been finding more riding time in the last few months and hoping this trend continues; Also, happy to be a part of these great forums. Incidentally, I’ve read enough of these forums to know that I should post pictures, but I’ve realized that I don’t have much in the way of stand-alone motorcycle photos (just some with the kids sitting on the bikes, etc.), but I did find a couple. Here’s one of the VF500 from about a year ago and one for the VFR from maybe 7 or 8 years ago (pre-minor scratches/dings). I’ll have to take a few current photos, but they really need a bit of washing before any new pics are taken. Cheers.
An almost 11 month overdue "Welcome" to you Jess! So as I understand it, you still have both the VF and the VFR? That's great.
