Hi all. I'm a bit of a bike newb. Just started riding last fall, 48 years old and am becoming a V4 addict. I currently own an '84 Sabre 700 and an '82 Maxim750. Both of these are suiting my purposes as decent first bikes. I love both of them and try to ride as often as I can...almost 2000 miles since last September. Pretty good for winter months in IL if I do say so myself. Anyway, as I gain experience I'm slowly beginning to establish a "taste" in bikes. I doubt that I'll want only 20+ year old bikes forever, so I'm "studying-up" on what I may picture myself riding a year or three from now. The VFR currently tops that list, with the 919 a close second. So I really plan on lots of lurking for now in order to learn all I can about the 'Ceptor. I'm not normally smitten with lots of fairings and I really wish these bikes were shafties, but the V4 and all the other engineering finesse of these bikes kind of trumps those reservations. AND, I have to fess up to REALLY liking the red, white and blue retro paint on the '07. I know not everyone loves it, but I do. Well, that's my story. I promise to search the site a bit before asking questions that I suspect have been answered before a million times. I currently spend a good amount of time at the V4BBS and they are having an event this May at the Blue Ridge Mototcycle Camp which I will be attending with the Sabre. Are any VFR folks planning to be there by chance? Tim
Tim, welcome to VFRWorld. there are a few guys (i think in europe) that have made naked bikes out of the 5th gen VFR. ask all the questions you want, this site has a good group of people who are more than willing to help out in anyway they can.
Welcome to the fold, Tim. I think the slickest thing about the VFR, besides the V-4, is the single sided swing arm, or SSSA for short. Yeah, there are other brands out there with them, but for some reason, people just are amazed by it on a Japanese bike. At least as far as my experience goes. There is a lot of good info here, as well as differing opinions on a multitude of subjects. We'll be sure to try to help out with any questions you might have.
After a long absence, lots of lurking, lots of riding (about 3000 miles on EACH of the 2 bikes since about Sep '06) and a minor crash last May I'm leaning heavily toward getting a 5th Gen VFR. A guy I know from work has an 00 that he's going to let me ride for a day or 2 next week if the weather cooperates. He lives in Atlanta and can't say enough good things about his VFR. Nothing like a REAL thorough test ride, especially on decent, twisty roads! I can't wait. I'll report on the big test ride next week. All for now..... Tim
And now the report...kinda long. In a nutshell, this bike took a lot of getting used to and may be a bit too much bike for me at this stage. Keep in mind that I don't have a lot of time on bikes other than my own and both of these don't have anywhere near the kind of power a VFR does. The main thing for me is, I really just didn't find it comfortable to ride. This bike is ABSOLUTELY 100% bone stock. I'm 6'1, 215# and found it to have lower bars and WAY more leg crouch than I expected. I know this is kind of a sport bike, but I really need a taller, wider seat and taller bars. My left knee is still mad at me for being bent for so long! The seat felt like a thinly padded bleacher to me after about 45 minutes too. It probably fits most guys just fine, but it wasn't working for me. My other impressions are almost certainly a reflection on my newbiness (is that a word?) and lack of riding skill at this stage as much as anything else. I'm just not used to SUCH a responsive bike! The throttle was touchy, the brakes were touchy and the clutch seemed to have an engagement zone of about one milimeter. I got somewhat better as the day wore on, but I had a hard time consistantly launching and shifting (especially downshifting) with any finesse. Sometimes I did pretty well, but other times I felt like one of those people at the BRC who had no mechanical instincts and had never operated a manual transmission vehicle before! Trying to be SMOOTH is one of my most important riding objectives, and I found consistantly smooth operation of this bike to be challenging. Considering the fact that this isn't even considered a particularly fast bike anymore, this was a humbling experience for me. But the power! Dan warned me: "It starts getting interesting above 6000 and the devil lives above 8000!" Boy he wasn't kidding! I knew it could easily wax either of my old girls, but I wasn't expecting the difference in power to be THAT much! What a beast! The handling was pretty much what I expected: predictable and VERY responsive with plenty of stability. It even rode ricely. The ride took place about 50 or so miles northeast of Atlanta and the riding conditions absolutely could not have been better. Dry, twisty mountan roads with wonderful leaf color and very little traffic. I could not have had a better venue in which to test ride a bike if I'd wished for one from a genie in a bottle. So where does all this end up with respect to me becoming a VFR owner? The short answer is...maybe. The seat HAS to be taller so I'm less crouched and either thicker padding and/or a wider area on the seat itself. I can ride the old Sabre FAR longer (comfortably) than this bike and the seat is 50% the reason. The other 50% is the crouch and an inch more height would make a big difference IMHO. Taller bars would be needed to match the other adjustments and a slightly taller windscreen would ideally keep wind protection aligned with the other changes. The touchiness is really just a matter of experience, I think. After, say, a week with the VFR, I think I could learn to ride it with some genuine smoothness and finesse. A little professional track school certainly wouldn't hurt either. All in all, a FINE motorcycle. Just not for me. Yet... Timski
