In Need of Input Regarding Winter Project

Picked up a 5th gen last week to be my regular rider, but needs a bit of work. Keeping this as an online list to come back to as well, so will probably be adding to it as winter goes on. Looking for input for the following regarding better brands for parts, maintenance, etc:

Valves: Bike has a whopping 0 service records so safe to assume these have never been done. It's sitting at just over 40k miles so wondering what the consensus is on servicing them. Tempted to leave them alone because it sounds smoother than my old 6th gen with less mileage, and most reading I'm doing says it's not worth the effort. Never done shims but have done plenty of valve adjustments in the past.

Tires: I don't expect to be riding much next year (might be doing shift work for the summer after school) so thinking I may buy cheaper only because I'm still not certain that this will be a long-term bike for me and top of the line tires won't return any investment for me (otherwise I'd be buying Road 5's). Looking at the Dunlop Roadsport 2's currently but open to anything budget-friendly.

Windscreen: This bike only came with a massive Givi windscreen that I find completely hideous. It'll be lovely to have when I eventually go on a trip but for the short highway commuting/in-town stuff that'll occupy 80% of my time with it, but I'm wondering if stock will be adequate or if I should opt for a different aftermarket. My 6th gen had a Zero Gravity DB so can't use that for reference either. Won't do anything until I have it out next year (bought it the night before the snow hit here) but this topic would be for future reference.

Seat: On the "maybe" list. 6th gen had a Sargent so nothing to compare to there (in terms of whether the stock 5th and 6th gen seats are comparable). My buddy hates his so I'll keep an eye on used ones just in case.

Exhaust: Will likely just wait for a really cheap used one to pop up locally. Don't dislike the way it sounds at the moment but wouldn't mind more grunt.

Rectifier is already on the list. Haven't had a chance to take it apart yet to see if it's been done but I don't get the impression it has been.

That's mainly it for now. All the fluids will be done, and I'll probably leave the spark plugs because the bike's given me no indication that they need doing, and it also needs fork seals (already ordered). Other than that, it's just in need of a really good cleaning. Just figured I'd ask for input on the more subjective things.

 

Valves: Never done them on a VFR, but mine have been lower mileage. IF you find it easy and have the time, it might give you peace of mind.

Tires: I haven't used the RoadSports, but the GPR300s on my other bike have been great. They don't have the same feedback of the higher tier tires, but who cares!? Unless they're going to be in the sun all of the time, they'll likely be okay for 7-10 years of use. My track tires are 2017 dates and still work just fine, having been stored inside.

Windscreen: I went back to stock on both VFRs this year and am so happy that I did. the taller ones made terrible air disturbance. The stock one send the turbulence over my shoulders and below my helmet.

Seat: Sadly, the 5th gen Sargent seats are shaped more like Corbins. I had to have my reshaped. It was $80 a few years back. I called them this year to have the other one done and they were at $300+S&H...on a seat I already own. So, it may be worth checking out a local place that can reshape yours.

Exhaust: It is no Staintune (on my '98), but I absolutely love my inexpensive 13" triangle shaped one on the '00. Quality is top notch.

Rectifier: You know this already if you've read anything. Go through that whole system and do what needs to be done now so that you don't end up chasing one item at a time later.

My only $.02 is suspension. go big or go small, but getting it set up properly will make a world of difference...along with geometry changes.

 

Thanks.

Tires won’t last that long either way (I don’t think one’s ever lasted more than probably 3 years).

Saw (what I think is) the triangle exhaust on eBay. Reminds me a lot of the one I had on my K1200S, which sounded awesome.

Good to know with the windscreen, though. I’ll see about locating a stock one locally before going the eBay route.