Intermediate Newbie And A VFR?

Welcome, you should start a new intro thread and show some pics of that ST, would like to see what mods you have.

Nothing major on the '99 to check, just look at the r/r-electrical system for normal functioning, see if it has regular maintenance records, etc. Other than the r/r I don't know of any particular weak spots on the bike. Mine has 55K and still going strong. Lots of mods here to look up or over on vfrd.com. Good luck. :thumbsup:

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. I feel the same way about the VFR, but it's tempting because it's a pretty decent deal. (i.e. $4200 for a '02 VFR)

That being said, the reason why I'm even considering a VFR is that, from what I've heard, it's got good ergos for the slab as well as being able to hit the twisties which is what I'm looking for. The SV650S was a bit too bent over for me, rather the stock seat sucked...a lot. (Granted most anything stock sucks, discounting the Brembos and Termignonis found on the pasta rockets. :-D)

To shed some more light on the type of rider I am, I'm fairly level headed and find riding to be more of a relaxing thing than a balls to the wall kind of thing. (That's what skiiing and paintballing is for.) I'm ATGATT regardless of weather, etc. Additionally, blew lots of money on gear which saved my ass. Dainese jacket held up ridiculously well for the tumble I took. On the other hand, I'm 23 and an adrenaline junky.

So far I've been considering the SV650N, maybe an FZ6, 650R or a Monster 620. Unfortunately, they're all entry level bikes so they're nice bikes are hard to come by during the beginning of the riding season.

What do you guys think of this one? Urban Street ripper - Not your Momma's SV650 - NYC - ADVrider It's been down, from the looks of it, fairly hard given the large "Ducati dimple" on it. He's willing to let it go for 3200, but I'm not sure it's "worth" that much on the market.

Cheers,
Glenn

P.S. I should learn to subscribe to my own threads better.

 

I'll give you my story- it may help a bit. I started riding a motorcycle for the first time in my life last may when fuel was $4+ a gallon- like a lot of people. Basically I commute 27 miles each way, daily. My first bike was a Suzuki GS500f. Perfect to learn on. Light, good power, cheap, reliable, excellent fuel economy. I loved that bike. I had a friend teach me first in a parking lot for several hours so I could get a feel for the clutch and throttle, and took it real slow. Highway riding came fairly natural to me because i have tens of thousands of miles riding and racing road bicycles, and while the motor is much different the weight shifting, counter steering and leaning the bike and looking through corners was all really second nature to me. I spent the summer following my boss on his Harley at a leisurely pace to and from work to gain confidence and figure out how it all came together. I badly wanted to take the MSF course, but they were all so booked up I couldn't leave a message saying I wanted to take the class. Anyway, I spent all summer and fall commuting on my little GS, and put nearly 12k on it in that time. I stumbled across my VFR in December, and it was a deal I couldn't refuse. It has taken me really about 3 months of riding it to start to feel truly comfortable on it- the weight and power differences compared to the GS are huge, and while i don't have much experience I have quite a bit more than you do at this point. Also, I'm 34. When I was your age I definitely didn't have the self control to ride a bike like the VFR. I think you have already wiped out a bike that is substantially faster than most people's first bikes, so to want to jump up further sounds like a really bad idea to me because I know first hand how steep the learning curve is- I just went through it. The VFR is a great bike and I don't want to own anything else, but it's size, weight, and power are not to be taken lightly. I can't imagine learning on a bike like mine. Smaller bikes are much more tolerant of mistakes,and while you can still get hurt badly on them I think with your inexperience a 100+hp 540lb bike is a bad idea.

I just rode a friend's new bike home for him today so he can start learning- A Kawi Ninja 500. I think the Suzuki GS500 is a better bike, but there is a lot that can be said about those smaller bikes. On some levels it's a lot more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to have a fast bike you constantly have to ride slow. I would stick with an SV650 or similar until you have a minimum of 10k experience and even by then you have really only gotten a decent grasp of the basics IMO.

 

How's this look?

1985 HONDA VF700 INTERCEPTOR

Leaky fork seals, but supposedly runs well. Is it worth 1,000 bucks or will it just be more hassle in maintenance?

 

Yo HondaTech...excellent post...this is all good info. I second all that you said.
(And like you, I started later in life on powered two-wheel machines but rode human-powered machines in a big way--still do--since I was a kid. And like you, I feel that anything is possible but it is very wise to work one's way up the ladder of power and to tap into that well of wisdom that keeps one ALIVE by not being too aggressive.)

It is a human thing to want it ALL now but have patience and the right things will feel even better when adopted at the right time...Good Karma!

:thumbsup: