Looked at a 1998 vfr have questions

Hello, I am new to the vfr but I have been riding for awhile. I looked at a 1998 800 vfr with 12,000 miles tonight and I have a few questions that I hope will be easy to answer.

1) When I rode the bike it made a whining noise. Is that sound normal? I know the bikes have gear driven cam are the gears making that sound?

2) I know the bikes have problems with the stator and the R/R but when I got back from riding the bike and it was idling in the garage I revved the bike and the head lights went off for a second and then came back on. It happened only twice. Is that a sign that the bike has a stator or R/R problem?

3) At idle the head lights would flicker is this normal or is this a sign that the stator or R/R is going bad?

4) One last thing the bike needs tires, a chain, and front and rear sprockets.
The guy is asking 4000 for it. Is that a good price or should I keep looking.



Thanks for the help

 

I'll see if I can help you,

1) When I rode the bike it made a whining noise. Is that sound normal? I know the bikes have gear driven cam are the gears making that sound?
Yes this is the sweet sound of the cam gears that you can only get on a VFR.2)

I know the bikes have problems with the stator and the R/R but when I got back from riding the bike and it was idling in the garage I revved the bike and the head lights went off for a second and then came back on. It happened only twice. Is that a sign that the bike has a stator or R/R problem?
I don't know about the stators but yes they have a reputation of killing the R/R unit. Some of the fellows have rigged up a cooling fan on the new units to prolong the life expectancy. The lights should be slightly dim and pulse at idle but bright and strong at 1000rpm and up. If they went off, I would be concerned. When my last R/R failed it would go bright/dim/bright/dim/bright while I was at a steady speed but I guess there are a few failure modes.

3) At idle the head lights would flicker is this normal or is this a sign that the stator or R/R is going bad?
Normal

4) One last thing the bike needs tires, a chain, and front and rear sprockets.
The guy is asking 4000 for it. Is that a good price or should I keep looking.
The chain and sprockets should still be good at 12k unless the owner rarely lubed them. Plan on $150 for a chain and sprocket kit and at least $235 for tires plus install and balance, which some dealers can really soak you for. I would offer $3600 as you have to spend $450 to get her road worthy and the R/R is an unknown. At that price you probably can't loose.:biggrin: