I have been riding for many moons now and always rode I-4's....I have an '06 Yamaha R6 (street), an '05 R6 (track) and an '04 R6 (track). In the back of my mind was always the desire for a V-4.....a buddy just bought a new VFR800....so I looked around on ebay for a good used one (like the '94-'97 body style the best) and picked up a '97. I live in Atlanta so I flew up to Washington, DC to pick up the bike and I rode it home through the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina......very glad I bought it and really like the deep growl and low-end torque...you can be lazy and not downshift many times. Forgot to ask the seller one question.....how do you get the seat off? Looked around for a place to insert the key but the only place that I found was for the helmet lock.
I believe that the 97 works the same way as my 98. The seat comes off with the helmet lock. You insert the key into the helmet lock and turn it. Then you depress a lever on the back side of the mechanism. You must first turn the key and then push down on the little slider on the back side. I hope this is not too hard to understand. If you need me to I can probabaly send you a PDF when I get home this evening.
