New bike, a couple questions.

Hi Guys. I just bought a 1998 VFR 800 with 16,000 miles. Very excited. I've been riding a 1986 VFR 750 for about five years, but I found this bike on Craigslist and figured it was time for a more modern ride. I'll be selling the 86 750

If someone can help I have two questions. The first relates to power. The previous owner bought the bike from a shop and had a dynamometer test done there. Peak rear wheel power was tested at 82 h.p. This bike has a K&N filter and a high mount Micron carbon slip on silencer, other than that it's stock. From what I understand this bike should be producing more like 90 h.p. at the rear wheel. I don't believe the valve clearance has been checked so I'll be having that done soon. I also bought a used Power Commander III usb so once I get the valves checked that could help. I see that the chain has some rust so I should spring for a new chain and sprocket set as well.

The other thing I'm thinking about is hard bags. I don't mind the look of the smallest GIVI monolock hard bags but does anyone know if the top case is really required to mount to the side brackets? I haven't seen these up close but it looks like the side brackets themselves are well attached to the bike. Couldn't one simply use a stand off or tube to space things out so the top rack bracket is not required? I think the top mount looks a little goofy and I'd like to avoid mounting it if possible. I have access to machine tools so I'm thinking I can come up with something.

That's it for now unless anyone has some other suggestions or things to check. The brake rotors feel cool and the lever feel is great so I think the brakes are fine for the moment. But I want to check the pads and maybe think about braided lines at some point a well as a clutch. The bike has been minimally maintained.

 

PCIII is a good investment, Valve check would be good for piece of mind since you just bought the bike. Many member got over 100k miles without inspect or adjust the valves
Chain........Rusty look does not mean it need to be replace. Place the bike on center stand put on neutral and spin the rear wheel look at the chain to see if you have any kink or uneven slack while turning. You can also check to see if their is any more room to adjust the chain by loosing the 17MM nut on the hub of the swing arm and using the tools (Cannot remember the name) to adjust your chain tension.

QEM Hard bags is hard to find but other do carry them.

Pay attention to the VFRness and R/R this thing been toast a lot lately.

BTW Welcom to the nuts house, just a WARNING
Post some picture to show you are a real owner of an VFR otherwise peeps here will call you a liar or wanna be.........:tongue:

 

Correct me if I am wrong. But, isn't the valve inspection/adjustment conducted at 30,000?

 

Vejesse - there was a similar thread with a guy from overseas complaining about lack of power on his bike. Long story short, it turned oot to be a pinched line pertaining to the fuel (I'm old and can't remember WTF I read...), but my point is, make sure you check the basics. Lift the gas tank up, check the air filter, make sure there's no rodents in there, and check all the fuel lines. Costs nothing but a few minutes of time.

Derdumm - Valve check is recommended at every 16,000. The "problem" is that history has shown the valves are seldom out of spec that early. Of course it can happen. But for those that can't perform the service themselves, its an average of $300 to $400 on the 5th Gen, and $600+ on the 6th Gen.

 

Every 16k..........

 

Thanks for the response guys. I'll probably have the valve clearance checked, for my own peace of mind as well as to eliminate a performance robbing factor as I try to sort through the bike. Maybe schedule a dynomometer run at the same time after I get the Power commander installed. Electronic fueling is mostly new to me so this could get interesting...

I'll post some pictures at some point soon.