New Member From Glasgow UK.

Hi,

Haven't had a bike in 15 years but have embraced my midlife crisis! Just got a 2008 VFR, bike is completely stock I'm just desperate for a wee bit of decent weather to get a proper play. Learnt a fair bit from lurking on here already, really useful info on here.

 

Holly Batman she is Gorgeous :love:
:welcome: to the nuts house :wave:
Congratulation on your new ride, glad to have you and good to know you are back on the saddle :thumbsup:
Ride safe when you can and keep the rubbers side down.

 

Congratulations on the new scooter. When I finally pulled the trigger and bought mine it was 10 years out of the saddle. Bike is perfect----if your mid life --like me--may I suggest getting a better seat and some Heli bars. Remember All The Gear All The Time (ATGATT) and cheers to you for posting up a picture

 

Welcome Scottie. I thank you for joining the ranks of the best of the best all the while nipping on a 18 year old Highland Park. What mileage do you have on that puppy. Looking at the pipes, it looks like it has barely seen any use. That's an 07 is it not?

 

Thanks for the welcome.

It was registered in April 08, it's done 22000 miles. I do a fair bit of driving for work so I'm looking forward to doing much more on 2 wheels.

I'll look into heli bars, would I not then also need a higher screen?

 

Hoping for a couple of dry days over Christmas........

 

Welcome to the MadHouse from the snowy French Alps.:welcome:

That is a fabulous find which will be a great antidote to that mid-life crisis - especially if you also decide to use it for what it was designed to do, and just get out and ride from end to end of the continent.:unsure:

I guess you realise that your bike already has a non standard (taller) double bubble screen, so fitting helibars should not be a major issue.

Sadly these things are a bit top heavy and can adopt horizontal parking mode with little or no warning - if you are 6ft plus then it may not be an issue, but smaller riders may want to invest any spare cash on a set of decent R&G frame sliders. It would be a crying shame to see that bike suffer road rash from a slow speed tip over.

Couple of hints - free off the pivot pin on the mirror stalk (prise off the plastic cap) then tighten it back up, just enough to keep it steady, but loose enough to swing out of the way if you clip a car whilst filtering or the bike tips over. Otherwise mirrors have an expensive habit of snapping off. Also once in a while move that rear preload adjuster a couple of notches up and then back down - they can seize if not used.

Finally you may want to sign onto the 6th Gen militia - I am sure Randy will provide a warm welcome to all new recruits. Also drop by and say Hi on the European sub-forum where you may still be able to track down some of the exclusive European VFRWorld stickers. If you need a workshop manual you will find there is a massive file download lurking in the Specifications sub-forum.


Take care




SkiMad

 

Ah SkiMad. I think his screen is stock. Sure looks it to me. But anyways.

Hey Gord.

I suspect the weather you live in is very much similar to what I live in. The VFR treated me very well riding it through some 7 winters now. The first 5 of which involved 100 mile round trip commutes year round. If there was no snow on the ground, I rode to work. Even got caught in the snow a couple times. Now that was not nice.

Get yourself some proper gear and ride it l\like you would a cheap hooker. Long, hard and put away wet. The right gear does not have to be expensive.

As far as the windscreen goes, I have upgraded to a Puig Double Bubble which is better than the stock. If I were to do it again, I would go for the Zero Gravity thought because it does not have those "ears: that stick out on the corners which tend to break fairly easily if you drop the bike. Not that I am saying I have done that a time or two you understand.

The buffeting never really bothered me much. I just relaxed my neck and let the head move about. Your eyes will stay focused enough to ride safely IMHO. I switched screens for cosmetic reasons.

I have the helibars down in my shop and that is going to be a project sometime this winter so I don't know if the new screen will prevent the buffeting the way it did with the standard handlebars.

 

That's no stock screen. I think It may be the genuine honda double bubble. Nice bike though mate!

 

Thanks for the info. What sliders have you fitted Skimad? Sounds like a good idea.

 

I went with R&G racing sliders which are not cheap but I know they work. If you search on YouTube there are plenty of videos which show how quality sliders can minimise damage in the event of the bike going down.

Please don't be tempted by eBay crash mushroom specials. They may be OK on lighter bikes, but the 800's are heavy and when they go down, fairing mounted crash bungs may make things worse as they tend to concentrate the loading onto the fairing mounting tabs and swiftly tear great chunks out of the fairing. The R&G kit is not cheap because it includes a replacement coolant bottle which is necessary to install the slider bar which bolts in to replace the engine/frame support running right across the bike. The scary bit in the install is drilling two holes in the fairing - but if you take your time it can be done very neatly and will then protect that pristine paintwork.

As you can see from my bike on the right - once installed they blend in quite well. You can also see the different screen types - I think you have the optional Honda touring screen like the bike on the left - whilst my bike has the stock screen which has an almost flat section at the top of the screen rather than a continuous curve on the touring screen.



Hope that helps




SkiMad

 

Hey Skimad....once installed...how easy is it to remove fairings? do you just twist them off?

 

The sliders are not a twist off item as they also hold the engine in place! But with the right tools it adds roughly 2 minutes to the fairing dismantle even at roadside.

Basically the R&G slider is a semi ductile steel rod with threaded sections at each end which replaces the standard steel engine support bolt. The rubber sliders are stepped and conceal spacers and standard 19mm locknuts and washers which attach to the threaded rod. Because the locknuts are located quite deep inside the rubber slider you really need to add a deep THIN section 19mm socket. What you want is the socket on left of the picture below. (Yes that is just some of the stuff lurking below the VFR seat).



Note if the socket wall is too thick it won't fit inside the slider. If you have the tool kit supplied with the bike, just use the screwdriver to wedge between slider and nut to stop one end turning whilst you use the socket to undo the locknut. Note the spacers are asymmetric so make sure you put the right one on each side.

Hope that helps



SkiMad

 

Thats a great tool kit there.....I hqve to update mine. Thanks..always wounderd aboot how you remove fairings with those on. Dows that tool kit fit under your seat?