I recently finished both the purchase of my new MX bike, and the personalizing of my VFR. I put a lot of work into both of them, and would just like to share my happiness with AI.
First the 2005 VFR800 (non abs):
The is my return to the street after a few years hiatus. I previously rode a 91 FRZ 1000, and a borrowed beat to scat V-Max. I missed the riding so much that after 5 years of marriage, I decided to plead for a bike again. When my wife and I were first dating 10 years ago, I was riding both the FZR and the V-Max. We thought that perhaps it might be fun to revisit those times together and purchase a streetbike.
After a LOT of research, we ended up with a 05' holdover non abs VFR that was purchased for the nice price of $8,000 OTD from Carl's Cycle in Boise. We drove the 520 miles round trip to purchase this bike after getting offered the same exact deal on an 03' holdover that was covered in sticky nasty layers of dust. The same price for a 2 year newer bike? Yeah it was worth the ride. I was at the time having some dangerously high blood pressure problems, but we decided to do the deal anyway. The folks at Carl's were fantastic. They threw in lunch, beverages for the ride home, helmet, motorcycle tie-downs, and a great buying experience overall. I had such a great experience with them that I will gladly drive to Boise again to buy from them rather than my local dealers.
After riding the 06' season on the VFR and putting her away in my very own gigantic heated shop, I decided that it wasn't quite the way I wanted it to be for either me, or my wife. I really enjoy sportbikes, but the wife was more than a little uncomfortable on the back of the RC-51 that I wanted the first go around, and we decided that for around town, brief 120 milers etc, that the VFR was just the best fit all around for both of us. The wintertime is a great chance to get things modded to just the way you want, so I took the cold months to do the following.
15 tooth sprocket
(I am 220, wife is skinny, but the added accelleration helps)
Custom gutted exhaust
The V4 is a great sounding engine, and I work at a world leading high performance snowmobile company
http://www.startinglineproducts.com/ who were more than eager to do the work. We gutted the pipes and installed one fiberglass packing tube in each. VFR's don't have dual exhaust, they share a pipe. The aftermarket systems run anywhere from 480-900 dollars for this model and I wasn't about to fork out those clams.
Custom paintwork
I got the idea from a fellow I met online at
http://www.vfrdiscussion.com and did things a little different. Gloss finish on mine, 8 coats of clear with an extremedecals HONDA logo on the belly. The VFR is rare enough to see on the road in my parts, if it isn't a CBR it doesn't sell. To me, the bike just needed a little something so with the dark smoke ZG OEM style windscreen, I think the look is nice.
Seargent seat
Oh my GOD the stock seats on these are bad, not wood plank bad like the RC-51 I was looking at, but bad enough. The wife and I both are really happy with the purchase.
Power Commander 3 usb.
Alternating from the 2 bros, and an internet pals custom map to smooth out the Vtec transition, parking lot snatchiness, and Stoichiometric spot from 4-5k rpms. So far, other then the 15 tooth sprocket (omg wheelies) this is a GREAT puchase and I reccomend it for a FI bike. But like me you might choke at the Dynojet custom mapping prices, 250-500 dollars quoted so far.
Ahh?! But what is that! What the hell right? after 15 years of being away from offroad MX bikes, this too decided to make a comback this year.
A month ago I purchased a 90% good 2004 RM250 2-smoker MX bike. I really missed the dirt riding after all these years, and it lends itself to getting that hooligan fix (for me at least) out of the system and in a place that it isn't a danger to anyone but me. After rebuilding the entire rear suspension (pivot works, and a fat man spring 220.... jesus where has this weight come from) the bike started to behave itself a bit better. The previous owner had it jetted 100% the wrong way being extreme RICH. After sorting out the dented pipe, some grunt work and a new rear tire this bike is a blast! I forgot about all those muscles that you never use in other situations that's for sure. My first jump at the sand dunes was an 18 step landing. The seat may still have pucker marks on it, I haven't checked that close. I took it out to the mountains today to find some dry dirt and pretty much unintentionally wheelied all over the place. If you live in an area that has riding locations, and you own a streetbike, do yourself a solid and pick one up. You won't regret it one bit.
The VFR isn't for everyone, but it's a great fit for me. for most it's either not enough sport, or not enough tourer. I personally really love this bike and feel like I made a great decision purchasing it.
The RM250 of course is pure dirty nasty flying through the air MX sex. What a blast!
I also forgot to mention that I had a hard time finding someone to swap my black wheels, so I had mine powerdercoated!!! I painted the radiators black as I thought this would further clean up the look I was after.
Winter is gone, and bikes are ready!
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