I have been lurking for about a month and just wanted to introduce myself as well as ask a few questions. I have been looking for a 4th gen VFR for the longest time and I finally found one, I love the look of these bikes. Got a 97 with under 16k miles on it. I finally got a bike that my wife and I can go 2 up riding on, she was kinda pissed that my other bike has no rear seat hehe. There are a few cosmetic issues with the fairings. The right mid has a crack in it forward of the "VFR" sticker and the left side mid is cracked in the same spot except it is cracked all the way through. The bike has not been dropped and mechanically speaking it looks really good. The bike doesn't look like it was ever dropped, paint is clean, no scrapes on the engine cases/ bar ends, and the steering stops look clean. I am just wondering what would cause the cracks...maybe just the age of the plastic and it turning brittle? Anyway, I picked the bike up for 2500 so I am not complaining at all...I am really happy that I found it. I got it all apart now to change the fluids, filters, and do the valve check/adjust. Also will probably rebuild the forks as well. Anything else I should do while I am in there that the maintenance schedule doesn't mention? Thanks for reading and I look forward to any response. It's great to be here!
Welcome to the VFRD. Sorry just wanted to welcome you here. Have you tried looking at the 4th Gen posts here? There might be sonthing there for you. Again welcome aboard and happy holidays.
Thanks and happy holidays to you and yours. I have looked through the forums and came to the general conclusion that the plastic just gets brittle with age. I am thinking that the prior owner may have hit a speed bump too fast which push up the bellypan and caused the cracks. The front forks seem really softly sprung or maybe the springs just had it. As far as maintenance, I do not think I missed anything just thought maybe someone has a tip. Thanks again AKVFRGUY, take it easy!
AKVFRGUY, Dec 22 2008, 04:17 PMWelcome to the VFRD. Sorry just wanted to welcome you here. Have you tried looking at the 4th Gen posts here? There might be sonthing there for you. Again welcome aboard and happy holidays.
Welcome!!!!!!!!!!! Another fan of the dreaded NACA ducts!! Being a child of the 1960's I always thought they were neato keen, or rather, far out! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) You will surely enjoy the handling. Welcome again. Nice that your SO wants to ride with you too.
I have been lurking for about a month and just wanted to introduce myself as well as ask a few questions. I have been looking for a 4th gen VFR for the longest time and I finally found one, I love the look of these bikes. Got a 97 with under 16k miles on it. I finally got a bike that my wife and I can go 2 up riding on, she was kinda pissed that my other bike has no rear seat hehe. There are a few cosmetic issues with the fairings. The right mid has a crack in it forward of the "VFR" sticker and the left side mid is cracked in the same spot except it is cracked all the way through. The bike has not been dropped and mechanically speaking it looks really good. The bike doesn't look like it was ever dropped, paint is clean, no scrapes on the engine cases/ bar ends, and the steering stops look clean. I am just wondering what would cause the cracks...maybe just the age of the plastic and it turning brittle? Anyway, I picked the bike up for 2500 so I am not complaining at all...I am really happy that I found it. I got it all apart now to change the fluids, filters, and do the valve check/adjust. Also will probably rebuild the forks as well. Anything else I should do while I am in there that the maintenance schedule doesn't mention? Thanks for reading and I look forward to any response. It's great to be here!
Al
Under 16K miles! That 4th gen's not even broken in yet! A great bargain at $2.5K even with the cracked fairings that you described. Those fairing panels are worth reparing these days because new ones, if you can even find them, will be prohibitably expensive. Try to find someone who can repair them. Better motorcycle shops should know of persons that can do it properly and maybe even paint them up good for you after repairing them. As mentioned already, go through post searches to find out what you need to look out for with the 4th gen bike. It's a great bike, but as ALL bikes are, they are not perfect. Good thing is there's not too much that does go wrong with them. Congratulations with your 4th gen aquisition and may you and your wife have many fun miles and times on it in the coming years!
Hello! Could be gett'n dry, could had a wrench hit it, or maybe a curb, or something. Is there a lot of old crud-oil, layered on the inside of the fairings?
Enjoy the nut-house. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)
Thanks again guys...no oil on the inside of the fairings. Does have alot of old chain lube tho. Looks like the original owner didn't clean off the old stuff before shooting it with more lube.
The fourth gen is a flat out awesome configuration on the VFR. I bought a used 5th gen instead but liked the fit and feel of the 4th better. My 86 was suseptable to brittle plastic and unexplained cracking. Newer stuff on the 5th gen has proved practically indestructable. Great bike and welcome to the forum.
Good find, I got my '95 for $2600, 13k miles. I'll agree with everyone else that the plastics are a bit brittle, my tail section has some cracks in it.
I picked up one for 2900 before the riding season which was a 95 with 20k on it and the body on mine is very clean. The plastics on mine have no scratches on them really besides a small scratch on the tail. Mine doesn't have any cracks at all in it inside and out. When I had my R6 in the R6 forum they would talk about using bumper repair kits to repair cracked fairings from a crash. As for really big cracks of tears they have plastic welders at custom bike shops.
Has anyone tried to fix the problem with the rear at all? From reading this thread and looking at my bike in the garage it seems that the week points on the rear tail are where the tailights/signals are connected.
Welcome. Yeah, the plastics are very brittle. Had a couple new cracks in mine just from taking the bike on a rough road/trail.
New forks are definitely something you would want to do. After pushing my 4th gen, I really didn't like the feel of the forks. Other than that I love it.
daemontrym, Dec 23 2008, 05:27 AMI picked up one for 2900 before the riding season which was a 95 with 20k on it and the body on mine is very clean. The plastics on mine have no scratches on them really besides a small scratch on the tail. Mine doesn't have any cracks at all in it inside and out. When I had my R6 in the R6 forum they would talk about using bumper repair kits to repair cracked fairings from a crash. As for really big cracks of tears they have plastic welders at custom bike shops.
Has anyone tried to fix the problem with the rear at all? From reading this thread and looking at my bike in the garage it seems that the week points on the rear tail are where the tailights/signals are connected.
There are many reports of cracking at the half moon shaped small rear panel (I see it a lot on many 4th gens that I encounter out there), right above the tail light. I haven't (knock on wood developed any cracks on that part yet. The area around the frankenbolt holes also tend to develop stress cracking (mine developed a couple of small ones many years ago). I bought some fiberglass cloth and reinforced the opening with it, using gel type superglue to soak it and attach it to the back of the tail fairing around that area. The tiny cracks never grew any bigger after so many miles and years. I'm thinking these areas start cracking because the whole tail fairing assembly tend to pivot on subframe attachment points on or near these areas, thus starting stress cracks that get bigger as the miles go. I suspect that if you use your rear cowl more often, it will actually help slightly stiffen the whole tail fairing, maybe minimizing the twisting and flexing of the fairing panels when riding. I have my rear cowl on almost 100% of the time I ride the bike, so maybe that's why my problems with cracking had been minimized. Just my theory.....
Welcome Al. Glad to have you. This is my first bike in years (94) and LOVE it. I really can't compare to much, but I think its a great looking, riding, and sounding bike (I just put on a Remus carbon high mount, OOOOO YEA!) I also have a few small cracks on the tail (phat butt). You have come to the right place (VFRD). Everyone has been very helpful and they seam to know their stuff. Hope you and your wife enjoy your ride.
Do look over the charging system (mainly the R/R) do a search and you will see. (IMG:http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/uploads/1229609609/gallery_15375_4187_563248.jpg) Picture 058.jpg
Is it possible to mount the 5th Gen tail to the vfr since the seats and that are of similar shape?
I know mount points maybe a bit different but new ones can be made. Maybe even making an extra bracket or 2 from galvanized thin pieces of steel from home depot in their fence/deck sections?
I dunno just thinking ahead, I like the look of the 4th gen from/sides and think it would look cool with a 5th Gen tail. But, I guess it would bring me between a rock and a hardplace trying to find one.
What took you so long. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
WELCOME! .............Don't mind Timmy,he lives in a flat black world. He"ll even go as far as to promise a gain in hp's and better handling........if you paint it flat black.
What took you so long. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
WELCOME! .............Don't mind Timmy,he lives in a flat black world. He"ll even go as far as to promise a gain in hp's and better handling........if you paint it flat black.
Tim might have a point. Fairing cracks would be less noticable on a flat black bike!
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Love the pics guys! The charging system seems to be doing well. Got good voltage at idle and the plug going to the regulator does not look melted, I may have to do the "fan mod" this summer. I may have my bodywork redone at empireGP...has anyone ever used them? I have heard from other forums that they are top notch. I have been corresponding with the guy that runs the place and he has reasonable prices. I can tell that he strives for the highest customer satisfaction. Anyway going to have to wait for a few months to get it done...gotta save up some loot. As far a flat black...there isn't anything more beautiful than a primer flat black paint job on trackskins, it is a very fast color hehe. Again thanks for the response guys...this forum rocks! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/fing02.gif)
End of thread · 22 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 23 Dec 2008